AN: YEY another chapter. Thank you for the reviews. I hope you enjoy this chapter.


The good days—couldn't last, she should have known that. It was after her next chemotherapy session that the good days ended, maybe to never return. Her joints ached, her body felt weak, and the nausea was back with a vengeance, she had managed to keep relatively healthy but her immune system had been compromised and a simple cold felt like she was suffocating in her mucus. She had barely been able to lift her arm so she could hit her alarm clock, there wasn't going to be any crawling out of bed today. Or leaving bed for that matter. She felt useless, she couldn't get out of bed to make her daughter breakfast, and she couldn't make sure that Bela had all her homework for the day, she couldn't do anything. She wanted to cry, or if she could manage it, curl up and die in peace. She didn't understand what was so wrong with that?

Bela swallowed from where she was standing at the doorway, peering into her mother's room. It was unusual for her mom to not be up at this time. She didn't usually sleep in even when she was sick. She heard a low moan and took a step back, scared. Even with the chemo, her mom always got up. It wasn't just the breakfast, but she always got a hug and a kiss on the forehead before she went to school. Bela bites her lip and takes a step into her mother's room, not bothering to knock. Her mom always made her feel better when she was sick and it was just school. "Mom?"

Santana flicked her eyes to her daughter for a moment and her heart broke at the worry on her face, "Hold on Bela—I'll make you a breakfast." Santana said as she tried to force herself into a sitting position. She could do this, if she ignored the immediate vertigo and the nausea.

"It's fine mom—I had cereal—cookie crunch," Bela said quietly moving quickly and quietly to her bed. "Mom don't get up—I'll take care of you today—I can make some soup and—" Bela fiddles with her hands nervously, she's not sure what to do but her mom always made her soup when she was sick, and sometimes she got a popsicle if she was running a temperature. She could do that for her mom.

She wants to lie to her daughter, to tell her that she's fine. But she hadn't raised her daughter to be a gullible idiot. So instead she flashes a smile at Bela, even that movement was too much work for her. "Nice try. What did I say about trying to get one over on me?" Santana said trying to keep her voice even. "You're going to school and then you're coming straight back."

"But you're sick! I can take care of you mom. I'm ten and a half!" Bela's lip quivered a bit.

"Bela—you're going to school. I'm going to be fine. I just—I just need to rest a bit. Today's just not a good day, is all. I'll be here when you get back home. I promise." Santana vows, holding up her hand and showing her daughter her pinky finger.

Bela frowns not quite trusting her mother but takes her pinky with her own, she wasn't going to be able to concentrate at school and she didn't feel right just leaving her mother alone. Not while she was this sick—she was going to call her Aunt Brittany—no she was going to call Charlie. Her plan had worked sort of, her parents were spending a lot of time together. This would be perfect and she would give Charlie a list of things to do to make sure that her mom was okay. She'd have to do the list completely. Bela nods at her mother and wiggles onto the bed and kisses her mom's forehead gently. "Please get better," she mumbles under her breath before she moves to go to school. She closes her mom's door and pulls out her phone and dials Charlie's number.

'Bela? Everything okay? I'm on the highway and you know I don't have that fancy hands-free thing that some cars have.'

Bela looked back at her mom's room, "My mom is super sick and she's making me go to school—you have to come back and take care of her. She shouldn't be alone Charlie—please. All you have to do is—make her soup and give her a Popsicle and read to her! I'm really worried about her and she won't ever ask for help!"

'Bela—' Charlie begins as she takes an exit so she can turn around.

"Charlie please! It's not that hard—but we're all she has. Well she has Aunt Brittany—but she won't do it right! So please, I'll give you all the instructions and you just have to do it. She doesn't like anyone seeing her weak—but it's just you and you've probably taken care of my mom before! You're the savior Charlie remember!"

'Okay Bela—just write down what I need to do, and I'll do it but I'm about an hour out if that's okay. You need to get to school. I'll be there as soon as I can.' Charlie says managing to get the words out quickly so she can before her daughter has some sort of panic attack.

Bela exhales pleased with herself, "I'll leave the door unlocked for you—and I'll write out all the instructions, and text them to you." Bela says. "You have to keep in touch all day, she's very sick."

'I know Bela, I'll be there to take care of her. I promise and I'll do everything you ask me to. Anything to make your mom feel better.' Charlie replied, if Bela was worried about Santana then it had to be bad. At the very least she would keep Santana company until she felt better, or it was time to pick up Bela. She didn't mind carrying the load and making sure that their daughter was cared for. She needed to step up and not think about the fact that Santana was struggling. She couldn't follow that line of thought, she refused to think about it. She was Santana Lopez if anyone could beat this thing—it was her.


