Potential Trigger warnings: (Mostly mild) See bottom of the chapter if you are concerned. I don't want to give anything away.
Mandatory roommate nights were great. In theory. But nights like this, when Brittany just wants Santana (in so many ways), they feel like torture. But Rachel is talking about how much she's going to miss her and Quinn but she is here. So Brittany should be here too. It's not like she's even planning on spending time away from Santana over break. So one night won't kill her. At least she hopes. But tonight is one of the rare nights that Santana had no patience for practicing so she was home. Probably doing something else productive, but they could be doing other things. Like each other.
Santana had texted her earlier that night to ask if she wanted to come over because she was over the piano for now. Brittany hated reminding her of the whole roommate night thing. So here they were, texting back and forth while Brittany and Rachel packed for the upcoming week.
From Santana: How's laundry?
To Santana: One more load. You need to do laundry too.
From Santana: I know. I know. I'm running out of clothes.
To Santana: Good thing you'll be wearing a lot of nothing this next week.
From Santana: Babe you can't say stuff like that if you're not coming over.
Brittany laughed and Rachel looked at her like she was a little crazy till she saw the phone in her hand and shook her head. "The ever charming Santana Lopez I take it?" Brittany sensed her sarcasm.
"She is charming Rach. You'll miss each other this week. I know it."
"I'm sure I won't miss having my stature commented on so frequently. Does she know she's only maybe two inches taller than me?"
"Three I think. But whatever. You're both short. I'll miss you."
"I'll miss you too Brittany. My fathers are sad that you won't be coming home with me."
"I know. Soon though. Did you tell them I said thank you for that letter they sent me? It was really nice." Rachel nods. Rachel's fathers made the habit of sending her hand written letters every once in awhile because Rachel liked to get mail. And on this last batch, they had sent Brittany one too. "Santana and I just need some alone time. We've both been too busy." Rachel was going to ask what their plans were but thought better of it. She probably already knows really.
The two went about their packing and texting their respective girlfriends in relative silence. When they were done they put in Lilo and Stitch, made some popcorn, and settled in for the night. After the movie was over and she had crawled into her own bed wearing one of Santana's hoodies, she thought about how it would be, after college, when she and Santana got to live together. No more nights away. Every night would be roommate night. Until then though, they would just have to deal with nights apart. Even if neither of them liked it.
The next afternoon she decided halfway through her second class of the day that her dedication to attending all her classes the day before spring break started was ridiculous. Only half the class showed up and nobody was focused. Everybody was talking about vacations or the parties they were throwing. Brittany thought that spending the entire week in bed with Santana sounded better than all of that. She knew they would at least have to drive up to the city, but even then they had the house to themselves. Unless Santana's brothers decided to stay. That would be awful. No. Not awful. Wrong word. Inconvenient.
Brittany shows up to her last class of the day, which lasts about five minutes before the professor dismisses them. She sends Santana a quick text telling her she was back to her room early getting her stuff ready and to pick her up when she was done with class. Half an hour later she got a text back. Apparently Santana had gotten out a little early too and was on her way. Brittany dragged her stuff downstairs to wait. Not for long though.
"Hey there sexy. Want a ride?"
"On you? Sure." Brittany winked. Santana hadn't been expecting that response and gulped.
"Dinner first?"
Brittany feigned annoyance. "If you insist." But couldn't hold the charade up any longer and threw her arms around Santana. "Missed you last night." She whispers as she kisses her cheek.
"Missed you too B. Any requests for dinner?"
"Indian?" Santana makes a noise of confirmation as she loads Brittany's bag into the back seat. She was proud that she was able to help reshape Brittany's food tastes. She was now a firm believer that burgers and French fries weren't always the answer. Maybe just sometimes.
"So I have a plan suggestion for us tonight if you're interested."
"A sexy time plan suggestion?" Santana laughed. Brittany was clearly very focused on this.
"No, unfortunately." Brittany pouted. "I just figured since some of our friends are still around till tomorrow, and we haven't hung out with them a lot recently, maybe we could do that. But if you want to stay home alone I'm definitely down with that." While Brittany did want to stay home alone, Santana was right. They had been ignoring their friends any time they had available free time together.
