Hell to the Uh Oh

Santana

Santana watched Finn take off. She knew he wasn't going home. At least not if Burt was at the shop. She wished she could find somewhere to go but knew Brittany would need her.

She slunk off to the cafeteria but the blonde wasn't there. Hummel was still missing as well so Santana rested her head against the cool table. She didn't feel like eating or listening to the whispers in the great room. After a moment, she looked up. Karofsky and Artie were talking to each other quietly as Sam and Tina sat close together, trying to calm themselves. Jesse comforted Rachel and Azimio calmed Shauna.

She frowned when she realized someone was missing: Blaine. She stood abruptly. "I'm going to the bathroom."

Her friends simply eyed her through tearstained lashes.

She quickly raced from the room but couldn't think of where to find the Katy Perry singer. Then she remembered that he boxed so she headed to the weight room. She heard the anguished grunts before she even opened the heavy metal door. "Blaine?" It was one of the first times she'd ever called the bow-tied crooner by his first name.

There was a pause but then it continued. She went further into the room and finally saw him going away at a punching bag like it stole his lunch money. "Hey."

He looked up, surprised. "Hey. What are you doing here?"

"You weren't at lunch."

"I'm not hungry."

"Me either." She leaned against a wall before settling on a weight bench. Then she stood and grabbed a jump rope. She couldn't stay still so she decided to skip rope.

"Any word?" His quiet voice startled her and she double skipped.

"Huh? Oh. No. Finn dropped Elle Woods off at the hospital but Puckerman never said anything." She skipped faster.

"But she's awake?"

"I don't know. She was conscious when they got her. She said some stuff. And Sue said she was causing a scene at the hospital."

"But that doesn't mean it can't get worse." He read between the lines.

She swallowed thickly and fought back tears. She was Santana Gloria Lopez. She didn't cry. No matter if her friend was laid up in a hospital, possibly dying.

"You can cry if you want." His voice freaked her out again. He'd said the words quickly. Almost as if he was ashamed.

Santana took another look at him and slowed the rope when she saw that he was freely crying. "I don't cry. You might want to weep like a wounded bird but I'm made of sterner stuff." She spat.

He simply looked at her before punching the bag again. "When I get sad, I hit this punching bag. When you get sad, you make everyone your punching bag."

"I'm not sad!" She yelled.

"She's broken and bloodied." He whispered as if she never spoke. He stopped the bag from swinging.

"No!"

"Possibly dying." He looked away as he tossed off his gloves.

"Shut up!" She threw the rope down.

"We won't ever get to see her again." He shook his head as the words tumbled out at an increased speed.

"Don't say that!" She covered her ears.

"She won't scowl ever again. She won't call me a forties reject ever again. She won't kick our asses in Call of Duty ever again or make the best cookies ever again or-"

Santana had had enough. She pushed Blaine into the wall behind him and pinned him against it. "Shut your mouth! Don't you ever say that!"

"She won't dance or sing or be a mom or get together with Mal and Ellen." He couldn't stop rambling, his confused tones making no difference to either teen. "She won't grow up or learn how to smile. Dead at fifteen!"

Santana punched the wall next to his head, the sound making them both jump. "Don't say that! She's fine. She's going to get patched up and come back before school's out and beat Sophie's ass."

Blaine finally registered her denial and snapped, "How do you know?! She fell from the top of the pyramid! You don't just get up and walk away from that!"

She knew that. She really did. She'd fallen more than once but never that high and never on the gym floor. But all that blood. The sound. She'd been out of it and moving slowly all morning but the Latina had chalked it up to Ellen's cold shoulder. The shoulder the redhead was regretting giving, she was sure. But the images wouldn't stop showing like blooper reel of a sitcom and the sound was in surround sound.

"What even happened?! Rachel just said she fell at practice!"

She swallowed. "We were practicing our routine. We've done it tons of times. I was supposed to swing her on top of my shoulders. Mine and Sophie's. But Sophie moved. I felt her weight shift and she was falling back. I couldn't stop it. I couldn't do anything."

She didn't notice her tears or the fact that her hands were clutching his shirt. "Then she hit the ground. I heard her bones break. I heard it. So much blood everywhere. Like her skin split apart. She couldn't move but she whispered about her arm. She's quiet but I've never heard her speak so soft. Like her voice hurt her. I couldn't do anything but scream."

Blaine watched as she hung her head. "It's not your fault."

"I should have been watching Sophie. Knew she was going to move. Or at least not let Patti go until I was sure she had footing." She shook her head slowly. "What if you're right? What if she dies?" She whispered, heartbroken.

He wanted to tell her that he was wrong. That he didn't know what he was talking about. But they both knew it was a possibility. "I don't know."

She slid to the ground and he followed. They clung to one another as they cried.