Disclaimer: usual disclaimer applies

Chapter 12

"Hey Quinn," Rachel bounced into the room.

"Hi Rach," the blonde responded. "I missed you yesterday."

"I had a singing lesson and then my dads wanted to take me out for Chinese food so it was late and my phone battery died so I couldn't text." She held her hands up in a resigned gesture.

"I'm glad you're here. I wanted to talk to you." Quinn motioned her with her head.

"Is it about the big news?" Rachel moved further into the room and dropped on the sofa.

Quinn was out of the loop where news was concerned. "What news?"

"Sam got his cast off," Rachel looked puzzled. "How do you not know this?"

Quinn shrugged. "I haven't seen him much this week. They're all working overtime at home to get ready for me." She frowned at that.

"Why the glum face? Aren't you excited about going home?"

"Sure, I guess. It's just that it's not really home for me yet. It seems weird to call it that when I've never actually been there before."

Rachel approached and placed a hand on the slight shoulders of her friend. "It will be okay. Everything is going to work out fine."

"I hope so. My family needs a break."

Rachel looked at Quinn for a moment and realised something was different. She wasn't wearing the knit cap anymore.

"You ditched the cap I see," Rachel smiled.

Quinn looked up as if she was trying to see her own forehead. "Yeah, it's a little crazy but Santana turned up yesterday with her hairdresser. She fixed my tuft with some extensions thank goodness."

The previous day….

"Hey Quinn, can I come in?"

The blonde was reclined back in the wheelchair, reading something on her iPad and took a moment to put down the mouthstick and reach the straw so she could turn her chair to face the door. "Santana," Quinn's eyebrows raised; she hadn't been expecting visitors. "Of course, sorry."

Santana saw the room was empty and was actually glad, she wanted to catch the blonde on her own and ask her some things without an audience.

"I didn't know if you would be busy," the hispanic girl turned to someone outside and waved her in. "This is Alexa, she's my hairdresser."

Quinn was a little bemused but welcomed the older woman and greeted her.

"So, you're probably wondering…"

"Why you brought your hairdresser to meet me? Er… yes."

The other girl gave her a grin. "You can tell me to take a flying leap out the window for being presumptuous, but I was thinking about your hair after the other night. The Dw…. I mean Rachel said you were self-conscious about where they butchered it to patch you up."

Quinn blushed a little. The knit cap was back in place on her head to cover the scar and missing hair. "She says it's not that bad, but I just think people stare at it when it's on show and I'm enough of a freak already."

Santana put her hands on her hips and shook her head. "You shouldn't say that about yourself. Brits says you are doing that so people think you don't care when really you do."

Quinn looked a non-plussed at that. It was actually true, but she wasn't going to admit that to anyone.

The Latina didn't give her a chance to argue but ploughed straight on. "Anyway, Alexa can fix your hair so no one sees the scar. Extensions, you know?"

"What, now?"

Santana rolled her eyes. "Of course now, what else are you doing?"

Quinn grimaced. "Chemistry, and honestly, it's not even hard so it's really boring."

"Please, some of the teachers at that school are hopeless. Not all thank God, but some. So how about it?"

"You really can fix this?" Quinn raised her eyes to her forehead.

"Can I take a look?" The slightly nervous hairdresser asked.

Quinn shrugged and nodded.

Santana sprung into action, waiting for Quinn to move her chair more upright and then removed the cap for her.

"This is an ugly hat too, Quinn."

The blonde just gave her a breathy laugh. "Shut up."

The hairdresser pulled the longer strands of hair out of the way to reveal the pink scar and the tuft of hair that had re-grown around it.

"This is going to grow back fine, Quinn." Alexa smiled softly. "I'll put in some extensions and then shape the front for you. Would you like a trim while I'm here? I guess you haven't had a haircut in a while."

The blonde bit her lip. "Is it that bad?" The staff did their best as did her mom, but they had enough on their hands just doing the basics of care never mind worrying about split ends.

"No, you have really nice hair, but everyone needs a trim now and again."

Quinn nodded her agreement. "Okay, thank you."

The hairdresser got to work, asking Quinn to tilt the chair back again so she could reach easier and keep Quinn's face free of stray hairs knowing she couldn't move them out of her eyes herself.

"Santana, can I ask you something?"