"No let's hang out with friends. We have a whole week. Movie night or something?"
"Well, one of Sam's friends invited him to a party, told him to bring people if he wanted. So I thought maybe that?"
"Dancing?"
"Of course."
"I'm in." Brittany didn't hesitate. She loved to dance. Obviously, since that's what she was hoping to do with her life, but beyond that, she loved to dance casually. She especially loved to dance with Santana.
After they ate, they went back to Santana's apartment. While she was hanging up some stuff in the closet Brittany noticed Santana yawning a lot. "Tired?"
"I couldn't stay asleep last night."
"Let's take a nap before the party then."
"Are you tired?"
"No. But I want to cuddle so you might as well nap while we do. Get in bed I'll be there in a second." Santana pulls off her pants and shirt and climbs into bed waiting for Brittany. The second her head hit the pillow though, she started to drift off. She felt the bed dip as Brittany climbed in and formed her body around Santana's, tangling their legs together and putting her arm around her, holding her tight. "I'll wake you up in a little while. I love you."
Santana mumbled something back that Brittany assumed was I love you before she fell asleep. Brittany waited till Santana's breath had become slow and even before moving her arm to reach around her and grab her phone so she could keep an eye on the time. She loved holding Santana. It was slightly more often the other way around, that Santana would want to hold Brittany. And she loved both, but something about laying awake with a sleeping Santana in her arms made her feel extra happy right now.
She figured she could let Santana sleep for about an hour, so a few minutes before that hour was up she started the process of waking her. Santana was not the easiest person to wake up. But Brittany knew a few tricks. Like if she rubbed her hand over Santana's stomach and kissed her shoulders and back, Santana would wake up happy. Alarms meant she woke up crabby. So Brittany opted to go with option A.
Santana felt Brittany waking her up and turned around in her arms and buried her face in Brittany's chest. "Wake up baby." Brittany whispered into her ear. Santana smiled but shook her head no. "Hmm. Wonder what would wake you up." Brittany jokingly pondered.
"Kisses." Santana whispered and leaned her head up, eyes still closed, with her lips pouted. Brittany laughed and pressed her lips firmly to Santana's. "Ok I'm up now." She made no attempts to actually get up though. "What time is it?"
"A little past eight. Sam is picking us up at ten right?"
"Mhmm. Don't want to get up. So comfy."
"But we have to. You said we could go dance." Brittany started to prod her in places that she knew Santana was ticklish.
"No tickling! I'm getting up!" After a few more kisses they did manage to get up and get into the shower.
Two hours later they were sat in the living room with Quinn dressed up and ready to go. Quinn was being even more quiet than usual because she missed Rachel. Brittany made her promise that she will try to have fun tonight even if she does text Rachel the entire time. Sam calls a few minutes later saying he and Mercedes are outside.
When they get to the party it was bigger than Santana had expected. She had assumed most of the people would be gone for spring break. But this place was wall to wall people. She felt Brittany's body tense next to hers and the grip on her hand tighten. "It's crazy in here." Brittany nodded. "We don't have to stay if you don't want." Brittany thought about it for a few minutes.
"No. It's fine. I want to dance." Santana began leading her through the people to where the music was coming from. She suspected, at one point this was a living room but it had been cleared out and was now a makeshift dance floor.
"You girls want anything to drink?" Sam asked.
"No, I'm good." Santana relied at the same time as Brittany said.
"Not drinking tonight. Thanks Sammy." Brittany tugged Santana's hand and they made their way to an open space on the dance floor as Mercedes, Quinn, and Sam walked off towards the kitchen.
About half an hour later Sam comes to find them. "Hey guys. Mercedes isn't feeling well so I'm going to take her home. Quinn is heading out with us. Do you guys want to stay?"
"I'm having fun dancing." Brittany tells Santana.
"We'll stay."
"Ok. Call me when you leave and I'll drive you home. Ok?" They both nod in response and Sam walks away.
They definitely lost track of how long they had been there. Dancing a little while longer had turned into hours of dancing and Santana's compression shorts feeling awfully tight. Their bodies were slick with sweat and Santana could see Brittany's face was flushed. Beyond both being turned on, it was also way too hot inside.
