I See You (Larry Stylinson) {Co-written with @uniquelyxlarry}

Chapter 21

It had been three days since the surgery and so far things were going well. Louis was starting to get his strength back. We were walking down the hall and I had my arm around Louis' waist to steady him. We had to stop a couple times so Louis could catch his breath though.

"Why is this so fucking hard?" He wheezed. "You'd think my body would be happy that it finally got a working heart."

I looked him up and down, quickly deciding he needed to rest. I grabbed a nearby wheelchair and commanded him to sit. He crossed his arms over his chest with a pout and I tried kissing it away.

I could tell he was trying not to smile, but he failed and the corners of his lips turned up. I grinned triumphantly and began wheeling him back to his room in the ICU. He would be moved to a regular room in a few days, so long as no major complications occurred.

"Your body thinks the heart is a foreign object, or a disease if you will, so it's attacking it. Luckily your immune system is weak so it's not hurting you that much. It'll get used to it eventually." I explained. He grumbled and I smiled fondly at the back of his head.

Once we were back in his room I helped him onto the bed and petted his hair when he winced. "I need to clean your stitches." I murmured apologetically.

He groaned and sat up so I could lift his shirt over his head. Normally nurses did this kind of thing but Louis preferred me to do it and so did I. I peeled off his current bandages and examined the wound carefully, looking for signs of infection. I pursed my lips and poked a spot, watching to see if the color changed. It did so I grabbed the alcohol wipes and wiped gently at the cut.

"It's healing well." I assured him. It was red around the sides but that was to be expected. It was just part of the healing process.

He nodded and laid his head back against the pillows while I cleaned the cut, put medicated ointment on it, and then bandaged it again. I reached for his shirt but he grabbed my wrist.

"Need to shower. ‘m disgusting." He frowned.

I ran him a bath instead and made sure the water was warm enough before carrying him into the bathroom. He cuddled into my chest and I kissed the top of his head. He wrapped his arms around my neck when I set him down and I pulled the rest of his clothes off.

He climbed over into the tub and settled into the water with a sigh. His bandage was waterproof so I didn't worry about his wound getting wet. I grabbed a cup from the sink, filled it with water, and poured it over his hair, keeping a hand right at his hairline so it didn't get in his face. I massaged the shampoo into his hair, rinsed it out, and then repeated the process with conditioner.

After that I got a washcloth and wiped his face carefully. His eyes fluttered closed and he sighed, leaning into my hand slightly.

I wiped his neck, shoulders, and the part of his chest that wasn't bandaged then asked him to stand up. He held onto the bar on the wall as I wiped his belly and legs. I gently wiped over his lower regions and then he turned around so I could wash his back.

We didn't talk much, just heavy breathing and the occasional sloshing of water.

When I was finished I grabbed a fluffy blue towel and wrapped it around his waist then got another to drape over his shoulders. He looked up shyly, so I kissed his temple, holding onto him as he walked slowly back to the bed.

I helped him dry off and then I gave him a pair of sweats I had gotten him a few days ago. They were just Grey but they were comfy. I was wearing the same ones in navy. I had the week off due to 'emotional stress' so I was spending all my time with Louis. I hadn't left the hospital except to get him some clothes and to go to my house to get some clothes for myself.

He whined when I pulled on the shirt. I knew it rubbed against the bandage, and if we weren't in a hospital I would have let him go without one. I covered his skinny legs with the freshly cleaned sheets and turned on the small TV. I had taken Peter Pan out of the library so I hit play. Peter Pan was his favorite movie and we had already watched it twice but I couldn't deny him anything.

I gave him another steroid shot when he was focused on the movie and he pressed his lips into a hard line. "Cuddle?" He asked weakly.

I obliged and layed on my side next to him so I could drape my arm over his waist and rest my head on his shoulder. He fell asleep in less than ten minutes and soon I fell asleep too.

**

I woke up to a high pitched whine and my eyes widened when I felt Louis squirming next to me. I reached over his body to turn up the morphine dosage and grabbed the soft towel, patting at his sweaty face as he scrunched his nose in irritation.

"It's okay." I whispered. "You're alright."

Louis curled into my chest pitifully, whimpering slightly. I rubbed his back and raked my fingers through his fringe as he started to cry. He buried his face into my chest and I curled around him, peppering kisses on his forehead and cheeks.

"Why do you even put up with me?" He hiccuped. “I’m a mess.”

"Because I love you." I answered immediately. And it was true. I loved him more than anything else, possibly even myself.

After a few minutes the morphine kicked in and he went pliant in my arms, occasionally sniffling or moving to a more comfortable position.

I felt my own eyes filling with tears at the broken boy in my arms. I just wanted to hug him so tight all his little pieces would stick back together.

“I’m always here to hold your hand. I love you, okay? You’re interesting and different and I like that.”

Louis sniffled and curled into me. “But I’m sick and I can’t do things with you. I’m stuck here. you deserve better than that.”

“Sometimes you don’t need to say anything. Just be there. Just be here beside me. That’s enough. You make me happy. You make me laugh. You’re a little crazy and awkward, but your smile alone can make my day. I’ve completely fallen for you. Everything you do, say, and are. You’re my first thought in the morning and my last thought before I fall asleep, and almost avery thought in between.”

Louis was crying again at the end of my little rant, so I just held him close and rubbed his back soothingly.

“I love you.” He said quietly. “So fucking much."

It went without saying that I loved him back. It was quiet in the room except for our breathing and Louis’s soft cries.

A lot of times it wasn’t the body rejecting the heart that killed patients. Everyone seemed to believe that once they got a new heart everything would be better right away, but that wasn’t the case. There was a lot of recovery time involved and if they fell into a depression and stopped taking care of themselves the heart would fail again.

I couldn’t let that happen to Louis. I just wanted him to be happy again.

****

A/N Sorry this took longer than normal :|  I've been super busy and I have midterms this week so...yeah. anyways, hope you liked the chapter even though it wasnt one of my best.
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- Claire xx