forever fades away

chapter 28

Finn had been sitting on the bench for at least five minutes when he saw Rachel, Isabel and Maria come back in. When he’d sat down, he’d been surprised to see them gone. He shot Michael and Alex a questioning look, but they’d both just shrugged their shoulders. Finn now knew that the girls simply went on a beer run. 

Finn took another sip of the water he’d been handed earlier, wiping off his face and neck with a towel. He looked back up to see Rachel laughing at something Alex had obviously said to her, since they were both laughing. Rachel had her head thrown back, and Finn couldn’t help but miss her so much it hurt in that moment. 

Finn rested his elbows on his knees, looking at the ground by his feet. He needed to focus, get his head back in the game. Every time he looked up to actually watch the game, his gaze had drifted back to Rachel, so he’d resorted to simply staring at the floor. 

His head snapped up at the sound of the buzzer, signaling that the fourth quarter was about to begin. Coach yelled his name, telling him to get back in and score some points.

Finn stood up, and with one last glance in Rachel's direction, he trotted out onto the court. 

As the fourth quarter went on, Rachel found herself having more and more fun. She’d pretended not to notice when Isabel whispered to Alex what had happened, and Alex had spent the time since then making her laugh. She couldn’t say she was upset that he knew, he was helping her not fall into a funk over Finn. 

Rachel watched as the guys scrambled down at the other teams basket, trying to get the ball to Finn for him to make a shot. 

Finally, Finn had gotten open, and they’d passed him the ball. Rachel watched as he dribbled down the court, going for a lay-up. 

She glanced over briefly at Alex, laughing as he continued to pretend he was the announcer, commentating the game to her. 

When she glanced back, she saw Finn jump up to make the shot. She held her breath like she always did, just as anxious to see if it would go in the hoop as the guys on the court. 

A player from the other team jumped up to try to block Finn, and they slammed into each other. They both went down, as the ball swished through the hoop. 

Rachel cheered along with everyone else in the crowd, as the guy from the other team got up and walked away. Rachel's cheers died down when Finn didn’t get up. She couldn’t really see through all the guys standing around him, but he’d obviously hurt himself. He was grabbing his leg but Rachel couldn’t tell where. 

She watched helplessly as the coaches and the medics rushed out onto the court. Between them and the players who’d made a circle around him, Rcahel couldn’t see a damn thing. 

She glanced at Isabel and Alex, then at Maria and Michael. “Can you guys see anything? What’s going on?” She asked. 

“I can’t see shit.” Michael all but yelled, craning his head in every possible direction to get a better look. “C’mon, dumbass, get outta way!” He yelled at no one in particular. 

Rachel's eyes darted from the crowd around Finn on the court, to the stretcher that was being brought in. “Oh, my God.” Rachel whispered, over and over. 

She blindly groped for Maria’s hand, breathing a little sigh of relief when Maria reached over, lacing her fingers through Rachel's. Alex did the same. Rachel noticed that Maria and Michael, and Alex and Isabel were also doing so. She said a little prayer, knowing the others were doing the same. Finn had to be ok. 

She was taken a back slightly when, not for the first time, a good majority of the players on the team glanced in her direction. One of them broke from the group and ran over in her direction. After a few moments she recognized him. Drew Epley. He started playing for the Celtics when Finn did. She also vaguely remembered Finn mentioning they’d roomed together at training camp. 

He stopped in front of her, looking unsure of himself. “What’s going on?” Rachel finally asked. “Is he ok?” 

Drew took a deep breath. “When he went down, he did something to his knee. We’re not sure what, exactly, is wrong with him, but I know he’s pretty hurt. They’re taking him to the hospital.” Rachel only half listened as Isabel asked which hospital, already gathering up her stuff. Drew answered her, she guessed because suddenly he was talking to her again. 

She shook her head slightly. “What?” She asked. 

“He’s asking for you. He won’t let them move the stretcher until you’re there.” Drew explained, looking hopefully at Rachel. Rachel assumed Drew knew about everything that was going on. She couldn’t worry about that now, though. 

“Yeah, ok.” She grabbed her purse, glancing at her friends. “I’ll see you guys there?” They all nodded, and took off towards the exit at full speed. She turned back to Drew as they disappeared through the entrance to the arena. “Take me to him.” 

Drew held out his hand, and Rachel quickly grabbed it, knowing it’d be a lot easier to get through all those people if she were holding onto Drew. He all but drug her across the court, pushing his way through all the other players. 

Rachel rushed to Finn's side as soon as she was through the circle. “Hey.” She smiled down at him slightly, slipping her hand into his. “You were doing pretty good until that.” She tried to joke. 

“Are you coming with me?” Finn  asked, trying not to sound scared in front of his team mates. 

“Yeah, I’m coming with you. Isabel, Alex, Maria and Michael already took off for the hospital, and I’m not leaving your side until I’m forced to, ok?” Rachel reached up, brushing his bangs off his forehead. 

“Ok.” Finn nodded, gripping her hand a little tighter. 

Rachel ran beside the stretcher as they wheeled it towards a waiting ambulance. She had to wait outside until they had Finn in there and all situated and then she climbed in, sitting next to him and instinctively reaching for his hand. 

She was shocked to see tears start rolling down Finn's cheeks. “Hey, its ok. You’re gonna be fine.” Rachel  tried to reassure him, even though she had no idea if he’d really be ok. 

He looked over at her, the tears continuing to fall. “I’m so sorry, Rachel. For everything. I’m so sorry.” Finn whispered. 

It took Rachel a minute to say anything back. Finally, she just pulled his hand toward her, pressing her lips to the back of his hand. “We’ll talk about all that later, ok? I promise.” She smiled at him, wiping his tears. “I’m not going anywhere.” 

The end........

Just kidding but it will be awhile til I post again because I'll be busy but I'll try to update soon as I can