"I'm ready to go whenever you are." Brittany spoke into Santana's ear in between songs.
"Yeah. Let's go." Santana pulled Brittany through the crowd glaring at several boys she caught staring either at herself, or Brittany, and finally broke through the mass of people when they got to the front door. They grabbed their coats off of the pile of them and headed outside.
"It's so much nicer out here." Brittany sighed once the cool air had hit her.
"I know." They took a second to cool down. "Should I call Sam?"
"You could. Or we could walk. It's not super far, and it's really nice."
"Sure. Let's walk." They clasped hands and walked down the street in the direction of Santana's apartment. A few blocks away, Brittany's body temperature had returned to normal and she realized it was actually kind of cold out. The wind was blowing kind of hard and she wished they had called Sam.
Then they felt a few rain drops. Nothing much. Enough to annoy Santana. The walk was further than she had originally thought. They were still a little over a mile away and her heels were starting to hurt her feet. But when it started to rain, like really rain, that made her decision for her. She grabbed Brittany's hand and pulled her into a little side street and under the awning of an Italian restaurant.
"W-why did we s-stop?" Brittany's teeth chattered as she spoke.
"Because your lips are blue. I'm freezing. And now it's raining." She pulled her phone out and dialed Sam's phone. She pressed herself against Brittany's body and Brittany buried her cold face into Santana's neck.
Brittany breathed against the warm skin she found there, breathing in the gentle scent of Santana's perfume and just her. "Hey Sammy boy. Can you come get us? We were going to walk home but it started raining."
"Yep where are you guys?"
"By Luigi's."
"Cool. I'll be there as soon as I get some pants on."
"Gross Sam. We didn't mean to interrupt."
"You didn't. 'Cedes puked on me. I think she ate something bad."
"Also gross. See you soon. Thanks again."
"No prob. Be there soon." Santana hung up the phone and put her arms around Brittany and flipped her around so her back was pressed against the wall. She let out a little squeal in surprise as she feels Santana's arms brace on either side of her.
"Let me warm you up a little." Santana whispered and pressed lips to Brittany's.
Brittany whimpered when Santana pulled away. "Mmmmm. More." Santana obliged and kissed her again.
"Look what we fuckin have here." A voice slurred behind Santana. She saw Brittany's eyes go wide before she spun around standing in front of Brittany. Instinctually blocking whoever it was off from Brittany. "What the hell is this? Some fuckin dykes?"
"Fuck off asshole. Go back to the cave you came from." She's all bluster. She can't fight these guys. There were two of them and they were big guys. Hopefully they'll be assholes and then walk away. The smaller of the two guys took a step closer towards them and Santana felt Brittany's hand tighten on her bicep. She wanted to reassure Brittany. But she couldn't turn her back. The guy kept walking towards them. Stumbling.
"Why don't you ladies come home with us?"
"Fuck. Off. Leave us alone!" Santana yelled again. Brittany could feel Santana's muscles under her hand were locked up. She was scared and that was making Brittany more afraid. The guy just took a few steps closer so he was right in front of them. He reached out towards Santana's face and she slapped his hand away, but he caught it. He held her wrist roughly in his hand and then jerked her away from Brittany. She tried to hold onto Santana but he was too strong and she only had one hand clung to her coat.
The guy whipped Santana backwards behind him and into the arms of the other guy. She felt a pop in her shoulder followed by a shock of pain that she had to ignore. "Hold her." He growled. The guy locked his arms around Santana's, behind her back. She fought and kicked and screamed but he wouldn't let go. The first guy took a few steps closer to Brittany.
"Brittany run!" Santana didn't know what else to do to protect her other than to get her to leave as fast as she could. But Brittany didn't leave, she wouldn't even if she was capable. But right now she was frozen with fear. She knows the look in his eyes. The way he's looking at her. That's the way someone looks when they're going to take what they want, no matter what.
He goes to grab her and she unfreezes and swings at him, scratching his face. She saw blood droplets forming in the half second that everything stopped. Then he took another step closer so he was pressed up against her. "You fucking bitch!" She can smell the alcohol on his breath. Then she did the only thing she could think of. Brittany kicked him as hard as she could in the balls. She looked over her shoulder to make sure that Santana was still ok. She was still struggling with the man holding her back, but she could tell that he wasn't going to be able to hold her back much longer.
