-Harry-
Knowing Ollie has betrayed Eulalia, it doesn't surprise me when he was fishy in the first place. Though I am severely pissed off and disappointed in Zayn, I believe his intention wasn't to hurt us and he would've backed out if he could, but since this mysterious person has gained control over everyone basically, it's hard to stop.
When finding out that Ollie was responsible for most of the accident, I wanted to hurt him then and there. Louis refused to get involved with him and decided to track his whereabouts the past days and surprisingly, he is staying put, he is laying low, which means he knows something is wrong or he doesn't know anything. All we have to do is wait, which is mainly the worst thing to do.
With questioning, how did we track Ollie? Louis found the address of his house and put a tracking device inside his car, that had barely moved, and Louis hired a trusted friend to watch his house and with the source, he hasn't left and has been staying inside, keeping away from the heat. Though he don't know if he's been contacted from the mysterious man, we assume his next move will happen when Eulalia, which I believe is soon. It just feels right, right now.
After we were in the office most of the time, Louis and me went back to the hospital to chat it up with Ms. Snow. Her boyfriend, who I finally have met, was there visiting. All five of us, including Eulalia, were all together talking. The coziness of it relaxed my nerves of everything. With the pain of my knuckles after I hit Zayn, the sting had finally died down but it still remained with a slight red touch.
The next day, Wednesday, December 28th, it was just Eulalia and me. I ordered breakfast in the morning, decided after I would go visit Marvel, who was upset I have been missing, and then I went back to speak with Niall at the hospital. He had nothing planned that day because soon him and his band will be going on tour back in Europe, Zoe traveling with them, which I pray she survives because they are all a bunch of wild animals and are not afraid to do anything.
Thursday, I went home to grab some painting supplies to pass time since it was a slow day. I finished a quick dove, flying in the nighttime sky, in the time span of three hours. For dinner that day, I ate Chinese food for the millionth time, and slept in Eulalia's arms again, tossing and turning because of everything flowing through my brain.
Friday night, I was invited by Melina and Ceci for dinner. Dawn was also invited and he brought a deck of cards. So when eating our dinner, two delicious pizzas, we played a game of Kings of Corners right there at the restaurant table. Niall and Zoe were not able to make it since Zoe had a mandatory meal with her parents and Niall was trying to impress the two, which I believe he succeeded in.
Saturday I called my mom, then my sister, and lastly my dad. My mom was stilling finishing up with her children's book she's been working on for a year or so, my sister, Gemma, her sunglasses company is getting more involved and she's really excited, which makes me happy, and my dad, he has been staying low, working like always, but still happy all around. I didn't do much the rest that day, I just stayed at the hospital with my precious girl.
Moving forward four days later, it is now New Year's Eve—Sunday—and everyone is here. Eulalia's parents, stepmom too, all of our friends, Zayn, and Louis and Felix have also joined, which I am happy that we're all able to accept each other. With snacks, drinks, and games all around, everyone is chatting and meeting everyone. We're here to share and celebrate our time with Eulalia, even if she isn't able to make it physically, she's still in our presence.
Doctor Blake, earlier today, proceeded to inform me that if Eulalia stays in her coma, when she wakes up, brain damage is more possible than it was a few weeks earlier.
I didn't know what to think, but just to deny his knowledge because Eulalia wouldn't just lose her memory. Plus, I believe she is in there and will hear us one day and will be able to tell us, even if it's small.
With people around, I sip the sparkling grape juice in my plastic champagne glass next to the hospital bed. I have a Happy New Year's party hat on my head, paired with gold, black, and white beaded necklaces wrapped around my neck. Sitting in my chair, Melina next to me speaking to Ceci on her right, the TV blares the traditional station to see the famous Times Square Ball Drop. With an hour to go, different bands sing songs and the crowd beyond hypes them up.
"What was your favorite memory from this year, Harry?" Melina turns her head towards mine, asking politely. Her right hand dangles on her right knee, where her right leg is crossed over her left. She holds champagne in her plastic champagne glass with her left hand, her finger tips painted a sparkly gold.
Thinking about the year I have spent, my most memorable part was sitting in that booth, she drank her Shirley Temple, while I had a rum and coke.
"The first time I met all of you," I smile, "you guys turned into my family, and I thank you all for that."
Melina flattens her lips curling her mouth into a smile, "we're all so glad to have met you Harry, especially Eulalia." I nod my head, looking over to her, holding my hand out to squeeze her palm gently. Melina turns her head to Ceci, "what about you, what was your favorite memory?"
Ceci hums, leaned in the couch, "my favorite memory was when we went to the zoo," she leans forward to face me, "sorry Harry, you weren't there, but I bet you would've loved it."
Raising my hand in defense, I am not offended. "No worries," I murmur, "what about you Melina, what was your favorite memory?" I asked, gulping the last sip of my drink, setting it on the tiled floor.
