A/N: Remember when I said at the beginning of Chapter 1 that this story would be mostly light, with a little bit of angst? Well you've found some of it. I think it's realistic angst and I don't think it's too triggering either, but as a precaution it could be for some, so keep that in mind as you're reading.

-()-()-()-()-

Chapter 11

Brittany pulled her car up to the gate at the front of Santana's house and punched in the access code that Santana had given her so she could let herself in. Once she was in the gate, she pulled up to the garage and parked on the left side. Santana had ordered another remote for the garage door so Brittany could let herself in without having to get out of her car and type another code into a key pad by the door, but it had not arrived yet. When the door was open, she pulled her car into the garage, gathered Lord Tubbington's carrier and her bag into her hands, and went into the house.

Max ran up to them excitedly.

"Hey little guy! Did you miss us?" She chirped. It had been two days since Santana and Brittany had actually seen each other.

In fact, the past two weeks for the couple had been pretty busy. Brittany had been busy at the pet store and it seemed like every instructor at the dance studio either had an emergency of some sort, or decided to go on last minute trips. She had spent a substantial amount of time with the kids, which she absolutely loved, because soon she wouldn't be working there anymore, and she wanted to make sure she had a chance to say her goodbyes to all her little dancers.

Santana for her part had been a little less busy for the first week after they came home from New York, but that changed last week. As part of the promotions for her miniseries, she had been scheduled for several photo shoots and interviews with different magazines and talk shows. Today, she was in a meeting with Kurt and their investors for their clothing line. Santana had dreaded going because she hated how boring those meetings were, but it was important that she be there, so she sucked it up and went.

"Okay, you two play nice." Brittany said as she let Lord Tubbington out of his carrier. The two pets quickly went into the living room.

Brittany smiled at them sitting beside each other looking out the window before she went upstairs into Santana's closet so she could put her things on hangers. She smiled at the memory of Santana telling her that she had cleared out a portion of her closet for her use, which Brittany was thankful for; because it meant that her clothes wouldn't be wrinkled in her bag.

Brittany finished putting her stuff away, and she went downstairs. She looked in the refrigerator for something to eat for a late lunch. After deciding that she wasn't in the mood for left overs, she quickly made herself a sandwich, and broke up a piece of turkey for the set of begging pets and put it down for them to eat. When she finished eating, she went into the living room to watch TV, but before she could sit down, the house phone rang.

"Hmm, I wonder who that could be?" She said to herself and went back into the kitchen to get the phone.

She thought it could be Santana calling on a break to say 'hi' and to check up on Max. Santana had felt so guilty for not spending a lot of time with him over the last few days that she asked Brittany to go over earlier than planned so that he would have some company. Brittany eagerly agreed to the request because she had fallen in love with Max, and despite his usual air of indifference, she knew that Lord Tubbington enjoyed his company as well.

Brittany picked up the phone and she looked at the number. She didn't recognize it, but she did recognize the area code. It was an Ohio area code.

"Hello?" Brittany said into the receiver.

"Hello, my name is Pamela Mets, may I speak with Santana Lopez." She said rushed.

"She's not here at the moment, can I take a message?" Brittany asked cautiously. As far as she knew, not many people had Santana's home or cell phone numbers. Most people went through her manager or publicist if they wanted to talk to her, but she guessed that one of them could have given this woman the number.

"Um, is this Brittany Pierce?"

"Yes, how'd you know?" Brittany asked, raising her eyebrows. She was surprised that anyone would ask for her there. She hoped it wasn't the paparazzi. She could only imagine how upset Santana would be if they had her home phone number.

"I've seen some of the tabloid articles about you and Santana from the past few weeks so I just assumed that if Santana wasn't the one who answered, maybe it was her girlfriend."

"Oh." Brittany said, still surprised. She thought by now she would have gotten over the surprise of strangers recognizing her, but she hadn't. "Is there something I can do to help you?"

"I really shouldn't be talking to non-family members, but in this case, I think it's okay. I'm a nurse at Golden Years Retirement Village in Akron Ohio, and I'm calling because one of our residents, Alma Lopez, had a heart attack about an hour ago and she asked for Santana to be notified."

Brittany gasped in surprise and just stared at the wall in disbelief because she recognized the name. About a week ago, she had begged Santana to show her some pictures of her from when she was younger, and as it turned out, some of those pictures had her Abuela in them, and Santana had told her that her Abuela's name was Alma.

"Hello, are you there?" Pamela asked when she didn't get a response.

Brittany snapped out of her haze at the sound of her voice. "Yes, sorry. How's she doing? Is she going to be okay?"

"Right now she's in surgery, so we'll know more in a few hours."

"Okay. What hospital is she at?"

"Akron General."

"Okay."

"Brittany, I know about Alma's estrangement from her granddaughter, and I know it's probably a really touchy subject, but when I talked to her as we were waiting for the ambulance, she asked me to call Santana and ask her to come see her. She said she had some things that she wanted to say to her. She also asked me to write a letter for her, in case she doesn't make it, but she told me not to deliver it unless she dies before she sees Santana. She sounded really desperate to see her, so if you could, could you please pass that message along to her."

"Of course. She'll be there as soon as she can." Brittany said. She hated to speak for Santana, but the few times that Santana had actually mentioned her Abuela, Brittany got the strong impression that while Santana was still hurt by her Abuela's rejection, she still loved her and wished that things were different between them. Maybe this was that chance and Brittany was going to make sure that Santana didn't miss it.

"Okay, someone from the hospital should call when she's out of surgery and let you know more."

"Okay, thanks. Can you ask them to call my cell phone to let her know?" Brittany asked.

She thought about giving them Santana's cell phone number because she didn't think that Santana would actually take the call; she was supposed to be in meetings all day and she had already told Brittany that her phone would be turned on silent for most of the day, but just in case, she didn't want to blindside Santana, so she decided to have the hospital use her number instead.

"I'll call the triage nurse in the emergency room and let her know so she can send a message up to surgery. What's your number?"

