Hey! Sorry for the late update. I was kind of lost with this chapter…But it's here now. And super long! Not much Rachel (sorry about that) but a hell of a lot of Brittana. There will be more Rachel and Quinn next chapter. Anyway…thanks for all of your reviews and I hope you enjoy this chapter! :)
Warning: Swearing, slight violence, spoilers for new york episode (sort of)
Chapter 6
"He's not in there." Santana stated, grabbing Brittany's hand and trying to tug her away from the door "Let's go back to bed."
"No…Saaaaaan." Brittany whined, digging her heels into the ground to avoid being pulled down the corridor "We should see if anyone else has seen them."
"Brittany…" Santana stopped and dropped Brittany's hand, a long exhale escaping her "It's 4:30am. Everybody is asleep."
"So?" Brittany shrugged obliviously "This is important so we should wake them up."
Santana was about to reply but Brittany was already bouncing down the corridor and banging on the closest door. "At least there's nobody else on this floor right now." She muttered to herself before walking over to join the blonde. Just as she got there, the door was flung open to reveal a dishevelled looking Kurt standing there, his eyes half open.
Brittany narrowed her eyes and tilted her head to the side as if she didn't recognise the boy "Kurt?"
"Nice look Hummel." Santana smirked.
"Brittany? Santana?" Kurt blinked at them blearily, too tired to have noticed Santana's dig "What do you want?"
"We're looking for Quinn and Rachel!" Brittany answered him quickly "Have you seen them?"
"Not since before we left Lima." Kurt answered, smoothing out his Piero Galante pyjamas "Why?"
"They're missing." Brittany explained, already skipping to the next door. Santana sighed and reluctantly followed.
"O-kaaay." Kurt muttered before closing the door.
"There had better be a damn good reason for waking me up at this time of night!" Mercedes exclaimed as she opened the door, a scowl fixed upon her face "And since I don't hear the fire alarm the reason probably isn't good enough."
"Is Q with you?" Santana asked quickly, standing on her tip toes to look into the room "Or Berry?"
"No!" Mercedes pushed the door further shut, her eyes widening in alarm "Nobody's in here except me and…me!"
"Sure." Santana smirked "Tell Sam that if he sees Quinn or Berry he should let us know."
"Wha…? How…?"Mercedes looked like a deer caught in the headlights as Brittany and Santana turned away.
"Did she think they weren't being obvious?" Brittany asked in confusion as she knocked on the next door.
Mercedes shook her head and closed her door.
"Probably." Santana rolled her eyes just as the door in front of them swung open to reveal a sleepy looking Finn.
"What's goin' on?" He asked fuzzily as he squinted at the sudden light that hit his eyes "Is something wrong?" he leaned on the doorway and crossed his arms in front of his chest.
"Have you seen Q or the Midget?" Santana asked bluntly.
"What?"
Santana rolled her eyes. Clearly half asleep Finn was denser than wide awake Finn "Have. You seen. The Midget. Or Quinn."
Finn still looked confused so Brittany elaborated "Are Quinn and Rachel in there?"
"No." Finn shook his head "Why?"
"They aren't here yet." Santana answered simply "And they aren't answering their phones."
At the statement Finn straightened up and looked concerned "You think something's happened to Rachel?"
"And Quinn." Brittany added while Santana merely scowled at the boy.
"Well why haven't you told Mr Schue?" Finn asked, his voice bordering on panicked.
"He's not in his room." Santana shrugged "He's probably off with Pillsbury."
"Sh…They should have been here by now." Finn said obviously "What if something's happened to them?"
"So you definitely haven't seen them?" Santana asked for clarification.
"No. I…"
"Okay." Santana linked her pinkie with Brittany's and started to pull her down the corridor towards their room.
"San?"
Santana glanced at Brittany to see her eyes were glued to the elevator "…No way B."
Brittany turned pleading eyes to meet the Latina's, jutting her bottom lip out for good measure "Please…?"
