Always On My Mind
Disclaimer: I do not own Glee.
Chapter 1: Broken
Noah Puckerman, a young veteran, sits in a wheelchair, staring out the window of his room. Noah's life changed after an incident in Iraq. Noah was shot in the back by an Iraqi soldier and paralyzed from the waist down.
When he returns home, Noah's mother, Janie, takes custody of him. However, instead of providing love and support, Janie's actions leave Noah feeling neglected and abused. Instead of caring for his physical needs, Janie confines Noah to a group home for wounded veterans. Unfortunately, the home failed to provide adequate care or support for its residents.
Janie soon takes his cell phone and bars anyone from seeing him. This isolation from the outside world only exacerbates Noah's loneliness and despair. Every visit from Janie was violent and full of verbal abuse. Janie hits Noah and refers to him as a "crippled retard." The staff at the home, oblivious to Noah's plight, does nothing to intervene and protect him.
Noah's physical injuries have not gone unnoticed. He was unable to speak for six weeks. Due to his jaw being wired shut after being punched in the face by Janie, this assault on his speech further compounds his sense of helplessness and frustration.
Janie's treatment of Noah is appalling. She treats him as if he were still a baby, feeding him baby food and insulting him during every visit. Janie's demeaning behavior reinforces Noah's belief that he is worthless and deserving of her scorn.
Noah's situation is truly heartbreaking. He deserves better. He deserves the right to dignity and respect. He needs the care and support only a loving and nurturing environment can provide. It is disheartening to witness the neglect and mistreatment he has endured, and he must receive the help he needs to rebuild his life and regain his self-worth.
Noah lies in bed one day. Before long, he hears Kurt Anderson's father, Burt Hummel, yelling, "I'm not leaving!" Soon, he hears tiny footsteps and sees the door open before a little girl climbs into his bed as Burt enters.
He said, "Meet my granddaughter, Tracy Anderson. Tracy pretended to be Carole and found out about you on Facebook."
Noah wrote in a notebook, "How long?"
Burt says, "Two months. Quinn and I have been trying to get your mom to tell us where you were since she brought you here." Noah looks at Tracy and says something in Hebrew. Tracy replies to Noah in Hebrew, then asks Burt for his phone.
Burt had thought Tracy wanted to play with it until she asked him to help her call Janie. As soon as Janie answers, Tracy yells, "This is Tracy Anderson! You are mean for hurting Nono! He is your son! He saved you from his dad a lot! Why would you hurt him and be mean to him?" Janie ends the call, and Burt makes a few calls before having Noah put in his wheelchair.
As they left, Noah noticed Tina Abrams standing by a van with a lift. Noah got onto the lift and stuttered, "Not fake. Mr. H has my mom's number."
Noah sees his guns in three boxes in the back as Tina says, "I got them before I came here. Mr. H gave me the key a month ago. You will move in with Kurt soon, but I agreed to take you in for a few weeks. They ordered a hospital bed and are remodeling the house with Artie's help. Kurt's uncle has agreed to give you a job. He bets that if you used to dismantle engines, then you should be good at fixing them." Noah smirks but says nothing.
As Tina ties down his chair, Noah says, "I'm sorry."
Tina takes Noah's hand and says, "It's okay, Puck. I know you were trying to protect your reputation."
Noah tries to speak when Tina yells, "You didn't deserve this, Puck! No one deserves to be treated like this." Then Tina kisses Noah's cheek as he cries.
Then Tracy says, "Uncle Noah, Daddy Kurt might not like that you are moving in with us, but you are still his friend, and he can't stand the way your mama is acting. Uncle Noah, you are not the horrible person your mama is. You are better than her. You are also better than your dad. You aren't my uncle. But you are part of my family."
She chuckles and glances at Burt as Tina whispers, "He is more Mr. H's son than Kurt."
Noah and Burt glare at Tina, who says, "Come on, even Puck's mom sees it. You two act so much alike. Quinn goes to the cemetery to yell at Kurt's mom."
Noah sighs and says, "Burt, I hope you found Elizabeth's stuff." Then he tells Tina to head to the cemetery.
Noah leads the way to Elizabeth Hummel's grave and has Tina hand him his guitar. He takes a deep breath and sings Baby Mine from the Dumbo movie. He sighs and says, "The day Dad left, I ran to the park and heard a woman singing that song. I saw Kurt with his mom and realized it was her singing."
He looks up at Burt and says, "After she died, I forgot about her singing that until my first night in the hospital. After Mom dumped me in that hell, I saw the Dumbo movie, and that song was the only thing that got me through the day."
He turns away and says, "I'm sorry, Mr. H. I know it took you a while to accept me as Finn's friend, and I want you to know that I will be the best brother Kurt never wanted."
Burt chuckles and says, "You already are, Puck. That's why Tracy begged him to take you in. He planned to kick Quinn out as soon as she had the baby, but I reminded him about the last time she was pregnant with your baby, and he caved."
Noah looks at Tina and says, "Is Quinn keeping secrets from them? I know she can't deal with me being like this and would rather live at your house or with Santana."
Tina sighs and says, "I offered to take her in, but she chose to live with Kurt."
She glances at Tracy and continues, "After she learned about what happened to you, Kurt would find her asleep on the porch swing until he left Tracy's window open one night. That's when Tracy begged him to take her in. Quinn goes to Tracy's room a lot. Kurt and Blaine hear her humming the same tune every night, and Mr. H figured out it is the song Keep Holding On by Avril Lavigne."
Burt sits in the passenger seat of Tina's van with Tracy on his lap and tells Noah, "She has tried to get Rachel to ask Shelby to bring Beth to see you, but after dealing with your mom, Quinn stopped and had me help her get you out of there."
Tracy gets down onto the floor and climbs Noah's lap. Before saying, "I know why Aunt Quinn went to my room, Uncle Noah; I was the only one telling her you would come home and the only one who told her to keep holding on."
Chapter 2 will be up soon.