Strong [h.s]

Without Darkness

I s i s

     I open my eyes and find myself lying in darkness, in a room illuminated only by a dim lamp in a corner. This isn't home, I think to myself, taking in the rest of my surroundings as my eyes slowly adjust to the dim lighting. I can feel my anxiety spread in my chest as I see the heart monitor, realizing that I'm in the hospital. I move my legs just to be sure that I can, then I look down at the tubes in my arms.

     My right wrist is in a brace, and it feels like a sledgehammer has been taken to my head. I glance over at my left arm, and see something that instantly calms my nerves--Harry's hand holding mine. His head is laying next to my hip on the bed, and I'm sure he's asleep. One of those scratchy hospital blankets has been draped over him, making me wonder how long I've been here.

     I struggle to remember what happened as I reach up to feel my forehead. Just as I find that gauze has been taped to the middle, a nurse comes strolling in.

     "Good, you're awake." She looks at her clipboard and begins to mark things off, moving quietly from place-to-place to perform her tasks. "How do you feel?"

     "A little groggy, my head is killing me. Do you know what happened?"

     "All I know is that you took a hit to the head, honey, sit tight and the doctor should be in soon." With that, she picks up her clipboard and leaves.

     I'm struggling to remember exactly what happened back on the boat, but just as I feel that I might've touched on something, an older man comes through the door.

     He holds a few papers in-hand and nods at me with a small smile. "Miss Sparrow, you're awake."

     "Indeed I am," I respond with just a hint of sarcasm. "How long have I been here?"

     He scoots his stool over to me and proceeds to check my blood pressure. "So," he begins, "you have a severe wrist sprain and a concussion; you've been unconscious for a little over an hour now. . . Which was a rather concerning, seeing as how most people with concussions are only unconscious for a few minutes." He takes the wrap off of my arm and checks my eyes, blinding me in the process.

"I'll be fine, though, right? There's nothing else wrong with me?"

He stops his examination, lifting his head up to meet my eyes. "We ran a few other tests and ruled certain things out, but came across one thing that I figured you'd like to know." His eyes flicker over to Harry's sleeping body, then back to me once more. "A blood test revealed that you are currently nine days pregnant."

"I'm sorry I ruined the day for all of you," I apologize, looking around at all of the familiar faces walking next to me.

"You didn't ruin anything, love," Harry immediately responds. He pushes me outside in the wheelchair I was forced to sit in, and I'm met by warm tropical air.

Everybody shares their own version of Harry's words as we come up on Niall's car. Aideen pulls the door open and Louis offers to pick me up to help me in, while Niall slides into the driver's seat to start the vehicle. I hold up my hand to Louis and get up perfectly fine on my own, sliding into the backseat and asking Harry to take the wheelchair back up to the building for me.

"I'm not made of porcelain, you guys, I'm quite all right."

Louis nods and closes the door for me, pointing at Niall as he speed-walks back to Liam's car. It's not long until Harry is back by my side, sitting next to me and guiding me to lie my head on his lap.