Fuck
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Quinn's breathing was heavy as she struggled through the thick snow with Rachel in her arms. It seemed as if the snow from the previous night had frozen solid making it crunchy and difficult to walk on without slipping. Rachel wasn't heavy by any means, in fact Quinn had quickly surmised that the brunette was the lightest girl she'd ever picked up (and considering the number of girls she'd had to lift as a consequence of being on the cheerios that was saying something) but she could feel her body weakening with every step she took, exhaustion beginning to kick in. Her eyes flickered briefly shut and she stumbled over her own feet. She tried to maintain her balance but the ground was too slippy and she fell to her hands and knees. Or she would have if she wasn't carrying Rachel…instead her forearms collided solidly with the ground causing her to cry out in pain. She quickly glanced at Rachel to see that she was still unconscious.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry…" Quinn apologised repeatedly, her forehead dropping to Rachel's as her eyes unwittingly slid shut. She stayed still for a moment before she felt herself dozing off and quickly shook herself awake, opening her eyes to look at Rachel "Shit…" she cursed softly when she noticed that Rachel's usually tanned complexion looked unusually pale and her lips were tinged blue "Rachel…Rachel wake up." She pulled her hands out from under the brunette and began to tenderly rub Rachel's cheeks in an attempt to restore some warmth. Without thinking about it she ducked her head and placed her lips on Rachel's, hoping that the warmth from her own lips would take away the chilled blue tinge. When she pulled back she was relieved to see it had worked to a small degree and Rachel's lips had begun to pinken "Thank God…" Quinn muttered, as she painstakingly gathered Rachel into her arms and stumbled back to her feet. She groaned as her muscles, already aching from the biting cold screamed in protest at the movement. Nevertheless she forced herself to move forward, blinking against the black spots that were appearing in front of her eyes, most likely a consequence of the ominous throbbing in her head "Come on…" she squinted to see she was nearing the end of the road and abruptly picked up her pace, the hope she felt at the thought of reaching the highway prevailing over her lack of energy. She ground her teeth together and forced herself to put one foot in front of the other until she reached the place where the 'shortcut' met the highway. When she got there however she glanced up and down it, seeing no cars in sight. She bit back a defeated sob at the realisation that they were at least four hours away from the nearest gas station and had to fight against the urge to drop to the snow covered ground in exhaustion. She blinked rapidly to clear the tears from her misty eyes and with a quick glance at the girl she was cradling to her chest steeled herself to walk on "Somebody will come…they have to."
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"I can't believe I'm doing this." Santana muttered for the fifth time since she had started driving. She cast a quick glance over at a lightly dozing Brittany before turning her gaze back to the road. A mere 10 minutes after getting into the car, the blonde had curled up against the car door and fallen into a light slumber, leaving Santana to her own thoughts. As much as she was trying to think positively, she couldn't shake the feeling that something was very wrong. Santana heard Brittany utter a small whimper and catching sight of a shiver coursing through the blonde's body out of her peripheral vision promptly began to fiddle with the heating. When she finally glanced up her eyes widened at the sight of somebody standing in the middle of the road and she quickly slammed her foot onto the breaks. She clenched her eyes shut as both she and Brittany were propelled forward in their seats. The force and suddenness of the stop had Santana silently thanking any higher powers that she had forced Brittany to put her seatbelt on when they got into the car. Remembering the person standing in the middle of the road the Latina quickly looked up only to find herself staring at an empty expanse of road in front of her.
"Ooooow." Brittany whined as she glanced around, clearly disorientated and alarmed at the rude awakening she had received "What happened?"
