CHAPTER 12

When Finn hit the water, his first thought was 'concrete.' Hitting water from such a high altitude was just as painful as hitting rock-hard ground. However, it was also the water that saved him. The water was frigid cold, and it effectively pulled Finn out of his shock. His whole body was hurting, but the freezing water rejuvenated him, and Finn refused to let death overtake him.

Bella watched Finn throw himself off the edge of the bridge, and she almost threw up. They had just made it onto the helicopter and were about to take off. Every inch of her face was covered in tears. That man had sacrificed his life to save hers. Although he was more than qualified for the mission, the man wasn't even a full-time soldier. He had just joined the military for the summer; he was meant to go back to school for his senior year in a couple of weeks. He had a family back home. How would they react, knowing that Finn had been killed. She started to sob, and Clint hugged her.

"Hey, you don't know. Hudson could be ok. Until we see the body, there's always a chance."

She nodded. "You and I both know that it's not likely. He… he gave his life to save mine."

"Well then, make him proud. Live your life well. Make his sacrifice worth it. If not for you, then for Hudson."

She nodded and took a deep breath. The past month had been extreme rough, but Finn somehow made it all OK. He had saved her from certain death. She was sure that, under different circumstances, she would develop romantic feelings for him. But he was gone, so those feelings were quenched.

"Get up!" Burt kicked Kurt's bed roughly, causing the mattress to shake a bit.

The formerly-sleeping young man cracked open one eye to glare disapprovingly at his father. "Does the term 'beauty sleep' mean nothing to anyone in this family?" He groused tiredly.

"Not when you asked me to make sure you didn't sleep in past your meeting this morning. You've only got an hour and a half to get there. Knowing how long it takes you to get ready, that's barely enough time. Unless you want to be late and kicked off the show, I'd say it's time to get a move on." Burt placed a cup of coffee on the night table beside Kurt's bed. "Even got you some coffee."

Kurt sleepily pulled himself up and took the proffered cup, drinking deeply. He made a slight face and then glanced up at his father. "You don't seriously expect me to accept this swill as coffee, do you? "

"You're welcome. Yes, it is a beautiful day outside…and it's not my fault you don't like real coffee," Burt said with a small smile. He turned at the sound of the house phone ringing. He quickly walked over to answer it, but not before looking over his shoulder back at Kurt. "Up and at 'em, Kurt!"

The small teen made a face at his father.

"Hel-lo!" Burt responded happily into the receiver. "Yes, she is. Just give me a minute and I'll see if she's finished. One second." His dad suddenly disappeared into the master bedroom. "Carole, phone's for you."

Kurt rubbed his eyes and downed another gulp of the not-coffee to try and caffeine-jump his system; he sighed and pushed his sheets off. Since he was still wearing his blue silk pajamas, and the house was quite warm with the middle of summer temperatures as they were, he opted to proceed to the bathroom without his customary house-coat. Once he got to the doorway, he smiled wearily at seeing Carole, wearing a housecoat, smile, and mouthing a 'good-morning' to him before picking up the receiver of the house phone.

"Carole Hudson-Hummel speaking." She smiled a bit wider. "Yes, I am. Is he-" Kurt watched as Carole's face instantly changed from happy to suddenly horrified as her eyes went wide. "WHAT?" She practically yelled into the phone. "When? WHEN?" She swallowed and her hand went straight to her mouth. Her tears started and her eyes took on a far off look, her entire self focused on the words from the caller.

Kurt felt his adrenaline suddenly start pumping through him in worry as he watched Carole lean against the wall and breathe heavily, wet trails of tears trailing down her cheeks. "In Berlin? What the-"

Burt was suddenly at the door, one hand on Carole's shoulder and a serious look on his face. He and Kurt exchanged a quick glance between each other, and a silent message seemed to pass between them as they watched Carole's horrified expression get even deeper.

Something's happened to Finn.

Her expression suddenly changed to one of slight relief, and she closed her eyes and nodded. She then found a piece of paper and pen on the small telephone table in the hallway and jotted a few things down. "Yes...yes, I understand. I'll be there as soon as possible. Thank you, Lieutenant Colonel." She slowly replaced the phone into the cradle and turned to Burt, her eyes wide. "Finn's been hurt. He's in the hospital. I...I have to see him, Burt."

Although his face betrayed almost all the questions he wanted to ask, Kurt watched as his father simply swallowed, adjusted his ball-cap a bit, and then nodded. "Whatever you need, Honey. Just say it."

"What's going on, exactly?" Kurt asked from the doorway of the master bedroom. Carole stilled and turned up to see her step-son, then took a deep breath and stood straight.

