Alrightyyyy another chapter dzown:) hope everyone enjoyed the last one, and thank you for all who reviewed, favorited, and followed:D

This chapter is a little short but I'm definitely making up for it in the next one so don't worry.

Anonymous: I know I couldn't help myself with the cliffhangers! Haha and you will find out about Brittany this chapter!

Dafuq33: oooh will it or won't it;) funny when I planned this fic I really didn't have Quinn in it at all, but then…I don't know it just happened haha

ELiXiR2722: Thank you so much!

Imaginaringly real: aww I'm sorry, but I'm glad you are still reading it even if it makes you sad sometimes:(

Frutosboi: Gotta love a cliffhanger;)

Xannaxmurderx: wait no more!

Dr. Lopez sat hunched over his desk in the downstairs study. His tears had dried up but the silence echoing through the house was enough to haunt his mind for the rest of his life.

It was moments later when his phone began ringing, disrupting the thoughts running through his head. He blindly lifted his phone to his ear and pressed accept.

'Dr. Lopez.' He answered tiredly.

'Carlos, it's James Pierce.'

Dr. Lopez furrowed his brow, his attention picking up at the familiar voice.

'James? What do I owe the pleasure?' he asked curiously.

'It's about Brittany.' James sighed. 'My wife and I were wondering if we could at least get some form of confirmation of her death. Anything. We just need –'

'What are you talking about?' Dr. Lopez interrupted. 'Has the hospital not contacted you?' he waited anxiously for the reply.

'Um…no? should we have by now?'

Dr. Lopez suddenly felt his head spin, his thoughts were running around the room with no where to go, his throat was dry, and he had no idea what to say to this poor father.

'Uh, James I'm gonna have to call you back.' He rushed before quickly hanging up the phone.

How could this be? The hospital has to contact the family in such a case, and as soon as possible. They should have been notified by now…

Unless…

XXXXXXXXXXX

Dr. Lopez marched through the sliding doors of the Lima medical centre. He walked straight past the main reception and ignored the shy greetings from the receptionist whose name he never cared to learn. He knew where he had to go and he wouldn't let his mind wander away from him before he got the information he needed.

' ? I thought today was your day off?' One of the nurses asked as he approached the Nurses station.

'It is. Karen I need to know who the donor was for the heart transplant on the 22nd. Can you bring that up for me?' Lopez asked quickly. He never was one for chit chat.

Karen nodded and went to work on the keyboard as she stared at the computer screen in front of her. 'Who was the lead Doctor for the surgery?' she asked without stopping her fingers moving over the keyboard.

'Dr. Johnston, he was responsible for all the patient details.' Lopez replied quickly. He had to stop himself from tapping impatiently on the counter top. Eventually Karen stopped her typing and clicked her tongue with a nod of her head.

'Here we are. Donors name was Miss Sarah Waite. –' Dr. Lopez zoned out as soon as the name was in the air. He could see Karens mouth continue to move as she read through the information on the screen but his mind couldn't concentrate on her words. It wasn't Brittany…his heart dropped. So where was she?

'Karen.' He said impatiently and interrupted the woman's rant. 'Bring up the patient history of Miss Brittany Susan Pierce. When was the last time she was admitted?'

Karen nodded again and went back to her keyboard. 'Brittany Pierce…Last admitted at age 13 with a fractured tibia, before that she –'

'Thankyou Karen that will be all.' Lopez exhaled before turning away from the station and storming back through the halls of the hospital. One thing on his mind. Where the hell was Brittany Pierce?

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Santana was back on that never ending dirt track road. Little Brittany was still sitting next to her with that damn clock in her hands. This time no matter how much she tried to catch a glimpse of the time, Brittany wouldn't let her. She kept moving the clock from her view every time she got close. After Santana's last failed attempt she finally gave up in a huff and collapsed next to Brittany on the road. When she crossed her arms over her chest she heard Brittany release a heavenly giggle into the air. God she had missed that giggle. It felt like she hadn't heard it in years.

Santana couldn't stop herself from smiling in return. Little Brittany looked so happy and carefree, and Santana's smile grew knowing that when she was older Brittany would still hold the same views of life, she had seen it firsthand. Wait, where is older Brittany?

'Where's Brittany?' she asked, and watched as little clear blue eyes looked back up at her. Brittany tilted her head in thought and crinkled her cute little nose in confusion.

'I am Brittany silly.' She giggled. Santana smiled but shook her head.

'No, Where's Brittany?'

'Where's m'brittmyy?' Santana mumbled into the silence of her room.

Maria instantly tightened her hold around her daughter. She willed the tears building once again in her eyes to cease before she woke her little girl.

The action, however slight and gentle, caused Santana to stir. She opened her eyes slowly and frowned as her eyes adjusted to the dimly lit room, which contrasted greatly with the bright and colourful dream she just left. She could still feel her mothers arms hugging her close and could still sense the tense air which ran through the house. She wasn't in her dream anymore. Brittany wasn't alive anymore.

