Standing on a Precipice - Chapter Twenty-Seven

[thelastpen]

Title: Standing on a Precipice
Author: Sio & Maura!
Rating: Up to NC-17 for later chapters
Length: 126,380 / 141,873
Spoilers: Possible mentions of up to Season 2 finale
Pairing: Rachel/Santana, Rachel/Jesse, Santana/OC
Summary: From a prompt given via Sio's tumblr ask box. Rachel and Jesse are married with children, but Jesse is slowly dying from cancer. Enter Santana, lonely and divorced but highly successful and willing to befriend the beleaguered mother. When Jesse passes and Rachel starts depending more and more on Santana's friendship, will they stay just friends or can it blossom into something more? Future!Fic.
Warnings (highlight to read): Pregnancy, character death, angst, children, non-con and drugging and talks there of in later chapters
A/N: Sorry for not posting until today. Tuesday's episode had me not at all happy especially with the reactions. No one deserves to be outed. I don't care how bitchy a person is, a white, cis-gendered, hetrosexual male never has the right to force a gay Latina to come out of the closet in the manner he did. There is no excuse for that and it blew the line out of the water. He recognized her behavior as trash-talking and demonstrated with no remorse that he did not have a thick enough skin to take it. What he did wasn't trash talking and no, before anyone starts that argument, Santana has never outed anyone. People have the right to whatever opinion they like, but this is mine and I will defend it.

Chapter 27 - Caught

The files had kept coming. Videos. Photos. Once he sent an audio file that sounded like nothing but grunts and a pained scream - that particularly disturbed her since she wasn't certain what was happening. But she'd saved every one - backing them up on a flash drive and two blu-ray discs, as well as on her computer's hard drive - steadily building a case to have him locked away as close to permanently as she could manage for what he'd done to the woman she was beginning to believe she loved.

But it was the last file - a video - that had pushed her over the edge and decided her to take what she had to both a lawyer as well as the police. Before now, she'd been waiting for Santana to be ready, but after watching the last file - and feeling utterly sick the entire time - she couldn't wait any longer. Whether Santana was ready or not, she was taking this information to the police and getting that sick bastard away from her lover.

The file had been old, slightly shaking, nowhere near the level of detail of later videos. It hadn't started with him in the midst of raping her girlfriend, but in what appeared to be a kitchen. It'd shown Tobias for a moment looking angry about something, then him mixing a drink. He poured a packet of some sort of powder into the drink and stirred it up before carrying it out into a living area.

Then he'd handed it to Santana, the camera staying on her as she drank it down, apparently at his urging. At first she just looked a little drunk, but then - within only a short period - she went limp, slouching down on the sofa she'd been sitting on. The camera angle jostled like it was being set down, then Tobias was visible, pulling off his clothes before moving to strip the incapacitated girl. When he'd started stroking himself until he was hard, leering down at the nude woman sprawled out on the sofa, Rachel had to turn the file off, unable to watch any further without becoming ill.

She hated him. Hated what he'd done to Santana. What he was trying to do to their relationship. She had never loathed another person the way she loathed him.

Once the file finished adding to the blu-ray and flash drive, she'd reached for the phone. She knew Santana wouldn't be happy - especially not that she'd been hiding that she had received all of these horrid files - but it was time to go to the police and have that vile excuse for a human being arrested and locked away where he could never touch her again. She dialed the direct number for Santana's office, surprised when Ms. Smith answered and not her lover.

"Ms Smith? This is Rachel St James. I dialed Santana's line directly, why are you answering?" Rachel frowned at the tinny voice filtering through the receiver.

"I'm sorry, Mrs. St James, but Mrs Lopez-Spencer is in a private meeting with Mr Spencer and can't be disturbed right now."

Rachel's eyes widened, "Ms. Smith, I need you to see if the curtains are closed on her office. If so, I need you to call security immediately. Mr. Spencer needs to be restrained as soon as possible. I am on my way."

Hanging up the phone before Ms Smith could even reply, Rachel hurried out the door, calling to Ajay's wife who was getting ready to leave, "Mina, I have to go out, please watch the children for a little longer. I'll pay you for the overtime, I'm so sorry."

