Saving Styles

Deal

Harry's POV

I heard her sniffle as she shifted in my arms, rolling over to face me as I saw the tears pooled in her eyes. I felt sick at the sight of it, hating seeing her upset but knowing she'd been through so much in the past few weeks.

I knew she was still processing it all, her guilt had been eating at her, not being able to understand why she'd come out relatively unscathed. I didn't think she realized that while most of us had physical damage that was slowly healing, the emotional and mental trauma she suffered was far worse than most of us experienced. Most of us had been passed out a lot of the time, aside from her and Niall, and while Niall had been through enough in his life to learn to compartmentalize it, Hannah was still learning.

Of course, Niall was also dealing with his fair share of flashbacks and trauma and Hannah's parents had insisted both of them get some kind of counselling, which they both did but under protest. I think it was helping Niall work through some stuff from even before everything happened, finding the sort of peace with it that I'd always wished for him. Almost losing Liv had put things into perspective for him, he now knew what he wanted and had a direction to head in, much like I did with Hannah.

I'd been completely out of it for two weeks, somewhere half way between life and death as I slept it off in the ICU while my body tried to function enough to keep me alive. I was pretty much in a coma until last week, no idea where I was or what was happening and just sleeping constantly. I remember dreaming of Hannah, hearing her crying and telling me to hold on, which is exactly what I did. For the first time in my life I cared if I survived, I had something I needed to live for.

It wasn't until I woke up that I heard about everything she'd been through, I had been conscious when the glass broke but I didn't remember it. The last memory I had was of the water still rising, I didn't even know if they'd gotten out. Niall had been the one to tell me everything, coming to sit with me while Hannah attended ball or school as part of her routine that the therapist insisted she followed. It was clear he also felt guilty, feeling like he didn't do enough or should be in the bed next to me as if that would help something. I saw the way he tried to keep everyone's spirits up, being there to support Hannah while they both tried to navigate everything, and I loved him even more for it. I knew without the two of them none of us would have survived, I just wish they could both see the good they'd done instead of beating themselves up.

The doctors had told me I needed at least another month in the hospital to let my organ function and body systems recover, but I couldn't stand the thought of Hannah continuing to sleep alone being scared and sad without me. She never told me she wasn't sleeping, but I could tell how much this was weighing on her so her dad signed me out and promised to provide home care so I could be at home with her.

I myself felt a new sense of weight lifted within me. Taylor, Robinson, Burrows and Erickson were all dead, and it felt like all the bad feelings and emotional bullshit we'd endured died with them. I'd never have to sit in another hearing, look at their smug faces or set foot in Tollenworth again. In fact, the city had been searching for a new location for a youth centre, so Hannah's dad filed the proposal to have Tollenworth torn down and have my company build the youth centre in it's place.

I looked down at the love of my life, the only girl I'd ever loved, and saw her perfect blue eyes staring back at me. I felt the familiar warmth wash over me that I always got when I looked at her, giving me the sense of peace that only she could. She was the only person in my entire life that had been able to silence my demons, and I knew she needed me more now than ever.

"Baby, what's wrong?" I said softly as I held my hand to the side of her face, wiping the tear that fell down her cheek with my thumb.

"Why are you awake? You should be sleeping, you need to rest." She sniffled.