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forty-six

Calum.

"You know I don't do needles" she spoke as I made her sit on the exam bed.

"More than aware and I have no intentions of giving you a shot at this moment." I told her calmly, watching Michael grab her hand slowly.

"Just heart and lungs" I told her, grabbing my stethoscope.

She nodded to me, making me immediately place the bell on her chest, listening to her heart.

After confirming that it was good, I moved to her lungs, making her take deep breaths.

I moved on to blood pressure and pulse, both of which were high, but I didn't announce it.

I made her get on the scale, seeing that she dropped ten pounds in a month.

Her and I immediately made eye contact.

"Haven't been eating?" I asked her.

"I have" she spoke quietly.

"What have you been eating then? And how many times a day?" I asked, seeing her glance around the room, straight to Michael.

"Like- granola" she spoke quietly.

"How many times a day? How much?" I continued to question her.

"Like a bar a day- two if I was really hungry" she spoke slowly, knowing I wouldn't be happy.

"Why didn't you eat more?" I asked her.

"I needed to save money- I wanted to get out of the shelter and home." She spoke firmly.

"Harper this isn't good-" "I know it isn't, and I knew you guys would be mad at me, but if you guys saw the shelter- you'd understand." I heard her voice crack as she spoke, making me know I needed to change the subject.

"Last period?" I asked her slowly.

"December thirteenth" she spoke, making every single one of us look to her.

It was March.

"Harper-" I cut michael off.

"Sexual activity-" "none." She confirmed firmly, making us all almost exhale a relieved breath.

"You've stressed you're body out too much Harper, I'm surprised you aren't-" "her period was late before all of this" I interrupted Michael, trying to give Harper a break.

"It happens." I nodded, seeing her send me a thankful look.

"Anything you need to talk about?" I asked her.

"I've been weak" she spoke to me, making me focus more to her.

"How so?" I asked her.

"Like it's hard to stand right now, I just want to sit." She spoke.

"You're dehydrated and you lost a lot of weight in a short period of time, you need food, sleep and fluids." I spoke to her calmly, knowing she probably felt like absolute shit but was downplaying it all.

"Anything else?" I asked her slowly.

"Can we go home?" She asked me quietly.

"Absolutely." Michael answered the question for me.

First we went to the store, stocking up on pedialite, waters, food, snacks, proteins and absolutely anything that Harper wanted.

As soon as we got home, we set up a movie night, knowing that would be the easiest way to get Harper relaxed and able to sleep.

Michael.

I held a pedialite in my hand, making her sip it every few minutes.
Ashton has cooked pasta, which she ate a good amount of, making us all happy.

She leaned on my shoulder, watching the movie Calum had picked.

I soon lifted the straw to her mouth without looking, waiting on her but never feeling her move, making me look to her.

She was asleep, knocked out.

I put the pedialite down, carefully picking her up bridal style- which she normally would've never woken up from- but instantly she was awake and trying to her out of my grip.

"It's me- it's me" I told her quickly, seeing her focus to my face.

Her confused and tired expression relaxed instantly.

Her head hit my shoulder and she let me carry her back to her room.

Everything was still here due to her mom leaving all of her stuff.

Everything was the exact same.

I laid her down, kissing her head gently.

I felt her grab me as I went to walk away

"C-can you leave the lamp on?" She asked.

She looked scared.

"What's wrong?" I asked her calmly.

"I'm just used to the shelter- and we always had intruder drills for if someone's husband came in trying to kill them, and it would scare the fuck out of me at night, so I slept with a light on to make sure no one was in the room with me. It also helped me make sure no one was stealing my stuff, because people would steal all my clothes and food-" "harp." I spoke slowly.

"You're home. No one is coming inside and no one is going to steal anything from you." I told her calmly.

"I know- I just- I have nightmares too and the lamp just helps me wake up and aware" she spoke calmly.

"I'll leave the lamp on." I told her, tucking hair behind her ear.

"thank you" she exhaled as I kissed her head again, standing .

"I love you, Harp" I spoke

"I love you too, Mikey"