The second Sam pulls up, his heart is in his throat. All he can see is some guy walking towards Santana, who's trying to protect Brittany, who's lying motionless on the ground. As he jumps out of the car, not bothering to kill the engine or shut the doors, he sees the guy kick either Brittany or Santana—he can't tell which. Sprinting after them, he chases them up the alley, but they're too far away at this point, and he needs to call for help. Brittany hadn't been moving. On his way back, he calls 911 and tells them where they are. They ask if Brittany is breathing. He calls out the question to Santana but doesn't get an answer.
Santana is vaguely aware that there is someone nearby. Still trying to will Brittany to wake up, she takes her hand and squeezes it gently, hoping for any response, when she sees someone in her periphery approach them. "Get the fuck away!" she growls, covering Brittany protectively again.
"Santana, it's me. I need to feel for a pulse." Sam reaches out again, but Santana smacks his hand away. The only thing she knows is that she can't stop protecting Brittany. "I can see her chest going up and down," she hears him say. Why didn't she think of that? Placing her hand lightly on Brittany's chest, she feels her lungs expand, albeit shallowly. Brittany is breathing. Which means she's not dead. Santana puts her cold cheek close to Brittany's nose and feels the air puff against her. Breathing. Not dead.
She watches the rain pool in the corner of Brittany's eyes and mouth. Brittany is breathing, and she needs to get her out of the rain, but she can't move her. Quickly, she takes her coat off and tries to hold it over Brittany's head, but part of it keeps falling over her face.
Her body tenses again when Sam kneels on the other side of her. "I'm just helping you, Santana. I won't touch her. I promise." He picks up the other corners of the coat and holds it over Brittany's head. Using her other hand, she gently brushes the water away from Brittany's eyes. It runs down like teardrops.
Santana hears the sirens before she sees them. They get louder and louder, then suddenly shut off. When she looks up, she notices that a few people have gathered. Where were these people when Brittany was getting hurt? Why were they all alone then, when people are now standing around, watching them like animals in a zoo? She feels like everyone and everything is closing in on her. All she can do is crouch over Brittany again, protective instincts taking over.
Sam sees the shift. The second Santana takes her eyes off Brittany, she becomes unsettled. When the paramedics approach the two girls and reach for Brittany without warning, Santana screams and tries to push them away from her. He hates to do it, but he grabs her around the middle and pulls her away from Brittany, making sure to keep her close enough to the scene that she can still see Brittany and what is being done to her. "Santana, calm down. They're helping her!" She continues to struggle against him, and he just holds her tighter until he feels her body give in. She starts to sob. "Shhh. It's okay. She's going to be okay."
When the paramedics start to load Brittany on the stretcher into the ambulance, Santana panics again. Yelling, she breaks free of Sam's hold and tries to follow them into the ambulance, but they stop her. "Ma'am, you need to let us take care of your friend. You can meet us at the hospital."
"But—" she cries before they close the doors. She turns and looks at Sam, eyes wide, mouth opening and closing like she needs to say something but can't. The words get stuck in her throat. She is shaking and crying, and she can't tell if the water running down her face is from the rain or her tears.
Noticing that her coat is still lying on the concrete, Sam quickly picks it up, brings it to Santana, and ushers her to his car.
"I need to...Brittany! Where...I just...Sam?" She breaks again. "I was supposed to take care of her. I am supposed to. I need to."
"I'm taking you to the hospital that they just took Brittany to. We'll wait until they let us see her, okay?"
Santana's head slumps forward, which is enough recognition that she understands. Even with the heat on as high as possible, Santana can't stop shaking. When they get to the hospital, Santana jumps out of the car before he's even completely parked. By time he finally catches up with her, she is already at the nurse's station begging for information on Brittany.
"They brought her in, and she's currently being examined. Unfortunately, I can't tell you anything more, because you aren't family. We are reaching out to her emergency contacts. If you wait in the waiting room, someone will come by and let you know how she is." The nurse is distant; this is just her job. Unable to do or say anything else, Santana walks to the waiting room and sits down. She can't stop her mind from racing, replaying what happened, jumping to the worst-case scenario with Brittany.