The older woman nodded assent, her own children in junior high and not home for hours. Rachel thanked her profusely, and ran out to the street, calling for a taxi. Her only thought was to get to Santana as fast as she could.

Santana was sitting at her desk when her assistant brought in her morning coffee. She drank it slowly, as she worked at her computer not realizing till awhile later she was getting dizzy.

Tobias knocked on the door nearly forty minutes after her coffee was delivered, a smug smirk on his face. He stepped into the office without waiting to be invited, reaching over to give the pull for the curtains that allowed for privacy in the soundproofed office a tug, sending them swinging shut. "Well, hello, my beautiful little whore," He could feel himself stirring, the bulge of his penis already beginning to strain at the front of his trousers as he saw the listlessness beginning to settle in, "ready to see things my way and drop the little slut and come back to me where you belong?"

Santana blinked slowly, she looked up, struggling to hold her head up. "Go away," she stumbled, not realizing that her voice was only emitting grumbled words.

He chuckled, loving it when she tried to resist. He continued walking towards her, hands reaching down to lower the zipper on his pants and pull himself free. He stroked himself, enjoying the feeling of his stiffening cock under his fingers, a smile curling his lip as he imagined shoving it inside her. "Come on, love, why don't you give us a suck?" He tugged her chair away from the desk, his penis twitching slightly at the thrill of her being conscious while he started in on her.

He reached out and took a hold of her hair, fingers curling into the dark strands painfully tight as he pulled her towards his throbbing cock. "You know how much you like the taste of my cock, baby girl. Give us a suck now."

He'd planned this, down to the details of making sure that infuriating bitch St James wasn't coming in and sending Ms Smith in with the special coffee after she'd finished with his morning "meeting" with her. He knew he was taking a risk, but the thrill of possibly getting caught making love to his wife thrilled him. "You love that we're in your office, don't you, my pretty harlot? I bet you want me to open the curtains so everyone can watch us make love, don't you."

"Don't love you." she whispered, trying to pull herself up but ending up flopping onto the floor. "What'd you do?" she asked.

He chuckled, "Just your favorite medicine, my sweet." He knelt over her, reaching down to caress her cheek, "Makes you all nice and ready for me. Just like a wife should be. Now open wide, love, I've a present for you." He could feel his balls tightening up, the hot fire of an impending orgasm curling at the base of his penis as he stroke it towards her faster and faster, a look of slack pleasure flowing over his face.

Santana shook her head trying to get up but failing again. "No..." she protested trying to shake off the cloud around her head.

"You're my wife," he gasped just before he climaxed, his semen splashing over her face and dripping down onto her blouse. "Wives don't say no to their husbands, my little whore." He tangled a fist in her hair and dragged her up to kiss her cum-stained lips roughly and possessively, biting her lower lip hard enough to bruise as he stroked himself hard again.

"You think that little slut can give you this?" He dropped her to the ground, ripping her pants open and jerking them off her body, tearing her panties. His big, rough hands fumbled between her legs, thick fingers driving into her body, not caring that she was dry and completely unready for him. He stroked her hard, a look of anger twisting his face as he glared down at her glazing expression as the drug took hold. "Do you think she can fuck you like I can, harlot?"

He shoved her legs open with his knees, pumping his cock as he lined up with her hole, shoving inside with bruising force. "Do you think she could ever own you like I do, slut?!"

He was too busy raping his ex-wife to hear the door slam back against the wall, or hear the sound of things on Santana's desk scattering as Rachel threw herself over it. She may not have been very big, but she'd seen their legs around the side of the desk when she'd shouldered the door open and she'd thrown herself at him, frantic. "Get off her, you miserable son of a bitch!"

The force of her 106 pound frame slamming into him at full speed was enough to tear him out of her girlfriend and send both of them crashing to the floor. The cops weren't far behind she knew, but she couldn't wait. Santana needed her and she would be damned before she let that woman down.

Tobias reached back and grabbed her by the back of the shirt, ripping her off his back. "Get off of me! How dare you!" He swung, smashing the back of his fist against her cheek with a sickening crack, sending her spinning to the ground.

