Charlotte's POV
I sat behind the front desk at the library and helped Ms. Monroe sort through a new order of books, With how vacant this place usually is, you'd think that ordering new books wasn't worth it, but Ms. Monroe loved getting new books if only so she and I could read them. Also, the library had been getting quite a few more visitors as of late. I wondered if Marge had spilled the beans about our secret little place. "Can you put these under M in the biography section?" I asked Louis, handing him the box. Louis had been keeping me company while Harry was in the hospital. He was really uncomfortable at first and refused to show up regularly, but now he showed up at the same time every day. It was so hard to be on my own while Harry was in the intensive care unit in the hospital, possibly dying. I was just waiting for the day that they were going to call me and told me that they had spoken to his mother and she told them to pull the plug. I didn't know his mother. I didn't even know that he had one. Everyone has one but I wasn't sure if someone like him would have any contact with his mother at all. Not that I judged him for it... He had been on life support since a week after they put him in the ICU, but had recently pulled out of it. He's also had three surgeries since then to remove the rest of one of the bullets that had been lodged in a difficult place in his abdomen. I felt lucky that they were still willing to try after the first two attempts. He still wasn't doing well though and had yet to even wake up, never mind fully recover. I was stacking books on the desk when my cell phone rang. It was the hospital.
"Oh my God." I breathed, covering my mouth with my hand. Being the pessimist I've always been, I assumed that they were calling with bad news. Of course they were. Bad news always comes hand in hand with hospital calls, doesn't it? Louis put the box down, practically dropping it and looked at me with concern. He came to stand in front of me as if he could hear what the person on the other side of the phone was saying. "Hello?"
"Hi, this is Doctor Malonie. Last week, Harry took a turn for the worse." My breath hitched in my throat. Oh no... I was right. He had died. My stomach dropped as if I were on a roller coaster. "However, something changed last night and he's now recovering very rapidly. We're not sure what the cause of this remarkable recovery is, but we think that you and your friend should come down here. He could wake up soon. "
"Thank you." I said, hanging up. "Louis!" I squealed, throwing my arms around him. "Harry's getting better! Come on! See you soon, Ms. Monroe!" I screeched, dragging Louis to his car.
"Best wishes!" she smiled, waving us off. She knew about the whole situation. We didn't tell her that Harry was the leader of a gang and that the guy that shot him, shot him because of that. All she knew was that he had gotten shot, but she worried for him endlessly. Even despite the fact that he had scared her so much when they first met.
We ran through the front doors of the hospital and my eyes caught the nurse that I had asked about Harry when he had first been admitted. "332?" I asked, smiling at her even though I still felt like I was going to throw up. She grinned and nodded, like she knew something that I didn't. Maybe the situation was even better than I thought it was. "Thank you so much!" I called, looking back.
"No problem, sweetheart!" she said. I crashed through the door, nearly knocking Doctor Malonie down. Louis apologized for me since I had blatantly ignored my own actions when I had hurried in. Harry was still unconscious but his injuries looked a lot better now. The blue bruises were fading to yellow and cuts on his face were light pink and fading now. They said that he had been reacting to touch and sounds even though he wasn't fully conscious. I grabbed Louis' arm and held on tightly. Harry's mom was sitting in a chair against the wall. She hadn't said anything yet, but she was staring at me with wide eyes. I forgot that she didn't know who I was. I instantly turned pink.
"Louis, who's-"
"This is Charlotte." Louis said, stepping forward to explain me to Harry's mom. "Harry's been hanging out with her a lot lately. They've gotten really close." he explained. The woman looked suspicious and eyed me carefully, like she thought he was lying. "I'm telling the truth." Louis almost laughed. "I know it's hard to believe. They bumped into each other at the library. He really likes her."
"Really? Well, it's wonderful to meet you, Charlotte. I'm Anne." she said, hugging me tightly. I felt taken aback but figured that hugging her back had to be in my best interest. "You're so beautiful." she smiled, squeezing my shoulders. I blushed more, grinning at her. She was a perfect woman. She was beautiful and kind and warm. "I'll leave you three alone for a bit. I'll be back in soon. I'll go and get some coffee or something." she hugged me again and then Louis before grabbing her purse and leaving the room. I couldn't help beaming at her even as she left the room. It was still crazy to me that Harry even had a mom. Something about seeing her in person and knowing that she was real, made Harry seem less scary. If he still had a mom that cared about him, he couldn't be so bad. I started to wonder about his dad...
"So, when is he going to wake up?" I asked the doctor before he walked out, pushing the other thoughts about Harry's parents from my mind.
"Maybe in a few days. It seems like he should sometime this week, certainly. Though we can never be sure. There are so many variables involved. He's been responding physically with his reflexes but he has yet to wake up and have any sort of verbal response to stimuli."
"Thank you." I sighed, sitting down on a chair, pulled up to the side of the bed. "Hey." I whispered, kissing his forehead. It seems as though his temperature has increased since the last time I saw him. That must be a good sign. And his cheeks were back to a more human color.
"How've you been handling it?" Louis asked.
"What do you think? Sometimes all you can do is force yourself to smile." I said, picking at a skin next to my fingernail. Louis nodded sadly.
"I couldn't agree more with that. At least now we know that he's getting better. We have something to look forward to. He's not going to die."
"What if he's lost his memory or something? What if he doesn't remember either of us? Or what if he gets worse again? The storm isn't over yet. He hasn't even woken up yet..." I frowned.
"How pessimistic can you possibly be? It's like you don't even want Harry to get better. What happened to sometimes all you can do is force yourself to smile?"
"Bad habit of mine." I confessed, crossing my legs and trying not to glare at him. I felt bad. I felt like I was making things worse. Actually, I knew that I was... I hated myself for being this way, but no matter what I did, I never changed. I glanced at Harry and held his hand without even thinking about it.
"Clearly."
"Charlotte?" Louis didn't say that. My head snapped in Harry's direction and his eyes were barely but truly cracked open and his lips were parted slightly.
"Oh... my God." I breathed.
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Author's Note: You guys should comment and let me know what you're thinking. There's a bunch of reads in the first chapter and less in the others. Did it get boring? Please let me know!
Thank you so much for the support and for reading this! I'm already beginning to ponder over ideas for another fic. Thanks again. I love you! :)
~Peyt x