Brittany refocused on the man in front of her again. She had injured him, and now she thought maybe if she could just push him off of her, she could push that other man holding Santana and they could run. Before she was able to make her body catch up with her brain though, the man pressed against her reached up and grabbed a handful of her hair. She screamed as she felt him pull her head forward, then violently push back. Her world went black.
Santana saw it happening. She saw Brittany struggle against him and for a second, she thought Brittany would get away. Then she saw Brittany hesitate, and that guy slam her head off of the wall. It happened in slow motion. Brittany's body crumpled to the ground and for a minute, Santana stopped struggling. She wanted Brittany to move again. She wanted anything to happen that might indicate that Brittany was fine. But nothing. Nothing except the sticky red fluid she saw coating her blonde hair. Santana found her fight again and started doing anything she could to get out of his grasp to get to Brittany.
"Yo! Did you kill her?! We gotta go bro. Someone is gonna hear this bitch."
"She's not dead." He took a step towards Brittany's motionless body. "We're not leaving till I get some of this." He crouched down and started to push his hand up Brittany's skirt. Santana lost it. Out of instinct or something else she fell to her knees making the man loosen his grip on her. She pulled away and bolted toward Brittany. The man's hand was high on her thigh when Santana's fist connected with the side of his face. "Fucking bitch!" He got up and swung at Santana catching her just off center of her stomach, low on her ribs. The breath rushes out of her body and she buckles with the effort of trying to drag any air into her lungs. She tries pushing herself up but her arm feels like it's not working. She's struggling.
The man bends down just feet from her, looks her in the eye, and starts to lift Brittany's skirt again. Santana flings herself at him and knocks him off balance, knocking him to the ground. Santana crawls over to Brittany just as the man is getting back up.
"Dude I see headlights we need to fucking go." The guy is still walking toward them so Santana does the only thing she can and lays herself across Brittany covering as much of her body as she can. Santana sees the lights now too but the man keeps coming closer. She watches him pull his foot back, aiming right for her face. She braces herself for the impact but instead she feels Brittany's body take it right in the ribs. She hears a sickening crack. Her eyes snap open and she sees somebody chasing the guys up the street towards another main road.
"Brittany? Baby? Can you hear me?" Santana sniffed back tears. She was afraid to touch her. She didn't know where she was hurt. He had hurt her everywhere. There was so much blood. She wanted to move her head out of the blood but she was afraid she'd make it worse. "Brittany please wake up." She cried out. She could feel the rain on the back of her neck. She was distantly aware that she was also in pain but it was nothing compared to the fear that was threatening to split her body in half.
The second he pulled up his heart was in his throat. All he could see was some guy walking toward Santana who was trying to protect Brittany who was on the ground. He jumped out of the car without even shutting the doors and bolted after them. Not before one of them kicked either Brittany or Santana. He couldn't tell. He chased them up the alley but they were too far away and he needed to call for help. Brittany hadn't been moving. On his way back he called 911 and told them where they were. They asked if Brittany was breathing. He called to Santana to ask but didn't get an answer.
Santana was vaguely aware that there was someone nearby. She was still trying to will Brittany to wake up. She had taken her hand now and was squeezing it gently hoping for any response when she saw some out of her periphery approach them. "Get the fuck away!" She growled covering Brittany again.
"San it's me. I just need to feel for a pulse." He reached again but Santana smacked his hand away. She knew logically that Sam wasn't going to hurt them. She knew that. But she couldn't stop protecting Brittany. "I can see her chest going up and down." She heard him say into the phone. Why hadn't she thought of that? She put her hand on Brittany's chest and felt her lungs expand, albeit shallowly, but still. Brittany was breathing. Which meant Brittany was not dead. She put her cold cheek close to Brittany's nose and felt the air puff against her. Breathing. Not dead.
