Harry woke up in so much pain but the most uncomfortable feeling down his throat. All he can see is a bright light and hear loud beeping noises that are annoying him. He tries to turn his head to look around, but when he moves his head, the thing in his throat makes the pain uncomfortably worse. He decided to stay put and wait until someone entered the room.
He fell asleep again but woke up to the sound of chatter. The choices are familiar, but he is still in his groggy, sleepy state that he can't place to whom those voices belong. He gets annoyed with the thing in his mouth and the beeping, so he lifts his arm only to feel many things attached to him.
"Harry?" A male voice says, and then Louis's face pops out of nowhere. "Oh, thank God for your awake," he said and went in to hug a confused Harry. Louis was mumbling something into his shoulder, and then he felt another head on his other shoulder and two people holding his hands, and he only got more and more confused.
"Here, let me take this out since he is breathing fine on your own," another voice said, this time female. The heads and the hands leave Harry's body, and then a brunette with brown eyes pops into his view, and she pulls up of tube-like thing, making him gag and cough. "Hello Harry, I'm Dr. Manning. You are at Park Hill Hospital, a private hospital in Doncaster. How do you feel?"
"Water," Harry says and tries to sit up with the help of Louis and Dr. Manning. His bed was raised into a more sitting position, and he finally got a good view of who was in the room. The whole Tomlinson-Deakin family was the entire Horan family and Liam and Zayn. Harry was shocked at the number of people in the room but was confused about why he was here.
"Here you go," Dr. Manning said, handing Harry a cup of water with a straw in it. He removed the straw and slowly drank the water as he let his brain run through his memory of what could've possibly happened for him to end up in a hospital: a private hospital, no less. Harry internally slammed his head on a table at what the hospital bill might look like. "How do you feel?"
"Fine," Harry crocked out and cleared his throat and repeated it, but his voice was still raspy.
"I will refill that for you later," she said and took the cup from his hands. "Can you tell me the last thing you remember?" Harry was about to speak when he remembered the little twins in the room as well.
"Um, I don't think the kids want to hear what happened to me," Harry said, and Dan nodded and ushered both sets of twins and a reluctant Fizzy and Lottie out the door. "Well, it was a typical Monday, and I was in the playroom with Simon. This isn't consensual, by the way, but they don't care. I was hung from my wrist and neck, and Simon tased me after pouring water all over me for a while. I don't know how long to be honest. Then the other lads beat me with a bat as if I'll shoot candy out my ass. Then Simon whipped me with a belt all over, and it was so hard it broke the skin. Then I was let down from the ceiling and on the bed, and they did knife play with me but broke the skin, so basically, they were cutting into me like cutting a steak. Oh, and they tightened my collar, cutting off my airway and then double penetrated, but I passed out before the first pair could even cum." Harry listed as if he listed a grocery list.
Everyone in the room was shocked at how easy Harry was to say it and that he didn't cry or show any emotions and told it like an everyday thing.
"Well, then you remembered everything," Dr. Manning said. "Your social worker found you when he came to pick you up and talk about something with you. He found you in a pool of your blood and two people in you. Everyone in that house has been arrested, and the cops need your statement but give it when you are ready. You have multiple broken ribs, and they nearly broke the lining of acid around your stomach. You are badly bruised all over and have a few hairline fractures here and there. You lost much blood, and we've had to do many transfusions while you were here. There's been no brain damage, luckily, and you went into cardiac arrest a few times due to the number of times you've tried," she said following Harry's bluntness.
"Okay," Harry said and turned to look at his IV. "How long have I been here?"
"Barely a day. It's Tuesday at 4 pm," she replied.
"How long do I have to stay?" Harry asked.
"Until you finish two more bags of blood, not including this one," Harry looked over to see an entire bag of blood hanging there, and he sighed. "Sorry, sweety, at least another day."
"Does someone have my bag?" Harry asked, and Niall nodded.
"All your stuff from the group home is right here," Niall pointed to the couch against the wall that is beside the bed.
"Can you pass me my school bag and phone?" Harry asked, and Louis nodded and grabbed.
"I will leave you to rest and come check on you in a few hours," she said and left the room.
It was silently as Hary turned on his phone and pulled out his tutoring notebook. He flipped to an empty page and sighed at the number of questions that came in, and started to get to work. Everyone's jaw dropped. Harry just woke up from nearly dying because nine people decided he was nothing better than a sex toy and punch bag, and here he is doing work?
"Um, Harry, maybe you should take a break. The school knows you are in the hospital so that they will understand," Jay said softly. Harry puts his pencil down and turns to face everyone.
"What does my social worker want to talk about?" He asked when no one said anything.
"About us fostering you and then adopting you," Niall blurted out on to be hit in the back of the head by Greg. "Ow," Niall said and pouted while rubbing the back of his head.