Sam just sits with Santana, keeping a constant eye on her. She's staring, eyes fixed on the floor. An occasional shudder passes through her. Other than that, she is largely unresponsive.
About an hour later, a nurse walks over. Immediately, Santana jumps up, ready to interrogate her. "I don't know anything about your friend, but you're scaring other people in the waiting room." Santana just looks 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 see her? I'll give you two options. One, you can come back with me to get checked out, and we'll fix you 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, Santana. They told us 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 she'll be distracted for at least a few minutes. A thought occurs to him, and he runs out to his car. In his trunk, he has a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt that he left in Mercedes's laundry and she washed for him. He grabs them and brings them to the nurse's station. "Can you give these to my friend Santana to put on after she gets cleaned up?"
As soon as Santana walks into an examination room, they check her over. The doctor tells her that her shoulder is dislocated. That makes sense. It happened to her before in cheerleading. She's having a hard time focusing on the words they're saying. She tries, she really does. She knows it's important. Right now, though, the most important thing in her world is in a room, maybe still unconscious, with a bunch of strangers, hurt. After the initial pain of having her shoulder reset, it starts to feel better immediately. She refuses pain medicine; she needs her mind to be as clear as possible when she gets to see Brittany.
The nurse hands her some clothes that she instantly recognizes as Sam's, then shows her to a room with a shower in it. After getting in, she rinses off quickly, not bothering with soap. She throws on the warm, dry clothes and heads back out. Before letting her back out to the waiting room, the nurse makes sure her sling is on correctly. Sam stands up as soon as he sees her. Before he can open his mouth, she tells him brusquely, "Bruised rib and a dislocated shoulder. I'm fine. Any news on Brittany?"
Sam is glad to hear that she seems to be thinking more clearly, at least. "Not yet."
The Latina nods, then sits back down in her seat to continue waiting.
Santana has read the same line on a poster in front of for the thousandth time when she hears her name being called. Looking in the direction of the voice, she sees Quinn running towards them. She doesn't move as Quinn bends down to hug her gently. "Are you okay? Is there any news about Brittany?"
"No. And I'm fine."
Quinn sits 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...I brought some for Britt too. I just didn't know—"
"Thank you," Santana says quietly as she changes her heels for flats. Once she's done, she sits back up and leans her head on Quinn's shoulder. She's grateful that her friend is here, but she doesn't know what else to say.
"Have you called her parents?" Needing the action to get through this, Quinn is going through a checklist in her head of things they could be doing right now.
"No. I can't talk to them right now."
"Did you call your parents?"
Santana shakes her head. She knows she should. "I don't want to call them until I know what's going on."
Quinn understands; not knowing is difficult. She can'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. "Ma'am, we're sorry to bother you, but we need you to tell us what happened tonight." Taking a deep breath, Santana recalls the story with as much detail as she can. It didn't even occur to her that the police might want to talk to her. After Santana finishes her retelling, Sam tells his version, which is much shorter. Quinn, who didn't know the whole story yet, becomes increasingly more upset with the details she hears. "The doctors have collected a DNA sample from under your friend's nails, which should help us identify the attacker," the police inform Santana.
She nods, expecting them to go away now, but they don't. "Do you need something else?" It comes out a little more harshly than she 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, and she doesn't have any family here to make sure that she talks to us, so we're 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. If I promise to make sure she calls you before we leave here, can you please not question her as soon as she wakes up?" Santana tries to be as polite as possible, but she really doesn't want Brittany to have to deal with this as soon as she regains consciousness.
The police officers study her for a minute, perhaps gauging her honesty. "I think that would be fine, 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 need to talk to her before she leaves this hospital. Okay?" Santana nods, and one of the police officers hands her his card before they leave.
It is either very late or very early when the doctor comes out with an update (or, rather, non-update) about Brittany. "We are still having a hard time getting ahold of her emergency contacts, so I still can't tell you much. They are getting her cleaned up, and she isn't awake yet."
