Warnings and disclaimer in Chapter 1. Enjoy.
Judy woke up refreshed the next morning. It was the first good night's sleep she had gotten since Quinn came back into her life. Ever since she had found her daughter, her sleep had been plagued by dark thoughts and nightmares of Quinn's death. She thought those would stop once she took Quinn home, but it just changed to sleeping so lightly in case her daughter needed her that she barely slept at all. She quickly checked on Quinn, finding her still fast asleep, before heading into the kitchen.
"Morning," Rachel greeted from her place at the oven. She was making pancakes. The rest of the group were staring at each other, clearly lost in their own world. It was eerie how they all turned to face her as a group.
"How is she?" Santana asked.
"Still sleeping," Judy told them as she poured herself some coffee. "But at least she had a quiet night."
"Yeah," Finn said, shooting Rachel a concerned look.
"Nothing happened Finn," Rachel told him. "I just held her while she slept." Everyone turned to look at her.
"Not really helping your cause," Santana grumbled. Brittany smiled at her before pulling Santana in for a kiss. Finn just stared at Rachel.
"What?" she said, uncomfortably. Finn just smiled. Rachel was about to say more when they heard Quinn cry out. Judy led the way with the rest of the group not far behind. Judy immediately went to her daughter while they hovered around the doorway.
"It's okay sweetie," Judy quickly reached out grabbed Quinn's good hand, rubbing her shoulder soothingly. "I'm here. It's okay."
"I can't move my arm!" Quinn was panicking, looking around even in her blind state. She tried to get up, but Judy easily pushed her back down.
"I know honey," she cooed gently. "It's okay. Just lie back. It'll all be okay." Eventually Quinn calmed down, tears streaming down her face as she turned to her mother.
"I think I need to go to the doctor," she reluctantly admitted. Judy frowned, looking to the others. Quinn took the pause as disappointment. She looked down shamefully. "It's not getting any better. I tried my best but I can't make it better. I know you're disappointed."
"No Quinnie," Judy looked down. "I'm not disappointed. You didn't do anything wrong." Quinn looked up, tearfully.
"But I'm not getting better."
"That's not your fault sweetie," Judy reassured her. "But we've already been to the doctor."
"We have?" Quinn said. "I'm sorry. I forgot." Judy looked at Quinn.
"We went to the doctors a few days ago," she told her. "Do you remember anything about that?" Quinn shook her head. "Do you remember anything the last few days?" Quinn scrunched her eyes for a minute then shook her head. "What is the last thing you remember?" Quinn thought for a few minutes before smiling slightly.
"Puck," she said dreamily then frowned. "Was he real?"
"He is. You'll see him later."
"Later?" Quinn asked. "Why can't I see him now?" Judy sighed.
"Quinn," she started uncertainly. "When we went to the doctor, he said you needed to have surgery."
"When?" she asked shakily.
"Today," Judy answered. "In a few hours."
"Oh," Quinn said, looking down.
"Hey, no fretting," Santana said, bursting loudly into the room. "We'll stay with you the whole time. It's nothing to worry about."
"Okay," Quinn said gloomily. Brittany climbed into the bed and pulled Quinn in for a big hug and kiss, but Quinn didn't respond at all. She started chatting idly about everything, but Quinn still didn't respond. She looked desperately to her girlfriend.
"Fine," Santana huffed, pulling a chair loudly across the room. She plopped down, putting her feet up on the bed. "I swore I would never do this but here goes." She reached over and grabbed one of the books from the nightstand. "Chapter one." Quinn perked up a bit at the book, but it was obvious she was upset about something. Deciding Santana and Brittany had everything under control for the moment, Judy escaped back into the kitchen.
"Weren't you guys helping Shelby today?" she asked Finn and Rachel, who followed her back into the kitchen.
"The party is at a fun center," Finn said. "There's not much to help with until party time."
"And we volunteered before the surgery was scheduled," Rachel added. "We've discussed this at length with Shelby last night. She understands things have changed since she started planning the party. We'll all stay with you and Quinn until she goes into surgery."
"Then we'll need to go help," Finn finished. "But we want to be here for you two."
"Thank you," Judy said sincerely. "I wanted to call Dr. Mathison. See if I can bring Quinn in a bit early."
"You're really freaked out about this, aren't you?" Finn asked. "She's forgotten stuff before."
"But never entire days," Judy frowned, "unless she simply didn't know and we never realized." She shook her head. "But it's not the forgotten time I'm worried about." She took a deep breath. "I was so scared last night. All I could think about was how I was losing her."
"It will be alright," Rachel reassured her, taking her hand. "Everything will be fine."
"Thank you," Judy squeezed her hand briefly before letting go. "We still have some time before we need to leave. Why don't you go try and cheer her up?"
