Chapter 12:
It has been four weeks now since Finn was released from the hospital and today they are going for a check up, to see how his leg is healing up and hopefully get the cast removed. Finn and Rachel have pretty much stuck in the house this whole time but they have only managed to get closer.
When Finn was finally able to take a shower for the first time, Rachel helped him wrap his cast in plastic so it wouldn't get wet. They had watched almost every movie that was made available. The bruising to his stomach had gone away as well and he was able to move more freely without pain.
They were laying on the couch, asleep in each others arms as Carole entered the living room. She moved to Finn's side and gently shook his shoulder. "Finn, honey. Time to wake up, you have a check up this morning."
Finn groaned and turned his head, coincidentally rolling it towards Rachel and burying his nose in her hair. Rachel stirred slightly and opened her eyes to see Carole.
"Hey, Carole. What's up?" Rachel asked lifting her head from Finn's chest.
"Hey, sweetheart. Finn has a check up this morning but he's being his usual stubborn self." Carole explained.
"I'll get him up. I have a few tricks." Rachel smiled, looking at Finn, who had managed to sleep through their conversation.
Carole left the room, trusting that Rachel would be able to get him up and eat something before they go. Rachel turned to Finn and leaned up to kiss his cheek, which caused his face to twitch. Rachel smiled and moved to kiss his lips.
After a few seconds, she felt Finn return her kiss and she smiled against his lips. His eyes fluttered open and he squinted at the bright light filling the room before his eyes came to rest on Rachel. "Morning, baby."
"Morning handsome. You have a check up this morning to see if we can get that annoying cast off." Rachel explained as she started to sit up.
"About time. You going to get ready?" He asked adjusting himself so he could get up himself.
"Yeah, I'm going to go get dressed. Your mom is in the kitchen, no doubt making you something to eat before we go." Rachel smiled at him as he stretched his arms over his head, making his muscles ripple. She bit her lip gently.
"Rach, go get changed. I'll meet you in the kitchen." Finn grinned, giving her a quick kiss before grabbing his crutches.
Rachel made her way into the kitchen after getting herself ready for the day. This would be the first time in weeks that Finn would be able to get out of the house and she was hoping it would be good news for him.
She found Finn sitting at the island, already changed to go to the hospital. She wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her forehead against his shoulder, just breathing in his scent. He reached down and wrapped his hands around hers before tugging her into his lap and kissing her temple.
"You look beautiful." He whispered in her ear and she blushed.
"Thank you, Finn. Have you already ate?" She asked him.
"Just finished. We're waiting on you." Finn smiled, letting her get up to sit in the stool beside him.
"I took the liberty of cooking breakfast for you, Rachel. Hope you don't mind." Carole said placing vegan pancakes in front of her.
"No, not at all. Thank you." Rachel replied before taking a bite. "These are really good."
Burt, Carole, Finn and Rachel all piled into his parents SUV and headed out of town to the hospital that Finn had stayed in. Rachel held Finn's hand as they drove along, giving a soft squeeze every now and then.
"What are you nervous about?" Finn asked, leaning over to whisper in her ear.
"What makes you think I'm nervous?" Rachel replied back, looking into his deep cinnamon eyes.
"I've known you long enough to know when you're nervous about something. Your eyebrows knit together and you can't stop squeezing my hand, like you're using it to keep you grounded." Finn explained.
"I'm just worried about what the doctors are going to say." Rachel responded quietly, looking out the window.
"No, that's not it." Finn said studying the side of her face. It finally clicked and he squeezed her hand tighter. "You're worried cause the last time you were there, I was lying unconscious in a hospital bed, aren't you?"
Rachel turned back to face him and he saw a tear slip down her cheek. "I don't know how you do that. Always reading my mind. I can't get the image out of my head. I don't know how to make it stop. I know you're okay now and this is just a check up but I can't stop thinking about it."
Finn wiped her tears away and kissed her nose. "It will go away with time. If you need to keep squeezing my hand to remind yourself, then I'm okay with that."
Rachel leaned her head against his shoulder and Finn kissed her forehead, making eye contact with his mom in the rearview mirror. He gave her a soft smile as he wrapped his arm around Rachel, pulling her closer to his side.
They arrived about twenty minutes later and Burt and Carole went in ahead of them to get him signed in. Rachel grabbed Finn's crutches from the trunk and helped him down from the lifted vehicle. They hobbled in after them and took a seat in the waiting room.
The doctor called them back shortly and Rachel followed Finn back to the room. Burt and Carole decided to wait in the waiting room, so they wouldn't crowd the room.
Rachel squeezed Finn's hand again before he let go to climb onto the examination table. He gave her a small smile and took her hand again when he sat down, giving it a small squeeze of his own.
