Hello everyone,
So you all get another bonus chapter this week. I shouldn't do this, because I've hit a wall. It's a very thick brick wall and I've tried several ways to get rid of my writer's block and NOTHING is working. I AM OPEN TO ALL SUGGESTIONS! Whatever you have, throw it out there and hopefully you'll help inspire something. You've all helped me before, so I'm hoping it'll work again.
Warnings: HIGH SQUICK FACTOR! Vomit, tantrums, medical sedation, and a rather descriptive section of SOME of Noah's injuries. Again, as with last chapter, read SLOWLY if you have to. Take breaks, be in a "safe space", etc. I trust you all to use your best judgement. This is a chapter that you really shouldn't skip in my opinion as it will set up a few things for upcoming chapters.
Many thanks to NayaFan, UnholyUnderBoob, and Beaner008 for all their encouragement and support. Many thanks to ALL my readers, my 100 followers, my 59 favorited readers, and to all of you who have sent me, such lovely PM's and reviews. It is all greatly appreciated.
Be well my friends
While Santana and Rachel were gone, Marley and Noah had both been moved to tears and Quinn was seriously fighting off her own. They had moved closer though now. Now, Noah was in the hospital bed, but instead of being in a chair far away, Marley was seated on the bed, with him and Quinn was standing behind her, supporting her body as she leaned to the left a bit. The two were sharing bruises with each other. Marley looked up at Noah and carefully placed her hand on her cheek. "Owies," she said softly. He nodded and tried to guide her hand to his cheek. "Pinch," she said softly.
"A hun-red time a day," he said.
Marley nodded and tried to look back at Quinn. "Auntie?" she asked softly.
"What's up sweetheart?"
"Mommy has um, I don't know, put it on, no more owies, cream, soft, cold," she babbled and Quinn nodded.
"I think that's aloe baby. Should we ask Noah if he wants aloe on his bruises? Do you think it would help him?" Quinn asked.
"You his Mommy. You beddah den me, you does it" she said sadly.
"No one is better or worse, and that's not really fair sweetheart. Noah may not want me as his Mommy. We have to ask him what he wants. He also has to learn to trust me, like you learned to trust your Mommy," she explained.
Marley wasn't happy with that answer and turned back to Noah. "Auntie Quinn, you Mommy. Her make you safe. Keep you safe. Her put cream on owies. No more, all gone. You gotta," she told him and her voice was firm and held a very stern tone to it.
"Marley, what did I just tell you sweetheart? We can't force Noah to do what you say. Yes, everything you said is true, but he has to learn that on his own," Quinn explained and she said in a very certain tone. She knew Marley was between her scary adult world and her safe little girl world. That file had been murder to get through, but Quinn was glad she'd read it.
"NO!" Marley yelled.
"First and last warning Marley. You do not yell at me. I know you're frustrated, but you do not get to make choices for Noah. He gets to make his own choices. You can make suggestions, but that's it," Quinn told her seriously.
"NO!" Marley yelled again.
"Time out for Marley," Quinn said seriously and she took her off the bed, despite Marley's screamed and struggles, and lead her to the corner. "Stand here, five minutes," Quinn said. She'd been told about the time out rule very quickly. Santana had sensed some challenge in Marley when it came to Quinn.
"NO NO NO!" Noah yelled and he started to squirm, his monitors going wild.
"Shhh, Noah, calm down buddy, you're okay and so is Marley," Quinn said.
"No, Mommy, Mommy, Mommy, C'eam okay, do it. No time out," Noah said as best he could, his body getting mad at him for putting out so much effort. His stomach was starting to cramp a bit, but he ignored it. He had to do everything he could so that Marley would be safe and getting out of bed and wrapping her in his arm, to shield her with his own body, was not an option.
"Shhh," Quinn soothed, but she didn't dare touch him. She glanced up and saw his heart rate was quickening and she didn't like the numbers involved. It looked like he was going to have a heart attack if she didn't get him to calm down.
