The Anatomy of a Broken Heart //Completed//

5. Santana

I sat on the gravel drive for an hour, my face throbbing, my hands burning, and my knee bleeding. Jaspers car left deep tracks in the pebbles, and I stared at them until I heard a door slam. Then I hid. I didn't want them to find me still there, where they could call 911 and throw me to the pigs for the state Jasper left Ansel in. Through the bushes that lined the drive, I watched as the cabin emptied quickly, all the preps making a bee line for their shiny cars and booking it.

The first to leave had been Ginger Spice. She came tumbling out of the cabin, tripping on her stilettos, and fighting with her keys while she tried to get into her Mercedes. I guess I should've tried stopping her, but if earlier was any indication of her feelings towards me, she wouldn't have listened anyway. Thankfully, one of her little minions came running out of the cabin after her and caught her before she drove away and probably right into the lake.

Then, everyone else left. Two cars remained in the drive. One, a sleek black Cadillac, the other a large pickup. In a fit of utter idiocy, I hauled it to the pickup and climbed into the bed of the truck, praying whoever was left would take this car back to town. Or at least close to it.

Thankfully, only a couple of minutes passed before I felt the engine of the truck roar to life, and the truck tremble beneath me. I lay still, not daring to move in case whoever was driving saw me, looking up at the night sky. The air had become chilly and I hugged my thin moto jacket tight to keep warm, as the tears began to fall.

They rolled, fat and freezing, down my temples, soaking my hair. Everything hurt, but it was nothing compared to the way my chest felt as if it was being shredded on the inside by a clawed hand. I was nauseated by my grief and I still couldn't believe he'd left me there.

Above me, the stars shone bright, bathing me in their light and I felt exposed to the heavens. Don't look at me, I prayed. Turn away and leave me to my misery.

The worst part of it all, the most humiliating, was that I waited for him to come back. And I would be waiting still. I would wait for him always.

I felt the truck's engine cut off after about forty minutes of driving. The sky had changed and the stars replaced by light poles. Two doors slammed, making the truck shake and I risked a peak through the back window. Two boys, I imagined one must have been Ansel, were walking into the emergency room of a hospital. One hoisted the other up with his shoulder as they walked in through the automatic doors of the ER. I breathed a sigh of relief when I recognized the hospital we were at. This was where dad got all his therapy and I knew it was only a twenty minute walk home from here.

I jumped out of the bed of the truck, not caring who saw me, and started walking. I pulled out my phone from my pocket and finally checked to see if by some miracle Jasper had called. I'd grown used to his silence. That's just who he was. We weren't the type of couple who texted daily or talked on the phone until the morning, and I was okay with that. It was who I was too.

Still, when I saw that I didn't have a single missed call or text from him, my heart earned itself yet another fracture. Dad had texted, like he always did, to be safe, and Maria had texted saying she would be out with her friends until tomorrow.

Sweet Maria. My younger sister was only sixteen, and me being the only female role model in her life was not doing her any favors. Thankfully, she had inherited my dad's traits instead of the shit my mom had left me with before she bailed. Dad had just gotten sick. Fibromyalgia. It wasn't even that bad...most days. But she couldn't take it, she said. She needed out.

Good riddance.

The walk home felt hours long, with the winding suburban streets all looking the same in the dark. Finally, I found the shortcut I always used and climbed into Mr. Guarini's yard, making sure to pet his Pitbull Paolo as payment. He was Cerberus and I was definitely on my way to hades. Crouching low, I walked to the other end of the yard and moved a plank of wood that was loose in Mr. G's yard and crawled through into a different world. My world.

The river that ran behind his house was dry but my boots still squelched in the mud as I trekked up towards Harbor Street. I got home past midnight, and the house was dark. Dad's car was in the drive but mine was gone; Maria must have taken it. Dad slept downstairs, since climbing up the steps hurt too much. He was a really light sleeper, so I didn't bother going through the front door. Instead I went around to the side, where I climbed up to my window using the trellis he had installed for mom when she'd gotten it in her head she wanted climbing roses to decorate the house. Since she left, nothing grew anymore, the skeletons of the rose vines, breaking off every time I climbed.

I jimmied the window open and climbed through into my room. Without turning on the light, I kicked off my boots and undressed, wincing as I strained my sore muscles. I grabbed a pair of sweats and a t shirt and tiptoed to the bathroom across the hall. We had a full length mirror installed a few years ago, courtesy of mom's vanity, which I used to inspect the damage from tonight.

My face looked worse than I'd thought. Jasper's blow had caused serious bruising to my whole left eye. Both my palms were skinned and bright red from the center down, and my knee had a nasty cut which was still bleeding.

"Damnit, Jasper." I cursed under my breath. Suddenly, the door swung open and there stood Maria, smiling mischievously. Until she saw the state I was in. Then her sly smile dropped like a dead fly.

"Santana, what happened?" She took two steps towards me, paused, then shifted right into dad mode and turned to the cupboard next to the shower. Pulling out hydrogen peroxide and some bandages, she waited for me to answer.

"Nothing, Maria. Just a stupid fight with a stupid girl." Another lie to add to the countless I'd told her. I'm sure she knew, she was so smart, but she never questioned me. Instead, she sat me down on the edge of the tub and started cleaning the scrapes on my hands quietly. I gritted my teeth to keep from screaming as the liquid stung and bubbled. When I was all patched up, I looked at my sister apologetically, but she looked at me with a smile. Her brown hair, which was cut just below her chin, and her fresh face made her look so young. We were so different, Maria and I. Night and day.

"You're too good to me," I confessed, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

"I know." Maria got up off the tub and rummaged through the cupboard again. "Here we go!" When she turned to me, I could see a small white tin in her hand.

"Arnica, for that lovely shiner," she explained. When she was done, she inspected me, seeming satisfied with her handiwork.

"Will I live?"

"I think you're in the clear. For now." She held up a mock warning finger. I got up to leave, but a light hand on my arm stopped me. Without a word, Maria hugged me tightly to her chest. Then, with a kiss on my cheek, she walked away and into her room.

I brought up an injured hand up to my cheek, where she'd left it wet from her tears.