The strong wind whipped Brittany's hair as she stared at the plane door. It was intimidating, looking down when you are 14,000 feet above the ground.
Santana was just behind her and held her hand. "Go, you can do this, babe."
Hearing the words of encouragement from the Latina's lips, Brittany took in a deep breath, and jumped. She raised her hands, just as she was taught. She spread out her wings like an eagle. A few moments, Santana followed. And then several other skydivers came closer to Brittany, forming the inner circle. Then, several others made the outer circle.
In the outer circle were Sebastian and his friends. Santana eyed them cautiously, though they did not try to do something. They only did what they were told.
It was time to deploy. The carousel broke off and everyone pulled their rigs quickly. Santana pulled hers and her canopy instantly flew and inflated above her head.
It was Brittany's cue to pull her rig. With one motion of her hand, she yanked her rig loose. But her canopy did not inflate; she kept on falling at an enormous speed.
Down below, the spectators gasped as they saw the situation.
"Fuck, someone did not open!" someone shouted.
"Jesus Christ." Someone else gasped.
"Cut away!" she heard Santana yelling. "Cut away, damn!"
Brittany tried to grope the rigging as she fell and her velocity is getting greater and greater each second. She looked down to the ground fast approaching as she scrambled for the riggings.
"Cut away!" Santana yelled.
"I can't…" Brittany slit the other rigging and she was sent falling faster than ever.
Of course, she had a reserve in her pack. But it wasn't that much. It was a lighter, more inefficient canopy. Worst of all, it hasn't opened.
"Tana, I'll go get her!" Dave let go of his canopy and detached it from his pack. He had designed his bag to contain two canopies and a reserve. Dave shot down towards Brittany.
"Damn it! Get her, Dave!" Santana yelled.
Dave shot swiftly downward. There was no time to waste, and he must get to Brittany. HE can't go faster than he's supposed to and he can't go slowly.
"Hang on, I got you," Dave straddled Brittany by the back. "I got you," he deployed his second canopy.
The draft caught the canopy and inflated it sooner than what Dave had expected, disembarking him from his legs' grip on Brittany.
"Brittany!" Dave watched Brittany as she fell towards the seawater. Brittany's reserve canopy was deployed. But it was too late.
Brittany had hit the water.
"Damn!" Santana yelled from above as she watched her girlfriend, arms stretched outward, legs spread wide as she floated on the water. From there, Santana could see her girlfriend's face, eyes tightly closed.
Beach authorities drove using speedboats towards the blonde. The whole descent was a blur to Santana. The only thing she cared about was Brittany.
She has to live through her fall.
Brittany was being dragged out of the water and into the sand as Santana landed. Several skydivers and spectators had gathered around her. Santana ran all the way to Brittany, brushing people off her way.
"Fuck, get the hell out of my way," Santana shouted as she ran through the crowd. She reached Brittany, eyes closed, with a stream of blood oozing from her nostrils. There was also a constant trickle on the left side of her head.
"Britt…Britt…stay with me," Santana looked at Brittany, her hands trying to open the tight, wet suit that had been wrapped around the blonde's body.
"Give her air, give her air!" Finn barked as he stood at Santana's side.
Santana took out a small knife from her pocket and put it under the neckline of Brittany's suit. She worked quickly, flipping the underside of the knife and slitting the suit.
"San…" Brittany called weakly.
"Britt, keep your eyes open, please…" Santana was tearful. She wouldn't care if Sebastian was looking at her at that moment, but the intensity of the moment, the idea that she might lose her love…it was worth the tears.
"San…"
"Britt, look at me," Santana looked at the blue eyes deeply. It bore through her heart and soul, and she wanted to give all that she had on that look. She wanted the blonde to know that she wouldn't let go.
"Britt, please…stay awake," tears choked on Santana's throat. A paramedic was beside her and started to take charge of Brittany.
"Britt, please…" Santana wailed as she looked at Brittany's face. Her eyed followed the paramedics as they carried Brittany on a gurney.
And then Santana saw Sebastian.
"You, you little douchebag!" Santana growled as she lunged forward, knocking Sebastian on the process.
"What? I did not do anything!" Sebastian yelled from the ground.
"Fuck you!" Santana punched him in the face twice, before kicking his groins. The Latina turned and walked away towards her car, ready to follow the ambulance, leaving Sebastian howling in pain with a bloody, broken nose.
Cops arrived at the scene and retrieved Brittany's bag. They held Santana back, for being the owner of the bag. The questions were brief, and they were just things that Santana had answered, all questions leading to Sebastian.
Santana drove swiftly across the highways as she punched the speed-dial on her phone. She waited only until the second ring.
"Hello?" Robbie's voice was on the line.
"Dad…" Santana cried on the phone. It was her first time that she ever called him Dad.
"Santana? What's the matter?" Robbie talked back worriedly. After all, Santana had been part of his daughter's life and he had considered her as a family already.
"We…we were skydiving…and…something happened…she's on the way…to Weston…" Santana's shaky voice was evident on the phone.
"What? Santana…I'll be there," Robbie said as he picked up his keys. He quickly left the house after receiving Santana's call.
The low wail of the ambulance pierced the stale, silent air as it made its way to Weston County Hospital, just a few minutes north of Santa Barbara.
Santana's feet ran the white-painted floors of the hospital as she made her way to the emergency room. When she arrived, she could already see Robbie's worried face, his phone on his ears.
"Anne, please pick this up. We really need you. It's Brittany…" Robbie was utterly worried. He slowly put his phone down after realizing that Anne isn't going to pick up.
"Santana…" he softly called.
Santana scooted over as she hugged her girlfriend's father.
"Is…is she alright?" Santana asked, her voice cracking.
"I don't know, Santana. Let's just wait for the doctors to come out," Robbie said.
They spent the night sleeping on the waiting chairs. It's not sleep actually, it was just uncomfortable naps that spanned to a few minutes to a few hours.
Suddenly, a blonde woman walked towards the waiting chairs and tapped Robbie on the shoulder. Santana was beside him, curled up into a ball and was slowly breathing.
"Anne, you're here," Robbie engulfed Anne in a hug. "Anne, our baby…"
"Shhh…she'll be fine, Rob."
Anne looked deep into Robbie's eyes. Robbie looked back at the peaceful azure ones.
And then that same old feeling they thought they had forgotten was back.