Maybe it was because of the painkillers or because of the sleep, but either way when Louis woke up he felt much better. Sure, he still had his broken ribs, sprained ankle and what else but now he felt like he could actually be able to stand on his own feet some day.
He opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling with sleepy eyes. The cellar really wasn't in any way warm place but Louis felt surprisingly fine and warm under the thick blanket. He turned his head and spotted Harry on the floor, leaning his back against the door. Harry's head was hanging down, and Louis figured the younger lad was sleeping.
Now that Louis' didn't need to concentrate on dealing with the overwhelming pain, even through it was still there but not as strong thanks to the painkillers, he remembered what he had said about Anne to Harry.
Louis needed to push that subject, make the old Harry come back because without him Louis wouldn't make it out... alive. And Louis strongly believed that Anne, Harry's mom, was the key to everything.
And also Louis wouldn't be able to live with himself if he didn't even try to make Harry realise that his mother was sick and didn't have much time. Harry needed to come back to his senses before it'd be too late.
Louis' throat was dry and when he tried to call out Harry's name, he only ended up coughing really badly which, in turn, made his ribs hurt like bitch. Louis couldn't stop coughing because every time he coughed, his ribs hurt which, for some reason, made him cough again. When he tried to catch breath, it only made things worse.
Out of nowhere came hands that pushed Louis' head down and covered his mouth.
"Breathe", Harry said, and Louis tried to turn his head in order to get his mouth free, but Harry was having none of it. "Breathe through your nose. Now."
Louis whole body was burning, his throat was burning and he felt the need to cough but he couldn't so he did as Harry told him to. He breathed through his nose, staring at Harry with wide eyes. Harry didn't look away, not even then when he slowly removed his hand from Louis' mouth.
"Don't cough", Harry muttered and took a step back. Louis kept staring at him, his mouth slightly open. He wanted to say something to Harry. Harry cared about him, about his wellbeing. "I don't care."
Oh, right. Louis had forgotten that Harry had been in the training and was able to read people annoyingly well.
"Troy wants to see you and it's not going to happen if you're dead", Harry said, narrowing his eyes.
Louis forced himself to lift his upper body a bit. "Troy can suck—" Louis couldn't finish his sentence because he started coughing roughly and fell back on the bed. Harry's hand quickly came back to cover Louis' mouth.
"Damn it, Louis! Don't talk, don't move, don't do anything, okay?" Harry exclaimed and slowly removed his hand. Louis closed his eyes and tried to fight against the urge to cough. Louis heard Harry walking out of the cellar and he opened his eyes. He was alone. But then he heard Harry's voice again; he was speaking to someone outside of the door in Russian.
Louis stared at the door nervously until Harry stepped back in, alone. Louis saw him slipping a phone back to his pocket and Louis realized that Harry had called to someone, which made sense since there wasn't connection in the cellar. Louis wanted to ask who Harry had called but he didn't dare to speak. Harry leaned against the wall, tilting his head back and sighing.
Since it seemed like Harry wasn't going to talk any time soon, Louis turned to stare at the ceiling once again. How could he get the old Harry back if he couldn't even talk?
***
Fortunately the silence didn't last long.
"I came as fast as I could."
Louis turned his head when he heard Mihail's voice. He saw the man walking towards him, but Harry didn't move— he just stared at Mihail and Louis without even blinking.
"Louis, can you speak?" Mihail asked, leaning closer to Louis.
"I told him not to", Harry commented. "He starts coughing when he talks."
Mihail furrowed his eyebrows and pressed gently Louis chest and ribs with his fingers. "Nothing's seems to be wrong. It's just a chain reaction. He coughs, his ribs hurt, he coughs again, tries to breath deeply and then his ribs just hurt even more", Mihail said and stepped towards Louis ankle to check it out.
Harry narrowed his eyes and glanced at Louis before turned his eyes back on Mihail. "But why's he coughing? Is there blood in his lungs?"
Louis eyes widened and his eyes flickered between Mihail and Harry in horror.
Mihail shook his head. "Don't look like that, Louis, there's no blood in your lungs, you would be most likely coughing blood if there would be."
Louis relaxed a bit and closed his eyes. Just give me something to drink, god damn it, he thought."
"Then why is he coughing so badly? It didn't sound good."
Louis opened his eyes and raised an eyebrow to Harry but the lad ignored him. Mihail pressed his hand against Louis' forehead and shook his head.
"No fever. Louis?"
Louis collected the last pieces of his strength and whispered, "My throat."
Mihail rolled his eyes and slapped his forehead. "Of course. Harry, go get something to drink. Water, for example."
Harry sneered. "What, just water? How about some wine? Do you want crème brûlée while I'm at it, sir?"
Oh, so Harry had developed a little problem with authority. Louis wanted to say something sassy but he figured it'd better if he just keeps his mouth shut. Speaking now would probably have some dangerous effect.
Mihail gave Harry a murderous look but Harry just scoffed and walked away. Mihail turned his attention back to Louis and sighed.
"I'm going to check your ankle", he said and unwrapped the bandage. "It's still as swollen as yesterday. I'd put something cold on it but, you know, this isn't a five star hotel."