"I don't know…" Santana muttered, her gaze still fixed intently on the suddenly empty road. She could have sworn she had seen someone. She glanced over at Brittany to see she was rubbing her neck, a pained expression on her face "Are you okay Britt?" she quickly unbuckled her seatbelt and reached across to gently turn Brittany's head to the side, giving a clear view of her neck. She bit her lip when she noticed the red friction burn already forming on Brittany's neck "Oh…"
"I think it was the seatbelt." Brittany whispered, finding herself caught up in the tenderness of Santana's gaze.
Santana glanced up into Brittany's eyes and offered a small smile before leaning forward to press a tender kiss to the red area. She felt rather than heard Brittany's breath hitch and forced herself to pull back with a sigh "We should keep going…" she sat back in her seat and reluctantly shifted the gears from neutral. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed Brittany rub her eyes with a yawn "You can go back to sleep if you want."
Brittany shook her head and stretched her limbs "I'm awake now." She glanced at the clock to see it read 6:12am "You haven't seen their car yet?"
Santana shook her head and risked a quick glance at Brittany before turning her attention back to the road "No, I haven't seen them. And they're still not answering their phones."
"That's not like Quinn." Brittany frowned in worry and squinted at the road as if hoping that Quinn and Rachel would magically appear. After a moment she sank back into her seat with a heavy sigh.
Santana swallowed heavily, wanting to say something to reassure her girlfriend but unable to form the words. Brittany was absolutely right. It wasn't like Quinn not to answer her phone, especially taking into consideration how many times they had called and how many concerned (And annoyed on Santana's part) messages they had left. Something was definitely not right with the situation. Santana bit her lip solicitously, her thoughts shifting back to the encounter with the form on the road. It had been unusual to say the least and it had done nothing to quell her nerves. She was so lost in her own thoughts that she almost didn't notice Brittany was trying to gain her attention until her arm was grabbed lightly. She glanced quickly to her right to see Brittany staring out of the windscreen, her brow furrowed.
"What's that?"
Santana followed the bubbly blonde's gaze to a figure trudging slowly along through the thick snow, carrying something which looked remarkably like a body in their arms "No. Fucking. Way." She quickly slowed the car to a stop and rushed to get out of the car. She slammed the door shut behind her and began to move hurriedly forward with Brittany hot on her heels. Now that they were closer there was no mistaking what they were seeing…Quinn Fabray was practically stumbling through the snow with an unconscious Rachel Berry in her arms.
"Q?" Santana veered to a stop next to the blonde who didn't even seem to notice that she was there "Quinn, are you okay?"
"Have to keep moving…" Quinn muttered to herself as she continued to walk, her eyes glassy and expressionless.
Santana walked at her side, unsure as to what to do. She took the moment to give Quinn a quick once over and winced as she noticed the blood that matted her blonde hair.
"Is Quinn okay?" Brittany asked unsurely, clearly disturbed by their friend's lack of reaction to their presences "She looks possessed."
Santana glanced down and sucked in a sharp breath when she noticed the blood that was pooling at the corner of Rachel's lips "Britt, get Berry."
Without question Brittany moved forward and began to lift Rachel from Quinn's weak grip. She stopped and took a step back however when Quinn growled low in her throat at the action and tightened her grip on the girl she was holding.
"You can't have her." Quinn uttered, holding Rachel protectively against her chest "She's mine."
Santana raised her eyebrows at the statement but nodded towards Brittany "Just take her B. Q can't fight you right now." Despite her statement, she took a step closer to Quinn, ready to react to any signs that Quinn was going to respond violently to Brittany taking Rachel. Normally she wouldn't entertain even the idea of Quinn causing physical harm to Brittany but it was quite clear that the shorter blonde wasn't in her right mind.
Brittany tried again to take Rachel from Quinn and after a moment of feeble resistance on Quinn's part managed to pull the diva from her friend's tight grip.
Quinn whimpered at the feeling of Rachel being pulled away from her "Rach…"
"Quinn." Santana stepped in front of said girl and placed her hands on her cheeks. She paused for a moment, not quite able to believe how cold Quinn's face was beneath her hands "Quinn, it's me…It's Santana."