She watched the rain pool in the corner of Brittany's eyes and mouth. Brittany was breathing and she needed to get her out of the rain but she couldn't move her. She took her coat off and tried to hold it over Brittany's head but part of it kept falling over her face. Her body tensed when Sam kneeled on the other side of her. "I'm just helping you Santana. I won't touch her. I promise." He picked up the other corners of the coat and held it over Brittany's head. Santana took her finger and brushed the water away from her eyes. It ran down like tear drops.
She heard the sirens before she saw them. She heard them get louder and then pull up and shut off. She looked up and noticed that a few people had gathered. Where were these people when they were hurting Brittany? Why had they been all alone then but now people stood around watching them like animals in the zoo. She felt like everyone was closing in on her. She crouched over Brittany again, protective instincts taking over.
Sam saw the shift. The second Santana took her eyes off of Brittany she became unsettled. When the paramedics came closer and reached for Brittany without warning Santana she tried to push them away from her. He hated that he had to do it but he grabbed her around the middle and pulled her away from Brittany, making sure to keep her close enough so that she could still see Brittany and what was being done to her. "Santana calm down they are helping her!" She continued to struggle against him and he just held her tighter until he felt her body give in and she just started to sob. "Shhh. It's ok. She's going to be ok."
When they started to load Brittany on the stretcher into the ambulance Santana started to panic again. She pulled Sam over to where the paramedics were and tried to follow them into the ambulance but was stopped. "Ma'am you need to let us take care of your friend. You can meet us at the hospital."
"But" She yelled before they closed the doors. She turned and looked at Sam, eyes wide. Her mouth opening and closing like she needed to say something but couldn't. The words were stuck. She was shaking. Sam could tell she was soaking wet and her coat was over on the concrete. He quickly ran and picked it up and brought it over to Santana and then ushered her to his car. "I need to- where- I just- Sam?" She broke again. "I was supposed to take care of her. I am. Supposed to."
"I'm taking you to the hospital that they just took Brittany to. And then we'll wait until they let us see her ok?" Santana's head slumped forward, which was enough recognition that she understood.
Even with the heat on as high as he could get it, the drive just wasn't long enough for Santana to dry or stop shaking. He wasn't sure that the shaking was just from the cold anyway. And he couldn't help any of the other reasons right now. When they got to the hospital Santana had jumped out of the car before he was even completely parked. By time he finally caught up with her she was already at the nurses station begging for information on Brittany.
"They brought her in, and she's now being looked at. I can't tell you anything unfortunately, since you aren't family. We are contacting her emergency contacts. If you wait in the waiting room someone will come by and let you know how she is." The nurse was distant. This was just her job. Santana walked towards the waiting room and sat down. She couldn't stop her mind from racing. Replaying what had happened. Jumping to the worst case scenario with Brittany. Sam just kept a constant eye on her. She was staring, eyes fixed at the floor. And occasional shudder would pass through her. Other than that she was largely unresponsive.
About an hour after they had got there a nurse came over. Santana jumped up ready to interrogate her. "I don't know anything about your friend. But you're scaring other people in the waiting room." Santana looked genuinely confused. "You're wet, dirty, and covered in mud. And I can tell by the way you're holding your arm that you're hurt."
"I'm fine. I need to wait here for Brittany."
"And then scare her when you do see her? I'll give you two options. One, you can come back with me. Get checked out, we'll fix you up. And then you can get cleaned up. Or two, you can leave. Those are your options." Santana's breathing quickens and Sam can see the panic in her eyes.
"It's going to be a while San. They said that. Go get checked out now so you don't have to leave her when she does wake up." Santana's gaze shifts back and forth between the two for a few seconds before she nods in agreement. Sam breathes a sigh of relief as Santana walks away. Glad that for at least a little bit she'll be distracted. A thought occurred to him and he ran out to his car. In his trunk he had a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt that had gotten left in Mercedes laundry and she had washed for him. He'd never taken them into his apartment. He pulled them out and brought them to the nurse's station. "Can you give these to my friend Santana to put on after she gets cleaned up?"
They checked her over as soon as she walked back. The doctor said that her shoulder was dislocated. That made sense. It's happened to her before in cheerleading. She was having a hard time focusing on the words they were saying. She tried. She knew it was important. But right now the most important thing in her world was in a room, maybe still unconscious, with a bunch of strangers, hurt. After the initial pain of having her shoulder reset, it started to feel better immediately. She refused pain medicine. She needed to be as clear as she could when she got to see Brittany.
