Visiting Hours

Harry woke the next morning with blood shot eyes and a pounding headache. His night was not a good one. It had taken him forever and day to fall asleep and when he finally did it was restless and he couldn’t stop having nightmares. He couldn’t stop thinking about the day before. He couldn’t stop picturing Zayn’s small body convulsing and seizing. All he wanted to do was help but he was frozen; frozen and scared. Harry still doesn’t know what happened or what is happening because the doctors refused to tell him anything because he is “just a criminal” and not an important authority figure in Zayn’s life. Those words punched Harry in the face when he had tried to call the hospital later last night. He definitely was not just a criminal; Zayn certainly didn’t think so. Harry was furious and scared and worried all at once. He didn’t know what to do with himself. His mind raced to all of the worst possibilities; like all brains do. He could only think the worse and that was wearing on him. He needed to see Zayn and he needed to make sure that he was safe and not as scared as he was right now. He felt as if the blankets wrapped around him were suffocating him.

Since it was only 4:00 in the morning and the hospital doesn’t let him in until 8:00, he decided to go back to sleep and hopefully ease his mind for a few more hours. He tossed and turned and just couldn’t get comfortable. He thought about what he should do for a second and then whispered “fuck it,” to himself. He climbed out from under the covers and headed out his door. He walked across this living room and to Tom’s room. He cracked open his door very quietly to see him sleeping soundly. He quietly walked inside and walked over to the bed. He made sure that Tom was really asleep one last time before he got in next to him and pulled the blankets over his body. He could feel Tom shuffle next to him and a strong arm wrapped around his torso. The extra warmth was comforting and Tom’s steady breathing was oddly soothing. Harry easily fell asleep in his arms and didn’t have a single nightmare.

Harry woke up at 8:45 in Tom’s empty bed. He didn’t want to do anything but lie in bed and breathe in the leftover smell of Tom’s cologne. He rubbed the sleep off of his face and sat upright. He looked around at Tom’s room. He’s never actually seen it before which he thought was kind of weird. He got up and started to explore. He walked over to Tom’s desk and looked at all of his photos. There were a few drawings hanging around his computer that Zayn drew for him and pictures of his family; all of the normal stuff. Harry picked up and frame with a picture of Tom in his cap and gown from when he graduated from Cambridge. He smiled to himself and put it back on the desk. He walked over to a shelf next to the bed and saw several interesting things. Tom’s diploma was beautifully framed and hung on the wall. It made him wish that he was able to FINISH COLLEGE but Harry knew he would never get that chance again even if he wanted it. A Harvard would never take him back, not now.

Something caught his eye. There was smoothing reflecting sunlight under Tom’s pillow. The corner of what looked like a PICTURE FRAME was slightly sticking out from under it. Harry pulled it out and sighed. The frame said “Tom and Finn 4 ever” with a picture of them kissing on swing set.

“Oh Tom,” Harry whispered to himself.

“Oh Tom what?” Harry was startled by the sudden voice. He turned around to see Tom smiling by the door. His smiled fell when he saw what was in Harry’s hand.

“Oh,” was all that Tom could say.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to go through your stuff. I um”

“It’s uh o-ok” Tom’s voice cracked.

“I should really get rid of that old thing anyway.” There were visible tears starting to form in his eyes. Tom snatched the picture out of Harry’s hand and walked from the room trying to hold in tears. Harry instantly felt terrible. Once again Harry didn’t know what to do. He stood there frozen. Maybe it was his only reflex when faced with uncomfortable situations and/or fear. He took a deep breath and forced himself to move from his spot. He walked out of Tom’s room and saw his sitting on the floor next to the TRASH CAN. The picture was shattered on the floor. Tom was sobbing trying to put the pieces back together. Harry ran to his side.

“Tom, Tom you have to stop. It’s broken.”

“NO!” He screamed.

“If I don’t fix it, it means he’s gone. He can’t be gone Harry! He can’t!!” Tome yelled through his tears. He broke down and dropped the glass pieces. He fell into Harry’s lap and CONTINUED to cry. Harry was in a tough position. He liked Tom and wanted to help him but he was crying on his lap over the love of his life that was taken away from him. Harry couldn’t do anything but rub soothing circles on his back.
After a long hour and a half Tom pulled himself together.

“Hey Tom, I think you should help me with the kids today. I think it’ll make you feel better.” Tom nodded and tossed Harry his CAR keys.

“Don’t tell anyone I’m letting you drive before you get your license back.”

Tom and Harry walked into the children’s ward with smiles. All the children flocked to Tom because they don’t get to see him very often. Tom instantly felt better with the children wanting him to play with them. He took his mind off of the morning as he went to go read Thomas the Tank Engine to a few kids in the corner.

Meanwhile Harry was trying to convince Zayn’s doctor to tell him anything about Zayn. He still didn’t know if he was ok or not and that scared the crap out of him.

“Ok, fine. Since you are not a legal guardian, all I can tell you is that he is still alive. We did have to put him in a medically induced coma and we’re not quite sure when it will be safe to take him out of it.” The doctor stated firmly.

“Oh, um…. Ok. Thank you” he said and quietly walked over to Tom. He listened in as he finished the book. The kids applauded him and asked stupid questions like “why is Thomas and train? And how do trains make babies?” Tom answered their questions to the best of his ability and then went to the cafeteria with Harry for lunch.

“So, um Harry I’m really sorry about this morning. I know it wasn’t easy for you to deal with and I’m really really sorry that you had to see me like that. I just get really bad when it comes to Finn. It’s just hard you know loosing someone you love…”

“I do know.”

“I’m sorry I forgot about your fiancé. But let’s talk about something else; did you find anything out about Zayn?”

“O yeah um he is in a coma and they don’t know when he’ll come out of it.” Harry looked down at his cheap hospital lunch. Tom put a comforting hand on Harry’s knee.

“It will be ok. Zayn is a strong boy and he has us to wake up for, ok? Ok.”

“You’re right, he’s fine and will wake up soon. Let’s go back to work.” They stood up and walked back to the children’s ward in a comfortable silence…
I really hope you liked this chapter, it took me forever to write.I'm so sorry for making this so sad but that's what I do, I write tragedies.

Notes