Quinn was silent, distracted by the sudden warmth pressing against her face. She leaned into the touch for a moment, her eyes inadvertently sliding shut before the words she had heard finally registered "San?"
"Yeah." Santana breathed a sigh of relief that Quinn recognised her "I'm…" she trailed off as the blonde threw herself forward and wrapped her arms tightly around her. Santana felt a shiver course through her at the feeling of cold pressing against her "Jesus Q, you're freezing." She tentatively rubbed her arms up and down her friends quivering back in an attempt to generate heat, silently praising herself for having the presence of mind to pack blankets before she had left the hotel with Brittany.
Quinn instinctively buried her nose in Santana's warm neck and muttered something the Latina could barely make out "…Rachel…?"
"Rachel is fine. Britt has her." Santana reassured her, glancing at an alarmed looking Brittany who shook her head. Santana swallowed against the lump that had suddenly appeared in her throat and tightened her grip on the freezing girl in her arms "Quinn, what the hell happened?"
Again the blonde muttered something against her neck but Santana wasn't quite able to make out what was being said "Shortcut…crash…John Wayne…time loop…love her." The Latina frowned at the jumble of words wondering what an actor had to do with anything. The thought was quickly pushed from her mind however as she felt Quinn sag against her and she was forced to tighten her grip on the blonde in her arms "Quinn?"
"I'm so tired S…" Quinn murmured fuzzily into the Latina's neck "My head hurts…'S cold…"
Santana's eyes widened when she realised what Quinn's slurred speech meant "Quinn…" she gave her friend a gentle shake "Quinn, don't pass out on…" it was too late however as with a small whimper Quinn went completely limp in her arms and Santana had to readjust her grip to make sure the blonde didn't fall. "Shit…" she leaned down and scooped Quinn's legs over her left arm, easily picking her up. Luckily Quinn's arms were still looped around Santana's neck, making the action a lot easier than it would have been in any other position. For once Santana silently thanked Sue Sylvester for her work outs from hell which enabled her to do something like pick another girl up with no strain at all. She glanced at Brittany to see she was frowning down at Rachel who was still unconscious "Tell me she's breathing Britt."
"She's breathing."
Santana silently cursed herself for the way she had worded her request "Now tell me the truth."
"She's breathing." Brittany looked up, slightly puzzled by the fact that Santana had asked the same question twice "But it feels weird…like she's not breathing enough."
"Fuck…" Santana muttered, growing more concerned by Rachel's pale complexion as well as the blood at the corner of her mouth. She readjusted her hold on Quinn, wary of dropping her and began to stalk towards the car "Come on B. We need to get them to a hospital."
Brittany murmured in agreement and power walked past Santana towards the car. Not for the first time, Santana marvelled at her freakishly strong girlfriend as she watched her open the car's back door, while maintaining a tight grip on the brunette in her arms. Once Rachel was in the car, Brittany glanced up to see Santana struggling to open the passenger door while keeping a firm hold on Quinn. The blonde jogged around the car and opened the door.
"Thanks." Santana shot Brittany a quick smile before leaning down to tentatively sit Quinn in the passenger seat. She pressed a hand to the blonde's shoulder to keep her sitting up and moved to pull the seatbelt across her friend's chest. She clicked it into place and looked up to see Brittany hovering behind her with a couple of blankets. The Latina smiled at her girlfriend's uncanny ability to know what she was thinking to an almost mind-reading extent. She reached out to take one of the blankets and gently covered the freezing blonde in the passenger seat with it, making sure it was tucked in at all sides to provide as much warmth as possible "B maybe you should…" she looked up again only to see that Brittany was already throwing the spare blankets over Rachel's prone form in the back of the car "Nevermind." She shut the passenger door and quickly moved around the car to get into the driver's side. Brittany too, got into the car, manoeuvring Rachel so that her head rested on her lap.
