Chapter 5: Keeping your hopes up
Liam;
We drove all the way to the hospital in silence. Louis just stared out the window refusing to turn or say anything. We pulled up in front of the hospital, payed the driver and got out.
"Liam, just, just don't judge her and don't treat her differently okay?" Louis finally said as we stepped into the elevator.
"I won't Lou, don't worry." I reassured patting his shoulder. The elevator dinged and we stepped out onto floor four. We passed about ten doors until we were in front of room 411. Louis stood in front of it for a second a sighed before opening the door. We stepped inside and I was heartbroken at to what I was looking at. Tracy was laid on a hospital with needles and tubes sticking out of her arms. She was wearing a pink beanie with flowers on it that said 'Tracy' on the side. Her eyes were closed with dark black and purple circles around them. She looked so sick, and we couldn't even do anything. Louis sat down by his mum who was sitting on a couch next to her bed.
"Hi Liam" She said standing up and giving me a hug.
"Has she woken up yet since this morning?" Louis asked. She shook her head.
"No but the doctors said she should be waking up soon." She mumbled sitting back down. I crouched down next to her bed and looked at her. She looked so helpless.
"Is she on treatment or anything?" I asked looking between Lou and his mom.
"Ya, she's on daily medication. They were going to give her surgery but it never happened." Louis answered.
"Actually Lou," His mum started, a sympathetic look on her face. "She was offered the surgery already,"
"What do you mean?" He asked confused.
"I mean that she could have gotten the surgery already." She whispered.
"What? How, why am I finding this out now?!" He said, his voice growing louder.
"Because she didn't want to leave you Louis! She wanted to stay and support her brother! She didn't want to have surgery when you were miles away!" She said standing up and walking out of the room with tears in her eyes. Louis shoved his head into his hands and began to cry. I went and sat by him and patted his back.
"Louis, it's going to be okay." I whispered.
"But what if it's not Liam? What if she dies because of me?" He mumbled through his cries.
"Don't think like that Lou! You need to keep your hopes up." I said. Tracy started to move and it made Louis look up.
"Tracy?" He said walking over to the bed. She slowly opened her eyes and smiled at her brother.
"Hi Lou." She said as cheerily as she could. Louis smiled.
"I brought you a visitor!" He said pointing to me. She turned her head to look at me and she smiled even bigger.
"Hi Liam!" She said, watching me as I moved over to the bed.
"Hey Tracy, how you doing?" I asked looking down at her.
"Alright I guess." She giggled.
"I'll go get a doctor" Louis said, kissing Tracy's forehead and walking out of the room.
"So, I guess you know my real hair color now." She smiled. I loved how she acted as if nothing was wrong. It made me think there was hope she would get better. I smiled.
"I guess so." I laughed.
"I'm sorry we didn't tell you guys. I just, I just didn't want to be treated differently. I mean we were all having fun and if we told you, you would have treated me like I was glass." She rambled.
"I understand, there's no need to be sorry at all." I said watching her smile disappear. Louis came back into the room with a doctor following him.
"Hello Tracy! Have a good sleep?" He asked, fiddling with a few machines.
"I guess so, I still feel tired and weak though." She answered.
"Yes that's normal," He said. He asked her more questions and explained if she was doing better by tomorrow she could leave and then he left leaving Tracy, me and Louis in the room.
"How was your day?" Tracy asked us brightening up a bit.
"Tiring, same old." Louis shrugged. "I'm going to go find Mum."
"Where did she go?" Tracy asked.
"Um, she um, she told me about the surgery," He stuttered, stopping in his path. Her face dropped and she looked away from him.
"I'm sorry Lou." She mumbled. He sighed and walked out of the room. I looked back at Tracy and she had tears in her eyes.
"Hey, there's no need to cry" I soothed, she looked up at me with her big blue eyes. Even with all the bruises and marks on her face, she still looked beautiful.
"He probably hates me, because I could have gotten that surgery and I could have gotten better and I wouldn't be here right now." She sobbed.
