Chapter 3

"TELL ME ABOUT FAMILY ONE MORE TIME I SWEAR TO GOD! WHERE IS SHE?!"

Brittany woke with a start thinking it was her being yelled at. She opened her mouth to begin apologising to her girlfriend when she realised two things. The first was that Santana was not screaming at her. She had not been talking to Santana. She had said nothing about family. This made her relax a bit. The second thing took a while to register before panic overtook her. Try as she might, Brittany could not open her mouth, or eyes, or move anything for that matter. She felt her heart rate pick up. Where was she? What was wrong with her? She tried to remember something…anything, but her mind was blank. She wanted to scream. She had a headache. She felt tears fall from her eyes. Then, as though reading her mind, she heard Santana's voice again. She was no longer screaming, but she was being crystal clear.

"Listen to me clearly. My name is Santana Lopez, I'm her girlfriend. I've been her girlfriend for four years. You need to tell me which room she is in because she needs me. She's scared and she's alone. I have to be with her because I am always there for her. Always. I don't know how many ways to tell you that she doesn't have any family here. It's just us. So I'll ask you one more time before things get really ugly…where in this damned hospital is Brittany Susan Pierce?"

Were she not so scared Brittany may have laughed. She loved when Santana intimidated people, mostly because she was just so small and Brittany couldn't understand how people got so scared. Sure, she herself hated being on the receiving end of an angry Santana, but that wasn't because she was scared, it was because she hated seeing her girl upset. Plus, Santana could withhold sexy times and sweet lady kisses. Were she capable, Brittany would shudder at the thought.

Suddenly, she heard Santana again, now much closer to her. "God B, what happened?"

Brittany wanted nothing more than to answer her. She put everything she had into waking up. She heard monitors blaring, voices coming from all around her and then she felt Santana's fingers brush her cheeks.

Another voice, a male voice spoke loudly, "she's trying to wake up! She hasn't shown any brain activity for the three days she's been here. I think she can hear you. Talk-"

Whatever he was going to say was cut short by Santana speaking quickly. She was right by Brittany's ear now. Both hands cupping her face.

"B I'm here now. I'm here. Wake up baby. Please wake up and let me see your beautiful eyes."

Brittany could feel Santana's breath on her ear as she spoke. She wanted so much to turn her head and kiss her. She wanted to laugh and say 'maybe I should have stayed in bed today.' Then the man's words, she assumed he was a doctor, hit Brittany like a truck. 3 days. She had been like this for 3 days and Santana was just now finding her? She must have been so worried. Brittany wanted to kick herself for putting Santana through that. If she knew anything about Santana, she knew she had not slept. God and she had already been so tired that day. She shook her head.

"Brittany?! BRITT that's it baby wake up. Baby please come back to me"

Wait, she had shaken her head. She had thought it, and she had done it. She tried again.

Santana was crying now. Brittany could hear the quiet sobs as she whispered in her ear that she loved her and it was time to wake up. Brittany thought to herself that this was a lot like their morning routine, minus the crying. She would whisper to Santana that it was time to wake up, and Santana would say …

"Five more minutes"

There was a yell and a clap. Brittany wanted tell them to shut up.

"Shut the fuck up! What kind of doctors are you? She's trying to wake up in peace!"

Brittany seriously wondered if Santana could read her mind.

"No B, you can't sleep five more minutes. It's time to wake up now"

Wait…could Santana read her mind? How did she know she had thought that? She decided to test it. Usually after Brittany said this to Santana, she would reply with "do you really have to go to work today?" but it didn't seem to apply in this situation. So she moved to the next line, thinking on it as hard as she could. "Don't you want to spend the day in bed with me?" Santana would say.

She heard Santana laugh, then press a kiss just under her ear. "Of course I want to spend the day in bed with you, but you don't really want me to because you love how awesome I am and you're really proud of me."

"Woaah" she thought. There was nothing else to it. Santana was reading her mind. When did that happen?

Santana kissed below her ear again and then let out a breathy laugh, burying her face in Brittany's neck. "No Britt I'm not reading your mind. You're awake."