"Is she okay? Please, just tell me that she's going to be okay?"
The doctor hesitates, looking into Santana's scared eyes. "She should be fine, miss." He turns around and walks back down the hall, leaving Santana to slump back into her seat.
"She's going to be okay, San. That's good news," Quinn tries.
"Yeah, but what happens when she wakes up in that room alone? She's going to be fucking terrified."
Nobody has any response to that, because she's right. Brittany will be.
Quinn has just nodded off when a nurse walks quietly into the waiting room. "Are you here for Brittany Pierce?"
Santana jumps up. "Yes. I am. I'm her girlfriend. Is she awake? Is she okay?"
"You are her girlfriend?"
Santana sees a softness come over the woman. She nods vigorously. "I am. I really need to be with her. Please."
"I'm Emma Pillsbury. I'm the nurse assigned to her right now. She hasn't woken yet, but I think maybe we can break the rules and take you back there. Just you for now. Is that okay?" Sam and Quinn both nod, but it doesn't matter. Nothing matters, as long as she gets to see Brittany, to be there when she wakes up.
Emma leads her back to a room and gently pushes the door open. Santana's knees weaken at seeing Brittany on the bed, hooked up to a bunch of machines, with a bandage around her head. However, most of the blood is gone, and she is definitely alive. She just looks like she's sleeping—except Brittany never sleeps that still on her back. "She lost a lot of blood, but the doctor stitched up the wounds on her head. She also has two broken ribs that, luckily, didn't puncture anything. They are going to be very painful for a few weeks. She's going to be okay and should be waking up any minute now." Tears in her eyes, Santana nods and thanks her, then walks quietly to the bed. She pulls a chair up and sits down, immediately taking Brittany's hand into her own and squeezing gently. "Just hit this button when she wakes up."
"Okay." The nurse leaves, and Santana is finally alone with Brittany. "Hey B. It would be great if you could wake up." She tries 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 clears her throat again, knowing she's fighting a losing battle. "I'm so sorry I couldn't protect you, Britt. I'm so sorry. I tried so hard." Santana breaks down. She puts her head down on the blanket and tries to control her crying.
The first thing that Brittany registers is the pain in her chest. It feels a little like she's being squeezed and stabbed at the same time. Next is the ache in her head. Finally, she feels the warmth on her hand and hears a voice talking to her, but she can't quite make out the words. But she knows that voice. She'd know it anywhere. Slowly, she forces her eyes open. "S-San?"
Hearing a small voice, Santana gasps and lifts her head. Brittany is awake and looking around. "Baby, you're awake!"
"What's going on?" Santana's heart stops for a second. If Brittany doesn't remember what happened, how can she explain? "Are you okay? Did they hurt you?" Brittany asks before struggling to sit up. "Ow!"
"Lay down, Britt." Santana stands up and gently presses Brittany's shoulder back to the bed with her uninjured arm. "I'm okay. We're in the hospital."
"Why do you have a sling?"
"Dislocated shoulder. It's no big deal." Santana is smoothing the skin across Brittany's eyebrows, unsure of where she can touch and not hurt, but desperate to feel her skin. "You have to stay laying down, baby. You have some broken ribs. But everything is going to be okay. Do you...do you remember anything?" She tries to be as soothing as possible, but the fear remains in Brittany's eyes.
"I remember calling Sam...and seeing those guys. I think one of them hit me?" Then, Brittany feels like a hand is squeezing her heart as she remembers the look he gave her. "D-did he? Um." She gestures to her lower half, and Santana suddenly understands.
"No. No, he didn't. He didn't get any further than touching your leg. I pushed him off of you. I would never let that happen. I wouldn't let him hurt you. I'm so sorry I couldn't protect you better."
The fear lessens in Brittany's eyes at the news. She reaches up and wipes 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." For a moment, Santana just stands there, staring at Brittany, taking in the fact that Brittany is here and alive and talking to her. Then, she remembers that she needs to hit the call button.