"She did seem a little down," Finn said, leading the way out of the kitchen. Rachel was right behind him. Judy sighed, reaching for her phone and calling the too familiar number. Dr. Mathison was concerned about the event and suggested a few tests before the surgery. She asked about bringing Quinn in early for the tests and Dr. Mathison agreed. Judy helped herself to some pancakes and then got ready. She took Tobey out for his bathroom trip and then waited in the living room for thirty minutes, letting the group have some time alone. Eventually, though, it was time to get ready. She regrettably interrupted the kid's fun.
"It's time to get ready sweetie," Judy said from the doorway. Everybody was laughing and smiling, even Quinn looked happier than she did that morning, but at those words Quinn's head turned down again.
"We'll see you at the hospital," Brittany said, giving her a quick hug. Judy had offered to take everyone in her car, but between Quinn, her wheelchair, and Tobey there wasn't enough room.
"Finn?" Judy spoke up as he was passing her. "Can you stay and help please? I don't want Quinn trying to move her arm at all and unfortunately I'm not strong enough to take all of her weight myself and get her ready at the same time." Finn looked at Rachel.
"It's okay," she told him. "I trust you."
"Okay," he agreed, "but only if it's alright with Quinn." Quinn looked up, surprised at being included. She nodded.
"Thank you. Can you help me get her into the shower?" Finn paled at the thought, quickly looking to Rachel again. Santana and Brittany also turned to watch the show.
"I trust you," Rachel said again before linking arms with the two girls. "We'll meet you at the hospital." They left and Finn turned back to Judy.
"What about her jammies?" he asked uncomfortably. She smiled.
"I'll take care of those. I just need you to move her." Finn nodded and moved closer to the bed.
"Hey Quinn. I'm gonna carry you to the bathroom." Judy uncovered the girl while Finn carefully gathered her in his arms. Quinn hissed at the movement. "I'm not hurting you, am I?" he asked as he cradled her injured arm next to his chest.
"It's not you," she said quietly. "It's just my stupid arm hurting."
"I'll still try to be gentler," he promised as he stood. He walked carefully into the bathroom, putting her down on the shower seat. Judy was right behind him.
"Thank you, Finn," she said.
"No problem." He blushed, closed his eyes, and quickly turned away when she started undressing her daughter. "I'll just go take my shower. Just let me know when you're ready." He raced out of the room with his eyes still firmly closed. He didn't dare open them until he was safely in the hall with the door firmly shut behind him.
"Did you get an eyeful?" Santana snarked as he turned to go down the hallway.
"Shut up," he said, turning even redder. He turned away from her only to run into Tobey, who was watching the exchange carefully. He eyed Finn, his lips raising in a snarl even though he didn't make a sound. "Not you too," Finn protested. "I was just helping her." Tobey continued to glare for another minute before relaxing. He moved to lick Finn's hand.
"That dog was giving you a warning," Santana said calmly, moving over and patting his head, "but just in case you didn't get it, let me put it simply so you understand." She looked him straight in the eye. It took everything he had not to cower before her. "If while you're 'helping her'," she held up her hands for air quotes, "you somehow hurt her instead, we will go all Lima Heights on your ass." Tobey barked his agreement.
"You guys are so alike sometimes it's scary," Finn said in awe. Santana and Tobey both smirked.
"He's not going to hurt Quinn," Rachel came to his defense, "because if he did he'd have to answer to me."
"And she's scarier than both of you," Finn added, finally smiling. Rachel smiled back.
"Come on Santana. We need to leave now if we want to catch the next train." Santana scowled once more but let Rachel pull her away. Finn stepped up and wrapped his arms around her as she followed.
"I love you," he said, kissing the top of her head. Rachel leaned into him, turning her head enough for a goodbye kiss.
"We don't have all day dwarf," Santana shouted, smirking when they reluctantly pulled away. Finn watched as they left the apartment before quickly getting ready. He took a shower, dressed, and fiddled around in the living room until Judy called out for him.
"Can you help me in the bathroom please?"
"Um, sure," Finn told her, blushing at the thought of a naked Quinn. He squinted so tightly he almost had his eyes completely closed when he carefully entered the bathroom, his hands stretched in front of him to keep from walking into things.
"She's not going to bite," Judy laughed at his entrance. Finn cautiously opened his eyes, ready to slam them shut again at the sight of naked skin he shouldn't be seeing, but Judy had Quinn covered with a towel. Once he knew it was safe he opened his eyes completely.
"What do you need?" he asked helpfully.
"Just keep her upright," Judy told him. "She's pretty unstable right not."
"Right." Quinn was propped up in the corner of the shower, but he could tell she was only upright because Judy kept one hand firmly on her shoulder. This made it rather difficult to bathe her daughter.