"Come again?" Harry said, a bit shocked and wondering if they did any hearing damage.
"We started the paperwork to become foster parents, your foster parents back when you were eight and Niall was ten. It was a whole two years of paperwork and waiting on calls and going back and forth. It was just a mess. The judge looking at our case was being investigated for something I can't remember, but our case got put on hold. After about six years, the investigation was over, and our case got moved to another judge who granted us as foster parents and allowed us to become your foster parents. We were in contact with your social worker and yesterday was when you were supposed to move in with us," Maura said, and Harry just stared blankly at her.
It was silent in the room, everyone waiting for Harry to react, but he was just frozen to his spot, and no one could read his face.
"The cops are here, and they want to talk to Harry if he's ready," Dan said after about thirty minutes of silence and what looks like a staring contest between Niall and Harry.
"Harry, do you want to talk to the cops?" Louis asked but got no response from Harry. He placed a hand on his shoulder, and Harry turned to face him. "The cops are here. Are you ready to talk to them?" Louis asked again, and Harry nodded and cleared his throat. He shook his head and ran a hand down his face.
The cops came into the room, and everyone left the room, and Louis squeezed Harry's shoulder before he walked out.
"Hello, Harry. My name is Detective Halstead, and this is my partner Detective Upton. Can you tell us what happened the day you ended up here?" Detective Halstead asked, and Harry nodded.
He told them about the playroom and what Simon and the other did in as much detail he could remember. He mentioned the taser, the bat hiring, the belt, the hanging, the knife, then the rape. They asked if this had happened before, and Harry nodded. Harry told them about everything that had happened ever since the first day he had arrived in that house. The first time Simon came into his room and raped him. The first time Nick did it. The first he was best up by Nick and Greg. The first time he was best up at school. The first time they raped him as a group. The first time he was double penetrated. The first time he was in the playroom. Then he mentioned the weekly routine of how Mondays are the worst beatings, how he is in the play four times a week, and how they rape him every day. How they beat him every chance, they get. How they verbally abused him. How they treat him. How they won't let him eat and starve himself.
Halstead and Upton write all of it down. They were a bit worried that Harry was calm and barely reacted to anything he said. They saw this in trauma victims before and know that Harry is in a horrible state right now and the road to recovery would be hell for him.
They ask Harry to tell the others about everything, and Harry shrugs. He doesn't care anymore if anyone knows. He doesn't care.
They leave the room and tell the others that Harry has been suffering from sexual, verbal and physical abuse since he arrived in that house. They didn't go into the details like Harry had. They just kept it simple and straight to the point. They did bring up their concern for his mental health, which Louis, Niall, Liam and Zayn already know.
The detectives talk to Dr. Manning about their concerns, and she nods and tells them that she will send a psychiatrist to see him and assess him.
When they leave, they all enter Harry's room to see he is back at work, and they sigh.
"So Harry, what are your thoughts?" Niall asked tentatively, and Harry looked up for a brief moment and then focused back at work.
"I don't have a choice here, do I?" Harry asked casually.
"Of course you do. If you don't want to, then we can withdraw our request," Bobby said, and Harry shook his head.
"My social worker won't do that. Plus, the removal would be another long process and would hinder any chances you have of becoming foster parents," Harry said slower than usual because he was focused on chemistry.
"We don't care. We want you comfortable," Maura said, and Harry was about reply when his social worker burst into the room.
"Harry, the process is complete. You are legally Maura and Bobby Horans adoptive son," he said, making everyone snap their heads to him.
"Adoptive? Is it done? I thought we would be his foster parents and then talk about adoption," Maura said, a bit shocked, and he shook his head.
"Well, you filled out the paperwork, and everything was approved. I pulled some strings to make it go faster, and now everything is done. There's no court needed because of Harry's case with Mr. Cowell, so everything is done and here are the official documents. It was nice knowing you, Harry. Bye," he quickly said and handed Bobby a folder before walking out.
"See," Harry said.
"WE'RE BROTHERS!" Niall yelled and ran over and launched himself on Harry, who groaned in surprise and Louis, Liam and Zayn were quick to pull him off of Harry before he broke any more bones. "Sorry," Niall said sympathetically.
Harry just nodded and went back to work. He was retreating even more. He hated getting adopted even hated it more since it was Horans.
"Harry, are you okay with this?" Bobby asked, and Harry shrugged.
"It doesn't matter if I am," Harry said, not looking up. They all sigh, and Bobby wraps his arms around Maura. The boys wrap their arms around Niall, and Greg stands there awkwardly and wraps his arms around himself.
"Would you like to be left alone?" Zayn asked after a long moment of silence. Harry nods, and they slowly leave the room.
