as it is || harry styles au

forty-nine

tw // mention of rape

i v o r y

     I woke up remembering having fallen asleep with my son and Harry in the room. Waking up was much less disorienting this time around.

     "Oh, my darling girl."

     "Mom?"

     Her hazel eyes were red and teary. She patted down my hair, palming my face with warm hands. "How are you feeling, my sweet girl?"

     I did a full body check. The pain in my side felt more tender and sore than anything, but surely that would change once I shifted around more. I wasn't well-rested per say, but I certainly wasn't as exhausted as I was before. My shoulder didn't bother me at all, and I'd see how my throat felt in a couple minutes.

     "Much better. I didn't know you were here."

     "Oh, honey. You had us so worried." She brushed away a couple fallen tears.

     I looked around the room for a clock. "Where's Jamie? How long did I sleep this time?"

     "Just a couple hours. Harry took Jamie to have lunch a little bit ago. They'll be back soon. We've been stretching the visitation rules a bit. You can only have two visitors at a time, but the nurses haven't been counting Jamie."

     Questions poured out of me. "When did you guys get here? Did they get Jake? Has Tristyn said anything? And doesn't Jamie have school? Have they said when I can leave?"

     Mom cradled my hand in both of hers. "Jake's been arrested." She went on to explain that he was arrested at his brother's apartment five days ago—technically, outside of it since he'd jumped out of the window trying to evade the police. He was coincidentally brought to the same hospital as me, but was transferred to one across town once he was stabilized.

"Tristyn said the police need to speak to you first, then he'll be off to his arraignment," Mom finished off.

"Already?"

"With the additional charges, the DA didn't waste any more time."

And all it took was my abuser nearly murdering me.

"To answer your other questions, Jamie, Will, and I got here four days ago. Yes, he's missed a few days of school, but to keep Jamie busy, Alden's been sending school work and educational videos so he doesn't fall behind. Everyone's been helping out."

     Will's here, too?

     Mom got teary-eyed again. "You scared us good, honey."

     I wanted to ask how close I was. I wanted to ask if they thought I was going to die, but I didn't want my mom to have to revisit those emotions.

     "When can I leave?"

     "Not for at least a few more days. The doctor said you need to eat something, start walking around, and then they'll assess next steps."

     Like a hot knife, the memory of Jake threatening Jamie swiped through me.

     "Is Jamie safe?"