Santana was too gone to even realize anything was going on. she lay, exposed and bleeding on the floor of her office. Her face was still covered in remnants of Tobias' first orgasm causing her to stick slightly onto the carpet where her cheek laid into it.

Tobias got up, his breath laboured and he didn't even recognize the fact that the cops might be on the way. He saw his limp wife, her bleeding body matching Rachel's bleeding face. He smirked, cocking his leg back and delivering several bone crushing kicks to Santana's torso and knee. On the fourth kick, the several members of the NYPD stormed into the room, yelling and ordering Tobias to get on the ground.

The shock set in, Tobias was caught, he knew it the moment the cops saw him strike his wife. He was in her office, and he was caught with his pants down.

"Officers, there's a huge misunderstanding. I was with my wife... then this woman attacked us..." He stumbled over his words, as he tucked his penis back into his pants.

"Sir Hands by your side." The officer yelled, moving close to him. He looked down, seeing Rachel holding her face and Santana limp on the floor. "You are under arrest." He stated motioning for another officer to handcuff him and struggle to get him out the door. "I need a EMT, NOW!" The cop hollered as a young EMT ran into the room followed by an older male EMT with a backboard.

"Her pulse is really weak." The older EMT stated as the officer carefully detached the pants from Santana and putting them into an evidence bag. "We need to take her to the hospital." The EMT wrapped her unto a blanket and they settled her onto the backboard.

"Ma'am?" The younger EMT squatted down next to Rachel and looked at her cheek. "We're taking her to the hospital," he informed the young mother. He pressed his fingers to the woman's cheek checking for breaks. "I don't think your cheek is broken, but its going to bruise badly. Do you want to ride with her?"

Rachel nodded, cupping her face with a wince. "He," she had to force the words out past the swelling in her cheek and lip, "drugged her I think. Something in her drinks. Been drugging and raping her for years."

"You fucking bitch!" Tobias yelled, surging against the man trying to drag him bodily out the door, "That's a filthy lie! I don't drug my wife! We were making love when you so crudely interrupted!"

Rachel's eyes flared and she struggled to her feet, "Love? Love has nothing to do with you, you disgusting piece of trash! I don't have to lie! You sent your filthy collection to me! I have all the evidence I need to prove what a loathsome piece of garbage you are!"

Tobias stopped, he never thought that the mother that he hated so much would save the photo's and video he send. "You're a filthy whore! You probably got off on those videos that my wife and I made. She loves me and I love her." He struggled out of the cops grasp before he quickly met his face into the wall.

"Don't fucking move." the cop spat as two more officers came and and escorted him out of the office. The EMTs took the Santana down the elevator and helped Rachel up into the ambulance.

"Ma'am, we need to put a tube in her throat to help her breathe. She's having a hard time fighting for air with whatever is in her system." The older man explained as he quickly intubated the woman.

"Do what you have to," Rachel whispered, her eyes on Santana's stained face and her hands wrapped around one of her girlfriend's limp ones. "Come on, sweetheart. Don't you dare leave me and the kids alone. Please be okay." She didn't even realize tears were streaking her face. "Can we at least clean her face off? It's all over her..."

"I wish we could..." The younger man said, as he connected an IV into her arm and braced the badly swollen right knee. "The police need to take photo's of the lnjuries. Collect evidence and samples... I wish we could." He stated, looking down and making sure the woman was properly covered on her lower body.

Several minutes later, the ambulance pulled into the hospital and a team of doctors took Santana and quickly moved her to the trauma room, leaving Rachel to be handled by a doctor and a nurse.

"Ma'am you can go see her in a moment, I need to clean you up first." The nurse explained, "Also the police need to talk to you..." She nodded her head to the door where a female cop stood. The nurse escorted her in and she looked at Rachel sadly.

"Ma'am what you did was stupid, but brave." She said, obviously feeling for the women how had been terrorised by the man that was being held in a holding cell across town. "But, I need to speak to you about Mr. Spencer and what he allegedly did to Mrs. Spencer." She took a seat across from Rachel after the nurse went to go get Rachel an ice pack. "Will you answer some questions for me?"

