𝘼𝙁𝙏𝙀𝙍 𝙒𝙀 𝘾𝙍𝘼𝙎𝙃𝙀𝘿 ↣ 𝙊𝙉𝙀 𝘿𝙄𝙍𝙀𝘾𝙏𝙄𝙊𝙉

35. HEARTBREAK WEATHER

When Zayn stopped by an hour ago, he brought juice. Something with calories and sugar that her stomach would let her take down. Originally the doctors wanted to give her blood and IV fluids with antibiotics, but Keenan refused it completely.

Louis and I decided she had enough things to worry about, and that forcing her into accepting medical care probably wasn't for the best.

"You guys holding up?" Zayn asked.

"Yeah," I said.

"I can stay if you want to run home and clean up," he offered, eyebrows raised.

"I don't know if we should leave-" Louis said, looking back over his shoulder. I followed his gaze. Keenan was sitting at his bedside, not talking, but very gently scratching up and down one of his arms.

It was a comfort she could afford to give him.

"Later?" I asked, looking at Zayn hopefully.

"That's fine, princess," he said softly. He held out one arm for a hug and I wrapped my arms around him.

"Thank you, Z," I mumbled.

"Don't even worry about it," Zayn said. He pressed a hand to the back of my head and rubbed it gently with his thumb. We stayed like that for a moment, before pulling away from each other. Zayn squeezed Louis' shoulder and then turned out of the room, leaving the four of us alone.

When Louis and I focused back on Karter, we immediately realized he was in a lot of pain. Keenan was holding one of his hands, and he was gripping onto it. One of his legs pulled up towards his body.

Louis and I moved to the other side of the bed and sat down. Louis unballed his fist from the sheet and held his hand. Karter grabbed onto it, and I knew it was almost painful, but Louis showed no reaction at all.

"Hurts," Karter managed.

"Do you want-?" I offered, speaking as softly as I could to help his headache.

"No," he grunted.

"Okay," I whispered.

As hard as it was for me to sit and let Karter be in pain when I knew I could stop it? It wasn't up to me. I'd spent too much time with other people deciding what to do with my body to try and control what he did with his.

I reached out my hand and rested in on top of Louis and Karter's conjoined ones.

-

Seven hours was a long time to spend with a teenager that had just gone through brain surgery and was refusing pain medication.

He would be okay for a few minutes, and then an alarm going off or someone moving too loudly outside the room would have him trying to hold his head from pain, which only made it hurt worse.

To solve that issue, Louis, Keenan and I tried to keep his hands away from his face. Keenan and I sat on one side, and Louis was on the other. We held his arms away from his head while he groaned and whined from pain.

Talking and singing didn't help, so we stayed quiet. We stayed quiet and sat with Karter in the dark.

At about 4:00, Harry came to the hospital. He texted me that he was outside. I mouthed Harry to Louis, who nodded in understanding. Then, as quietly as I could, I slipped out of the hospital room.

Harry was in the ICU waiting room, not wanting to upset Karter at all on accident. When he saw me, he smiled softly.

"Come here, darling," he said softly, opening his arms to me. I padded all the way to him and fell into his chest. I exhaled a breath that I'd been keeping in for seven hours. "How's he doing?"