Disclaimer: I do not own Glee

A.N. Thank you to all the amazing people who read/follow and review this story. I now have over 500 reviews and am so happy to have reached this milestone, so a big 'thank you' to you all, and a special mention to 'BigTimeGleekBTR' who posted review number 500.

I am so grateful to xXLittle Rose AngelXx for taking on the challenge of being my beta reader and fixing the silly mistakes I can't help but make.

Dr Francis McKenzie, or 'Dr Mac' as he was more commonly known by both patients and colleagues alike, was a well respected neurosurgeon. Since moving to Lima Memorial three years ago, he had worked tirelessly to improve his department so that the hospital's reputation was amongst one of the best in the state. The past few days had been some of the toughest of his career, as he dealt with two cases that were equally as challenging, testing not only his own skills but also that of the majority of the staff directly involved with both patients. Having spent most of the previous day with Finn Hudson and his mother, Dr Mac was hoping to focus more on Noah Puckerman, who had been left in the capable hands of his second in command.

As the teen continued to improve steadily with every hour that passed, Dr Mac wanted to see for himself that there were no complications remaining from either the swelling to Noah's brain or from the drugs that had been used to induce the coma that had been necessary. Any brain injury was a serious matter, and there was always a sense of fear that the patient may not wake up or, if they did, they may be left with irreversible side effects. Checking his schedule for the day, he noted that Kurt Hummel was due in for a repeat scan to ensure that any trauma that caused his concussion had healed. Leaving instructions that he was to be called when Kurt's results were back, or if Carole Hummel needed to see him, Dr Mac began his rounds.

Upon walking in to the room shared by Noah and Rachel, he saw the former watching protectively over his sleeping roommate. Speaking quietly, so as not to wake her, Dr Mac was pleased to hear that Noah's blurred vision was gone and that only a minor headache remained. Noting the low lighting in the room, Noah admitted to his doctor that any bright lights still caused pain, but again it was not as much as the day before. Checking his notes, Dr Mac enquired about Rachel, who, although not his own patient was a favourite of his none the less.

"She's doing great, Doc." Noah smiled, his focus on Rachel for a few minutes. "There have been no nightmares since I woke up, her pain had reduced a lot and she even let Brittany bring her for a walk outside."

"Well, it is very difficult to refuse Ms Pierce anything," Dr Mac joked. Like all of the hospital staff, he had found Brittany's personality charming and her dedication to her friends infectious, which meant that it was next to impossible to deny the bubbly girl anything she asked for.

"Do you think that we'll be getting home any time soon?" Noah asked, and then quickly added, "No offence intended, Doc." He was looking forward to getting back to the real world, to seeing more than one of his friends at a time, wanting to spend time with Becca, who hated seeing her older brother in hospital and, if he was being completely honest, he really wanted to put as much distance between himself, Rachel and Finn as was possible. He had heard his mom and the Daddies Berry whispering when they thought that he was sleeping, had heard pieces of conversation between his friends as they changed places when they were visiting, so Noah knew that something major had happened to Finn.

The frustrating part was that his memories of those last few minutes in the basement were missing. He had been told that both he and Rachel had fought back against Finn, and that Kurt had been pulled to safety by Quinn so that the smaller boy had luckily only suffered a concussion. He had flashes of memories that disappeared almost as suddenly as they appeared, heard strange noises that had no meaning to him, and yet he knew these glimpses where important somehow. Trusting Dr Mac when the man told him that the memories would probably return as he continued to heal, Noah was trying not to let this slight amnesia take away from the fact that he and Rachel were safe. Still, there was this persistent, nagging memory that kept trying to make itself known to him, but the more he tried to just relax and let it come to him in its own time, the further away it seemed.

"Noah? Is everything okay? Your heart monitor spiked just now." Dr Mac sounded concerned.

"Yes, I'm fine; it's just an elusive memory that refuses to cooperate with me."

"It sounds to me as if Artie's tutoring is kicking in." Rachel's voice joined the conversation, and both Dr Mac and Noah turned to see her sitting up in her bed, smiling fondly at them.

