Call Me Baby: Chapter 5 part A
Doing this in two parts because I promised I'd have this by today, but this is all I have written. :)
When Harry entered the waiting room at Saint Mary's Hospital, he was met by a sobbing Lottie. She gripped him hard, wailing into his chest like a baby. He clutched her back, bending down and, with some effort, lifted her into his arms. She howled into his neck as he rubbed her back, whispering sweet things into her ear. She cried herself hoarse, sobbing and shrieking, and generally making a lot of noise. Harry's shirt was soaked through around the neckline, when, about ten minutes later, she fell asleep, mid wail.
He shifted her slightly in his arms, her ten-year-old frame awkward to hold. Carefully, he moved to the benches, laying her down on one and covering her with his jacket, before moving over to the nurses.
“I'm here for Louis Tomlinson?” He asked nervously. One of the nurses stepped forward, her bright red hair in a knot on the top of her head.
“Are you kin?” She asked.
“I-yes. Yes, I am,” he said, butterflies erupting in his stomach. She gave him a once over, before sighing.
“I'm afraid you can't see him just yet-he's in surgery. We'll let you know when something changes, but for now you'd be advised to wait here. If the little one needs anything, don't hesitate to ask,” she intoned kindly, “poor thing was a wreck-kept asking for her daddy. I don't think she would have been able to last much longer without you.”
He gave her an awkward smile, muttering his thanks before going back over to the bench where Lottie was fast asleep. He gently lifted her head up, placing it in his lap and smoothing her hair. Her pocket started buzzing, so he leaned over and retrieved Louis' phone from inside it. Caroline, read the caller ID. Harry frowned.
“Hello?” He answered.
“Mr Styles?” Caroline's voice was confused, “Why are you answering Louis' phone?”
“I'm at the hospital-he got in a car accident, so I really can't talk right now,” he responded hurriedly.
“Oh my goodness! Is he okay? I came over to his house to drop off Daisy and Phoebe, because they've been over mine all day, and found his two other sisters on the step,” she explained quickly, “Is there anything I can do to help? Do you need me to bring them down there?”
“Actually, if you could that'd be a huge help,” Harry breathed a sigh of relief, “I've got Lottie here with me, and I don't want to leave in case something happens to Louis. Just... Tell Flick and Georgia they're coming to see 'Harry'. I'm at Saint Mary's.”
A gush of air on the other end of the line signaled Caroline's sigh.
“Of course,” she replied, “I'll see you in a bit then, Mr Styles.”
*~*~*~*
Harry hadn't even realized he'd been dozing until the tell-tale chattering of the twins woke him up. His left hand was numb from holding his head up, and he had lost the feeling in his leg around where Lottie's head was resting.
Georgia was the first to see him, her scared eyes meeting his from the doorway to the waiting room, before she bolted over. He reached down to her when she arrived in front of him, carefully maneuvering her so that she was curled into his chest, but her legs didn't hit Lottie's head. She clutched at him, whimpering into his neck.
“Mummy and Daddy died in a hospital,” she whispered, “the waiting room looked just like this. And Louis left us out here with a nurse while he went in to see them. He came back crying. Please don't come back crying.”
Harry's heart broke as these words were spoken into his neck. These girls had already lost their parents-were they really about to lose their brother, too?
Flick came around to his left, her cheeks wet with tears, and clutched at his left hand. He gave her a squeeze, not knowing what else to do for these girls. Caroline walked closer, Daisy and Phoebe having quieted when they saw how sad the rest of them were, the two of them running over and clinging to Harry's legs. Caroline pulled her cardigan closer around her.
“Have you got any news, Mr Styles? Is Louis going to be okay?”
“Could you call me 'Harry'? I don't have the energy to be 'Mr Styles' right now. And no, I don't know. I don't have any news yet,” he mumbled bitterly. Caroline nodded, shifting nervously.
