The Accident

Chapter ten

"Louis!" Lottie, Phoebe, and Daisy screamed as they entered his room. They had left the little ones at home this time.

Zayn looked over at them.
"I'll leave you alone. Don't wear him out."

"Oh my God! Who was that? He's hot!" Daisy worded as soon as Zayn had left the room.

"He's way too old for you." Louis snorted.

"But not for me. Who is it?" Lottie grinned.

"Zayn." Louis answered.

"He's gorgeous, just like that other guy, your physiotherapist. Harry?" Lottie said.

Louis got strangely possessive.
"He's totally off limits. Don't you dare make a move on him." He growled.

Lottie looked amused.
"Is that so?"

Louis rolled his eyes at her.
"You can talk now." Phoebe pointed out.

"Yeah. I say the wrong word sometimes and sometimes I stutter or have to struggle to find my words but it's much easier. Niall is fantastic at what he does."

"And hot." Daisy pointed out.

"My God. You're unbelievable."Louis chuckled.

"Are you trying to tell us that you haven't checked them out? Dr. Payne too. This place is just filled with hot guys." Lottie said and Louis couldn't argue against that.

"Wanna show them your new trick?" Harry's voice suddenly sounded from the doorway.

Louis really hoped he hadn't heard their conversation.
"Sure."

Harry smiled at him and picked up the crutches before he headed over to Louis' bed. Louis got down, swaying a little as his feet touched the ground. Harry immediately held up a hand to keep him steady. He handed Louis the crutches and got behind him, grabbing his hips. Louis took a few steps and his siblings cheered him on.

He was radiating happiness when he returned to the bed.
"Your brother is doing great. Give him a month or two and he'll be walking by himself." Harry said, sounding proud.

"That's awesome!" Lottie commented.

Louis was just smiling happily. Harry returned the smile, showing off his dimples, and helped Louis get back in bed before he left them.
"So, what was that?" Lottie immediately questioned when Harry was out of the room.

"What was what?" Louis asked.

"There's definitely something going on between you two!" Lottie proclaimed.

"Of course there isn't. Harry is just doing his job." Louis defended him.

"But you like him." Lottie stated. Phoebe and Daisy were looking between them, following their interaction with interest.

"Even if I did that wouldn't matter. I'm a patient." Louis answered.

"For now." Lottie smirked.

"For months to come. Stop bugging me!" Louis huffed.

"Louis has a cru-ush." Daisy teased.

"Please, that's enough." Louis sighed with an edge to his voice.

"I'm sorry, Louis." Daisy immediately apologized.

"It's okay. How are things back home?" Louis asked, in an effort to change the subject.

After listening for twenty minutes straight to his sister's endless talk about boys and school and everything in between Louis tried to hide his yawns.
"Okay girls, let's go back to Doncaster. Louis needs to rest." Lottie said.

Louis hugged all three of them, thanking them for the visit. He fell asleep the minute they had left the room and closed the door behind them.

The days went fast. He had a busy schedule. Niall still saw him every day to work on his speech. He had a session with Liam daily as well. Now when he could talk they went through everything over and over again. It helped tremendously. The nightmares were rare, his mood was stabilized and his depression was better. They had worked a lot on acceptance. Liam had helped him to accept that he couldn't change what happened to him. They had talked a lot about survival guilt. They had processed it all and now he just had to move on.

Harry kept his promise and at the end of the month, he was walking without crutches. He couldn't be happier. He had been in a horrible accident but he was getting his life back. He had to live with the aftereffect of the accident. He would never play football again. He sometimes wouldn't find the right word and something else would come out of his mouth, and he would most likely have some bad days both physically and mentally but he was grateful to be alive. Two months ago he wasn't.

Liam, Zayn, Niall, and Harry came into his room together. He looked up.
"What's up with the committee?" Louis grinned.

"Well, we're ready to discharge you." Liam smiled.

Louis stared at them in surprise.
"What? I'm not ready!"

"You are! You've responded very well in therapy. Your PTSD is under control." Liam answered.

"Your speech is almost back to normal." Niall said.

"And you're walking!" Harry chipped in.

"There's no need for me anymore. You can take care of yourself." Zayn contributed.

Louis looked between them, eyes getting stuck on Harry. He seemed sad.
"Yeah, but..."

"We're all gonna give you recommendations of who to see from now on. Your training and therapy need to continue but as far as rehabilitation, you're done. You don't need to be in here anymore and that's a good thing, Louis." Liam said.

"Uhm, yeah. Thanks for everything. I'm gonna miss all of you. Is that stupid?" Louis said, eyes still lingering on Harry.

"Of course not! We're gonna miss you too." Zayn answered and the other three nodded their heads in agreement.

"Thanks. So when are you gonna discharge me?" Louis asked.

"As from tomorrow, you'll be a free man." Liam replied.

That soon? He wasn't ready! Zayn, Niall, and Liam all hugged him and left the room. Harry stayed behind.
"So..."

"So..." Louis replied, at a loss of better things to say.

Harry dragged a hand through his hair.
"You have really outdone yourself. I hope you're as proud as I am of your accomplishments? Anyhow, this place won't be the same without you but I hope you'll have an amazing life, Louis. You deserve it." Harry said.

"Thanks. You too! Hug?" Louis asked.

Harry smiled and wrapped his arms around him. They both nuzzled their faces in each other's necks and the hug lasted longer than appropriate. Harry let go with a sigh.
"Take care."

"You too." Louis said in a small voice.

Harry gave him a long look before he hurried out of the room. Louis laid down with a sigh. In another lifetime maybe.

Niall came into the room.
"Hey, Louis? The boys and I are gonna eat dinner at my place and head to a karaoke bar after that two Saturdays from now. Wanna join us?"

Louis' heart beated excitedly.
"Really? Yeah, I'd love to! Are you sure? I mean, I'm a patient."

"You won't be one then." Niall said with a wink. He handed Louis a note with a phone number written on it.
"That's my personal number. Use it."

Louis' day suddenly looked much brighter.