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Finn’s first thought was about Han Solo and the help—
No. Never mind. He was gone. There wasn’t any help for him. But what about…
Rey! Was she alright? Finn would have jumped from where he lay to go look for her and only refrained from the action because of the pain searing through him and the inability to move.
But he was somewhat conscious. That was good. Hopefully moving would come next.
To calm any and all worry, Finn, tried to rationalize the situation. He wasn’t dead. Death didn’t hurt this damn much. He was pretty sure of that. And he wasn’t still on the planet weapon because he’d be dead in that case too. He doubted Kylo Ren would have spared him and if he was in the hands of the First Order they’d probably force him awake instead of allowing him to lay there.
So he was back with the Resistance. Alright, that made sense.
And Rey, she was probably alive. Worry of course would remain until he knew for sure but it was doubtful someone would have just found him on that planet without a beacon or someone else calling for help. So Rey had likely won or at least succeeded in a stalemate with Kylo Ren and they had both ended up with the Resistance.
That was good. Alright. So did that mean they had won?
Wait! That wasn’t even the most important question! If he was with the Resistance then of course they had won. The real question was who else had died in the battle. Was Poe still alive? Had he succeeded in his mission or had he fallen to the First Order?
At least with Rey he could rationalize that she was alive and Solo…he was gone. There was no coming back from that. And Chewbacca was probably alright too. If he and Rey were out then Chewbacca definitely had time to get out as well. But Poe, no matter how good of a pilot he was the First Order…
The First Order honestly could have killed him.
Just thinking about this was straining Finn’s mind and filling him with anxiety. His body countered it by pulling him back into darkness and the next time Finn came to, he could finally move some.
Slowly becoming more aware of his surroundings, Finn noted that he was lying on his stomach. Made sense and Finn tried to move…something slowly. First he twitched his fingers a bit and then let out a hoarse groan as he attempted to open his eyes. It mostly worked and his ears zeroed in on certain noises around him.
People were coming and going but it wasn’t busy. Someone near him had rushed off but was now coming back. It took some time for Finn to focus in on the words and he finally caught on at “…almost didn’t make it. But you did and you’ll heal. It will just take a while. We don’t have a room for you to stay in, if you even decide to stay with us, but for now you’ll have to get use to the medbay and—”
“Is Rey—”
“She’s fine. She’s on her mission to find Luke Skywalker. They figured out the map.”
“She did?” Finn asked straining his head to look at the nurse. He blinked to clear his eyes a bit more and asked, “So she is safe? Do you know when she’ll be back?”
“Yes and no. She sent a transmission once she entered the System where Skywalker supposedly is. A number of issues could complicate the mission however. It’s impossible to say.”
Finn sighed but it was mostly a happy one. She was safe at least. Now just to double check… “Chewbacca, is he—”
“Fine-well as fine as he can possibly be. He joined Rey on her mission,” the nurse sighed. “He’s also the one who managed to get you both off that planet in time.”
Ok, now there was just one thing he needed to ask and he dreaded it. “I’m guessing we won the fight too but what happened—”
“Hey buddy! Heard you were awake so—”
“Poe Dameron I am in the middle of a medical examination,” the nurse growled out. He blocked Poe’s way into the room with arms crossed.
“But it’s my break time and—”
“Don’t even try to pull the ‘best pilot’ line on me.”
“Actually I was going to remind you I helped take down the Starkiller.”
Though Finn couldn’t see either man’s face from this angle, he imagined that the prolonged pause was from the nurse giving Poe a stern look. Fin was surprised when Poe actually didn’t continue to argue with the man and simply said, “Fine, I’ll come back later. Just let me drop this off.”
Finn imagined the nurse rolling his eyes as he heard something drop into a chair out of his line of sight. Then, “See you later buddy,” and he was alone with the nurse again.
Finn caught the nurse grumbling about Poe being to obvious or something but he missed most of the words. Instead the nurse made some calibrations and then focused back on him. “If you don’t have any more questions I’ll start the medical examinations. Do you have any more questions?”
“Um, about how long will I be stuck here?”
“Like I said, it’s difficult to tell depending on where you end up rooming. But you’ll need to remain on your stomach for another day or two before even attempting to sit up,” he said.
Finn sighed. “Alright. I suppose that’s it. Let’s get on with the exam then.”
“Sounds good to me. Afterwards General Leia would like a word with you,” the nurse added. “Then I would suggest you get some rest but I’m assuming you’ll be bombarded by a certain pilot later on. Now, I’m just going to…”
After suffering through the medical examination, the nurse got him some water and food. Afterwards General Leia came and told him mostly the same news along with commemorating him for what he did and standing up to Kylo Ren. She also mentioned the possibilities he had with the Resistance if he chose to stay and the choices he had in how he could help.