Brittany continued to lie there, feeling Santana breathe against her skin. She wasn't sure for how long. It felt like days of her slipping in and out of consciousness, but she was still so, so tired. At some point Santana moved off her. She was still holding her hand, then there was a sudden weight on her arm. The hairs tickling her skin told her Santana was resting her head on her.

More than being tired, she was sorry. She had worried Santana for THREE days. She wasn't sure what had happened yet, but she would not forgive herself for whatever it was.

"Baby"

Were they still re-enacting their morning routine? Why? She was already awake. Whatever, if that's what Santana wanted she would oblige.

"I know what you're doing"

She heard Santana laugh again. She loved that laugh so much.

"Wanna save me the trouble?"

That wasn't in the routine? That was not what she was supposed to say! She opened her eyes to glare at Santana.

"Santana that's not-" she was cut short by frantic lips on hers.

"Don't ever scare me like that again BSP! I thought you were dead in an ally somewhere. I HAVEN'T SEEN YOU IN FOUR DAYS B! These idiots finally decided to charge your phone and I was the last called number so they called me. What the hell happened Britt? Who did this to you? I'm going to go all Lima heights. Just tell me a name and I swear!"

"Santana…." She broke off, clearing her throat and swallowing as much as she could to get rid of the dryness is her mouth. "I'm really sorry. I can't…" she coughed, "…even begin to u...understand what you were going through…. Fuck… I'm so sorry baby."

"Sorry to interrupt miss but we should really examine her. This is the first time she's been up since she was brought in. We didn't think she was going to wake up. This is…I mean this...uh…it's.."

"OH! Is that your professional diagnosis?"

Brittany wanted to laugh. God how she loved this woman. She was smiling as best she could, which was not much. She had very little energy, and moving parts of her body felt weird and slow, like she was too heavy for herself.

"Santana be nice"

Santana turned to her. "Sorry B. But I don't trust these people. Maybe the reason you didn't wake up is because they're completely incompetent. I mean did you hear that eloquent assessment he just made?" she turned back towards the doctors' shocked faces.

"Are you an attending?" she asked with fake politeness causing Brittany to smile. When the doctor didn't respond, Santana nearly growled, taking a step forward. Brittany held her arm tighter before facing the doctors.

"You might want…" A cough, "to answer her"

"Yes. Yes we are all attendings" one of the other doctors hastily supplied.

"Are any of you the heads of your department?" Santana asked sweetly again.

Brittany wanted to burst out laughing at the comical look on each doctor's face. They were grown men, yet here they stood, cowering in front of a 5'5 barely 21, very petite girl. They were completely laughable. She didn't laugh though. She kept a sombre expression. Years of watching Santana do this had taught her not to ruin her groove. So she sat back and watched in amusement. Had she mentioned that she loved this woman?

"I'm going to take that as a no, so let me tell you how this is going to be, if I may. You're all going to leave here, and preferably not return, though I can't stop you if you do. You're going to get the heads of whatever departments you're from, and if that doesn't include neuro, then you're going to get the head of neuro"

One of the doctors, a tall dark haired man of slight build seemed to be offended by this. Momentarily forgetting his fear he protested.

"Ma'am we are perfectly capable of taking care of miss Pierce. I assure you that she is-"

"You're assurance means shit to me" Santana cut him off quickly, clearly becoming agitated. She looked back at Brittany and muttered a quiet "sorry baby" before turning back to the doctors. "Look no offense, I'm sure you're good doctors and all that but I know that I can choose which doctor I want and I've chosen the heads of you departments and head of neuro."

The same doctor spoke up. "Actually, that's up to the patient to decide". He pointed towards Brittany with a smug look on his face that caused Santana to clench her fingers into a fist. Before Santana had even finished tuning to Brittany, she was speaking, looking directly to Dr talks a lot.

"You're a really arrogant man, I can already tell. I…bet you are really smart. But, it's the person…. in charge of the patient's medical care that has control over the attending physician." She paused to swallow. Her throat felt like sandpaper. For me that person so happens to be the woman you've pissed off. But if you need me to say it, here… you go. I don't want any of you, especially you" she pointed to the now red in the face doctor who had spoken, "to touch me. I am requesting the heads-" she was interrupted by a coughing fit. "Of your departments, and the head of Neuro specifically."

