Light and slightly awkward conversation fills the air for the next 20 minutes or so. Brittany is stuck between feeling thankful that her friends are there and wanting to be alone with Santana. Pretty much everything hurts, and the fact that she can't be held by Santana the way she wants right now is also not helping. Quinn's cell phone starts ringing, and the noise makes Brittany wince.

"Did that make your head hurt worse, B?" Santana asks quietly. She is being mindful of how loud she's speaking. During cheerleading her senior year, she got a minor concussion—nothing like what Brittany is going through—but she can still remember how badly loud noises hurt.

"A little." Santana presses the gentlest of kisses against Brittany's forehead. Her position leaning over Brittany blocks out more of the light, which helps too. Brittany can't wait to go to sleep. "Wait. Are they going to let you stay with me to sleep? San, I don't think I can sleep if you're not here. If you can't stay, I'm going to—"

"Shh. Don't upset yourself, Britt. I'm not leaving unless they physically carry me out, and something tells me my parents won't let that happen."

"I'm glad they're coming."

"S, your parents are going to be here in like two minutes. They're parking the car now. They have the room number, but that means we have to go. The nurse said the room's at capacity, so nobody else can come back while we're still here." Quinn gets up and walks over to them. She gives them both very gentle hugs, lingering an extra second with Brittany. "I'm so glad you guys are going to be okay. Keep me updated, okay?" Santana nods, assuring her that she will.

Sam hugs Brittany, making her promise that they'll get their "nails did" soon. Then, Santana hugs him much more tightly than she normally ever would, which surprises him for a second before he hugs back. "Thank you so much. I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't shown up. She could have—"

"Don't. Don't think about it. And don't thank me. I would do anything for my girls. You know that."

"I know. I will watch any movie and listen to any impression without complaint from here on out."

"Don't make promises you can't keep, Lopez." He winks and kisses the top of her head, then waves to Brittany once more before leaving with Quinn. After Santana walks over to the light switch and dims the lights a little more, she climbs back into bed with Brittany. They are alone in relative quiet for approximately two minutes before the door flies open.

The best way Santana can describe her mother is panicked, bordering on hysterical. She keeps muttering in Spanish and clutching her chest. As soon as she sees Brittany and Santana in the bed, she runs over to inspect them. "My babies," she says over and over as she touches their faces and hands. Quinn told her vaguely what happened. Maribel knows that Santana was waiting to see Brittany and that she has a dislocated shoulder and some bruising, but she had no idea of Brittany's condition. She's beyond relieved to see her awake and responsive.

Santana, as well as probably the entire hospital, can hear her dad in the hallway, demanding information and questioning everyone he sees about Brittany's care. Once he seems satisfied with the answers, he rushes in and pulls out her chart, reviewing it quickly before replacing it. Then, he inspects everything that Brittany is hooked up to before finally stopping and looking at the two girls still laying on the bed. "Are you two okay? Brittany, can I look at your head? I promise I won't hurt you." Brittany nods, and Santana helps her sit up. Antonio gently looks at the injury on the back of her head. It looks pretty bad, but the doctors did a good job stitching her up. Minimal scarring, he thinks. Why anyone would hit this child so hard to cause this kind of damage, though, is beyond him.

"Is it okay, Papi?"

"Yeah Mija. They did a good job. Can I look at your ribs now, Brittany?" Brittany nods, and Antonio unties the sides of her hospital gown, so he doesn't leave Brittany feeling exposed. He gently pulls some of the bandaging down, and Santana gets a look at the bruising for the first time. Her breath gets stuck in her throat, and tears spring to her eyes. "I don't see signs of internal bleeding. It's possible that broken ribs can puncture a lung or any number of other organs, but I think we're in the clear. If you feel any additional tenderness in your abdomen area or find it difficult to breathe, make sure you tell someone immediately. Okay?"

"Okay." Santana makes a mental note to regularly check in with Brittany about that.

Antonio takes a few minutes to look at Santana's injuries as well, before walking over to stand next to his wife. "Can you tell us what happened?"

"Quinn didn't?" Santana really doesn't want to tell this story again for what feels like the millionth time.

"No, we didn't really give her a chance. Quinn told us that Brittany was hurt really badly and that you were roughed up. That was all we heard, other than the hospital name."

Sighing, Santana nods and launches into the story yet again. She watches as her mother gets more and more upset, tears flowing freely, and her father gets more and more angry. Like her brothers, he is very protective of her and her mother. "The police are coming tomorrow to talk to Brittany. They already talked to me." She feels Brittany tense in her arms. "I know, babe. I'm sorry."

"If we aren't here when they come, I want you to call us, and we'll be here within just a few minutes. I'm sure they're doing a fine job, but I want to hear how things are going. Okay, Mija?" Santana nods. Maribel tries her best to trust the people on the right side of the law, but as a lawyer, she's privy to a lot of things that other people aren't. While it isn't incredibly common, she doesn't want the police having any accidents on this particular case.

"Thank you, Maribel."

"Of course, sweetie. Have you called your parents yet? Would you like me to?"

"The hospital called," Santana bites out.