"Noah buddy, look at Quinn, look at me love. You're okay, and so is Marley and as soon as she finishes her time out, she can come back and talk to you," Quinn told him and she kept an eye on his heart monitor, not wanting it to jump completely off the chart. "Shhh, listen to Quinn buddy," she tried.
"No, Mommy, not Kin, Mommy okay," he said, his voice full of panic.
"Shhh," Quinn said kindly. "Noah buddy, nothing bad is going to happen to Marley. She has to go to time out, because she was rude to me and to you too. Her Mommy Santana doesn't like her to be rude and when she is, she has to sit in time out, and think about why she's there, that's all," Quinn explained kindly.
"No, no, no," he cried. "Mommy, not Kin, Mommy okay, Marley hee, no corner, Mommy!" he cried out. He was terrified that something bad was going to happen to her, because she had told him what to do and he decided he wasn't ready yet.
"Noah, look at me, look at Quinn," she told him and she got into his line of vision and the numbers went down a bit. He was trying and she was grateful for that. She also figured he was only trying because he was convinced that Marley would be hurt if he didn't listen. "Thank you for looking at me," Quinn said kindly. "I want to ask you an easy question buddy. Do you remember who all was in the room before? Do you remember who left to get us food?"
"Tana," he said softly.
"Yes, that's one person. Santana is Marley's 'Mommy' and then there was another lady, do you remember her name?" Quinn asked kindly and his eyes filled with tears. He didn't know the answer. The belt was coming next, or a punch in the face, or a poke from the stun gun, or a jab from the switch blade. Something bad, because he couldn't answer the question and that was what happened to bad little boys, it'd been screamed at him for weeks on end. "Shhh, you're okay, you're okay, nothing bad is going to happen, I'm just going to tell you. Her name was Rachel and Marley calls her Mama. The only other people in this room are you and Marley and me. Now, if you don't calm down, I'm sure some doctors and nurses will join us to make sure you're okay, but I'd rather they not rush in here like storm troopers. I'd rather that I call for them to come look you over. I want you to be okay too and so does Marley, so does everyone actually, but the thing is bud, Marley can't make your decisions for you Noah. You have to make them. You can call me Mommy if you want, but I want you to do it, because you want to, not because Marley told you to," she explained.
His heart monitor started to relax and the beeping slowed, becoming more rhythmic and Quinn gave him a smile. She hoped it was a calm and proud smile. She wanted it to be. "Kin," he said softly.
"Yes Noah?" she asked.
"Why Mommy?" he asked her.
"I don't understand your question Noah, can you try again and use a few more words?" she asked him.
"Why Mommy to me? Why Mar-ree want" he asked.
"I don't know buddy. We can ask her that, as soon as she is done with time out, which will be very soon," Quinn told him kindly. "In fact, I'm going to go get her okay? I'm going to have to step out of view for a little while, but I'm still here, and so is Marley, you'll hear us talking," she said and she moved over to Marley. "Alright lady bug, come here please," Quinn said kindly.
"NO!" Marley yelled.
"Really? You want to yell at Auntie Quinn some more and stay in time out longer?" Quinn asked her, clearly dealing with a stubborn toddler. Clearly Marley was Santana's child.
"MOMMY!" she screamed.
"Marley Rose!" Santana scolded from the doorway as she and Rachel entered the room.
"Mommy!" she cried.
"Marley Rose you do not yell like that, unless your life is being threatened and I know for a fact that it isn't," Santana scolded. "Why are you in the corner?"
"Auntie Quinn mean!" she pouted.
"Somehow I don't think that is the whole story, now turn around please, and look at me and tell me what happened," Santana said keeping her cool and Quinn glanced back at the monitors. Noah was starting to get worked up again.
"Calmly. Everyone will remain calm," Quinn said.
"No, no, no!" Marley whined and she tried to stomp her foot in frustration, but she just fell down to the floor.
