Burt had tried to remove the diminutive girl's hand, Carole had warned him against it. Her reaction was almost violent in her sleep, her unintelligible words turning angry, then scared as the nightmare took hold. The Berry fathers helped lift their daughter into the chair Burt brought over next to the bed. Her grip on his hand was solid, Burt was thankful the tubes and wires were going into his other arm as she curled her head against his shoulder.
"Suffered severe" comes a haunting, disembodied voice "Can't say when" it comes again from another direction. Dark clouds swirl overhead as Rachel shivers in the cold, the voices coming softly, attacking her in this terrible darkness. "It's all up to him now" 'up to him' her mind echoes, trying to grasp onto a concept 'him'
Rachel startles awake, the unfamiliar territory disorienting her. A pain in her hand draws her attention, her fingers cramped from holding the pale hand over the night. Following the hand up to his chest brings the memories of the night before crashing down upon her. Finn, her Finn, beaten and bruised after a car accident, she and Kurt had flown in on a red eye flight, not knowing if he'd still be there when they got in. The cold terror took her again at the slight coldness in his hands, the soft mechanical beep of the heart monitor bringing her back; he was still here, still with her. Slowly she releases her grip on Finn's hand, not quite sure how she had ended up in a chair at his bed side; fairly certain she had been on the floor at the end of the night.
"Oh Carole" Rachel exclaims as she turns, seeing Finn's mother sitting a few feet away in one of the god awful upholstered chairs. Rachel stands on weak knees and approaches her "I'm sorry Carole" she says, turning slightly towards the bed "I shouldn't have taken your spot" Carole smiles at the tiny girl in front of her, remembering the angry words and hysterical crying from the night before "You were exactly where you should have been Rachel" Carole smiles and draws the girl into her arms, tears hovering in her eyes. "The doctor says he's ok for now" Carole says a few minutes later "He suffered some internal bleeding but they think it's all been taken care of" Rachel's eyes rise to meet hers, tears forming "He's going to be OK?" she says, voice barely a whisper. "They think so" Carole replies, tears forming in her own eyes "They said the worst is past" Rachel smiles a broken little smile "Good" she says, the fire holding the little diva up slowly sputtering out, he was going to be OK.
"You should get yourself home" Carole says a few minutes later "Hiram said he'd be back this morning" Rachel turned to face Finn's mother "I need to be here" she says, turning to face Finn, his pale form looking insignificant in the bed. Carole walks up next to her "He's going to be here for a while" she says softly, her voice breaking slightly. Carole turns Rachel to face her "Burt and I are going to be here, you go home and get some rest" Carole touches her cheek softly "I'll call if he wakes up" she says. Almost as if on cue Hiram enters the room "There's my kitten" he says softly, pulling her into a light embrace. "Hi daddy" Rachel says weakly, trying to rub the weariness and tears from her eyes. "Come on kitten, let's get you home" he says, sharing a concerned, pained look with Carole and Burt over Rachel's shoulder "give Carole and Burt some time alone with their boy" Rachel looks up at him, tears forming in her eyes again, he smiles down at her, she nods slightly "OK." Hiram leads her slowly from the room, she stops at the door "I'm coming back tonight tho" she says to no one in particular. Hiram nods "Of course"
"You shouldn't have done that" Burt says, walking up behind Carole, pulling her into an embrace as she lets the façade fall away. 'Severe internal bleeding' the voice echoes in her mind 'Possible brain damage' she leans into Burt "One of us should get at least one day of rest" Carole says, burying her face in his shoulder "she'll know soon enough" Carole shakes slightly 'Don't know when, or if, he will wake' she slumps into the chair Rachel had been occupying earlier, her hand slipping into his "This can't be happening" she says softly "He's my little boy" she leans over, kissing his cheek softly "Not Finn" she echoes "Not my boy" Kurt walks in the room, the smile on his face fading as his eyes go from his father to his step mother. "You lied to her" he says softly, walking over to Finn's side "He's not ok, is he?" Kurt looks down on the man in the bed, once his high school crush, now his big brother, his protector. Kurt remembers the look in his eyes the day he'd flown in from Lima to New York after Santana found out about Brody. He flew out, dealt with the situation and flew home, never wanting Rachel to know what happened or why. Kurt reached out and placed his hand over Carole's, holding it there softly. "He's going to be fine" he says softly "Finn's never been one to give up easily" Kurt looks up at the pale face and mess of wires "He's going to be fine" he says again, letting his hand slide away, the lie echoing in his ears.
