States prep was like their regular practices, but times 1000. It was long and grueling, but the girls knew that every second counted. Every throw, every hit. Everything was for state level game play which wasn't going to be easy.
Oahu softball was a league of it's own. Big Island teams had 8 games for a regular season, not including pre or post season. But Oahu had double that amount during their regular season alone. Oahu might have been smaller but it had way more schools. Meaning, their high schools would have that much more playing time together.
Santana made sure to keep the girls morale up as much as possible. There wasn't much she could do other than offer words of encouragement and try and help the girls pinpoint little errors they were making that they might have been unaware of. The sling wasn't the greatest, but she was determined to get back to at least 85%. That was the deal with Holly. Once she's there she can start taking the sling off and begin using elastic bands again to restrengthen her shoulder before starting to throw. It was going to be a process, but it's what needed to be done if she wanted to be able to take the field during states.
It was roughly two and a half weeks out from the start of the state tournament. The bell rang to release everyone at the end of the day and Santana caught up to Brittany before she headed over to the field.
"I'll be over there once my session is done okay?" Brittany gently rubbed Santana's shoulder. "It's at 80 percent babe. Honest."
Brittany nodded, and leaned in to kiss Santana. "I love you. Keep pushing okay?"
"I love you too, babe. I will. I'll see you later okay?"
And with that, Brittany joined the rest of the girls to walk over to the field while Santana walked in the other direction to Holly's office. It was a feeling that stung, and it sucked.
"Come on now, girlie. Let's get started so I can get you over to the field before they start batting practice!" Holly was standing in her doorway. "How's your mental today?"
"It's good. I'm ready. What's on the schedule today?"
Holly went into one of her storage closets, and pulled out some elastic bands. She turned, with a huge smile. "It's time. Get out of that sling."
"Really?"
"Yes. You've been sticking to the treatment plan I laid out for you. And it's paid off." She helped Santana loosen the sling. "Start with a few light stretches before we get to this band. And when I say light, I mean it."
Santana stood up and started to do some basic stretches.
"So you didn't answer my question last time before you rushed over to the field." Santana looked over at Holly. "Plans for after high school? Cause I'm fully expecting to see you on tv playing at collegiate level."
"Honestly, Holly. Can you keep a secret?"
"Yeah, of course." She was curious now.
"Well, so you know how my dad is in the Army yeah? I've been looking into West Point."
"That's the Army college yeah?"
Santana nodded. "I just figured I'd make him proud by following in his footsteps. Yeah he never go West Point, but still yet."
Holly was adjusting the bands to Santana's height now.
"Do you really want to do that though? I mean, that's a huge commitment."
"It is, and I understand that for sure." Santana started using the bands just how Holly was demonstrating for a couple days prior.
"I'm sure you dad would be proud of you no matter what you choose to do, to be completely being honest with you San."
Santana knew she was right. But going to West Point was something she had been thinking about since her dad left. It wasn't a sure thing, but it was something she couldn't shake. She wanted to talk to Brittany about it, but she didn't know how to.
The rest of physical therapy went great, and once they were done, Santana jumped in Holly's golf cart with her and they headed over to the field.
----------
With Santana off of the field, Rachel started to step up a little more in her absence. Practices were going smoothly, and Coach Sue was more than impressed with her team. They were like a well-oiled machine.
Brittany was catching for Rachel as she pitched for batting practice. She was starting to get used to playing there, but she certainly missed outfield. It wouldn't be long though, hopefully. What she really wanted was for Santana to come back onto the field and claim what was rightfully hers. She helped build that team into what it was, and all Brittany wanted was for her girlfriend to finish her softball career by playing during states.
At home, Brittany made sure that Santana followed Holly's directions completely. Whether it be stretching or taking it easy by not using her right arm at all.
And she felt that everything was paying off because she knew Santana was making great progress.
Faintly, Brittany could hear the sound of the golf cart approaching. Coach Sue called for a water break and the girls hustled in, and got a sip of water.
"Babe?" Santana was standing behind the announcers booth, where Holly was parked.
She grabbed her water bottle and walked around to see that Santana was standing there, with no sling on.
Santana could see the excitement on Brittany's face. "No sling."