Rachel went over to her, sat down, pulled Marley tight into her arms, and kept her there, while Marley fussed and kicked out, and cried. "Shhh, listen to Mama. I know you're having trouble today, and I know that everything is very new and probably frustrating for you, but this is not how my good girl behaves," Rachel lectured. Marley's tears died down and eventually her crying stopped but Rachel was having tears of her own. She pushed them aside though and began to sing softly into Marley's ear.
"Does that happen often?" Quinn asked.
"The tantrum? Lately, yes. What happened though?" Santana asked and Quinn started to retell the story. When she finished, Santana walked over to Rachel and put her hand over Rachel's ear, scratching her scalp and neck lightly, because as much as Marley was freaking out, so was Rachel. "Noah, can Santana sit and talk to you for a little bit?" she asked him and he turned to look at her. "I'm going to take that as a yes, but I want to be sure. Do you remember what Quinn taught you? About easy questions? Left hand yes and Right hand no," she said and he raised his left hand and kept it up. He was ready. "Thank you," she told him. It struck him funny that both Santana and Quinn had thanked him nearly every time he gave them his consent to do something. "Here's the deal Noah, a few months ago, Marley ended up in this same hospital. She couldn't walk, or talk, or move very well, and her doctor, Dr. Martinez, knew my boss, Miss Beth. Miss Beth said that I would be the best person to help Marley. Miss Beth turned out to be right. This is the thing though, your story and Marley's story are probably a bit different and she does not have the right to tell you what you should do. We know she thinks it will help you, but your decisions are yours from now on," Santana explained. "Personally I think Marley should tell you her story, so you understand her reasoning better and because it is her story, I'm going to let her tell it to you. She shouldn't have been forceful with you though, that was rude, that is why Quinn put her in time out, do you understand?" she asked him kindly.
He simply lifted his left hand and then let it fall again. "Thank you," Santana told him and then she turned to Marley and Rachel. "Are you going to behave like a good girl now?" she asked her and Marley let out a little whimper. "You are always my good girl Marley, you know that, but you didn't just act like a good girl, and you know the difference," she said and Marley nodded in embarrassment. "I still love you baby," Santana told her. "Do you want to come sit with Mommy and tell Noah your story?"
"All it?" she asked snuggling into Rachel.
"Only if you want to, but I thought Noah should know key points of it. You can tell him more, little by little, when you're ready, but some of it, he should know now I think," Santana told her. "I think he should start out by knowing what you two have in common," she explained. Marley nodded and with help from Rachel and Quinn she stood up and moved over to Santana and took a seat in her lap. "Before you start sharing your story though, you will apologize to Noah and Auntie Quinn. You were rude, and Mommy does not put up with that," she told her and Noah watched as Santana spoke gently, and covered Marley in gentle kisses and nuzzled her, and was very patient. He kept waiting for the other shoe to drop. Surely, they were going to hit her the way Terri had hit him when she was displeased with his behavior, which was quite often.
"Sorry Auntie Quinn," Marley said as she blushed.
Quinn smiled and moved in front of her. "Thank you lady bug, and I forgive you," Quinn said and she kissed her forehead.
"One more to go," Santana encouraged.
"No! Auntie Quinn Noah's Mommy. Auntie Quinn safe," she said.
Santana dropped her head and took a deep breath before lifting it again. This was it. Noah's heart monitor began to beep faster. He was going to watch it happen and apparently this Quinn person was going to let it happen too. "Sweetheart, look at me. What you are saying is all very true, but remember how much of a bully Terri was? She made decisions for you, without your consent and remember how we talked about that was wrong?" Marley nodded. "Even though Auntie Quinn is very safe, we know that, Noah doesn't, we have to let him decide it on his own. If we don't, then we are being bullies just like Terri," she told her.
"Mommy, Terri bad, very very very bad, made owies, he safe now. He needs a good Mommy, an you mine! He have Auntie Quinn," Marley said. She was stuck between big girl world and toddler world, but the one thing that everyone picked up on in the room was her impending jealously. He couldn't have Santana as his Mommy, because that would mean Marley would be replaced. She didn't want a new Mommy. She wanted Santana. Noah needed help, she knew that, but he had to get his own family and leave hers alone.