"I guess," the other girl eyed her suspiciously. She had wanted some answers but it seemed so did the blonde. "If you answer some for me too."

Quinn nodded. "Rachel."

"Oh boy," Santana rolled her eyes.

—

"They did a good job and you can hardly tell now." Her brow crinkled as she grinned. "So I look a bit less of a freak."

"You're not a freak," Rachel argued. "Quirky maybe, but not a freak," a smile spread across the tan features. "Actually, it's really nice. You're hair's so pretty, it was a shame to hide under it the hat all the time."

Quinn rolled her eyes and shrugged again, but the comment was appreciated more than Rachel knew.

As if suddenly remembering the start of the conversation, Rachel looked quizzically at her friend. "What did you want to talk to me about?"

Quinn sighed. "Santana is funny and a little scary sometimes, but she's also brutally honest, with emphasis on the brutal and she let some things slip."

Rachel had a bad feeling that the conversation might be about to take a turn towards difficult. "Oh?"

Quinn's eyes narrowed. "I don't want to upset you, but why didn't you tell me that you get bullied?"

Rachel made a dismissive noise. "Santana shouldn't have said anything to you. You have enough to worry about without my problems."

"Rachel, please?" Quinn moved her chair slightly so they were sitting opposite each other. "Look at me. I'm pathetic to be honest and yet you have kept coming back here day after day to spend time with me. Friendships aren't supposed to be like one way traffic."

"But …."

"No, listen Rach," Quinn looked away for a moment. "If we're going to be friends and I would really like that, you have to be able to unload on me. I don't have a lot left you know. I can't go throwing a slushy in some guys face on your behalf. I can't even put my arms around you and give you a hug, but I can still listen. I can still give you advice. That's going to be my way of helping now, please don't deprive me of that as well."

Rachel's eyes suddenly filled with tears. "Quinn, I'm sorry. I didn't think of it like that. I just didn't want to burden you with my issues when you were going through so much."

"Don't you understand that for someone in my position, you being a burden to me is a huge relief. I spend ninty-nine percent of my waking hours being a burden to someone else, so it's nice if you can lean on me a bit." A soft smile appeared on Quinn's lips. "It helps to redress the balance somewhat."

Rachel nodded and returned the grin. "I guess I always found it hard to make friends. I can be very annoying and I have huge diva tendencies which seem to initiate some dislike."

"Santana told me. Does she bully you?"

Rachel shook her head. "She used to be unpleasant sometimes and she slushied me a few times last year, but since she joined glee club she hasn't. I get teased a little by her, but she's like that to everyone. I think Brittany likes me so she has mellowed some."

"But you do get bullied?"

"The jocks give all the glee kids a hard time, mostly just insults, but occasionally we get worse. Kurt gets it the most. He's gay and there are some neanderthals who just can't accept him expressing his sexuality openly. Compared to that, I don't really get it too bad, I just make sure I carry a change of clothes each day just in case."

Quinn sighed and leaned her head back against the rest. "I knew there was something….."

"Don't worry about me though. I'm used to having to get by on my own. I've never had many friends. I tend to talk too much, especially about myself…"

"Really? Can't say as I noticed," the quip was delivered with a grin.

Rachel blushed a little and she straightened her shoulders. "Anyway, before I was so rudely interrupted, I was going to say that other people my age tend to find me annoying and when I try to talk to them about things, they just tend to brush me off."

Quinn found herself feeling sorry for Rachel. She had been the one person to treat her relatively normally and not run away, apart from that day weeks ago, when Quinn had actually lost it with her for no good reason other than her stupid useless arm getting caught up. She rolled her eyes at her own behavior.

"I don't find you annoying, so I don't understand why others do." Quinn shrugged to get more air in her lungs. Long sentences were still a bit of a challenge. "You do tend to ramble a bit, but I find it endearing."

Rachel's face went all puppy dog. "Really? I just thought maybe I was a distraction for you."

"Well I guess you are in a way, but I'm not that pathetic, Rach. If I didn't like you, I would kick you out." Quinn's wheezy chuckle was still a funny sound and it made Rachel laugh in turn.

"I really wish you could," she sobered a little at the thought of those words.

"Yeah, me too. It sucks but I don't have much choice about it."

