All Elena could see was the flourescent lights on the ceiling of the hospital hallway as she was wheeled out of the ambulance. The sounds of the stadium as she left echoed in her ears. Andrea apologizing over and over. The team Trainer Paul repeatedly asking her what hurt.
And the tear, the loudest sound of them all, was the tear in her knee when Andrea and the opposing player took her down.
Elena had yet to speak any words, just whimpers and cries while she held her breath through the excruciating pain all up and down her leg. Elena had been lucky throughout her career to have never sustained an injury that sidelined her for longer than a week. But the moment she felt and heard the tear she knew this was serious.
She could hear Andrea talking in her ear, telling her to breath deep, help was coming. But all Elena could focus on was how badly her knee hurt.
And now the bright hospital lights and the stark white walls were a grim reminder of what had just happened on that field.
------------------------------
All Harry could focus on was the dim lights of the London skyline as he stared out the window of the plane he'd just boarded. Jeff hadn't argued with him about cancelling the rest of the trip, it was clear the tone in Harry's voice meant not to squabble about this.
Gemma did her best to try and calm his nerves, though there was little she could do or say. She knew the flight would be excruciating for him on every level. Harry might as well have been on the moon.
Now, staring down at his silent phone he never wanted to see a text from Elena more than he did at that moment.
The normal relief he felt when the flight attendant would start the usual safety spiel was absent this time.
------------------------------
Chrissy arrived at the hospital while Elena was still in surgery. Which mean Elena went into surgery alone. Her parents were flying in from Florida and her brother was doing maneuvers with his unit, but Elena was flying solo when she was wheeled into that operating room.
When Chrissy rounded the corner into the waiting room, her eyes fell on Andrea immediately. Andrea looked quite like someone had shot her dog. Her face was red and puffy with tears that continually streamed down her skin. She was upset, that much was evident.
She stood up the moment she saw Chrissy,
"I think I hurt her...I think I hurt her really bad, Chris. Oh my God..." She whispered while her arms folded over her stomach.
Chrissy hugged Andrea tight,
"What happened?" She asked as she pulled away.
Andrea reached her hand out as if the field were in front of her,
"Th-the ball...I was trying to help her. The other player came at her at top speed...I was out of position, I never should've been up there." She spoke so quickly it was hard for Chrissy to follow her.
"Excuse me..." Andrea and Chrissy both turned in the direction of the voice that spoke in a British accent they'd heard many times before only this time it was female. She was blonde, about average height and the spitting image of her brother. She smiled warmly, just like he did and offered her hand to Chrissy, "I'm Gemma Styles...Harry's sister. I was at the game today."
Chrissy shook her hand,
"Chrissy, I'm Elena's best friend. This is Andrea Chacon."
Gemma gave Andrea a reassuring smile,
"If I may...I saw the whole thing." She put her hand on Andrea's shoulder, "It was quite clear you were trying to help."
Chrissy nodded,
"Is Harry aware of what happened?"
Gemma held up her phone,
"He was watching when it happened. He's on a flight now. Should be here by morning."
Chrissy chewed on her lip as she glanced around the waiting room which was full of Elena's teammates and team staff. The room was full, yet the only sound was the dull volume of the TV in the corner playing CNN.
She looked back at Gemma,
"Did they say what she's in surgery for?"
"MCL tear." Gemma answered, "I overheard them talking to ummmmmm..." She scanned the room, "That guy over there." She said as she pointed to the man Chrissy recognized as Paul, the team's head Trainer.
"Is that bad?" Chrissy asked, her own voice quivering with unshed tears.
Gemma stared into the faces of two of Elena's friends and her heart broke. It was clear by the sheer volume of people in this room that Elena was very loved. She shook her head,
"I don't know. I stopped listening after that." Gemma finished softly.
Chrissy glanced over at Andrea who sank into the chair behind her, an entirely new set of tears streaming down her face. Andrea was clearly going to shoulder all the guilt for this one. And the fact that the two of them hadn't been on good terms would only make it worse.
Chrissy looked back at Gemma,
"Are you staying? I think she'd like it if you stayed...just until Har-"
"I'm not going anywhere." Gemma replied, "Only known her for two days but she's already crawled into a little space in my heart and set up shop. Something tells me she does that a lot."
Chrissy nodded,
"She does."
------------------------------
Harry arrived at the hospital in the early morning hours. The sun was just coming up, casting an orange glow over everything. The chill of the onset of fall was in the air, a slight feeling of moisture still hanging on. All of it seemed to fit with the melancholy mood he was in.