The nurse handed her some clothes that she instantly recognized as Sam's and showed her to a room with a shower in it. She got in and rinsed off quickly, not bothering with soap. She threw on the warm, dry clothes and went back out. The nurse made sure her sling was on correctly before letting her go back out to the waiting room. Sam stood up as soon as he saw her walking towards him. "Bruised rib and a dislocated shoulder. I'm fine. Any news on Brittany?" Sam was glad to hear that she seemed to be thinking more clearly at least.
"Not yet." Santana nodded and sat back down in her seat.
Santana had read the same line on a poster in front of for the thousandth time when she heard her name being called. She looked in the direction of the voice and saw Quinn running towards them. Santana got up and let Quinn hug her gently. "Are you ok? Did you hear any news about Brittany?"
"No. And I'm fine." Quinn sat down on the other side of her.
"I brought you some clothes. Here's a hoodie. And some shoes so you can take off your heels. I brought some for Britt too. I just didn't know-"
"Thank you." Santana said quietly, as she slipped off her heels and put on flats. She sat back up and leaned her head on Quinn's shoulder. She was grateful that she was here, but she didn't know what else to say.
"Have you called her parents?" Quinn was going through a checklist in her head of things they could be doing right now. Quinn needed the action to get through things that were hard for her to deal with sometimes.
"No. I can't talk to them right now."
"Did you call your parents?" Santana shook her head. She should. She knows.
"I don't want to call them unless I know what's going on." Quinn understood. Not knowing was difficult. She couldn't imagine being Santana right now.
A few minutes later two police officers come in asking for her. She stands up to indicate that she is Santana Lopez, the person they are looking for. "We're sorry to bother you ma'am. But we need to ask you to tell us what happened tonight." Santana took a deep breath and recalled the story with as much detail as she could. It hadn't even occurred to her that the police might want to talk to her. After talking to her, Sam told his version which was much shorter. Quinn, who hadn't heard the whole story yet, became increasingly more upset with the details she was hearing.
"The doctors have collected a DNA sample from under Brittany's nails which should help us identify the attacker." Santana nodded, expecting them to go away now but they didn't. They just sat back in the seats.
"Do you need something else?" It came out a little more harsh than she had intended.
"We need to get a statement from Ms. Pierce when she wakes up. The doctors said they weren't sure how long that would be so we figured we would wait unless something came up. She doesn't have any family here to make sure that she talks to us when she's ready so we are just going to wait it out."
"I'm her family. I mean I'm her girlfriend. And I'm not leaving unless she's leaving with me. So if I promise to make sure she calls you before we leave here, could you maybe not question her as soon as she wakes up?" She tried to be as polite as possible. She just didn't want Brittany to have to deal with that after everything else she had gone through. The police officer studied her for a minute, perhaps gauging her honesty.
"I think that would be ok Ms. Lopez. We'll stop back in the morning but if she gets discharged before we come back, you make sure to call us. We want to talk to her before she leaves this hospital. Ok?" Santana nods and the police officers get up. The one that had been talking to her hands her his card and they head back out of the hospital.
It was either very late, or very early when the doctor came out with news about Brittany. Or, it wasn't news really. But it was something. "We are still having a hard time getting a hold of her emergency contacts so I still can't tell you much. They are getting her cleaned up and she isn't awake yet."
"But she's ok? Please just tell me that she is going to be ok?" The doctor hesitates, looking into Santana's scared eyes.
"She should be fine miss." The doctor turned around and walked back down the hall and Santana slumped back into her seat.
"She's going to be ok San. That's good news." Quinn tried.
"Yeah. But what happens when she wakes up in that room alone? She's going to be fucking terrified." Nobody had any response to that because she was right. Brittany would be.
Quinn had just nodded off when a nurse came quietly into the waiting room. "Are you here for Brittany Pierce?"
"Yes. I am. I'm her girlfriend. Is she awake? Is she ok?"
"You are her girlfriend?" Santana sees a softness come over the woman. She nods.
"I am. And I really need to be with her."
