Maybe we can (L.S.)

9

As soon as Niall left he had called the pediatric assessment center he had told him about and got an appointment for Sam for the next thursday.
He was actually really worried. What if there was something wrong with him? And what if it was his fault? After all, it was his fault that he no longer had a sister and Emma and Sam no longer had a mum to care for them...
Having lost his leg wasn't even nearly enough of a punishment for it. It was all his fault.

He wanted to cry himself to sleep but both children needed attention, and they deserved so much more than he could give them. 

Harry's week went by quickly. He had busied himself by cleaning the house to make it livable, as it had been empty for years. It had been quite the challenge doing it on one leg while caring for the two children, but Niall had stopped by every chance he got to help them settle and keep him from his thoughts.

His mum had sent him his provisional prosthesis but this one didn't fit him as well as it should. It had taken a long time to adapt the one that he usually used and was new boken to fit him perfectly and it still hurt him and irritated the skin in his stump sometimes when he walked on it for a long period of time. The provisional one not only wasn't properly adapted to him, but it was supposed to fit him shortly after the amputation and his stump and muscles had changed quite a bit since then, as he had muscles he no longer used and the inflamation had died down. As a result, he was stuck with a loose prosthesis for who knew how long, so he tried to avoid using it when he could.

On wednesday morning the doorbell rang as he walked out of the shower. He hurried to get dried and his luck and clumsiness combined to make him slip on the wet floor. He groaned as he felt the small lump that was starting to form at the back of his head, where he had hit the floor. 

" 'M coming" He shouted as he got up and pulled a pair of shorts on as fast as he could and hopped to the door.

He opened it and was glad to find that the postman was still waiting. The dark haired young man looked him up and down, apparently startled.

"Nice tattoos, man" He said as he looked up again.

"Ehm... Thanks, I guess. Sorry to make you wait. Got anything for me?" Said Harry awkwardly.

"Yes, sorry. Here. I just need a signature here... Andaphonenumber" The man said adding the last part hurriedly.

"Sorry, what?" Harry asked, not having understood the last part, as he grabbed the pen to sign.

"Your number... I need your number to... a contact, just in case, you know?" The man said, a blush deep on his face.

"Right. Thank you for waiting" Harry said as he wrote it.

"No worries, just my job. Have a nice day..." The dark haired man said looking up again.

"Harry" He answered the silence looking awkwardly at the brown eyes man.

"Zayn. Well, bye Harry" He waved walking backwards with a wide smile.

"Bye Zayn" Harry smiled back closing the door.

Harry turned around, feeling happy because, for once, he hadn't received weird or pity stares and hopped to the livingroom pushing the box.

Emma was there quietly drawing and Sam was in his hammock half asleep. He checked his watch and realised he still had about 50 minutes until he had to leave for his appointment with the orthopedist so he decided to open the box.

"Hey monkey, do you want to help me?"

"Yesh! Me open! Me open!" Emma shrieked jumping in excitement.

"Okay, okay! Pull this tape" He chuckled giving her the edge of it.

She grabbed it and pulled walking around the box until it unstuck.

"Well done monkey! Do you want to take everything out?"He said hugging her.

"Yesh!" She jumped before peaking inside the box to start taking things out.

"Alright, go ahead then" He said sitting on the floor and taking Sam, who had completely woken up, out of his hammock.

He sat him on the floor between his legs with his back and head rested against his stomach and gave him the still plastic wrapped handle bar he had bought for the shower.

"Thank God" He mumbled as he touched the new bump on his head seeing that the box was full of the anti-slipping mats, handles and some other stuff he had ordered. He was quite tired of slipping in the bathroom after all.

He just sat there observing both children enjoying with the plastic wraps. A frown appearing on his face as he realised that Sam was only using his right hand and his left was clenched in a fist.

Niall arrived shortly after to babysit so Harry could go to his appointment without worrying.

"Are you planning on going out like this?" He asked pointing at his bare chest as he entered.

"Ha ha ha, very funny"

"Okay, okay! Go on then" Niall said with his hands up in surrender.

He went into his bedroom, put his prosthesis on, got dressed and went back to the livingroom.

"I've got to go if I don't want to miss the bus. Will you be alright?" He said hesitantly.

"Yes, Harry... it sounds as if you don't trust me"

"Oh, I don't. You're a kid yourself Ni... But I don't have much choice, do I?" Harry said while crouching down to kiss both children.

"Heey! I'm a responsible adult" The Irish lad whined.

"Sure you are. Will you take care of uncle Ni, monkey?" He asked after hugging her.

"Yesh! I big girl" She answered as Niall rolled her eyes.

"Okay. I'll be back in a while. I'll stop at the supermarket to get some groceries after the appointment."

And with a wave from Emma, Harry was out the door.