"I know," Rachel murmured, wringing her hands anxiously, her face aching badly, "but I had to get him off her. Even before they got divorced. You don't know the things he's done to her. How scared she's been. I couldn't let it happen, I just couldn't."

"Questions?" She looked up, nodding in a short little burst, "Anything. Just tell me what you need to know and I'll tell you everything I know. Just... Let me see her when we're finished. Please. I need to know she's okay..."

"Thank you, Ma'am." The woman stated, "How long have you known Ms. Spencer?" She took out a pad of paper and positioned herself to be ready to write. "Have you ever known her to take drugs or have a drinking problem? Has her relationship with her ex-husband changed in the period of time you've known them? What made you come to the office today, to find her?"

"Her name is Santana. Santana Lopez. She is divorced from that vile excuse of a man. And I've known her since we were seven. Drugs?" Rachel shook her head, "The only thing she takes is her prescriptions for ADHD, anxiety and depression, but even then she stopped using them months ago. She used to drink at least a bit at night as far as I know but she hardly ever has since my children and I moved in with her a bit over a year ago."

"Unfortunately, I didn't know them while they were married, Santana went to college in London while I was here in New York. We only got back in touch in the last couple of years, but that man is vile." Rachel shook her head irritatedly as she thought about everything, "He didn't like the fact that we were growing closer, exploring the possibilities of a relationship. I believe he considered my children and I a threat of some fashion."

Finally, she took a shaky breath and reached for her bag, removing the two jewel cased blu-ray discs and flash drive that she'd burned all of the files he'd been sending her over the past few weeks. Her hands trembled slightly as she held them out to the officer. "Here. This is why. He's been sending me these awful things for the last few weeks, but I was waiting," she sniffled, wishing she had just gone ahead and turned the data over so this couldn't have happened, "waiting for Santana to want to go to the police. The he," she swallowed, "he sent a file from when she was still young, maybe 18 or 19, I'm not sure. He drugged her and raped her and I just... I couldn't wait any longer. I called to tell her what I was going to do, but Ms Smith said she was in a private meeting with that man. I told her to call security, but she... she didn't."

The officer nodded and wrote down as Rachel spoke. "Ma'am," she took the video's and secured them into a evidence bag. "Mr. Spencer is being arrested for assult of both you and Ms. Spe-Lopez. We can not charge him for attempted rape until we get a warrant to collect DNA from him as well as a warrant for his apartment." She closed her notebook and rested it on her lap. "When Ms. Lopez's blood tests come back we will be able to know better what he drugged her with and if there were long term affects on her from it. Should I know anything else? Any other key facts that may have led you to believe that Ms. Lopez was being abused or mistreated in her marriage?"

"Not rape?" Rachel shot to her feet, eyes wide and jaw dropped with outrage, "She is covered in his damn semen! I had to physically throw myself against him to make him stop raping her and I will testify as such in any court of law you may wish! His damn penis was hanging out of his pants when the officers arrived on the scene! Precisely what more do you need to bring charges against that miserable bastard?!"

"Look. I know you're upset, but I'm new here and I just need you to answer these questions. I'm going to go talk to my chief when we are done and get him processed." She said calmly as she tried to get the diva to settle. "I need to ask one more thing. Did you have any clues that she was being abused in the marriage? You also mentioned children. Do Mr. Spencer and Ms. Lopez have any children together?"

"Well, allow me to give you a piece of advice, do not tell someone who nearly had her face smashed in while stopping a rape in progress that the rapist will not be charged with rape. If you do not know something, I would strongly advise you simply do not speak of it at all!" Rachel huffed, folding her arms over her chest and glaring at the woman as best she could with half of her face swelling into a massive bruise. "Until that despicable man began sending the vile contents of those discs to me, all I knew was that there was a poorly handled stillbirth which resulted in a great deal of sadness for Santana. The children I mentioned are mine, from my husband Jesse - now deceased, may he rest in peace - the only product of Santana's ill-boded union with that man was her poor stillborn little girl, Alejandra. She never wanted to try again after that."

"Okay." The officer said, standing up when the nurse came back into take Rachel to x-ray. "Thank you for your time and we will be contacting you as soon as we have a case." With that the officer left.

