Altered. [Harry Styles]

04.

Harry.

"Josie says hi, by the way." Her name didn't sound real coming out of someone else's mouth, especially a stranger's. People stopped saying her name around me in fear that it would send me into a spiral of some sort, and in a way, it always did. Not the kind that they expect, but it renews my motivation to find her every time someone acknowledges her existence. Some days it feels like she's a figment of my imagination, but the slim validation of hearing her name vocalized is enough to strike up a match and reignite my hunt.

Amber never came back after her cliff-hanger exit. A new nurse tagged in and told me that she had gotten paged into a pediatric case, so I guess her connection to Jo would stay a mystery for a while.

I selfishly hope that Jo's a nurse here. It was always her dream job and this was her dream hospital, and I want nothing more than for her to be successful. Her mum used to be a OBGYN here, so half of Jo's childhood was spent in the hospital daycare. It's really no surprise medicine ended up piquing her interest.

"You're very lucky, Mr. Styles." My middle aged doctor tells me after showing me a display of my scans on his laptop. The blue light from the screen feels like an electrical zap to my brain, but that's probably just the blunt force trauma talking. "Only a mild concussion this time around." Scratching his goatee, he nods his bald head slowly in conclusion. "I need you to keep it easy for the next few weeks. Limit your screen time, and no physical activity, especially jogging." He snickers, closing down his laptop. He means well with his light hearted jokes, but my mind strayed far away from the topic of myself a long time ago.

"So I can go home?" The relief of leaving the confinements of this sanitary hell hole starts accelerating my heart rate, my excitement quite literally visible on the screen to my left.

Once I'm out of this room, I can go look for her.

"Easy now, tiger." The laptop is replaced with a clipboard and a busy pen sketching out some chicken scratch I probably won't be able to read. "I don't feel comfortable sending you home just yet after the state you came here in. You're still a high risk for brain bleeds and strokes."

I let out the breath I was holding, dismay haunting my features. For someone who almost married a nurse, I hate hospitals. I hate laying in bed, knowing that at one point, someone's worst day of their life took place in here. I hate being consumed by the curiosity that wonders when the last time someone died in this room was, and how many people associate this room with grief and heartache.

I hate being at a hospital without Jo to distract me. Other than the wine bottle incident, I only went to one if it was to visit her during her nursing internship. Granted, the cafeteria and lobby are much more upbeat parts of the hospital, but I still don't fuck with hospitals as a whole, but for her, I dealt with it.

-

"Coffee delivery for Mrs. Jo Styles." My hands snuck around her waist from behind, bringing a disposable coffee cup and a breakfast sandwich within her reach as I pressed a longing kiss to the crook of her neck.

"One day there's going to be another brunette intern in light blue scrubs standing here, and you're going to greet her like this by accident, and the asthma attack I'll have from laughing my ass off will be well worth it." She takes the coffee cup and sandwich from my hands and sets them on the counter next to the chart she was working on. Her soft hands rest over my arms, sliding up and down my skin to welcome my embrace.

"Wrong." I tell her, tightening my arms around her waist to pull her into my chest for a better hug. My chin finds a place to prop on her shoulder, leaving my lips right against her ear. "That will never happen because there's never going to be another intern, nurse, doctor, or human being that is as beautiful as you." I leave another kiss on the top of her head, letting go of her just long enough to spin her around to face me. "Especially from the behind. I'd know your sexy ass anywhere."