Again thank you so much to everyone who read and reviewed the last chapter. It's much appreciated and keeps me motivated to keep on updating and writing this fic. I hope you like the latest instalment. It's very short, I know but I've been pretty tight on time lately. I look forward to reading you're reviews. Enjoy
As the evening time came around, Shelby was pulled from her thoughts by the movement coming from the bed on the far side of the room. Standing up, she saw Rachel slowly moving about as she began to wake up. Taking a seat next to the bed, Shelby gently caressed the younger girls arm to grab her attention. Rachel turned her head and flinched slightly when she leaned against the heavily padded side of her skull where the surgeon had opened it up to relieve the pressure that had formed on her brain from the fall. As a searing pain shot through her head, she made a mental not to lean on that side of her head again.
"Rach, you okay?", Shelby asked when she noticed her daughter's face contort in pain. Nodding her head ever so slightly, she swallowed and began to speak. "Yeah, I just I leaned to far over on the side of my head", she explained as she gazed over at her mother. Shelby nodded her head understandingly but in that moment, her brain was working overtime thinking about a million and one different thing's. How was Rachel going to cope with her injuries? How was Shelby going to the fathers Berry away from her defenceless daughter? But the thought that stood amongst them all, that really grabbed Shelby's attention, was what else in her daughter's past was she not aware of? That was what really scared her. Did the abuse just go as far as the marks on Rachel's back? or was there more to this than meets the eye.
For now, Shelby was content to just let sleeping dogs lie. At least until Rachel was out of hospital and she brought her home. The past could wait. Right now they had to focus on the present and that meant taking care of everything right now. Just as Shelby was about to speak, the greyed haired doctor from the night before walked in the door wearing his white lab coat over a shirt and tie. Looking ever the professional working man. As he walked over to the bed, he shot a smile at Shelby and then turned to face the younger girl lying in the bed before him. "How's my patient doing? He asked as he flicked through her medical chart, checking Rachel's stats.
"Okay, my head and my chest are a little sore though", Rachel replied she said watching as the doctor made his way to the side of her bed. "That's to be expected. You'll be in some pain for a while. Now do you want some good news?", he asked with a small glint of a smile. Rachel answered him with a simple yes and the doctor continued. "The fluid in your lung is almost completely gone so tomorrow morning we'll be taking you down to theatre to remove the chest tube", he said he leaned on hand on the head of her bed and the other down the side rail. "That's great", Shelby said from her seat as she glanced back and forth between Rachel and the doctor.
"Now for the not so good news", the doctor said as he stood up and crossed his arms over his chest. "The knock you took to the head was pretty serious. There was some swelling and a build-up of pressure. The fall caused some damage, we're certain that the extent of the damage consists mainly to your motor skills", he said as she looked at the confused and somewhat scared expression on the young teenagers face. Shelby placed a comforting hand on her daughter's shoulder. Feeling a little unsure as to whether or not Rachel wanted her there or not. They had only committed to working on their relationship as mother and daughter before the attack, Shelby didn't want to feel like she was pushing all of this on Rachel.
"Honey", Shelby said affectionately, "Do you want me to wait outside while you talk to Dr. Carter?", she asked. Rachel glanced at her mother, her eyes glazing over with unshed tears, waiting anxiously for something that would cause her willpower to break and unleash those tears from their holding place. "No. Stay", Rachel said. Returning her gaze to the doctor, the young girl gathered together her composure and found her voice. "What does that mean, what effect will that have?", she asked as she felt the comforting hand of Shelby stroke her arm. The doctor gazed back and forth between mother and daughter. He could see the knowing look on Shelby's face. She was fully aware of what the brain injury meant for her daughter. Now she was just waiting in anticipation for the doctor to break the news.
"Rachel, your motor skills affect your brains ability to grasp co-ordination. Your ability to walk, to hold objects in your hands or even pick them up", he said, and knowing that there was no way to sugar coat what he was saying he simply continued on. "The reality is, you're basically going to be starting your life over again. You will have to undergo intense rehabilitation to learn how to walk and balance, to use your hands. Even your hand eye co-ordination will need to be worked on", he said in a matter of fact tone. Rachel laid there absorbing all the information her brain suddenly went into over drive.
"What? No I can't. Sectionals are coming up, I need to be prepared. I'm the main soloist. I have to be there. It's my senior year I can't just, not participate. It would seriously affect my chances of getting into a performing arts college. This is unacceptable", Rachel said this time the tears falling freely from her eyes and leaving behind a glistening track along her once bronze cheek. The doctor could understand Rachel's pain. It was by far the worst timing for something like this to happen. But there was nothing he could do to speed up the recovery. He was a doctor not a miracle worker. No matter what he did, the simple fact remained that Rachel was only going to begin healing in her own time. It was simple science and no medical wonders could change that.
"I'm sorry Rachel. But the only way you are going improve is by undergoing rehabilitation. It's up to you and how hard you're willing to work that will determine whether or not you will be able to participate in any school activities", the doctor replied, giving the young girl a sympathetic nod of his head before leaving the room. Shelby watched on as Rachel stared off into space. Her gaze focused on the ceiling, her face expressionless. "Shelby, what am I going to do?", Rachel asked, her voice quivering. Glancing up into her daughters eyes, Shelby felt conflicted over Rachel calling her by her name. Deep down she wanted desperately to be called mom. But another part of her realised, it was going to take a while for Rachel to be comfortable using that word.
"You're going to rest. And when you're ready to leave her, I'm going to take you home to my house and we are going to work hard to get you better. To get you ready for competition", Shelby said with a determination that was the driving force behind all of Vocal Adrenalines success. It was what was going to help Rachel get better. To get her back into shape and perhaps, even make her better than before. She was not going to sit back and allow all of Rachel's dreams and hard work to just fall by the way side. Not now. Not when she had so much talent. Talent that would surely see her succeed in her quest to become a Broadway superstar. Shelby Corcoran had never failed at anything in her life. At least not anything she out her heart and soul into. She would be damned if she were to fail at this. It would be the most important task she would ever undertake. Failure was simply not an option.