Note To Self (Harry Styles AU)

Chapter Seventy Six.

Fluorescent lighting and unbearable pain is what Aubry woke up to. She whimpered out, the first sign of her regaining consciousness. Eyelids seemed unbelievably heavy when she tried to lift them time and time again, until she opened to the bleary sight of a blue pillowcase and navy scrubs.

"Rise and shine." A delicate hand was placed to her head to prevent her from looking up. "Don't move."

Her only response was another pained whimper, and she tried her best to use only her eyes to look up at the person leaned over her bedside. She only caught sight of dark hair streaked with a dusting of grey.

Her voice was hardly audible when she forced words. "Where's my mom?"

"She stepped out to make a phone call, she'll be back in a minute," he spoke, and even through her rattled consciousness, she'd recognized that voice. Too similar of speech patterns to his son's, she knew exactly who the man was. "I'm sure she'll be happy to see you awake."

Aubry's brain throbbed more, and another pained whimper released from her body. She couldn't help it, she moved away from his touch, finally getting a chance to look at the man's face. Tired, but handsome and all too familiar. Harry's father.

Delicately, he guided her head back into it's previous position. "Let me finish stitching you up, I'm almost done."

"I want my mom," she whined.

He nodded, to which she couldn't see while he resumed sewing up the gash in the back of her head. "She'll be back."

Limp fingers rose to block the too-bright light, and tears began to leak from her eyes. Silent and hardly noticeable, she hid her face from view.

"Do you remember what happened?"

It took several long seconds of silence, each passing one spent pondering, for her to realize she didn't. "Kind of."

"What's the last thing you remember?"

An equally as long time as the first was taken while she flitted through her scattered thoughts, searching for the most recent one. "The locker room."

The snapping sound of rubber gloves accompanied his moving away and the pair was tossed into the bin. Unsure whether she was allowed to move again, she wiped at the unwelcomed wetness in her eyes. When he turned back, he tilted her chin to look him in the eye. "Can you tell me what happened?"

She winced when he shined a flashlight in her eyes, reflexively turning away, "Normal locker room stuff."

"Look at me," he instructed, pointing to his own face, and when she complied he tried again with the flashlight. The second time, she didn't look away. "Nothing else? That's all you remember?"

"I..." Aubry's voice broke from weak, to even weaker. "I argued with Sophie."

"Ah," he nodded, almost as if he'd just won the jackpot. "About?"

Her eyes scanned his face, awaiting her response, and had she not been in excruciating pain she would've shook her head in refusal of telling him. The very least she could do was keep Harry's stupid secret. "Pass."

"Pass?"

"I remember, but I'll pass on answering."

"Okay," he gave in. "Follow my finger." He began to move his finger around in front of her face, but quickly he stopped to touch her chin, "Eyes only, don't move your head."

She followed his instructions, and when his hand fell, she glanced back up to the face that stared right back at her.

"Do you remember anything else after that?"