Stockholm Syndrome ✔

Chapter 22 - Knowledge Adds Pain

Maybe it was because of the painkillers or because of the sleep, but either way when Louis woke up he felt much better. Sure, he still had his broken ribs, sprained ankle and what else but now he felt like he could actually be able to stand on his own feet some day.

He opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling with sleepy eyes. The cellar really wasn't in any way warm place but Louis felt surprisingly fine and warm under the thick blanket. He turned his head and spotted Harry on the floor, leaning his back against the door. Harry's head was hanging down, and Louis figured the younger lad was sleeping.

Now that Louis' didn't need to concentrate on dealing with the overwhelming pain, even through it was still there but not as strong thanks to the painkillers, he remembered what he had said about Anne to Harry.

Louis needed to push that subject, make the old Harry come back because without him Louis wouldn't make it out... alive. And Louis strongly believed that Anne, Harry's mom, was the key to everything.

And also Louis wouldn't be able to live with himself if he didn't even try to make Harry realise that his mother was sick and didn't have much time. Harry needed to come back to his senses before it'd be too late.

Louis' throat was dry and when he tried to call out Harry's name, he only ended up coughing really badly which, in turn, made his ribs hurt like bitch. Louis couldn't stop coughing because every time he coughed, his ribs hurt which, for some reason, made him cough again. When he tried to catch breath, it only made things worse.

Out of nowhere came hands that pushed Louis' head down and covered his mouth.

"Breathe", Harry said, and Louis tried to turn his head in order to get his mouth free, but Harry was having none of it. "Breathe through your nose. Now."

Louis whole body was burning, his throat was burning and he felt the need to cough but he couldn't so he did as Harry told him to. He breathed through his nose, staring at Harry with wide eyes. Harry didn't look away, not even then when he slowly removed his hand from Louis' mouth.

"Don't cough", Harry muttered and took a step back. Louis kept staring at him, his mouth slightly open. He wanted to say something to Harry. Harry cared about him, about his wellbeing. "I don't care."

Oh, right. Louis had forgotten that Harry had been in the training and was able to read people annoyingly well.

"Troy wants to see you and it's not going to happen if you're dead", Harry said, narrowing his eyes.

Louis forced himself to lift his upper body a bit. "Troy can suck—" Louis couldn't finish his sentence because he started coughing roughly and fell back on the bed. Harry's hand quickly came back to cover Louis' mouth.

"Damn it, Louis! Don't talk, don't move, don't do anything, okay?" Harry exclaimed and slowly removed his hand. Louis closed his eyes and tried to fight against the urge to cough. Louis heard Harry walking out of the cellar and he opened his eyes. He was alone. But then he heard Harry's voice again; he was speaking to someone outside of the door in Russian.

Louis stared at the door nervously until Harry stepped back in, alone. Louis saw him slipping a phone back to his pocket and Louis realized that Harry had called to someone, which made sense since there wasn't connection in the cellar. Louis wanted to ask who Harry had called but he didn't dare to speak. Harry leaned against the wall, tilting his head back and sighing.

Since it seemed like Harry wasn't going to talk any time soon, Louis turned to stare at the ceiling once again. How could he get the old Harry back if he couldn't even talk?

***

Fortunately the silence didn't last long.

"I came as fast as I could."