A chance to love again

Chapter 13

When he wakes up, it's because his phone is incessantly buzzing in his pocket. He groans and fishes it out, seeing it's Liam. He was definitely supposed to call him before falling asleep. Whoops.

"Hey, Li," Louis whispers, glancing over at Harry, still sleeping. "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, everything is fine," Liam says. "I was just wondering if you have any news?"

"Yeah, right. Sorry I didn't call sooner; fell asleep. He ruptured a disc in his spine, so they did surgery. He's out now but still asleep, so we can't be sure how he's doing yet. They said the surgery went well, though, so they're expecting good results. You won't see him back on that field, though," Louis says quietly, playing with the hem of his shirt. "He's going to have to be careful, and it's too dangerous to put that sort of strain on him after this. He's going to have to retire. I don't know how I'm going to tell him."

"Just explain it to him gently. I'm sure he's going to be in so much pain when he wakes up that he won't even care. He's just going to want to get better," Liam says.

"Yeah, that's what I hope," Louis sighs. "Kids are good?"

"Yeah, just finishing up dinner."

"Let me...okay, tell them I'll be there soon. I'll take them home and put them to bed. Maybe I can have Harry's mum come to watch them. You have practice tomorrow morning and I don't want them getting out of routine with their sleep and stuff. Ava's been having trouble sleeping and I think it would be best for her to sleep in her own bed."

"Are you sure? I can watch them," Liam says.

"No, really, it's okay. Thank you so much for all you've done. I'll be there in a little while, okay?"

"Alright, see you soon."

Louis hangs up and sighs, putting his phone away. When he looks back at Harry, he's awake, looking upset and angry and tired and dejected. Shit.

"Hey, sweetheart," Louis says softly, sitting on the side of Harry's bed and kissing him softly. "How are you feeling?"

"I heard what you said," Harry announces, his voice strained. "I heard everything."

"You did?" Louis gasps. "Shit, Harry, I'm so sorry. I didn't want to tell you that way."

"Would have had the same result," Harry says simply. "My career is over."

"Your life isn't, though. Now you can sleep in, and you can spend more time at home with us, and you won't have to be constantly traveling. You can let yourself go if you want to! I can feed you a whole chocolate cake for dinner if you want!" Louis tries to smile at him. Harry doesn't reply. "Honey, I know it's awful, but we're going to get through this. We need to make sure you're okay. The kids need you and I need you to be okay. Besides, who's going to do all the heavy lifting without you around? No one is as strong as you."

"This is all I know," Harry says, looking down at his lap. "This is all I've really ever done."

"That is untrue," Louis says. "You are a husband, and you are a father, and those are the most important jobs in the world. You are amazing, football player or not. We are going to get through this one day at a time. Like I said, our first priority is getting your back strong again. Gotta be able to pick up the kids, right? Especially our little princess Ava."

"No piggy back rides for her for a while, I guess," Harry says with a small smile. "Gonna be devastated."

"They already are," Louis tells him. "They were so worried about you. I didn't even see it happen, I was getting something for Ava, and the boys had to tell me. Ava was so upset when she saw you that she started to reach out for you. They love you so much. I think they're just going to be happy that you're back home with them."