I Love You But I Can't Breathe

Chapter Fourteen

[So I'm sure almost none of this is going to be medically accurate, so please don't correct me on anything, this is fictional and Harry's illness doesn't actually exist- but I hope you enjoy! the next chapter will be happier too, promise!]

Harry twitched his nose, feeling an odd tickling sensation against his nostrils. 

"Mmmf," he mumbled nonsensically, feeling pleasantly warm in his bed, but knowing he'd feel even warmer if Louis were next to him. "Louuuu," he whined, but felt too tired to finish his sentence so he flopped out his arm a little hoping to find the curvy boy on the opposite end of the bed. 

Instead, his arm hit some sort of chord, and he felt it tug around the back of his ear- similar to the feeling when your headphones got yanked out, but different. 

Harry's green eyes bolted open. 

"Lou... Lou..." he moaned, panic creeping into his chest, fingers tightening a fist into the bed sheets. 

The hospital bed sheets. 

His slim fingers traced along the chord he'd accidentally tugged at, finding it hooked up to an oxygen tank.

Before Harry's panic could fully manifest itself, a dark haired woman walked into the room, dressed in a lab coat and carrying a clipboard. "Mr. Styles, you're awake!" 

Harry just blinked, the incident rushing back to him... the football game, falling over... his legs not working...

Harry gave his legs an experimental shake, and much to his relief, he saw them move around normally under the bed sheets...

Kind of.

Harry swore it was his right leg he was trying to move when his left leg twitched.  

Distractedly, he tugged at the tubes in his nose. "This is..." 

"This is an oxygen tank," the doctor explained patiently. Harry read her name tag- Doctor Emily Ambleside. 

"I know you must be pretty disoriented," she said calmly. "We had to put you on some pretty heavy medication when you got in. You should start to feel normal soon."

"Is Louis here?" Harry asked, his green eyes wide and taking in his surroundings. "He's my boyfriend- he's here right?"

"Family members only, sorry," the doctor sighed. "I saw some boys out in the waiting room though. There might have been four of them, I think? Not sure which one of those was Louis, but I'm sure he's waiting for you." 

Three. Harry wanted to correct her, but he didn't. He was still tugging aimlessly at the oxygen tube. "Do I get to take this off now that I'm awake?" he asked. 

Dr. Ambleside pursed her lips together and took a seat beside Harry's bed. "Harry, I think we need to talk." 

"Are you breaking up with me?" Harry joked weakly. He could feel his stomach sinking. We need to talk was never a good thing.

Emily gave a polite smile before continuing. "It's about some of your options and about some test results we've been analyzing."

"Oh." 

"See the thing is," she started, tapping her pen against her clipboard, "we don't quite know what's wrong." Harry wondered if the clipboard was just for show or if she actually did have all his results pinned to it. The pale green walls and metal bed-frame had him feeling oddly out of body, as though he were on a movie set for a hospital and not a real one. 

"You've literally tested me for everything though, right?" Harry prompted. 

Emily chewed her lips nervously, her berry lipstick fading off in the centre. She looked to be around Harry's mum's age, but with more defined worry lines around her mouth. "We've never actually... seen this before," she admitted.