Santana closed her eyes shut tightly and called on all her thoughts however big or small to lead her back into her dream state. She just wanted to be back with Brittany. She didn't want to think about reality. She didn't want to think about a world without Brittany in it, or how many years she would have to live without her, not that living would be the word to describe it, or how this whole thing was all her fucking fault because she was blind to her girlfriend. She was so preoccupied with her own problems she didn't even see her girlfriend was planning to give Santana her heart. She planned to take her own fucking beating and pure heart and put it in a body which was not worthy of such beauty.

Santana was starting to get that sick feeling in her stomach again. She rolled off her side and on to her back in hopes to quell the pain in her stomach, but it seemed to only make it worse. She could feel acid building up in her throat, looking for a way out. She felt her mother's arms loosen to give her room. She tried to smile in gratitude but it was like the muscles which used to make the corners of her mouth move were suddenly frozen in place.

'Santana?' She heard her mother ask. The worry was evident in her voice. Santana couldn't even turn her head to say that she was alright. Because she wasn't, not really. Would she ever be?

The acid burning up her throat was now reaching the end of its travels and it took all of the left over strength in her body to haul herself out of bed in hopes to reach the bathroom in time…she didn't.

'Oh, my Santana?!' Her mother screeched when she collapsed awkwardly onto her hands and knees and began convulsing on the floor, vomit spewing from her mouth. Her throat felt like it was on fire as wave after wave of acid poured from her mouth. Where was it all coming from? She hadn't even eaten for hours.

A moment later a bucket was shoved under her face and a soft hand ran soothingly through her hair, bunching it up on the top of her head to stop it from dangling in the pool of vomit now seeping into her carpet. 'Oh my baby girl, I'm so sorry sweety.' Her mother cooed as she rubbed up and down her back. Santana clutched the bucket in a vice grip as another wave of vomit coursed through her body and out her mouth. She was surprised she hadn't started coughing up blood yet. There couldn't be anything left in her body, surely.

After a few more minutes cradling the sick bucket her mother had gotten, Santana finally collapsed in a heap on the floor in exhaustion. Somewhere in the back of her mind she registered her mother racing around the room, scrubbing the floor, wiping her mouth clean of vomit, and was that the bath running?

'Santana? Sweety come on you have to get up off the floor, I'm sorry Santana but I can't lift you all by yourself.'

Santana grunted into the carpet which was supposed to sound something like 'fine' but even she couldn't quite work out what had just left her mouth, she was just glad it wasn't fluid. Santana placed her palms flat on the floor and used all the strength she could muster to push herself from the ground. Maria was quick to support her under her arms and helped lift her into a standing position.

'I ran a bath for you sweety, we need to get you out of these clothes.'

Why did she need to change? These clothes were comfy…

Santana looked down at herself while her mother practically carried her to the bathroom. Oh, that's why. She had vomit all down her stomach. It hardly looked like vomit though, it just looked like someone had thrown their drink on her. A memory teetered in her head of throwing Puckerman's beer in Quinn's face after a particulary bitchy bitch fight at one of his party's freshman year. Usually that memory would make her smirk. Today it didn't, because all she could think about was Brittany's sweet voice mumbling 'stop the violence' within the crowd which had gathered around them.

Santana groaned again as Maria began to undress her in the bathroom. Please brain, just stop thinking about her for a second, just a second, until I catch my breath.

'Ok Santana, you can step into the bath now.' She followed her mom's words and slipped carefully into the warm bath. She didn't even realise she was naked. She would have normally been embarrassed by her mother undressing her, but not today. 'Be careful.' Maria reminded her.

Santana let the water submerge her until only her head was floating on top. She could sense her mother hovering over her and teetering on the edge of the bath tub. Santana coughed the residue of vomit from her mouth before croaking out: 'It's alright mama, I'm not gonna do anything stupid, I'll be fine.'

She heard her mother sigh in relief, not bothering to open her eyes to see the response on her face.

'Ok, well uh…how about I go fix you something to eat and get you a drink? You must be hungry yes?'

Santana nodded slowly until she heard the bathroom door close softly. She opened her eyes to see her mother had gone back downstairs. When she closed her eyes again, she let the tears come back and enjoyed the feeling of them slowly running down her chest and disappearing into the cover of the water, almost like they were never there at all.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

'Santana?'

That was her mother again. It was always her. She was thankful that her father didn't dare show his face. Not that she had a father…

'Are you going to come out of your room today? It would be nice to get some sunlight.'

Today? Was it a new day? How many days had passed?

Santana rolled over in her bed. She didn't open her eyes but she guessed her mother could see her so she just shook her head 'no'. Maria sighed.

