Paralyzed

Disclaimer; all characters and copyright belong to their respective owners.

A/N-thank you to everyone who kindly reviewed the last chapter.

Chapter Thirty-Rey and Finn

When Finn entered the med-tent he found Harter Kalonia reclining in a chair, her medical journal resting on her raised knees. She raised her head and pulled off her reading glasses as she looked at him curiously. She noted the sheen of perspiration coating his dark skin, a response to the jungle moon's constant humidity. He seemed slightly agitated, his eyes were darting around as if he was searching for something or someone.

"Can I help you with something, Finn?"

"I was speaking to Kaydel…she said that she saw Rey being brought in here earlier." Finn answered, sounding strained. "Is she okay?"

Harter frowned as she closed her medical journal and rose slowly to her feet. "Yes, Rey is perfectly fine. She's sleeping now."

"Can I see her?" Finn asked eagerly.

"Didn't you hear the part where I said she's sleeping?" Harter countered.

Her words seemed to flummox Finn for a minute. He floundered, trying to come up with a reasonable excuse as to why it was so imperative that he see her right now. "Um…I just really need to see if she is okay." He said lamely.

"Why? Did Ben send you to check up on her?" Harter scrutinised him carefully. "I'd rather she wasn't disturbed unless its absolutely necessary."

"Yes, he sent me." Finn lied, quickly latching on to the convenient excuse that she had unwittingly provided for him. He was feeling irked that even the normally astute doctor had fallen into the familiar pattern of calling Kylo Ren by his birth name. But then Kalonia had been a close friend of Leia's, so he supposed it was just a natural progression for her to refer to Organa's son by his given name out of respect for the late general. "He thought you could use a break, so he asked me to sit with Rey for a while." He gave Harter the benefit of one of his warmest smiles, hoping that she wouldn't question him too much. It wasn't a complete lie; he and Rey were close friends.

Harter began to waver as she regarded him thoughtfully. "I did miss dinner…." She said hesitantly, before coming to a final decision. "I won't be gone for long. Just sit here and don't disturb her. She needs to rest."

"Of course." Finn promised faithfully as he settled down in her vacated seat.

Rey's pleasant dream of Ben cradling a tiny infant in his strong arms was ended abruptly as she was shaken back into reality. Her eyes opened, eyelashes faintly batting against her lids when she blinked. She let out an exasperated sigh, groaning as she turned her head to the side to find Finn sitting beside her, holding her hand.

"What time is it? How long have I been asleep? And why are you holding my hand?" She said testily, firing off the questions one after the other as she slipped her hand out of his.

Finn was perturbed by her sharp tone. "I was worried about you…"

Rey tuned Finn out as a wave of nausea overwhelmed her. She had a crick in her neck from where she had slept awkwardly, she was still feeling tired and grumpy. She kept swallowing, and her throat kept clenching, but no matter what she could not stop the warm feeling rising through her chest. Then she could taste it at the back of her mouth. Rey fought down the sickness and flung an arm over her face to shield herself from Finn. She was in no mood for visitors, even if it was Finn. She was surprised that Harter had allowed it.

"Ben." Rey continued to ignore Finn as she reached out to Ben telepathically through the Force. "Where are you?"

"I'm still with Dameron." He responded immediately. His growing concern surrounded her like a comforting blanket. "Are you okay, sweetheart?"

"No." Rey whined pitifully. Despite feeling like crap, a small smile tugged at the corners of her mouth at the sweet endearment. "I feel awful. Finn's here."

"What's he doing there?" Ben's irritation seeped forcefully through their bond, matching Rey's own feelings. "You're supposed to be resting. Where's Harter? She promised to stay with you."

"I have no idea where she is or why Finn's here, but if you don't come and rescue me soon, I am in danger of being sick all over him." She pleaded.

"I'm on my way." Ben promised. "I love you."

"I love you, too." Rey let out a relieved sigh as she raised her arm and glanced at Finn. She felt a little guilty that she had been ignoring him. It wasn't his fault she was feeling so wretched. He was obviously worried. His mouth was still moving as he spoke, she wondered what he had been talking about this whole time. She rolled onto her side as she tried to focus on what he was saying.

"I should have been open about how I felt from the start." Finn said fervently. His warm brown eyes were fixed on hers as he reached for her hand again. "I'm here for you, Rey. Every step of the way."

Rey shivered violently in the humid room as she looked at him in bemusement. Her stomach lurched and she avoided his attempt to hold her hand as she struggled to rise.

"Rey? Rey?" Finn said in alarm when he helped her to sit up. "What can I do?"

