Like she predicted, Santana gets a yeast infection from her antibiotics and she's absolutely miserable until the Diflucan kicks in. She's irritable with Brittany, she's short with Liam and she groans more than she should when she wakes up to feed the twins. But then it's over and Lauren starts at the hospital and the Pierces are coming to look at places to live in New York and Santana calms down. Like she always does after a bought with misery, she apologizes profusely to Brittany, she hugs the boys a little tighter and things go back to normal.
"My mom just called, they landed." Brittany comes into Santana's office where she's working, phone still in her hand.
"I really feel bad we didn't pick them up. Today was just a lot."
"I know, if I rescheduled Mrs. Heeling's surgery again she would have lost it. But they're fine, they're used to Boston. They just didn't want to drive down and when we said they could use the car to go out to Long Island..."
"I can't believe they're going to bring our three kids to look at houses." Santana laughs. "Though I'm sure my mother appreciates a few days to herself."
"I think it will be good for your mom if my mom can take some of the days from her. She's been absolutely amazing but I feel like it's becoming a lot."
"I'm just starting to realize that she's getting older. Liam starting school will help, when she just has Max and Oliver, but before we know it they're going to be all over the place."
"That's the first time you've said that without crying." Brittany kisses Santana on the forehead. "Are you ready to go?"
"Yeah, let me just make my last notations in this chart and return it to the nurse's station. I've got sepsis in a three year old, if it gets worse, I'm going to come in tonight. I'm not leaving it to the on call doctor."
"Whatever you need to do, honey. I get it."
Santana finishes up with her chart and she and Brittany leave the hospital, anxious to be there by the time Brittany's parents get to the house. They get home and all three boys are taking a nap way too late but Maribel tells them Liam refused his nap and then passed out on the living room floor while he was playing. Though they invite Maribel to come to dinner with the Pierces, she gently declines, her eyes giving away that it was a really long day and she's just ready to rest in the privacy of her own home.
"We should at least wake up Liam, shouldn't we?" Santana asks once her mom is out the door.
"Let him sleep, he'll be up late with my parents and a little while longer might do him some good. Do you want to take a shower first or should I?"
"Do you mind if I do? I feel extra disgusting today."
"Go ahead, I'm going to start dinner and then I'll jump in."
Leaving Brittany downstairs, Santana goes up into their bathroom and turns the shower as hot as it can go. She steps under the spray of the water and lets it seep into her skin, rinsing off the grime of her day. When she's finished, she turns off the water and hears Brittany calling her from downstairs. It's unlike Brittany when she knows Santana is in the shower and so she quickly gets dressed and goes downstairs to find Brittany sprawled on the kitchen floor.
"Are you okay?" Santana bends down beside her and sees Brittany's face contorted in pain.
"I fell off the kitchen counter and I'm pretty sure my tibia and fibula destroyed." Brittany breathes through the pain, something Santana never can believe that another human being is capable of. "Can you look at it?"
"Britt...I can see it from here. We need to get you to the ER."
"The kids..."
"Look, I'll call Mercedes. She'll come here and sit with them until your parents get here. This isn't a joke."
"I know it's not a joke." Brittany snaps a little. "I'm sorry...it just hurts like hell."
"Just give me five minutes, I'll get everything situated."
Santana immediately snaps into her taking care of business mode and she gets Mercedes on the phone. Then, because she's concerned about moving Brittany's leg to get her into the car, she calls an ambulance. She's so glad the the boys are still sleeping when the paramedics bring a stretcher into the house and help Brittany get on it. Santana knows she's in a lot of pain because she doesn't argue with the fact that she's not doing this on her own and Santana just holds her hand until Mercedes gets there and they can leave.
"Do me a favor?" Santana murmurs to Mercedes. "Don't let Brittany's parents come to the hospital, it'll be too much for them."
"I won't." Mercedes promises. "But I'll meet you there once they get here."
"Thank you."
The ambulance bay at the hospital brings back horrifying memories of mass casualty incidents for Santana as they enter through the back and she wonders if Brittany feels the same way. She just lays silent and white faced as the paramedics wheel her in and Santana squeezes her hand. Neither of them know the name of the new ortho attending that comes to see Brittany, but considering surgical is already involved, they both assume that the paramedics called in a worse break than they'd expected.