Brittany gave her the number, and when she hung up with the nurse, she pulled out her cell phone and dialed the pet store's number as she sprinted up the stairs towards Santana's bedroom.

"Furry Tails, this is Shannon, how may I help you." Shannon said politely into the phone.

"Shannon, it's Brittany, I need a favor." She said quickly as she went into Santana's closet and started to pull things off hangers that she thought Santana would want to take with her to Ohio.

"Punkin', you don't sound too good, is everything okay?"

"No, it's not. Do you think Kelly could cover for you for the rest of the day?"

"I think so; she's actually in here now getting her check. Why?"

"I'm at Santana's and I just got a call from a nurse saying that her grandmother in Ohio just had a heart attack and is in surgery. Santana's not home, she's at some meeting, and she doesn't know yet. I'm going to pack everything for her and get her a flight before I tell her because I want to take her straight to the airport, so I need four really big favors from you."

"Anything Punkin', just ask." Shannon said with concern in her voice.

"Okay, I need you to let me off the rest of the week, because I'm going to go with her. I just know she's going to be a nervous wreck and I don't want her to travel by herself."

"Done. What else do you need?" Shannon asked.

"I need you to swing by my house and pack me a week's worth of clothes and then meet me at Santana's house with them. Also, I need someone to watch the animals while we're gone. I know you only met Max once, but he liked you and he's really well behaved, so he won't be any trouble for you. And lastly, can you drop me off at Santana's office. She has her car and I don't want to leave it there or have to worry about someone else taking care of it. We'll just take her car to the airport.

"You got it; I'll be over as soon as I can. Just text me her address."

"Thanks Shannon, I owe you big time." Brittany sighed.

"No you don't, this is what friends are for."

"I appreciate it. I gotta go now, call me when you're on your way."

"Will do."

-()-()-()-()-

Brittany walked into Santana and Kurt's office a little before five in the evening, holding two suitcases, and it surprised her to see a group of people standing around the waiting area.

"Britt, what are you doing here?" Kurt asked, happy to see her, but then when he noticed the distressed look on her face and the suitcases, he became worried. "Is everything okay?"

Brittany set her bags off to the side, looked to the group of people, and pulled Kurt closer so they wouldn't have an audience. "No, it's not. Where's Santana?"

"Um, she's in the conference room. We were just about to leave for dinner with the investors."

"Okay, Santana isn't going to be able to go." Brittany started, and when it looked like Kurt was going to ask 'why' she cut him off before he could say anything. "I need to talk to Santana before I tell you why, she's going to be upset, and I need her to hear it from me first."

Kurt nodded in understanding. "Come on, I'll take you back." He said and led Brittany to the conference room. Santana was in there alone, writing on a piece of paper. "Santana." He said calmly to get her attention.

"Yeah." She said without looking up from her paper.

"Brittany's here, she needs to talk to you."

Santana looked up from her paper in confusion. "Britt? What are you doing here?"

Brittany didn't say anything; she walked into the room and sat down in the chair next to Santana, pushing it closer so she was sitting only a few inches from her girlfriend.

"I'm going to give you two a few minutes. Santana don't worry about dinner, I've got it covered." Kurt said and closed the door.

"Britt, what's going on; are you okay, you look a little sick." Santana said worried and took Brittany's hand into her own.

Brittany sighed and covered their clasped hands with her other hand so Santana's hand was in-between both of hers. "Santana, you got a call today on your house phone and it was a nurse from Akron. She said that your Abuela had a heart attack a few hours ago."

"What?" Santana breathed out as her own heart sank into her stomach and her hand tightened around Brittany's. She also paled at the news.

"When I spoke to the nurse, she said that your Abuela wanted her to call you and ask you to come to Akron. She said she wanted to see you and talk to you about so-"

"Is she going to be okay?" Santana cut her off. Her voice was shaky and she sounded scared.

"Baby, I don't know." Brittany said as calmly as she could, hoping that would offer Santana some comfort. "The nurse said that they would know more when she was out of surgery but that was a couple of hours ago. I gave them my cell phone number to call, but no one has called yet, so I'm guessing she's still in surgery."

"Shit!" Santana spat. She stood abruptly, startling Brittany as she moved away from her. "I have go home and pack and get a flight and-"

Brittany stood up and grabbed both of Santana's hands, cutting off her panicked rant. "San, I know you're upset and scared, but you have to try to stay calm, okay? I've already packed for you, booked a flight, rental car, and hotel, and Shannon is going to watch the animals while we're gone. I also called Shelby, and she's going to call your manager and publicist and have your schedule cleared for the week. Everything is taken care of; all we have to do is get to the plane."

Santana looked at Brittany with a mix of shock and thanks on her face. "You said 'we.' Are you coming with me?"

"Yes, San, I'm going with you. I can't let you go by yourself."

Santana's body seemed to deflate from relief, "Thank you." She said to Brittany, and pulled her in for a hug, burying her face into the crook of Brittany's neck.

Brittany wrapped her arms around Santana's back and held her tight. A few moments later, she felt a wet spot on her neck and Santana sniffled. Brittany tightened her hold on Santana. She didn't know what to say to her. She wanted to promise Santana that everything would be okay and that her Abuela would be alive when they arrived in Akron, but she couldn't, she had no idea what was going to happen. All she knew was that she was going to be there for Santana, and support her in any way necessary.

After a few minutes of just trying to use her body to comfort Santana, Brittany finally broke the silence in the room, "San, our flight leaves in a few hours; traffic is going to be a nightmare at this time, so we need to go so we don't have to rush."

Santana nodded and pulled back from Brittany. She grabbed her purse and put it over her shoulder. Brittany saw the tears on Santana's cheeks and she wiped them away before she gave her a soft kiss on her forehead.

"Britt, I don't want her to die." Santana whimpered.

"I know, San. I don't want that either." Brittany said solemnly and took her hand as she led her out of the conference room to Santana's car.

