"Finn," Rey's voice pulls me back to reality because I had escaped into my own mind.
We are alone in the room now I hadn't seen anyone else leave. I look at her and she sits up a bit higher and I see that it causes her a lot pain, but she pushes through it.
The empty space in the room seems to match the feeling in my heart. Rey extends her hand and my feet take me to her side. I sit on the chair near her bed and she grasps onto my hand. We sit in silence.
"What happened?" I finally ask.
"He stopped breathing, so they tried to resuscitate him and they're taking him to the emergency room."
Rey doesn't tell me not to worry, because she knows I will. She doesn't tell me that he'll be okay; that he is stronger than this, because she doesn't know, and neither do I. Rey always chooses her words carefully, everything is thought out and logical in her mind, and I wish I could have her conviction.
My lip shakes so I bite down on it. Rey let's go of my hand and runs it into my damp curls, her fingertips drawing soothing motions into my hair.
I want to be closer to her, so I move to the edge of the chair and lean my head to rest against her chest. I watch Rey's stomach rise and fall as she breathes calmly, her fingers twist my curls around.
Suddenly her hand stops and she shifts me off her. I glance up at her and she has moved to the opposite side of the small bed, she is cautious not to tangle any of her wires and cords as she shakily stands off.
"What are you doing? Do you need help?" I fret and stand up from my chair.
"No," she replies kindly and then pats the empty bed. I do as she silently requests and carefully lay on it, it is still slightly upright. Then she climbs back on and she is careful of my leg and I'm careful of her broken ribs as we curl up on her bed together. I end up with my legs straight and my upper body twisted so my head is in the crook of her neck and Rey has her legs curled up against mine and her upper body is flat on the bed so she doesn't stretch her stitches. We seem to fit together like two pieces of a puzzle. My left hand is linked with her right one under the sheet that is brought up under my chin. I kiss Rey's almost healed neck, my right arm extends over our bodies and I trace circles into her hip. She kisses my forehead and I snuggle in closer to her.
She can't move her other hand very far because of all the wires and monitors so she leaves it resting on her stomach.
I take a deep shaky breath and Rey sighs kissing my forehead again.
I'm not sure which one of us dozes off first but we both end up falling asleep, our hands linked and our heads resting together.
I wake in the early hours of the morning to the sound of the door opening. I make eye contact with the nurse who holds it open, and she smiles, assuring me not to move.
She steps inside and Poe's bed is rolled back in, he seems to have more tubes and wires and monitors; if that is even possible.
I don't move, trying my best not to wake Rey, who has rolled partly onto her side so she is curled up around me.
They reconnect Poe to the machines in the room and do not pay much attention to Rey and I. They quietly leave and the first nurse smiles once more before closing the door as she walks out. I hold my breath as I try to decipher between Rey's monitors and Poe's, soon I hear the whistle of his amplified breathing and see the beating of his heart on the screen.
"Finn," Rey's voice is barely a whisper. I look at her and realise she is still fast asleep. I relax back into her. Even in her sleep she is weary of my bandaged leg as she slips her leg between mine, rolling further into me. I smile and move my head so hers slides down onto my shoulder. She snuggles in closer and I do the same. I take a deep breath and slowly fall back asleep.
I groan and squeeze my shut eyes when I feel my shoulder shake. I roll my head in the opposite direction and bury myself into the warmth of Rey's chest. For a moment I forget about her injuries and bring her closer to me, holding her tightly.
Rey unlocks our still combined hands and shifts so she can use it to run through my curls.
"Finn, you have to wake up," Rey coos quietly.
"Get up," I hear Starla clap her hands impatiently.
"Tell her to go away," I mumble.
"Come on, these rookies aren't going to fix themselves," she is so chirpy. It's too early for chirpy.
"Why can't they get fixed when the sun comes up?" I grumble.
"If you opened your eyes, and stopped crushing Rey, you'd see that the sun has indeed risen," I shake my head.
"Ten more minutes?" I plead, "My leg hurts," I lie.
"Too bad, if you could run around the forest looking for Poe you can teach some kids how to walk again," I grumble. Where did my considerate Starla go? The one who was worried she pushed me too hard when she let me exercise by myself for the first time.
I ignore Starla's comment, "Am I crushing you?" I ask Rey.
"No, don't worry about me. You were looking forward to it, come on," she is so gentle and it only makes me want to stay even more.
"5 minutes?" I bargain.
"No," Starla and Rey say simultaneously. They are going to get along great.
I reluctantly pull my face out of her chest and look into Rey's shining green eyes, "Kiss me?" I request almost silently. She presses her lips to my forehead and I frown.
"There, now you have to go. I have some consultations and check-ups soon anyway," I sigh and pucker my bottom lip. "Come on… Don't do that," she lightly runs her finger over my lips. "I'll still be here tonight; we can cuddle up all night long. Promise," I can't stop my grin from taking over my entire face. Rey's smile is so soft and loving, I steal a quick kiss from her and she blushes, I then awkwardly roll and twist out of the bed.
Rey looks small and lonely and I just want to crawl back in next to her.
I frown at Starla, silently complaining about having to leave Rey, but all she does is hide a smirk.
I limp down the hall, following my old nurse to where the administration desk is. It is loud, and busy, the beeping of all the monitors overlapping gives me the beginnings of a headache.
Starla has to check something, so I look around and see my old room. It is occupied with a mature pilot; he lifts some weights and seems to know what he's doing.
"Okay," I turn to see Starla beside me. She has lost her happy expression and it has changed to one of agitation. "You have six rookies," she passes me the corresponding number of holocharts. Her eyes flicker behind me and then back at me. "You see this corridor?" She points down the hall to the rooms running along the far wall.
"Yeah,"
"In each of those is one of your patients, you need to work your way down the corridor each day. You spend one hour with each one and move on to the next. You start at 9 on the dot, with an hour break at midday."
"Sounds like it will be very repetitive," I admit and Starla nods.
"It will, but every patient has something different and we really can't spare any more staff,"
"It's okay, I will try my best. Do I just teach them what you taught me?" I inquire.
"Precisely, start off with the basics, most will be eager to get out of their beds and try to rebuild their strength. You need to be wary of their limits because they won't know how much they can take," she looks at me seriously. I remember how sore I was when Starla let me exercise and push myself for the first time.
"Okay, I can do that."
"Each of your holocharts has the patients name, room number, and which area is most affected by the muscle trauma," Starla starts to look around the busy infirmary.
"Alright, got it!"
"Here, take this," she shoves a pager into my hands; I turn it over a few times. "It is in case something happens to Poe. We will contact you, like you requested," I grin and shove the pager into my shorts pocket.
"Thank you," Starla is quickly focusing more on what is going on around us, then to me, "Well I better start," I offer and she nods quickly.
"I best be off, I have some postop patients to attend to."
Before I have the chance to answer she has disappeared down the hall towards the staircase.