"Come on, love." The nurse stated, taking the wheelchair and helping Rachel sit back down. "Let's get you and x-ray and I'll take you to see her." She whispered, "Ms. Lopez lawyer phoned, you are evidently her emergency contact other than her father." She wheeled Rachel into the x-ray room and quickly took a facial series. "This should take a bit to get read, would you like to go see her now? I just cleaned her up and they've taken her to a secured room."

"Yes, please," Rachel murmured, far more subdued now that her righteous anger at the rookie officer wasn't around to burn away the fierce ache in her face. "I just want to be with her. I don't want her to wake up alone. And... is it possible that I could use a phone to call home and let the sitter know it may be a while before we can make it home tonight..." She didn't comment on being Santana's emergency contact - though the other woman was hers and the children's - though it sent a strange mixture of warmth and pain flowing through her.

The nurse wheeled her into Santana's room. She was lying in the bed, propped up slightly as her leg up elevated in a sling hanging from the ceiling. It was braced but looked a nasty black and blue color. Her face was cleaned and her hair was pulled back into loose ponytail. "I made sure to get everything off and out of her hair. She's been though enough," the woman expressed sadly settling the girl next to Santana.

"We can take the tube out when she starts triggering the vent, because we don't know how much me gave her we need to need to make sure she stays breathing until she wakes up." She explained, pulling the blanket up around Santana. "She had a broken knee - it will get it casted once the swelling drains. She also has a bruised rib cage from the kicks to her torso and her vagina needed stitches from the trauma. All in all, she's going to be okay. Her body will heal and I know you'll help heal her soul." She smiled softly and rested her hand on Rachel's shoulder.

"There's a phone on the table, dial 9 and you can call out. If you need me, my name's Mona. Just press that little button right there and I'll come in." She pointed to the call button and left the women alone.

"Thank you," Rachel murmured, her eyes never leaving Santana still form in the bed. She looked so small, so still. Like she'd never leave it.

Like Jesse.

It scared her. Far more than she truly wanted to admit. But seeing another person that she loved - and as terrified as she was for Santana, there simply was no other word to use - in a hospital bed and helpless had her all but frozen in terror, caught between falling back into the hopeless depression of Jesse's long, slow demise and running screaming as fast as she could.

Slowly, she wheeled her way to the phone and called home, letting Mina know what had happened - minus the worst of the details - and that it would be a while and she was terribly sorry. The older woman reassured her that it wasn't a problem so long as her children could join them at the house for dinner. Rachel reassured her it would be fine and to order in or use anything she liked in the kitchen to cook and that they'd be home as soon as they could.

The task complete, she stood on trembling legs and moved to the side of the bed, lowering the rail on one side and sitting carefully beside her. She traced her cheek with trembling fingers as she forced herself to stay in the room despite the fear choking her heart. "I thought you said you were healthy, love," she whispered, the words choking out through her tears. "You need to wake up and tell me you're going to get out of this bed. You can't stay here. I couldn't bear to have to come visit someone else I loved in a hospital every day. It's just not right. Not fair..."

Santana had started to become somewhat lucid, she heard the muffled words of a voice that made her heart swell. Her hand twitched softly and she reached for Rachel's. After a few minutes of struggling to find herself out of the haze that clouded her head she managed to blink open her eyes. Things were blurry, but she could make out Rachel's face, she blinked and try to catch the crying woman's gaze.

Rachel didn't know what to do. She reached for her lover's hand, needing to feel the warmth instead if the clammy coldness that had marked Jesse's touch as the end approached. She couldn't let the children know. They'd be terrified they were losing another parent.

She clasped Santana's hand in both of hers, taking in deep shuddering breaths despite the pain in her face. She pulled Santana's hand to her chest, holding it over her heart, unaware the other woman had awoke. "Please be okay," she whispered, "I need you to be okay, Santana. Please. Just, please, be okay. I love you so much..." She was trembling from the sheer fear of Santana being with him, finding them as she did, combining with her terror of having a partner in the hospital again.

The woman tapped her fingers against Rachel's chest, trying to let her in on that she was waking up. She wanted to tell Rachel she was okay but she couldn't, Santana's finger pressed the nurse call button and Mona came in.