"Hello, Ms Rachel," Dr Mac began, only for a nurse to come in to the room and whisper quietly to him before leaving almost as quickly as she had appeared. "Another patient needs me I'm afraid," the doctor told them apologetically, making a few additions to Noah's chart and then, after promising to check in again as soon as he could, he exited the room.

"Poor Dr. Mac; he works so hard," Rachel commented idly, her eyes fixed on Noah's.

"You look as if you're about to break the rules, Ray," he responded, a new tone to his voice.

"Me, break the rules?" Rachel asked innocently. "That sounds very unlikely." She moved very carefully out of her bed and across the small distance that separated them. "Now, where did Britt put it?" She looked behind the curtain that Brittany had decided made a better hiding place than the privacy provider that it was meant to be. Rachel's eyes lit up as she found the dark blue fleece blanket that her friend had left there for her.

With the smallest bit of effort, Noah moved over in his bed, his eyes never leaving Rachel as she lay beside him and pulled the blanket around herself. Noah immediately wrapped his arms around his girl, a contented sigh escaping him as he welcome the feel of her body so close to his once more.

"I hope, Ray, that you are not going to get me kicked out of our room by your dads," he teased as his hand tenderly pushed a lock of her silky hair away from her forehead. Instead of answering him, Rachel just moved even closer to Noah, placing delicate kisses wherever she could reach. Noah moved slightly in order to grant her better access to him, and then placed kisses of his own on her soft skin, loving the little gasps Rachel made when his lips brushed against a particularly sensitive area on her throat.

"Noah."

The sound of his name from Rachel's mouth, so full of devotion and adoration, did crazy things to him and, unable to help himself, he tilted his head so that he could fully capture her lips.

Later, Rachel would tell Brittany of the sparks she felt - how they seemed to dance over her skin until she thought she would burst into flames. She would whisper to her friend about the way Noah's touch made her never want to let him go, and how she had realised that there would never be anyone else who would cherished her as much Noah did. She would tell her how she had tried to convey all of her pent up emotions through the way she kissed him back, wanting him to know that he was all she could ever wish for in a soul mate. This, she told Britt in hushed tones, was beyond anything they had shared before; this was not just about the way she explored the sweet cavern of his mouth, not just about how his tongue felt like velvet as it danced with hers, or even the way his hands caressed down her body. This was them acknowledging just how close they had come to losing one another, how close they had come to never saying the words out loud.

There was no more reason to wait for some fabled perfect moment, if such a thing even existed. Surely it was time to stop holding back, holding on to the fear that something would ruin this declaration. Both knew only too well that in the real world there was pain, there was suffering and there was heartache. They could spend days, weeks waiting, waiting for injuries to heal, for lawyers and judges to deliver justice, for their families to stop worrying. The list was endless and both were done waiting. There was nothing that they could not face together, no obstacle that they could not overcome. The fact that they were here, lying so close to one another, breathing and touching when by all rights they should not be, was proof of how fragile life could be. Suddenly, it didn't matter that they were in hospital instead of a more romantic setting, that they were in their pyjamas and not their best clothes. It didn't matter that the future was still so uncertain; all that mattered was that they were here, together, alive.

"I love you." Both spoke at the same time, their eyes locked, their breathing slightly erratic from their intense kisses. No more needed to be said, no explanations necessary; both were in sync with the other. They kissed again, less forcefully, but no less passionately. Whereas in the past Puck would have pushed to reach the next base as soon as he could, Noah was gentle, welcoming the gift of love that Rachel was bestowing on him. Sweeping his lips tenderly over her face, Noah placed kisses anywhere he could, returning time and time again to worship her lips, revelling in the sounds Rachel made and the fluttering touches of her own lips on his that made his heart race. Somewhere in distance, Noah became aware of a noise that sounded out of place, but at the same minute Rachel nibbled on his bottom lip and he was lost to the world outside of the girl in his arms. As far as both Rachel and Noah were concerned, this interlude lasted hours, until they both fell into a very contented sleep, tell tale signs of their embraces left for their parents to see.

