Unfinished Perfection

Borrowed Air

Anne loved hearing from her son—usually he kept himself so busy with everything that she might not get much more than a simple 'love you!' texts on some nights.  He wasn't really active online either, so she couldn't really get as much from his social media as she could from Gemma's. Thus, she was pleasantly surprised to get and incoming call from 'Haz' and picked up almost immediately.

"Mum?" Harry sounded a little deflated today.

"What's wrong, sweetie?"

"I'm at the hospital again, mum."

"Oh goodness, what happened? Are you alright?"

"I promise I only came in with an infection, but I had a really rough night. And my doctor really wanted me to call someone."

"Oh, honey." Anne just wanted to reach over to America and hug him. "Maybe you should come home, H."

"I want to finish the year here, mum.  It's just that the doctors look more worried than usual and I don't want to make all of these decisions alone." For a moment, her son sounded like a small child again.

"Give them the phone, honey. Have them talk to me. Is that okay?"

"Yeah, mum," there was a long pause as Harry called the doctors over and explained. There was a small shuffle on his end, and then Anne heard Harry's small voice whisper, "thank you."

"Ma'am? This is Dr. Bui. Mr. Styles is your son?"

"Yes, doctor. Harry has given permission for you to discuss his treatment with me?"

"I'm afraid there are a few unwelcome developments, Mrs. Sty—"

"Twist," she corrected him offhandedly. "I've remarried. What new developments?"

"His lung capacity seems to have dropped critically since he's been hospitalized. We will do a final test to confirm, but it looks as if your son may have to go on permanent supplemental oxygen once he is discharged. The transition is usually a difficult one to get used to, and he will have to be briefed extensively on using the equipment."

"Are there no other options? Maybe just night ventilation?"

"No, ma'am. I would feel very uncomfortable discharging him. His resting oxygen sats without assistance have occasionally been dipping below 80%, which is highly risky with his condition."

"Okay, can I speak to him, please?" Anne tried to compose herself before she would have to break the news to Harry.

"Mum?" His voice sounded a little worn.

"Harry honey, remember that thing you made me promise I wouldn't make you do?"

There was a moment of tense silence. "Mum, please," his voice cracked slightly. "No, I'm fine, I promise."

"H, you know this isn't okay. You're going to be so tired without it, you couldn't get on with school, work, anything."

"I—I'll manage."

"Harry, listen to me. This is dangerous."

"I'll be careful; I'll do all my treatments and go to the hospital the minute I feel something coming along."

"Harry," Anne's voice took on a warning tone. "You have a lot of people who really love you and cannot let you take this chance with your life. I can't force you, but please, even just for me, for Gemma, for Lyn, take care of yourself."

There was a long pause on Harry's end and then, "Bye Mum, love you."

"Haz.." there was a click as Harry hung up.