-()-()-()-()-

Santana sat in the passenger seat of their rental car and just stared out the window. She wasn't looking at anything in particular; she just needed to think. Their red-eye flight and two hour layover in Chicago was nothing but a blur to her. Brittany practically led her everywhere she needed to go. They had barely spoken to each other since Brittany broke the news because Santana was afraid to say much. She thought if she did, she would burst into tears, and she really didn't want to draw any more attention to herself.

When they first arrived at the gate at LAX, a group of teenagers noticed them, and started to get excited, but Brittany quickly stepped up and calmed them down, making up some story about Santana feeling ill, and politely asked them to let them have some time alone. Santana was so grateful for everything that Brittany had done for her that she wasn't sure if she could ever truly thank her enough.

A dip in the road jostled Santana out of her thoughts and she let out a little grunt when her head bumped into the window.

"Sorry." Brittany squeaked. "The roads here are in ridiculous need of repair."

"It's okay." Santana sighed and rubbed the side of her head.

Brittany glanced over to Santana and it looked like she was going to say something, but she changed her mind and bit her lower lip nervously.

"Go ahead and ask." Santana said in a low voice and lightly squeezed Brittany's hand. She had barely let go of Brittany's hand since she got the news.

Brittany hesitated for a second and then spoke. "What're you thinking about?"

Santana didn't answer at first because her thoughts really were all over the place, but after a few moments, she answered.

"I'm scared. I'm scared that we're not going to make it in time. The message we got from the hospital said that there had been some complications during the surgery, but they didn't elaborate on that, so I have no idea what that means, other than she's out of surgery and it's a waiting game to see if she survives the next twenty-four hours." She paused because she was starting to get teary-eyed. "And I'm scared about what she wants to say to me and what I'm going to say to her if I even get the chance to. I haven't seen or talked to her in six and half years. She just shut me out of her life because she didn't like the fact that I was gay."

Brittany opened her mouth to say something, but before she could, Santana continued.

"But you know, despite all that crap, I still love her and I don't want her to die. We used to be very close and I want her to love me like she used to." She said and wiped the tears from her eyes.

Brittany took a deep breath and hoped what she was about to say helped. "Honey, I know you're scared, anyone would be…and I think your Abuela still loves you. If she didn't, she wouldn't have asked that nurse to call you."

"But why now, why wait until she has a heart attack, why couldn't she tell me what she had to say before any of this."

"Maybe she didn't know how." Brittany offered as she looked at the street names. They were getting close to the hospital.

"That's bullshit!" Santana snapped angrily and let go of Brittany's hand. "You just pick up a fucking phone or get on a plane and say it!"

Brittany sighed and let Santana's outburst go. She knew Santana was not mad at her. "Baby, you know it's not always that easy. Maybe she wanted to contact you once she came to terms with your sexuality, but she decided against it because she was scared of how you would react after so much time had passed. Six years is a long time. And maybe the reason she called now was because she thought she might not survive her heart attack and she thought this would be her last chance to talk to you."

Santana didn't have a response to that just yet so she let out an audible huff and stared out the window again. She felt sick. On top of her stress and worrying, she was exhausted. She had been awake for twenty-four hours and had had very little to eat in the last fifteen hours. Her head hurt and her eyes were starting to go cross from how strained they were. She was surprised at how well Brittany seemed to be holding up, considering that she was working on less sleep than Santana, and she had worked at the dance studio the previous day. Santana guessed she was running on pure adrenaline and caffeine, just like she was.

When Brittany pulled into the parking lot near the emergency room, she parked the car and shut it off. She took the keys out of the ignition and put them in her purse before she shifted in her seat. She reached out for Santana's hand. When Santana didn't make a move to look at her, Brittany spoke.

"Santana, look at me." Brittany pleaded softly. She wasn't going to be harsh or forceful with Santana, because she knew how stressed out she was right now. Really all she wanted to do was pull Santana into a tight hug and hold her until all the stress melted away.

When Santana looked at her, Brittany could see that she looked even more scared than before arriving at the hospital.

"I'm going to be beside you every step of the way. You just tell me what you need and I'll do my best to make sure it happens. If you don't want to go into the room alone, I'll go with you, and if you do, then I'll be waiting right outside the door. No matter what happens with your Abuela, just know that you have people in your life who love you for you, and who think the world of you."

Santana inhaled sharply and then wrapped her arms tightly around Brittany's neck. "I love you." She said with a shaky tone. She was trying to keep from crying again.

Brittany returned the embrace, wrapping her arms around her waist. "I love you too, San. So, so much."

They held each other for just a few minutes so Santana could compose herself. As scared as Santana was to see her Abuela again, she was eager to get to her because she didn't know if they were working on a limited time frame or not.

When they parted, Santana looked into the mirror on her visor and quickly fixed her makeup, because she had some tear streaks running down her face. "Do I look okay?" She asked when she was done. She was nervous and unsure of how the next few hours would go, but she wanted to look her best for her first meeting with her Abuela in over six years.

Brittany gave a small smile. Even with her previous makeup in slight disarray, Brittany still thought Santana was the most beautiful woman she had ever seen.

"You are beautiful." She said and kissed Santana softly on her lips. "Ready?"

Santana didn't say anything; she just nodded.

-()-()-()-()-

"Are you ready to go in?" Brittany asked.

They had been standing in front of the door that led into Alma's room for a few minutes. A doctor had come by and tried to explain the situation to them, but unfortunately, most of the technical details went over their heads. The only thing that did register with them was the doctor's warnings about possible complications that could arise over the next few days, but at the moment, Alma was in stable condition.

"Um, yeah, I'm just going to poke my head in and see if she's still asleep." Santana said quietly. She slowly slid the door open and peered in the room. It appeared as if Alma was sleeping. The doctors had said that she had only woken up briefly a few hours after her surgery, and they had been able to remove her breathing tube, but she hadn't woken up since then. "She's still asleep." She whispered.

"Do you want me to come in and wait with you or do you want me to give you some privacy?" Brittany asked.