Maribel does not miss the bitter tone in her daughter's voice. "And?"

Santana hesitates. She doesn't want to say it again, doesn't want to make Brittany deal with those feelings again. "They couldn't come, because they're going away."

"Did they know how serious this is?"

"She wasn't even awake yet, Mami. All they knew was that the doctors expected she would be okay."

"Enough is enough. Brittany, I would like it if you could switch us over to be your emergency contacts when you get back to school. I will sign anything that I need to. There is no reason you shouldn't have full confidence that people will be there when you need them."

"Really?" Brittany is trying not to cry. She isn't sure if it is the effort to stop herself, or the fact that she is failing and starting to cry anyway, that is making her head hurt worse.

"Of course."

Antonio watches as Brittany presses her hand to her head. "Does your head hurt worse?" Brittany's answering nod is so small it's almost imperceptible. He walks over and pushes a few buttons. "That should help in a minute."

Maribel spends the next few minutes fussing over them, asking if they are warm enough and have enough water to drink. She notices when the pain medicine takes effect and Brittany's eyelids get heavier. "We're going to go to the hotel nearby. Remember to call if the police get here before us, or if you need anything at all."

"San can't leave." Brittany mumbles. Her tongue suddenly feels like it's not working very well. She tries to increase her grip on Santana.

"She can stay here with you. I will make sure of it on my way out." Antonio pats Brittany's hand before heading out. Maribel follows after giving two rounds of gentle hugs and kisses. Santana climbs out of the bed and dims the lights further before crawling under the covers with Brittany and placing a kiss on her cheek.

Now that it's quiet and dark, Brittany can't help but feel the fear of what happened to them creep into her chest. She knows Santana is trying not to hurt her by leaving a little bit of space between them, but she needs her closer. Finding Santana's hand, she pulls her until Santana gets the message and presses her body fully against Brittany's uninjured side. Brittany settles into Santana's arm, hands clasped together against her lower abdomen. "Can you sing to me?" Brittany mumbles.

"Mhmm." Santana starts to hum before breaking into a version of "The Story" by Brandi Carlisle that she would be embarrassed of if she weren't so tired. However, it's enough to soothe Brittany, who drifts to sleep before she finishes the first chorus. Santana follows shortly behind, grateful that exhaustion can override her racing mind.


After a surprisingly dreamless sleep, Brittany wakes up to hushed voices in the room. She briefly considers trying to go back to sleep, but the fact that she has to go to the bathroom so bad it's uncomfortable is making that a little difficult. She forces her eyes open and starts searching for Santana's hand under the blanket.

Santana feels the movement and looks down at Brittany, whose eyes are barely open and whose lips are curled into a pout on her face. "You're up, babe. Are you in a lot of pain? What's wrong?"

"Hafta pee," she mumbles.

Santana looks at her dad, unsure of what to do. Should they call a nurse? Is Brittany allowed to walk?

"You can take her, Mija...if you're okay with Santana helping you, Brittany?"

Santana hopes she is, hopes Brittany will let her take care of her.

"Duh."

Antonio chuckles a little as he walks over to the bed to help her sit up. He unplugs the IV from the port in her arm before sliding a hand behind her back, showing Santana how to support her. "Put your hand behind her shoulder and help her. Let me know if it hurts too much, Brittany." As they help her sit up, Santana is tempted to stop every second, because the look on Brittany's face is telling her the truth, even when Brittany says it's fine, keep going. Eventually, they get her into a sitting position, and from there, Brittany can handle the rest with less pain. Santana stands with her arms out, braced, ready to catch Brittany at any second should the need arise.

They slowly make their way to the bathroom and shut the door. Santana turns respectfully away as Brittany pulls up her hospital gown. Although Brittany manages that part pretty well, she can't figure out how to bend to pull her underwear down. "San," she mutters. Santana whips around and sees Brittany standing there, looking pathetic and in pain. It breaks her heart. "I need help." Santana rushes over and gently pulls Brittany's underwear down, then helps her sit on the toilet. "This is the opposite of sexy," she mumbles, both embarrassed but feeling better now that she doesn't have to pee so badly.

After helping her, Santana turns around to give Brittany some privacy, but she can't let that comment slide. She turns back in time to help Brittany stand up and pull her underwear back up for her. "What do you mean, babe?"

"Usually, when you undress me, sexy things are involved. This is the complete opposite of that." She watches as Santana's face contorts into an almost hurt look.

"Brittany, I don't...sex isn't the most important thing here. Or ever. I love you. I want to be with you, always. Taking care of you will be part of that sometimes, and I want that. I want to do these things for you. I hope you're comfortable with that."

"I am. I just don't want you to look at me differently."

"You're still beautiful and amazing and sexy and everything else, even if I have to help you pee, Britt. Nothing is going to change that." She kisses Brittany's cheek. "Do you want to put on some clothes? Quinn brought you some of my sweats and a hoodie."

"And I have toothbrushes for both of you!" They hear from the other room.