"Baby, if he feels comfortable calling her Godzilla, then that's his choice and that is what he will call her, and we'll know it's because he thinks she's big giant lizard that is breathing fire and eating all the bad guys to keep him safe okay?" Santana asked.
"Auntie Quinn too pity to be dat," Marley smiled speaking softly.
"Thank you lady bug," Quinn smiled.
"Yes, Auntie Quinn is very pretty, but that is not my point. He has to be comfortable with what happens next for him, just like you were. You didn't call me Mommy the first day you met me did you?" she asked her and Marley shook her head. "So then is it fair to ask Noah to do that?" she reasoned and again Marley shook her head. "So will you please apologize to Noah for making decisions for him, that he's not ready to make?" she coached.
"I sorry," she told him.
"Good girl," Santana praised and she reached into her backpack and pulled out Teddy Bear and gave it to Marley. Marley smiled and pulled it close cuddling into Santana.
"Mar-ree?" Noah asked softly and she straightened up and then started to wiggle.
"I sit on bed Auntie?" she asked.
"Ask Noah if you can," Quinn said kindly. She looked toward him and Noah raised his left hand. Marley thought for a moment and then looked at Santana. "Lef is ess?" she asked quietly and Santana nodded.
"He says I can," she said to Quinn and then held her arms up so she could be helped onto the bed. There was still so much she couldn't do on her own and climbing things was was one of them.
"Kay, I here, you ass-es me," she said.
"Be't for bad gir'?" he asked her quietly.
"No," she said shaking her head. "No be't. Time out only," she said.
"You baby gir'?" he asked her.
"When I wanna be. When I safe. I safe a lot, now," she told him.
"Here?" he asked.
"Well yes, but it's just in da room. If nurses an' doc'ahs come in, I big girl again," she said.
"Who made that ru'e?"
"Mommy kinna," she told him and he gave her a curious look. "Mommy said I be wha'eva I wan. I wike being baby girl. Big girl too hard, too s'airy. Baby girl betta," she told him. "Mommy said when eva I wan, I be wha I wan. Now, I wike bein witta. Terri made me baby. Terri made big girl too too scary. Terri made baby scary too. Mommy he'p me learn. Terri made baby scary for you too?" she asked him.
"Terri made me potty," he told her and every woman in the room and hairs stand up on the back of their neck. This was going to be an intense story.
Rachel stood up and moved behind Santana. "Noah, can you see me?" she asked him and he shifted a bit, to have a clearer vision. This person looked a lot like Santana with his swollen eyes and damaged vision. He picked up his left hand though. "Thank you," Rachel told him. "So my name is Rachel and you can call me whatever you like, just as you do for Quinn and Santana," she told him. "I just want you to know that I'm here, before you start telling your story," she told him.
He picked up his left hand for a moment and then refocused on Marley. "Terri didn't make you potty?" he asked Marley.
"Um, Terri made me stuck in diapers," she said blushing heavily and even Noah noticed that she was in big girl mode. She was turning it on and off like a switch, but she had to be big now to fully understand and they both seemed to understand that.
"No, Terri made me potty," he said.
"How?" Marley asked.
He opened his mouth slightly and the infected blisters were clearly all over. Marley gasped in horror and started to cry. She very gently took Noah's hand and waited for him to tell his story. "Terri, boy dirty like potty. If I boy, I dirty, I potty," he said and he started to cry.
"Hold up," Santana said protectively and both Rachel and Quinn shot her a look as she stood up and began pacing. Quinn was standing behind Marley to keep her steady on the bed while Rachel had been standing behind Santana. "I'm not mad Noah, I'm not mad at you at all, or Marley. I am however, furious at Terri," she told him.
"You two can continue your conversation my loves. Santana just needs to walk off her extra energy," Quinn said and then she looked over at the heart monitor. She didn't want Santana's pacing to make Noah anxious.