The plane flight had been the longest flight he'd ever been on. He tried to sleep, but it was no use. He tried to read, but he couldn't keep his mind on anything. So he reserved himself to staring out the window while he wondered what he was going to walk into once he got to the hospital.
And now that he was here, it was all very anti-climatic. The waiting room had three people in it, one a very asleep Andrea who looked like she'd been crying most of the day due to the puffiness in her eyes. The doctors and nurses spoke in hushed tones so as not to wake the patients.
Harry had tried texting Gemma but got no response most likely due to the fact that it was almost 3 am and she was definitely asleep. Unfortunately he didn't have Chrissy's number or her parents or her brother. Harry realized at that moment he was grossly out of touch with her side of things and he needed to fix that immediately.
He took the few steps towards Andrea when he saw her stir a bit. She saw him coming and quickly sat up, looking a bit sheepish,
"Hi." He said softly.
She gave a haphazard smile,
"Hi."
"You look tired. I imagine it might be a bit more comfortable at home."
Andrea timidly folded her arms over her chest,
"Look, I know she told you what a bitch I've been so it's no use being nice to me."
Harry smiled despite the fact that he was in a hospital with his injured girlfriend a few doors away from him,
"What?"
Andrea looked up at him,
"She was distracted because of me. I wasn't in position. I slid into her...I did this."
Harry watched as Andrea folded into herself while the guilt and shame overtook her whole body. He took a breath and sat down next to her,
"I mean, I haven't known Len for a long time or anything...but it seems rather evident to me that she doesn't really get distracted." Andrea scoffed but didn't respond so Harry continued, "And as for not being in position...I mean I don't know half of the things about this game that you know but...it seemed to me like you were trying to protect her."
"I was." Andrea whispered softly.
He reached over to pat her hand a few times,
"Don't be so hard on yourself. I'd bet my next paycheck she won't be angry with you at all."
Andrea raised her eyebrows,
"You get paychecks?"
Harry's smile disappeared,
"Well no...but..." He waved his hand, "You get the idea."
She nodded, giving him a tight smile as she gestured towards the rooms down the hall,
"She's in room 401. Every time I go in there she's asleep...but good luck."
Harry let out a deep sigh. Since he'd boarded that plane in London all he wanted to do was see Elena. He looked back down at Andrea,
"Go home, Andy. I'll take care of it from here."
Andrea stood up with him, her arms still folded over her stomach,
"Can you...if she wakes up I mean...can you tell her that I love her so much?"
"I will definitely pass on the message."
Harry watched as Andrea walked out of the waiting room and down the hallway. He took the few steps out into the deserted hallway. He walked towards the first nurse he saw,
"Excuse me..."
She turned around, her eyes widening a bit indicating she clearly knew who he was. Harry rushed on,
"My girlfriend was brought in here earlier. Elena-"
"Bennett. The soccer player." She nodded, "Right this way."
Harry felt a sense of relief that she didn't giggle or laugh or smile or make some comment about how she knew who they were. She was discreet and that's exactly what he needed at the moment. She gestured to a room a few feet away,
"She's in room 401. Surgery went well."
Harry's eyes widened,
"Excuse me?" When the nurse turned to look at him again he rushed on, "Surgery?"
She nodded,
"Did you not know?"
Harry shook his head, his eyes still wide as he craned his neck to look inside the room,
"I-I've been on a plane...surgery for what?"
The nurse cleared her throat as she pulled Harry to the side,
"I'm not really permitted to say anything because you're not family. I'm breaking a whole bunch of laws but...she tore her MCL. Do you know what that is?" Harry stayed silent, simply shaking his head, "It's the ligament in your knee that keeps your knee from bending inward."
Harry felt his mouth go dry. He blinked as he processed the information,
"Is that - is that...serious?"
The nurse kind of nodded and shrugged at the same time,
"It can be. She's got a long road of recovery ahead of her."
Harry diverted his eyes to the ground,
"Is it...can it be..." He looked up at the nurse, "Is it career ending?"
The nurse stared back at him. He looked so lost and alone and clearly terrified of the answer she was about to give him. She took a breath,
"I'll have the doctor come in and talk to you as soon as I can ok?"
Harry's arms fell to his sides. The fact that she wouldn't answer was not a good sign. She gestured to Elena's room,
"You can go in."
Harry looked up at the curtain separating them. His heart was hammering in his ears as he stared at the pattern. He took a moment to gather himself before he pushed the curtain to the side and walked into Elena's room.
It was dark. The only light coming from a single lamp in the corner of the room. She was lying on her back, an IV currently in her arm. Her beautiful brunette hair was still in the ponytail she'd had it in from the game. She seemed to be peacefully sleeping.