Rachel looked down for a moment. She had spent a lot of time learning about injuries like Quinn's and she knew that the girl was getting better slowly, but she didn't talk about her prognosis at all and it had been praying on the brunette's mind a bit.

"Can I ask you something personal. You don't have to answer if it's too hard though."

Quinn nodded, her eyebrows knitting together as she wondered what her friend was about to ask.

"I was reading some about spinal cord injuries and it said some are complete and incomplete and that if they are incomplete there is a chance that you can recover."

"You want to know what my chances are?" Quinn's brows relaxed finally.

Rachel gave her a shy nod. "But only if you want to talk about it. I'm not prying."

Quinn gave a shrug again. "At first they said I would probably never move anything again, like even my head and be stuck on the vent permanently, then I started to get better and the trache went finally. When I could shrug my shoulders I really thought maybe my arms would come back and I could live with that, but…." she took a breath and held it a moment, then another just to fill her lungs again. "It's time to face facts. I've stalled now and they aren't saying this is it, but I get the feeling that by telling me I can go home soon, it's code for 'this is as good as it gets'."

Quinn looked down at her body as she spoke. She could see her shape already beginning to change. Her arms and legs had thinned some and her boobs had shrunk, which was distressing because she was hardly well-endowed in the first place. The most appalling thing though was her stomach. It wasn't as if she ate much of anything and yet it was slightly rounded where it had been like a washboard before. She wanted to ask someone about it but she was too embarrassed.

She didn't want to think about her hands so she looked up at Rachel instead.

Rachel couldn't look up though, because she knew she would cry then.

"It's okay though, because at least I can breathe right? And I can do stuff with the mouthstick. I didn't show you yet, but if you hand it to me, I can challenge you to a game of Scrabble."

Rachel looked at where Quinn was using her shoulder to indicate where it was on the nightstand.

Rachel took it and turned the mouthpiece to face Quinn.

The blonde took a deep breath and caught it between her teeth. In a slightly garbled voice from talking with the stick in, she taunted Rachel. "I'm gon' wipe the f'oor wit' you."

Rachel smiled.

"You're way too competitive."

Quinn shrugged. "Nah, I'm worsh wit' Monop'y."

—GLEE—

Rachel went to talk to Miss Pillsbury the following week.

"I was wondering how she was doing with the work teachers are setting and wondered if it would help to take her extra class notes because she can't write or anything now."

"That's very considerate of you Rachel, but Quinn is doing really well. The tutor is helping to make notes for her and scribe while she dictates. Teachers have looked at her work and are very impressed. She's very bright."

Rachel nodded. "I got that when we first met, you know, from the way she speaks."

"It's very good of you to befriend her. It will be easier for her to settle here when she returns."

The brunette nodded. "I'm lucky she accepted me as a friend. I'm self-aware enough, Miss Pillsbury to know I'm an acquired taste. Do you think she might be able to return to school soon? I know she is going home in a couple of weeks and she's worried about falling behind still."

"The school has just recruited an aide for her, so I think it won't be too long before she can return to regular classes." Emma had been relieved to find the woman they hired was young and very bubbly, if not a bit eccentric. "That is, if Quinn is ready and cleared by her doctor."

"Really? That's great. Is she nice?"

"Very nice," Emma nodded. "I suppose you will be meeting her soon enough. Quinn is likely to be in quite a few of your AP classes I think. I'm going to visit next week with Ms Holiday and introduce her to Quinn."

Rachel folded her hands in her lap thoughtfully. "Frankly, I'm worried however, about the bullying situation in this school. Those of us who are a little different are prone to mistreatment and I would hate that to happen to Quinn after the ordeal she has been through."

"Rachel, I know that it goes on and I'm sorry that not everyone here treats each other as kindly as they should, but I don't think Quinn will be on her own so it would be hard for anyone to mistreat her with an adult around."

"But she's not a baby and she hates not having her independence. Surely she shouldn't need someone to protect her. We should have a school community where bullying is not tolerated."

Emma sighed. She agreed with Rachel, but those in charge seemed to look the other way at everything except physical assault.

Rachel continued her rant. "I am going to see Pincipal Figgins and tell him that he should have CCTV in the hallways to prevent it from going on unseen."

With that the short teenager stood up and power marched out of the room much to the relief of the guidance counsellor.

TBC