Earlier, alerted by Noah's heart monitor, Sarah had found the two teens so wrapped up in the moment that neither noticed her sneak into the room to check on them. Nor did they see Sarah switch Noah's monitor to mute, the nurse knowing that the machine was being closely watched at the staff desk and that, if Noah needed attention for any reason, an alert would sound at the desk. She, along with Hiram and Leroy when they heard the news, were just surprised that it had taken their children so long to have this moment. In fact, Leroy grumbled that he had lost a bet he had been foolish enough to make with Brittany, although he refused to tell either Sarah or Hiram what his forfeit would be. Now the three parents stood guard so that no one would interrupt Rachel and Noah, going so far as to ask Carole to delay her planned conversation about Finn's transfer to the secure medical wing until the next day - a request that Carole had agreed to at once.

In the end, it was the sound of Dr Mac leaving the room that woke Noah. The doctor waved away the boy's attempts to call him back, the man giving him a wink as Rachel snuggled closer to Noah.

"Hey," she said in a sleepy voice, drawing Noah's attention to her straight away. Rachel's cheeks were slightly flushed, her hair curling loosely in places as it framed her shoulders, and Noah couldn't remember her ever looking more beautiful as she did just then.

"Good dreams?" he whispered, for some reason not wanting to speak loudly in case it broke the magic that seemed to have surrounded them as they slept.

"The best," Rachel replied, a slight smile on her face although she refused to be drawn further on the subject her dream, beyond the fact that Noah had featured prominently in it. "I guess I should go back to my own bed," she said, even though her reluctance to leave the comfort of Noah's arms was obvious. Even as he agreed with Rachel, Noah pulled her to him, sipping at her lips before deepening the kiss, knowing he was falling more in love with her with ever second that passed.

"You are everything, Ray," he rasped, his voice thick with the emotions he was trying to convey. He was somewhat surprised when Rachel pulled away from him at these words.

"Noah." She looked into his eyes, getting lost momentarily by what she saw reflected in them. "I love you. I think that I always have." She moved her hand until it rested over his heart. "I will protect this with everything I have."

"I love you too, Rachel, more than I ever thought I could love anyone. My heart is only whole because you helped me put it back together. It is yours for as long as you want it." He held his breath; he rarely spoke like this to anyone, not even his mother, but there was no secret he could keep from his girl, nor did he want to.

"Forever," Rachel replied, placing a gentle kiss over his heart as if it were fragile and might break with only the slightest amount of pressure. She knew what this gesture meant, had seen how much Noah had struggled to let people in, afraid that he would lose them like he had lost his dad and Beth.

"Forever sounds perfect, Ray," Noah whispered to her. "Do you have to leave just yet?" His question hinted at the vulnerable boy who was always hovering just beneath the surface, rarely trusting that people would stay with him.

"A few more minutes won't hurt," Rachel replied, her breath tickling at Noah's neck.

Fifteen minutes later, Sarah and Hiram found the couple in each other's arms talking softly. Rachel's head was rested on Noah's chest while he lazily traced random shapes on her back.

"Hi Daddy, hi Sarah," Rachel said brightly, not moving from her place close to Noah, nor feeling the slightest bit guilty at being caught out of bed. She was, at last, exactly where she was supposed to be.

A.N. I really really really hope that this chapter met with all of your approval and that the 'Puckleberry' scenes were worth the wait?!

Now for some shout outs to my reviewers who have no PM enabled;

'Vanessaray' I hope this chp was 'feel good' enough for you?! Your comments always push me to work that bit harder.

'Guest' Finn is both paralyzed and going to jail. He will be in a secure medical unit that is part of a prison complex. Sorry for any confusion.

'Stranger888' I hope you approved of the sweet moments in this chapter? Thank you for your kind review.

'BT' The glee family is all kinds of awesome and with Will and Finn soon to be out of the picture there are no more weak links to tear it apart :)

'On-Eno' I do believe you will find the next chp interesting based on one of the questions you asked in your last review.

As ever I would like to thank each of you for reading, and please feel free to tell me your thoughts, your suggestions or any comments you have for me. ~Carrie