We Made It

Oh my, I remember those nights.

My eyes are closed. 

I breathe deeply.

Then once more.

And suddenly, I feel myself being yanked back to reality. 

"...Mr. Tomlinson? Mr. Tomlinson." A soft voice came, the speaker clearly taking pains to avoid disturbing Harry. "I thought you might want to be awake for this."

I cleared my throat, wiping sleep from my eyes. "Thank you, love. I appreciate it." I nodded and gave her a little smile to reassure her. She turned away from me and walked the short distance to Harry's bed. I blinked my eyes a few times and looked around the room.

I hadn't really looked around in the rushed chaos of before. We'd been hurried into the room, and I'd never seen it in any significant amount of light. Tan striped wallpaper covered the walls. A vase of quiet flowers graced an end table to my left. A facade of calm had settled upon the room, but the strange aftertaste of fear was still lingering in every corner. Tears started gathering in the corners of my eyes, and I wiped them.

I gently pivoted my body towards Harry's bed to watch the procedure. The nurse had a blood pressure cuff around his upper arm, and the machine next to her was whirring steadily. A puff of air came from the device.

"160/92." She turned to the whiteboard behind her, a troubled expression on her face. As she wrote the number down, I rubbed my chin.

"Is that good?" I asked.

She turned to me, a mask slipping over her features. "We can't draw any conclusions yet. High blood pressure is typical for these situations."

I saw the sympathy in her eyes, although she tried to hide it. My gaze dropped to my liver-spotted hands, tightly gripping each other in my lap. I twisted my wedding band as I looked up at her.

"What's your name?" I asked softly.

"I'm Sophia," she replied, a phrase rehearsed.

"Sophia." I repeated her name slowly. "Sophia, do you have a spouse? A wife? A husband?"

"Yes. I have a husband and two daughters."

"That's wonderful. How long have you been married?"

"We were married in the summer of '57."

I nodded, looking at her. Here was a woman, married ten years, working a near thankless job as a night shift nurse. Maybe she hadn't experienced a comparable event, but it was obvious that Sophia had seen hardship.

"Sophia-- I have been married to that man for fifty four years. We have lived in shadows and sun, in sorrow and joy, in shame and in pride. I have walked through fire for him, and I would do it again to this day. Surely you can see my concern. I ask only that you not lie to me."

Sophia furrowed her brows slightly and bit her lower lip as she turned back to the whiteboard. She stared blankly at the numbers and played with the cap of the marker. "I've heard of you," she said as she faced me again. "You were in that band. My moms love you guys."

I smile, and lean back in my chair slightly. "Yes, we were both in One Direction together."

Sophia nodded and thought for a moment. "Tell me about him."

I tilted my head to one side. "What do you mean?"

"Tell me about him. What were the two of you like when you were young?"

I smiled. "What were we like?" A small laugh escaped my lips. "We were young."

I paused to pat the chair next to me. Sophia hesitated, glancing toward the door, then accepting my offer. She sat next to me. I settled in.

"We used to spend whole nights up together, far after the rest of the band went to sleep. We wandered the streets, if we weren't on the bus, and if we were on the bus, we slept in the same compartment."

Sophia smiled slightly. 

"Oh my," I took a deep, filling breath, the memories rushing back. "I remember those nights."