Charlie rubbed her hands as she parked outside Santana's house, she didn't exactly know what to do. Even though Bela had given her very specific instructions, it wasn't as if Santana just had a common cold. She was on chemotherapy. She had lost her hair, she had been fighting a whole host of other side effects as well. This wasn't something that she could play with. She didn't want to play with Santana's life she wasn't sure if she would need to take Santana to a hospital or if she could do it. What she knew was that Santana Lopez wasn't weak. There was thing she knew more than anything was that Santana wasn't weak. She bites her lip, it was a good thing she knew a doctor, sure Quinn may have been a surgeon but she did go to med school and she knew—doctor people. So she could ask someone. She hadn't talked to her sister in weeks though and she didn't really want to deal with a lecture, but Santana's health was more important to her than getting the chewed out by Quinn. She lets out a shaky breath and makes the call as she lets herself into the house and waits for her twin sister to pick it up.

'Charlie? Where the hell have you been? I've been trying to call you for weeks now. I even stopped by your apartment and nobody has seen you. Are you okay—even mom and dad have been trying to get in touch with you. We've been worried.' Quinn said picking it up. She had been terrified that Charlie had relapsed and had overdosed on the floor of some crack den, with a bunch of other drug addicts.

Charlie pulled the phone away from her ear as the frantic words hit her and she ran a hand through her hair and sighed, she could already feel a headache coming on. She didn't want to deal with Quinn and she could feel a lecture coming. She wasn't a child anymore she didn't need to check in with her family, and she was tired of them just stopping by uninvited. "Quinn, I'm fine. I'm not living in a crack-house. I've been staying in a motel in Philadelphia, so I can continue to work on Santana's basement and help her fix things around the house. I'm also spending time with Bela. Look, save the lecture. Santana's not feeling well and I'm not sure what to do. Should I take her to the hospital—or when should I take her to the hospital?"

'What's wrong with her? No don't answer that, with the chemo drugs that she's been taking it could be a lot of things. You want my opinion, bring her into the city so we Dr. Pillsbury can do an assessment. I mean I can take a look into her file but I'm pretty sure Santana would sue me for that breach, so just—bring her in. I can talk to Dr. Pillsbury to make sure you guys don't stay long.' Quinn responds seriously. She didn't quite understand why Santana refused to do it in Philadelphia. They had excellent hospitals there. Then again even though she found Emma to be weird, but she was the best at what she did.

Charlie was quiet, Santana wasn't going to like being dragged to the hospital but if that's what it took, to make sure she was feeling better. Maybe she should pull Bela out of school and make a trip out of it, so that they were transparent with her. But she hadn't actually seen Santana yet, she wasn't sure how bad it was. "Okay, I'll check on her and make sure that she's okay before I make a decision," Charlie says after a moment. The thoughts that she had been trying to force aside suddenly start to come to the forefront of her mind. Santana had cancer and could possibly die.

'Okay, Charlie but if she's running a temperature higher than 100, you need to bring her in no matter what. Make sure she stays hydrated, and she tries to eat something. You need to be proactive with this, her body doesn't have some of its natural defenses, so this could in theory be bad. Tell me if you're coming in and I'll make sure that everything is ready for your arrival. We'll help her fight this Charlie I promise.' Quinn said and paused for a moment and bit her lip. 'Have you been going to meetings?'

Charlie stiffened at the question for a moment, "Since when did you care that I was going to meetings?" Charlie snaps at Quinn angrily. She was so tired of everyone in her family getting on her case for the drugs.

'Before you hang up on me, and start grumbling, I'm asking if you're going because I don't want you to slip up. Santana's sick, like really sick and if something happens to her—look you can't afford to go back. I don't know how the meetings make you feel—I never cared to know. But look, talking to someone about this and about everything you're going through, is a good thing. I don't want you to throw all your hard work away Charlie. I don't.'

Charlie frowns it's the first time that Quinn had ever acknowledged that she was doing something to make sure she didn't slip, and maybe she should find some AA meetings here. Mike had been bugging her to start going again, he had been trying to talk to her for weeks and she hadn't had time. Maybe . "Look Quinn, I don't have time to figure out what your new angle is, or if this is some ploy to let mom and dad have some time with Bela. I don't care, but I'll talk to you later, I'm going to see Santana and make sure that she's okay." Charlie said with a sigh and ended the call. She exhales as she enters the house and slowly works her way upstairs and knocks on Santana's bedroom door. She waits for a moment before poking her head inside. "Santana?" She was met with a low groan.

Santana coughs loudly and groans as she rolls over, even that hurts and her eyelids flutter open, and she groans. The tiny bit of sunlight in her room is making her dizzy, and it feels warm against her skin. She coughs again and sniffles, her nose is running now and she's glad that her body didn't fall apart in front of Bela. She would never have convinced her to go to school if that was the case. She eyes Charlie and inwardly flinches, she didn't want Charlie to see her like this. She didn't want anyone to see her like this. "Go away," she mumbles, her words cutting off as she coughs again.

Charlie stares at Santana trying to keep the fear off her face, so instead she smiles, because it looks bad—really bad. "I can't. I promised Bela that I'd be your nurse for today." Charlie said looking at her phone, where Bela had given her specific instructions and informed her where everything was. The thermometer was in her mother's bathroom in the top drawer. She loved her daughter.