"I want you to come in." Santana said firmly. She didn't say it, but they both knew that Santana not only wanted Brittany to come in with her, but she needed her to come in with her. Brittany was the only thing that was keeping Santana from going over her stress edge.

The two women walked into the room, hand in hand, and slowly made their way over to the side of the bed. They both noted that Alma's breathing was shallow and there were all sorts of wires attached to her. She was pale and puffy and she looked exhausted, even in her sleep. Santana tightened her grip on Brittany's hand and she felt a swell of emotion over take her to see her Abuela looking as she did. She had changed so much from what she remembered. Santana hoped that was mostly from the stress of the heart attack and the surgery, but she was also six years older and it showed. Even with the changes, Santana could still see the woman that she loved so much in her, and she started to cry again. Brittany pulled her into a hug and let her cry.

Brittany herself started to get emotional, because of how affected Santana was by the situation, but she willed herself to keep it together for Santana's sake. She knew Santana needed her to be strong for when things got to be too much for her.

Brittany walked them over to the chair that was on the other side of the bed. She sat down in the seat, and pulled Santana down into her lap, wrapping her arms around her and Santana buried her face into the crook of her neck as she wept.

Now they waited.

-(Five Hours Later)-

Brittany jerked out of her sleep. She had dozed off, but it was far from restful. If anything, she felt even more tired than she had before. Santana was now sitting in her own chair beside Brittany. She had her Abuela's hand in her own, and her head was resting on the mattress beside her hand. She was asleep, but it didn't look restful either.

Brittany rubbed her face and then went into the in-room bathroom. She relieved her bladder and washed her hands before she returned to her seat. When she looked to Santana, she saw that she was awake again.

"You okay." Brittany asked quietly.

"Yeah." Santana croaked, her voice dry. It had been hours since she last cried or even spoke. "I'm exhausted. How're you feeling?"

"About the same. Do you want me to go get anything, maybe something to eat or some coffee? It's been so long since we've eaten."

Santana wanted to shake her head no, because she had lost her appetite long ago, but she knew that she needed to eat something, or she would make herself sick. "Yes, please." She said. "I don't want anything too heavy, maybe just a sandwich and a cup of coffee."

"You got it." Brittany said and kissed Santana on her forehead before she left the room.

When she returned, Brittany had a plastic bag containing two turkey sandwiches, and a hot cup of coffee in each hand.

"Here you go." She said as she handed the coffee to a heavy-eyed Santana.

"Thanks." Santana said with a small smile and took a sip of her coffee. She made a face. "Ugh, that is the worst coffee I've ever tasted."

Brittany sipped it as well and made a face too. "Yeah, whoever made that needs some serious lessons in how to make coffee. You want me to go find something better?"

"No." Santana said and pulled her coffee closer to her chest. "It might be terrible, but it has caffeine and that's all I really care about right now. Hell, I might need another two cups of this crap just to make it through the day."

Brittany couldn't help but chuckle. "Yeah, but I think I might switch to tea after this."

"Ooo, that's a good idea. I'll switch too."

"Anything you want." Brittany said with a small smile. "So, do you think she's going to wake up anytime soon?"

"She might. The nurse came in while you were out to check her vitals and she said that she was breathing a little better. She's hoping that she wakes up soon."

Brittany nodded but didn't say anything. She pulled their sandwiches out of the bag and handed one to Santana. They ate in silence and when they were finished, Brittany discarded the trash in the bin on the other side of the room.

Santana took her Abuela's hand again; only this time, instead of just holding it in silence, she started talking. "Abuela, it's Santana, can you hear me? I came as soon as I heard. I've missed you."

Brittany watched the scene from the across the room and it broke her heart to see Santana talk to her Abuela and not get a response. Santana continued to talk about anything she could think of, hoping that she heard her. Brittany returned to Santana's side, and she rested her arm along the back of Santana's chair.

After a while, Santana stopped her one-sided conversation and leaned back in her seat. She still held her Abuela's hand and she rested her head on Brittany's shoulder. Brittany hummed from the contact and rested her head on top of Santana's.

The just sat there. They were quiet again, but they didn't need to say anything. All that they needed to do was be close to each other while they continued to wait.

-()-()-()-()-

It was close to seven o'clock at night when Brittany woke from her second restless nap. Her neck hurt because she had it stretched to the side. She attempted to rub out the kink, and looked at Santana to see that she had again moved to lay her head near her and her Abuela's clasped hands.

Brittany just sat there and watched Santana for a few minutes, but then movement from Alma caught her attention. She was hesitant to wake Santana because she wasn't sure if Alma was waking up or if she was just shifting. Ultimately, Brittany decided to wake Santana, because she knew she would want her to.

"Baby." Brittany whispered into her ear and lightly ran her finger up her cheek to wake her gently.

Santana started to stir and when she opened her eyes, she saw Brittany staring back at her. "Yeah?" She said with a yawn.

"She's starting to move around. I think she could be trying to wake up."

Santana snapped her head up and looked to her Abuela's face. She looked like she could be waking up and Santana felt relief, as well as nervousness.

About half an hour later, Alma opened her eyes and the first thing she saw was her granddaughter standing beside her bed, looking down at her. She tried to sit up but Santana stopped her.

"Abuela, don't try to move, wait until the nurse gets here." Santana said in a soothing tone, and she pressed the call button to summon the nurse.

"Sa-San-tana?" Alma struggled to say.

"Yes, Abuela, it's Santana. I'm here. I came as soon as I heard." Santana said quickly.

Alma nodded tiredly and weakly attempted to squeeze Santana's hand. Santana tightened her grip around Alma's hand instead.

"Thank…you." Alma said strained.

Santana shook her head. "You don't have to thank me. I wanted to be here."

"Love…you."

Santana felt her heart swell. She had waited so long to hear those words. A wide smile appeared on her face and tears started to form in her eyes. "I love you too Abuela." She said and lifted their hands up to her cheek and nuzzled it.

"So…pretty…and…grown-up." Alma said, still strained and she managed to move one of her fingers across Santana's cheek.