Harry let out a breath he'd been holding in since he'd seen her go down on Niall's television. He grabbed one of the chairs sitting off to the side and lifted it to set it next to her bed. He took her hand in his as he sat down slowly, never taking his eyes off her face.
Nothing about this was life threatening in any way, but Harry had never been more terrified in his life. Elena's entire future...her entire life...had possibly changed in the blink of an eye. Harry felt grossly out of his depth for this. Did he know Elena well enough to know how she would handle this? He liked to think so but if he was honest, he had absolutely no idea what was going to happen.
What he did know was that soccer was the love of her life and the possibility she might not be able to play again would be devastating.
He leaned down, pressing his lips to the back of her hand. He felt her hand squeeze his and he looked up.
She smiled weakly,
"Hey there...how'd you get past security?" She joked.
Harry smiled,
"Flashed my 'I'm In A Boy Band' card and they just let me walk in."
Her smile faded a bit. He looked tired and haggard. Like he'd been awake for a long period of time. That's when she remembered, he wasn't in LA when she'd been hurt. She shook her head,
"You didn't have to come, Harry."
He lifted his head from her hand and nodded very deliberately,
"Yes. Yes I did."
"You had your prom-"
"Len...I saw it. I was watching. I left the moment I got a flight. There is no way in the world I wasn't going to be here."
She closed her mouth, deciding for the moment that arguing the point was unnecessary. She was happy to see him regardless of his reason for being there.
She lifted her hand to his cheek,
"It's good to see you."
He took her hand from his cheek, pressing a kiss to the palm before he looked back up at her,
"I didn't mean to wake you up."
"You didn't. The nurses come in here every ten minutes anyway to check my pulse...seems that incessant beeping machine over there isn't enough proof that I'm alive." Harry smiled, as usual Elena's fire was present and accounted for. She cleared her throat, "So...do I have to actually ask you to come up in this bed with me or..."
Harry's smile disappeared,
"Am I allowed?"
"What are they gonna do? Send us to the Principal's office?"
Well, she had him there. He slipped his shoes and jacket off, rounding the other side of the bed. Elena moved over, sucking in a breath when she felt a sharp pain in her knee.
Harry instantly froze and backed away from the bed. He shook his head,
"Maybe I shouldn't."
She calmed herself for a moment and then looked up at him,
"It's fine. I'm fine. Really." She held up the covers for him to slide in next to her, "Get in here. I'm cold."
Harry frowned, but lifted his leg up onto the mattress and slid in next to her as gingerly as he possibly could, making sure he kept himself away from her knee. He wound his arms around her, his heart skipping a few beats when she cuddled into his chest. She turned her head to look back at him,
"See? Easy."
He quirked his brows. She pressed a kiss to his lips and turned back to lay down.
Harry didn't sleep at all that night. He simply held her while she slept. His head was far too much of a jumbled mess.
------------------------------
Harry was promptly kicked out of Elena's bed when the doctor walked in a few hours later. They were also warned of the dangers of him sleeping so closely with the delicacy of her injury though the doctor did so with a smile. Harry surmised he was well aware Harry would be sleeping in Elena's bed with her until she left the facility, he was just covering his ass.
His name was Dr. Thomas and he was a tall man with wire rimmed glasses and salt and pepper hair. He looked to be somewhere in his 50s. He also looked to be one of those people you didn't fuck with when it came to his job. He set Harry at ease immediately.
He was reading down Elena's chart silently while Harry tried to fix his rumpled clothing. Dr. Thomas finally looked up after closing the file,
"So Elena, how's the knee feel today?"
"Doesn't feel at all, Dr. Thomas. Drugs are good."
Harry snickered and then quickly calmed himself. Dr. Thomas laughed softly as he raised his eyebrows,
"Alright then, that's good to know I guess. Has anyone discussed with you what happened?"
Elena shrugged,
"Tore my MCL..."
Dr. Thomas seemed to grow serious for a moment as he cleared his throat,
"Well that's half of it."
Elena's smile faded,
"Half of it? What's the other half?"
He pulled the covers off of Elena's leg gently, exposing her injuries,
"Had you injured your ankle prior to what happened with your knee?" Elena felt her eyes widen but she didn't say anything. He nodded, "I thought so. Your ankle is also sprained, when your ankle collapsed it caused the injury to your knee."
Harry looked down at Elena. Her usual cheery disposition was nowhere in sight. He knew what she was thinking without her ever saying a word.
Chrissy had harped on her about getting her ankle checked out after the last slide tackle. But with Harry and the team drama it had slipped her mind.