Leave me alone so I can be sick in peace, she thought. Aloud, she said. "Pass me the bowl."

Finn quickly grabbed the small bowl and held it out to her. Ashen faced, she took the bowl and clung to it tightly as she was sick. She felt Finn smooth her hair away from her fevered brow as she slumped back against the pillows and closed her eyes. He continued to stroke her hair soothingly as she took deep shallow breaths to calm her weak stomach. Rey longed for Ben to get there…and why did Finn keep touching her? First he was constantly trying to hold her hand, then her hair, and now his fingers were lingering on her cheek. She irritably batted his hand away and closed her eyes. She wished he would get the hint and give her some space.

"Oh, Rey, it hurts me to see you suffering like this." Finn lamented as he sat back down beside her.

"I'm fine, honestly." Rey responded through clenched teeth. And I would have still been fine if you hadn't woken me from my blissful dream, she added in her head. He really needed to leave now. She was fast losing patience with him.

Finn was talking again. "It angers me that Ren took advantage of you like this." He said bitingly. "If I- "

"No one took advantage of me." Rey cut in sharply. "And his name is Ben."

"Rey…" Finn hurriedly tried to placate her. "You need to stay calm. Especially in your condition."

"What do you mean by that, Finn?" She stared at him in panic. Surely, he didn't know. How could he? She could feel her stress levels rising as well as her heightened emotions. She felt out of control and was desperate for some space. When he tried to reach for her hand again in order to calm her down, she reacted instinctively, the Force running through her fingers like an electric current as she sent him flying backwards.

Poe accompanied Ben so they could continue their conversation as they walked toward the medical tent. Dameron was intrigued by Ben's revelation about his Force bond with Rey and how it allowed them to communicate telepathically with one another across the vast distances of space. Of course, that was only a simplified version of their bond, Ben hadn't elaborated on it more than that. There was only so much he felt comfortable telling the other man. Poe had a lot of questions about the First Order as well as Sidious and Ben had tried to answer them as honestly as he could. He felt he was slowly beginning to gain Dameron's trust as they strategized together to form a new plan.

"How many allies do you actually have?" Ben asked.

"The number is growing every day." Poe revealed. "After the battle of Crait…." He paused when he saw a pained look cross Ben's face at the memory of his crazed behaviour in the aftermath of Rey's rejection. He and Poe had briefly touched on the difficult subject of Skywalker's sacrifice, which had allowed the small band of Resistance to escape in the Falcon. The tale of Skywalker's last stand against the First Order had quickly spread across the galaxy, inspiring many to support the Resistance and stand against the First Order. Before his death, Skywalker had also acknowledged Rey as the last Jedi, giving birth to another new hope for both the Jedi and the galaxy as she became the new poster girl for the Resistance. "Let's put it this way." Poe continued after a brief silence. "We're in a better position then we were a year ago."

"Good." Ben murmured as he locked the bad memory away with the others. He needed to focus on the here and now. The past was the past, he couldn't change it. Only atone going forward.

"We were talking about the storm trooper programme." Poe prompted him. They had just touched on the subject before Rey's telepathic interruption. "You really think there's more of them out there like Finn?"

"More than we could possibly know. Many probably too scared of the consequences to revolt like your friend." Ben replied thoughtfully. "I wasn't really involved in that side of things. Hux would know more."

"Why him?"

"The First Order secretly began its own stormtrooper program under the supervision of his father, General Brendol Hux and Captain Cardinal, and later Hux and Captain Phasma took over."

"It figures that bastard would be involved." Poe said derisively. "I don't trust him."

"You might not have any choice but to trust him. If we want to move forward with our plan on freeing as many troopers as possible, then he will be integral to our plans. If we can get more of them to revolt like your friend did, then the First Order will begin to collapse from the inside." Ben pointed out tiredly. "You've had to trust me. And you may be surprised where Hux's loyalties lie these days."

"To himself." Poe muttered.

"Maybe not so much anymore." Ben said cryptically. "It seems that Hux has grown attached to your young engineer."

"Rose?" Poe's eyes opened wide in disbelief as he stared at Ben. "You have got to be kidding me."

Ben suddenly felt a powerful surge of anger and frustration shoot through him that about took his breath away. It was coming from Rey. The med-tent was straight ahead, he was about to take off in a fast sprint to come to her aid, when he saw Finn fly through the tent flaps, his arms flailing, before landing heavily on his backside.

"What the hell is going on here?" Poe said from behind Ben when Rey appeared at the entrance visibly fuming.

"That's what I would like to know." Ben muttered darkly as he marched toward the tent.

A/N-thanks for reading. Please review if you have the time.