"You were potty?" Marley asked sadly and very quietly and he raised his left hand. "To her?" she asked, afraid of the answer and again his left hand went up. "To everything?" she asked and he raised his left hand again, and Marley turned and threw up on the floor, vomiting all over Quinn's shoes and both Noah and Marley started to cry. Noah was disgusting them, so there was no way they were going to stick around to help him, and Marley was the sole reason Noah was in this situation. Both of these poor souls had been so tortured and were so disgusting to those around them, they were convinced they were going to be left behind and forgotten about.
Nurse Helen came into the room moments later with some sedatives and looked at the scene before her. She calmly stuck her head out of the room and asked for the janitor to be sent to the room. Then she looked at the three women who seemed to be more together than Marley and Noah. "Which of them needs a sedative?" she asked.
"Him first, and her if you have extra," Santana said kindly.
"I'll take whatever is left," Rachel said.
Helen administered the sedatives to both Noah and Marley and walked over to Rachel. "I take it these two are your friends and those two are your 'children'?" she asked. "I know Miss Beth and Dr. Martinez," she added when she saw Rachel's eyes widen in surprise.
"She's mine, well ours, and he will be my, well I don't know what he'll be, pretty soon. We're still learning about Noah," Rachel said.
"You're in good company with your friends dear. You don't need a sedative. You need a reminder that there are good people in the world, that you are one of them, and that the monster who tortured both of them, is officially behind bars," Helen said kindly and she gave Rachel a warm hug and left the room.
"Here, hold our baby girl," Santana said and she put a very sad, very tired looking Marley in Rachel's arms and Rachel was glad to hold her. Then she moved to the bed and looked at Noah who was now drifting off with the powerful sedative, but spoke to Quinn. "You're calling the shots when it comes to him. I will follow your lead, but I strongly suggest that you teach him that he is not a potty and that none of that will ever happen to him, ever again," she said. She didn't look up at Quinn and Quinn didn't look at her. They were both focused on the poor little boy before them, who had been severely traumatized over the last two months.
"I promise," Quinn said.
Several hours later Marley was sleeping peacefully in Rachel's arms, Teddy Bear tucked tight against her and Noah was starting to wake up. His vision was still pretty terrible and he only saw blonde hair and started to panic a bit. As soon as Quinn heard his monitor she began speaking. "It's okay Noah, it's just Quinn. It's just Quinn and Santana and Rachel and Marley is sleeping. You're still in the hospital bed. You're safe," she assured him.
"Wa-ah," he said, his mouth feeling glued shut. The blisters needed time to heal, but sometimes in his sleep, they would break and when he woke up, he needed water.
"I will get a nurse for you Noah, to help," Santana told him kindly and she quickly went into the hallway, only to bump into the same Nurse Helen. "Oh, I'm sorry," she said. "Noah's awake, he's asking for water. We don't know the procedure for this," she said.
Helen nodded and walked into the room. "Hi Noah, this is Nurse Helen. I don't know if you remember me from earlier," she told him and he raised his right hand.
"He doesn't," Quinn said protectively. "Please tell him the steps as you go through it. I don't want him to be surprised," Quinn said as respectfully as she could, but it came out pretty harsh and Quinn quickly blushed.
Santana grinned and spoke up. "You'll have to excuse us, we are very protective of the ones we are asked to look after," she said.
"As you should be. I know Miss Beth, therefore I have a rough idea the two of you, or is it three?" she asked.
"No," Rachel smiled. "Just two," she said.
"And still a Mama?" Helen asked.
"Yes, a very protective Mama, but right now, we need to focus on Noah please," Santana said noticing that Noah was looking more and more uncomfortable.