Dr. Thomas squeezed the only good part of her leg gently,
"Hey..." He winked when Elena met his gaze, "We're gonna take care of all of this. Just might take a little longer than usual." He leaned forward, his eyes glued to hers, "I'm the best at what I do, Miss Bennett. Google me sometime."
Harry coughed slightly,
"Be careful what you wish for, Doc."
Elena slapped his stomach causing him to grunt and cringe slightly. She looked back at the doctor,
"Are you saying my career is over?"
He shook his head,
"No I am not-"
"Because I'm a soccer player, Sir." She interrupted and for the first time since Harry had known her, Elena displayed alarm, "I'm a soccer player." She repeated.
Dr. Thomas nodded,
"No one has said that. We're not to that discussion yet. You stay with me and do what I say, right?" When Elena didn't answer he squeezed her leg again, "Right?"
Elena refused to let the tears pricking the back of her eyes show themselves. She nodded once. Dr. Thomas smiled,
"Alright. You two cool it with sharing a bed and we'll handle the rest."
Harry waited until Dr. Thomas left the room and then looked down at Elena. It was like the full spectrum of emotion passed over her face in a split second before she returned to the Elena he knew. She looked up at him and smiled,
"What do you want for breakfast? I've heard they make great pancakes."
"Len-"
"Or waffles...I know it's not on your diet plan but we can splurge this once."
"Len-"
"I don't wanna talk about it, Harry." She answered, diverting her eyes to the menu in front of her, "I'm going to make it through this."
Harry nodded, deciding this probably wasn't the time or place for this discussion,
"I know you are."
She nodded,
"So...pancakes or waffles."
------------------------------
Chrissy tried not to let the shock show on her face after Elena got done explaining her injuries. Eric, however, wasn't so subtle. He pushed between Frank and Carolyn and threw his hand out,
"Jesus Christ, Elena! Why didn't you get your ankle checked out?"
Elena went on the defensive immediately,
"I didn't think it was serious."
"Didn't think it was serious?!" Eric yelled, "You were slide tackled!"
Elena quickly clammed up, prompting Harry to spring into action,
"Eric, Mate...wanna join me in the cafeteria? I bet your parents could use some coffee."
Eric glared at his sister, shaking his head in disbelief. Carolyn nodded,
"I could." She piped up, trying to be as helpful as possible.
Eric continued to shake his head in disgust as he followed Harry out of the room. Elena silently thanked her fantastic boyfriend once he was out. She looked at her mother,
"I'm alright, Mom."
"It looked like a terrible injury, Dear."
For once in his life, Frank was speechless. He'd always been Elena's biggest motivator and cheerleader but it turned out that watching his star athlete daughter go down on national television was more than he could handle.
Elena watched him for a moment,
"Dad?" Frank suddenly shook as if he was coming out of a dream, "Are you mad?"
He shook his head,
"No, Baby Girl...I'm not mad." He rounded the foot of her bed and took her hand in his, "I'm just worried about you."
"I'm fine."
He stared down at their clasped hands while he took a few breaths,
"I kinda feel like I...I pushed you into this."
Elena shook her head,
"Dad-"
Carolyn quickly took her husband's other hand,
"Come on, let's go find the boys and help them with the coffee."
Chrissy turned to look at Elena once her parents were gone,
"Holy shit, Elena!" She whisper/yelled, "What the hell happened?"
"You didn't see?" Elena asked, trying not to let the shake in her voice be known.
Chrissy shook her head,
"I was in class."
"Had the ball, was going in for the kill...opposing player took me out."
"Andrea said she had something to do with it."
Elena rolled her eyes,
"She's being so dramatic about all of this. I'm fine. I'm going to be fine. She was going for the other player, not me."
Chrissy decided to drop the subject of Andrea for the time being,
"What's Eric's problem?"
"He doesn't handle emotion well. Everything comes out as anger."
"What did the doctor say?"
Chrissy frowned when she saw Elena falter the tiniest bit after she asked that question. Elena cleared her throat,
"Doc said I'll be out of here in a couple of days and then it's physical therapy and rehabbing the injury."
"And how long does that take?"
"Not sure."
Chrissy knew Elena well enough to know when she wasn't handling something well. She clammed up for the rest of her visit, only reaching down to squeeze Elena's hand when she left an hour later to make it to class.
------------------------------
Eric turned to Harry in the elevator once the doors closed. Harry had prepared himself for this, he knew it was coming.
"Suppose you think I'm a jerk."
Harry took a breath and shook his head,
"I think you're worried about your sister."
Eric leaned against the back wall of the elevator, his hands shoved in his pockets,
"She thinks she's goddamned invincible and it's infuriating."
