TW: There are slight mentions of sexual assault in this chapter.
Also sorry for all of the updates but I'm really in a writing mood :)
Beeping.
I've heard this beeping before. I'm in the hospital. I open my eyes and groan loudly as I try to move.
"Harry, she's waking up, go get a nurse." I hear Callie's voice.
She stands up and comes to sit on the bed with me. She rubs her hand up and down my sore leg.
"Hey babes, how are you feeling?" She asks me.
I go to talk but my throat feels like it's full of razor blades. Calle notices my discomfort and hands me some water. I drink it slowly and hand it back to her so she can set it down. I'm attached to a crazy amount of wires and machines.
"I feel like I've been chewed up and spit out. What happened?"
Callie doesn't have a chance to respond because Harry walks in with 2 nurses and a doctor following right behind him.
"Good afternoon Ms.Owens. I'm Dr.Demarco the head neurologist here. How are you feeling?" Dr.Demarco asks while pulling out the binder from the foot of my hospital bed.
"Like shit."
"Well I would be a little concerned if you didn't feel some discomfort. Do you know what happened Ms.Owens?"
I take a moment to recall all of the events that happened before I ended up here.
"I was in a car accident."
"That's right. I'm going to ask you a couple questions while Quinn, our nurse, checks your wounds. Is that okay?" I nod and the nurse takes that as her que to start inspecting my body starting with my legs. Callie is asked to move so she takes a seat in a chair next to the bed and Harry is standing in the doorway of the hospital room. He looks worried but I don't get why. I'm fine, I'm alive sadly so he has nothing to worry about.
"Ms.Owens can you follow my finger for me?" I nod and follow his pointer finger as it moves in all sorts of directions.
"Do you know what day it is?" He then asks me.
"No but I know it's March and we are in 2020."
"Ms.Owens it's April 1st, 2020." I cough out a laugh at the irony of his statement. Of course it's April Fools day. The Universe is playing some kind of sick fucking joke on me.
"So I was missing for 10 days. Peachy." I roll my eyes. I hope the son of a bitch is dead cause if he is even slightly breathing in this hospital I will smother him with a fucking pillow.
"No you were missing for 7 but you have been in a medically induced coma for 3."
"Real shit? Damn okay. So what's the damage?" I just want to get out of here and go home.
"You suffered severe head trauma in the crash which caused a brain bleed. We performed surgery to relieve that. You broke 3 ribs one of which punctured your right lung but we repaired that. Stitches on the multitude of cuts that covered your body. You were severely dehydrated and malnourished so we gave you IV fluids and electrolytes. You also had a forensic team perform a sexual assault exam."
"I'm sorry what? You used a rape kit on me without my consent!" I'm already pissed off because of Zayn but now this shit.
"Ms.Owens its protocol. I'll send the police in to question you." The Doctor and nurses leave the room and Harry looks fucking livid.
"Parker, he's going to be locked up for a long time." Callie states.
"And then what? He was supposed to be in prison for 8 fucking years then got out 2 years early on good behavior! He's not going fucking anywhere except a fucking crematorium!" I shout at her. I swear he died in the accident.
"Carolina you have every right to be mad but don't take it out on her." Harry steps up towards the gurney.
"Don't you dare tell me what to do! I haven't had any control over myself in 10 fucking days Harry! 10 days! If I want to yell then I'm going to yell!"
"Harry let's give her a minute she's been through a lot. Parker I know you aren't taking it out on me. I love you. We will come back in after you talk to the police." Callie taps Harry's shoulder and opens the door to walk out into the hallway.
I take a minute to calm down but it just isn't working. I need to stay angry because if I'm not angry then I'm going to cry. I just want everything to stop. I want to curl up in a deep hole and die. When there's a knock on the door I try to take a deep breath but struggle. 4 police officers enter the small room and close the door behind them.
"Parker, my name is lieutenant Marshal, I'm here to ask you some questions."
"Ask away." I lean into the gurney and exhale a deep breath from the pain. I know I'm going to be in a lot of pain cause they can't really give me anything else besides ibuprofen.
"I would like to ask you about the night you were kidnapped. Can you tell me about the events leading up to it?"
"I don't remember. All I remember is looking for my friend." All of this talking is making my head hurt.
"Did anyone come up and talk to you? Buy you a drink?" The officer asks.
"I said I don't remember. Next question." I really just want to go back to sleep.
"Do you recall the sexual acts that happened within those 7 days?" This guy has to be fucking joking.
"I didn't have sex and if I did then you would already know since you used a rape kit on me without my consent. Next question."
"You didn't have any sexual partners that night at the club?"
"Officer with all due respect if any DNA came back from the exam then I was raped so that answers your question."
"Was Mr.Malik the one who kidnapped you from the club?"
"I don't know I was drugged but one can assume. Can we speed this up? I'm tired and in pain."
"Just a couple more questions." I groan and roll my eyes. I hate cops, they never actually do their job. If the system wasn't so broken I wouldn't be in this position in the first place.
"When you were in the car did you intend to harm Mr.Malik?"
"What kind of question is that? He was going to drive me across the country against my will and do god knows what with me. It was an act of self defense."
"That doesn't answer my question Parker, did you intend to harm Mr.Malik?"
"I was trying to escape. I did what I had to do so I could protect myself." I'm getting fucking irritated at this shitty cop.
"Did you plan on killing Mr.Malik?"
"No? I just told you it was self defence."
