Chapter Twelve: I Loved You From The Start

Author's Note: Thanks again for all the wonderful reviews. So, you're in for another emotional rollercoaster. This chapter, as well as the last chapter, were my favorites to write. As always, I don't own Glee. The chapter title comes from Something More by Bonnie Dune (I had to get a reference to them in here somewhere).

"Sylvester, I need to have a quick word with you." Schuester said as Sylvester was on her way out of the hospital.

"Sir, can it wait until the morning? I had a grueling day in surgery because of the barge accident and I'd like to get home and see Robin for a little bit before I have to come back here."

"Sue, there's been a horrible accident and Rachel is on her way in."

"Rachel? Rachel Berry? What the hell happened?" For the first time in Will Schuester's time at McKinley, he saw Sue Sylvester look frazzled.

"It was some sort of accident. Finn will be able to tell you once the shock of it all. I'm on my way out to pick up Hiram and Leroy from Grand Central." Schuester started to walk out of the hospital, then turned around. "Oh, and Sue?"

"Yes, Chief?"

"Don't let anything bad happen to that girl."

Sue pressed her lips together and gave the Chief an affirmative nod. "Where is she?"

"Trauma, room two."

Sue nodded and took a second to compose herself. She then sprinted to the trauma room.

She pulled back the curtains and saw a bloody Rachel laying on the hospital bed. She looked to her left and saw Finn holding one of Rachel's hands.

"Hudson, what the hell happened?" Sue said, looking at Rachel to survey the damage.

"We saw a shooting star last night and just fell asleep on the lawn. Next thing I know, there's a car that's driving down the road and the car swerves or does something and hits Rachel. And I blacked out." Finn started shaking his head. "This isn't how our lives are supposed to be."

"Ah, there you are, Dr. Sylvester." Dr. Gilmore, the head of trauma, said as he came into the room. "Rachel's surgery is going to have to be done in shifts. She'll make a full recovery, but she won't be able to return to work for at least six weeks. Her spleen is ruptured so that's what you'll be doing first. Then Lopez will come in and reset the bone in her leg. Cardio and neuro will be in the O.R. room for just in case purposes." Gilmore turned to Finn. "Hudson, I know you were the one who found her. Do you think you'll be able to assist Dr. Sylvester?"

Finn opened his mouth to answer, but Sylvester beat him to it. "Absolutely not. I'll use someone else's intern. Hudson, if I find out you try to get any closer to the operating room than the gallery, you will be suspended for two weeks. Understand?"

"But, Sylvester, Rachel—"

"I'm serious, Hudson. Stay put in the gallery. If you're not in the gallery, you are using the restroom or getting something to eat in the cafeteria. Are we clear?"

"Yes. Can I have a quick moment alone with Rachel before surgery?"

Sylvester sighed. "One minute. Then we have to take her to surgery. Just come out in the hallway when you're ready."

Finn nodded as Sylvester and Gilmore left the room. He went back to where he was sitting and took Rachel's hand.

"Okay, so this is it, Rach. Hopefully, this is the last surgery you're going to have at the hospital. Because I'm sure you want to be the one doing the operating, not the one being operated on." He squeezed her hand. "Now, I have to go, but I'll be watching everything that happens from the gallery. I love you, and I have full faith that you'll come through the surgery perfectly." He kissed her hand and stood up.

"You finished saying what you need to, Hudson?" Sylvester asked when Finn left the room.

"Yeah. You can take her down now. I'll be back in a little bit."

"Remember: no operating room."

"I won't go in there, I promise. Just, take good care of my girl." Finn said.

"Hudson, what kind of statement is that? I am Sue Sylvester, one of the best general surgeons in the United States. I always take good care of my patients."

"How's the surgery going?" Finn asked when he got into the gallery. He sat down next to Kurt and saw that Sylvester had finished up on Rachel, and Santana Lopez was now working on fixing Rachel's leg.

"Perfectly. Sylvester found out the split in the spleen was smaller than she thought, so all she had to do was put the sutures in it. So it's ahead of schedule."

"Have her fathers arrived yet?"

"Not that I know of. I haven't heard anyone come in to say anything about them." Kurt turned his attention from the surgery to Finn. "What the hell were the two of you doing down there last night?"

Finn sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Can you keep a secret?"

Kurt raised an eyebrow at Finn. "What did the two of you do last night?"

"We're back together. And the reason I'm asking you to keep this a secret is because we didn't get to talk about if we were going to tell anyone. But we're together and this time, nothing is going to stand in our way."

"That's good, Finn. I really hope the two of you stay together forever this time."

"I'm going to make sure of it." Finn said. He felt his phone vibrate in his pocket and pulled it out to see that Puck was calling him. "It's Puck. I should take the call to see what he wants." Finn went to stand up and had a small velvet wrapped box fall out of his pocket. Kurt's eyes bugged out when he saw it.

"Finn Hudson, what are you hiding from me?" Kurt said, grabbing the cube before Finn could. He popped the top of it open and gasped. "Oh my God, are you proposing to Rachel?"