"Look at you," She smiled seeing Santana's eyes attempting to blink open. Mona checked vitals and oxygen levels. "Alright sweetie lets get this out so you can make this pretty girl here with you stop crying." She winked at Santana, she pushed the medication and got the doctor to come in an take the tube out. Santana began coughing hard, her body trembling between the pain in her knee and the pain in her chest.

Santana croaked out a few garbled words before she was shushed by Mona. "Not for a bit yet. You're throat will hurt from the breathing tube." Santana nodded and turned her focus back to Rachel.

"Hi." She whispered softly, reaching for the girls hand.

Rachel did her best to smile as reassuringly as she could at Santana as she reached out to take the other woman's hand again, but she couldn't quite hide the lingering panic at being in the hospital with another partner. She squeezed the hand in hers gently, "Hi." It was all she could muster in that second without bursting into tears, everything finally bearing down on her at once and falling out of control.

She smiled softly, "No need cry," she whispered, "I'm okay. I promise." Santana looked into Rachel's eyes and nodded, "I'm okay." She leaned up and pressed their foreheads together. "You saved me." She said dreamily, her body still feeling effects from the medication. "Can I go home? Wanna go home."

"Not fast enough to keep you from being harmed, love," Rachel was still trembling slightly, but she reached up to gently stroke her fingers over Santana's prominent cheekbones, leaning in to kiss her softly. "I wish I'd been sooner so you wouldn't have to be here. I hate seeing you like this, but I don't think you can go home before they cast your leg."

Santana pouted and laid back before reaching out to Rachel. "You got hurt too." Her eyes finally focusing on him. "Baby." she whispered softly, her fingers tracing the wound. "I''m so sorry."

Rachel shook her head firmly even though it seemed to make her face swim with pain, smiling at Santana. "You have nothing to be sorry for, love. Nothing at all. I got this defending you. That makes it perfectly worth it to me."

She raised the hand clasped in hers up to her lips, pressing a gentle kiss to tanned knuckles, "I will gladly suffer any injury if it keeps you safe and whole at my side, my beautiful girl." She gently stroked her fingers through Santana's hair, softly smiling at her, "You and the children, love? You're my entire world. I don't know what I wouldn't do to protect you or them..."

Santana was quiet for a few moments, her head becoming clearer as time ticked on. "W-what happened?" She asked quietly, "I don't remember..." She looked down at her hands, "My... everything hurts. I was working... I was drinking my coffee and trying to finish working on a report for the communications department and then he came in... He was talking weird and then I don't really remember..."

"He," Rachel trailed off, closing her eyes and trying to drive the images of what she'd seen out of her mind, her teeth biting so hard on her lip, she aggravated the split that had finally closed, sending a fresh trickle of blood oozing down her chin, "he was raping you when I got there... I had to get him off. I had to. I wasn't fast enough to keep it from happening again. I'm sorry." Her eyes dropped to her lap, her shoulders shaking as she tried to hold back the tears, "I let you down. I promised I wouldn't let him touch you again. I failed. I'm sorry, Santana. I'm so sorry..."

"Hey," Santana said softly, "don't. You didn't do this. So don't feel guilty, okay? I'm okay... I'll be okay." she whispered softly as she squeezed Rachel's hand. "I promise that we're okay. That I'm okay."

Rachel looked up from her lap, her eyes wide with hurt for the woman she loved, tears staining her cheeks with tears, one swelling and bruising noticeably. "I hate him," she whispered, "I hate him so much for hurting you. No one should hurt you, Santana. No one. Ever."

"I'll be okay. He hurt you too," she whispered, "you can't blame him." she whispered, "he wasn't always like this."

"I'll be fine," Rachel pressed a kiss to Santana's knuckles again, "And I can blame him. You have no idea how long he's been hurting you, love, do you? Years, Santana. He's been sending me the most horrible things over the last few weeks - pictures, video of him raping you in the most graphic fashion. Video of him drugging you. God," she swallowed, blinking at the tears welling in her eyes, even though each unnecessary move sent bolts of agony shooting through her face from where he'd hit her, "I should have told you what he was doing, should have made you go to the police and get him away before this could happen. I just," she shook her head sadly, "I didn't want you to hurt any more, didn't want you to pull away from me..."