“Do you mind me asking how the girls know you? It's just... You all seem really close,” she trailed off apprehensively.
“No, it's fine. Louis and I are really close; I'm over his house a lot. I look after Daisy and Phoebe on Fridays, and Lou brings the rest of the girls over when they get home from school,” he shifted Georgia a bit, so that her knee wasn't resting on his crotch, “They're practically family, at this point.”
Harry's eyes drifted behind Caroline, noticing a doctor coming over to talk with the red haired nurse. She glanced over at him, then back at the doctor, before nodding at something he said. The doctor walked away, back through the double doors which he had entered, and she made her way over to the pile of girls under which Harry was buried.
“Sir?” He sat forward, jostling Georgia a bit.
“Can I speak with you in private? I don't know that it'd be wise to discuss your husband's condition in front of the little ones,” she whispered the last bit, though Flick and Caroline heard it was well. Harry sighed, nodding, before carefully putting Georgia on the floor and moving Lottie's head, before standing up. The twins whimpered, still clinging to his legs, and Flick and Georgia tried to block his path. Harry looked helplessly at Caroline, who knelt down and gently detached the twins from his legs, and moved Flick and Georgia to sit with her on the benches. Harry turned around once more, telling them it'd be fine, and he'd be back soon, before following the red haired nurse. She picked up a clipboard, reading off it with a somber expression.
“Louis Tomlinson, yeah?” Harry nodded. “Well, Mr Tomlinson, your husband's going to be okay, although he'll be quite out of it for a while. He brained himself on the window of the car, just before it shattered, so he's got a bit of a concussion, and he got quite a nice sized chunk of glass in his right arm, as well, which we've removed and stitched up. He won't be able to use it for a while, the glass was in pretty deep, broke the bone-he was lucky though: it nearly pierced the artery. We'll change the dressing and stitches tomorrow morning, and put a cast on, which'll have to be on for about four weeks, then that cast will come off, and so will the stitches. After that we'll go from there-sometimes things like this heal really well the first time around, but others aren't so lucky. He's conscious now, if you'd like to see him-I'm afraid we can't let the whole family in at once, and it'd be best for you to speak to him first, then you can bring the little ones in one or two at a time. Would you like to see him?”
Harry nodded frantically, hope and relief making him unable to speak. He followed the redheaded nurse through the double doors, down a long, white corridor with many windows and doors, up the elevator to the third floor, then down another long corridor to a glass, sliding door, which opened automatically when they stepped in front of it.
There, on the bed, with a stark white bandage wrapped around his head, sat Louis, looking entirely unimpressed with his hospital gown and his surroundings. His face lit up, however, the minute he caught sight of Harry. Relief rushed through Harry's veins, flooding his conscious, and rendering him unable to do anything but stare at his friend, once he had made his way to the head of the bed. Louis looked up at him, his smile dwindling with nervousness with each passing second. After a minute, he couldn't stand it anymore, reaching out to touch Harry's arm gently.
“Harry?” he whispered. Harry continued to stare down at him for a moment, before hitting him on the shoulder. “Ow!” Louis cried, “What was that for?”
“That was for making me think you were dead! God, Lou, don't scare me like that, ever again,” Harry answered angrily. His whole face changed in a split second, going from angry to devastated. “I thought you had died, Lou.”
Louis' face softened, and he wrapped his hand around Harry's wrist, pulling him down into a hug. Harry melted into his embrace, his hips falling from their awkward upright position to sit on the bed next to Louis. Harry blinked, the burning in the back of his eyes making itself more known. No, he thought, I promised myself I wouldn't cry. God, Styles, you're such a pussy. But the prickling wasn't going away, so he wrapped his arms tighter around his friend and buried his face in his neck.
He tried, he really did, but the thoughts wouldn't leave him alone. Here was his perfect friend, with stitches in his arm and a bandage around his head and today, Harry had almost lost him. Almost lost him and his hugs, and his smile, and his laugh, and his wacky sense of style, and his obsession with carrots, and God, was this what it felt like to have your heart cut out of your chest?