Santana didn't realize how thin these doors are. "Thank you, Mami," she says as she opens the door, and the bag of clothes and another bag is thrust into her hands. "Do you want to change?" Brittany nods. Santana helps her up again and over to the sink to wash her hands. She breaks the toothbrushes out of their packaging and holds them up to Brittany to choose color, even though she knows Brittany will take the blue.

After their teeth are brushed, Santana sets to work pulling off the hospital gown Brittany is wearing, leaving her naked except for her panties, the socks she put on her last night, and the bandages around her chest and ribs. She can see some of the bruising and tries her best not to let it physically affect her. It's difficult. Brittany's pain makes her feel sick to her stomach and want to cry, but now isn't the time for that. "Do you want to change your underwear? Quinn didn't bring any of yours, but there's a pair of my boxer briefs if that's not weird?"

"I wear your boxers all the time, San. It's not weird."

Santana nods. Of course. She pulls them out of the bag. "Put your hands on my shoulders, and lift up one foot at the time. Just a little."

"My legs are fine, Santana."

"Yeah they are," Santana jokes as she slides the briefs up Brittany's legs and rolls them once at her hips. She's not sure how far down the pain in Brittany's ribs goes, and she doesn't want to risk hurting her. Then, she kisses Brittany on the lips gently as she helps Brittany into the hoodie and sweatpants.

"Can I have a hug?"

"I don't want to hurt you." Santana hesitates. Not immediately giving into Brittany is not something that comes naturally to her.

"You won't. I need it." Santana steps forward and, ever so lightly, puts her arms around Brittany. Brittany sighs into the hug, even though it's way more gentle than any hug she's ever gotten. She just needs Santana's arms around her. The less hold the pain medicine has on her, the more uncomfortable she feels, physically, mentally, and emotionally. Being surrounded by Santana and wearing her clothes—it helps, a lot.

"Is everything okay in there?" Santana hears her mother ask through the door.

She reluctantly pulls herself away from Brittany. "Yeah, Mami. We're coming." She turns back to Brittany. "I love you."

"I love you too." Santana puts her hand at the small of Brittany's back and guides her back into the hospital room. As soon as they walk through the door, Antonio is leading Brittany back to the bed to plug her pain medicine IV back into her port. It's not long before Brittany starts to feel some relief and can relax into the bed a little.

"I brought some food, just something small so you girls didn't have to eat the food here." Maribel pulls some containers out of a bag and starts opening them. Brittany wants to be hungry, but she just isn't. She's uncomfortable, and all she wants is to leave this hospital and go lay with Santana in her bed.

"Are you hungry, babe?" Santana asks her.

"Not really," she replies quietly, not wanting to hurt Maribel's feelings.

"How about just a few grapes? Get something in your belly." Santana picks up a grape and holds it to Brittany's mouth. When she parts her lips, Santana slides the grape in, then moves her hand to caress Brittany's cheekbone as she chews.

Maribel watches the tender scene play out in front of her. She's never seen Santana so gentle and outwardly loving with anyone or anything. The way she touches Brittany, and the way Brittany looks at her, you would have to be blind to not see their love.

After eating a few grapes, Brittany starts drifting off again. Although Santana is content to sit and watch her all day, not five minutes later, the police walk in after lightly knocking. Santana doesn't want them here. She doesn't want them upsetting Brittany. At least they are as polite and as nice as they can possibly be. They don't press Brittany to remember things she can't. After telling her that they'll be in touch, they leave. "Can we go to your home now?" Brittany mumbles, reaching for Santana's hand.

Santana looks to her dad in question, and he gets up and walks out of the room. "Soon, baby. We can go home soon."

"I like home. When we don't say yours, even if it's yours. I just like home." Santana reaches up and brushes away some of the hair that is close to falling into Brittany's face. That sentence probably would confused a lot of people, but Santana understands perfectly. Brittany likes home with her, when it's theirs together. That's all Santana can ever think to want for the rest of her life.

"It can always be our home. Close your eyes, love." Brittany complies, and Santana talks to her mami quietly, all the while keeping her hand placed, with almost no pressure, on Brittany's chest. She feels comforted by the steady, though still shallow, up and down movements. Although Brittany is asleep, it definitely isn't a restful sleep. When her father came back in, he tells them that the nurse will be in to discharge them in a few minutes. "Should I wake her up?" Antonio nods in response, and Santana leans forward and brushes her thumb back and forth over Brittany's cheekbone while whispering her name. Her eyes eventually flutter open, and her lip immediately curls into an adorable pout. "Oh baby. No pouts. They're coming to discharge you."

Brittany's pout turns into a small smile. However, the process of getting discharged takes a lot longer than she thought. First, the nurse comes and gives her some pain pills that will help once the IVs are taken out, which she does next. Then, they wait for the doctor, who comes after a few minutes to check the clipboard at the end of her bed, her head, and her ribs. After he leaves, the nurse returns with a prescription for more pain pills. Finally, after signing a million papers, Brittany is allowed to leave. By time she gets out of bed and settles into the wheelchair, she can feel the IV pain medicine leaving her system. The pills aren't as good. While they keep the edge off, she still definitely feels very stiff and very sore. Still, she's grateful to be going home.