Till Dawn (HS)

xviii

Her eyes watered and the frightened tears spilled down the slopes of her cheeks. The officer studied her before turning to the man he had been talking to and politely excusing himself. He placed his hand on her shoulder, causing Clara to instinctively flinch because the last hand that had touched her belonged to Liam.

"Come with me," he ushered.

He guided her to a room that smelled of black coffee and stale saltines. Clara sunk into the chair and plopped the dreaded diary onto his desk before the words began to quickly tumble from her lips.

~

"I think you're healing at an exceptional rate," the nurse smiled as she removed the IV from the crease of Harry's arm. She had just taken off the thick bandages from his leg and replaced them with a thinner material which was held down by medical tape, right over the end of his thigh.

He was beginning to drive himself a little mad. The day had been spent alone in that damn room with only the occasional visit from the nurse to keep him company. He missed Clara's sweet voice and pointless rambling; he preferred it over the silence. Harry began to wonder if he should have just kept his mouth shut about her friend.

"How much longer do I have to stay here?" Harry asked her, even though he already knew the answer. They had told him at least a dozen times but he was hoping it would change. He was eager to go home.

"Ten more days," the nurse replied. "I think you will be happy to hear that you'll be well enough to visit your father tomorrow. I can bring a wheelchair over and take you there myself."

Harry raised his eyebrows and smiled for the first time since Clara had been in his arms that morning. "Really?"

He had been asking the nurse when he could go see his dad more often than he had asked about how long until he could go home.

"Yes," she nodded and placed a bandage over the small puncture from where the IV had penetrated his skin. "And you can eat real food the day after. How does that sound?"

"Sounds good."

He laid his head down against the pillow as he watched the nurse leave the room. The rain was thrumming against the window pane and drowning out the silence. Harry let his thoughts drift to the girl with mesmerizing hazel eyes and a beaming smile that seemed to shine through even the darkest of days. He closed his eyes and imagined her soft skin against his, her fingertips heated with affection as they touched him in all the places that ached for her (which was everywhere). Clara always felt so warm. He could picture her blushing as he trailed his hands along the contour of her soft body, watching the goosebumps elevate on her skin from his cold touch. Harry knew she was too good for him. She deserved more than he could offer her, but fuck if there was a single soul out there who wanted to wake up to her beautiful face more than he did.

His breathing began to turn shallow as he laid there with his eyes closed. He wasn't even tired, but there was nothing else to do besides sleep. With the pattering of rain and sound of crisp thunder from outside the window, he almost didn't hear the door to the room creak open. Harry's heart fluttered when his ears picked up the sound of light footsteps- Clara?

He slowly opened his eyes and brushed away the sleep that had threatened to overcome him. When he looked towards the door, he was surprised and disgruntled to see that it wasn't Clara, but her friend.