"We're going to have to surgically repair it." The young doctor who introduces himself as Dr. Hart tells Brittany after her x-rays come back. "You saw the bones, they're both shattered, you'll need a rod to hold them in place."
"Is Tina Cohen-Chang on in anesthesiology?" Brittany asks calmly. "If she is, that's who I want. How long have you been at this hospital?"
"Three months, I know who you are, Dr. Pierce, I've just never had the pleasure of working with you. I'll see about Dr. Cohen-Chang for you."
"I'm sitting in the gallery." Santana interrupts.
"Santana. No you're not." Brittany shakes her head. "I need you to go talk to Sue, let her know what's going on and to call my parents so they don't have to hear I'm in here from Mercedes. You don't need to be in the gallery, its just going to make you anxious."
"But—"
"No. Please, Santana. I don't want to argue with you."
"Okay." She concedes and kisses Brittany on the forehead. "I love you."
"I love you too."
"Hart, don't screw this up."
Before she does anything else, Santana listens to Brittany's request that she call her parents. Whitney is beside herself when she hears that Brittany is in the hospital but Santana convinces her that everything will be fine and the best thing she can do is stay with the boys. Then, she calls her own mother and has a mini-breakdown, sobbing ugly sobs in the waiting room. Brittany has been the one in this position before, sitting in the waiting room when she had her breasts fixed, watching her as the twins were delivered early, but Santana doesn't think she has the mental capacity for the roles to be reversed. She knows that she has to talk to Sue, tell her that Brittany is in surgery, but she can't seem to get herself together.
"Hey, I know this is killing you, but you need to pull yourself together." Mercedes sinks down in the chair next to Santana and holds out her hand. "She's going to be fine."
"What do you know about this Hart guy?"
"I checked him out in the cab on the way over. He was first in his class at Johns Hopkins, did his residency at UCLA, he's good. She's in good hands."
"Goddamn it. She's always the strong one, 'Cedes. I don't know how to do this."
"Yes you do, you did it for Oliver."
"I almost had a damn nervous breakdown after he was born. It was Brittany holding me together."
"I'm here, okay? You're not alone. She's going to get out of this surgery and she's going to recover and everything is going to be okay. You know that I don't bullshit you."
"I know."
"You need to go talk to the chief. She needs to know that one of her department heads is in surgery, if the rumor mill hasn't gotten to her already."
"You'll text me if someone comes out?"
"Immediately." Mercedes promises. "Go."
Wiping her face with her hands, Santana pulls it together and goes to the elevator. Sue is in her office when Santana gets there and she lightly taps on the door. The chief looks up, surprised to see her so late, and waves Santana in. Shifting her weight between feet, Santana takes a deep breath and looks Sue in the face.
"Hi Chief Sylvester, I just wanted to let you know that Brittany is in surgery right now. She fell of the kitchen counter and her leg is pretty damaged."
"Who's doing the surgery?" Sue clicks at the screen in her computer. "Dr. Hart, good choice."
"We didn't really have a choice, he was the on call doctor."
"Well she's lucky, he's good."
"Look, she just wanted you to hear it from me, so..."
"I'll deal with HR for a medical leave for her. She'll probably be in no shape to talk to me in the morning, but let her know it's taken care of."
"I know her, she'll want to do her admin stuff from home."
"Not this week. We'll talk about it when she's had time to recover. I'll take over her scheduling for the time being and shift around her surgeries. She's helped me enough, I just want her to heal."
Santana thinks of all the times she's thought Sue was a hard ass, but she's surprisingly gentle when it comes to Brittany, and for that, Santana is grateful. She thanks Sue several times and goes back down to the waiting room where Mercedes is flipping through a magazine. She gets back in the chair next to her and sighs heavily.
"Everything go okay?"
"Yeah, I mean, she was super accommodating. She's going to deal with the HR stuff, so..."
Hours pass and Santana FaceTimes with the boys, promising Liam that everything is okay and she'll kiss him when she gets home. Finally, Hart comes out and he tells Santana that Brittany did well and is in recovery. She can't get there fast enough, she's not even sure that she thanked Mercedes for watching the boys or for sitting with her for hours but she just wants to see her wife. When she gets to the recovery room, Brittany has her eyes closed and Santana sinks down beside her, taking her hand.