Finn gave her his condolences about Solo. He didn’t know General Organa and he couldn’t tell if she was hurting or not. But even strong people hurt and Finn honestly couldn’t imagine a worse situation to be in. He knew the words didn’t really change anything but he at least thought he saw appreciation in the General’s eyes.
After she left, he then had approximately four seconds of rest and solitude before someone with a very peppy run was heard coming in. A chair was dragged across the floor and a smiling face came into view as the X-wing pilot plopped down.
“I’d go for the hug again but figured your back wouldn’t appreciate it,” Poe said.
“Uh, yeah. My back thanks you for that.”
Poe chuckled, though for a moment he seemed ironically depressively happy. That look disappeared though before Finn could comment on that. Instead, Poe looked chipper as ever and pulled into view his old jacket. “I dropped it off earlier but I figured you hadn’t seen it. Should probably wait until your back gets better to wear it but I wanted to show you I fixed it.”
“Fixed…?” Finn looked at the stitching and patching that had been done along the back where the lightsaber had sliced through. “You sewed it up? For me?”
“Yeah, I mean…hell it’s been through a lot but for all I knew it might have gained some sentimental value to you. I can get you a new one. Or even a better one. Yeah it was probably kind of stupid of an idea and shouldn’t have done it but I did do it so you can do what you want with it if you want it and—”
“Thanks Poe. It means a lot,” Finn said, interrupting the man’s rambling.
“Really? I mean awesome! Glad it does. The rip will only make you look more badass anyways. So, I’m guessing you got the run down from everyone?”
“Yeah, I think.”
“So do you know who you’ll be bunking with?”
“Uh, I don’t know if I’ll even stay here,” Finn admitted.
“But you did such an amazing job! You stood up to Ren even!”
“Yeah but the Starkiller is gone and that’s the main reason I was any help. It all came from what I knew. The rest of my knowledge is more general and just the training areas.” Finn responded.
“But what you think is general may not be. And you helped so many people. You’re a hero!”
“Yeah but you and your guys were the ones that blew it up.”
Poe shook his head. “Yeah but that would have been impossible without you. Besides, everyone else wants you to stay.”
Finn had the suspicious feeling that ‘everyone’ meant something else but he kept that to himself and replied, “But I’m not that great of a warrior. I’m not a leader either.”
“So? You’re kind. Besides, you said it yourself. You saved me because it was the right thing to do. You’re the kind of people that the Resistance needs.”
Finn focused on the word ‘saved’. He hadn’t actually thought about that. He’d just helped Poe. He hadn’t actually saved him. Had he? “It was my arguing that nearly got us both killed.”
Poe shrugged. “Well I argued to so if it’s your fault it’s mine as well. And I wouldn’t have the chance to crash if you hadn’t saved me.”
“I suppose you’re right,” Finn sighed as he gave a slight shake of his head. “But I still don’t know what I could do for the Resistance.”
“Honestly anything. Having another body helping with whatever would be fantastic. Though I have to say you’re pretty good under pressure and a great shot. You could be an X-wing pilot!”
“Wait, seriously?” Finn propped his head up a bit. He winced at the slight bit of movement but focused in on Poe.
“Yep. We always need more X-wing pilots. Then I’d have an even better reason to convince General Organa that you should bunk with me, buddy.”
Finn’s eyebrows shot up. “Wait what?”
“Well if you do stick around you’ll probably end up bunking with someone and I…well I have an empty bunk.”
Finn didn’t know how but Poe had kept the smile on his face. Whoever his roommate had been must have been a friend. Or at least a close acquaintance. Though then again, Poe had probably lost people before being part of the Resistance. Still it was strength that Finn wasn’t use to and he admired seeing it in Poe.
“Of course if you don’t want to be in a bunk with me there are plenty of other people you—
”No if you have the room then I don’t mind.” Finn gave an encouraging smile as if to prove he truly meant it.
The simple line seemed to brighten up Poe even more so than Finn had expected and he added, “Does that mean you’re staying!”
Taken aback, Finn realized the implications of what he had said. He almost replied no or even maybe but just barely managed to stop himself. He had been terrified leaving the First Order. Terrified when he was on Jakku looking for BB-8. He had been terrified running from those things in the freighter. And he had been terrified on the Starkiller, seeing Kylo Ren cutting down his own father and then coming after him.
But there had been a clear difference in that final point. The fear had been worth it. Even when he had thought himself dead it had been worth it. And would Rey run from this chance? Well, he honestly didn’t know. He’d only met her recently. But Finn didn’t believe she would. And he sure as hell knew Poe wouldn’t. How horrid would that be? Running from the man that had given him a name?
“Yes,” Finn said. “I’m staying.”
“Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!”
“Ow!”
“Sorry! Forgot about the back!” Poe cried out as he moved away from his rushed hug. “I’ll be more careful next time.”
With a painful smile, Finn replied, “And I’ll make sure I’m prepared for the next hug.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Poe grinned.