Melina sighs, concentrating on her answer, "I think it was the time I learned how to figure skate correctly by Eulalia. It was at the beginning of the year, she demanded me to try and I had so much fun, even though I was so bad." She laughs, admitting her truth.
"My favorite memory was when I got to play at this huge venue, five thousand plus people were there. Biggest crowd my band and I have played in front of." Niall bumps in, overhearing our conversation. I smile, happy that Niall is growing slowly but surely. He's confident, his music is amazing, and he puts a lot of hard work into his music.
Dawn crawl towards us, literally, and sits in our little circle, "my favorite memory was making homemade spaghetti and we all had it at my place."
Though I wasn't there, the thought of food makes my stomach growl. I lean back into my chair, relaxing because I know we'll be here for a long time.
Zoe explains her favorite memory, when she got to go to California for the first time with her mom. She said she missed the sand and the sunshine and the fresh air. But she knew California wasn't for her, too happy, and Arizona, the dusty desert was where she belonged, which made us all laugh.
Switching from memories we shared our childhood memories to build up to these remarkable moments.
"The first time I met Eulalia, we both were five-years-old. We both had to wait for our turn on the swing set. As time passed, our anger progressed because two boys wouldn't let us take a turn. We gave each other this look, like we both knew what to do, so we pushed both the boys off the swings and started push our feet as far as we could. We laughed down at the boys, who were both crazy annoying and ended up leaving the two of us alone every time we wanted to swing together. Overtime, we became best friends. We did anything and everything for each other. With fights then and there, we kept holding each other's hands in the hardest situations." She explains, laughing while rethinking the memory, slowly wiping the tears from hitting the surface of her outfit.
With my glossy eyes, I turn to face Niall, who is already staring at me. We give each other this look and he nods his head slowly.
Niall starts to explain how we meet each other in class, "we were in school, had a class and we were partnered up for some stupid project in art. Our assignment was to build something we had in common. Because we didn't know each other, for a long time we couldn't agree on anything until we decided to make a electric guitar, bird's designed throughout the instrument. It represented us, he liked birds, I liked my guitar. Our teacher said we were the best and we won some contest. I don't know, but it was so dumb, but so unforgettable. We were together in friendship every day ever since."
Laughing out loud, the project was terrible but it inspired my love for art and even more for birds.
With 30 minutes to spare, I get up from my chair to walk over to the numerous options of drinks. Eulalia's dad and stepmother both stand next to the table, picking from the chocolate covered pretzels, nibbling and talking over a shared amount of quiet laughs and multiple cups of champagne. I lean forward, pouring my own glass of champagne, the first taste of alcohol tonight.
"Thank you for inviting us tonight, Harry," Mr. Snow greets, "if it weren't for you, we'd probably be at home doing nothing." I smile, sipping my glass of liquid in my mouth.
"My pleasure," I raise my glass, "the more, the merrier, am I right?" We all chuckle, and I grab a handful of popcorn before walk back around to my spot, comfortably watching everyone else around me chat.
With the final minutes of time in 2022, I reach out to hold Eulalia's hand. With the pressure of mine, our hands link together like they're meant for each other. My eyes hold out at the screen, the 60 seconds numbering down to zero, something shifts in my hand, not my hand but Eulalia's squeezes it tightly.
"three, two, one!" Loud shouts from around the room are echoed. Gripped into my own head, I turn to face Melina, her smile falters to a serious look and walks over to me. Everyone else around notices.
My own voice can't even speak properly, "E-Eulalia's h-hand," I stammer, looking between everyone and her.
-Eulalia-
The white darkness around me has reached my eyes. Loud noises surround me, moving in and out of my ears. The warmth of someone's hand, Harry's hand holds mine tightly.
Having no clue how long I have been in this situation, connecting the dots that it is New Year's Eve, I suppose I have been laying here for more than a month.
Scared to speak, I can't either way. My voice has been taken away. Everything on my body hurts. My head feels heavier. My body is still, cold, and empty.
Carrying my strength through my fingers, I lightly squeeze Harry's hand, hoping for an answer from him. With the silence coming from him, everything else is still loud.
The loud shouts, clinks, small noises of kissing is made from, I assume, all my friends and family. Harry holding my hand still, the final countdown is yelled in unison, "three, two, one!"
Seconds later, their presences feel real. A quiet moment beside me, Harry stutters out, "E-Eulalia's h-hand."
Gasps are shared and loud steps are ringed along the tile floor, "I need Doctor Blake in here!" The familiar Irish accent shouts in the distance hallway. Hoping they see my smile, I feel somewhat happy in this room right now.
"What is it?"
An unfamiliar voice is heard from my left, rising more as he approaches me and my unexpected arrival through Harry's hand.
