forever fades away

chapter 33

Finn bit down on his lower lip to prevent from screaming. He would be getting released from the hospital shortly, and the girls were running around like a bunch of chickens with their heads cut off. They would alternate between fussing over him, and running down the hallways, screeching at any doctor that they came across, verifying that letting Finn go home was really going to be ok. 

Alex and Michael sat in the uncomfortable hospital chairs on the opposite side of the room, amused smiles on their faces as they watched the scene playing out before them. 

“You think he’s gonna freak out on them?” Alex whispered to Michael, leaning over slightly so he could be heard. 

“Oh, no doubt.” Michael nodded. “Look at him. He’s about to chew his lip off. He’s ready to flip out, and we got front row seats.” 

The guys snickered slightly, tapping their fists together in celebration of the fact that they would be able to witness it.

Rachel finished putting the rest of Finn's stuff in a bag the hospital gave her. She glanced around the room quickly, making sure she hadn’t forgotten anything. Her eyes landed on Finn, and she immediately ran to his side, concerned. He was biting his lower lip, his head dropped back onto the pillows, and he had his hands over his eyes. 

“Are you ok?” Rachel asked as she came to the side of his bed. “Does your knee hurt? Let me go get the doctor.” 

As she turned to leave the room, Finn's hand encircled her wrist, stopping her in her tracks. She turned back to look at him, concerned he was hurt and wasn’t going to let the doctor check him out, for fear he wouldn’t be able to go home. 

“I’m fine, Rachel.” Finn finally said, looking her deep in the eyes, trying desperately to convey to her that he was being honest. “I’d be a lot better if you girls would stop hovering over me and freaking out about this. I’m not completely disabled, you know?” 

Rachel crossed her arms over her chest. “Well, excuse me for caring!” Rachel yelled at him, trying to cover up her hurt with anger. She knew good and well he wasn’t disabled, and that he hated them making a big deal about everything, but he DID have surgery not long before. 

“Rach, don’t be like that.” Finn pleaded, scooting himself up higher against his pillows. “I’m sorry. I know you’re just concerned, but you don’t need to worry so much. If they thought I was wasn’t well enough, they wouldn’t be letting me go home.” 

“Just the same, I’m staying at your house to watch you.” Rachel said before breezing out of the room. 

“You’re what? To watch me?! I’m not twelve, I don’t need a babysitter!” Finn yelled, sitting up even further, craning his neck to try to see where she went. “Rach! Rachel Berry, get back here!” 

“Screaming is really unnecessary, Finn. We are in a hospital you know. People are trying to get well here, they don’t need to listen to that.” Isabel scolded, walking back into the room with Maria. 

“Where’s Rachel?” Finn asked, not bothering to mask the annoyance in his tone. 

“She went to go find your doctor, make sure that she knows exactly what you’re allowed to do, and what you’re not allowed to do... all that stuff.” Maria answered, plopping down on Michael’s lap. 

“So you guys collectively decided that Rachel was going to stay with me? Without even talking to me about it?” Finn questioned, looking at all of them. They, in turn, stared at their shoes, or hands, or whistled innocently, as if they didn’t hear him ask a question. “You guys are ridiculous.” He sighed, dropping his head back onto his pillows again. 

“Well, it just worked out best that way.” Isabel finally spoke up. “We all have to get back to Roswell, and get back to work. We actually need to be at the airport in, like, half an hour. Rachel is already cleared for being MIA for awhile since she was in Roswell working, and she has all of her stuff here with her anyway, since she was going straight back to Atlanta after this.” 

Isabel sat down on the side of Finn's bed. “It’ll only be for a few days. The doctors even said they wouldn’t let you go unless they knew that someone would be there with you to help you out. So you either deal with this, or you stay here. Knowing you, I’m betting that you’d give anything to get outta here, so please start dealing with it.” 

“Ok.” Rachel came back into the room. “We’re all set to go. Isabel and Maria, you two will go out through the front doors and get into the limo that we have out there as a decoy, and it’ll take you to the airport. Michael and Alex will be taking the rental car back to the airport, and you guys have already decided on where you’re going to meet up?” When they all nodded, she continued. “Alright, Finn and I are going out through a back entrance, our limo is already back there, I went out and checked. Is everyone clear on what’s going on here?” 

“I’m not. No one tells me anything.” Finn pouted. 

“All you need to know if that you’re getting into a wheelchair, and we’re taking you to a limo, which you will get into and it will take you home. That’s it. Can you handle that?” Rachel quirked an eyebrow at him. Finn responded by sticking his tongue out at her and crossing his arms over his chest. She rolled her eyes. “Sticking your tongue out? That’s how you’re going to handle this? Don’t act five, Finn. It’s not cute.” 

“I’ve never heard you complain about my tongue before.” Finn flippantly responded. 

In return, Rachel turned an interestingly bright shade of red. The reply that was on the tip of her tongue was hushed as the doctor and a nurse with a wheelchair came into the room. She glanced at them, then back to Finn. “You’re so in for it later.” She promised. 

“Can’t wait.” Finn replied, puckering his lips and making a smooching noise. 

Rachel growled at him before turning to talk to the doctor. 

Finn smiled in satisfaction, feeling as if he’d won that battle. Finn turned when he felt someone come up to the side of the bed. He looked up at Michael, who didn’t try to hide his amusement of the whole thing. Michael bent down to whisper in Finn's ear. “She’s gonna kill you for that. You know that, right?” 

“Yeah.” Finn nodded, pulling the covers back from him so he could get up. Michael helped him out of the bed, and over to the wheelchair, despite Finn's complaints that he could do it by himself. 

Once Finn was all situated, and Rachel  had the bag with his jersey and shoes and everything in it, the doctor told Finn that he was officially free to go home. Finn let out a huge sigh of relief, thanking the doctor for everything.