Everything in that moment stood still.
"Which hospital?" His voice had been extremely low, barely above a whisper.
"Royal General, she's in the ER."
"I'm leaving now." He quickly ended the call while searching for his coat. Everything was blurry. Ava was nervous. She didn't know who was on the other line, but it was clear that whoever it was did not have the best news.
"Harry, what's wrong." Harry passed by her quickly grabbing his keys. He was running his hands through his hair pulling roughly. "Harry," she tried again. This time carefully grabbing his arm. "Whatever it is, talk to me."
He looked at her. His eyes were dark but glazed over. It was evident that he was holding back tears. "Please." She kept her voice gentle, a complete contrast to his actions.
Harry took a deep breath, closing his eyes, and slumping his shoulders. "Rose. She's was in an accident." His voice cracked. Without giving it a second thought, Ava grabbed his keys from his hands. "I'll drive. Just, tell me where to go." She placed her hand on his cheek, "Whatever happens, I'm going to be there for you." He kept his eyes closed but a tear escaped. She wiped it away with her finger and give him a soft kiss on the cheek.
"Let's go."
The drive to the hospital was quiet. Neither Harry or Ava spoke a single word, each being lost in their own thoughts. Ava pulled in to the first parking space she could find. They walked quickly and made their way over to the emergency desk where they were met with an older receptionist.
"I'm looking for Rose Styles."
The receptionist looked up through her cat-eye glasses. "Are you family?"
"Don't I look like family? I'm her fucking cousin." He ran his hand through his hair completely anxious.
"Sir, I'm going to ask you to please calm down."
"Can you just tell me where she is, damn it!"
"Hi, erm, Lisa? Hi Lisa. Rose was in an accident and we would really like to see her." Ava kept calm, hoping to diffuse the situation before it got out of hand. Lisa looked at Ava who had a warm smile on her face.
"Sure thing, dear. She is on the B-Ward room 14B."
"Thank you." She sent her another smile before grabbing Harry by the arm and dragged him to the elevator.
"You didn't have to say anything. I had it in control." His tone was rough.
"Clearly."
He grunted in response and pressed the elevator to go up.
The hallways smelt like santizer and small shouts could be heard from neighbouring patients. They made their way to Rose's room. The door was shut and a tall, blonde haired man was inside.
Harry didn't bother to knock. He barged in through the closed door and shoved past so he could see his cousin.
"She is on heavy meds right now. They need to prep her for surgery."
Harry looked up. "Who are you."
"Marcus, her boyfriend."
Harry nodded and looked at Rose. She looked peaceful as she layed. Her face had a few scratches. The only sounds that could be heard in the small room was the beeping from her heart monitor.
"What the hell happend to her?"
"We went for a bike ride down by the pier. She was crossing the road and this car came out of nowhere, speeding, and hit her."
"Why does she need surgery?" He grunted.
"She needs to sew up her shoulder. She flew and hit a rock and it cut her open."
Harry placed his hand on Rose's, "Damn it Rose. You always have to hurt yourself, don't you."
Rose was like Harry's little sister. Ever since they were children, he was always looking after her. He felt like it was his responsibility to watch over her while she was living in Vancouver. But here he was, in a hospital room with her apparent boyfriend. A boyfriend that he was never told about. Harry was not the one to be easily angered, but the overprotective older cousin side of him was coming out.
"You can leave, Mike."
"It's Marcus."
"Sure thing, mate." His tone oozed with sarcasm. Harry didn't have the patience for this. All he wanted was this idiot who let his cousin get hit by a car to leave before he lost his temper.
"Harry-" Ava's voice cut through the awkward tension. She walked over and placed her hand on Harrys very tense shoulder. Once she touched him, he quickly softened. She had never seen him so worked up before. She wasn't sure what to do or say. "He is her boyfriend. He should stay."
She could feel his muscles tense. He looked over at her, slight rage in his eyes. However it immediately disappeared once he looked into her own.
He let out a huff, "Fine." She mouthed a thank you in response.
Marcus awkwardly stood to the side. After all of the things that Rose had told him about Harry, he had not been expecting this. He knew that he had a few tattoos but by the way that Rose described him he was "a complete teddy bear." This was not a teddy bear. Maybe a grizzly bear. More less, a mother grizzly bear ready to tear off the head of an attacker.
Harry looked over at Marcus. "So-" He felt awkward. He always did when he met one of Rose's boyfriends. "When did you start dating?"