"I'm Emma Pillsbury. I'm the nurse assigned to her right now. She hasn't woken yet. I think maybe we can break the rules and take you back there. Just you for now though, is that ok?" Sam and Quinn both nod but it wouldn't have mattered. Nothing mattered so long as she got to see Brittany. Be there when she wakes up.
The nurse led her back to a room and gently pushes the door open. Santana's knees weaken at seeing Brittany on the bed, hooked up to all of those machines with a bandage around her head. But most of the blood was gone, and she was definitely alive. She just looked like she was sleeping. Except Brittany never slept that still on her back . "She lost a lot of blood. But the doctor stitched up the wounds on her head. She also had two broken ribs that, luckily, managed to not puncture anything. But they are going to be very painful for a few weeks. She's going to be ok though and she should be waking up any minute now." Santana nodded and walked quietly to the bed. She pulled a chair up and sat down, immediately taking Brittany's hand into her own and squeezing gently. "Just hit this button when she wakes up."
"Ok." The nurse walked silently out of the room and Santana was finally left with Brittany alone. "Hey B. It would be great if you could wake up." She tried to clear the tremble out of her voice. "I know you're just sleeping but I need to see your eyes. Or hear you talk." She cleared her throat again, knowing she was fighting a losing battle. "I'm so sorry I couldn't protect you Britt. I tried so hard." She broke down. She put her head down on the blanket and tried to control her crying.
Brittany first registered the pain in her chest. It felt a little like she was being squeezed and stabbed at the same time. The ache in her head came next. And then the warmth on her hand and a voice was talking to her but she couldn't quite make out the words. But she knew the voice. She forced her eyes open.
"S-San?" Santana heard a small voice and lifted her head. Brittany was awake and looking around.
"Baby you're awake!"
"What's going on?" Santana's heart stopped for a second, if Brittany forgot what had happened would she be able to explain it? "Are you ok? Did they hurt you?" She asked again before she struggled to sit up. "Ow!"
"Lay down Britt." Santana stood up and pressed Brittany's shoulder back to the bed with her uninjured arm. "I'm ok. We're in the hospital."
"Why do you have a sling on?"
"Dislocated shoulder. It's no big deal." She was smoothing the skin across Brittany's eyebrows. Unsure of where she could touch and not hurt. "You have to stay laying down. You have some broken ribs. But everything is going to be ok. Do you remember anything?" She tried to be as soothing as possible but the fear remained in Brittany's eyes.
"I remember calling Sam. And then those guys came. And one of them hit me?" Then Brittany felt like a hand had squeezed her heart as she remembered the look he had given her. "D-did he? Uh." She gestured to her lower half and Santana suddenly understood.
"No. No he didn't. He didn't ever get further than touching your leg. I pushed him off of you. I wouldn't let him hurt you. I'm sorry I couldn't protect you better." She filled Brittany in on the rest of what had happened, including Sam chasing the guys away. The fear lessened in Brittany's eyes at the news. She reached up and wiped at a tear rolling down Santana's cheek.
"You did protect me. I wish I could have protected you too."
"I'm so happy you're awake B." Santana just stood, staring at Brittany. Taking in the fact that Brittany was here and talking to her. Then she remembered she needed to hit the call button.
Nurse Emma shows up a few moments later and introduces herself to Brittany. Santana can tell Brittany is in a lot of pain and so apparently can the nurse. "I'm going to give you a little more medicine for the pain ok?" She pushes a few buttons on a pump that is attached to Brittany via IV. "That should feel a little better in a few minutes. Ok. So, I don't know if Santana has told you but you have a pretty bad injury to your head. We've stitched you all up but there's a definite concussion. You also have two broken ribs and a lot of bruising." Brittany forms a lot of questions in her head about what that means but is either too tired or too overwhelmed to ask them right now.
"Did you call my parents?" Was the only one that came out. Truthfully she hoped they hadn't. Brittany didn't want to deal with them on top of everything else. The nurse gave her a pitying look. "What?"
"We did call. We had a hard time getting a hold of them but we did manage." Brittany's grip tightened on Santana's hand. She wasn't sure what outcome she had been hoping for from that conversation.
