Santana can't stop thinking about her last encounter with Dr. Pierce. She can't stop thinking about the face of that little boy. And yet, she finds it difficult to let her bias against Dr. Pierce's field go. Maybe she's a good doctor—maybe there's not a maybe, Santana has seen that with her own two eyes—but that doesn't forgive the bad doctors out there.
They don't see each other. She considered paying Kurt to check the twins' charts, so she knows when Dr. Pierce has already made her rounds, but as it turns out, she didn't have to. This time, she's certain the other woman is avoiding her, and honestly, she's grateful for it. She can't wait for the Maria and Lucia to be released. Mostly, because that means they're out of the woods, and are free to live their lives, but also, because it means she won't have anything to share with the woman who gets so deeply under her skin.
She needs a break. The Martinez case has really worn her out, on top of the thirteen other surgeries she's done in a week. Shelby sees it too, and she tells Santana to take a few days to rest and recoup. She hasn't taken a vacation in far too long, and her two residents, Rose and Adams, can handle her caseload.
For the first two days she's off, Santana doesn't leave her apartment. She orders takeout, she drinks all the beer in her fridge, and she watches everything on her DVR. It feels so good, and she doesn't even care how lame that makes her. It's all she wants to do.
On the third day, Santana finally decides to go outside. She barely bothers to get dressed, instead, she pulls a sweatshirt over her sports bra, and zips her coat. A walk through Central Park seems like it'll redeem her two days inside, maybe, so she cuts in at the entrance on 110th, and just meanders around. It's chillier than she'd expected, and after a half hour, she's just about to turn around and go home. Then, out of nowhere, a ball hits her leg, and she scoffs.
"Careful, baby, not on the path."
The voice jars Santana, and she briefly considers running away. What is it about Dr. Pierce that ignites this flight mechanism in her? And why, of all places, did she have to run into her in Central Park, forty blocks from the hospital? Slowly, she turns her head in the direction of the ball, and she gets a full look at the little boy, sandy hair kept long around his full face. Even as a doctor, the extent of his injuries shock her, but she curls her lips into a smile, and she waves to him.
"Dr. Lopez." Dr. Pierce scoops the boy up in her arms protectively and he nuzzles into her shoulder.
"Dr. Pierce."
"Who's'at, mama?" He whispers loudly into her neck, and Dr. Pierce leans down to pick up his ball by Santana's foot.
"Dr. Lopez, from the hospital, Li. Remember the babies I told you about? The ones who were born hugging each other?"
"Mmhm. 'N you fixeded 'em so they c'n hug e'vrybonny. Them her babies?"
"Not quite." The soft smile she gives him surprises Santana. The Dr. Pierce she sees at work is tough and serious, so this is quite the turn. Of course she wouldn't be like that with her kid, Santana chastises herself, but… "She was the boss doctor for that."
"Wow." He breathes, then peeks one eyes at Santana, before burying his face back into Dr. Pierce's neck.
"Well, I should…" Santana trails off.
"Yeah. That would be good."
It drives Santana crazy, how she can't stop thinking about Dr. Pierce. She thought her time off would help, but running into her in the park just set her back. She can't remember ever fixating on a woman this much. She wishes that this were someone she was romantically interested in, not someone who just makes her feel anger and a strange sort guilt. Then again, she doesn't. She's made a very big point not to pull a Grey's Anatomy and sleep with someone at work. And that's not simply because that would involve sleeping with someone at all, a feat for her in and of itself these days.
It eats at her for two days after she goes back to work. She keeps half-expecting to run into Dr. Pierce in the NICU, but it doesn't happen. She even half-expects that she'll see her going into the day care—it is on her floor, after all—but that doesn't happen either. She's never there in person, but somehow, she's always creeping through her mind. Because of that, it comes as the most unexpected surprise, when late that second afternoon, there's a knock at her office door.
"I think we need to talk."