"Are they going to be okay?" Brittany asked worriedly as Santana cranked the heating up full and began to drive back the way they had come.
Santana removed one hand from the steering wheel and without glancing away from the road in front of her, offered it to Brittany in the back of the car. A mere second later Brittany grasped it tightly and Santana was able to respond "I hope so B."
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"I don't understand how this could happen." Finn said for the tenth time since the Glee club had arrived at the hospital.
Santana rolled her eyes, beginning to regret calling them and tightened her grip on the girl on her lap, trying to calm herself "Quinn's car crashed. It's not rocket science."
"I should have gone with her." Finn muttered guiltily "If she hadn't been in that car…If Quinn hadn't been driving…"
"This isn't Quinn's fault." Sam cut in from his seat next to Mercedes, looking slightly annoyed at the suggestion "It was an accident so just lay off of her, okay?"
Finn nodded, looking appropriately chastised and a tense silence settled over the room.
"Has anyone called Mr Schuester?" Kurt asked suddenly.
"I did." Mike spoke up for the first time as he tightened his grip on Tina's hand "He said he's on his way."
"It's about time…" Santana muttered, giving her unusually quiet girlfriend a squeeze "You okay B?"
Brittany merely nodded in response.
Santana was about to ask her what was wrong when a blonde doctor walked into the waiting room.
"Rachel Berry and Quinn Fabray…"
Finn shot out of his seat at the mention of Rachel's name and bound over to the doctor like a puppy in dire need of affection "Is Rachel okay?"
The doctor blinked at him in surprise.
"Quinn was in the accident too Finnocence." Santana scowled as she walked over to the doctor, Brittany's hand held tightly in her own. The rest of the group stood up but remained a couple of paces back.
The blonde doctor glanced around at the eleven students in front of her before continuing with a small smile "My Name is Doctor Robbins…Miss Fabray and Miss Berry are my patients."
"Are they okay?" Santana questioned hurriedly.
The doctor was silent for a moment before she decided to tell them the good news first "Quinn escaped with a minor head injury, cuts and bruises and hypothermia…She's going to make a full recovery."
Santana visibly relaxed at the news.
"And Rachel?" Finn asked "Is she okay?"
"It appears that Rachel's injuries are slightly more serious…she suffered broken ribs which has led to internal bleeding. She also has severe hypothermia and minor frostbite." Doctor Robbins glanced around at the horrified teenagers "She's in surgery right now."
Finn looked like he was about to burst into tears while Sam subtly slipped his hand into Mercedes' and gave it a light squeeze.
"Fuck…" Puck muttered turning away.
"Can we see her?" Santana asked as Brittany's grip on her hand tightened "Quinn, I mean."
"Are you family?" the Doctor asked.
"Um…" Santana looked at a loss for words for a moment before she nodded towards Brittany "She's her sister."
"I am?" Brittany asked in confusion "Why did nobody tell me that?"
Santana mentally face-palmed and the doctor smile warmly "I'm assuming you two…" she motioned between them "Are Brittany and Santana?"
Santana looked suddenly wary "How do you know that?"
"She was asking for you when she woke up a while ago." Doctor Robbins explained "You can see her if you want."
Santana nodded quickly and the Doctor turned around, motioning for them to follow. With a quick glance back at the rest of New directions Santana walked after the Doctor, tugging Brittany gently with her. After a moment of walking she noticed that Brittany's grip on her hand was growing tight to the point of pain. She glanced at the blonde to see she was biting her lip nervously, her usually bubbly expression tainted with worry "Are you okay B?"
Brittany glanced at Santana and shrugged "I'm worried about Quinn and Rachel."
Santana hurried to reassure her "Britt, Quinn is fine. And Berry…" she paused for a brief moment realising she didn't know if Rachel was going to be okay or not "I'm sure she'll be okay too."
"You think so?" Brittany asked hopefully.
Santana forced a smile "Absolutely."
