That Girl

"You guys need to have lighter conversations when in a hospital," Finley said quietly, her voice hoarse.

"Fin!" Alex couldn't stop smiling as he walked over to the side of the bed, reaching for her hand.

Finley smiled softly. "Hi."

Alex paused, eyes narrowing. "Wait a minute. Is that your real name?"

Finley laughed.

Robert rolled his eyes. "Alex, calm down," he said before walking over to the opposite side of the bed, pressing his lips against his daughters forehead. "How are you feeling, Fin?"

"Good as new," she said before coughing. Her hand reached up to rub at her nose and she frowned, yanking out the oxygen tube. "Fuck that."

"No, no," Robert said, lifting it back up and placing it in her nose again. "Keep it in."

Finley frowned. "You know how much I hate these things," she said with a pout.

"Suck it up," Robert told her with a smile.

"Meh," she muttered, attempting to lift her right arm but it felt heavy. She glanced down to see her shoulder wrapped tightly. "What happened?"

"You were shot," Robert said.

"No shit."

Robert smiled. Did he really expect any less from his daughter? "Why did you go there, Finley? I told you we would take care of it."

"I didn't think you would," Finley told him, trying to shrug but ended up flinching instead. "Bastard. What happened to them?"

"I took care of them," Robert told her, kissing her forehead. "Like I told you I would."

"You'd been telling me you'd take care of it for years," she said quietly. "I wanted it to end."

Robert glanced over at Alex. "I know."

"What's going to happen from here?"

"We'll figure it out later, Fin. You need to rest, okay?"

"No, I need food. I'm starving," she muttered, trying to sit up.

"Wait, wait," Alex said, lifting the remote for the bed. He slowly lifted the bed up until Finley was sitting upright. "Does that help?"

Finley nodded. "Thank you."

"No problem."

"Wanna do me a favor, Alex?" Finley asked with a small smile.

Alex let out a soft laugh. "Sure."

"Wanna get me some Chick-Fil-A?"

"Only if I can get some for me, too."

Robert reached into his pocket, handing him a twenty dollar bill. "Two Cokes, two large waffle fries, and some nuggets. Get whatever you want on me."

"Thank you, Mr. McAdams."

Robert waved him off. "Thank you."

Alex brushed his lips across Finley's hand before making his way out of the hospital room.

Finley waited a few seconds before looking at her father. "I can't believe he fucking told you."

"You better be glad he did tell me, Finley. You could have died!" Robert exclaimed.

"I was taking care of it!" she told him. "I didn't need you to rush in and save the day. Especially since you had no intention of doing anything."

"You're lucky I got there when I did, Finley, or I have no doubt that he would have killed you."

Finley sighed, still unhappy but. Yeah, okay, maybe her father was right. Or, well, okay he was right. She didn't like it one bit.

"Fin…"

"Is it finally over, dad?" she asked him, unable to hide the slight vulnerability that she was feeling.

"Walker said he was going to get everything settled. It's over," he told her.

"And we're staying in Baltimore?"

"I'll talk to him about it. I can't answer for sure but. I'll do what I can."

+

"So where's your dad going to eat?" Alex asked as he watched Robert walk out of the room with his meal in hand.

Finley shrugged with her good shoulder. "Probably near the nurses or something," she told him.

Alex nodded, setting out their meals on the tray that was by Finley's bed. "So how are you feeling?" he asked her, taking a drink of his Coke.

"As good as expected," Finley replied honestly. She didn't realize how hungry she had been. And even though the doctor said to go easy with food (just in case), she didn't really care. She took a drink of her Coke, her shoulder aching. "Why did you tell my father?"

Alex ran a hand through his hair. "I was worried."

Finley sighed. "Is everyone fucking worried about me?"

"I thought you were gonna go off the deep end or something, Fin," Alex told her. "You show up all…dressed like a fucking ninja or something. And you go through this whole spiel about getting even on the people who killed your mother and… I don't know, Fin, I just didn't want something bad to happen," he said, sending a glance towards her shoulder.

"I told you not to tell him."

"And I did anyway," Alex said. "I don't regret it at all, Finley. We got there right after he shot you. You could've died--"

"God, I'm sick of hearing people say--"

"Say what? The truth?" he asked. "You were being an idiot. Good intentions--but an idiot."

"You don't understand--"

"I don't?" Alex interrupted. "I understand why you did it, Finley. I know you were hurt over your mother's death. And I know you felt like nothing was ever going to happen. And I know you were probably sick of always lying and not being able to be yourself. But you saw a bad situation and just ran for it. That's not bravery, that's stupidity."

Finley's jaw clenched. "Maybe it was a little stupid… And a little anti-climactic, now that I think about it…" she said, trailing off.

Alex paused. "You really think getting shot in the shoulder and almost dying was anti-climactic?"

"Well…not in the most literal translation of the word," she said. "But I guess I thought it'd be more."

"You do realize your father shot them both in the head, right?" Alex asked, keeping his voice low.

Finley smiled softly.

"I almost lost you," Alex whispered.

"You would've found a new girlfriend by the end of the week," Finley muttered, taking a bite of a waffle fry.

Alex paused. "You called yourself my girlfriend."

"I did not," Finley protested.

"Yes, you did."

"I did not," she repeated.

Alex smiled. "You did. You're my girlfriend."

Finley sighed. "Really, Alex? You look like an idiot."

Alex laughed. "Then your boyfriend looks like an idiot."

"I didn't mean it like that--"

"I think you did."

"I think you're misinterpreting--"

Alex leaned forward and pressed his lips against hers. "I think we both know what you meant."

Finley felt her cheeks flush lightly, something that hadn't happened for a while. "Alex…"

"I really was worried about you, Finley, or I wouldn't have gone to your father," Alex explained softly. "Don't scare me like that again, okay?"