Don't Let Me Go

...

I wake up suddenly when a nurse comes in to check on Liam and I check the clock. It's been an hour & a half since I fell asleep. The nurse begins to check all of Liam's vitals and he's awoken when she whispers that she has to do so. When she takes his arm in her hand and begins, he notices me sitting beside him.

"Harry? How long have you been here?" Liam says groggily.

"Over an hour but I fell asleep until a minute before you woke up," I smile.

"Well you could've woken me up. I've just been exhausted, all the treatments are wearing me out. How are you?" He shifts in his hospital bed so that he is sitting up and looks at me with kind eyes.

"I'm alright, Li, how are you?" Inside my concern was overwhelming but I didn't let it show as I placed a hand on his bicep.

"I'm okay," he smiles, "have you seen Louis lately?"

"No," I say, "why?"

"Haven't heard from him or seen him in a bit... I'm starting to think he's avoiding me," Liam looks out the window to his right and I can tell he's sad about Louis' absence.

"I'll talk to him, Li, don't worry. I bet he's not avoiding you, he cares about you a whole freaking lot," I just stare at Liam as he continues looking out the window.

"Are you forcing yourself to be here even though you don't want to be?"
he asks, he still did not turn to me.

"No, Liam, I need to be with you and want to be. Friends are there for one another in their times of need, and this is your time. I love you, Li, you're the brother I've never had. I want to be here," I say, nervous about his sudden paranoia.

Liam does not respond. He continues looking out the same window and then slowly gets up. He walks over to it and then finally turns to me while he reveals a scar.

"Are you sure you want to?" he says showing the scar and pointing to it "this is from one of the attempts at removing the cancer," and then he points out a different one, "and this is from another attempt," and points out another one "and another right here. Do you really want to be around a dying man? I know you see me differently now. I'm just a sad case that will soon be 6 feet under. Why don't you just admit that's why Louis hasn't called or seen me lately, or why you're here? Your guilt guided you to me," he begins to cry and sits back down on the bed with his back to me.

I get up quickly and sit right next to him and put my arms around him.

"You've forgotten that I love you. Haven't you thought about maybe that's why I've come to see you even though it hurts?" I begin to tear up and he looks me in the eyes, and he also has tears in his own eyes.

"I guess I did forget, Harry," he cries as I hug him tightly.

I simply hug him and rub his back while he cried himself out for about 30 minutes and then he was so exhausted he needed to go back to sleep. Once he fell asleep, I left his room and made sure to close the door very quietly so I didn't wake him.

I decided to visit Jameson tonight instead of tomorrow because I was feeling stronger now and decided to take advantage. I walked through the halls to her room with my hands in my pockets and saw many people, some with walking IV's, some in wheelchairs, some nurses with their hand on the back of a patient they were walking with. I reached her room and slowly opened the door so that if she was sleeping I wouldn't wake her. When I came in, there was a man sitting beside her bed.

"Who are you?" he said with brute anger and got up suddenly and threateningly.