"Not so loudly, Kurt. And I'm not sure when I'm doing it, but I am."

"When did you buy this? And how are you doing it?"

"Kurt, I really don't have a clue. So let's just keep this between the two of us."

"Fine. But can I help you plan the wedding?"

"Well, you'll have to ask Rach about that one, but I'm sure she won't mind." Finn said. "God, I wish I could go in there and get an update. But Sylvester told me if I went in, I'd be suspended."

"I can go do it. I'll just say her dads want an update." Kurt pushed himself up off the chair in the gallery chair. "I'll be right back with an update."

"Thanks, Kurt. You're the best."

"Well I knew that, but a little reminder doesn't hurt." Kurt said.

Finn smiled and rolled his eyes. Of course Kurt would say something like that. It was a total Kurt Hummel comment.

"Ah, there's our little Rachela's saving man!" Leroy said when Finn went into the lobby to wait for the all clear to see Rachel.

"Thank you, Finn. It means a lot to us that you saved our daughter." Hiram said.

"I just got her here to the hospital. That's about all I did." Finn said.

"Well, yes, that's true, but that's not what we were talking about." Leroy said. "Kurt said that you and Rachel got back together. And before you get mad at him for telling us, we're her fathers and we deserve to know what's going on in our daughter's life."

"No, it's fine. Um, did Kurt mention anything else to you?"

"No." Leroy said, looking at Hiram. "Was there something he was supposed to say?"

"No. I – uh – I actually have something I need to ask you." Finn fished the engagement ring box out of his pocket and set it down on the table. "Earlier, I bought an engagement ring for Rachel. I don't know when I'm going to use it, but I know that I will for sure use it. But tradition says that I have to ask the bride's father first, and as you both know, Rachel is big on tradition. So, Mr. and Mr. Berry, I want to marry your daughter, and I know it would mean a lot to her if you blessed this."

Hiram and Leroy shared a look with each other as Finn waited expectantly. Then they turned back to Finn with big grins on their faces.

"Nothing would make us happier, Finn." Hiram said.

"Welcome to the family."

"Hiram. Leroy."

The three of them turned their heads around and saw Schuester was standing in the lobby.

"Ah, Will, good to see you again. How's Rachel doing?" Leroy said, standing up.

"She's in recovery now. The surgeries were completely successful. Now, she won't be able to return to work for about two months. I can arrange it with the hospital staff to make sure that she'll have at least one of her roommates at the house with her at all times. We can set up an appointment here in the hospital so she can get her physical therapy here, if you'd like."

"That would be great, thank you, Will." Hiram said, shaking his hand.

"Now, if you'd like to go see her, you can. I'm sure Dr. Hudson can show you to the hospital room."

"Actually, Leroy and I have a consult in New Jersey we have to. Finn, you can go see Rachel if you'd like. And let her know that we'll be by later."

"Of course, sirs. Thanks for the update, Chief Schuester."

"Any time, any time."

Finn stood up and walked back to where Rachel was in recovery.

"She'll still be heavily sedated. But hearing the voice of someone who loves her might get her awake a little quicker." the Chief said. "But you already knew that. I'll let the two of you have some time together. Page me if you need anything."

"Of course, Chief." Finn said, sitting down in a chair by Rachel's hospital bed. He took her hand that was closer to him and gave it a small squeeze. "Hey, Rach, it's me, Finn. So I've been assured by a lot of doctors here at the hospital that you're going to be okay. So now I just need you to wake up so that way we can really start being together." Finn let out a small chuckle. "So, do you realize that last night was your chance to talk and babble on, and now, the morning after everything that happened, it's my turn to talk and babble like a crazy person." Finn took a slight pause to rub the back of his neck. "I love you, and I think it would be the cruelest joke in the entire world to lose you again, especially since I just got you back. I don't ever want to be without you in my life. So not only do I need you to wake up, I need you to remember that we love each other and we're a couple." Finn dug through his pocket and pulled out the engagement ring box. "I got this while you were in surgery. Because when I saw you on the front lawn covered in blood from that stupid car, I realized that I need you in my life in order to survive. If you wake up, I promise to make you the happiest you have ever been. If you wake up from this, I get down on one knee and propose to you because that's how much I love you. You know, I have a feeling that if you were awake right now, you'd tell me I was crazy, but I don't care. This is what I want. I even asked your dads for their blessing and they said yes. I did that for you because I knew that's what you want."

"Okay."

Finn blinked in surprise and looked down to see Rachel was slowly waking up.

"Okay? You heard all of that?"

"Every single word." She smiled at Finn. "So, I hope you meant everything you said because I want to marry you."

Finn smiled and leaned down to kiss her. "Of course I meant every word of it."

She smiled back at him. "Well, prove it. Get down on the bended knee you were talking about and propose to me."

Finn chuckled at her, took the ring box off the table, and got down on one knee. "Rachel Barbra Berry, will you marry me?"

"Yes."

"Yes?"

"Yes, I will marry you!" Rachel started to giggle as Finn put the ring on her finger. "I love you, Finn."

He kissed her again. "I love you, too, Rach."