Patience

Chapter 8

Harry pov

When I woke up the next morning I was feeling so hot and was completely tangled in my black sheets. I untangled myself, jumped out of bed and went to the bathroom to freshen up. In my walk-in closet I put some black Calvin Klein boxer briefs and my Britney Spears shirt on before I walk downstairs to make myself a cup of black coffee.

With the cup in my hand I go to my office and start to work on my research but, after an hour I sigh and close the book I was reading. I can't work like this. My mind keeps going to the day before and how much pain Kate was in. I remember how she told me the first time I saw her the days after she had done an activity are the worst. I have a feeling something is wrong with her and I can't shake the feeling off. But I know I can't act on this feeling. I'm just her doctor and she probably has other people to call for help anyway but I don't want her to call someone else for help. I want her to call me.
I have to do something to distract my mind. I have to stop worrying. Maybe a run will help. I go upstairs and quickly put on some black shorts and yellow running shoes. While I plug the earphones in my phone, I walk to the front door and leave the house.

Kate pov
My eyes shoot open when I feel a twinge of pain shoot through my back.
I had a horrible night. When Harry was here I slept well but around midnight the pain woke me up. Harry was gone but he left a sweet note. He is a perfect man.
After that, I woke up every hour. The touch of the blanket on my leg burned, it felt like there were hundreds of spiders crawling on it. The back of my upper leg was numb but my lower leg felt like someone was stabbing it with a knife. I also felt constant stings from my leg into my toes.

I roll from my back to my side and try to get up. I feel like I've been run over by a tractor. I walk to my en-suite bathroom but I'm very unsteady and it feels like I'm walking on bags of water.
I use the toilet before I splash some water on my face at the sink. It feels fresh and cool. I brush my teeth, comb my hair and put it in a bun. I have to sit down for a minute on the toilet seat and I take a couple of breaths. Just a little activity as I wash myself is too much. I feel the pain is getting worse. I should go back to bed but I need my medication. Harry only put morphine on my night-stand and the rest is in the kitchen. I get up. I can barely walk and hold onto everything I can reach as every step hurts. Every step is a step too many but I have to take my medication. I reach the hallway. I'm exhausted and suddenly I feel all the pain leave my leg. Not only does the pain go away but also all the feeling I have in my leg - it goes completely numb. I stand on my other leg but after awhile it's getting tired and I have to switch legs to stand but my leg can't support my weight and I slide onto the floor.

I sit on the floor with my head against the wall and my legs in front of me. My right leg lays on the floor, useless I pinch and feel nothing. I try to move it but I can't. I don't panic because this has happened before. I will sit here for a while and then try to get up.

I close my eyes and my thoughts go to Harry. I wish he was here. I wish he'd stayed the night. It felt so good in his arms. I felt safe and loved. I haven't felt like that for a while.
A shooting pain rips me out of my thoughts and it hurts so much that tears start to stream over my face. I have to get up. I go to sit on my knees and try but I have nothing too pull me up. I can't handle the pain anymore and slide back on the floor and lay on my back, staring at the ceiling.

Harry pov

I thought a run would help me but I couldn't get Kate out of my mind. I have a feeling something is wrong and I can't shake it off. When I arrived back at my place, I go to the kitchen, open my red fridge, take a bottle of water and gulp it down completely. While I walk to the bathroom my mind's back with Kate and I decide I have had enough and I'm going to see how she is doing after my shower. I turn on the water in the shower and quickly undress before I walk in. I don't want to waste time so I immediately take my shower gel and start to wash myself. When I got out, I dried and shaved myself and tried to get my unruly curls in place. When I am done I go to the closet, put on some blue jeans and a crisp white shirt. Like always, I leave the top three buttons unbuttoned.
When I'm dressed I take my keys and my phone and almost run out of the house to see Kate.

I press the bell and suddenly get nervous. What if she doesn't want me to come over? What if she doesn't want me even as a friend? Don't be an idiot, if she didn't like you, you would already know I tell myself. Suddenly I hear something. I listen again and it's coming from inside. I put my ear against the door and I hear Kate's voice. I don't know what to do and I start to panic. Keep calm Styles and think, I tell myself.

It's a small chance but maybe there is a spare key hidden somewhere. I look under the mat, nothing. Under the pot of flowers, nothing. I look under the little angel statue and at first I see nothing but when I put it back down I see something shiny in the corner of my eye. I take the angel back up and look under it and there was a key. Quickly I tried it on the door and I was in.

"Kate, it's Harry. Are you okay?" I ask loudly. I walk to the living room when I hear someone sniffle. "Harry, I'm in the hallway to the bedroom". I frown, why would she be there? When I walk around the corner my heart breaks. There is Kate, on the floor in tears. God knows how long she's been laying here. I rush towards here as fast as I can.
"I fell and can't get up," she whispers.
"Did you hurt yourself," I ask worried and Kate shakes her head. A relieved breath escapes my mouth. "Let's get you off the cold hard floor. I'm going to pick you up".

Kate nods again and I pick her up bridal style. I smile when she immediately puts her head on my shoulder. I walk into her bedroom and place Kate on the bed and help her lay down. She is visibly in pain, she's pale, has blue bags under her eyes, a big frown on her forehead and the look in her eyes screams the pain out.
Just when I want to ask what happened, Kate starts to talk, "I wanted to get my medication from the kitchen but suddenly my leg went numb. I tried to hold on to the wall but I had to let go." Kate silently starts to cry again.

I get on the bed next to her and hold her close, "Is your leg still numb?"
She shakes her head, "When the feeling was back I tried to get up but there was nothing to hold on to," I scoot her closer and she puts her head on my chest. "I want it to stop Harry, it's too much, it hurts too much," she cries.
My heart hurts for her and I feel a little guilty. I should have listened to my gut and come immediately when I got this bad feeling something had happened. Kate looks up to me and gives me a watery smile, "Thank you for being here. Without you I don't know how long I would have been there on the floor," she whispers and gives me a kiss on my cheek that makes me blush.
"It's nearly noon and you didn't take your medication. Let me make some lunch so you can eat something and take your pills." I start to get out of bed but Kate grips my wrist and opens her mouth and I already know what she is going to say. "No it isn't too much, I want to help, please let me" I cut her off before she even can open her mouth and she nods with a little smile.

A/N: Double update because we all need some extra Harry in our life 😊
All the love,
K. x