Audrey
Holy shit, my head hurts! I feel like I have been run over by a semi-truck. My eyes were so heavy, I could barely keep them open. I couldn't keep them open long enough to see where I was all I could do was listen to the faint beeping. Am I in a hospital?
I held my eyes open long enough to see Harry curled up in a tiny chair beside me. He was wrapped in my favorite fuzzy blanket. I could tell his hair was a mess. I wish I could keep my eyes open long enough to admire him, but the damn light is blinding me.
"B-Baby?" I stuttered as I slowly moved my hand on the bed. I felt so weak. "Can you please close the blinds?" I whispered. It was hard for me to speak, I felt like I swallowed thousands of razor blades.
"Oh my God!" Harry exclaimed. I still had my eyes closed so I couldn't see what he was doing, but he sounded frantic, "You're awake! I can't believe you're awake!" I could hear how excited he was. If I had the energy to smile then I would, but I was so drained. "I have to get everybody, my mom is going to be so happy that you're awake."
"H-Harry, baby, t-the blinds-s." I repeated again.
"M'Sorry." He apologized before he walked over to the window.
Once the blinds were closed it was so much easier to open my eyes. My eyelids were still heavy, but I felt better without the sun burning through them.
My eyes made their way over to Harry, he looked awful. The circles under his eyes were dark, I could tell he hadn't been sleeping much. I could see the exhaustion weighing down on him. I could see the puffiness under his eyes as if he had been crying for hours.
"I'm going to go get my family, they will be so excited to see you're awake! I'll get the doctor too, so he can check on you and make sure everything is okay."
Harry started to walk out of the room, but I didn't let him, "Loverboy, can you please just stay? I just want to spend a few minutes with you before I see anyone else." His face softened as he walked over to my bed.
I slowly moved over so he could lay down beside me. I felt so broken and all I wanted was for him to hold me. He laid down beside me but he wouldn't touch me. We just laid there awkwardly. Anytime I would scoot closer to him then he could shift back as if he didn't want to be near me at all.
I turned my head so I could look at Harry, but he never adjusted himself to look at me. His eyes were fixed on his rings. There was a lot of pain hidden in those green eyes which was breaking my heart. I know that I can't exactly help the situation I'm in but I still feel bad. I can't imagine how broken I would be if something like this happened to Harry.
"Miss Taylor, I'm glad to see you're finally awake." A doctor walked in with a faint smile on his lips, "I'm Doctor Brown. Here within the next few minutes Nurse Stevens and Nurse Evans will be in here to take you up for a head CT. I want to double check that there is no swelling or bleeding in the brain."
"When do you think she will be able to go home?" Harry asked as he pulled himself off my bed.
"As long as her well-being doesn't change then I would say by the beginning of next week. Right now we need to monitor you as closely as we can." Both of us nodded to signal that we were listening, "You lost a lot of blood, Miss Taylor. There was a lot of swelling around your neck and abdomen, there is still a lot of bruising. Have you tried to walk around any at all?"
I shook my head, "I do want to warn that you will be in a lot of pain for the next couple days. We will adjust your pain medication if needed, but I want to be careful with the dosage." Things were silent for a minute while he looked over my chart, "Also, you had a deep laceration along your forearm as well as on your head, both of these required stitches. Before we release you to go home then we will be able to remove both sets of stitches, so you won't have to come back."
All I could do was nod, I didn't know what to say. Was I supposed to have an endless amount of questions about what happened like they do in the movies? I mean, I know I got the shit beat out of me but I don't know any of the details. Everything was fuzzy past a certain point.
"I would advise to give it another day of rest before you bring the whole family back. Today is going to be a busy day for you Miss Taylor. As I mentioned there are few more tests and scans that I want to run just to be certain. Also, I know the police were wanting to talk to you whenever you woke up, but I will give it a few hours before I let them come back."
"Thank you so much, Doctor Brown." Harry said with a bright smile on his face. He extended his hand to shake his hand. They just smiled at each other before Doctor Brown disappeared to get the nurses.
