Disclaimer:I don't own Glee or any of the characters. I just own the plot.
Don't give up hope. ;)
How did she end up here? She was supposed to be celebrating her win at the winter showcase. But instead she was at the hospital, grasping desperately at the wall to hold her up while she collapsed to the floor with tears streaming from her swollen bloodshot eyes, down her shiny cheeks before slowly slipping off of her wobbling chin.
She doesn't think she's ever cried this hard in her entire life, and it's no pretty cry. It's a full out ugly cry. She's an actress she should be able to keep herself together. But how can she? Her whole world just fell apart. And she doesn't know how to put it back together.
4 Hours Earlier:
"To kicking my ass in the winter showcase."
Rachel smiled kindly, with her head bent slightly down, at Kurt, while raising her glass of champagne. She was suddenly grateful at the fact that Puck had gotten her a fake I.D. when she wanted to get drunk after breaking up with Finn because of the whole sleeping-with-Santana and making-out-with-Puck debacle.
Finn.
The one person she really wished was here.
But he wasn't because she had to be stupid again and kiss another guy all because she was feeling lonely and had gotten a new make over.
And that guy wasn't even here either.
She refuses to even think his name. He ruined Rachel and Finn's chance at a life together outside of high school, without them ever being together outside of high school.
She needed to get some fresh air.
With a small smile she silently excused herself from the latest conversation started by one of her classmates about finding true love in the city.
She was going to be sick.
Deep breaths. In. Out. In. Out. Finn. Now.
Hmm. Where did that come from?
She quickly got a hold of herself and her emotions (she had a lot of practice these last few months) before making her way back into the living area of the apartment.
She had one foot in the living room when her phone rang.
She scrambled to get it. It was most likely important considering everyone she knew was at her apartment.
Except him.
Sigh. Not now, Rachel.
ANSWER THE DAMN PHONE!
"Hello?" she answered without bothering to look at the caller I.D.
"Rachel?" a weak voice croaked on the other end of the line. It sounded familiar. Whose was it? It almost sounded like Carol. Carol! Wait, Carol? Why was she calling her? And why was she crying?
"Carol?" she asked lightly.
"What's going on?" her voice now laced with worry.
A sniffle.
Then two words that sent her world into a spiral.
"It's Finn."
No. No. NO.
No.
This can not be happening. Not to Finn, not her Finn.
She went into shock after hearing the words leave Carol's mouth. She could hear her still talking, distantly, though. Her eyes were filling with tears and her mouth had opened in shock. The shock was slowly wearing away and she made out two words that made her head spin.
Critical condition.
The phone slipped from her hand.
Kurt was striding towards her concerned at her strange behavior. He picked up the phone and his own eyes slowly filled up with tears. He said a few more things to Carol with a soft, calming voice before hanging up. He looked up to see everyone's eyes on Kurt and Rachel.
Santana was watching as well and walked towards them with a face showing concern. She knew something was wrong. She gestured to Kurt to tell him to take Rachel to her bedroom. He nodded slightly before putting an arm around her to grip her shoulder tightly so she could lean on his own shoulder and led her back to his bedroom.
While Kurt took care of Rachel, Santana did what she did best, get rid of people.
"Alright, party's over, come on, out, fuera, ahora, vamos!"
Once everyone was out, she locked the door and quickly made her way back to Rachel's room.
Rachel was sobbing as Kurt tried to comfort her while simultaneously looking up flights to Ohio.
Santana went over to Rachel to comfort her, and looked over at Kurt with a questioning look in her eyes.
He gave her a sad look that said 'I'll explain later'.
Rachel's sobs had subsided to just a soft hiccupping, by the time Kurt had booked a flight from New York to Ohio.
He started packing for Rachel rushing around like Patti Lupone was waiting in Ohio.
He finished packing in less than three minutes and went to pack his own bag just as quickly.
When he came back he went to Santana and told her to pack now, ask questions later, while not so subtly looking over at Rachel.
Santana stood slowly and made her way to her room and started packing.
They had made it on the plane without Rachel bursting into tears, which was quite an accomplishment, considering she started crying as soon as we were in the cab.
She was out like a light once the plane started moving, exhausted and drained from crying for hours.
"Will you tell me what's going on now?" Santana asked gently, but with a noticeable hint of impatience hidden in there.
"Finn's in the hospital." He said while staring ahead of him.
Santana suddenly sat up straighter.
"What happened?"
"He was driving over to my dad and Carol's to tell them that he finally decided he wanted to be a teacher and that he was going to go to college. It was dark and the snow started falling and the car just slid…" he paused taking a ragged breath before continuing.
"When they found him, he was bleeding in his leg, not a lot but enough to need stitches and… and… his chest was bleeding. And his head." Kurt looked up to see Santana with tears in her eyes. He could tell they were begging to come out, but Santana refused to let them fall.
"He's in surgery, they don't know if he'll make it though." And then the tears fell.