"Tracy, he doesn't hate you. He would never hate you. He's your brother and he loves you more then anything in this world. Don't ever think like that." I said wiping a tear from her face.
"Thanks Liam. But now I'm going to have to go home. And get the surgery. And not see Louis for another month." She said, letting more tears poor out of her eyes.
"Think of it this way, if you go home and get the surgery, Louis will be in the best mood and he'll do his very best. Then maybe. just maybe, you'll be better and back to support your brother." I said. This made her smile.
"You're right Liam. Thank you. If I leave, take care of Louis for me okay?" She asked, a smile growing bigger on her face. I laughed.
"I will Tracy. Don't worry, I will."
***
Tracy got out of the hospital four days ago and she's leaving today to go home and get the surgery. The good news is, us boys are going too. We have a two weeks break and Louis' mum and dad offered us to stay at their place. We were all excited to leave and go to Tomlinson's. Especially Louis. I think he was only excited for Tracy's surgery really. The boys all know about her now but thankfully don't treat her any differently. Which Louis and Tracy are very happy about.
We were driving to the house right now and everyone except Me, Louis' dad, and Tracy were asleep from the long flight. Tracy was drawing on her sketch pad next to me because I wanted to see her artwork.
"Is that a mockingbird?" I asked, amused with her work. She nodded and put her signature in the bottom right hand corner.
"And who should I make this out to?" She teased with a smile on her face. I smiled as she wrote 'For Liam' in the middle next to the bird's beak. She ripped it out of her book and folded it twice before stuffing it in my jacket pocket. We've become really good friends ever since I saw her in the hospital. But whenever I'm with her, I get nervous for some reason and I get butterflies in my stomach. I've tried convincing myself I didn't like her like that but, I think I did.
"Everybody wake up!" Louis' dad shouted as he parked in their drive way. His shouting shook Louis, Harry and Louis' mum awake but Niall and Zayn were sound asleep leaned against each other. Tracy was right next to them, since we were in the back and it was a four seats, she started poking their faces and stomachs until they were both awake. It was the middle of the night so we quietly brought all of our bags inside. Harry and Louis crashed in Lou's room, while Zayn and Niall went on the couches downstairs where I would also be sleeping.
"Good night Liam!" Tracy said waving as she walked up the stairs.
"Good night Tracy!" I said as I collapsed onto the couch and fell instantly to sleep.
"Liam! Hurry wake up! We need to ask you something!" I heard Niall's accent ring as I woke up.
"What?" I said looking around to see it was still dark out. "It's still night time can't this wait?"
"No actually it can't!" Harry said. I sat up to see all the boys sitting around me.
"What's going on?" I asked confused.
"Liam, do you um..." Louis hesitated. "Do you fancy my sister?" He asked looking at me strangely. I could feel my heart beat faster and my cheeks burn up.
"Well um... I don't... um" I stuttered. Zayn, Harry, and Niall smiled while Louis' eyes got bigger.
"You do?!" He asked a smile growing on his face.
"I don't, I don't know now can I sleep?" I said trying to change the subject.
"No you can't! Liam you fancy Louis' sister! We need to talk!" Zayn said.
"Talk about what?" I snapped.
"Talk about how you're going to make a move!" Harry said like it was the most oblivious thing on earth.
"Make a move?" I asked. Louis hadn't said a word since I kind of admitted I did like her. He just stared at me.
"Yes Liam!" Niall said rolling his eyes.
"I'm tired can we just go to sleep first?!" I asked getting annoyed that they wouldn't let me sleep.
"Fine but this conversation isn't over!" Harry said, getting up and laying down on a couch instead of going back upstairs. The rest went back to their couches as Louis slowly walked towards the stairs. I needed to ask if he was okay so I followed him up the stairs.
"Hey Louis are you okay?" I asked as we approached the top. He turned around and smiled. Then he did something really unexpected. He hugged me.
"Thank you." He said as he pulled away.
"For what?" I asked confused.
"For liking my sister for who she is." He smiled, walking all the way up the stairs and into his room.
Louis' thanking me for liking his sister. I should be thanking him for letting me like her!