From Out of the Ashes – Chapter 11

(I do not own Glee or any of the characters. All names are fictitious and appear only by coincidence.)

Forty-eight hours after Zelda/Anya had attacked Finn, he regained consciousness with a blinding headache. His head was bandaged and he could hear the beeping of machines all around him. Opening his eyes his vision was blurry, but he could make out two women sleeping with their heads resting on the either side of his bed. He was attached to an assortment of wires, monitors, and IV tubes.

He tried to raise his head, but his headache and the fiery incision in his side stopped him. He tried to curl his fingers, but found that they were interlaced with the fingers of the two women who were holding vigil at his bedside.

"Rach, are you there?" Finn choked from his dry throat.

"Finn, I'm here! Carole wake up! Finn's awake."

"Mom? What are you doing here? Where am I?" Finn's voice was raspy, and it was hard to speak. "Where's Beth?"

"Baby, you're in an ICU unit in a New York hospital. Do you remember anything?" Carole asked her son.

"Not really, but my head is killing me, what happened? Why are you here and not in Lima?" Finn coughed, "Is Beth okay?"

"Finn, Anya came back. Anya was really Zelda, my professor at Juilliard.

"Was?" Finn asked reaching for the bandage on his head, but it was hard to lift his right arm.

"She tried to kill us, but Monty stopped her. He saved our lives."

"That's not entirely true," Monty said getting up for a chair outside Finn's open door. "Rachel offered Anya her life to keep her from finishing you off."

"Monty?" Finn asked in confusion as he looked at his mother.

"Yes, I've met Monty," Carole said fighting back the tears.

"Monty saved your life twice. When you came into the hospital you had lost so much blood that you had to have several pints of blood. Monty gave you one of them. You and Monty are both O-Negative. The rarest blood type there is. The doctors also cross matched Monty and I to you in case you needed an organ donor. You and Monty are a match. Finn, you have an uncle that we never knew existed," Carole told her son.

"Thanks Man," Finn said trying again to lift his other hand to shake Monty's. "I owe you my life, twice."

"Still unsure of what was going on Finn turned to Rachel and asked, "Please tell me that Beth's all right."

"Beth is fine, she's with Burt, my dads, Blaine, and Kurt at their hotel," Rachel said trying to reassure Finn. "Anya never got near her. Miss Sallie's granddaughter Hannah grabbed Beth and took her over to their place while Miss Sallie called the police."

"Why is everyone here?" Finn asked still confused.

"Finn, you have no idea how close you were to dying. Our families were on the first plane they could get, and they have been in New York every since. Your mom and I haven't left since you can in and neither has Monty."

"We didn't know if you might need your tank topped off again. Since we have the same blood type I stuck around," Monty laughed softly.

"So you really are my dad's older brother?" Finn asked Monty.

"It would appear so. With all of the damage that Anya did to your insides, they weren't sure if you would need any spare parts. So they cross matched me to you after Rachel told them that we might be related, and that we both have O- Negative blood," Monty smiled sheepishly at his new nephew.

"Mom, are you okay with this? I mean he's the spitting image of Dad," Finn asked his mother.

"Son, I'm more than okay with it. I'm so glad that you and I have a piece of your dad's family, and Monty saved yours and Rachel's lives. Without him neither of you wouldn't be here."

"I just remember a burning pain in my side, and then a hit on the back of my head." How did you stop her?" Finn asked Monty.

"Anya lunged at Rachel with the knife that she pulled from your side. I knocked her to the floor, and she hit her head on one those dumb bells. The rest is history," Monty said with a hint of sadness to his voice.

"Monty, has saving me and Rachel gotten you in trouble with the police?" Finn asked. "Do they know that you found dried blood before and cleaned it up?"

"They have questioned me and Rachel several times since Anya tried to kill you, but not about the old blood on the floor. Building Management call me and told me to clean apartment 333 before Rachel, Kurt, and Blaine moved in. When the hot mop water hit the floor, the water started turning bright red. I had been drinking that day and everything was a blur. I thought it was my blood so I cleaned it up and touched up the stains on the ceiling and walls. On the night that Anya tried to kill you, she confessed to killing the previous tenant there and Rachel heard every word of it."

"Do you mean that someone was actually killed in that apartment?" Finn asked still trying to make sense of everything.

"Zelda, I mean Anya said that she attacked two women there a long time ago, but they got away. She said that she killed the woman who lived there right before we moved in. She cut the third woman up into pieces so she could get her down the trash chute. She wrapped the woman in the woman's clothes and garbage bags. The smell was her hands that Anya hid under the floor boards in my old room," Rachel told Finn still unable to believe all of it.

"Rachel, please tell me that you, Kurt, and Blaine aren't going to live in that apartment?" Finn asked.

"Building Management has offered us a newer three bedroom apartment in one of their other apartment buildings for the same rent. The police have just about gutted our old place looking for evidence. Finn, you and Beth can come and live with the three of us when you're better," Rachel smiled at Finn.

"Hello, Mr. Hudson? I'm Doctor Mary Clair McDuffie of neurology. I'm the doctor who has been working on your head. Dr. Kevin Fitzgerald had been working on your other injuries, and he'll be in later. The ICU nurses told me that you were awake, and I am so glad that you have decided to rejoin us. You've had a rough 48 hours, but these three refused to go home," Dr. McDuffie said as she came in the door and stood at the foot of Finn's hospital bed.

"Am I going to be alright?" Finn asked the doctor.

"Eventually. You have a serious concussion, and we don't know what the long term effects of that will be. The knife wound did a lot of damage to your internal organs. Ten more minutes and you would have bled to death. It's going to take bed rest and physical therapy, but you should be okay. Your recovery will take some time. Now if I can ask your visitors to step out into the hall, I would like to give Mr. Hudson's head injury a through examination," the doctor asked.