"Finn got hurt on a mission in Bangladesh. The whole country was hunting him, but he managed to make it to a US Military Base before he collapsed. They airlifted him to Berlin for emergency treatment but because of loss of blood, he's in a coma. His condition is stable, so now it's just a matter of when he wakes up, if he wakes up."

"How was he hurt?" Kurt asked. Even Burt looked up at Carole in askance.

"You have to promise not to say anything to anyone. Anyone! They're trying to keep this from hitting the news out of state. Burt: nothing to anyone at your shop. Kurt: not a word to any of your friends, not even to Blaine." She stopped and began to wring her hands a bit. "I'm serious, okay? Not a word."

Kurt grew much more alarmed, and he stood to his full height, all traces of sleep vanishing instantly as he swallowed and held his breath, waiting for his step-mother's attention. After Burt nodded, Kurt did also. "I promise."

Carole took a breath and nodded. "When he arrived at the hospital, he was already on the brink of death. He was stabbed twice, both of which he had temporarily bandaged up. Then, he got sniped in the shoulder. It was too much for his body."

Kurt reeled at the information, all at once worried for his step-brother but relieved Finn might be okay. After collecting his wits about him, he looked at Carole. "So...why is there so much secrecy?"

Carole was breathing rapidly as she spoke, her voice wavering. "Because… The Bangladeshi government played the US troops. It wasn't just the bad guys that were hunting Finn, it was the whole damn country!"

"WHAT?" Kurt's jaw dropped open in astonishment.

"I don't know more than that," Carole said. "But he's in a military hospital in Berlin and the Army is not letting anyone see him yet. Not even family. Just a couple of high level army personnel."

Kurt felt sick, angry and helpless all at once that his new step-brother-in-arms was lying somewhere, injured, and there wasn't anything he could do for him. For one of the very few times in his life, he prayed silently to keep his step-brother safe during this difficult time for him, hoping something would hear him.

Finn swam in the direction of the current. He had studied various maps and satellite images of the area the day before he deployed, so he knew exactly where he was. He dragged himself out of the water 15 minutes later, and took in his surroundings. Just like the maps he had seen, he was surrounded by a rice field. He knew that he was a couple of miles away from an Army Base, so started to trek towards it. On the way, Finn yanked a leaf off a nearby tree and wrapped his arm with it. He didn't have any communication, medical supplies, or weapons. His arm was in excruciating pain, and it felt almost numb. At least he had stopped the bleeding.

He spent the next couple of hours trekking. There were next to no troops nearby as he was in the countryside, and he was also presumed dead when the troops saw him fall off the bridge. He only saw one troop the whole time, and Finn hid in his surroundings, so he wasn't spotted. His arm was hurting more and more as he kept on going. Finally, after 3 hours, his arm was too painful, and he couldn't go on. He started to bleed through his leaf bandage, and he lay on the ground. He could hear shouting voices approach him, but Finn was unconscious by the time they made it. He didn't even feel them carry him away…

Finn woke up in an incredibly bright room. It took him a while to adjust to his surroundings. He was clearly in some sort of hospital room: wires were connected to various parts of his body. He tried to move his bad arm, but something was stopping him. He then realised: he was wearing a cast. Finn tried to sit up, but a shooting pain pierced through his body so he gave up.

"Don't move, Hudson. Just stay still." He heard a voice say from the corner of the room. Finn's head shot up and he saw a nurse sitting there.

"Who the hell are you? Where am I?"

"I'm Nurse Kipsey, you're in a military hospital in Berlin. You were airlifted here after you collapsed a couple of meters from a US Military Base."

Finn nodded. "So I'm in American custody?" He asked. Nurse Kipsey nodded and Finn relaxed a little. A doctor walked into the room moments later, and Finn looked at him.

"Welcome back to the world of the living, Mr. Hudson," The Doctor said, smiling. Finn raised an eyebrow.

"I was dead?" Finn asked, perplexed.

"Only for 30 seconds. We managed to resuscitate you. You're in stable condition now, and after we run some tests, we can probably discharge you and put you on a plane back to the States."

Finn simply nodded. He wasn't tired at all, but it took a lot of effort to speak. His throat was like sandpaper so he gestured for some water. The nurse immediately obliged and Finn sipped it gratefully. After this, Finn was helped out of the hospital bed and he followed the doctor down the hall and into another room. This room was much bigger, and didn't have a bed. It was clearly a physiotherapy office. Finn spent the next couple of hours undergoing a series of physio tests and x-rays. At the end, the physiotherapist smiled at Finn.