"You're pretty." Brittany giggles, opening her eyes.
"And you're very high." Santana lets out a breathy, relieved laugh.
"I don't feel anything in my leg. Joe said that it's fixed, so that's good."
"Yeah, he said it was an easier surgery than he was expecting and if you're up for it, you can go home tonight."
"I want to sleep in my own bed. With you, pretty lady."
"We can make that happen, you know we just have to make sure you hit your milestones."
"Santana, I'm going to be out of work for a long time."
"Six weeks, minimum. You need to heal it, you have to be able to stand for hours at a time."
"I know. This is going to hurt like hell tomorrow."
"I called Shelby while I was waiting. I'm taking the rest of the week. Good thing I still have so much banked time from all the years I didn't take it." Santana sighs.
"I love you."
"I love you too."
It takes awhile before Brittany is ready to go home, but when she is, a nurse wheels her out to the curb and Santana gets a cab. She puts Brittany's crutches in first then helps her get situated and walks around to the other side. Because of the surgery, Brittany old has a soft cast on and Santana is extra careful that nothing touches her leg.
When they get to the house, Brittany is surprisingly good—even still under the influence of anesthesia and morphine—maneuvering on the crutches but Santana helps her up the front stairs and then Pierce comes running out to help Santana get her up in the inside staircase to bed. Once she's settled and has taken a dose of her pills, Santana takes a deep breath and Whitney taps on the door.
"What can I do?" She asks helplessly.
"Mom, I'm okay, it's just a little break." Brittany yawns, tired from all the medication. "You and dad can go to bed."
"Oh, honey." Whitney comes over to Brittany's side of the bed and kisses her forehead. "I'm so glad you're alright."
Once Whitney has said her good nights and Pierce comes in to do the same, Santana goes down the hall to Liam's room. She kisses him and he murmurs in his sleep, trying to fight his body to talk to her. She'll get up with him in the morning, exhausted as she is, because she wants things to be as normal as possible for him even though it'll be difficult with Brittany down for the count. Once he's tucked back under his blankets, she goes back into the bedroom and sees Brittany flipping through the channels on TV. She lifts Max and Oliver from their bed and guides her achingly full breasts to them so she can nurse them for the first time since early in the morning.
"I'm sorry, Santana." Brittany whispers.
"Why are you sorry?"
"For not being more careful. It was a careless mistake and now..."
"Britt." Santana shifts Max a little so she can kiss Brittany's temple. "It was just an accident, we'll figure it all out."
"It's just running through my head all I won't be able to do with only one good leg."
"Our focus is on getting you healed. Your parents are here, my mom isn't far away, we have support to help us while you recover. If you want the privacy, we'll keep you up here, if you want to be in the center of everything, we'll get you downstairs and set up on the couch. I know you're good on those crutches, but I don't know how much you'll feel like walking around at first."
"It just...really hurts."
"I broke my arm when I was seven. I don't remember anything about it except how bad it hurt. Do you want a pill?"
"It hasn't been long enough since they gave me the Vicodin at the hospital." Brittany shakes her head. "I'll wait, try to sleep, just...focus on something other than the pain."
"Can I do anything?"
"Let's just go to sleep."
When Santana wakes up in the morning, she can tell by the way Brittany is snoring that she woke up and took another Vicodin during the night. Brittany is always so tough, it's hard for Santana to know that she's in so much pain. She gently kisses her forehead and slips out of bed. It's earlier than she'd like to be up, Max and Oliver are still sleeping, but because she didn't take an Ambien in case Brittany needed her, she's awake.
She goes into the bathroom, takes a shower and brushes her teeth, coming out just in time for Oliver to start whining. Not wanting Brittany to get woken up, Santana lifts Oliver from the bassinet and then takes Max too, careful not to jostle him and wake him up. When she gets downstairs, Whitney is already awake and has made coffee, so she hands Santana a full mug once she puts Max down and has Oliver settled on her breast.
"Did you sleep at all?" Whitney asks Santana.
"Barely, I was so worried about Brittany. It's a bad break and...I just...it's stupid."
"It's probably not stupid."
"Seeing her hurt is hard for me. She always has it so together and looking at her last night splayed on the kitchen floor in pain, it was just a lot."
