Santana and Brittany finally came back from the hospital. And when they walked into the firehouse, all eyes were on them.
They knew that the guys would want an update on how Abrams was doing, especially Evans. He immediately started walking towards the ambo once they parked.
Brittany exited through the back, and he walked around that way.
"Evans, we don't have much." Britt said before he could get a word out. "But the doctors will call if they have any info. Kitty is there with him right now, and we'll know more when she does. I promise."
"Alright, I just-"
"No. There wasn't anything any of us could have done. The ladder breaking, is something I'm sure is not your fault." Santana was coming around from the drivers side, where she met the two others who were sitting on the back of the ambo. "Where's Fabray?"
"She's been in Shuester's office for nearly a half an hour now. She asked to talk to him when we got back and they haven't come out since."
Brittany looked at Santana. She wasn't sure if San knew what Quinn had told her about the crack on the ladder.
Evans went to rejoin the guys sitting at the table.
"San you good?"
Santana was leaning on the ambo, running her hands through her hair. It was a rough moment for everyone, not knowing how Artie was going to end up.
"I'm good. This is just a lot to process. I'm not used to seeing one of us hurt. It's hard."
Brittany walked over to her and placed her hand on her cheek. "Hey. He's gonna be alright, the doctors are gonna take care of him. Let's go inside and wait for Quinn."
The girls walked inside where everyone was kind of in their own head space. Artie was respected among everyone in the firehouse so Brittany understood why everyone was the way they were.
The door to Captain Shuester's office and opened and immediately slammed shut, and Brittany knew that Quinn was going to be in a mood. Santana had fallen asleep on the couch, so she got up and tried to catch up to Quinn who was walking out of the station through the side exit.
"Fuck!" She screamed. "Fuck."
Quinn sat on the ground and immediately started crying. Brittany ran up to her, immediately sitting next to her and pulling her close.
"I should've pulled that ladder from service. This was my fault."
"Quinn it definitely wasn't your fault. What did Shuester say?" Brittany released her grip a little so that she could look at Quinn's face.
"He's tryna put the blame on me even though I fucking told him about the damn ladder and he was the one that told me to keep it serviceable. Of course he's gonna try and put the blame on everyone but himself."
Quinn immediately stood up to try and regain her composure. Hastily, she wiped her face in case anyone walked out of the firehouse. She never showed emotions in front of the guys. She always believed that it was a sign of weakness, and that was the last thing she needed her crew to think she was.
"You know it wasn't your fault and I'm sure all the guys say the same. Even Abrams."
After about 10 minutes, Quinn was cooled down enough to go back inside. When they got to the common area, they noticed that everyone was gone. Confused, Quinn walked into the garage to see if anyone was out there while Brittany went into the sleeping quarters.
"San?" She called out. No answer.
Quinn came back in. The guys were all outside working off some of the stress they had pent up.
Santana came walking out of Shuester's office, with a face that Brittany had never seen on her partner before.
"What's wrong, San?" Brittany walked up to her.
"Well- Kitty called." She answered, as she twirled her phone in her hand. "Artie, is paralyzed. Waist down, he uh.. severed his spinal cord."
Brittany pulled Santana in for a hug, knowing how hard it must've been for her. When they released, Santana immediately turned and walked outside.
Before Brittany could follow her, Quinn grabbed her.
"She needs some space, Britt. Let her go. We can check up on her in a little bit."
The twist of events that the day had taken was insane. It had been a while since Brittany had seen someone that was on her team, hurt. Since the Army really. It's not often that the firefighters are the ones getting injured. Quinn had gone outside to talk to the rest of the guys about Artie's condition and they had all agreed to visit him once the shift was over.
Brittany looked down at her watch and figured that she could see if Santana was okay. When she turned the corner, she saw Santana sitting on a bench in the rain. Cautiously, she walked over and took the seat next to her.
"Hey." She said. Brittany didn't know how to start this.
"Britt, do you think we did enough?"
"What do you mean?"
"For Artie. I mean, he's paralyzed. He won't be ever able to walk again." Santana was second guessing herself.
"No don't do that. Sometimes, there's just nothing we can do." Brittany knew that all too well. "We, you. Did everything you could so don't question your judgement."
Brittany had to learn that sometimes, things couldn't be helped. She learned it in the worst way on deployment, that there are times that no matter how much you do? You lose them. It was something she compartmentalized, because it was something that didn't seem to appealing to people- especially civilians.
"I know that, this doesn't happen. Ever. But San, please. You're a outstanding EMT. Don't second guess yourself now."
The rain was coming down harder now, which worked in Santana's favor- disguising her tears as raindrops. Brittany saw her shiver, and pulled her closer.
"It's just hard."
"I know it is. It's not something that can ever come easy to a person." She began to rub her shoulder in a measly attempt to comfort her. "But let's go inside. I don't need my partner catching a cold."
But before they left the bench, Santana turned to Brittany. She placed her hand gently on her cheek, gently caressing it with her thumb. She moved her face closer to Brittany, looking up to meet her eyes.
They kissed, and instantly- butterflies appeared in Brittany's stomach.
Santana smiled. They both got up from the bench and walked back into the firehouse in silence.
They would be helping each other out in ways that no one else could.