Santana's smile widened at the gesture but before she could say anything else, two nurses walked into the room and approached the bed, ruining their moment. Santana had to let go of her Abuela's hand and move out of the way so they could work.

Brittany put her hand on Santana's back when she sat in her chair and started to rub it. She knew that Santana was relieved that her Abuela had woken up and that she was able to talk to her, but she could tell that Santana was a little upset to lose the physical contact.

"Is she going to be okay?" Santana asked.

"She's survived the surgery, so that's good, but she'll need to stay in the hospital for a few days to make sure that she doesn't develop any infections or blood clots." One of the nurses answered without taking her focus away from her task.

Santana nodded. She really hoped that her Abuela didn't develop any complications.

"The doctor on-call is going to come in here soon to check on her. Your grandmother is going to need a lot of rest, so after the doctor comes in, you'll have to leave for the night, visiting hours start at 9am tomorrow morning." The other nurse informed them.

Santana didn't like the sound of that. She didn't want to leave her Abuela now that she had woken up. She would sleep curled in a ball in that chair all week if it meant she didn't have to leave her alone. "I'm not sure-" She started to say, but Brittany silently cut her off by squeezing her hand.

Santana looked at her and Brittany shook her head. She knew Santana didn't want to leave, and she knew Santana was upset and not thinking rationally but she didn't want her to say anything that would cause trouble with them and the hospital staff.

"Santana, I know you don't want to leave her, but maybe it's in her best interest." Brittany whispered. They were behind one of the nurses so Alma hadn't seen her yet, and she didn't want to startle her by hearing another voice in the room. "She really needs to rest so she can get better and she might not be able to get all the rest that she can if she knows you're here. Plus we both need to get some rest. We've probably only gotten a few hours of sleep in the last two days. I promise you we'll be here first thing in the morning, but you really need to think about what's best for her."

Santana nodded after a few moments. She still didn't want to leave, but she knew it was what was best for her Abuela. "Okay Britt, you're right."

Brittany nodded and kissed her temple. It killed her that she had to say all that to Santana, but she knew someone needed to calmly bring it to Santana's attention.

Santana and Brittany sat there for a few minutes in silence as they waited for the nurses to finish with their tasks.

"Okay, the doctor should be in in a bit." One of the nurses said before they left the room.

Santana moved to stand beside her Abuela and took her hand again.

"Santana…I'm sorry for what I did. I'm ashamed of myself." Alma said. She was able to speak a little better than the first time that she spoke, but she was still exhausted and any activity seemed to make her even more tired. "I didn't understand what you were going through and it scared me, but that is no excuse, I should have treated you better."

Santana felt tears well up in her eyes. Before this moment, she was sure that she would have never heard those words from her Abuela.

"Shh, that's not important anymore." Santana said and lightly squeezed her hand. "All that matters is that you're still here and we can work on getting you better and rebuilding our relationship."

Santana meant that too. It wasn't just words, even if it took her to just now to realize it. She could have said how much she was hurt by her Abuela's actions, because she had a deep wound from that time, but really where would elaborating on that hurt get them? It wouldn't improve her Abuela's health and it wouldn't move them forward, it would just rub salt in old wounds for both of them, and Santana didn't want to dwell on that. She had gotten what she wanted and that was to know that her Abuela still loved her. They could work past all the rest of it and concentrate on making their relationship better.

Alma gave her a weak smile. "You have matured so much. I'm so proud of you and the woman that you've become."

Santana was so happy to hear those words. "Abuela, I want you to meet someone very special to me. She's the reason I got here so quickly. She took care of everything and made sure I didn't stress out too much." Santana looked behind her and held her hand out for Brittany to take. Brittany took her hand and stood beside her. Santana noticed that Brittany looked nervous, so she flashed her a warm smile. "Abuela, this is my girlfriend Brittany."

"It's nice to meet you Ms. Lopez." Brittany said shyly.

Alma looked a little surprised to see that there was someone else in the room with them, but after a moment, she slowly moved the hand that Santana was holding and placed it on top of Santana and Brittany's clasped hands. "It's nice to meet you too, Brittany. Thank you for taking care of my Santana."

Santana thought that she meant more than just taking care of her during this trip, it sounded like her Abuela just thanked Brittany for taking care of her in general.

"You're welcome. I'd do anything for Santana." Brittany answered with a blush.

"She's a lucky girl to have such a beautiful and caring girlfriend."

"I am lucky." Santana said and looked to Brittany with another smile. Actually, she felt damn lucky that she even got to experience this moment of acceptance with Brittany and her Abuela.

Before the conversation could continue, the door opened and the doctor walked in. "Hello, I'm Dr. Saundra Hill. I'm just going to take a quick look at Ms. Lopez's charts." She said and extended her hand to Santana.

"Okay, thanks." Santana said as she shook her hand. "I'm Santana and this is my girlfriend Brittany."

"Yes, it's nice to meet both of you. The nurses are all in a tizzy over you two being here." Dr. Hill said with a slight chuckle and extended her hand to Brittany, which Brittany followed suit and shook her hand as well.

"Really? They barely even seem to acknowledge us when they come in." Santana said. The nurses would just come in, do their thing, and leave. They hardly spoke to them unless they were asked a question.

"That's because we have a great bunch of professional nurses." Dr. Hill said as she flipped though Alma's charts. "They'll do their jobs and keep their excitement to themselves, but you're definitely the topic of conversation in the break room."

"Oh." Santana said and she looked down to her Abuela.

"Someone is popular." Alma joked in a tired voice.

Santana cracked a smile. It felt so weird to hear her Abuela make jokes about her celebrity status. A good kind of weird, though. "Um, do you think you could just have a word with them and ask them to please keep this to themselves? I don't want the paparazzi to show up and hang out outside of the hospital. I don't think that would help anyone."

"Don't worry. They know better than to discuss any of their patients, but if it makes you feel better, I'll make sure that the head nurse talks to them about it." Dr. Hill said.

"I'd appreciate it." Santana said with a smile.