'Ok, well there are some friends downstairs who have come to see you. They said you haven't been replying to their calls and texts for a while..'

Santana grunted. She did recall turning off her phone somewhere around the fifteenth phonecall from Quinn and chucking it in her closet. She didn't want to speak to anyone. She didn't want to talk about any of this, and if she was anywhere near Quinn that girl would not stop until she got it out of her. No thank you, not today.

'I don't want visitors today Mama.' She grumbled into her tear soaked pillow.

'Santana…they're worried.'

'Then tell them.'

'Tell them what?'

Santana squinted her eyes shut. She couldn't snap at her mother. She's just trying to help…

'Tell them everything…they deserve to know.' She mumbled.

'Santana don't you think you should –'

'I can't!' Santana shouted into her pillow. If she was looking, she would have seen her mother jump ten feet into the air. 'Can you please just do it?'

Maria thought nervously at her daughters door. The sight of her little girl curled up into a tight ball and cuddling one of her pillows tight to her chest was nearly enough to break her. 'Alright sweety, whatever you want.'

XXXXXXXXXXX

Dr. Lopez had been standing outside his daughter's bedroom for so long he had lost count of the minutes that had passed. Several times he had attempted to knock, but lost his game at the last second and brought his clenched fist back down to his side. What was he to say to her? How could he ever fix this?

Just as he was about to try for one last time, his phone began to vibrate in his pocket. He quickly stepped away from Santana's room in hopes not to wake her, and swiftly ventured back down the stairs and into his private office.

'Dr. Lopez.' He answered to the unknown number.

'Hello this is Dr. Miller from the New York Presbyterian Hospital, is this Dr. Carlos Lopez I am speaking with?' The old male voice replied. Lopez instantly tried to recall the name Miller. Had they met at a medical convention?

'Um yes this is he.'

'Dr. Lopez do you have any relationship with Miss Brittany S Peirce?'

Lopez felt his blood run cold. Brittany…

'Uh y-yes.' He coughed. 'yes, I do. I know her very well.'

'Good. I am calling as for the last few days we have been trying desperately to determine Brittany's identity. When she was given to us from Lima Medical Centre she did not have any identification on her, and her case was so serious she had to be transported immediately to our facilities.'

'Serious?' Lopez interrupted quickly. His heart rate had picked up considerably and he was clutching the edge of his desk like his life depended on it staying in place.

'Yes, Brittany was in a serious car accident. She was conviently as it seems, hit by an ambulance travelling to the hospital. They stopped immediately and worked on her until they made it back to the hospital. She suffered from a severe brain haemorrhage –'

Lopez gasped and shook his head. He knew what was coming.

'Now as a result she has fallen into a rather deep coma, that is why she was transported so quickly to our facility, she needs the best care. So – Dr. Lopez are you still there?'

'Ah y-yes. Um how did you find out who she was?' Lopez questioned.

'Oh well a Constable Ryan helped us out with that when we phoned the Lima police station, said he got handed some lost ID not far from the site of the accident. Luckily, it all matched up.' Dr. miller chuckled into the phone. Lopez scowled. What was so funny?

'Alright well why are you calling me?'

'When we retrieved her medical records, she had listed you as her emergency contact.'

Lopez sighed into his hardened hands. That's right they had changed that a few months ago in case anything with Brittany's plan didn't, well, go to plan.

'Uh Dr. Lopez?'

'Yes.'

'This is kind of the difficult part…Brittany's condition is quite serious, I'm sure you understand what that means…'

'She won't be waking up any time soon.' Lopez stated knowingly. How much did this girl have to go through before the world would give her a break?!

'Unfortunately not…she's on life support as we speak but, i trust you understand that it isn't cheap –'

'I'll pay for it.' He said quickly before he had even run the thought through his head. 'Whatever the costs, do whatever you can… I'll pay for everything.'

'We will do everything we can Sir, and you will get in touch with her parents?' Dr. Miller asked hopefully.

Lopez thought for a moment. He had already caused so much pain. So much pain for Santana, and so much pain for Brittany's parents. How could he bare seeing them go through such joy at finding out she's still alive only to see them be torn to pieces again if she doesn't make it…

Unless he continued to pay for her life support until she either recovered fully, or…

Well either way he would be saving everyone from more pain. The last thing he needed was for his daughter to hate him even more.

Yes, he will protect Santana from more pain.

'Of course. I'll travel up on the weekend to see her.' Lopez answered smoothly.

'Excellent. Well if you have no more questions?'

'No. Thank you for calling. Uh Dr. Miller?'

'Yes?'

'Save her.'

Kinda short I know but next one will be super long! I've already written most of it so I might be able to get it up tomorrow, fingers crossed!

So what did we think of this chapter? Yay or nay?

Also I would like to know peoples thoughts on Dr. Lopez. Hate him? Like him? Love him?...tolerate him? haha