"Eulalia squeezed my hand a minute ago," Harry informs, his voice soft, "that must mean she can hear us, right Sir?" Harry asks in conformation. Not knowing who this man is, I assume he's tall and older than me, dark hair, too.
After a few seconds, a large sigh is made from someone, "it could possibly been a warning, trigger, or even a causal shift in the hand, which means she didn't technically do it herself."
I did it myself, asshole.
Harry holds my hand still, loosely wrapping our fingers together, "no, look at this," Harry orders, "Eulalia, if you can hear me, squeeze my hand once for yes."
Following his words, it takes a few seconds, building the energy through our hands, but I am to squeeze our hold together, the action noticeably from the increased intensity from each person.
"I need more doctors in here!"
As they inspect me, it seems no answers have filled their questions and a lingering void holds their breaths together.
"For now, all she will have to do is wake up on her own. I'm sorry for the repeated reports, but it's the only thing right now."
"Doctor Blake, wait," Harry let's go of our hands, I assume gets from his chair, "there isn't anything to do with this situation?"
"I'm afraid not. I'm sorry, Mr. Styles, but for now, we let it runs it's course. Happy new year everyone."
The doctor leaves, based on the footsteps and sighs of many people are echoed.
"Damn it, Eulalia." Harry murmurs, "I am going to get you out of there, OK?" He grabs my hand and I squeeze softly.
With so much energy used, my body feels drained. My eyes feel like they're shutting, even though they're already closed. My body shuts off and everything goes back to an empty state.
-Harry-
Picking up the scraps from the mini get together, it just leaves Melina and me alone, trashing everything that was left behind.
The mystic music from the TV flows through the speakers, the silent beeping from the hospital machines, and the crunching of the garbage being crumbled inside the plastic trash bag.
With everything that was thrown into todays pot, the mixture is about to overflow.
"Harry, I should get going, are you going to be alright here?" Melina walks up, standing beside me.
I nod my head, tossing the last empty bag of chips. Redirecting my eyes, "thanks for tonight."
Melina rests his hand on my shoulder, "of course. If Eulalia were awake, she would've loved it." I nod my head, agreeing with her statement.
Tying the trash bag together, I grab the trash bag Melina used to collect her side of the room.
"I will walk you down." I announce, and we both walk out of the hospital room. With our quiet bodies, the squeaks of our shoes echo through the hallway. Pressing the down button, the doors open seconds later, allowing us to walk through.
I stand next to the rows of button in the left top corner, I press the number one for the main level. The button lights up an off-white shade in the darkened machine. The doors close, leaving us to stand quietly. I stare at my reflection in the mirror, then to Melina, and back to my reflection.
Surprise has occurred secretly and Melina's lips have pressed to mine, the feeling hitting me instant. Touching her chest, pushing away, I huff in shock, "Melina, what are you doing?!" My voice rises, anger building through my veins.
She wipes her lips with the base of her thumb, removing the lipstick around her smudged lip. She glares her eyes, a seductive grin curling on her mouth.
"I-I thought you wanted that, Harry." She said, looking me up and down, "you've been so nice, it's like your begging for my heart."
My back leans as far away from her body, the trash bags in my hands are tightened from my furious grip. I shake my head, "no...no! I don't like you like that. I love Eulalia, you should know that."
Melina clicks her tongue, her finger twirling her hair, "please, Harry." She smirks, "admit it, you know she isn't waking up anytime soon, which means we have a chance together." The elevator doors open and I rush out of there, leaving the hospital to walk to the large trash bins behind a green gate. Looking behind me, Melina follows, "Harry! Stop, please!"
Throwing the bags, they land, a loud bang sound drifts off, hitting other bags of trash. Turning around, Melina has caught up, hands on her hips.
"Leave me alone." I mutter, running my fingers through my hair, trying to walk around her, but she halts me from leaving anywhere.
"Now, now, now, where do you think you're going?"
"To Eulalia," I flare my nostrils.
A vicious laugh is made from Melina and she smirks tensely, "Harry, you're making the wrong decision, you know that right?"
Shaking my head, I scoff from her delusions, "in your dreams, Sweetheart, now please, get the fuck out of my way." I push past her, a humph is heard and she's left there standing, embarrassed and angry.
Walking back up to Eulalia, I go inside the bathroom, switching the lights to stare at my lips. The stained red matte makeup has designed the inner part of my lips. Grabbing a dried paper towel, I damp it underneath the tap, bringing the wetness to wash around my lips, cleaning the redness from my lips, that are reserved for Eulalia, and Eulalia only.
The trust I held with Melina has been broken. When Eulalia wakes up, I will be telling her that her best friend is a backstabber and tries to take other people's men. With disgust, I throw the paper towel in the trash, shutting the lights off to go inside the room.
Tonight was surreal and it means I'm one step closer to having Eulalia wake up from this horrible nightmare.
The mixture has overflown and is pouring on the floor.
———
who thought that could happen?
— Jaz