"No shit", Louis whispered, putting all the sarcasm that was possible in his voice.
Mihail smiled but it didn't reach his eyes. Louis waited patiently when Mihail wrapped the bandage back and placed the blanket back on top of him.
"I see Harry brought you a blanket", Mihail said and took a step back. Louis furrowed his eyebvrows and looked at Mihail questioningly. Mihail spread his arms. "What? I asked him to bring you clothes, I said nothing about the blanket."
So it had been Harry himself doing something for Louis, not just following orders. Louis almost started smiling but managed to stop himself on time.
The door opened again and Harry walked in, throwing a water bottle to Mihail. He didn't say a thing but neither did Mihail. Louis stared at Harry who looked at Louis for a second and then went back to his original place where he leaned his back against the wall and stared ahead grumpily.
"Here, drink." Mihail put one hand behind Louis' head to support and with the other he placed the bottle on Louis lips and helped him to drink. "There, better?"
Louis nodded and said cautiously, "Thanks."
Mihail placed the water bottle in between Louis and the wall and shook his head, stepping away. "Please don't thank me", he muttered and before Louis could say anything, Mihail turned around and spoke to Harry. "Did you wake him up every few hours and asked simple questions like I told you to?"
Louis eyes widened in surprise when Harry nodded. "He answered all of them correctly."
"Why did he need to do that?" Louis asked, glad that he could talk almost properly now.
"In case of concussion", Mihail stated.
Louis was lost. "But... I don't remember anything. I don't remember waking up."
Mihail shrugged. "Probably because of the painkillers and— well, you had a rough night so..."
"Right", Louis said dryly.
Harry snapped his fingers in front of Mihail's face. "Hey! He's fine, am I done babysitting him?"
"No."
"No?"
"Yes, no." Mihail walked to the door. "I will bring more painkillers later."
"Hold on, what do you mean no?" Harry asked angrily, following Mihail. "He is fine, I don't understand why I need to stay here?"
"Because I'm telling you to stay."
Harry narrowed his eyes and raised his chin. "Find someone else to stay with him, because I'm not doing it."
"You're staying, end of the discussion."
"I—"
"He needs to drink and he can't lift his arms— He's going to need your help", Mihail interrupted and then grinned. "And just wait 'til he needs to go to the bathroom."
Oh, how Louis hoped they would stop talking about him like he wasn't there because he was, right behind them, lying on the fucking bed.
Harry spread his arms. "He can't move! What the fuck am I supposed to do?"
Mihail glanced at Louis and winked. "Figure something out."
Then he was gone. Louis stared at the door and wondered what the hell was that. When Harry turned to glare at him, Louis tried to smile innocently.
"If you say you need to piss, I'm going to kill you with my bare hands", Harry warned.
Louis rolled his eyes because, really, what else could he do? "What happened to the guy who took care of me after Malik beat the shit out of me?"
Harry narrowed his eyes. "You abandoned him in this hell house and he died."
"Лжец", Louis said.
"Liar? You're calling me a liar?"
"He didn't die. You gave me a blanket." Even Louis himself realised how stupid he sounded but there wasn't really any other way to express it.
Harry spread his arms in frustration. "I was following my orders!"
"Liar", Louis repeated and turned to look at the ceiling. "Mihail didn't ask you to bring me this blanket. It was all you."
To that, Harry said nothing.
But Louis wasn't done yet.
"Are you ready to ask about your mother?" Louis asked, not taking his eyes off the ceiling.
"Shut up."
"I know you want to know what's happened to her."
"Shut. Up."
Louis knew he was playing with fire but how could he not? This was his chance and who knows when would he get another one. "You know I'm the only one who can give you answers."
"SHUT UP!"
Harry was now close to Louis, hovering over him and Louis stared into his eyes.
"Shut up, or you'll get two new broken ribs", Harry warned.
Louis slowly shook his head. Harry had changed so much. Threatening? Swearing? But he was, somehow, still Harry. Not exactly the same as the old but there was something in him that gave Louis hope. "You wouldn't do that. You're still you. You know you're not like this, you—"
A hand covered Louis mouth and Harry leaned closer, so close that their noses almost touched. "Shut. The. Fuck up, before I lose my self-control and—"
Louis turned his head, so that he got his mouth free and said, "And do what, huh? Kiss me again?"
That made Harry freeze and for a moment they just stared at each other and Louis' breathing quickened which made him gasp in pain. He closed his eyes and coughed.
Shit.
He coughed again but then there was Harry's hand covering his mouth. Louis kept his eyes closed and tried to breath through his nose. He felt Harry moving his hand to support Louis head and then there was the water bottle on his lips again. Louis drank slowly and when Harry pulled the bottle away, he breathed slowly and tried not to take a deep breath because that would only hurt him more.
Harry stepped away from Louis and shook his head, running his fingers through his hair. "Just... just shut up and rest, okay? Don't talk to me."
Louis looked at Harry when the younger boy walked back to his now somewhat usual place and leaned against the wall.
"I'm right here when you want to know", Louis half-whispered and closed his eyes again. "But hurry, before it's too late."
Harry didn't answer and Louis fell asleep.