"Yes, of course," Helen smiled and she grabbed two kidney trays and a glass of water. "Alright Noah, I'm going to help you. You're going to take some sips of water, swish it around your mouth and then spit it into this kidney tray," she told him. "I have two, so you just keep going until I tell you it's okay to stop. I know it's yucky, but we have to keep at it, so you get better okay?" she asked kindly and he nodded. She helped him rinse and spit several times and Quinn had to work hard to keep her cool while he spit out cloudy water that was slightly tinged with blood at some points. Two full cups of water later, his rinse came back clear and Helen gave him lots of praise. "You did wonderfully Noah. I am very proud of you," she said. "Would you like some water to drink now?" she offered and he nodded. "I will get you fresh water from the pitcher," she told him. She poured it in the cup, and then took away the dirty water, and left the little family on their own.
"Kin?" he asked softly.
"I'm still here Noah, you can talk to me if you're ready."
"Mar-ree here?" he asked.
"Marley's here. She's over in the corner right now, curled up in Rachel's arms, still taking a nap," Quinn said.
"Why?" he asked softly.
"I think Santana can explain it better to you. If you want us to switch places so you can see her while she explains it, or she can just tell it to you," Quinn said.
"Tana hand pee," he said fishing around for it on the bed. He forced his hand to flop around. He had a vague idea of where she was, but he couldn't actually see her.
Santana took it gently and spoke kindly. "Hey Noah, I'm here," she smiled. "So you asked why Marley was sleeping right?" she asked and he raised his left hand, which happened to be the one she was holding. "Remember before when Marley told you she with Terri?" she asked and he raised his left hand. "Well when she was she didn't get to sleep a lot. She was afraid to sleep. Now that she is with safe people, her body is trying to make up for lost time, so she take naps some days. She also has to take them when she expends a lot of energy then she sleeps for a while," Santana explained.
"Kin, I bad?" Noah asked.
"Not at all Noah. You are not a bad person, you haven't done anything wrong," Quinn said.
"I vomit," he told her. "I made Mar-ree pen, ener," he said slowly, trying to communicate, but the blisters and sores in his mouth were stopping him from doing so completely.
"You didn't my sweet boy. Marley did expend a great deal of energy, and she's the one who vomited, but not because you did anything wrong. Some people just have weak stomachs. Marley is one of them," Quinn assured him.
"Tana, who at your home?" he asked.
"Well right now, it's me, Rachel, our friend Kurt, and Marley. We all live together," she said kindly.
"Rae," he said and both Quinn and Santana looked confused.
"I'm sorry Noah, try again, what does that mean?" Quinn asked him and he fell quiet, trying to think of how to say it better.
"Pee-pa," he said slowly. "Kin, Tana, Mar-ree, Rae," he said.
"Oh Rae, okay, yes, Rachel's here," Quinn said.
"I'm here Noah, I'm just over on the far right side of the room, sitting in the chair with Marley. She's still sleeping and needs some cuddle time," Rachel told him kindly.
"Rachel is our best cuddler," Quinn said. Santana was about to slip in something snarky, but Noah's next question cut her off.
"Rae wit' Mar-ree?" he asked.
"Yes I am Noah. She's just sleeping against me," Rachel explained.
Noah fell quiet again and gathered his thoughts. "Mar-ree wake up?" he asked.
"Do you want us to wake her up?" Santana asked. "Do you need to talk to her?"
"No, Mar-ree no dead, pee, Mar-ree no dead," he said sadly, his monitors indicating he was getting agitated and concerned.
"Shhh, it's okay buddy, she is not dead and she is not in trouble and Noah is not in trouble, she should be waking up soon, but we can rouse her early if you'd like," Santana said and he raised his right hand. He went quiet and turned his head a bit, to get more of Quinn's blonde hair in his vision.
"Kin," he asked softly.
"Yes buddy?" she asked him.
"Why you 'ook at me?" he asked her pointing to his eyes and Quinn thought for a moment.
"Should Quinn not look at you?" she asked and he raised his right hand. "Do you want to know why Quinn came to see you at the hospital?" she asked and he raised his left hand. "Because my boss and Santana's boss, Miss Beth, she said that there was a young man here who had fallen into some trouble and needed the help of a caring loving woman, and she thinks I'm the best fit for you," she said.
