Chapter 7

"Oh, my God, I forgot all about him. Let him in, Gabe."

Quinn and Mercedes looked at Brittany.

"After her parents threw her out, Santana went and talked to a lawyer about all that Salazar ad stuff. She thought maybe because she was a minor and because he used her likeness without permission she might be able to sue him." Brittany shook her head. "Thought maybe she'd get him to pay for her college education or a move to New York or LA or Chicago or something. It wouldn't change the fact that he ruined her life but she figured it would only be fair to ruin his right back and maybe get some financial help." She huffed out a breath. "She feels so guilty that my parents are providing for her. She was planning on a getting a job after school so she could help pay her own way even though both my parents told her not to worry about it."

A tall, thin man with green eyes and chocolate-colored skin walked into the room. He looked around and spotted Brittany. "Miss Pierce?"

Brittany nodded. "Yeah. I'm sorry. With everything that happened, we kind of forgot about you."

"Quite alright. It just took me awhile to track Miss Lopez down. At first I thought she had changed her mind but then I heard about the attack," he shook his head, "I'd have come sooner but I really had no news for her." He looked around the room. "I have permission to talk to you about everything but," he hesitated.

"Come on, ladies," Gabe said, "I'll buy you a cup of coffee and a piece of pie in the cafeteria."

Mr. Rigard smiled at him. "Thank you," he squinted, "are you related to Miss Lopez?"

"I'm her older brother, Gabriel," he said proudly.

Mr. Rigard held out his hand, "Pleasure to meet you. And you ladies?"

"Quinn Fabray."

"Mercedes Jones."

They all shook hands with the lawyer.

"I do apologize, I don't mean to be rude."

"Not at all, we understand," Quinn hooked her arm through Gabriel's as Mercedes moved to his other side, "we'll be back in about an hour, Britt. Text me if you need anything."

"Thanks, Quinn."

The door shut behind them and Brittany looked at the lawyer. He was in his early 50s but didn't look like he'd been beaten down by life. He had laugh lines around his mouth, smile lines at the corner of his eyes, and was beginning to gray at the temples. She motioned for him to have a seat.

"Thank you, Miss Pierce."

"Please, call me Brittany."

"Brittany, then, I'm Thomas," he smiled kindly at her then glanced at Santana. "How is she?"

"Better than she was. They took her off the ventilator two weeks ago. Brought her out of her medically induced coma last week. Now," she shrugged, "we wait. There's brain activity and all of her wounds are healing so … we wait."

He nodded. "I'm sorry to ask this but … was she attacked because of the ad?"

Brittany shrugged. "She was attacked because she's gay. The only reason anyone knew she was gay was because Finn Hudson outed her and Reggie Salazar's niece told 'The Sauce' about it and he made that ad. I think the ad had a lot to do with it but," she shrugged again, "I guess there's really no way to tell."

He nodded. "I came here today because I heard from Salazar's people. They're offering a 5.2 million dollar settlement. Normally, I would advise taking it but," he considered, "with this attack being related to the ad, even just peripherally, I think they'll come up with more to keep it quiet. I can't really do anything until she wakes up and tells me what she wants to do anyway but, again, when I call them and tell them that my client is currently in a coma that directly relates back to the ad I have a feeling that number will grow." He sighed softly, "Brittany, I really just came here to let you know … so you can let Santana know … I haven't dropped the case. I am working on it; I just can't accept any offers or make any deals without her consent. I have permission to talk to you about everything but I don't have permission to allow you to make that decision for her."

Brittany nodded. "I understand that. I'll tell her everything you told me when she wakes up. And I'll call you when she does wake up and is able to have other people around."

Mr. Rigard stood up and offered his hand. "Thank you, Brittany. I hope she's okay and wakes up soon," he offered kindly.

"Thanks," she smiled slightly, "and … thanks for tracking her down and for coming by to talk to me and let me know that you're still in her corner. Seems like there aren't a whole lot of people there."

He nodded with another smile and left the room.

Brittany sighed. 5.2 million dollars was a lot of money. Santana wouldn't have to work. She could go to school or pursue singing or whatever she wanted. It's a sucky way to get that kind of money but she wondered what Santana would do. Would Santana still want to be with her? The thought made her sad. She knew Santana loved her but … money changes people. She shook her head. No thoughts like that allowed. Santana loved her. Santana was going to get better and they were going to get the hell out of Lima together and live happily ever after.

Xoxoxoxoxo

Brittany texted Quinn to let her know the coast was clear. Her schedule today was all kinds of messed up. Jorge and the lawyer really screwed with her routine. She sighed and moved to lie down next to Santana. Since the ventilator and most of the monitors had been removed, Brittany had been sleeping with Santana; she just had to be careful of the IV and the one monitor.

