Chapter Two: The Start of Something New

As Finn lay there in a coma he lost all sense of time and reality. In his mind all he could think of was the home he had left and of the awful discovery he had made in the newspaper. It had been two weeks since Rachel Berry had hit him with the car and so far he hadn't woken up. While he could not seem to wake up or hear anything that was going on around him he was vaguely aware of a presence that had so far not left his side. And every once in a while, he heard the sweetest sounds, a voice singing to him and him alone.

Finn could not help but think about his last few months at home with his mother Carol and her new boyfriend Burt. After Finn's dad had died a hero in the army Finn had always craved a father figure in his life but his mother never let him meet any of her boyfriends that she dated as he grew up. After 18 years of that Carol finally let him meet the one she knew was going to marry. Burt was just a middle aged, balding man with a son and a kind soft-spoken manner. When Finn first met him he couldn't have been happier, he could tell how genuinely happy his mother was. And for a perfect months, as Burt moved in, the four of them were truly happy.

The first time Burt had hit Carol he played it off as a joke. It was during breakfast and Carol had forgotten to buy orange juice and he turned around and smacked her on the back of the head. Afterwards he just said he got a little too carried away with the joke but Finn couldn't help but notice that Kurt, Burt's son quietly just looked away and looked embarrassed.

For the next couple of months of Finn's senior year Burt would continue to hit her when she did something "stupid" or she forgot something. Every time Finn would try to say something his mother would defend Burt and tell Finn to stay out of it. It pained Finn to see her mother become this sort of pitiful person, constantly craving the love and approval of this monster.

It wasn't until the time that Burt threw a picture frame and hit Carol in the head that Finn got up and said something to him. "Enough!" Finn shouted. "Leave her alone! All she has ever done for you is try to make you happy!

With that Burt had only laughed and proceeded to beat up Finn as his mother only turned away. As physically hurt as Finn was the thing that hurt the most was that Carol had turned away from his for the love of the man who was causing her all of this pain. Later that same night Kurt had come to Finn in his bedroom and warned him "Convince your mom to leave and get out. This won't ever stop, I've seen him do this before. Ever since my mom left us ten years ago he has had it out against women and the littlest thing they do wrong he sees as an attack. You won't ever be happy here, you have to escape. I'll be fine here, I'm the only person he has left to love him."

And for the last months of his senior year he begged and pleaded with his mother to leave with him, to follow him to school and they could live in an apartment off campus together across town. But all of this was in vain, Carol just would not leave him. When graduation finally rolled around Finn was actually to the point of disgust with his mother, she was covered in bruises as was he. After the ceremony they decided to go out to some fancy restaurant and act like a big happy family. Out of the blue, Burt had got down on one knee and asked Carol to make him the happiest man on Earth and marry him. As Finn thought about what this would mean if they got married he realized he wouldn't be able to live with this for rest of his life. He shot his mother a look that clearly stated "It's me or him mom, choose and live with it." As Carol sat there looking at Finn and Burt it wasn't a choice of who she wanted in her life more, it was about avoiding the life that she so desperately was afraid of: being left all alone. She know at one point Finn would leave to begin his life and she would be left all alone.

Finn still remembered with horror as his mother said "Oh Burt, you really know how to sweep me off my feet! Of course I'll marry you!" And with that Burt ran over to hug her as Kurt just looked apologetic to Finn. When Carol looked over Burt's shoulder at Finn he just nodded at her and walked away. As he left the restaurant and ultimately the only life he had ever knew he began to run to his house, faster and faster to escape the pain he was feeling. He got inside his house and grabbed a backpack and began to stuff old photos, candy bars and as much of the money he had into it. He took a bus into New York City, a city where he could easily lose himself in and would never be found unless he wanted to be. Finally, he was in control of his own life.