Brittany walked up to her girlfriend, and gently kissed her. She placed her hands on both of her shoulders, being extra gentle with Santana's right shoulder.
"This is good."
"It is. Holly did tell me I might be a little sore tonight, which is totally fine. It just means I'm making good progress with the bands."
"Let's go girls! Brittany, you're up to bat." Coach Sue yelled.
"Get out there babe. I'll be back soon."
----------
The girls had been home for about a hour now, and after eating some hamburger helper that Santana's mom made, they were now in Santana's room finishing up some homework.
Brittany yawned, while leaning back on the wall.
"You okay babe?"
Santana was rubbing her shoulder, wincing a little.
"I'm good, just a little sore. I'm probably gonna wear the sling tomorrow if I don't feel better in the morning."
Brittany got up from the bed and walked out of the room. When she returned, she had a glass of water in her hand and some ibuprofen.
"Take this, and we're gonna relax. We're done with homework for tonight."
Santana took two pills out of the bottle and drank the cup of water. Brittany took it from her, and placed it on the nightstand next to the bed. She got up and turned off the light in the room.
At around 3 am, Santana's phone started to ring. Brittany unplugged it from the charger and saw that it was her dad.
"San. Babe! Wake up. It's your dad."
Santana shot up and answered her phone.
"Hello?"
"Hey babygirl. How are you doing?"
"I'm good dad. How are you?" Santana was slowly getting up over Brittany to go talk to her dad outside. She knew that Brittany was tired, so she didn't want to keep her up with talking to her dad.
They talked about everything, softball, her injury, and Brittany.
Her dad was doing good up in Iraq, nothing to major happened so he was using that time to get acclimated to the weather. He was originally supposed to go to Afghanistan, but their mission changed last minute and they were needed elsewhere.
Incoming, Incoming, Incoming.
"Babygirl, I gotta go okay? I'll be okay. I'll call you back. I love you."
"I love-"
And the line went dead.
No, no, no. This couldn't be happening again. Santana started to sweat. She was pacing back and forth in her driveway, trying to catch her breath. She ran her hand through her hair, and sat down on the chair on the porch. She looked down at her phone, hoping that her dad was going to call back. But after 30 mins, nothing.
She made her way back inside, and gently shook Brittany to wake her up.
Brittany slowly sat up, as Santana sat next to her. Almost immediately, Santana started to cry.
"Baby, what happened?" Brittany was more alert now.
"It happened again, there were alarms going off and he said he had to go. He said he'd call back but he hasn't yet."
Brittany was at a loss. She wanted to comfort Santana but she had no idea how.
"San it's gonna be okay. Give it more time. I'll be right here with you. I promise."
Santana was trying to be optimistic, but it was difficult. She turned the tv on, hoping that it could help keep her mind occupied but it wasn't working.
"Baby, go to sleep. I'll be okay."
Brittany was fighting to stay awake at this point. She didn't want to do that to Santana, but it was getting difficult.
"No I'm okay. Honest." She yawned.
"You have practice tomorrow babe, and a test. Please. I promise I'll wake you up if anything okay?"
Her girlfriend nodded, and started to get comfortable.
Santana looked down at her phone, it was nearly 5 am. She'd stay up all night if she had to.
"San?" Her mom was in standing in her doorway. "Come. I wanna talk to you."
She slowly got up off the bed and followed her mom into the living room.
"Your dad just called me, he wanted me to tell you that he's okay but he had to go and get accountability of everyone and their equipment. He was saying that they had an incoming rocket, but they have these new gun systems with them that shoot them down. The alarm you heard was just their warning so they could get to cover." Santana felt a huge relief. Like she could breath again. She started to cry. "No baby, don't cry. He's okay. I promise."
"I know mom, I just- I was on the phone with him you know? This was the second time that happened I thought that it would be easier if it happened again and it just wasn't."
"I know, I know." Lani scooted closer to Santana and hugged her. "But I'm here, and I know Brittany and Rachel are both here for you too. Don't feel like you have to be alone to deal with this, okay?"
"Thanks, mom."
"One more thing. Your dad told me that I should tell you. And it's early and all and I really should wait, but-" She paused. "I'm pregnant."