The two other doctors seemed to accept this, while the one still seemed highly affronted. He looked as though he was about to argue, before looking at Santana, shaking his head, and walking out. The other two doctors apologised, said they would send in the requested doctors right away and left.

Brittany watched Santana visibly relax, taking a step back towards Brittany before turning around with a cheeky grin. Brittany burst out laughing. God, she loved this woman.

"I love you so much Santana. Do you know that?"

Santana's grin morphed into a warm smile.

"I know Britt. I love you more"

Brittany continued to stare at the woman before her. Cocking an eyebrow, Santana's smile changed yet again. It was now a shy hesitant one. "What?" she questioned.

Waiting for Santana's eyes to lock with her own, Brittany finally answered.

"Marry me."

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When she had first met Santana, Brittany had thought she was scared. She had been standing alone, as far from the group as possible with her arms crossed over her chest. Before walking over, she had watched her. Yeah it sounds creepy but it wasn't. They were all just waiting around for coach Sylvester to call their names, so everyone was watching everyone. Except Santana. She wasn't sizing up the competition like the rest of them, and this intrigued Brittany. She watched a few people try to talk to her, only to be met by a death glare that very clearly stated 'don't talk to me'. The longer she watched though, Brittany realised her initial assessment had been wrong. This girl was not scared, she was dangerously smart. She was intimidating everyone without even interacting with them. Brittany liked that. It made her seem more important, more confident than the rest of them. Like she had no doubt she'd make the team, and be on top.

"You can try, but I doubt she'll talk to you"

Brittany almost jumped out of her skin. Where did this girl come from and why was she so close? She took a step back then turned to face the intruder.

"Quinn right?"

In an opposing approach to Santana's (whose name Brittany had yet to learn at this point), Quinn had opted to introduce herself to everyone at try-outs. She was asserting herself as their leader even before they had made the team. Her confidence and air of superiority were intimidating enough, but when she fixed people with her piercing gaze it was like being forced into submission. Not to Brittany though, she just thought her eyes were very pretty. She assumed this was why Quinn was talking to her now. In middle school she was popular because she never really followed the popular kids around. She guessed this made people think she was even more popular than the popular, because unlike everyone else she wasn't fazed by their supposed 'coolness'. She didn't really understand the politics of it all. In later years, Quinn and Santana would try and explain, but ultimately she didn't care enough to commit said explanations to memory.

"Yeah. You're Brittany?"

"Yeah, but you can call me BSP"

"BSP?"

"Yeah. Brittany S Pierce"

"Ohh. That's cool."

"Why won't she talk to me?"

"Who?"

"That girl by the wall. You said I could try but you doubt-"

"Oh! That's Santana. I guess you weren't in our middle school so you wouldn't know. She's a mega A- class bitch. Capital B. I can't even see what you guys would have to talk about to be honest."

"Why's that?"

"You're just... Not to be rude but you're a little…innocent. That's what I've heard. And Santana, I can tell you right now, is not."

"Are you?"

"Am I what?"

Brittany wanted to roll her eyes, but she stopped herself.

"Are you innocent?"

Quinn laughed.

"That depends on what you mean by innocent"

Again Brittany fought the urge to roll her eyes.

"You're the one who chose the word. So however you meant it with me I guess, since I'm sure you don't know me well enough to mean it by its obvious definition."

Quinn laughed again, shaking her head slowly from left to right. She turned to look at Brittany with an interesting smile and raised eyebrow. After a minute her smile turned genuine.

"I like you BSP"

With that, she walked away. Shrugging, Brittany turned her attention back to the girl. 'Santana', she thought. That was a pretty name. She had the sudden urge to hear how it sounded coming from the girl's own mouth, so she walked over. Her presence was not even acknowledged in the slightest and this did not surprise nor deter Brittany. She decided to get a little comfortable in the girl's presence before speaking. Finally she broke the silence.

"Hey Brittany" she said in an excessively cheerful voice.

The girl's head snapped up, eyes narrowed and eyebrows raised as if no one had ever talked to her in that tone before. She then looked to her other side as if expecting Brittany to be talking to someone else, causing Brittany to giggle. The girl turned back to face her with eyes narrower than before. Her eyebrows were now heavily furrowed. Brittany laughed more. This girl was adorable.

