Once Upon a Dream

Chapter 4

Winter

The feeling of Christmastime always left a bitter taste in Louis' mouth.

As he strode into the hospital's entrance, his senses were overwhelmed by the festive decor that dressed the walls and the front desk. The decorations weren't new; they used the same ones every year, but it always took him aback to see the glowing garland and Santa Claus stickers stuck to the synthetic wood paneling.

Still, he wasn't a scrooge. He gave a warm smile to Jennifer behind the desk and made his way down the hall.

Passing the pediatrics wing was a whole other issue. They really went all out for the holidays. There were children's drawings covering the walls, lights lining every doorway and every sanitizer dispenser. It was colorful and bright, but it all brought a sense of nostalgia that didn't sit quite well with Louis- it never did.

"Happy holidays, mate!" Liam cheered with a wide smile as soon as Louis set foot in the staff lounge. "Will we be seeing ya at Charla's tonight?"

Louis winced. The Christmas party, right. It was an annual thing that Louis gave an annual rain check for.

"Ah, I would, but I'm hoping to catch a cold tonight. Bummer." Louis sighed, grabbing his mug from the cupboard to pour coffee into.

"Oh come on," Niall chuckled, rounding the corner. "You can do better than that."

"Did I say cold?" Louis replied, "I meant food poisoning."

A hearty laugh escaped Niall's chest, "you can catch that from Charla's eggnog, that's for sure."

"Leave it, Niall," Liam huffed, "he's not about to break tradition and actually go this year."

Louis rolled his eyes. He took some offense to it, but decided to be grateful to have Liam's assistance with the excuse.

"Why don't you go, anyway?" Niall asked curiously, sitting down in the chair next to Liam. He leaned over and stole a chip from Liam's bag.

"The way I see it," Louis joined them at the table, "Why would I want to spend any more time with you people than I do every day of my life?"

Niall actually chortles, and Liam shoots him a knowing glare before they drop the subject. That's as far as it ever gets, really. Louis' friend's know that it's best not to irritate the obviously infected wound of Louis' deep hatred for the holidays.

Once the styrofoam cup (with snowflakes on it, this time!) fills with coffee, Louis pops a lid on it and sets back out into the hallway. The trip has become so routine that he barely even realizes he's in Harry's room when he gets there. Relief washes over him as soon as the door clicks behind him.

"Morning, Curly." He greets, as per usual. "Sleep well?"

Everything is going smoothly as far as Harry goes. His vitals are normal, and his latest brain scans show minor improvements with no sign of any bleeding. It's more than you can say for most patients that Harry is recovering well from his devastating accident.

Louis sets him up with a new pillow and adds another scratchy blanket on top of his legs. It's gotten progressively colder as winter has crept up on them. The last thing Louis wants is for Harry to be chilly.

The book on the side table is well worn from how often Louis' read it. It's his oldest copy of Sleeping Beauty. As a child, his mother would read it over and over again reluctantly. Louis could never get enough of it. To this day, Louis finds an extreme amount of comfort in its pages. The bulk of the pages are soft now, the paper being worn down from each turn of a page.