"Do you?" he asked.
"Do I what buddy?"
"T'ink you right fa' me," he clarified.
"Well we won't know until we try, but I can tell you what I think so far," she offered and he raised his left hand. "So far, I think I've met a very strong, brave, confused young man. I think you went into a situation and were one of the unlucky ones. I think Terri abused you and brainwashed you, because I think Terri is a very mean person and a very bad word that I don't think I should say in front of you. I also think that I have to earn your trust, that you're in safe hands now, that it's going to be a small struggle for all of us, but we will work through it."
"Kin, I want you to 'ook my tummy pee," he said softly.
"Can Santana and Rachel see it too?" she asked him and he raised his left hand. "Alright then Noah, so I'm going to make you a promise now. Nothing happens to you without an explanation okay? Every little move is done with you knowing it is going to happen," she said. "Understand?" she asked kindly and he raised his left hand. "Alright, so the first step, is I'm going to lower your sheets to look at your tummy, just to look and then I'll put them back okay?" she asked.
"No," he said. "'ook, I teh, 'ook pee," he insisted.
"Alright as long as that is what you are sure you want, but if you change your mind, you just let me know and I will stop," she instructed and he raised his left hand. He had to show her how ugly he was before she agreed to care for him.
She lowered the sheet to his hips, raised his gown and forced herself to not gasp. On Noah's chest, among old scars were fresh new switch blade marks, in the shape of a stitched out tic tac toe board. In some of the "boxes" it was just his skin. In other places there were two relatively small pin prick marks in a diagonal pattern. The 'board' was just above his navel, and just below was a long, nasty looking gash that Santana was convinced was still infected. What she did notice was the absence of a diaper. She didn't say anything though. She thought that question could wait.
"Noah, are you in pain with all these wounds?" Quinn asked calmly. He raised his left hand. "Is it a lot of pain?" he raised his left hand, but only a little bit. It hurt but not a great deal. "Should we get you some pain medicine?" she offered and he raised his left hand again, but only a little bit. "Do you want to try and tell Quinn exactly what you want?" she offered. They'd been on and on about him making his own choices. This should be part of that as far as Quinn was concerned, but she didn't know how much he wanted to share.
"Don't want Mar-ree to 'ook," he said.
"Alright, we will keep this hidden from Marley as best we can, but we might not be able to forever," Quinn agreed, giving a kind smile. "Anything else you want to tell me?"
"I don't want to have a'wot a pay pi-w," he said and then made a face.
"I will do my best, but you have to make me a promise okay? You're supposed to get pain pills every two hours. At two hours I will ask what you want. If you don't want them, I won't make you take them. I'm going to ask you every hour after that, and then when you tell me I will give them to you. I don't want you to be afraid of them though okay? I will not let you get hooked on pain pills," Quinn said.
He raised his left hand and then though for a moment. "Mar-ree take?" he asked.
"That's a question for Santana and Rachel," Quinn said so he waited for them to move in and answer his question.
"Noah, this is Rachel, I'll answer your questions okay? Santana went to go cuddle with Marley for a little while. Marley was getting fidgety and usually that means she wants her Mommy," Rachel explained and Noah nodded. He'd felt Santana's hand slip from his when Quinn had looked at his belly earlier, but he didn't know where she'd gone. His vision was severely compromised. "Your question was about Marley and pain pills and no, she isn't on any now. She was when she first came to the hospital, but they had to give her IV's of it, because she couldn't swallow pills," she explained. "Do you have any more questions that I can answer about Marley?"
"Mar-ree wit' Terri 'ong time?" he asked.
"Marley was with Terri for about two and a half months."
"Her beat?" he asked.
"Marley and you my friend, by all accounts that I can see, were both tortured," she said honestly and kindly. Noah raised his left hand. He agreed with that statement. Torture was a good word for it.
"Rae," he asked softly.
"Yes Noah?"
"Why Mar-ree caw you Mama?"
