[ as long as stars are above you ]


✰ Part 2 ✰

"Wh-what's wrong?" My voice is in utter pain as I speak to the man in front of me, fearing the absolute worst.

Dr. Hardy's eyes scan over the top page of the thin stack of papers in his hand, a sigh slipping out of his mouth, "Well," he begins, and immediately my heart begins to rapidly pound in my rib cage, threatening to crack each bone to pieces. "Thankfully, her kidney is nowhere near a failure, and there is no inflammation." He informs me, and finally a heavy burden is lifted from my tired shoulders.

"Thank God." I breathe out, placing my hand over my heart. Despite feeling relieved, I can tell by the look on his face that there is more news, and it's not going to be good.

"But.. her white blood cell count is slightly below average. And the Urinalysis showed an increase in the proteins in her urine, it's gone up since last time." He tells me these things with an apologetic expression, only making my soul hurt more.

Laura has been battling all of these insane things since before we met, which was six years ago. I can't imagine what it must have been like as a child, to suffer constantly from so many things that left even the best doctors clueless at times.

"Her Lupus medications will be increased, and we will add a new prescription." Dr. Hardy says as he uses his pen to mark things off the paper, probably the things he has already mentioned.

The real fear I have is that something terribly bad will happen to Laura and I will lose her. I honestly could not function without her here with me. He clears his throat, grabbing my full attention once again - not that he ever lost it.

"I'm going to ask you some questions, Mr. Styles, and I need you to be honest with me, alright?"

"Of course." I am quick to assure him of my honestly - when it comes to Laura's health, I will tell them everything they need and want to know, and more than that.

"Has she been using sunscreen daily before going in direct sunlight or even standing by a large open window?" He asks with furrowed brows, concentrating on my response now.

Quickly, I think about the recent weeks but no specific event comes to mind, "She uses it as far as I know every day. Applies it three times a day like she was told to do." I truthfully reply, my nervousness has returned and before I can stop I'm fumbling with my own fingers.

"The rashes on her skin from the sunlight are getting worse with each visit. Please be sure that she uses it on all exposed skin every time she steps foot outside. Okay?" He demands with a stern look and I nod my head a few times, taking in the information in order to properly use it later on.

"Of course." I say reassuringly.

"Do you have any questions for me?" Dr. Hardy asks curiously as he sticks his pen inside the pocket of his lab coat.

A few things cross my mind, but the main thing that sticks out like a sore thumb is my worry about my little one, so I don't hesitate any longer, "The.. baby?"

"We didn't see any sign of any complication at the moment. It seems healthy and normal." He tells me with a small smile, his words making a happy grin spread over my face. "But." Here he goes again with this interjections of bad news.

"But what?" I mumble, sliding a hand through my messy hair - my heart skips a few beats out of pure fright.

"The baby is taking away a lot of her energy and nutrition. She will have to up her intake of fruits and vegetables in order to maintain a healthy wakefulness." He informs me and I immediately take a mental note to go by the market and pick up more fresh foods for her, and for Cam, too, she needs to eat healthier as well.

It wasn't but a few more minutes that I was excused and could enter the room again. When I walk in, I see that my mother is sitting on the couch beside my sister, just how I left them. Except this time, they are both fighting back tears. My gaze wonders over to the bed where I see that my beautiful daughter is sitting between her mother's legs, deep into a conversation with that amazing woman.

I shut the door as quietly as I can, but my presence is made evident quickly. Camryn's head turns in my direction and she jumps to her feet on the mattress. I hurry over to her, God she can just be so clumsy sometimes, she gets that from me, and I don't want to witness her fall and hit her head on the hard floor.

My hands grab her waist and I pick her up off the bed, getting a squeal in return. Her little arms wrap around my neck and she leans her forehead against mine.

"When can we go home? I miss Tubby." She whispers to me with a sigh, already I can tell she's exhausted from being here and having nothing to do.

"I'm not sure, sweetheart. Tubby will be fine." I tell her this, the regards of our cat is none of my concern at the moment. He'll be perfectly fine without us for a while - he's probably actually happy we're gone, Cam likes to torture him.

