After Dani's awkward confrontation with Santana, the two filled the diner with an awkward silence, the only sounds Dani clearing her throat, the shuffle of salt and pepper shakers down the counter, and Santana asking Dani to retrieve the shakers from tables eight through twelve. It was soon four in the morning and the pair had gone a full three hours without so much as a mumble. Dani had been fighting the urge to return to the bathroom and slice into her skin and Santana kept looking at the blonde, averting her eyes whenever she felt the lingering became too long.

"I don't get you," Santana declared suddenly, after the last of the sugar caddies had been filled.

The break in the silence took Dani by surprise and she jumped in the bar stool. "Wh-what do you mean?"

Santana sighed and eyed Dani carefully, unaware that she was about to tread on a sore spot. "It's just…um…how do I put this?" She paused and bit her lip. "Why do you lead me on? And then push me away? Like nothing ever happened, and I just…"

Dani hesitated. "Santana, I – "

The dark-headed girl shook her head vehemently. "Let me finish." She cleared her throat and smoothed down her skirt before moving her hand, which she knew was a risk, to Dani's shoulder, to which Dani flinched, but didn't push her away. "You invite me to sit with you on the subway. You put your arm around me. You comforted me when I was sad…about Finn…and then I try to make the move. And you reject me like I'm spoiled food. I just…I don't understand."

Dani shook her head, tears prickling against the back of her eyes. She was confident. She had to be. That was who she had shown Santana she was. She opened her mouth, only to close it again after re-thinking her words.

"Dani, say something? Please?"

Finally, the shorter girl reached up and moved Santana's slowly off her shoulder. "I do that because that's just me, Santana," she responded, swallowing thickly and biting her lip at the lie. "I'm just not ready for a relationship right now. I've got a lot of baggage."

"We've all got baggage," Santana said gently.

Dani looked up, her eyes glossy but her face fuming in red. "Just don't, Santana! Can't you just believe me? I just make moves on people. Even straight girls. Even gay guys. It doesn't mean shit!"

Santana gritted her teeth her mouth froze into a frown. She twisted her fingers in her hand. "Okay. Fine."

The girls when back into silence.

The sun rose, and still not one customer or icebreaker had entered the diner. Gunther pranced through the door at daybreak. "Looking fabulous, ladies! Thank you, as always!"

Dani smiled widely and thanked him in a flirtatious manner, and Santana stared stonily at the ground, wanting nothing more than to go down to the subway and get on a different car than Dani, just to prove a point to the blonde. As the two walked down to the Orange Line together, Santana couldn't help but take note of Dani's sweating, clammy palms and pale face.

Taking a risk, she opened her mouth. "You okay? You look like shit, and you looked fine when we left."

"Gee, thanks, Santana," Dani shot back sarcastically. She plastered a fake smile on her face. "You look like shit, too!" she exclaimed, her eyes empty and suddenly bloodshot.

The pair began descending into the subway station and as they reached the platform, Santana observed Dani shaking and began to dig a water bottle out of her purse to offer the girl as she heard a crash on the floor beside her.

"Oh my god! Dani! Dani?" Santana leaned down and took Dani's head in her hands, shocked at how simply pale she looked. "Dani, wake up."

The MTA agent strolled over, speaking rapidly into a walkie-talkie and brushed in front of Santana before questioning the darker girl. "You know her?"

"Yes."

"What happened?"

"She just…looked pale and I went to grab some water for her and when I turned around, she had fainted."

The tall man nodded and picked Dani's wrist up. "She's got a pulse, but it's faint. I'm going to call an ambulance. Since you're the only person with her, you may be able to ride with her."

Santana nodded. "Good, thank you."

Ten minutes later, Dani had stirred and woken up and Santana had made her drink some of the water, but as soon as she attempted to get some food into the girl's system, Dani had rejected it weakly, claiming her stomach hurt and that she wasn't hungry. However, as soon as an EMT approached the duo, the MTA agent standing awkwardly to the side, they asked Dani if she could walk and then led her up the stairs before sticking an IV in her.

"What is this?" she asked weakly, yet somehow in an accusatory tone.

The EMT looked up at her, his voice deep and sharp. "You need some nutrients in your blood. Your blood sugar is pretty much shot to shit."

Santana pursed her lips, balancing herself as the ambulance lurched forward into the busy Manhattan streets. Slowly, a small possible interpretation of the truth bloomed in front of her.

"NO!" Dani screamed hoarsely, and she sprung forward, a newfound strength overtaking her as she began to claw at the IV in the crook of her elbow.

"We've got a fighter," the EMT called over, keeping one of his hands pressed firmly on Dani's arm. "Sedative, Steve."

The balding man at the front of the ambulance handed the EMT a small white pill that he forced into Dani's unwilling mouth.

Santana was at a loss for words as she watched Dani struggle under the EMT's hand as the calories filtered into her body. She could feel tears prickling in the back of her eyes as she watched the blonde fight against the EMT's restraints. That's why Dani hadn't wanted to eat her pancakes. That's why Dani fainted. That's why Dani had said she was a mess. That's why Dani had said she was full when Santana heard her stomach. The brunette let out a broken dry sob and then buried her head in her hands to hide her tears from the watchful EMT.

"You close with her?"

Santana shook her head, still in her hands. "No. We worked together. Just for a week or so, but her rejecting the IV makes sense. She's a pretty cool person."

The EMT raised his eyes towards Santana. "Has she been exhibiting symptoms of an ED?"

Santana raised her eyebrows in questioning. "ED?"

"Eating disorder," the paramedic sighed.

Santana pressed her lips together. "Oh. Yeah."

"Anorexia nervosa, bulimia, binge/purge…?"

Santana thought back to every single interaction she had had with the blonde. "Anorexia definitely…Maybe bulimia…I don't know for sure, though, honestly."

Dani moaned slightly under the influence of the sedative and Santana looked over at her, suddenly feeling completely guilty for the way she had treated Dani during their time at the diner together. "She kept making moves on me," Santana said, feeling odd at her abrupt confession to the EMT. "And I asked her why she wouldn't follow through, and she said she was a mess."

The ambulance came to a stop and the paramedic checked his watch before looking out the back window. "We're here. Steve, help me get her on the gurney."

As soon as the back doors were opened, Santana stepped out to the side to allow room for a slightly moving Dani to be brought out into the Emergency Room. "Cheryl," the paramedic called to the woman at the desk, and she nodded ahead before motioning Steve over.

"What's going on?"

"Fainted in a subway station. The MTA agent phoned us. Her friend over here is saying that she hasn't known her for long, but the fainting confirms a lot of ED signs."

Cheryl sighed in a melancholy way. "God, society," she accused. "You," she called, beckoning to Santana. "You're her friend?"

Santana nodded carefully, unsure of whether or not she really was Dani's friend. She secretly hoped that she was. "Yes, ma'am. I think so. We've worked together for a little bit now."

Cheryl cleared her throat and pushed a lock of short red hair behind her ear. "Since it's just passing out, you're welcome to go back. Room 108. She's going to get through this. My daughter did."

Santana smiled at the woman's small sentiment. "Thank you, ma'am," she said before heading back to find Dani.

As Santana strolled through the empty hall, she felt eerie at the thought of the girl who she had grown to really like through her work in a hospital bed, under a sedative with an IV tucked into the crook of her elbow.

"Oh, Dani," she breathed when she saw the blonde's slim and pale figure. "You're beautiful."