Life Changing ✓

Forty

A/N: Please don't forget to comment and vote! :)

-

On Monday morning we both get ready for our lecture, we'll have to miss the second one because Harry has to go to a check-up at the hospital, just to see how he's doing and if the wound on his head is healing properly. I want to mention the nightmare but don't know if it'll be a touchy subject and I don't want Harry to push me away so I decide against bringing it up and just wait for him to tell me or until I can't take it anymore and ask him about it anyway.

When we enter the lecture it feels like Harry has become famous overnight because everyone stares at us as we walk in with Ellie. We can hear people whisper "It's him!" and I have the urge to yell that bloody Voldemort didn't walk into the room. They have never paid attention to us nor did any of our fellow students stop by his dorm to ask him how he was doing when he was released from the hospital and Harry does a great job just ignoring most of them.

"Glad to have you back Mr Styles," the professor says and Harry just nods and waves towards the man, probably hoping he'll continue with the lecture soon rather than later. Harry seems a little nervous and even jumps a little when I put my hand on his knee, trying to be a good boyfriend and comfort him. He smiles when he finds out it's actually my hand but turns his head back towards the professor.

"We could just walk" Harry shrugs as we exit the lecture. "Are you crazy? The hospital is a 20-minute drive, we have to be there in an hour" I understand that Harry has gotten afraid to get into a car but we can't walk everywhere and I grab Harry's hand as we walk through the park on campus on our way home. I know people are staring at us but as long as they don't start to yell or bully us I think we'll be fine.

We get into my car and I've suggested it would be better for me to drive and Harry is fine with that. I grab his hand as soon as we're out of the parking lot, thankful that my car is an automatic. I rub my thumb on the back of his hand, hoping to calm his nerves a little as he just stares out of the window. "What are you thinking about?" I ask, hoping to distract him a little. "Nothing really" he replies and I keep trying to make small talk on our way to the hospital but Harry isn't up for it.

I ask Harry if he wants me to go with him to his appointment or not and he considers the options for a few minutes but tells me he'd rather have me by his side as I park the car as close to the entrance as possible. During the appointment, his doctor asks me if I've noticed any changes in his behaviour and I look at Harry before telling the doctor about how he's become a rather anxious person and about the nightmare he had. Turns out Harry has had multiple nightmares but they never were as 'bad' as the one I've had to wake him up from. The doctor tells us it's perfectly normal for Harry to experience this and the nervousness should die down but the nightmares may indicate that the traumatic experience was worse than he had anticipated.

"I think it would be a good thing to talk to a therapist Harry," the doctor suggests and I can already tell by the look on Harry's face that he's not looking forward to talking to a complete stranger. "If you want to I can recommend a few local ones that are specialised in traumatic experiences" he offers and Harry just turns to me. I nod, encouraging him to take the offer because it can't do any harm to talk about the experience. I've asked Harry about it but he usually just changes the subject.

On our way back we grab a drink from Starbucks and Harry asks me about the idea of seeing a therapist. I offer him my honest opinion and his opinion seems to shift towards where he's more positive and open to the idea than when it was first brought up during the appointment. I think it could also be because the doctor told him his ribs and head seem to be healing just fine and he doesn't have to come back unless he continues to have massive headaches or the pain in his ribs doesn't go in several weeks. He can even start taking less of his medication and eventually stop taking them completely.