"I'll be waiting just down the hall, JJ. It won't be long. I love you."
"I love you, too." Her voice cracks and I know she's tearing up, but I have to be strong.
"We'll take good care of her, Mr. Styles," Rosie says and I force a brave smile in her direction.
"Ready, Mr. Styles?" Spencer asks.
"Yes," I reply, holding out my hand and Spencer guides my hand to his elbow. With my free hand using my white cane, we make our way out of JJ's room. "So, can you explain to me again what you're going to do for JJ now?"
"Right, so while Rosie gives your wife a sponge bath, I'll be changing her linens and swapping out the covers and all that. It really shouldn't take long, but it's better if the loved one isn't in the room for it."
"Sure. Of course. I don't want to be in the way."
"I didn't mean to say you're in the way. It's the hospital's practice to keep the families away while we move the patient when there are delicate circumstances," he explains and I nod in acknowledgment. "Alright, here we are at the waiting room. There's a chair to your right. Can I get you a cup of coffee while you wait?"
"Uhm, yes, please, only if you don't mind," I reply, letting go of his elbow and I feel around the chair's structure so I can sit down.
"I don't mind at all. Cream and sugar?"
"No, black is just fine," I reply, folding my white cane to hold it on my lap. The strong aroma lets me know the coffee station is close, perhaps even in this waiting room for the family and friends waiting for their loved ones.
"Here you go, Mr. Styles. It's a fresh pot, mind you," he says, guiding my hand and I carefully take it knowing that it's hot. "There's a small wooden table next to your chair on your left to set it on if you'd like. I'll come get you when we're finished."
"Thanks, Spencer. I appreciate your help, and thanks for the coffee. It's really good."
"Good. I'm glad. Okay, I'm gonna go now."
I nod and it's now I notice the soft murmurings of other people who are waiting here in the room with me. From the last time I checked my phone, my guess is that it's about six-thirty in the morning, so everyone is being quieter than usual. The low volume of what I can assume is canned laughter coming from the tellie drowns out my own thoughts and I feel around for the table that Spencer told me about, making sure there's nothing in my way.
"Look, Grampa, look. What's wrong with that, that, that man?"
From the sound of her voice and pronunciation of her L's in Y's, I can tell the girl is quite young and doesn't mean any harm.
"Shhh, Tabitha. That's not a very nice thing to say about someone," the older-sounding gentleman chides the little girl.
"But what's wrong with him?" she asks again and her grandfather is probably too stunned to think of an answer, so I take it upon myself to explain.
"It's okay, sir. I'm blind so I can't see anything-"
"You can't see anything?"
I grin at her pronunciation of her TH's as an F sound, "Nope, but this is my white cane and it helps me make sure nothing is in my way when I'm walking so I don't trip and fall."
"Ohhh. Can I try it?"
"Tabitha Irene, darling, no. Come here. Oh where is your grandma when I need her?" he chuckles nervously and clears his throat. "Sorry about that, sir. I hope we didn't offend you."
"Not at all," I reply, pushing my sunnies further up my nose and a cell phone chime rings throughout the room.
"Uh, yeah, hello? Hello? Irene? Yes, I can hear you, darling," the older gentleman says and I take a sip of my coffee.
"Hi, Mister," the little girl says and I can tell she's standing right in front of me. "My name is Tabitha. What's your name?"
Knowing that her grandfather is in the same room, I decide to answer her with a smile. "My name's Harry. It's nice to meet you, Tabitha."
"I'm this many."
"How many fingers are you holding up?"
"Four."
"Four? So am I!"
She giggles, "My mummy's have- have- having my baby sister today. My baby um, baby sister is in my mummy's tummy right now."
"She is?" I ask in interest for her sake.
"Mhm. Is your mummy having a baby, too?"
I smile in her direction, "No, not my mummy. It's my wife. We're expecting twins. We're here just to make sure everything's okay so they won't be born today."
"Oh. What's twins?" she asks and I wish her grandpa would get off the damn phone.
"That means she has two babies in her tummy at the same time."
"Two babies!" she gasps and I hum in answer. "How did the babies get in there?"
"Uhm, I, well, I-"
"Oh dear. Tabitha, come here, darling. Let's not bother the nice man anymore. Colour the pictures in your book over here, please," the grandpa kindly scolds. "Again, sir, I'm so sorry about that. I had to take that call. It was my wife."
"It's fine. And don't worry, I wasn't going to tell her about the birds and the bees."
He chuckles, "Thank you. I don't think her parents would be too happy about that."
"Mr. Harry?"
"Yes, Tabitha?"
"How will you, um, how will you see your babies if, if, if you can't see?"
"Tabitha Irene, come back here," the grandpa scolds. "My apologies again, sir. She's quite the curious type."
"It's not a problem, really. I've endured much worse from my older sister," I add so he won't feel as bad and I take a sip of my coffee.
"Mr. Styles, you can come back in the room now."