"About four weeks ago." Marucs responded- completely nervous.
"Huh." Harry kept his eyes down. Ava slightly nudged him with her hip, telling him to keep going.
"Where are you from?"
"Toronto originally. I moved here about 4 years ago for school. I'm finishing up my bachelors in English."
Harry's ears perked up immediately.
"English?"
"Yeah. I want to be a high school teacher."
Harry instantaneously grew some respect for this guy. He got up and made his way over to a trembling Marcus. He stook his hand out for him to shake.
"It's nice to meet you, mate." This time no sarcasm.
"You too." He gave him a grin, completely thankful that Harry didn't bit his head off like the mother grizzly.
They continued to sit in the hospital room. Twenty minutes later, Rose began to shuffle in her bed. A moan escaped her lips. Her lilac hair was flat against her forehead due to sweat. She felt a sharp pain course through her body as she tried to open her eyes. "Marcus?" Her voice was rough.
"Yeah baby. I'm here- so is Harry."
At the sound of her cousins name she opened her eyes. "Harry?"
Harry reached over, placing his hand on hers. "Hey." He gave her a small smile. She looked at him and returned it. Harry was releaved to see her awake.
"What happend?" She tried to sit up but stoped quickly once her shoulder began to hurt. "Damn it!" She cursed.
"You got into an accident and tore up your shoulder, you clumsy idiot." Harry's voice was playful as he looked at his cousin. "I'm just glad you're okay." She smiled at him. It wasn't until she looked over that she noticed Ava.
"Ava? What are you doing here?" She didn't know that Harry and Ava were officially together. Ava quickly felt awkward.
"She's with me." Harry answered for her.
"What?" Rose's eyes widened at the realization. "You mean, as in, together?"
Harry rolled his eyes, "Yeah, as in together."
"Well fuck! You finally grew some balls!" She weakly hit Harry in the shoulder. His face flushed immediately and Ava chuckled.
"It took him long enough," Ava joked back.
The atomoshere was no longer awkward. Everyone had been joking and the air was light. The door suddenly opened and an older man walked in.
"Rose, you're awake! It also looks like you have some company." The doctor seemd nice and could easily be mistaken for Santa. "Hello, I'm Dr. Smith" He held out his hand to Harry.
"Harry. I'm her cousin and this is Ava." Ava smiled at the doctor and gave him a small nod.
"Ah, it's nice to meet you." He looked over at Rose. "How are you feeling?"
"I'm a bit sore."
He nodded and wrote it down on his clipboard. "Nauseous?"
"A little bit."
"Okay, we will have to give you some anti-nausea pills for that. You will also need to get some rest. You will be having your surgery early in the morning."
"Alright."
"You will all have to leave in about five minutes. Rose needs her rest."
"Thanks Dr. Smith." Marcus got up to shake his hand.
"Yeah. Thanks." Harry nodded as he got up and made his way over to the bed.
Rose looked up at Harry with a cheeky grin. "You have a lot of explaining to do."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Go to sleep." Harry kissed her on the forehead. Ava walked over to the bed. Rose had a huge smile on her face. You wouldn't have been able to tell that she was even hurt.
"Thank you," she said.
"For what?"
"For saving Harry." Her words took Ava back.
"I think that he is saving me." She whispered.
Rose only smiled and nodded. Ava gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and walked over to Harry. They both said goodbye and left the hospital room.
The walk over to the car was quiet and their fingers were interlocked. Ava squeezed Harry's hand and looked up at him.
"You're a great guy, do you know that?"
Harry looked down, his face slightly red. He quickly shook it off and look at her. "You're not too bad yourself."
"No, I mean it. You're such an amazing cousin. Rose is lucky to have you."
Harry stopped walking and pulled Ava over to the nearby wall. He bent his head down and gave her a kiss on the cheek, and then to her lips. The kiss was gentle- each savouring the moment. Ava pulled away. She looked into his eyes and couldn't help the grin on her face. She placed her hands on either side of his face and pulled him down so their nose were touching. "You, Harry Styles, are amazing." She whispered, before she kissed him deeply. They just stood there in the dark as their lips moved in sync. Neither paying attention to the world around them- but only lost in one another.
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Thank you for reading! I honestly love where this story is going. I know it's a bit slow, but sometimes those are the best ones.. no? I just hope you continue to stay on this journey I like to call Hava.