Dr. Hill read through a few more pages, and then she read the information from the heart monitor. "Well, everything looks like it should at this point, so Ms. Lopez, how're you feeling?"

"Tired." Alma breathed out. All that talking had drained what little energy she had.

"Then we better get out of here so you can sleep. The nurses will be in throughout the night to check on you." Dr. Hill said to Alma and then turned to Santana and Brittany. "Did they tell you the visitation hours?"

"9am." Brittany said with a tired smile.

"Okay. It was nice to meet you both, but before I leave, I wanna check if your contact information is still up to date?" Dr. Hill asked.

"Actually, Brittany gave the nurse her cell phone number yesterday when she took the call, but I'll give you mine as well." Santana said.

"Okay." Dr. Hill said and she wrote down Santana's number. "Now that that's settled, I'll see you tomorrow evening when I do my rounds."

"Thank you." Santana said with a grateful smile.

"You're welcome. Have a good night." Dr. Hill said and then she left the room.

"Abuela, I don't want to leave, but you really need to get some rest. We'll be back in the morning." Santana said and leaned down to kiss her Abuela on her cheek.

"Okay." Alma said and her voice sounded strained from exhaustion again.

Santana and Brittany quickly gathered their things.

"Sleep well." Santana said and kissed her Abuela's cheek again.

Alma turned her head slightly and kissed Santana's check as well. "Love you."

"I love you too." Santana said with a wide smile.

"Have a good night." Brittany said to Alma with a little wave, took Santana's hand in hers, and led her out of the room.

When they got into the car, Brittany put the keys in the ignition, but she didn't turn it over. "So how're you feeling?" She asked.

"I feel…happy." Santana said with a smile. "My Abuela is alive, she apologized, she seemed to like you, and she told me that she loved me. This morning I didn't think any of those things were even possible, so right now, even though I'm still a little worried about the possibility of complications with her recovery, I'm just so happy."

Brittany smiled. She leaned in and kissed Santana on the lips. Santana hummed at the contact and leaned into the kiss to deepen it a little. They both needed this kiss; it had been a long and stressful two days.

When they broke apart, Brittany cupped Santana's cheek with her hand and kissed her forehead. "Come on, let's go check into the hotel and get some sleep. I need my cuddles."

"Yes, please." Santana chuckled tiredly. She was very much in favor of that plan.

-()-()-()-()-

Santana hummed to herself as she rubbed conditioner into her hair. She couldn't help but smile as she thought about seeing her Abuela again. Visiting hours started in about an hour, and she was busting at the seams to get back to the hospital. The last couple of days had been nice as they started to catch up on the last six years of their lives and in turn, rebuild their relationship. It hadn't been as easy as Santana had hoped because her Abuela was still very weak and she slept for long periods, but the doctors said that that was normal, and little by little, she was improving.

The smile on Santana's face widened suddenly as a very touching thought entered her mind. Yesterday, while they were visiting, her Abuela and Brittany exchanged stories about her for about half an hour before sleepiness took over for her Abuela. It could have been even more embarrassing than her dinner with Quinn from a few weeks ago, considering the stories that her Abuela told about her, but nothing that day could have embarrassed Santana because she was just so happy to see her Abuela and her girlfriend having a friendly conversation. It really touched her that her Abuela was making a sincere effort to show that her apology was not a flimsy one; Alma had not only accepted Santana's sexuality but her girlfriend as well. Santana's heart was just over flowing with happiness.

As Santana continued to run the events of the previous few days though her mind, she heard her cell phone ring in the bedroom.

"Britt, can you answer that for me, I'll be out in a few." Santana called as finished up.

"Sure, Babe." Brittany replied and picked up the phone.

Santana turned the water off a few minutes later, and she grabbed a towel to dry off with. She could hear Brittany still speaking to the person who called, but she was speaking too low to understand what they were saying. Santana opened the bathroom door further and saw Brittany standing on the other side of the bedroom with her back to her.

"Okay, thanks for calling, we'll be there soon." Brittany said softly and then hung up the phone.

"Who was it?" Santana asked as she tucked the towel around her body.

Brittany didn't turn around immediately. She took a deep breath and held it for a few seconds before she released it heavily. Santana knitted her eyebrows as her curiosity was spiked by Brittany's subdued response to her question.

"Babe?" Santana said again.

This time Brittany turned around and quickly walked over to Santana, taking her hand and silently leading her over to the bed so they could sit on it.

"Britt, you're really starting to freak me out. Who was that on the phone?" Santana said and the anxiousness in her voice was unmistakable.

Brittany closed her eyes for a few seconds as she prepared herself. When she opened eyes, she looked into Santana's worried eyes and her heart started to break. "Santana…that was the hospital. You're Abuela developed a blood clot early this morning and it traveled to-"

"Is she still alive?" Santana interrupted with a shaky voice. Her heart started to pound in her chest because she remembered one of the nurses saying something about the risk of blood clots causing strokes.

Brittany bit her bottom lip as tears started to form and she shook her head sadly.

Santana felt her world flip upside down. Her heart sank and her lungs contracted tightly, making it harder for her to breathe. She shook her head in disbelief. "No, this can't be right; they said she was getting better!" She choked out, tears already rolling down her cheeks.

"I'm so sorry, San." Brittany whispered sadly. "They said that they did everything they could to help her, but she was just too weak from the heart attack to survive the stroke."

"No!" Santana sobbed; her heart shattering.

Brittany pulled Santana into her, securely wrapping her arms around Santana's back as she shook from her weeping. Brittany's heart broke just a little bit more as the sounds of Santana's crying filled the room.

"This is s-so fuck-ing un-fair!" Santana whimpered into crook of Brittany's neck as she clung to Brittany for every ounce of comfort that she could get.

Brittany shifted her hold around Santana's back with one of her arms and moved her other hand to the back of Santana head, tangling her fingers into her wet hair. "I know, baby. I know." She said in as soothing a voice as she could muster.