"I'm talking to you silly"

She took a moment to reply. Finally, after about a minute, she spoke, and Brittany thought she had the voice of an angel.

"You better not be. Do I look like a Brittany to you?"

Brittany laughed more at the attempted sass. At least she hoped it was an attempt, because if that was all the sass the girl usually carried she thought it was a good thing that she had hardly tried to intimidate with words today. How could Quinn think this girl was a bitch?

"Of course not". This confused her further, and caused Brittany to giggle even more.

"What's so funny" she asked. She was trying to look annoyed but Brittany could see the smile she was fighting.

"You are!"

The girl eyed her for a moment, before looking back down at her folded arms shaking her head the way Quinn had only moments ago.

"You're weird…"

"Brittany" she supplied. Again the girl looked at her. Her eyes were softer now, and Brittany realised they were the most intoxicating ones she had ever looked into. They stared into each other's eyes for what could have been a few minutes or an hour before their trance was broken by Santana's name being called.

"LOPEZ" Coach Sylvester bellowed through the megaphone.

The girl's head snapped up in the coach's direction. "Yeah coach. I'm here!"

Coach Sylvester nodded once and then beckoned for her to follow. Standing up straight, Santana turned back to Brittany. Her mouth curved into a half smile, before she spoke again.

"Bye Santana" she said coolly. At that, her features hardened into the expression she's been wearing all day, and she walked away.

Brittany vaguely registered Quinn standing beside her and muttering a "what just happened". She shrugged, having no idea herself what had just happened, but if felt big. Life altering even. She smiled to herself as she replayed their encounter.

Brittany was in shock. Santana hadn't made fun of her. She hadn't asked her why she had walked up to her and said her own name. She had gotten it. She had just understood. Brittany knew in that moment that no matter what her life held, she was going to make sure Santana Lopez was always around.

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Quinn had been the only one who seemed to be expecting their engagement. Mercedes and Rachel were extremely excited and wanted all the details on how it happened. Sam was uncharacteristically quiet, Artie and Tina seemed slightly bitter but Brittany figured that was because of trouble in paradise, not because they weren't truly happy for her and Santana. It was Kurt's reaction that shocked them all. He was angry. He kept saying how he wouldn't support such a huge mistake, which really confused Brittany and thoroughly pissed off Santana. Santana was so mad in fact that she didn't listen to Brittany cooing in her ear, she didn't relax at Brittany's touch or kisses and she wouldn't agree to let it go when Brittany brought out her puppy dog eyes. Eventually, mostly because she was beginning to get annoyed by Kurt's negativity too, she allowed Santana to go after him while she continued to talk to everyone else.

When they returned, she had to laugh at the look of accomplishment that her fiancé adorned, and the pathetic 'kicked-dog" look that Kurt sported. Within ten minutes he had come to talk to Brittany, begging forgiveness for being so rude and spoiling their announcement. Brittany smiled. It was in this moment that she realised she had outgrown their high school friends. She had never really minded Mercedes, and Kurt was her unicorn, but otherwise, two of the remaining four where her exes, Tina always kinda freaked her out, and though she didn't hate Rachel, because BSP didn't hate anyone, (except maybe Finn), she could admit to not enjoying her company.

She patted Kurt's shoulder and muttered a "don't worry about it Kurt" before walking off to find her fiancé so they could leave. She wasn't sure if this was a classic case of BSP getting bored, or if it was a real desire to forget these people, but she suddenly realised why Quinn had moved so far away.

When she reached Santana, she pulled her away from her conversation without an excuse to whoever she was talking to, and whispered in her ear, "let's say goodbye".

She hoped Santana would understand her meaning. She didn't feel like explaining, mostly because she didn't really understand, so she just looked at her straight in the eye. The way Santana looked at her, she once again swore that she could read her mind. It had been almost four months since Santana had found her in the hospital, and Brittany still wasn't convinced that she had spoken out loud.

After a moment, Santana set down her glass and nodded sagely before turning to look around the room. She slowly turned back to Brittany with a warm smile. "Okay Britt. Let's say goodbye."