“You're my best friend,” he sobbed, “you can't leave me.”
Louis said nothing, instead he just rubbed his friend's back, rocking him back and forth. Eventually, Harry calmed down enough to roll over, cuddling into Louis on the bed, his head resting on Louis' shoulder. Louis stroked his hair, much like Harry had been doing for Lottie not a half hour earlier. He looked up at his friend, still unable to fathom that he could have lost him tonight.
“Haz?” Louis said, for some reason feeling the need to whisper, “What happened?”
“Well,” he started, taking a shuddering breath, “I got a call from Lottie, not long after you'd left, and she was in a right state. She told me that you'd gotten in an accident, and that an ambulance was taking you to Saint Mary's-where you are now, in case you were wondering-and so I came down. When I got here, she-honestly, Lou, I've never seen someone so distraught before. She was a mess, and she literally cried herself to sleep-she just conked out in the middle of crying. And then they wouldn't let me see you, because you were in surgery or something. So I was waiting with Lottie when Caroline called, and she brought the rest of the girls down, so she's in there with them. The nurse told me I couldn't bring them all in at once, because it'd be too overwhelming. She thinks we're married, by the way.”
“What do you mean, she thinks we're married?” Louis' eyebrows shot up. Harry smiled sheepishly.
“I told her I was your kin, so she'd let me see you, and everything. She made the jump to 'husband' because Lottie was asking for her daddy and freaking out in the waiting room, and only stopped when I got there,” Harry shrugged, “I didn't actually say we were married or that I was Lottie's dad. Circumstance planted the assumption in her head.”
Louis snorted. “Of course it did. Circumstance has been doing that a lot lately, hasn't it?”
Louis' amused gaze bore down into Harry's, the two of them laughing silently at themselves. They were interrupted, however, by the redheaded nurse coming in, a frazzled look on her face.
“Excuse me, Mr Tomlinson, your daughter is awake and she's er... Asking for you,” she said awkwardly. Harry sat up with a sigh, extracting himself from Louis' embrace, somewhat reluctantly.
“I'd better go see to it then. I'll be back in a bit,” he replied wearily. He looked back at Louis, and, almost as an after thought, bent down, giving Louis a kiss on the cheek. “Try not to get in anymore trouble while I'm gone, yeah?”
Louis poked his tongue out cheekily, and Harry winked in reply before following the red haired nurse out of the room and back down the corridors. When they were in the lift, she smiled a bit, leaning over to whisper in Harry's ear.
“You two are so cute. And you've got the cutest little girls, too-real daddy's girls,” she said, grinning broadly. Harry didn't really know what to say to that, so he just smiled and nodded, muttering a 'thank you', so as not to be rude, though the whole situation was rather awkward.
They entered the waiting room, Harry automatically zeroing in on Lottie, who was indeed throwing a fit. His heart fluttered, and his stomach dropped.
“No,” she was yelling at Caroline, “I don't want you. I want my dad. Now.”
Harry walked over to her, gently touching her shoulder. She whipped around, her face lighting up in relief as she saw Harry, throwing herself at him. He stumbled back a few steps, wrapping his arms around her as she wrapped hers around his middle. He bent down to drop a kiss into her hair.
“Alright, love?” he murmured. She pressed her face further into his chest, nodding and making a small 'mmhmm' in the back of her throat. He looked up to see Caroline giving him an odd look, catching her eye, and shaking his head as if to say 'not now'. “Do you want to go see Louis?”
Continued here
Lottie's head shot up, tears welling up in her eyes.
“He's okay?” she rasped.
“He's okay,” he answered, a soft smile on his face, “a bit banged up, but he's okay.”
Lottie nodded, looking unbelievably relieved. Harry smiled at her, taking her hand in his and tugging her toward the doors.
“Come on, then. Let's go see how he's doing.”