"How about you let Aunt Gem take you to the courtyard? Someone told me they have a new duck." Gemma's voice enters the room. My sister stands with a smile, I can tell it's rather forced but I don't ever want to mention it to Camryn.

Her eyes light up at the mention of an animal, the child loves the zoo more than she does anything. Perhaps that's a good thing, she'd much rather be outside than have her face stuck in a screen all day. Gemma takes her from me after Cam and I exchange a quick kiss on the cheek.

It didn't take the girls long to reach the door and head towards that duck. I wish I could give it a warning, Cam isn't that gentle with animals.

My mother lifts herself off the couch and grabs her purse, throwing the strap over her shoulder. She comes over to me before I had time to sit down and get situated. Her shaking hand pats my bicep, tear filled eyes gazing up at me. I bite the inside of my cheek - there are four people in this world I hate to see cry: my mother, my sister, my daughter, and my wife.

"The baby?" She asks in a feather worthy tone, barely audible.

I give her a gentle smile, "Everything's fine." I assure her with a kiss on the forehead, pulling a deep exhale out of her.

"I'm going to head to the machines. Do you want a snack?" She asks me curiously, suddenly putting on a smile and brights up the room a bit. My mother has an amazing way at giving life to a horrible situation.

"I'm fine." I shake my head lightly while my eyes trail towards Laura, who was already staring at me. "Do you need anything, honey?" I question with a lift of my brows.

"No.. I'm.. good." She says lightly and my mother gives her a soft smile before walking to the door.

Suddenly, we are left alone in this cold, bleak hospital room. The silence makes itself at home once more, and I'm left with two decisions. Either talk to her, or go sit on that hard ass couch for the next hour. Unfortunately, I chose the couch.

It's not that I don't want to speak to her, she's my wife - why on earth would I hate talking to her? It's just the topic of the conversation that mentally kills me, I hate knowing she's sick and discussing it out loud with her constantly reminds me it's real. And frankly I don't want to know that.

However, I didn't make it to the couch in time - a terrible sounding groan left her mouth and I just know it's not a good thing at all. I spin around and rush to her side, picking up her cold hand immediately.

"Laura?" I mumble softly, just in case she didn't want to hear anything too loud at the moment.

Her beautiful eyes met mine and all she can do is shake her head at me, a silent sign that something isn't right. I furrow my brows as I look down at her exposed bump for a few seconds before returning my gaze to her. Once again, she shakes her head - assuring me that it isn't the baby that's bothering her.

Yet, I couldn't even guess what the issue was because she all of a sudden just sighed out and laid her back against the raised bed. I sit down beside her, still facing her pretty face. She reaches down with her other hand and pulls the cover up to her chest, shielding the baby from my eyes now.

"Are you alright?" I ask with a confused tone, I have no actual clue what's going on right now. She was in pain for a moment then suddenly nothing at all?

"Fine." She nods lightly, giving my hand the hardest squeeze she could manage, which isn't very much.

Thankfully, she seems alright now. I lean down and press my lips to her swollen lips. She doesn't move too much, but I felt the small smile against my mouth. She may be sick, but I still love her - I could never stop kissing this woman.

"Is the baby.. alright?" Laura asks once we have parted ways and I've stood from the bed, her small hand still grasping mine.

"He said the baby is fine." I smile gently at the mention of our little bundle, gosh I can't wait to find out what we're having.

"Thank God." She breathes out happily, those gorgeous lips shaping into a smile.

"They want to keep you for a few more days.. make sure everythin's alright."

"Of course.." She mutters as her hand messes with the bed's control buttons.

I watch her as she lays the bed back some, trying to get comfortable on the hard mattress. I know all she wants is to be home in our bed, cuddled up with me and Camryn. I wish I could take this all away and just make her better, God knows I definitely would if I could.

"It'll be alright. We'll be home soon." I lean forward and press a kiss to her warm forehead, a fever is something she basically keeps every other day.

Unfortunately, I have gotten used to it.

Notes

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