The first thing Finn could hear was the hums and beeps of machines.
He opened his eyes slightly and looked around through his eyelashes. Everything was bright and blurry and he found it difficult to focus.
"Finn!" A familiar voice gasped, "Hey, he's awake! Let General Organa know he is awake!" There was a face hovering over him. Finn could just make out Poe Dameron's smile through the sleep still in his eyes. "Hey, buddy, howya doin?" Finn moaned in response as pain shot through him with every small move he made, "yeah, I know. Take it easy. Don't move too much."
A chemical odor burned at Finn's nostrils so strongly he could taste it. He winced, both at the pain and the tiredness he felt. Then he remembered something, "Rey!?" He tried raising his head, but was stopped immediately by the excruciating pain. Poe reached out and settled him back onto the cot. Finn shut his eyes tight to will away the pain. And the unknown.
The last time Finn saw Rey, she had been lying unconscious in the snow on Starkiller Base while he faced Kylo Ren in a lightsaber duel. He remembered how Ren overpowered him, used a crossguard vent to burn into his shoulder, then...then there was nothing but searing pain in his back, then blackness.
And now he was here with no knowledge of what happened after he blacked out in the snow. Or where Rey was.
"Well, well, look whose up!" General Organa said as she glided to Finn's bedside, smiling, "Poe, would you mind? I'd like to speak with Finn for a moment."
"Yes, General," Poe said. He shot Finn a smile and turned on his heel to leave.
General Organa seated herself next to Finn, looking down at him with her large brown eyes. Finn saw hints of sadness in her eyes. No doubt for the loss of Han Solo, but Finn feared it could also mean Rey was lost, too. "Are you feeling a little better?" Finn began to shrug, but winced at the pain the tiniest of movements caused. "Shh...easy. I'm so sorry, Finn. I'll have the doctor bring you more medicine after we talk."
"I don't want any medicine," Finn croaked, looking at the ceiling. Leia didn't protest, only smiled.
"That was a brave thing you did, Finn," Leia said, putting her hand on his shoulder, "stupid, but brave, though I think your only other option was death. So, I can't exactly fault you for trying to take on my son, but you did get lucky"
"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" Finn asked. Leia's bedside manner wasn't exactly nurturing.
"No," she said, "I didn't mean it tha-"
"Well, what did you mean?" Finn interrupted.
Leia sighed, "what I mean first and foremost is that what you did was brave. There is no taking that away. By stupid, I only mean that...that..." a single tear fell from her eye. She promptly wiped it from her face before continuing, "I'm sorry. It's just...Han would have told you it was stupid for you to go up against our son. But, he would have told you the same if you would have cowered. So, I don't mean to discount your bravery at all." Her eyes were distant for a moment, "I thought all these years that I was lonely when he was away doing whatever the heck he did, smuggling. But, he could always come back and that comforted me. Now, he can't and the loneliness is worse. Like all emptiness."
She was silent for a moment. Finn let her remember Han before he asked "Rey, where's Rey?"
"Oh, Rey is fine. She's with Luke. On Ach'To. Don't worry, Finn, she wasn't hurt. In fact, she fared pretty well against my son and left a nasty cut across his face, from what I hear."
"Wait...Rey beat Kylo Ren?" Finn said, surprised.
"Yes, well, they got separated. I can still feel him, so I know he's alive," Leia said. It took a moment for Finn to remember that Leia, though untrained, had thr Force.
"But, he can use the Force. How did Rey beat him?"
"She didn't tell you?" Leia said, furrowing her eyebrows. Finn couldn't remember if Rey had said anything or not. "Rey can use the Force too."
Finn was taken aback by this. Of course, that's what she was trying to tell him when he found her inside Starkiller Base. It explains how she escaped Kylo Ren. Finn knew better than anybody else on the Resistance base that no one escaped Kylo Ren alive. It was still hard for him to believe that Rey beat him in their lightsaber duel. Then, he remembered that Chewbacca had shot Kylo Ren in his side with his bowcaster. He remembered how Ren beat his fists on the wound, hissing at the pain as blood flew out onto the snow. The pain energized him.
Finn turned to Leia, "can I go see her?" He asked.
"I don't think it would be a good idea with your injuries. You took a lightsaber to the back and shoulder and there is still quite a bit of healing to do", Leia answered. She saw Finn's disappointment and inched closer to his bed, "Rey will return in one or two months. She needs time to learn her power with my brother and also time to convince him to return to us." The sadness still lingered in Leia's eyes.
"I want to see her. I want to fight," Finn demanded, ignoring the pain.
"Patience, Finn," Leia said,"you will see here soon enough. And you will be fighting soon enough. Which is why I came to talk to you." She leaned forward, "I have a mission for you, Finn. But, I will not send you until you're properly healed. The doctors are saying less than a month. I also want you to begun training for the mission. I take it you know how to use blasters from your previous occupation, correct?"
Finn nodded, remembering his days with the First Order as FN-2187.
"Good," Leia said, "I would like you to begin training to pilot an X-Wing, and a few other specialty craft. Shuttles, fighters."
Finn's mouth dropped open. Me? Fly an X-Wing, he thought. "Whose going to teach me?"
Leia smiled "I'm sure you can guess who."
Finn smiled back, "so what's my mission?"