Rachel Berry had been sitting by Finn Hudson's bed around the clock for two weeks now. He had been in a coma from the moment she had hit him but the doctors said he should wake up at anytime now, the coma was only his body's response to protect him. The doctors continuously reassured her that he would be fine, other than his concussion and broken leg there was nothing else to worry about. Their main concern was that they could find no identification on him, no one had filed a missing persons report or been by to visit other than Rachel.

As self-involved as she was Rachel knew that she would never be able to make it up this person and that it was her own petty complaints and selfishness that had lead up to her hitting him. While she sat next to his bed she tried to guess what kind of life he lead. She had never considered how little she thought about others until now. She realized that this person could be anyone; from a child genius to a drug dealer to a boy who was trying to make it into show business. Rachel thought how every person in the world had a story unique unto themselves, a reason for why they are doing anything in their lives.

She tried to make scenarios up in her head as to why he was running across a street in a hurry, not even bother to check if there were any cars coming. Always being a hopeless romantic, she figured he was running to a loved one before they got away, not even caring about his own life as long as he got that one last kiss. She realized that this probably wasn't true, but in her head she liked to imagine that it wasn't just because she was driving slightly drunk that landed this poor man in this awful situation.

Later that day Jesse had showed up with some food from her favorite vegetarian restaurant. "You have to eat Rachel" he gently reminded her. "It won't do him or you any good just sitting here staring at him. Has anyone shown up yet to visit him?"

"No" she said quietly appreciating how truly handsome this unknown man was, even as he appeared to be sleeping. "I tell you, something is wrong here. How is it that NO ONE is missing him? No missing persons report? I wonder if he's an orphan.."

"Well sitting here wondering that isn't going to solve anything. You've missed auditions, you haven't showered in I don't even want to know how long and you have stopped eating. No matter how much of this is your fault you have to let it go, you didn't mean to hit him and the doctors say he should make a full recovery!" Even though Jesse was only trying to help as he said this Rachel didn't want to hear it.

"I can't just leave him here to wake up alone and scared, not knowing what has happened to him!" she shouted. "I've put him like this and I'm sorry but there's no way I can in good conscience go back to auditions and waitressing while this man is sitting here in a coma!" And with that Rachel went back to singing softly to the man, songs that she figured a man like him would find soothing and peaceful.

Jesse just sighed, left the food behind and left the hospital room. He knew that Rachel had and always will be stubborn but if she didn't leave the hospital soon and return back to reality she might lose everything she has worked so hard on.

Back in the room Rachel began to cry softly to herself. She vowed to herself that no matter what it took she would make it up this stranger. She felt that this was a wake up call from God Himself, warning her not to be so ambitious and selfish that she doesn't stop to think about what her actions can do to people. She promised not only to make it up to him, but she would stop pitying herself so much and continue to go to auditions. She knew that this life she had chosen for herself was not going to be easy by any means, and there would be times that she would do jobs that were beneath her all in the hopes that one day she would stand there in front of a crowd of people all cheering her on as she made her Broadway debut.

Whether it was the sound of her crying or fate was finally ready to begin, the mystery man finally woke slowly. As Rachel sat there by a chair next to the bed she didn't even notice as the man opened his eyes and reached over, grabbed her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. "Hey now, there's nothing to cry about. Do you know where I can grab something to eat? I'm starved."

For the first in what seemed like forever Rachel smiled, got up and brought him her veggie burger and gave it to him. "Here eat this" she said "it may look gross but it tastes great."

"I think I'll stick with hospital food" he said as he choked down the burger with a laugh. "My name is Finn by the way. Can you tell me what I'm doing here? And hey, what's your name by the way?

"My name's Rachel" she replied with a smile and then she began to tell him her life, of why she was driving a little bit drunk, of why she was even at the karaoke bar in the first place instead of back in Ohio where she was originally from and of her recent failures as an actress. Suddenly she was afraid of something that she had never considered, what if this man hates her for what she did? What if he never gives her the chance to make it up to him? But it didn't stop her from pouring her heart out to this kind man.