Chapter 10

Santana woke up about two hours later. Brittany smiled at her and moved from her makeshift desk to the chair near Santana's bedside and took her hand.

"Hey you, how you feeling?"

Santana nodded. "Still a little tired but better than I did the first time I woke up. Can I have a drink?"

Brittany got the cup and held the straw to her lips. Santana took a few sips and smiled at Brittany. Brittany nodded toward the other side of the bed where Gabe sat quietly, not wanting to startle his sister.

"Gabe," she smiled at him, "you're here."

"I am. I'm so sorry … I didn't know or I'd have been here sooner." He took her other hand.

"Didn't know how to reach you."

"I know. That will never happen again. Quinn, Mercedes, and Brittany have my phone number and my e-mail now."

"Have you seen Mami and Papi?"

Gabriel nodded. "There is a lot to talk about but it can all wait. I talked to them three weeks ago and let them know I was done with them. They lied to me for months about you." Gabe shook his head. "I don't want to get into everything now and upset you. When you're stronger, we'll talk about everything, okay?"

Santana nodded. "I'm really glad you're here."

"No place I'd rather be."

"Are you staying at the house?"

Gabe shook his head. "No. I'm staying in 'your' room at the Pierces'." He grinned at her and she smiled back.

"Good." Her eyes fluttered.

"Sleep. I'm here for awhile."

She looked at Britt, the question in her eyes.

"I'm not going anywhere." Brittany smiled softly at her and kissed her gently. "So sleep, my love. Quinn and Mercedes send their love and they'll be here after school."

Santana nodded and let her eyes drift shut again.

Xoxoxoxoxo

Quinn and Mercedes came in quietly just in case Santana was still asleep. They could barely contain their squeals of delight to find her awake and sitting up in bed.

Santana smiled tiredly and opened her arms for hugs from her two friends. They immediately rushed over and wrapped themselves around her.

"Oh, my God," Quinn said, "we were so worried. How are you feeling?"

"Tired, sore, but mostly okay."

"While you two are here, I'm going to take Britt down to the yoga studio so she can get some movement going."

Brittany hesitated.

"Go, babe," Santana said, "I'll be fine." She smiled at her blonde.

Brittany nodded. "Ok," she leaned over and kissed Santana goodbye, "I'll be back in an hour or so."

"Ok. Have fun."

Once Brittany and Gabe left, Santana looked at Quinn and Mercedes. "How bad has she been?"

Mercedes and Quinn looked at one another.

"Truth. She looks … well, she's still beautiful but she looks like she's lost weight and there are circles under her eyes. She and Gabe have been pussy-footing around everything not wanting to upset me. What's been going on." Santana's voice was strong despite how tired she still looked.

Mercedes looked at Quinn and Quinn nodded.

"She hasn't left the hospital. She's barely left your side unless someone is here with you and then it's only so she can go dance. She slept in the cot until they removed you from the ventilator and the meds keeping you in a coma; then she starting sleeping next you so I'm not sure how 'quality' her rest has been." Quinn looked at Santana. "You can't give her a hard time, though, Santana. She, God, I was just as worried about her. She was," Quinn shakes her head, "inconsolable when they first brought you in. They wouldn't let her ride in the ambulance, wouldn't tell her anything, wouldn't let her see you. She was a wreck."

Quinn suddenly giggles prompting a confused look from Santana. She touched her nose and Mercedes started giggling, too.

"Clue me in?"

Mercedes got herself under control first. "Girl, the day after you ended up in the hospital, your girl went all MMA on people. She racked up FOUR broken noses."

Santana gaped at her two friends. "Brittany? Brittany S. Pierce? Broke someone's nose?"

"FOUR someones," Quinn corrected. "She was scary, Santana. I have never seen her like that and I hope I never do again."

"Whose?"

Once again the two girls looked at each other.

"Kevin, Kyle, and Finn." Quinn finally said.

"Finn?" Santana was confused.

"We were at the school getting her books and assignments and everything. She was walking past the choir room and she heard Finn laughing and … she snapped. From what Puck said it was a sight to behold. Brittany flew into the room and Finn never knew what hit him. She screamed that it was all his fault and he was laughing like it was funny. Like I said, scary."

Santana sighed. "My poor Britt. I'm guessing she didn't handle the aftermath very well. She doesn't like violence."

Quinn smiled sofly. "I think you getting hurt unleashed a pissed off mamma bear. I thought she was going to hit Gabe when he walked in because she was so protective of you."

"Speaking of Gabe …"

"Can't tell you that," Quinn shook her head, "it could cause people a lot of legal trouble and cost some jobs. Anonymous donor and a scrap of paper is all I'll say about that."

"I'm glad you could get in touch with him. I'm so happy he's here."

That chatted for a few minutes about nothing until Santana remembered something.