Brittany didn't do or say anything else after that. She just held Santana and let her cry, because really, that was all she could do for her at the moment.

-()-()-()-()-

Santana stared at a framed picture of herself and her Abuela that she found in Alma's small apartment. It had been two days since her Abuela died and she still seem to be in a state of shock. She choked up a little as she looked at the picture from her ninth birthday. She remembered that birthday as if it was yesterday, because it was probably the first birthday that she felt like she was growing up and not a little girl anymore.

That was the year that her Abuela and her parents bought her more mature gifts. Her parents had given her an iPod and her Abuela gave her a real grown-up purse and inside the purse was an iTunes gift card so she could buy music for her new mp3 player. Her mother snapped the picture that she was holding when she jumped up to hug her Abuela to thank her for her gift. The smiles on their faces were so genuine. It hurt Santana so much to know that she would never see that smile on her Abuela's face again, especially since they had just reconnected. Losing her a second time seemed even worse than the first time, because this time it was a permanent loss; the hope that she had for them during their six years apart was gone, and it was never coming back.

Brittany walked into the living room looking for Santana. She had spent most of the afternoon gathering up Alma's belongings and putting them in boxes. Santana had attempted to help her, but they made the mistake of starting in Alma's bedroom, so about two minutes into trying to sort through it, she broke down when she saw the picture from her ninth birthday sitting on her Abuela's dresser. Brittany comforted her by holding her and whispering loving words into her ear, but when that didn't seem to help, Brittany picked her up and carried her into the living room because there seemed to be less personal items in there that would have an effect on Santana. She cradled Santana in her arms as they sat on the couch. It took almost half an hour for Santana to calm down to a point that Brittany felt like she could leave her side to continue packing.

"Hey." Brittany said as she sat next to Santana and took her free hand into her own.

"Hey." Santana said in a low voice and she offered Brittany a small smile as she leaned into her and rested her head on Brittany's shoulder.

They sat there in silence. Santana hadn't said much over the past couple of days. Brittany didn't want to push her either, so she didn't try to make conversation just for the sake of conversation. It had been an emotionally draining few days for them because while Santana was dealing with the loss of her Abuela, Brittany was dealing with watching her girlfriend grieve, and it was killing her on the inside to see Santana so upset, but she forced herself to keep it together for Santana's sake. She knew Santana needed a strong shoulder to lean on when she felt like she needed it, and she was determined to be that shoulder.

"Are you done—I mean is it all-" Santana started to say but stopped. She let out a heavy sigh and looked down at their hands. "I'm sorry. I should have pulled myself together and helped you."

"Hey, it's okay. I didn't mind doing it." Brittany said quietly and rested her other hand on top of their clasped hands. "I know how upsetting this is for you, and it's going to take time for you to come to terms with everything, so just tell me what you need and I'll do it, okay."

Santana nodded. "Thanks. I really don't know how I would have managed the past few days without you. If I was by myself I'm sure I would have had a severe melt down by now."

It was true and Brittany knew that she was keeping Santana from losing it. Santana's emotions had been erratic since they heard the news and she was constantly in a state where she was one memory or stress factor away from a crying spell or an angry outburst.

"I don't think you would have been alone. Quinn and Kurt would have been here for you if we hadn't met." Brittany said trying to reassure Santana.

"Yeah, but I'm glad it's you here and not them. Just being near you helps. I thought I was a lot stronger than this, but the past few days have proved to me that I'm not as strong as I thought I was. I couldn't even go through my own Abuela's things without turning in to a weepy mess."

"Honey, you are strong." Brittany insisted. "Probably one of the strongest people I know, but just because you have that strength inside of you, it doesn't mean that you can't be vulnerable and emotional after the loss of a loved one. In fact, it's probably better if you let your emotions out because it makes it easier to accept that loss and heal.

"I know, but I'm just so all over the place. One minute I'm calm and content with the knowledge that my Abuela isn't suffering and she never stopped loving me and the next I'm either breaking down into a hysterical fit of tears because I thought of something or saw something that reminded me of my Abuela; or I'm ready to break something and scream because I'm constantly thinking about how after were finally got to a place of understanding with each other, and we were working on fixing our relationship, she was ripped away from me again, and this time, she's not coming back. I'm never going to get to talk to her or see her again."

"I know, San, and it's okay; you can cry and throw as many fits as you need to, to help you work through this."

Santana sighed and offered Brittany a small smile. "I love you. You really are too good for me. I know that I've let my anger get the better of me and I've snapped at you a few times this week. I'm so sorry for doing that. I was never mad at you. You've been so strong for me and so helpful. I couldn't have done any of this without you."

Brittany lightly squeezed Santana's hand and kissed her on her forehead. "I love you too and I didn't take it personally. I know that you're upset, so it's already been forgiven and forgotten."

Santana's smile grew just a little bit wider, and it was the first time in two days, that Brittany had seen a real smile on her face. "Thank you." Santana whispered in relief and rested her head on Brittany's shoulder.

They sat in silence for a little while longer, and Santana took so much comfort from just being in Brittany's presence that after a while she sat up and shifted to the edge of the couch.

"I think I'm a little better now. I think I'll be able to look through the boxes without breaking down."

"Okay." Brittany said, and moved so she was sitting on the edge of the couch as well. "Most of the stuff is ready for goodwill, but there's a box in the bedroom that has pictures, jewelry and knick-knacks, and a box in the kitchen that has her cookbooks and recipe box, and a few other items. I figured that you would probably want to keep those.

Santana nodded. She did want to keep those things. They were personal and meant something to her Abuela, and some of the stuff, like the pictures, some of Alma's jewelry, and the recipe box, meant something to Santana. They reminded her of a time when things were happier. The rest, she decided, could go to goodwill. "Okay. Thanks again for everything, Britt. I really appreciate it."

"You're welcome." Brittany said with a smile as she stood. Santana followed suit, and they walked hand in hand into the kitchen.