Santana stayed silent as she listened. "Was.. Did he.. When I was?" she was less worried about herself but what about her child.

The smaller woman looked at her with such pain in her expression as she remembered, "Santana, the last video I saw... the one he sent right before he, he..." she swallowed, unable to say it again, "you looked barely older than you did at graduation. He made you drink something that he'd mixed a powder into while he was angry, and... and he... he..." She shook her head, unable to continue.

Santana sniffles away tears, "I was pregnant then. Do you think he drugged me after he knew about Alejandra?" her voice wavered, "could... That be why?"

Rachel shrugged sadly, reaching over to brush Santana's hair back and gently stroke away a tear that escaped the woman's control with her thumb. "I don't know, sweetheart... I... it," she licked her lips, "it could be. We'd have to ask the doctors if it was a possible cause. But, Santana, I swear, if it is, if he is why you lost your little girl and had to suffer so much pain... I hate him even more."

Santana couldn't think of anything beyond how could he do that. How could he do that. "Why?" she whispered. "I was his wife... I loved him." she sniffled and looked away. "I don't understand."

"I don't understand either. A man should never abuse his wife so," Rachel sniffled, reaching up to wipe at her face, wincing when she hit her cheek, "But... please don't hate me for saying this... but did you love him? You told me yourself that you're gay, beautiful," she gently stroked her thumb over her lover's cheek, "did you love him... or did you just love the idea of being like all the other girls? Married and taken care of?"

"Does it even matter now?" Santana asked softly. "I wanted someone to love me and he was the first one who did. I thought I loved him."

"No," she shook her head, "No, Santana, it doesn't matter now. But," she licked her lips, smiling awkwardly with the simple fracture to her cheek, "for what it's worth, you have someone who loves you now. Four someones to be precise and we would be terribly lost if we were to lose you now, beautiful girl."

"Not going anywhere." she replied, "I think that I can't even if I wanted too. My knee hurts." she pouted.

Rachel chuckled softly, carefully brushing her fingers through the other woman's hair, "Well, luckily for you, I hear you have this assistant who is absolutely in love with you and willing to do just about any crazy thing you request while you're laid up recuperating and three children who may not be the most effective at helping, but will no doubt try very hard. Your family is going to take care of you, sweetheart. I promise."

"I love you too." Santana said quietly. She nuzzled Rachel's hand softly and smiled. "Rae? I don't want too much media attention on this. You need to contact our publicist and my lawyer is most likely at the cops talking with them."

The young mother took a deep breath and nodded, "Okay, but I want him locked up. I want him in as tiny a cell as they can possibly find for him and I want them to lose the key. Because I am terrified that if he gets out, I may not be able to restrain myself from the intensely violent urges I feel towards him on your behalf. But I will contact the publicist when they take you to get your leg casted and begin work to spin this down as quietly as possible."

She held up her hand to ward off any protests, "It will be soon enough, I'm certain, and I am not going before then. You are not sending me away when another person I love is in a hospital bed. I'm not leaving you alone, do you understand me?"

She nodded. "I don't wanna be alone." she whispered her words trembling.

"You won't be," Rachel whispered, leaning down to kiss her softly, "not for so long as I live."

She nodded, "Okay." Santana kissed her back being careful of the woman's cheek. The events and stress of the day started wearing on her, her eyes began to droop and she started falling asleep. She whimpered scared to fall back into the darkness she woke up from.

Glancing to the door to make sure no one was coming in to yell at her, Rachel wiggled into the tiny space alongside the taller woman, stretching out alongside her, being very careful not to jostle her leg. Gently resting her arm over her lover's stomach, wary of aggravating the bruising to her ribs, and laying her head on her shoulder, she snuggled close. "Rest, sweetheart. Just rest and I'll be here when you wake up," she gently kissed her cheek, "I promise. I'm not letting anything happen to you again..."

"Okay," Santana whimpered, her head moving to rest in the crook of Rachel's neck. "Love you," she murmured prior to falling into a fitful slumber.

Chapter Twenty-Eight