I Wish I Could Save You

Chapter 23: Not Here

Chapter 23

Harry's POV 

Her eyelids fluttered as she slept and her chest rose and fell steadily. My hand overlapped her tiny hand, practically consuming it. Her skin was cold and she was nestled deep into her blankets.

She was getting weaker and her condition was bad. Every minute it felt like she was slipping farther and farther away. I wasn't ready to lose her yet, but there was nothing I could do about it. Nothing. 

We had no idea when it was going to happen. When she was going to be taken away from me. 

I wish I could save her. 

...

Niall's POV 

"I can't believe this is happening." Liam knocked me out of the trance I was in. "It's so unfair." I nodded in agreement. 

"Lindsay and Harry don't deserve this. Did they say how long they might have together before she.. you know?" Zayn asked. It all felt so unreal. Like none of it was happening; almost like a dream... More like  a nightmare. We didn't want to leave the hospital. We were afraid something was going to happen and if something did, we knew we needed to be here for Harry when it did. 

"No. The doctors said it could take a year or a month. It all depends." Louis whispered. "She doesn't look good, guys." Louis stared at his hands and picked at his cuticles. 

I wished there was some way we could fix this. Harry loved Lindsay. We saw it the minute we found out they were together. They were happy... until now. The way he looked at her was almost magical. Now, all you see is pain in his eyes. He's losing his love. He needed someone to be there with him. 

"I'm gonna go check on Harry." I said as I slid my chair backwards. 

I leaned against the door frame of Lindsay's room. I watched as Lindsay lay silent in her bed as she slept. Harry sat by her bedside; his hand tightly wrapped around her's. His other hand gently stroked the top of her head, pushing her hair back with every stroke. 

"I love you, Lindsay." Harry whispered. I could feel my chest tighten as the pain in his voice was almost unnoticeable. 

"Harry?" I spoke. He slowly turned his head towards me. His hair was disheveled. His eyes were red and puffy and I could tell he had been crying. You could see the dark circles under his eyes from lack of sleep. His mouth formed into a smile but I could see the pain in his eyes. 

"Hi." He whispered, his voice rough and raspy.

I walked closer to him, his dark bags becoming more prominent. I didn't know what to say. What could I say? Nothing that would help. I placed my hand on his shoulder, giving it light squeeze. A tear trickled down his face. He whipped his head away and wiped the tears away with his sleeve. He jumped to his feet quickly. 

"I'm gonna go get some tea from the cafeteria. Will you please stay with her?" I nodded and he sped out of the room. 

The sound of Lindsay's heart monitor filled the room. I walked over to the window. I pulled back the curtains, letting a little sun leak into the room. I stared outside, watching the cars drive by on the road below.

"Niall?" I whipped my head around. Lindsay rubbed her eyes and attempted to pull herself up to sit up, but failed. She was too weak. I quickly walked over to her and helped her up. "Can I talk to you, Niall?" I nodded. 

"Will you please hand me my bag on that chair over there?" I turned around and grabbed the black bag off the chair. I handed it to her and she smiled. It wasn't her real smile though. Her mouth barely curved up anymore. Her face was pale and her eyes had lost all sense of color. They were almost grey, not her normal blue. 

She dug around in her purse and pulled out a white envelope. "Niall, I need you to do me a favor." 

"Anything." 

She let out a deep breath and continued. "We all know what's going to happen. I'm dying. Who knows how much more time I have left, but I don't think it's that much longer." 

Hearing her talk about it, made me want to burst into tears. None of it was fair. 

"I love Harry, but he's stubborn. Whenever I bring up what's going to happen, he cuts me off and changes the subject. I know he's hurting and I hate it." Her voice began to break and decrease in volume. "But I need him to hear what I have to say whether it's before or after I die." I could feel tears forming in my eyes, but I tried to blink them away. "I need you to give this to him after I'm gone." She handed me the envelope. I shakily grabbed it from her hand. 

"Lindsay-"

"Niall, please. I need you to do this. Please." She begged. A tear rolled down her cheek, making my heart break. I hated thinking about my best friend losing his love or Lindsay losing her life. I nodded and tucked the envelope in my sweatshirt pocket. 

"Hey, you're awake." Harry walked into the room, a steaming cup of tea in his hand. He walked passed me and over to Lindsay, placing his tea on the table. He wrapped his arms around her and engulfed her in a hug. Her head rested on his shoulder and her eyes met mine. 

'Thank you' she mouthed towards me. I nodded.

"I'll leave you two alone." I turned around and left the room.

...

Harry's POV

"Harry?" Lindsay whispered in my ear.

"Yeah?" 

"Not here." I released my arms from around her small frame and looked her in the eyes. 

"What do you mean?" I asked, confused. I neatly tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear.

"When it happens..." I could feel my throat closing as she brought up the dreaded subject. "I don't wanna be here when it happens. I don't want to die in this room. In this bed." Tears began to pour out of her eyes as she broke down, her body trembling. I engulfed her again in my arms tightly. How could I make her pain go away? There was nothing I could do. No matter what I did, it was going to happen. She was going to die. 

"Okay. Anything you want." I whispered into her hair and placed a kiss on top of her head.

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YAYAYAYAY A NEW CHAPTER!!!! (: Thanks for reading! Fan, comment, and vote! I am loving all the feedback I'm getting on this story! 

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