-()-()-()-()-

Alma's funeral had come and gone, and there hadn't been a dry eye in the room. Santana was truly touched by the amount of people who had come up to her and expressed their sympathies. They were mostly Alma's friends from her retirement home and card club, but they all had good things to say about her. A few close friends, who had been aware of the estrangement between Santana and Alma, even told her how Alma had worked through her own acceptance of Santana's sexuality, and how she had struggled in later years about getting in contact with Santana. As it turned out, Brittany had been right in her assumption that Alma was afraid of what Santana's reaction to her would be, and her pride kept her from contacting Santana earlier than what she did.

Now that everyone had left, Santana and Brittany stood in front of three plots, two with headstones with the names of her parents, and her Abuela's. This was the first time Santana had been there since she left Ohio for L.A. Brittany had called a florist the day before to have three sets of flowers delivered to the funeral home, one for Alma and two others so Santana would have fresh flowers to take with her to the cemetery to place on her parents graves as well. It was a small gesture that warmed Santana's heart, because she had not even thought to do it, or even asked Brittany to do it; she just did it on her own.

"I really wish I could have introduced you to them. My parents would have loved you. My mom especially." Santana said quietly. She was actually surprised that she could say all that without tearing up or crying, considering how emotional she had been. She thought that maybe she just didn't have any tears left since she had cried so much in the last week and a half.

Brittany tightened her grip on Santana's hand. "I think that I would have liked them too. You always speak so highly of them."

"They were good people, and even better parents. I loved them so much. I only wish that I said it to them more often."

"I'm sure they knew San. You don't always have to say the words for people to know it's true."

Santana nodded and then looked over towards her Abuela's plot. "I'm just glad that I got to hear those words from my Abuela. Those two days where we were starting to reconcile our relationship were some of the happiest days of my life."

Brittany nodded. "Yeah, I could tell. Every time she would say something to us, your expressions would just brighten."

Santana just nodded and then curled into Brittany, wrapping her arms around her waist. Brittany responded by wrapping her arms around Santana and holding her tight.

"Hey, you know what we should do?" Brittany said after a few moments.

"What?"

"We should go for a ride and you can show me all the places that you used to hang out at when you were a kid."

Santana smiled into Brittany's neck. "I guess we could do that. It might just bring back some really good memories."

"Let's hope."

-(Later that night)-

"You know, I wish you'd let me stay with you while you finish up with settling your Abuela's estate. I don't like the idea of you being here by yourself." Brittany said with concern as she packed her bags.

Santana just wrapped her arms around Brittany's waist from behind and nuzzled her nose into her shoulder blade. She loved Brittany's concern for her. Their drive from earlier and all of Brittany's support had done wonders for her emotional state, so even though she was still very sad about losing her Abuela, she felt like she could manage a few days on her own.

"Britt, I appreciate it, but you've already done so much to help me. I'll be fine, I'm only going to be here for a few days by myself, and as much as I would love for you to be here, you have to go home, pack up, and move out of your apartment. Your rehearsals start soon and I'm not going to let you miss it because of this."

"I know, but-"

"No, no buts. You have to go, and I'll be back in L.A. before it's time for us to go to New York. I just wish that we found an apartment by now. Maybe we'll find something this week that we like so we won't have to stay in a hotel for long. I feel guilty about boarding the animals."

"Oh, yeah, I wanted to say something before now, but with everything that was going on, I never really found the right time to say it, but I think I might have a quick solution for us."

"Really?" Santana said and let go of her hold on Brittany. She went over to the bed and sat down. "What is it?"

"We don't have to do it if you don't want to, but Shelby called me the other day and she said that her friend Erica who lives five floors up from her is being sent to Italy for a year for her job and she doesn't want to lose the apartment, so she wants to sublet it. Shelby suggested we look into it. It's a two bedroom place, just like we wanted, it's fully furnished, and pets are allowed. We would only have to find a place to stay for a few days, and Shelby offered to let us stay with her while we're waiting to move in."

"Hmm, did she have any pictures for us to look at?"

"I could text Shelby to ask her, but the layout is going to be similar to Shelby's apartment, just without the third bedroom."

Santana nodded, but she didn't say anything.

"Are you okay with living in the same building as my family; because if you're not, we can continue looking for another apartment, I won't mind." Brittany offered when Santana didn't say anything.

"What? No, Britt, I don't mind staying close to them. I like your family, Beth is great, and Shelby and I are friends. If this whole ordeal has taught me anything, it's that spending time with your family when you can is so important. My abuela and I wasted so much time, so I want you to make the most of the time that you have with your family. I was just thinking it over, but I'd like to see some pictures first, just to make sure that we're okay with how it looks, because I don't want to sign a contract and then find out that we don't like it."

Brittany leaned over her suitcase and gave Santana a soft kiss. "Okay, I'll get you some pictures, but just know that it doesn't matter to me where we live, I'm just happy to be able to cuddle with you every night."

Santana chuckled. "Are you sure it's me you like cuddling with; Max and Lord Tubbington were starting to get a little clingy before we left. How we would fall asleep cuddled up to each other and then wake up with the two boys in-between us is beyond me."

"They love us and they want to cuddle too." Brittany cooed.

"Yeah, well if they keep it up, I'm going to have some words with them, because I while I love cuddling with them too, I still want to be able to touch you."

Brittany giggled, because even though Santana was joking, she could just imagine what that conversation would look like. "Okay, but don't be too hard on them, they're our babies after all."

"Mmm, our spoiled babies."

"Yep. I wouldn't have it any other way." Brittany said with a smile and leaned down so she could kiss Santana.

"Me either." Santana whispered and kissed Brittany again.

-()-()-()-()-

A/N: I know this was a sad chapter. There won't be many of these, but even for happy, stable couples, life sometimes has a way of throwing us curveballs that challenge and test us and our relationships, and that was what I was trying to do here. I think going through this brought Brittany and Santana closer together, but I'll let you guys be the judge of that. Please let me know your thoughts.

Thanks to naynay1963 for her beta-ing!

Disclaimer: I don't own 'Glee' or any copyrighted material or products that are mentioned in this story.