I'd Excuse Murder | Santana Lopez

29

A/N: Who's here?

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There was a rhythmic sound in the back of Valerie's brain that reminded her of her resting heart rate. She's heard it for over a month in different tilted positions as the fracture of her spine healed with the help of metal plates and different screws. She's never seen the inside of her body besides when she was pregnant with her son, and now she was watching these doctors and her family talk about her insides like she wasn't in the room.

"Now, it's fully possible to recover from a spinal stroke—partially and fully. The end depends on Valerie." Doctor Vernoff tucked another x-ray up on the glowing board, tapping her pencil around her before pictures from the night she came into the emergency room. "It's going to take time and your paralysis may be a few more weeks... or it could be permanent. I want you to prepare for that because we are going to start physical therapy and it's going to be mentally taxing. Your condition is not as bad as most with spinal strokes, but your level of trauma accelerated the urgency of the situation. It happened fast and violent, so we need to combat that."

"She's ready for it." Russel crossed his arms over his chest, looking over his shoulder at Valerie. He waited for his daughter to respond, but she stared forward at the different x-rays. "Valerie. Pay attention."

"Some of the permanent complications are breathing difficulties, neuropathic pain, sexual dysfunction—"

Judy sent her ex-husband a look when he rolled his eyes.

"Bladder inconsistency, loss of muscle, permanent paralysis, depression, anxiety—"

"We read the papers you gave us," Frannie interrupted, hovering beside her sister. It was obvious how over this entire conversation Valerie was from a minute into looking at her most recent scans. "When can she come home? When can she walk? When will this be over?"

Doctor Vernoff smiled politely. "Your sister is paralyzed from the chest down with limited mobility in her upper body. Until we can make more progress, she's almost guaranteed to have a physical limitation, pain... We don't want to rush. If we rush, we risk pushing her beyond her limits and hurting her further." She explained.

"We're not rushed." Judy rubbed Valerie's leg and smiled at her daughter. "She's alive, and that's what we care about."

Valerie's eyes drifted to the left. She raised her brows lightly when Quinn continued to massage her hand, staring at her bolts and plates inside her body through the x-rays.

"But we'd still like to put her in aggressive therapy." Russel insisted, as Judy agreed silently with a nod. "If rehab is the best choice, then we will opt for rehab."

"I want to run for Prom Princess with my boyfriend this year."

Quinn turned and squeezed her sister's hand when Valerie spoke up, eyes brightening at the idea. She looked down and felt her chest ache at the hope in her twin's eyes.

"I want to dance with him." Valerie's eyes slowly moved between her parents. "I want to teach my son to walk. I don't want to be stuck in a bed all my life—a supid chair."

The doctor tucked her clipboard to her chest and nodded. "How old is your son?"

"He turns one next month." Valerie's eyes watered. "I wanna go home. His Dad and I were going to have a little thing for him. He's pointing at things now and... and he's smiling a lot more than usual. He's growing up."

"Valerie." Russel squeezed her foot. "The rehab is very important for you to gain back independence."

"My baby is growing up without me."