She lied there, head on Santana's chest, just listening to Santana's heartbeat. It was strong and steady.

"I don't know how much of that you heard, baby, but your lawyer says you're pretty much going to be rich. You know I don't care so much about that; I just want you to come back to me. To wake up and remember who I am and that you love me" her voice lowered to a whisper, "but, even if you don't, I still want you to wake up. I want you to live and be happy; with me would be good. Without me would make me sad but at least you'd still be here. I miss you, so much, Santana. Please come home." She fell silent as the door opened and Gabe, Quinn, and Mercedes all came back in.

She smiled at them. "I think I'm gonna close my eyes for awhile." It was a mere moments before she was asleep.

Xoxoxoxoxo

Quinn POV

Quinn watched as Brittany drifted off to sleep. She was worried about the tall blonde. The longer Santana stayed 'gone' the more withdrawn Brittany became. Run-ins with Dr. Lopez didn't help anything. Gabriel was furious. He was planning to go to his parents' house tomorrow to blast them. He couldn't believe his father put his hands on Brittany and used the kind of language toward her that he did. She moved to the table and pulled out her homework and started working on it; Mercedes sat next to her and worked on her own homework while Gabe sat by the side of the bed reading to himself.

Quinn watched him from the corner of her eye. He would glance up periodically to look at his sister and Brittany, a soft smile playing on those oh-so-kissable-looking lips. Quinn shook herself out of her daydream. She had to stop thinking this way. Gabe was twenty-one, a college graduate, an entrepreneur and she was a seventeen-year-old high school senior who'd had a baby at fifteen. Crushing on him and pining after him and daydreaming about him was completely non-productive.

She buckled down and got her homework finished just as Britt woke up.

"Hey, how you feeling?"

Brittany wiped the sleep from her eyes. "Better, I think. I just needed to … reboot, I guess." She slipped from the bed and made her way over to the table. She grabbed a folder and handed it to Quinn. "Here's today's homework. Are the teachers believing it's my own work?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't they?"

"Because my grades are so much better."

"That's great, Britt! I never really look since it's none of my business."

Brittany nodded. "Yeah. I've been reading everything out loud to Santana. They say coma patients can hear you and stuff and I'm sure math and science aren't really thrilling but I want her to hear my voice. I want her to know I'm here, you know? So I've been reading everything out loud and found out that I understand everything better that way. Like it makes me hyper-focused or something. It's kind of weird but," she shrugged, "it works."

"Good for you! That's awesome," Mercedes said. "Almost time to call it a night. You need anything before I head out?"

Brittany shook her head. "I'm good, thanks, 'Cedes."

Mercedes stood up and gathered her belongings before giving Brittany a hug. "Love you, girl, see you tomorrow." Then she went to the bed and squeezed Santana's hand before leaving for the night.

After Mercedes left, Brittany looked at Quinn and Gabriel. "Hey, you guys good if I call it a night early? I mean, obviously you can stay, I just don't wanna be rude again."

Quinn smiled. "Go lie down, Britt. Get some rest, I'm sure you need it." She stood up and hugged her. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah, go ahead. I'm here until morning," Gabe grinned at her, "I'm used to you sleeping on me," he winked at her.

"Shut up," she laughed at him as she made her way to the bathroom after grabbing her pajamas.

Teeth brushed, pajamas on, Brittany shuffled out of the bathroom and, once again, climbed into bed next to Santana putting her head down on Santana's chest and letting the sure and steady rhythm of Santana's heartbeat lull her to sleep.

Xoxoxoxoxo

Quinn POV

Quinn looked over at Gabriel as she closed her notebook. She had finished her school work for the day. A glance at her phone told her it was 8pm. She wondered if Brittany had eaten today. The dinner tray had been untouched. She sighed.

"Something wrong?"

Quinn looked up. "I was just wondering if Brittany ate today. I know she didn't eat dinner because she was asleep when they brought it in but I wasn't here for breakfast or lunch."

"She ate breakfast. Well, some of it, anyway." He frowned in concern. "She does look like she's been losing weight. She needs to get out of this hospital for awhile."

"Never gonna happen. She won't leave your sister; especially now, when she could wake up at any time. Maybe once Santana wakes up she'll be able to convince Britt to go home and get some real rest."

"Yeah. I can make sure she eats breakfast before I leave in the mornings. We can't do much about lunch but maybe you and Mercedes can sort of keep an eye on dinner."

"That'll have to do. I'm worried about her, Gabe. I don't know what she'll do if …"

"I know. I just have to keep hoping that Santana wakes up and is still Santana."

Quinn nodded. She knew, though, the longer Santana stayed in a coma, the less likely it was that she would ever wake up and she didn't think Brittany could handle that.