Make This Feel Like Home

Chapter 12

TW Warning: mentions of cancer and cancer treatment, if these subjects make you uncomfortable or you fear it may bring up trauma, do not read. It's okay, do what's best for you. Xx

Harry's POV:

I'm sitting in the airport, waiting for my flight to be called. I had to stop at my apartment to get the bag that I always have packed. It's times like these where I wish I didn't move so far away.

The day before I was to fly out here, my mum was diagnosed, I remember the day like it was yesterday.. Gemma was home from uni for a week helping me pack, and we were all having dinner when she broke the news..

Stage 4 stomach cancer. Treatment options are purely for comfort, she's going to die. Like this. Sick.

I remember learning everything I could, she had a little more than a year left, survival rate was 31.5%. I told her I could wait a year to move, it wouldn't be a problem, I wanted to stay with her. And she responded with "now you know that you are never going to go out there once I'm gone". Her tone wasn't angry, it never was.. just matter of fact. And that's kind of when it all set in. Gemma and I broke at those words. I think we hugged for like 10 minutes after that, I lost my cool and demanded that I stayed there, I kind of went through the stages of grief in the span of 2 hours. Eventually I said that if I was going to leave than we had to make a plan, a schedule for when we can be here and what her treatment will be. We had to get everything set up. Both of her kids were out of the house but both of us were willing to drop everything and come back. She wouldn't let us.

So that night we worked out a schedule, Gemma would be here 2 weeks out of the month, she could do her school online when she was home. (The whole time I was losing my shit, Gemma was in the phone with her uni telling them the situation and asking for some leeway). And then there would be a week of just nurses, and then I would come home and be with her for 2 weeks. And that would be the first month and then we would continue that until we felt like we needed to change something.

We decided to figure the rest out in the morning, we concluded that I wasn't leaving just yet. That night we all climbed into my mums bed, her in the middle. Yes we were all fully grown adults but it felt right, just like when Gemma and I were kids.

"Flight 132.... flight 132 is now boarding" a 3:00am flight.

I hear the voice over the loud speaker say. I get up and walk towards the gate.

.......
It was 11:00pm when I finally landed in Manchester. I decided to stay at a hotel  instead of bugging her so late.
.....

Landing in Manchester meant I had to get a rental car and make the drive from Manchester airport hotels to Holmes chapel. Almost a full 24 hours of travel plus the 8 hour time difference is truly messing me up.

It was 7:00am and I couldn't lay in that hotel room any longer, I had to go see her. Now, the 28th I should probably check my phone later and message Mal... I should let her know why I'm not at the Waffle House. I can do that a little later though. 

Driving on the highway and then down the back roads I missed. Maybe I missed it more than I thought. I see familiar trees and as I get farther down the road I notice the quads ripping past me, man.. that was my childhood.

.....

After driving the 45 minutes I end up at my childhood house, the one my mum still lives in. I take a deep breath knowing I haven't seen her in three and a half weeks and I've missed her so much. Before my brain can wander to if she looks different, if she looks sick, my feet are carrying me to the front door.

I knock and there's no answer. Seeing that the door is unlocked I walk in saying "I'm home!" I say loud enough for her to hear where ever she was in the house. I walk around the corner to see her sleeping on the couch. She looks calm, like for a moment, she's ok.