"That's all, thank you for your time." The officer directs his peers out of the room. Once the door closes I close my eyes. I smell like a mix of body odor and hospital. I really want a shower. Correction, I really want to sit in the shower because I want to drown. I really just need to sleep and I do just that.
I wake up about 6 hours later and it's pitch black.
Panic washes over me and I quickly look for the light switch for the lamp next to me. I begin hyperventilating when I can't find it. Am I in the room again? Please tell me this is some kind of dream. When the lamp flicks on I see a groggy Harry standing by it.
"You alright?" He asks, his voice is scratchy from sleep.
"I-I don't want to sleep in the dark." I whisper while slowing down my breathing.
"Okay the light can stay on." Harry goes to sit back down in the chair next to the gurney but I grab his wrist.
"I don't want to sleep alone either." I say meekly.
"Scoot over then." He chuckles a bit. I slowly move my aching body to my right to make barely enough room for Harry.
He ends up helping me sit up a bit before climbing up to sit behind me so I'm in between his legs on either side of my body. He carefully leans me back so I can rest my back against his chest. Harry carefully plays with my hair. The sound of his slowly beating heart calms my anxiety.
"Why are you still here?" I ask him.
"Callie is at the hotel across the street sleeping she's in rough shape. I told her I would stay here and make sure you were okay. Also I want to be here."
"I feel bad that I scared her. If you want to go sleep in a real bed I won't hold any grudges."
"Don't feel bad it's not your fault, it's his. You just told me you don't want to sleep alone so there's no way you are kicking me out now." Harry deadpans.
The room is pretty quiet. The beeping from the heart monitor and the sound of our breathing is the only noise in this small room.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Harry breaks the silence.
"Which part? The part where I was locked in a cement room for possibly days after being raped or the part where I stabbed Zayn in the eye and caused a car crash?"
"All of it." Harry's body tenses underneath me.
"I just want to forget about it. Can we talk about something else?"
"Well I've been thinking a lot about those fine lines you were talking about the other day." Harry speaks.
"What about them?" I ask. Those fine lines were merely just me getting my thoughts out the time. Clearly they meant something to Harry.
"I think you know when you've crossed the line when you don't worry about crossing it anymore." He says.
"Maybe but that's something we'll never know."
Harry takes a deep breath and halts his movements in my hair.
"Is there a fine line between you and me?"
"There's a fine line between everything Harry. Why are you asking?" I think I'm still too out of it to have this deep of a conversation.
"How about we walk along that fine line."
"Harry, it's a metaphorical line. There's nothing to walk on. If we did we would just be tripping over our feet."
"Well if you fall I'll catch you." I laugh but immediately wince at the pain in my chest.
"That's what everyone says but they never are actually there when you need it most. That statement alone is crossing the metaphorical line between us."
"How so?"
"Because that means I have to be open. Being open is scary." I sigh. If he tries to dive deep into my brain then this isn't going to work.
"I get it you're afraid of letting people in. I am too but let me ask you something, have I hurt you Parker? Have I lied to you?"
"Not yet." I breathe out.
"And yet you've already sentenced me for someone else's crime. Forget walking the line, let's be the line. That way no one gets hurt. We'll both be alright."
"Harry there are things that you don't about me. Hell I barely know you." I point out.
"What would you like to know Carolina?" Well I wasn't really expecting that.
"What's your full name?"
"Harry Edward Styles. What's yours?"
"Hey I'm asking the questions here sir." I swat his knee making him laugh.
"Oh call me sir again I like it."
"Stop being horny we are in a hospital." I swat his knee again making him laugh harder.
"Okay okay I'll stop." Harry puts his hands up in surrender.
"Parker Lynn Owens. Why did you become a hitman?"
"It's what my dad did. It's like the family business. How did your grandma die?"
"I don't want to talk about that. Where are your parents now?"
"I think that's enough interrogating for one night. Try and go back to sleep." I clearly hit a sensitive spot for him.
I think about what Harry said before. Who's to say he's not like every other person that has come into my life? I get too attached and then they leave me. When it gets hard they take the easy way out.
"So we'll be the fine line?" I ask with a yawn.
"Yeah, we'll be a fine line. Go back to sleep. I'll be here when you wake up." He places a light kiss to the top of my head before going back to playing with my hair lulling me to sleep. As I drift off I hear Harry faintly humming a song that sounds familiar but I can't figure out which song.
In my dreams I picture one of the most beautiful birds. The Nightingale. Known for its beautiful song in the night. Nightingales only seem to come when they hear a cry for help. They are graceful and elegant. Though they are just a small brown songbird they are powerful. Harry reminds me a lot of the male Nightingales. They are aggressive when they need to be but at the end of the day and all through the night they sing for their loved ones to show that they care. Harry might not have sang to me but he is here for me.
The thing about Nightingales is that once the night is over and the sun kisses the earth, they disappear. You are to cherish them while they are around because with just a blink of the eye they will slip from your fingers. Their song can no longer be heard. You will begging the sun to go away just so you can see the precious thing again. I feel like I'm on a freight train moving so fast that in a blink of an eye Harry will be gone.
When will I be the one begging for the sun to leave?
When will I be in complete agony and anguish over losing my Nightingale?
Maybe if I slow down time I can hold on to it for a little longer.
-AUTHORS NOTE-
I don't know if you can tell but I was listening to fine line while writing this chapter. Passed all of my finals by the way so let's go!
I just can't stop writing I'm in the fucking groove!
Also I made a twitter it's @LateNightsRaye. Yes my name is Raye.
As always kisses!