**
Only a handful of hours had passed even though it felt like years had gone by. Harry remained in the seat by my bed while Gemma laid in the bed beside me. Harry wouldn't lay with me and I couldn't understand why. Whenever Gemma heard me ask him for the fifth time to lay down next to me she had decided she would.
I'm not going to lie, she is the best cuddler.
I looked between Harry and Gemma realizing how blessed I was to have them. They have done their best to take care of me. I mean, Gemma went out of her way to bring me some clothes so I wouldn't be stuck in the hospital gown.
"Miss Taylor," I turned my head to the door only to see two police officers walking in, "we are here to ask you a few questions! I understand that you're going through a lot right now and I assume you don't want us in here badgering you, so we won't be long."
"If you're not feeling up for this, I can ask them to leave." Gemma whispered to me before she pulled herself off the bed. I shook my head to let her know they were okay.
I felt like I was going to disappoint them because I can barely remember anything that happened. I can't remember what he looked like.
"What were you doing out on January 1, 2020?" He asked while his eyes shifted between me and the notepad he was holding.
"Harry and I had been to a New Year's party at his mothers. We hadn't been home long, but I couldn't sleep." I glanced over to see the sadness appearing on Harry's face then I looked over to Gemma.
I guess she realized the look I was giving her because she made her way over to Harry, "I think Harry and I are going to go down to the waiting room." Harry shook his head to her.
"I'm not leaving her, Gem." Harry whispered before he pulled the chair closer to my bed. I reach my hand out for him to hold which he did.
"Is there any specific reason that you couldn't sleep?" I closed my eyes and thought back to that night.
"Harry sure did pick himself a good one, I love your long hair."
I could feel my skin start to burn while this pit of anxiety built up in my stomach. I felt so disgusting whenever he touched me. He reminded me too much of the past.
"Audrey?" Harry whispered to pull me back down the Earth.
"Um," I cleared my throat, "There was a boy at the party, his name was Matt. He made me feel uncomfortable whenever he spoke to me and he grabbed me whenever I tried to walk away from him." I started to grab Harry's hand tighter while I spoke. I could feel myself slipping into a dark spiral. "H-Harry made him get away from me."
Harry left soft kisses on the back of my hand in order to calm me down, but I wasn't sure if it was working this time. This was all too much to handle. The way he grabbed my wrist with such force to make sure I wasn't going anywhere reminded me of the way Tyler held me down to make sure I wasn't going anywhere.
"Did he hurt you, Miss Taylor? What did he do to you?"
"He didn't do anything but the way he touched me reminded me of something I have tried so hard to forget." I felt a few tears roll down my cheeks while I relived everything in my head. "I-I'm sorry," I apologized while I wiped my face.
"Maybe we should stop here for the day, Audrey. This is too much on you right now." Harry stated, I just shook my head.
I have to get this over with.
"Do any of you know Matt's last name? I would like to look into him." Harry answered, Jones, "Miss Taylor, can you remember any else from that night?"
"I remember feeling like I was being watched from the moment I walked out of Harry's driveway. The man was behind me the entire time, getting closer and closer." I took a deep breath in to calm myself down, "He was taller than me, I'd say he was a little taller than Harry. I can't remember what he looked like, I do know he had a deep voice."
"Shut up or I kill you right here... You, stupid bitch.. You're going to regret that darling."
"Is that all?"
God, I know I haven't been much help to them at all. I wish I could remember, that's all I want to do.
I sat there with my eyes closed and tried so hard to remember that night, "I bit him!" I practically yelled it. "I bit his hand as hard as I could because he had it over my mouth. I bit him so hard that I drew blood."
"Thank you, Miss Taylor!" The cop smiled at me after he finished writing in his notepad! "I want you to know that we are doing our best to find your attacker! We have a patrol unit waiting for you at your home to ensure your safety." I smiled and nodded.
Once the police left, I let out a sigh of relief. I felt a little bit of the weight lifted off my chest, "I'm so proud of you, Audrey." Harry said before he kissed the top of my head. "I promise that I'm going to keep you safe."
You always keep me safe, loverboy.