forever fades away

chapter 29

I'm back and I'm here with a new part! Are you all happy?! I hope so.

Twenty minutes. 

Forty-Five seconds. 

That was the exact amount of time Rachel been pacing the hospital corridor. They took Finn back to get some x-rays done on his knee and as Rachel had promised she didn’t leave his side until the doctors made her. 

She he knew was terrified; this could mean the end of his career if the damage was bad enough. Rachel didn’t want to think about that. She needed to focus on one thing at a time. Like for instance, what was taking so long? She couldn’t stand the wait. It would have been better if someone was there with her, but the others hadn’t made it to the hospital yet. 

So many thoughts raced through her mind. The one at the forefront, however, was what happens now? Does Finn decide he wants her and they get back together? Does she even want to go back to him? As much as she wanted to convince herself she was unaffected by him, Rachel knew she was deluding herself. She wanted to be with Finn more than anything, but there was so much left unresolved between them. In addition to which they were two completely different people now. Could they overcome that as well as everything else and be together? 

“Rach!” She turned on her heels and sighed in relief when she heard Drew’s voice coming from down the hall. 

“Is he okay?” 

“I don’t know. They took him for x-rays and…” Rachel was trying hard to keep herself together but it was becoming increasingly difficult. Drew noticed and pulled her into a friendly embrace. 

“He’ll be okay, Rach. He’s strong. You know that. So we’ll just wait to hear from the doctors.” Rachel nodded against his chest and pulled away swiping her tears. She smiled up at him gratefully. 

“Don’t mention it,” Drew smirked and pulled Rachel down to sit in one of the seats in the waiting room. 

“Where’s everyone else?” After a few moments of silence, Rachel found her voice again. 

“Probably stuck in the traffic. There was some kind of accident a few minutes ago.” 

“Then how the hell did you get here?” Rachel asked somewhat confused. 

“Motorcycle.” He smiled and they both shared a laugh. A few minutes later Rachel's attention was drawn to the doctor approaching them. Before the doctor could reach them, both Rachel and Drew were in front of the doctor. 

“Is it bad? Is he going to be okay?” They both fired off questions and the doctor simply waited until they were done before continuing. Rachel thought that if he didn’t start saying something…anything she might have to scream. 

“It’s bad. We are prepping him for surgery and we’ll know more once he’s out.” The doctor finished and began to turn but Rachel stopped him. 

“Wait! Can I…I want to see him before surgery.” Rachel swallowed past the lump of tears in her throat. She needed to be strong for him but it was becoming increasingly difficult. 

“Just for a minute and then you have to leave.” The doctor pinned her with a knowing glare. Rachel dropped her head trying to hide her burning cheeks. 

“I promise.” She then turned to Drew for support. “You can do it champ. Tell him he’s not getting off that easy and that I expect his ass up and out of that bed soon.” Rachel smiled gratefully at him before making her way down the hall. 

Rachel stopped right before reaching for the doorknob. She prayed for the strength to not breakdown in front of him, that was the last thing he needed and she knew it. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before opening his door. 

Her heart broke for him at that moment. There he was lying down on his hospital bed while two nurses surrounded him sticking all kinds of things into his arm and on his chest. 

As soon as he saw her he fought against urge to beg her to get him the hell out of there. Finn hated that this was happening, now of all times. Just when he was on his way of trying to rectify his mistakes, this had to happen. He didn’t want her taking pity on him but he was forever grateful that she was there with him. 

She looked so small and fragile to him. He wanted nothing more than to pull her into his arms and hold her forever, but that wouldn’t fix anything. It would feel great though, he thought. Finn watched under heavy lids as she crossed the room and came to stand by his bedside. 

“Hi.” Finn watched under heavy lids as she crossed the room and came to stand by his bedside. The nurses were just about finished and said that they would be back in a few minutes to wheel him into the operating room. 

“Hey. You okay?” he asked softly. 

“Shouldn’t I be the one asking you that?” Rachel lifted the corners of her mouth into a small smile. 

“I guess.” He didn’t know what to say. He wanted to tell her that he was beyond terrified that this surgery wouldn’t work. 

“Drew said that you’re not getting off that easy and that he expects your ass back on the court soon.” Rachel decided to take the comical approach. Anything less would kill her. 

“Yeah well I’ll try. Rachel…” Finn saw the tears in her eyes, he saw how hard she was fighting for control and so he decided to make it easier on her. He opened his arms and waited for her to come to him. And she did quickly; she threw herself into his welcoming arms and sobbed softly. 

Finn reveled in the feel of her being in his arms again. He ran his hands through her soft hair and breathed in its scent. After a few minutes Rachel  pulled away and sat down on the bed. “It’s going to be fine, Finn. You are going to be just fine.” Rachel said with such conviction in her voice that Finn believed her. 

“I know. Rach, I just want…need to tell you that I know I have a lot to make up for and I know it’s going to be hard. And I don’t expect you to ever forgive me. So I’m sorry for saying this, because the last thing I want to do is hurt you more than I already have,” Finn finished in an apologetic tone. 

Rachel wasn’t sure what to expect from him. What could he want to say to her? Moreover why was he apologizing? She looked up at him, her silent tears falling and she watched as he reached out and swiped them gently from her eyes. 

“I love you, Rachel. I just wanted you to know that incase anything happ—” 

“No! Don’t even say that, Finn. You’re going to be fine.” Rachel reached out and cupped his face between the palms of her hands, forcing him to look her in the eyes. “Don’t act like this is goodbye, because it’s not. Do you hear me?” Finn simply nodded but that wasn’t good enough for Rachel. 

“Finn, tell me.” She pleaded with him desperately. Finally he raised his eyes to hers. “It’s not goodbye, Rach. It’s I’ll see you later.” He tried to smile past the fear that was taking a permanent place in his heart. 

“Much better.” Rachel was about to say something else when the doctor entered the room. 

“Time to go Mr. Hudson. You too, Miss Berry.” Rachel slid off the bed and released her hold on him, but at the last minute she framed his face once again and kissed him softly, then pulled away as they began to wheel him out of the room. 

The next few hours were going to try the better part of her nerves and shake the worst of her fears. She hoped she survived it. 

I was thinking of doing another crossover story like this one it will be about Finn and Rachel being best friends, so if you like this story and wanna read the one I'm thinking of starting let me know in the comments 😊