"Careful with her arm." Finn nodded and eventually he had Quinn secure in his arms. "Are you okay with this?" Judy asked. He nodded and she quickly moved the towel. Finn immediately closed his eyes. "I'm sorry if this makes you uncomfortable," she chatted casually to help put him at ease. "I would have asked one of the girls, but they already left. And I didn't think she would be quite this bad. I'm afraid this means you'll probably be getting another shower."
"That's okay," Finn told her.
"Can you lean her forward a bit?" Judy asked. Finn nodded, opening his eyes slightly to make sure he didn't drop her. He tried to keep his eyes safely north of her private parts, but he couldn't stop himself from looking. He gasped at the first glance of her scarred body, quickly looking at her face to judge her reaction to his reaction. Quinn just continued to gaze blankly ahead.
"I did the same thing the first time I saw," Judy told him quietly while she gently ran a soaped-up washcloth over Quinn's skin. "So did the girls."
"And Quinn's not upset with me seeing her like this?" Finn asked uncertainly. Judy shook her head.
"She's used to it," she explained sadly. Finn just nodded and watched as Judy finished bathing her daughter, moving her whenever needed. He held her when she was done while Judy dried her off with towels then he carried her over to her room. It wasn't until he laid her on her bed that he realized he was completely soaked.
"I guess she's not the only one who needs to get dressed," he mused. Judy smiled gratefully at him.
"Thank you again Finn." He smiled goofily at her.
"Just let me know when you're ready." She nodded.
"Oh Finn?" she called out as he was about to close the door. "Can you get Tobey ready?"
"Sure." He glanced over at Quinn. She perked up at Tobey's name, but not nearly as much as she usually did. He looked to Judy, but she was already focusing on Quinn's clothing. He quietly closed the door behind him. He quickly changed and got Tobey ready, but still had to wait another twenty minutes before Judy called him.
"She's ready," she said simply, a small frown on her face. "Can you get her in the chair while I change?"
"Yeah," Finn agreed. He easily scooped her up and had her settled in the chair. He pushed her to the living room, where Tobey was waiting for them. Quinn held out her hand and Tobey licked her fingers, but she still wasn't as animated as she normally would be. "Judy?" Finn asked when the older woman joined him. "Is Quinn okay? She's usually not so docile."
"She had a rough night," Judy sighed. Finn frowned.
"She's had rough nights before," he said thoughtfully as they made their way out of the apartment. "She's usually fine in the morning."
"She hasn't had any of her morning medication," Judy told him. "She's in a lot of pain right now."
"So, give her something." Judy shook her head.
"There were some notations on her charts from Morningside about bad drug interactions. Dr. Mathison didn't want to take the risk." Judy sighed. "I'm sure he'll give her something at the hospital though. Nobody thought she would have such a bad episode right before her surgery." Finn grudgingly accepted the explanation and was extra gentle as he moved her into the car. Tobey quickly climbed in after her.
"I never realized how much the medicine helps her," Finn said as they pulled out of the parking lot. "Makes me wonder how her dad ever thought no medicine was the way to go." Judy didn't have an answer to that so they drove in silence. The drive to the hospital was uneventful. Dr. Mathison was waiting for them, a frown on his face when he finally saw Quinn. They were quickly shepherded to a room, where he immediately gave Quinn some pain medication before pulling Judy out into the hall. Finn took a chair next to the bed, holding Quinn's good hand tightly. He could tell when the medicine started working. Her grip gradually slackened until her hand was lying limply in his. "Feeling better?" Finn asked. Quinn nodded slightly. "I can read to you?" Finn offered. "I know I don't have the best voice, but I can try to do different voices for different characters."
"Thanks," Quinn smiled at him, her first real smile of the day. Finn squeezed her hand for a second before pulling out a book. They both quickly got lost in the book so that by the time the girls got there everything seemed normal.
"Hey Quinn," Dr. Mathison greeted when he returned a few minutes later. He was followed by a couple nurses pushing a cart. "I heard you had a rough night. Want to talk about it?" Quinn just shrugged.
"Don't remember," she said quietly.
"Your mom also says you don't remember what we talked about." Quinn shook her head. "I'll explain it all again, but we have to do a couple of tests before we get started. It might put us behind schedule a bit."
"What about the party?" Quinn asked automatically.
"What party?" Judy asked carefully. Quinn frowned.
"I'm not sure." Quinn scrunched her forehead in concentration while everybody looked at each other. Finally, she gave up, drooping her shoulders.
"Well," Dr. Mathison broke the uncomfortable silence. "We're going to start with a blood test then we have a few other tests we need to run." Quinn nodded absently. Everyone backed up when the nurses approached, but were quickly back in their places as soon as they left again.