"Wait. Hold up. You said four noses. Kevin, Kyle, Finn … that's only three. Who was number four."

Quinn sighed. "I was kind of hoping you'd forget that and not ask."

"Quinn … who was number four?"

"Dr. Jorge Lopez."

Santana gaped at her. Her father? Brittany had hit her father? Broken his nose? "When? How? Why?"

"When? Same day as the others; the day after you got to the hospital. How? She cocked her fist back and let it fly. Why? He was causing a scene outside your room trying to get it. Then he called her, from what Gabe told me, a really nasty thing and stepped toward her in, I guess, a threatening manner. So, boom."

Santana mulled that over. Her father was a piece of work.

"Why was he causing a scene?"

"He wanted to come into the room and the guards wouldn't let him."

Santana blinked. Guards?

"Guards? Why do I have guards?"

Quinn sighed. "It will be easier to just tell you the story of your first twenty-four hours here. That way you're not getting confused with bits and pieces." She looked at Mercedes. "You need to protect me because Britt is going to kill me for this."

"Nu-uh. I saw her with Finn. I'm not getting between Crazy Scary Brittany and no one."

"Chicken."

"Better a live chicken than a dead duck. I will, however, throw Santana under the bus and blame her for everything. Brittany won't get mad at her … yet."

Quinn laughed. "Fair enough."

She spent the next forty minutes telling Santana everything from the minute she got into the ambulance until they got back to the hospital the next day.

Santana sat and absorbed everything Quinn had told her. She nodded to herself. She owed some people some thanks. Especially Sugar. She couldn't believe that girl did all that for her. And, probably more-so, for Brittany.

"Anything else I need to know before Britt gets back and shuts this little Q & A down?"

"Probably but, honestly, I think anything else should come from Britt and Gabe."

"Why did Gabe take Britt to the dance studio?"

Quinn sighed. "A couple of weeks ago your … Dr. Lopez caught Brittany alone in the yoga studio and grabbed her. She turned the tables on him and got away with only a bruise but Gabe decided he'd escort her down from then on."

Santana shook her head. That man. Her … she sighed. Dr. Lopez. Not Papi or dad or father anymore. Dr. Lopez.

Santana nodded. "Hey, what's the date?"

"February 16th." Mercedes answered.

"Dammit. I missed Valentine's day. It was our first official one. Last year she was with Artie." She made a face at that. "Her birthday is next week." She frowned. She knew what she wanted to get her but had no way of getting it.

"Can you guys do me a favor? I will have to pay you back when I get out of here. I want to get Britt a ring."

Quinn and Mercedes looked stunned. "You … what now?"

"Not an engagement ring! A promise ring. I've seen these silver rings with an infinity symbol with hearts in it. I was planning on getting her one for Valentine's Day but, um, I'm a little stuck here. Now, I'll just have to give it to her for her birthday."

Quinn nodded. "Yeah, we can run by the jewelry store for you. You want silver, not gold?"

Santana nodded. "Yeah. When it's time to get married we'll talk silver/gold/platinum but I know she'll kill me if I spend a lot on this."

Quinn chuckled.

"Girl, you are so whipped." Mercedes said, shaking her head.

"She loves me. I love her. I am so okay with being whipped if it means she's mine and she's happy." Santana shrugged.

Quinn and Mercedes smiled at her.

Xoxoxoxoxo

When Brittany and Gabe returned, Santana's energy was flagging. She smiled at Britt when Brittany slipped onto the bed next to her and drew Santana in close to her.

"You overdid it with Mercedes and Quinn, didn't you?"

"I had a lot of questions and they were being difficult." Santana pouted.

Brittany raised an eyebrow.

Quinn shook her head. "Pre-emptive strike, eh, Lopez?"

"Damn straight."

Brittany sighed. "How much did you tell her?"

"The first twenty-four hours and the incident in the yoga studio." Quinn grimaced and shrugged.

"She was pretty relentless, Brittany," Mercedes chimed in.

"I'm sure." Brittany looked at Santana. "And now you're worried and exhausted."

"Exhausted, yes. A little worried about you, yes. I wanted to know what happened, Britt. And I knew you wouldn't tell me because you wanted to protect me."

Gabriel looked from his sister to Brittany. "Well, damage is done now, but, really, Santana, you need to take it easy for a couple of days. Get your strength back before you open up all those cans of worms."

Brittany made a face. "Ew. Why would you open a can of worms? They're probably all dead from lack of oxygen. And who does that? Who puts worms in a can to suffocate?"

Santana bit back a grin. "It's just a saying, Britt. It's not a literal can of worms."

Brittany thought about it for a moment. "Kind of a dumb saying."

They all chuckled at that and turned to lighter topics. Which, of course, was Brittany's plan all along.