Santana groaned and coughed again, "Couldn't tell," she groans and buries her face into her pillow and squeezes her eyes shut. "Next time wear a nurse outfit for me," she mumbles, not sure if it's loud enough for Charlie to hear. Laughing at how ridiculous Charlie looks would be a nice way to go out. Years ago that would have been sexy but now—the look doesn't suit her. Chemo had made her brain fuzzy, and it made her scatterbrained which was why she had been relying on her secretary heavily lately.

Charlie comes back and moves to the bed and gently nudges Santana, holding the fancy digital thermometer, "You need to open your mouth," Charlie says gently. "I need to know if you're okay Santana."

Santana groans again and moves her head and opens her mouth a tiny bit, she doesn't want to be babied but she knew her symptoms. "Just tired," she mumbles to Charlie the thermometer in her mouth. "Go to work." Another cough and she's too tired to cover her mouth and spittle flies into Charlie's face. "Sorry—"

Charlie wipes her face and shrugs, she didn't care if Santana vomited on her just as long as she got better, she couldn't do this without her. She couldn't take care of Bela without her telling her what to do. The thermometer beeps and she pulls it out of Santana's mouth as she rubs Santana's side and then looks at it. 99.7 degrees. It's close. She glances at Santana for a moment before getting up. "I'm going to get you a popsicle Santana, Quinn said that I have to take you in if it reaches a hundred degrees so let's try and get your temperature down." Santana lets out a noise in response and Charlie gets off the bed and puts the thermometer on the nightstand and heads to the kitchen quickly pulling open the freezer and digging through it, till she notices some Freeze pops at the back of the freezer. She grabs the box and gets a bag of ice just in case, and slips a cloth underneath some cold water so she can make a cold compress for Santana.


"How long has she been asleep? You need to kiss her Charlie—true love's kiss conquers all." Bela huffed as she looked at Charlie who had brought a chair up to her mother's room so she could sit down and monitor Santana. She was getting irritated by that.

Charlie sighed and ran her hand through her hair as she studied her daughter, "Bela, I know that people just—kiss in fairy tales, but you can't just kiss someone like that in real life. Its assault," Charlie informed her not noticing that Santana's eyes had fluttered open and she was now listening to the conversation. "Your mom is going to get better, and we can wait until she wakes up. How about I tell you a story?"

Bela stared at Charlie like she had grown another head she was ten not five, she wasn't going to be distracted by a story. She pauses for a moment, "Charlie I'm ten and a half!"

Charlie groaned, "How about I help you with your homework while we wait for your mom to wake up? That way we can pass the time and when your mom wakes up maybe we can do something together. Like watch home movies where you—"

"She showed you!" Bela asks and Charlie smiles.

"You were a very cute baby and a toddler," Charlie offers watching as Bela huffs and begins to grumble.

"Even then she was a bit of a little shit," Santana mumbles as she watches as both of them turn to her.

"Mom!" Bela said scrambling onto the bed and throwing her arms around her mother and holding her tightly, tears in her eyes as she squeezed her tightly. "Are you feeling better?"

Santana grunted surprised by her daughter's strength and shifted, "Bela—can't breathe," she groans and immediately felt Bela easing up. She rubs her eyes, and stretches a bit before pressing a kiss on Bela's forehead. "I told you I'd be here when you got back," she murmurs against her hugging her daughter back.

Charlie shifts a bit, suddenly feeling a bit uncomfortable like she's intruding on a private moment and gets up to leave. If she leaves now, she could maybe drive to an AA meeting. Santana had always been a light sleeper and watching her just lying there had scared the crap out of her.

"This isn't a joke mom—you were really sick!" Bela snaps at her frowning deeply. "I didn't know if you were going to wake up—" Her voice cracks, she hadn't been able to concentrate all day and Charlie hadn't given her updates.

Charlie watched as Santana floundered not quite sure how to handle it, "It'll take more than a cold to take out your mom Bela." Charlie says looking at Santana and flashing her a small smile.

Santana swallows a bit and puts on a brave smile when Bela turns to look at her, today had been shitty. It was still shitty and she was afraid the worst was yet to come. She wasn't sure how much longer she was going to fight this. Just two more sessions to go, and she was done. "Just two more sessions to go," then she would find out if it worked. If they could take the damn organ out of her body. After that they'd monitor her, but she just wanted all this to be over with. One way or the other.


AN: See you tomorrow. Holy crap this story is going fast, it feels like yesterday I put up the second chapter. I do hope you're liking this new style of the story being done before I post everything. Thoughts? Do you want me to continue doing something like this where you don't have to worry about the story being finished or any of my long breaks because I get writers block and then I get lazy? Cause I do have another story planned like this which is going slowly, I only just finished chapter 2 of Hear Me. Yes I'm returning to the faberry world, but trust me the Chartana is strong in that one. Okay enough ramblings. I'll see you tomorrow. Reviews are nice.