Where do we go from here?

One foot infront of the other

Will was stood near the fridge and holding a broken picture frame. When Rachel got closer her breath hitched, Will was holding a picture of Madeleine at her first birthday party.

She understood his his pain, she felt his pain. But doing this would not achieve anything and it certainly wouldn't help Madeline.

" Will?"  Rachel spoke, her voice like that of a timid child. Never in her 11 years of knowing him has she ever seen him like this. Never had she seen him so broken. So defeated, so... lost.

"What?" He replied emotionlessly.

"I know you're hurting. I know it hurts, not being able to do anything. But doing this? She wouldn't want that." Rachel said as she guided him away from the broken glass and to the kitchen chairs nearby.

"How are we meant to carry on? Pretend like everything is okay?" Will said as he looked Rachel square in the eye.

"I don't know. But what I do know is Madeleine wouldn't want us being like this. She'd want us to carry on, and for us to look after her brother and sister." Rachel said as she clutched Will's hand tightly.

"It's my fault!" Will sobbed, his facade of being okay-finally cracking.

"Baby, no. It's not! You weren't the one driving the semi, and you did your absolute best to protect her." Rachel said as her voice cracked with emotion.

"I keep hearing her scream. The sound of her bones breaking, and her calling for me. I'm her daddy and I can't even do a simple thing, protect her!" Will said.

"Don't torture yourself, honey please. You shielded her, you got her out of the car and called for help. You're a hero." Rachel said as she tried to console him.

"I'm not. I failed today. I let her down, and now she's paying the price." Will said as he stood.

"Where are you going?" Rachel asked.

"To the hospital! I need some time to think." Will said as he grabbed his coat before slamming the door shut.

"Hey. I heard you." Finn said as he appeared a few moments later.

"I'm sorry, did we wake you?" Rachel apologised as she grabbed a dustpan and started cleaning up the broken shards of glass.

Finn shook his head softly, coming closer to Rachel.

"Leave that, I'll do it." Finn said gently.

"It's fine honestly, he's my fiancé, so I should clean it up." Rachel said quietly.

"How are you?" Finn asked.

"Truthfully? I'm petrified. Will is not coping, Madeleine is comatose and I have two other children that depend on me for everything. I know Will is suffering, not just physically but mentally too but no one has even once today, asked how I'm coping. Now I know this sounds vain, or contrived but she's my daughter too. My baby girl. I'm suddenly the strong one, and Finn? I'm not okay. I can't be strong. Not this time." Rachel said as she broke down in floods of tears.

"Come on, come sit down." Finn said as he took the dustpan out of her hands and placed it on the counter befor guiding her to the table.

"Go get some rest. I'll keep an ear out for the twins, you just go rest." Finn ordered.

Rachel nodded defeatedly, before standing and leaving.

Once Finn was sure she had left, he let out a sigh.

How had things turned out like this?

He disposed of the rest of the broken glass before turning the kitchen light off, and heading to check on the twins.

He saw Alex awake so decided to take him into to his room to see if he could settle him before he got upset.

"Hey kiddo. What's wrong?" Finn asked as the two year old whined in response.

"Come on you can tell uncle Finn." Finn said quietly.

"Where Madhee?" Alex asked.

This took Finn's breath away momentarily. How was he meant to explain to this sweet, innocent little boy that his sister was currently fighting for her life and might not survive?

He swallowed deeply before speaking.

"Madeleine isn't very well currently. A bad man hurt her and daddy while they were on their way home and so she has to stay at the hospital with the doctors to make sure she's okay." Finn explained.

He had no clue if what he was explaining was the right thing to do, or wether it'd cause more hurt down the line. All he knew was that Alex deserved an answer.

Alex looked up at him with tears in his eyes.

"Maddie poorly?" He asked.

"Yeah buddy. She's poorly. She has a poorly head, and some owies that the doctors are going to fix." Finn said as he nodded in agreement.

Alex suddenly lurched forward and hugged Finn.

"Lub you" Alex spoke as he held on tightly to Finn.

"I-I love you too kiddo." Finn said after a few minutes of silence.

With that, the two fell asleep settled at last.