I look in the direction of the voice I recognize as Spencer and smile in relief, "Wonderful."
"Would you like me to carry your coffee?"
"Oh uhm, if you don't mind."
"I don't mind," he says and I hold out the cup and he takes it so I can stand up. I unfold my white cane and he guides my hand to his elbow.
"Tabitha?" I softly call out in the room.
"Yes, Mr. Harry?"
"You're going to be a really good big sister."
"Say 'thank you,' Tabitha," her grandpa sweetly urges.
"Thank you."
"You're welcome," I reply with a smile and Spencer starts guiding me out of the waiting room.
"Seems like you made a new friend while waiting."
I grin, "Yeah, I guess. She's very inquisitive."
"Aren't all kids?"
I hum in reply, "So h-how's JJ? Did everything go okay?"
"She's fine and resting now. Rosie gave her a sponge bath and she has fresh linens."
"That must feel nice."
"Yes, but I need to tell you something. We discovered the beginning of bed sores on her left side, specifically her hip and knee and the side of her back due to her lying there for long periods of time."
"What? Bed sores?"
"Small ones, but sores nonetheless. We've caught them in time and we've put her on a special air mattress that will reduce the severity of those sores."
"Okay, I guess that's good. Can you do anything for the ones she has now?"
"We've dressed and covered the sores, but she said she was still uncomfortable, so Dr. Tate has ordered for a low dose of pain relievers to make her more comfortable."
"My God, she's going through so much. I can't- I just feel so bad for her."
"I know. Believe me, we're doing everything in our power to help your wife and of course the fetuses."
"And I truly can't thank you enough. You're even helping me which I truly appreciate."
"JJ's our patient and we treat the patients' family like our family," he says, slowing us down to a stop. "We're at the room now." He moves in front of me and with my hand on his elbow, he guides me into the room. "Knock knock, Mrs. Styles. I've brought your husband back."
"Oh thank you, Spencer. Hiiii, baby. C'mere."
Her slurred word and lethargic tone make me grin and I realize it's a mix of it being so early in the morning and the pain relievers and medications she's on.
"Hi, love."
"Here's the chair by the bed," Spencer says, guiding my hand to the chair. "I'll put your coffee on the tray table to your left."
"Thanks, Spencer." The squeaky sound of his shoes on the floor lets me know he's walking out of the room and I turn my full attention to JJ. "Hey, love. How are you?"
"Mmm, I feel fresher now, thanks to being wiped down, but it was embarrassing. They had to call another nurse to help me up. And then when they changed my gown, I know they saw my hairy armpits and legs."
"I'm sure yours isn't the worst case they've encountered. It's fine, love. You can't bend to reach your legs anyways because of your babies bump, and there's really no need to shave now anyways. What's more important is that we keep things easy for you. Plus I really don't mind it. If you're comfortable, then I'm happy."
She lets out a high-pitched whine, "You're so good to me, Harry. I look like fucking Sasquatch and you don't even mind. And you've forgiven me about the- well, never mind that. I don't want to open that can of worms now. But I just wanted you to know you're the perfect husband and I love you very much."
While she sobs, I feel around for the bed and my knuckle knocks into the metal handrail. I ignore the slight pain and search for JJ's hand. My fingers brush over her soft, warm skin and I fit my hand in hers. I stand up, careful of not pulling any wires or moving any machines and I feel for her shoulder.
Her hand grasps my shirt and guides me to lean over and we embrace each other in a hug. While I soothe her shoulder, she sniffs loudly in my ear and I peck her cheek.
"Feel better? Can I get your water for you?"
"I can reach it, but thank you," she says and I use the bed railing to help me sit back down. The sound of her sipping on her water makes me smile because I know it's good for her and our babies. "Ahh. That is quite refreshing."
"Really?"
"No, but I'm being positive," she says, making me laugh. "Anything for these babies, and I'm in a good mood because it's almost time for breakfast and my blood sugar wasn't as high as last time."
"That's wonderful, JJ. I'm so proud of you for doing what you're doing now and for what you're going through, for our babies, I'm just in complete awe and, it's like my love has grown even more for you. I don't know if that's right or not, but it's how I'm feeling right now."
"It's perfect, Harry. Thank you. I needed to hear that. I love you so much. Gimme your hand."
I stretch out my arm and she guides my hand to what I immediately recognize is her warm belly. Her hand covers mine as we share this special moment together and a knock at the door interrupts us.
"Breakfast time. Who's hungry?"
"Oo me," JJ happily replies and I carefully sit back in the chair.
"Here ya are, love. Enjoy," the nurse says.
"Thank you," JJ says and I hear the footsteps of the nurse walk away. "This actually looks good. I've got some eggs, a stamp of ham and some beans. Would you like some?"
"No, love. You need to eat."***
A/N: Hello, friends 🤗
If you'd like Harry to give you the "Birds and the Bees" talk, press the star ⭐️ 😂
Much Love.
❤️❤️❤️❤️