"For two reasons. When we first met Marley, she couldn't say a lot. Her mouth was very sore and had lots of damage inside it. Marley decided that Santana would be her Mommy, because Santana has a lot of hard letters in her name and Marley couldn't say those. When we first met Marley, she could only speak her vowels and some hard sounds. M was one of them. The first day I met Marley, she cuddled with Santana for a long time and I rubbed her hands with lotion. She had very dry skin, so we tried to help fix that with lotions and creams. Marley thought she was going to have to call me Mommy too, because Rachel was too hard for her. I told her that was okay, but I didn't want Santana and I to get confused about who she was talking to. Santana was the first person she met, and that will always be her go to person and that is totally okay with me. So Marley decided that Mama Rae would be easiest for her. At some point the Rae was dropped and I'm just Mama to her now."
"Rae to me?" he asked.
"I can be Rachel to you, if you like," she smiled at him. "I know that Marley thinks you should call Quinn your Mommy, and as Quinn said, if you want to that's fine with us. I know that in Marley's mind, you're going to have Quinn as your Mommy, Santana and I would be your Aunties and Kurt would be your Uncle. As always though, that is up to you. We want you to be able to make a lot of your own decisions and we will help you whenever you need it," Rachel told her.
"Auntie?" he asked.
"Only if you want it Noah. We will make it your decision."
"What duh Mar-ree ide?" he asked.
Rachel gave a kind smile and spoke gently. "Can you ask that last word again please Noah? I didn't quite understand."
"Ide, decide," Quinn said. She'd been following his line of questioning and working on figuring out what information he was after.
"Is that right? Did Quinn interpret correctly?" Rachel asked and Noah raised his left hand. "Marley gets to decide a lot of things I think. We let her pick out her own clothes, she tells us what she wants to eat, when she wants to be a baby girl, and a big girl, what toys she wants to play with. Things like that."
Noah seemed to take in everything Rachel said and then thought for a moment. "Mar-ree," he said softly and touched his cheek. "Owies?" he asked touching his own cheek. It was the word she used earlier, and he couldn't say bruises with the damage that had been done to his mouth.
"Yes, Marley had a lot of owies when she first came to us," Rachel said kindly.
"Where?" he asked kindly and Rachel glanced toward Santana who simply nodded.
"Marley had bruises along her cheek, and other parts of her body. She also had internal damage to her muscles. She had hypothermia and dehydration just like you do and she had a few scrapes and deep scratches all over her body."
"Terri?" he asked.
"Terri gave her the bruises on her cheeks and the other issues to her body, and the scrapes and bruises were from falling out of the car when Marley was able to escape," she said.
"No," Noah said quickly and Quinn spoke up.
"It's okay Noah, we'll answer all your questions and clear everything up for you, but you have to stay as calm as you can okay?" Quinn said kindly. The second his monitors started to go wild, Quinn got extremely protective. She liked him. He was sweet. She didn't want him to experience any more complications. "No what buddy? What did Rae say that you don't agree with?" she asked.
He loved that Quinn seemed to understand him. Maybe calling her Mommy wouldn't be so bad, but he wasn't sure that was what he really wanted. He'd had a mom, who wasn't the best woman, so he was still on the fence about it. "Mar-ree kinnapp," he tried.
"Did Terri tell you that Marley was kidnapped?" Rachel asked kindly and he raised his left hand. "That is not the truth Noah. The truth is that, from what we can gather. Terri was headed to upstate New York, and Marley was found along a country road, all bashed up, because she fell out of the car they were driving in and was brought back here to this hospital by the man who found her," Rachel said.
"Man?" Noah asked.
"Yes Noah, a man, I think his name was William. He found her and brought her here," Rachel said. "I'm fairly sure that when Marley wakes up, she will tell you the same thing," she said kindly.
Noah let out a jaw cracking yawn and then winced slightly. "You seem tired Noah, why don't we let you rest and when you wake up, we can continue. Does that sound like a good plan?" Quinn offered.