"What did they say?" The nurse, for her part, didn't look like she wanted to answer that question. The nurse hesitates for a second longer.
"I did get a hold of them. I told them that you were here, that you had been attacked. They asked if it was critical. I told them that no, we were confident you would be ok but that you did have some pretty serious injuries." She took a breath and looked at the ground before continuing. "They said that they wouldn't be able to make the trip to see you. They are due to leave in the morning, they'll be gone until Monday. They said to have you contact them if need be, to let them know how you were doing." She looked back up and saw the anger in Santana's face and the hurt in Brittany's. "I'm sorry to have to be the one to have told you. I just thought you should know."
Santana was going to explode. She didn't even know she was capable of this kind of anger, not born of physical threat. How do you even say something like that? Her anger was spiraling but she heard Brittany start to cry and that snapped her back to what was important. She put her hand on Brittany's cheek as Brittany began crying harder. But every time she took a gasping breath she would clutch her side. The pain making her cry harder.
"Miss you need to calm down or you're going to make it worse." The nurse stated unhelpfully. Santana did the only thing she knew would calm Brittany. She walked to her uninjured side and crawled onto the bed, pressing herself as tight as she could to Brittany, gently stroking her wet cheeks. She felt Brittany's breathing start to even out. The nurse gestured to the button and then slipped out.
"Calm down baby. I've got you. We don't need them. Shhhh Britt. It's ok." She soothed Brittany till she was breathing almost normally again. It was still a little fast, but shallow enough that it wasn't hurting her to breathe. She made to get off the bed to give Brittany more room but Brittany's hold on her good arm tightened.
"Don't go. Please stay here with me." Brittany's breathing picked up again.
"Ok. I'm here. I'm not going anywhere." They cuddled together as best as they could despite their injuries. A few minutes later there was a light knock on the door before it was pushed open and Quinn and Sam stuck their heads in.
"They said we could come back for a few minutes if that was ok with you." Santana looked to Brittany who smiled slightly. She took that as a yes and waved their friends in.
"I brought you some clothes Britt. If you need them for going home or whatever. They might be Santana's. It's hard to tell the difference."
"Thanks Quinn. There wouldn't happen to be any socks in there maybe? My feet are cold." Quinn digs through the bag and finds the thicker pair of socks and pulls it out. Brittany goes to reach for them but Santana stops her before she hurts herself.
"I'll do it." Santana grabs the socks from Quinn and hops off the bed. She pulls up the blankets at the bottom of the bed and finds Brittany's cold feed. Her feet were often cold. When they cuddled she'd bury her cold toes under Santana's leg to warm them. She rubbed them for a second, trying to warm each before slipping the sock on and laying a small kiss to the top of her foot. After tucking her feet back into the blanket, Santana crawled back onto the bed and cuddled around Brittany.
"Thank you San." Santana nodded into her shoulder. "I heard that you chased those guys away from us Sam." Sam nodded grabbing her slightly outreached hand. "Thank you for helping us. I don't think I could ever thank you enough."
"How about another nail salon date and we call it even?" He smiled his huge smile at her and Brittany nodded. The heavy moment passed slightly.
"Santana. I think you should probably know that I called your parents once they told us Brittany was awake. Just so they would know that you're both ok." She had completely forgot. Her parents would have been so mad when they found out that this had happened and she hadn't called till the next day.
"What did they say?"
"There was a lot of Spanish. And then they said they would be here soon and were leaving in five minutes about half an hour ago." Santana tried to ignore the guilt she was still feeling in favor of the relief that her parents were coming. All she could think of right now was take care of Brittany. Make Brittany feel safe. Maybe her parents could help her figure out the rest.
AN: Let me know what you think. If you have questions or anything you can PM me or find me on tumblr, same user name as here.
And as always, thank you so much for reading and reviewing. It means a lot to me to know what you think/feel. And thank you to my beta for keeping me in check.
AN2: For those of you who are friends with me on tumblr. This chapter has nothing to do with, and is not in response to, and is in no way related to what happened to me and my friend. Obviously. For one, totally different. And two this was outlined long before that happened.
Potential Trigger Warnings: Violence and attempted sexual assault.