"Well done, Hudson. There seems to be no nerve damage whatsoever. That's a really good sign when waking up from a coma."

Finn's eyes widened. "WHAT? I was in a coma? For how long?" He asked.

"3 weeks."

"WHAT?!"

"Yeah, you had lost a lot of blood. We weren't sure if you would be waking up."

Finn nodded slowly.

"Does my family know?" He asked. The physiotherapist nodded.

"We told them. But they aren't cleared to see you yet. When you fly back to the States, you'll get to see them. Anyways, now that you seem to have no nerve damage, I'm gonna ask you a couple of questions to make sure that there is no memory loss."

"Okay, hit me." Finn said. The doctor smiled.

"What is your full name?"

"Finn Christopher Hudson."

"How old are you?"

"17."

"Birthday?"

"7th November 2007."

"Name of your parents?"

Finn raised an eyebrow.

"I'm not gonna answer that. I'm sorry, I know you're just doing your job, but I just met you. I wanna make a call to my superior officer."

"No need," A voice came from behind him. It was Sergeant Johnson, and he was actually smiling.

"Hey Finn, how's it going?" He asked. Finn raised an eyebrow and gestured to the cast on his arm.

"Not great, actually." He commented. Johnson laughed.

"Actually, Mr. Hudson,' The doctor said. "We can remove the cast today. It's been on for a month as a precaution: you didn't break any bones. But it is gonna hurt like a bitch so we're going to give you a sling."

Finn smiled and nodded. Over the course of the next few hours, Finn's cast was removed, and Finn was given a run-down of everything that happened after he left. Bella had managed to make it out with Eastwood and Sucre, Morrison had been given a hero's funeral and a Purple Heart, Daniels on the other hand was posthumously dishonorably discharged. Finn had also been granted the Purple Heart, and, to his surprise, the Medal of Honor for his heroic actions. To keep his identity classified, he didn't get a big ceremony. Finn didn't care though. All he cared about was that he was alive.

However, President Obama did make an appearance at the hospital. Finn's eyes widened as the man walked in.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Hudson."

"Mr. President, I…" Finn was speechless.

"It's Barack. Mr. President sounds too formal! So, congratulations Private. You are the first teenage Medal of Honor winner in history. In 3 months time, after all of the unrest has settled down, we will reveal your name to the public, but for now, it needs to remain classified. It's still an amazing achievement though - I mean Medal of Honor! Every single person in the army would die for one of these."

Finn looked down.

"Is everything okay, Mr. Hudson?" Obama asked. Finn shook his head.

"I… I don't deserve this. First of all, I didn't train for nearly as long as everyone else in the army. Second, and more importantly, all I did to earn this was kill almost 200 people. That isn't an achievement!"

It was Obama's turn to shake his head.

"Finn, trust me. You deserve this. You did what no other soldier in the whole military would have done. You transferred from the easiest, to the hardest job in the military. You went on a suicide mission, that took a turn for the worse. You were betrayed by a fellow soldier. You had the option to pull out and leave the girl, but you didn't. You then sacrificed your own life to save hers. That sounds like a damn hero if you ask me."

In the evening, Finn spent the night in the hospital. They needed to keep him there for a night to make sure his body wouldn't act up. It was relatively uneventful, and before Finn knew it, he was on a plane home.

"FINN'S OKAY!" Carole cried, as she hung up the phone once again. "He woke up from his coma and is flying back to the States tomorrow. His shoulder is in a sling, but other than that, he's relatively unharmed."

Kurt and Burt let out a sigh of relief. When Carole was called the second time by the Army, they had assumed that it meant that Finn was officially deceased.

"That's amazing!" Burt shouted, hugging his wife tightly. Kurt's face also flooded with relief. He had been so worried about his step-brother. Over the past month, the US and Bangladesh had started to have an international incident due to what had happened. The U.S pulled all resources and troops out of the country a couple of days ago.

"So, when is he coming in?" Kurt asked.

"Tomorrow at around 11 am."

Bella came home from the Met with her mom at around 5 pm. After her kidnapping, she didn't feel comfortable riding in taxis alone (that was how she was captured in the first place), so she always had one of her parents with her. Due to the US pulling out of Bangladesh, Bella's father - William - was being transferred to somewhere within the States. They just didn't know where yet. No matter how hard she tried not to, her mind kept going to Hudson. She didn't even know his first name, and yet he had sacrificed his life for her's. As they walked into the hotel room, Bella's dad smiled at his wife and daughter.

"Hey dad, what's up?" Bella asked.

"I got my next job location."

"Oh, really? Where?" Bella's mom - Anna - asked curiously.

"Lima, Ohio…"