Santana was crying silently, but surely. It was one tear after the other and he could see her face crumpling after looking hard enough, but she wouldn't make a sound.
He leaned forward to hug her then and she welcomed it hesitantly, but quickly growing comfortable.
Then Santana Lopez broke.
At first, Kurt tried to get her to calm down, before she woke Rachel up, but soon realized that wasn't working so he soothed her by rubbing her back and whispering calming things into her ear.
Rachel woke up to the sound of Santana's sobs, something she never thought she'd hear.
She was extremely tired and she didn't know why.
Then she remembered.
Oh, she remembered.
She started to cry herself, but a silent cry instead of a full out sobbing, she was all sobbed out. She quickly put on her noise cancelling headphones falling asleep again before Kurt or Santana could notice she was awake. She didn't want to burden Kurt with comforting two crying women. He was suffering, too.
"Rachel. Rachel, come on wake up." an exhausted voice said as she slowly slipped back into consciousness.
She opened her eyes to see Kurt standing above her, holding a coat over one arm and a suitcase in the other.
"Come on, we have to get to the hospital." he said helping her up.
She stretched before grabbing her bag and looking around for Santana. Realizing she wasn't anywhere on the plane, she panicked.
"Calm down, she called a rental car." Kurt said mustering up a sad chuckle.
She visibly relaxed and trailed after Kurt heading off the plane.
The ride to the hospital was silent, Santana tried to make it less awkward and silent by turning on the radio.
Kurt almost swerved off the road when Don't Stop Believing started playing. Rachel started crying and Santana looked out the window trying to hold in the tears failing miserably.
But it got the message across. They can't stop holding on to hope. They can't stop believing.
He had been dead for ten minutes when they got there.
He made it through the surgery okay and everything seemed okay until it wasn't. And Kurt was crying so hard he had to sit down and Rachel fell apart, sobbing against Carol, both clinging to the other and Santana just kind of froze, before shocking all three of them in the room.
"Can I see him?"
Three bewildered faces stared back at her.
"Please."
Carol nodded slowly before going back to comforting Rachel.
She sucked in a breath, before walking into the room.
She looked at him. Looked for any signs he could be alive. His chest wasn't moving. His eyes were closed, but his body wasn't cold yet.
"Now listen to me, Frankenteen. You need to wake up." She paused after hearing her voice crack while trying to be tough.
"You need to wake up for everyone in that room, Kurt, your mom and especially Rachel. This will break her. Hell, it already is breaking her. Don't leave her. I may not have been the nicest person in the world in high school, but I watched plenty of rom-com's and I'm going to make her try everything in the book until something works. Okay? You're not leaving us yet." Staying firm she finished her speech.
She turned around and walked out slowly before speeding up and grabbing Rachel off of the wall, dragging her to Finn's room.
Present:
Rachel suddenly felt herself being pulled off of her feet by none other than Santana Lopez and dragged to Finn's room.
"What are you doing?" she all but yelled at Santana.
"Hold his hand."
"What?" she said.
"Squeeze his hand."
"You're crazy."
"Not crazy. I'm a genius. Do it."
"Santana!"
"Look Berry, I know you love him to death-wow that came out bad-but if you want him back you have to do this."
Rachel still looked at Santana as if was high or mentally ill, or maybe both.
"What would it hurt?"
Rachel didn't have an argument there.
She slowly walked over to Finn and held his hand, slightly squeezing it.
"Talk to him." Santana's voice edged into her head before she quietly left the room, her heels echoing on the tiled floor as she left.
She squeezed again adding a few words.
"Please, baby, wake up. I need you. I love you." She said tears slipping from her eyes as she said the last words.
She was ready to give up until a thought echoed in the back of her head, whispering for her to kiss him one last time.
So she did.
It was different.
His lips didn't reciprocate and they were colder then normal but oddly enough not cold at all.
But he still tasted like Finn.
She pulled back slowly, a sad smile on her face.
She grabbed his hand once again and squeezed it, turning around.
He squeezed back.
Her head whipped around to see his chest moving and his eyes opening.
Tears fell from her eyes.
"Finn, baby, can you hear me? Oh my god, you're alive. You're alive." She said crying so much she couldn't get any more words out.
He pulled her hand, still in his, pulling it to his chest.
She leaned down and kissed him so hard it made them both breathless, although it wasn't that hard since Finn literally just came back from the dead and Rachel was sobbing so much her eyes were about to fall out.
"Rach, I'm right here, I'm okay, I'm alive. I love you. I love you so much." He kissed her forehead.
"I love you, too. So much." She repeats, finally calming down.
"Rach, do you feel it beating?" he says bringing her hand to the right side of his chest.
Rachel smiles with watery eyes before repeating her words from years ago and moving his hand across his chest.
"Your heart's on the other side of your chest."
"It's beating really hard."
She kisses him.
He kisses back.