"Eric, Mate...I know you're worried but-"
"Worried? Yeah, I'm worried."
Harry told Eric to grab a table as he made his way over to the cafe to buy two cups of coffee. He set one down in front of Eric and then took a seat. He had a feeling Eric had a lot to say.
Eric leaned forward,
"Wanna hear a story? Something about your girlfriend that will probably blow your mind?" Harry nodded while Eric gathered his thoughts and then began, "She was benched in high school. Coach didn't think she had it so he benched her. She spent the next two weeks killing herself to get back in the starting line up. She woke up at 4 am and did drills, she did footwork and ran ten miles every day after school...she drove herself into the ground." Eric paused, staring at Harry as he waited for a reaction. Harry simply blinked in response. Eric sighed, "Soccer is who she is. It's her whole identity. If she doesn't have it..." He let his sentence trail off.
Harry nodded, leaning forward on his elbows with his coffee cup between his hands,
"You think she ended her career." It was a statement, not a question.
Eric nodded once,
."I think she did serious damage to it." He sighed, "What if she can't play anymore? Or if she can't play to the level she's accustomed to playing? Because I honestly don't know which is worse."
Harry understood. In the short time he and Elena had been dating he knew that being an athlete wasn't just her job, it was who she was.
"She'll crumble." Eric assured him, "She will drive herself into the ground again...and this will be ten times worse."
Harry felt a slight amount of panic at this idea. He knew Elena's determination was sometimes her downfall. He believed Eric, she would take herself to the point of exhaustion and then push herself further to get back to what she was used to.
Harry met Eric's gaze,
"If that happens and I'm not saying it will, but if it does...I'll be there."
Eric stared back at him for a few moments, blinking as he processed what Harry was saying,
"Yeah?"
Harry nodded,
"I'm in love with your sister, Mate. And if this ends her career I will be there to get her through it. With all of you. I'm not abandoning her. She's more important than anything to me. I won't let her crumble."
Eric diverted his eyes downward while he nodded,
"I figured you might say that."
Eric seemed calm when he finally returned with Harry and the world's largest cup of coffee. He asked a few questions and then turned to walk out of the room behind his parents when everyone said goodbye.
Elena looked up at Harry,
"You don't have to stay here."
"I know I don't have to. But I'm going to anyway."
"Harry-"
"Len, we're not having this discussion every single night right? Because I'm not leaving."
She sighed and shook her head,
"Fine."
Harry grabbed the dinner menu and sat down in the chair next to her bed,
"What do you want for dinner? I could go get something..."
------------------------------
Harry felt his phone buzzing in his pocket sometime around three in the morning. Elena was comfortably asleep next to him. He weighed the options of just letting the phone go to voicemail when he felt it start buzzing again, which meant it was Jeff. He was the only person Harry knew who would keep calling back until Harry answered.
Harry gently slipped his arm out from under Elena's head, hopped off the bed and grabbed his phone out of his back pocket,
"Ya know, most people take it as an indication someone doesn't want to talk when they don't answer the phone."
"Most people answer the phone when they see I'm calling."
"No accounting for taste is there?"
"Harry, we need to talk."
Harry sighed as he sat back in one of the chairs in the hallway and stared up at the ceiling,
"About what, Jeff? About me cancelling this promo tour? Because I believe our last conversation was very clear about my feelings on that issue."
"Harry."
"Jeff."
"I know her injury isn't serious. You can finish the promo tour while she rehabs it. What can you do anyway? You're not a doctor."
Harry shook his head in disgust. Jeff was one of his best friends no doubt, but he could be such an insensitive asshole when something got in the way of his plans for Harry's career.
"She's my girlfriend, Mate. What would you do if it was Glenne?"
"She wouldn't expect me to put my career on hold for her. She knows the business and what it takes to be successful."
Harry laughed in spite of the extreme irritation coursing through his body at the moment,
"She's also a girl who wants her boyfriend to give a shit." He heard Jeff let out a deep sigh and he shook his head,
"Look, I get that you're in a tough spot with her. She's new and she doesn't understand how things work for you. But-"
"Wait." Harry interrupted, "How things work for me?"
"Yeah. Your career comes first."
Harry's eyes widened. It was hard to hear those words, mostly because in the time Harry had known Jeff, that was actually true. Harry stayed away from romantic entanglements for exactly this reason.
Harry shook his head,
"Promo tour is cancelled, Mate. I'm staying here with her."
"Harry-"
"Nothing more to discuss." He interrupted, "I'll let you know when you can start scheduling things for me again...but for the next few weeks, my job title is Boyfriend."
He hung up the phone before Jeff had a chance to protest.