"You love her so intensely. As horrible as it is that she's hurt, it makes me so glad to see the way you love her. I know you've been married over a year now, but I haven't gotten to see this much before, I only know what Brittany tells me."
"I'm sure there were a lot of not so great things." Santana sighs.
"She's never said a bad word about your love got her. She just worried about the difficulties you had after the twins were born."
"She's my rock. I'm trying to be a rock for her too."
"You are." Whitney pats Santana's arm. "Trust me."
Once Max is finished eating and Santana finishes her coffee, she goes upstairs, peeks into the bedroom to see that Brittany is still sleeping, then goes into Liam's room. She knows that he'll be up any minute, so she crawls under the covers with him, stroking his hair. She's not sure how much he knows about what happened to Brittany, so she wants to be there as soon as he wakes up to answer any questions.
"Hi, Mommy Noodle." He murmurs, burrowing into her side. "Why are you in my bed?"
"I just wanted to cuddle a little bit with you, Sir."
"Is Mama sick? Gramma said she was at the hospital but not to get worried."
"Mama broke her leg. She's okay, but we're going to have to be really careful with her. We can't run and jump around her."
"Can I cuddle her?"
"We'll have to see how she feels, but I'm sure she'll want a big hug from you."
"Can I see how she feels now?"
"We can go see if she's awake." Santana mods. "But we need to be really quiet in case she's still sleeping."
Holding Liam's hand, Santana creeps down the hall. When they get to the bedroom, Brittany is sitting propped up on the pillows frantically typing away on her phone. Liam's smile is wide when he sees that she's awake and he climbs up on the bed so carefully to get to her side. He lays his head on Brittany and she pulls him as close as she can, hugging him tightly.
"Mama, I was so scared when Gramma told me you had to go to the hospital."
"Can I tell you a secret, bud?"
"Yes, I can keep secrets. But Mommy Noodle can know too."
"You're right." Brittany smiles. "She can."
"My secret is that I was scared to go to the hospital too. I haven't had to go there for me since I was just bigger than you."
"Me and Mommy Noodle and Maxie and Ollie went there."
"You're right, and that's what reminded me to be brave."
"Did you get a lollipop?"
"You know what?" She laughs. "It was so late that I forgot to ask for one."
"Can we get some today?"
"It might be a little bit hard for me to go to the store, but I bet Mommy would get us some, maybe you can go with her?"
"Mommy Noodle, can we?"
"We can definitely do that. We'll take Max and Oliver too, I bet they'd like a nice walk in the sunshine." Santana tells him. "Grandma and Grandpa can stay with Mama when we go."
"Honey, I'm fine if they have things to do. They're here to look at houses."
"We'll figure it out. I don't want to leave you here alone just yet."
"Yeah, Mama." Liam interjects. "We gotta take care of you."
"Cuddling with you is helping a lot, Li."
"Are you working on your phone?" Santana asks.
"I'm just sending an email to my department. I want them all to hear from me that I'll be out for awhile. I'll still do the scheduling and—"
"Liam, do you want to see if Grandma can get you breakfast?" Santana interrupts, wanting to have a heart to heart conversation with Brittany alone.
"Okay, Mommy Noodle." He hugs Brittany once more and hops off the bed. "I'll be back."
"Britt, Sue wants you to do nothing this week. You're hopped up on all kinds of pain killers, I can see from your face that they haven't totally alleviated the pain. She told me you can talk next week and see what you're up to doing but that she's taking care of things for now."
"Santana, it's my department."
"When I was out before the twins were born, you made sure that I was relaxing. Now I'm going to do the same for you."
"I'm fine." Brittany insists.
"You shattered two bones. You're not fine."
"I'm fine enough to work from home."
"Look. Sue is not going to let you do it, so you can insist to me as much as you want. But remember what it felt like when I was the one saying I could do everything."
"That was different."
"No it wasn't." Santana shakes her head. "Both situations are about medical advice. I don't want to argue with you."
"I'm sorry." Brittany rubs her temples. "I hardly slept last night and I'm just frustrated the happened. I just...it's hard to step away."
"I know that better than anyone and I get that it's worse for toy because you have a whole department counting on you. But just take a few days, adjust to your medication, get some sleep."
"I think I actually want to go downstairs, but I really don't know how to do that."
"We'll take it one step at a time."