Pregnant Pause [H.S]

Chapter 37

Me

"Harry?"

The call was distant, and I dreamed of someone speaking my name from afar – across a long corridor or an open field.

"Harrrrryyyyyyy," the voice repeated, too soft to be yelling. "Open your eyes."

Confused but curious, I obeyed. Slowly, my eyelids peeled apart, eyes bleary with sleep. I'd been out cold.

But I could make out a figure watching over me, one who raked her fingers through my hair, pacifying me and lulling me back to sleep.

"There you are," she said softly with a smile. "Good morning."

As my vision cleared, I made out a crisp picture of Fitz. Her hair was neatly brushed and wet, having just gotten out of the shower. Her face was fresh and free of makeup, the only decoration being the few freckles across her nose. She wore a thick cream knitted jumper as she crouched down beside the bed and tenderly coaxed me awake.

At eye level, with her affectionate stare and the way she fondly ran a hand through my hair, I remembered waking up to her another time. On an evening in uni after I'd exhausted myself with exams and prescription drugs to keep myself focused, she'd woken me up with concern written all over her face.

Maybe it had been my groggy mind, but I'd fallen in love with her that night. I fell in love with her again then, and it hit me as hard as the first time, whipping me off my feet and leaving me breathless on my knees. Like it was new.

"Morning," I replied, gruff with sleep and muffled in the pillow. Inhaling through my nose, I blinked fiercely and then rolled over from my stomach onto my side, facing her properly as she squatted next to the bed.

"I didn't want to wake you," she said quietly. "I know you need all the sleep you can get. It's just... I heard from Claire."

I was in the midst of rubbing my eyes, but I let my hand fall to the pillow as I stared at her expectantly, urging her to elaborate.

"Muffy woke up," Fitz said, barely above a whisper.

"She did?" I croaked, no longer certain that this wasn't a dream.

"Yeah." Fitz smiled, her hand trailing from my hair, over my cheek, down my arm, clasping my hand on the mattress. "A few hours ago. She was only awake a few minutes before she went to sleep. But she's awake now, tired but there, and..." She shrugged. "They think everything's gonna be all right."

My lips were parted in disbelief, and suddenly I felt light. Airy. Barely a citizen to the law of gravity. "She's been asking for you," Fitz said, clutching my hand with a fond smile. "You were the last one she saw before the coma. You're on her mind. So I thought I'd wake you so that we can go to her."

I nodded, unable to explain the queasy feeling in my gut – relief and joy and nerves all at once.

Muffy was awake. She was going to be all right. And I had a half-sister who would grow up with her mother's love.

Every Christmas present I'd ever received paled in comparison to this one.

*

I was itching to get to the hospital, but I hopped into the shower first. After dressing and brushing my teeth, I gathered my wallet, my mobile, and keys from my bedroom and bounded down the stairs. Fitz's luggage was zipped up and waiting next to the door, but she was nowhere in sight. I searched the kitchen and the living room before climbing the stairs again, finding her in the nursery.