Rachel, Carole, and Monty were waiting in the hall when they were approached by two New York City police officers.

"Mr. Ian Montgomery, would you please come with us down to precinct headquarters? The detectives have a few more questions for you."

"We have already told the detectives what happen two days ago over a half a dozen times, what more could they want?" Rachel protested.

"They want to talk to you about your wife and the older blood stains. They also want to speak to you about some missing persons reports that they have on file," one of the officers said speaking directly to Monty. "The coroner's office also wants to speak to you about your wife's body. They're ready to release it."

"Its okay Rachel, I'll call you when they're finished, I would like to see Anya one last time," Monty said as he left with the officers.

Soon Dr. McDuffie came out of Finn's room, and Carole asked how her son was doing.

"He's alert, his reflexes and vision are good, and his long term memory seems to be in tact. He's still fuzzy about the last several days. Dr. Fitzgerald can tell you more about the knife wound later. Your son should make a full recovery, but he's going to take some time to heal," Dr McDuffie told Carole and Rachel.

"Mrs. Hudson," The doctor said turning to Rachel, "I'm also concerned about you and Mr. Montgomery. Your husband didn't witness the attack, but the two of you did."

"You have been running on adrenaline for the last two days. I think that it's time that you left and tried to sleep. Your little girl could probably use some quality time with you as well," Dr. McDuffie advised Rachel.

"I came so close to losing him, I can't leave him," Rachel argued shaking her head.

"Yes you can, and from the family that has been here, I think you have enough reinforcements for someone to be here with him while you get some rest. Your husband is going to be sleeping a lot for the next few days anyway," the doctor advised Rachel.

Carole looked at the doctor and said, "I'll call the hotel and ask someone to come over, and then I'll take Rachel to the hotel for some sleep."

"If you have any trouble sleeping, please call my office and I'll prescribe something for you. The three of you have been through a very traumatic experience."

"What about Monty? The police took him for more questioning," Rachel asked.

"I'll tell the nurses to have him call you when he comes back. Now both of you get some rest or neither one of you will to be any good to him."

"Doctor, our daughter Beth is two years old. Can she come and see Finn. I think it would do him a world of good to see that she's okay," Rachel asked.

"Let's let some of the facial swelling and bruising fade a little first. I would also like to get him off of some of the machines before she sees him. Finn needs to see her, but all your daughter is going to see is the damage and the machines. Now that's he's awake, I think a phone call would suffice for now. I'll be back in a few hours to check on your husband, and the ICU is keeping a constant watch," Dr. McDuffie said as she excused herself to leave.

Rachel went back in to sit with Finn while Carole called Burt at the hotel.

"The doctor wants me to leave you for a couple of hours, but I can't do it," Rachel said with tears streaming down her face.

"You can, I'm going to be fine here, and Beth probably needs to see you. Give her a kiss for me and bring her the next time that you come," Finn asked squeezing Rachel's hand.

"Dr. McDuffie wants to wait until you have healed some, and you aren't hooked up to all of these machines. She seems to think that it might scare Beth to see you like this. I'm just glad that she didn't see you on the floor in that apartment," Rachel was now sobbing.

Finn reached for Rachel with his left arm and tried to pull her onto the bed with him. "It's okay; you kept Anya from hitting me again with that dumb bell. I'm going to be okay as long as I have you, and Beth, and the rest of our family. Our bigger family now that we have Monty. You go back to the hotel and get some rest. The doctor has ordered some pain medication so I'll probably be sleeping."

"Well I know that the others are anxiously waiting to see you especially Kurt. He'd be here now but the ICU would only let so many people in your room. Monty wouldn't go in case you needed more blood or an organ donor."

"Give me a kiss and you and Mom go and get some sleep. I'm right here by the ICU nurse's station, and they're not going to let anything happen to me," Finn said before Rachel smiled and really kissed him for the first time in days.

Carole came in and kissed her son good bye before she and Rachel reluctantly headed over to their hotel. Kurt and Blaine were on their way over to see Finn. Blaine had to drive because Kurt was giddy that his brother was going to make it.

At the hotel Hiram, Leroy, and Burt were playing with Beth who had just gotten up. Rachel sat down and held Beth in her arms for as long the toddler would sit still.

"Baby, Daddy's going to be okay. He's a little sick now, but you and I are going to go see him very soon," Rachel said softly to Beth as she kissed the top of her head and stroked her yellow curls.

"Daddy sick?" Beth asked with wide eyes. Rachel nodded yes trying not to cry.

"Daddy wuv me?" Beth asked again.

"Yes, Daddy loves you with all his heart," Rachel smiled as she hugged Beth tightly. "And I do too, Baby Girl, I do too."

Rachel gave Leroy her cell phone, and then she and Carole went over to Burt and Carole's room and were soon deeply asleep. Two days of sleeping in hospital chairs had caught up with them.

In the other hotel room, Burt, Hiram, and Leroy were trying to entertain Beth so Carole and Rachel could sleep. Rachel's cell phone rang and Leroy answered it.

"Rachel's not here, this is her father, may I take a message?" Leroy said to the caller.

Leroy listened intently scribbling down a few notes and numbers.

When the call ended, Leroy turned to Hiram and was definitely stunned.

"That was Monty. He has been arrested for obstruction of justice and as an accomplice to murder in the death of the woman that his wife killed."

-/-

Until chapter 12, THANK YOU for all of the reviews, suggestions, and feed back. I appreciate all of you, Whistler Nights