Dr Robbins finally came to a stop in front of a door "Dr Adams will be here soon for a Neuro consult but feel free to go in." noticing Brittany and Santana were about to enter the room she held up a hand to stop them "I'd advise you to keep your voices to a whisper at this point."
Santana nodded before she pushed the door open and entered the room with Brittany at her side.
"Hey." Quinn whispered with a small smile as she noticed them enter the room.
"Hey." Santana echoed as she approached the bed with Brittany.
Quinn was silent for a moment, her gaze shifting to her unusually quiet blonde friend "I'm not entitled to 'Brittany hugs' anymore?"
Brittany's face lit up in a grin at the request and she leaned forward to tentatively hug the injured girl.
Quinn sighed as she felt the subtle shaking against her "I'm sorry if I scared you B."
Brittany pulled back and shook her head "It's okay."
"Where is Rachel?" Quinn whispered as she glanced around the room "Is she okay?" she turned her gaze to Santana who quickly looked away "Oh God…She's not…She's…San.."
"She's in surgery." Santana answered quickly as she realised what Quinn was thinking "The Doctor says they'll know more when she gets out."
Quinn visibly relaxed though she still looked worried beyond belief. Brittany reached out and slipped her hand into Quinn's, earning herself a weak smile. They fell into silence for a couple of minutes before a knock sounded on the door. It was opened a moment later to reveal a Doctor standing there, a clipboard in his hand. Santana assumed that he was the Neuro specialist Dr Robbins was talking about. She jumped in surprise when her arm was grabbed in a vice like grip and she was tugged closer to the bed. She glanced at Quinn to see she was staring directly at the Doctor, a terrified expression on her face. "Q?"
"Miss Fabray." The Doctor greeted as he moved closer to the bed, seemingly not noticing Quinn's reaction to his presence.
"No…" Quinn whimpered and tightened her grip on Santana's arm "No, no, no…"
"Quinn what's going on?" Santana whispered in confusion as she glanced between the Doctor and her friend.
"Keep him away from me!" Quinn exclaimed loudly as she huddled closer to the Latina "Make him leave, San!"
Santana winced as Quinn's nails dug into her arm but nevertheless she turned her wary gaze to the Doctor in front of them.
"Miss Fabray you need to calm down." The Doctor instructed quietly "You're going to hyperventilate."
Quinn shook her head despite the fact that she could feel her chest tightening with every rapid breath she took. She shrunk back as the Doctor continued to approach "Stay away from me!"
The Doctor sighed and placed his hand into his pocket, emerging seconds later with a needle and small vial.
"San?" Brittany whispered as she watched Quinn's terrified reaction with fearful eyes "What's wrong with Quinn?"
Santana ignored her girlfriend for a moment and positioned herself in front of the Doctor and Quinn "What's that for?" she nodded suspiciously to the needle in his hand.
"Just a little something to calm her down." The Doctor said reassuringly as he brushed Santana none too gently aside.
"Now Miss Fabray…" The Doctor smirked as he loomed closer to a terrified Quinn "You're going to feel a sharp scratch…"
Quinn shrieked as he grabbed her arm and hurried to pull away from him.
"Stay still Miss Fabray!" The doctor pinned Quinn's arm to the bed as she continued to thrash in a vain attempt to get away.
"Hey, fucking cut that out!" Santana exclaimed as she noticed how much pressure the doctor was applying to Quinn's arm. She moved towards the Doctor and attempted to pull his arm away but merely found herself shrugged off.
Quinn whimpered as the needle was shoved into her arm "Get off me!" she continued to struggle for a moment before she felt her limbs growing heavy and black crept into her vision "You're…you're supposed to be…dead.." the last thing she saw before her world turned black was the Doctor smiling smugly.
The End.
(Kidding! Ending it there would be kind of awesome and very 'Horror movie like' but perhaps slightly too mean, right? I meant…TBC ;))