"He hates it," Niall said once the door to Harry's room shuts.
"Give him some time," Liam said, and Louis scoffed.
"We've been trying to get him to open up for a month, and nothing has changed," Louis said with an eye roll earning a punch from Zayn.
"How do you think he will react if we make him go to therapy?" Maura asked hesitantly, and the boys stood there silently thinking. None of them know how Harry would react.
"Worth a shot," Niall said with a shrug and leaned his forehead on Liam's chest. Liam wrapped his arms around Niall.
"We are here for you," Liam said.
---
Harry spends the time in the hospital doing schoolwork that Niall brought for him, his tutoring and even work for Fizzy. He started to correct the pages she had done and made another list of things she clearly didn't understand for Sunday. When Fizzy got the notification that he had corrected her work, she told him to rest. He said that he was resting.
He saw a psychiatrist, and they talked from the first meeting; he can tell the emotional numbness/detachment could be from depression, PTSD, and emotional avoidance. He says it's hard to pinpoint where it came from since he is pushing any signs of any other possible illness down from the surface. Harry barely talked to him and mainly stared at the wall across from him and kept his answers short. When asked about the rape, he just said that it happens daily, and once again, Harry didn't cry, get mad, or get anxious. He just said it. When asked about the abuse, Harry said that that was also a daily occurrence and the same reaction. Anything he asked, Harry responded the same way. He got a good look in Harry's eyes and did notice the lack of emotions and personality behind his eyes. He then grabbed a ball and threw it at the bed when Harry wasn't looking, and Harry just turned around and stared at it and then back to him.
Harry was void of all emotions, and he could tell that Harry was pulling back even more.
He told Maura and Bobby that Harry should see someone weekly, if not even daily. He expressed his concerns that the longer this continues, the more disconnected Harry would be, and soon enough, there wouldn't be a Harry anymore. Suppose he is still physically on the earth, mentally and emotionally completely gone. He wouldn't be actively pushing anything down because everything would be gone, and he will be a shell of an empty person. Harry is acting like a shell of an empty person, but he still feels things he chooses to ignore. He wouldn't even feel any emotions or pain if this went untreated.
He also warned them that the first few sessions might be useless since Harry barely talked, but they needed to start somewhere either way. They instantly began to look for a good psychologist in their area, wanting the best for Harry.
Niall and Louis had spent time in Harry's room after Dr. Charles, the psychiatrist, talked about what was going on at school. They thought Harry wasn't listening since he was still working, but he was. He finished all his stuff and pretended to tell his brain and heart not to open up.
The next day Harry was let out, and he went home with the Horans. He arrived at a huge house and realized it was just a few houses down from Louis's house. It was a modern three-story house, and Harry was led to the second floor, where Niall and Greg's room. The parents are on the first floor. The basement is a game room and a gym. The top floor is the movie theatre, homework room, and office for his parents.
Harry's room was huge, with a queen-sized modern canopy bed in the middle of the room with two nightstands, one on each side of the bed. The bars around the bed were silver with a light grey headboard and footboard. The mattress was dark grey with white blankets and a middle shade of grey as the bed scarf. There is a smaller grey couch in front of the bed. A TV directly across from the bed. There is a black desk on one wall to the right of the bed between two doors. One is the bathroom, and the other is the closet. There's a TV a black TV stand that connects to two bookshelves. On the left to the bed are white sliding french doors that lead to a balcony.
"Do you like it?" Niall asked after Harry stood in the middle of the room for about thirty minutes, not saying anything.
"Yeah," Harry said and blinked a couple more times before placing his bags on the couch.
"Oh, that pulls out into a bed," Maura said, and Harry nodded. "Now, you two be good. We have to drive Greg back to school and be back tomorrow. Harry, do you want to go to school?"
"Sure," Harry said with a shrug, and Maura nodded. She walked up to Niall, gave him a hug and a kiss, and waved at Harry before leaving the room.
"So what do you want to eat? I'm starving," Niall said, and Harry shrugged.
"I don't care," he said and moved to explore more of the room.
"Pizza, do you mind if I invite the lads?" Niall asked.
"NO," Harry yelled from the bathroom, and Niall left Harry exploring and called a pizza and then the lads to come over.
They were all there within a few minutes since they all lived in the same neighbourhood. Liam and Zayn are neighbours and live on the other side of the neighbourhood, so they are the furthest, but Louis is only four houses down from him and yet he was the last to arrive.
They were all in the living room waiting for pizza when Harry came in as if he was exploring the house. He just nodded at them as a greeting and continued to explore the place, and Niall sighed.
"Not going well?" Zayn asked, and Niall shook his head.
"He is almost worse than when we first saw him in school," Niall said, and Louis patted him on the shoulder. They turned on the TV to try and get their minds off of Harry.