Nurse Emma shows up a few moments later and introduces herself to Brittany. Santana can tell that Brittany is in a lot of pain, and apparently, so can the nurse. "I'm going to give you a little more medicine for the pain, okay?" She pushes a few buttons on a pump that is attached to the blonde via IV. "That should feel a little better in a few minutes. I don't know if Santana 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 has a lot of questions in her head about what that all means, but is either too tired or too overwhelmed to ask any of them right now. Instead, she just asks, "Did you call my parents?" Truthfully, she hopes they didn't. She doesn't want to deal with her parents on top of everything else. The nurse gives her a pitying look. "What?"
"We did call. We had a hard time getting ahold of them, but we eventually managed to."
Brittany's grip tightens on Santana's hand. She isn't sure what outcome she's hoping for from that conversation. "What did they say?"
Emma, for her part, doesn't look like she wants to answer that question. She hesitates for a second longer. "I told them that you're here, that you were attacked. They asked if it was critical. I told them that we are confident you will be okay but that you have some pretty serious injuries." She takes a breath and looks at the ground before continuing. "They said that they won't be able to make the trip to see you...that they are due to leave in the morning, and they'll be gone until Monday. They said to have you contact them if need be, to let them know how you are doing." She looks back up and sees the anger in Santana's face and the hurt in Brittany's. "I'm sorry."
Santana is going to explode. Her anger is spiraling, but when she hears Brittany start to cry, it snaps her back to what is important. She puts her hand on Brittany's cheek as Brittany cries turn into deep, racking sobs. Every time she takes a gasping breath, she clutches her side, the pain making her cry even harder.
"Miss, you need to calm down, or you're going to make your injuries worse." The nurse seems like she doesn't know what to do. Santana does the only thing she knows will help calm Brittany and walks to her uninjured side, crawls onto the bed, and presses herself tight to her girlfriend, gently stroking her wet cheeks. After some time, she feels Brittany's breathing start to even out. Nurse Emma gestures to the button, then slips out.
"Calm down, baby. I've got you. We don't need them. Shhh Britt. It's okay," she soothes Brittany until she is breathing almost normally again. Her breath still comes a little fast, but it is shallow enough that it doesn't hurt her to breathe anymore.
Santana makes to get off the bed to give Brittany more room, but Brittany's hold on her good arm tightens. "Don't go. Please don't go. Stay here with me." Brittany's breathing picks up again.
"Okay. It's okay. I'm here. I'm not going anywhere." They cuddle together as best they can, given their injuries.
A few minutes later, there's a light knock on the door before it's pushed open, and Quinn and Sam stick their heads in. "They said we could come back for a few minutes if that's okay with you?" Santana looks at Brittany, who smiles slightly. She takes that as a yes and waves their friends in. "I brought you some clothes, Britt. They might be Santana's. It's hard to tell the difference."
"Thanks Quinn. Did you happen to bring any socks? My feet are cold."
Quinn digs through the bag and finds the thickest pair of socks. 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 feet. Her feet are often cold. When they cuddle, she sometimes buries her cold toes under Santana's leg to warm them. The Latina rubs them for a few seconds before slipping the socks on and laying a small kiss to the top of each foot. After tucking her feet securely into the blanket, Santana crawls back onto the bed and cuddles around Brittany.
"Thank you, San." Santana just kisses her shoulder in response. "I heard that you chased those guys away from us, Sam." Sam nods, 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 smiles his huge smile at her, and the hint of a smile appears on Brittany's face as she nods. The heavy moment passes slightly.
"Santana, I should tell you that I called your parents once they told us Brittany was awake. Just so they know that you're both okay," Quinn says.
"What did they say?"
"Well, there was a lot of Spanish, and then they said they'll be here soon. They said they were leaving in five minutes about half an hour ago."
Trying to ignore her guilt and pity at the difference between her parents' and Brittany's parents' reactions, Santana focuses on her relief that her parents are coming. Her number one priority right now is to take care of Brittany. She needs to make Brittany feel safe. Maybe her parents can help her figure out the rest.
