Tell Me The Truth -H.S. AU

40

My eyes slowly flutter open and I squint against the harsh light coming from one of the windows. Once I'm able to properly see, I find that the top half of my body is sprawled over Harry's torso in his hospital bed, while the bottom half of me is seated in a chair next to it. My back hurts.

Harry is still asleep, his hand is intertwined with mine, but I can't sit like this anymore. I slowly pull my fingers from his, trying not to wake him up, and sit back in my chair to stretch. I roll my head to the side and open my eyes, coming face to face with Anne sitting in a chair next to me.

I jump back in my seat, startled, and her eyes are wide with shock.

"I'm sorry, dear, I didn't mean to scare you!" She reaches out to take my hand and I relax against the back of my chair. "I didn't want to wake you after the night you had, but I worried you'd fall off the bed, and then I'd have two kids admitted to the hospital, so I stayed."

"I must've been comfortable enough to fall asleep, but I am paying for it now." I chuckle.

"It was nice to come in and see you two like that." She whispers, a certain sadness coming into her eyes. "Safe. Together. How it should be."

"Anne..." An audible lump rises in my throat when I say her name, and she shakes her head at me.

"No, baby." She says firmly. "Gemma told me how you would be, and I won't allow it. You did not put him in that bed."

"I don't think I will ever stop blaming myself." I rub the heel of my palm into my eye to fight off the tears I feel coming. I'm not the one looking at my son in a hospital bed, I don't deserve to be upset. "Anne, I'm so sorry."

"Did you know the night he brought you home for the first time I ran into him in the main house?" She asks, looking me dead in the eye, still holding my hand in hers. Her thumb rubs back and forth over the top of my hand.

I shake my head no at her question.

"He was frantic." She smiles softly at me. "His arms were full of first aid supplies and he told me how stubborn you were, how he didn't even know if you would let him help you. But, he had to try."

Bits and pieces of that night flash through my mind, a lot of it forgotten due to the shock. I keep quiet, unsure what to say and just listen to her talk.

"He was going on about how he didn't understand how someone could do this to a person they love, and how he wished he could take care of the boy himself. I asked if he wanted me to look at you that night, but he said no, because he was afraid it would scare you off and he didn't want to lose your trust."

I smile a little at Anne as she talks. I love hearing this third person account of Harry and that night, but I really wish it had been under better circumstances.

"Violet, do you know why he wanted to protect you so badly right from the beginning?" She asks me.

"No." I finally speak up and shake my head at her.

"Because he couldn't protect me." She whispers, squeezing my hand in hers.

"Mum." Harry's deep voice rumbles next to me, giving me no time to process what she just said and I snap my head to look at him. He's watching both of us, his eyes somewhat panicked and his face is a little colorless. "Enough."

Anne lets go of my hand and leans over the bed to kiss Harry's forehead. He closes his eyes for a moment and watches as she exits the room, shutting the door behind her to give us some privacy.

I'm so confused. I knew that Harry's biological dad was an alcoholic, and all around just not a nice man, but he never said anything about him being violent towards his mother.