Chapter 31: Two Months Early

1K 41 2
                                    

Bright lights... white lights... hospital lights. Louis' eyes opened slightly, squinting at the sight around him. He only saw blurry white lights. He couldn't speak, couldn't hear or feel, he could only watch with his blurred vision.

The lights from before, the red and blue lights flashed around as he sensed his body be moved to a cushioned surface. He felt like he was floating, almost flying. Louis felt tired, but unable to fall asleep. The coloured lights were gone now, replaced by bright lights...

He just lay there, flying; enjoying the tingly, quiet sensation that took control of his body...

"Move, move!" Doctors shouted, rolling the unmoving body down the hallway of the hospital. They made a quick turn left and down another long hallway. They already had an oxygen mask over Louis' face, bouncing along with every move the gurney made.

Harry was following alongside. His hand gripping the rail of the gurney. He refused to let go as tears fell from his eyes, staining his cheeks and shirt. He explained to paramedics what had happened before breaking down in tears. He couldn't stop. The one laying down, unmoving, was the one he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. And all because he didn't pay attention. Harry blamed himself. He blamed himself for not paying more attention.

They rolled Louis to the ER as fast as they could. Moving around family and friends in the hall, around nurses and doctors carrying around IV bags or clipboards. Harry felt as if everything was moving in slow motion. He didn't feel as if they were moving fast enough to help Louis.

He wanted to scream, he wanted to tell the world how he was feeling. But he couldn't find his voice...

They finally arrived. Harry sighed in short relief, moving with as they moved Louis into a room. "Sir! I'm going to ask you to wait out here." He was stopped by a doctor wearing rubber gloves and a surgical mask. A cap covered his head, covering up his hair.

"What? No, I have to go!" Harry was always shy to tell people in public about his relationship with Louis, but he couldn't leave him alone. "He's my boyfriend! I have to be with him! He's carrying our baby!" Not something he ever thought he'd have to say.

"I don't think we can allow that, even if you are his partner." He looked over his shoulder as if identifying the situation. "Well..." He thought again. "Come on." He moved aside for Harry to enter and handed him a pair of scrubs for himself.

Harry quickly threw them on and rushed back to Louis side. Doctors moved around his body that now lay on a hospital bed. He ignored them as he reached and grasped Louis' hand in his. "I'm here, love." Harry whispered to him. "I'm not going anywhere."

"Someone get a heart monitor on!" A nurse next to him shouted. "Now!"

Another nurse started up the heart monitor next to the bed, hooking Louis' body up to it.

"Wait, you hear that?" The doctor that stopped Harry looked at the screen. "The baby's heartbeat. It's not fast enough."

"What? What do you mean it isn't fast enough?" Harry freaked out.

"We need to get the baby out, NOW!" The doctor shouted, motioning for the nurses and other doctors to get Louis to the operating room. "Lets go!"

They moved together, carrying IVs and the heart monitors with the six nurses moving the bed. Harry followed, his hand never letting go of Louis'. He kept his eyes down on him, unable to stop any tears that dared to fall.

The operating room was large, big enough to fit fifty or so people without all the equipment. Harry helped the nurses move Louis onto the operating bed, being as gentle as he could, holding Louis' head in his left hand. They lay Louis down with care and Harry caressed his head for the longest time as the doctors set up their surgical utensils.

Our baby is coming early. Harry thought, looking at the doctors make a line across Louis' stomach and injecting anesthesia. He stared intensely as the doctors finished setting up for the C-section while the anesthesia numbed Louis' abdomen.

"Will they be okay?" Harry asked the doctor.

"Louis should be fine." The doctor said. "The baby... time will only tell us. His heartbeat is really low and he isn't getting enough oxygen. If we don't get him out soon..." He didn't finish.

Harry covered his mouth, looking down at Louis'. "Will he die?"

The doctor was silent as he prepared to open up Louis' stomach. "There's a fifty-fifty chance... We can only hope for the best... You can stay if you'd like. Or you can go."

Harry didn't reply, only looked down to Louis' face. His eyes were close now, like he was sleeping. Harry bit his lower lip and tried to blink away some fresh tears. "I won't leave you Louis." He whispered like it was a valuable secret never to be told to anyone but Louis himself. "I love you both with all my heart. No matter what happens. Always in my heart."

"Alright, we're going to begin." The doctor slowly placed the surgery scalpel to Louis belly and slowly, very careful, made a cut over his stomach.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Baby cries filled the room as the doctors carefully pulled the baby out of Louis' womb. Doctors cleaned him up, cleaning the mucus and water from his nose and throat, and wiping blood off his tiny body. The doctor put a clamp over the umbilical cord before grabbing a pair of scissors to cut it.

He turned to Harry as he was about to do it. "Would you like to do the honours?"

"I'd be honoured." Harry's voice was watery when he spoke. He sniffled and stepped up, taking the scissors in his glove covered hand. He muttered the baby's name under his breath and smiled. He cut the cord in half and took a deep breath. "Is he going to be alright?"

"The baby?" The doctor watched the nurse leave with the child to clean him up. "He should be, we'll need to get him a heart monitor and make sure he's getting enough oxygen."

"Okay..." Harry nodded slowly, looking down to Louis. "How will he be?"

"He's in a coma." The doctor said after running a couple tests on Louis.

"A coma?" Harry asked, after taking off his scrubs. The doctors sewed up Louis' stomach and injected him with pain reliever. It had been almost half an hour since the surgery and Harry had been worrying about why Louis wasn't waking up. Though he knew it was possible, he wanted to know his boyfriend was safe.

"Yeah, there are many ways for a coma to occur. Did Louis complain of pains or anything before the paramedics brought him here?"

"He was complaining about cramps for about forty-five minutes." Harry said. "See, him and I are in a band with three friends and today was our first concert. He told me he was fine, but I didn't know." Harry chewed his lower lip. "It's my fault for not paying attention."

The doctor placed a hand on Harry's shoulder. "It's not your fault. There's a high percent in babies that are born early. You didn't know. He didn't know."

"How long will he be in a coma?"

"Um..." The doctor looked to the floor. "There is no real answer to that... Comas are indefinite. He could wake up in an hour or in a month."

Harry's face dropped. He thought of a month without Louis'. Without his voice, without his hugs, without his everything. It didn't seem real. It felt like a dream. Harry felt like he was dreaming only, it was a never ending dream. He couldn't wake up and have Louis by his side to comfort him if he started crying. Louis wouldn't tell him everything would be okay. He wouldn't tell him it was only a dream.

A knock on the door alerted the two men that company arrived. Liam, Niall, and Zayn walked in not saying anything. The doctor excused himself and left, shutting the door quietly behind them. Niall was the first to speak up. "Harry?"

Niall opened his arms as Harry walked into them, letting out all the pain and sadness he was holding back. Tears fell from his eyes and stained Nialls shirt, leaving it soaked. Harry cried and cried, unable to control himself.

Liam and Zayn walked over and wrapped both Niall and Harry in a group hug. They stood there in silence, listening to Harry sob, letting all his emotions out. And that's where the four stayed for the next while. They stood in the middle of the room, holding each other, like if they let go, they would disappear from each other... and never be seen again.

Unity (Larry StylinsonWhere stories live. Discover now