"Alright, Mr. Hudson. Let's see how this is healing. Have you been keeping weight off of it?" The doctor asked him, taking a look at the swelling around the cast.
"Yes sir and please call me Finn." Finn replied as the doctor rotated his leg slowly, causing Finn to grimace. It was still pretty painful even though most of the swelling had gone down.
"Alright. Well Finn, I'm going to take this hard cast off now." The doctor explained grabbing a cast saw.
Rachel tensed and squeezed his hand. Finn looked at her and swallowed hard before asking the doctor. "That's not going to cut into me, right?"
The doctor chuckled as he turned back around. "Not likely with me behind the saw. Just stay still and everything will be fine."
Finn nodded and squeezed Rachel's hand hard as he turned it on and brought it level with the cast. Within a few minutes the cast was off and the doctor was examining the skin underneath. "Would it be too much to ask if I can itch the crap out of my leg? That thing has been bothering me for weeks."
"I get that all the time. Go ahead, just not too hard. The skin is still badly bruised and I will be putting you in a walking boot for the last few weeks to make sure the ligaments in your ankle finishing healing correctly." The doctor explained.
Finn nodded and reached down with his free hand to lightly run his nails over the bruised skin. He sighed in relief at the sensation and Rachel smiled, placing a soft kiss to his shoulder. "That feels so good, you have no idea."
The doctor came back with a soft cast and a hard plastic boot with a rubber bottom for traction. "Did you get it all out now?"
"I think so." Finn laughed and the doctor moved forward, placing the boot down on the ground.
"Alright, so I'm going to put a soft cast on. It won't affect your mobility as much as the hard cast did and you can take it off to shower. Then I'll put the walking boot on which will effectively get rid of your crutches."The doctor explained.
Finn let out a sigh and looked up. "Thank you, grilled cheesus."
Rachel let out a loud laugh and wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing his cheek. The doctor looked confused and Rachel explained. "One time he made a grilled cheese that he swears looked just like Jesus. He used to pray to it. It's a little inside joke."
The doctor nodded and chuckled as he started putting on the soft cast. "I have heard worse."
Finn and Rachel came back out to the waiting room about thirty minutes later. Rachel's arm was looped through Finn's and they were smiling as they walked up to Burt and Carole.
Carole started to tear up and wrapped her arms around Finn. He held her back, rubbing her back gently. "It's so good to see you standing on your own two feet again."
"I couldn't agree more." Rachel replied, smiling up at Finn. "Sure, he has to wear the boot for a couple more weeks but at least now he won't have to use the crutches."
"And I'll be able to sleep in my own bed again. I've missed that." Finn said with a shrug.
They headed back out to the car when Finn suddenly stopped, bringing Rachel to a halt beside him.
"Finn? What's wrong?" Rachel asked him gently as she waved his parents on towards the car.
He didn't answer right away, he kept staring at a point in the distance. Finally he looked down at her when she squeezed his hand. She noticed the sad expression on his face and she became concerned.
"What's wrong?" Rachel asked him softly, running her hand up his arm.
"I know why I was taken to this hospital." Finn said quietly.
"What? The hospital couldn't even tell us. How could you possibly know?" Rachel asked noticing Carole stop at the car and look at them.
"Remember when I woke up, I said that I was headed home from the auditorium?" When Rachel nodded, he continued. "I was headed home...to you. I was headed to the airport to see you. I wanted to fulfill the promise I made to you."
Rachel's eyes filled with tears and she hugged him tightly. "So this is partially my fault?"
"No, baby. You didn't even know I was coming. Please, don't blame yourself for any of this." Finn begged, hugging her back just as tightly. "It was an accident. It wasn't anyone's fault."
She gathered herself and pulled away. Finn gently wiped her tears away and gave her a small smile. "Come on, let's go home."
They made their way to the car and Finn climbed in with ease. He scooted over to the far side and held his hand out for Rachel to take. She grabbed it and he tugged her in beside him.
"What's going on?" Carole asked as she settled into her own seat.
"Finn figured out why he was taken to this hospital, he remembered something." Rachel explained.
"I'm confused. Why would you have been taken here?" Carole asked, turning in her seat.
"Because I wasn't headed back to your house, mom." Finn started.
"But you said you were headed home from the school." Carole said.
"I was headed home. Rachel is my home and I was headed to the airport to go see her." Finn explained bringing Rachel's hand up to kiss the back of it.
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
So this one is more of a filler chapter to explain some things. I know he didn't necessarily need to go to the exact hospital he was at for the check-up but I needed to go that direction in order to trigger the reason why he ended up there. Anyway, Finn's off the crutches, yay! The walking boot will be gone soon as well but we are well on our way to our happy ever after for them. As Always please review and give me your thoughts. It makes me a better writer. Until next time, 'Losers.'