all we can do is keep breathing

four.

feel it tremble.

||☤||

Avery's surgery goes without a single hitch. It was a lengthy procedure, just over eleven hours long, but it went without a single complication, which is as good as it gets when it comes to brain surgery.

Surprisingly, Louis wasn't as nervous as he thought he'd be going into it. Once he got into the O.R., his mind worked in accordance with his steady hands, performing the tumor resection just as he has dozens of times before.

Harry was though, he was a total nervous mess from the moment Louis and Charlie came to prep Avery for surgery. Avery asked Louis to do the honors of completely shaving her head after it'd already been cut short for donation and Louis repeatedly told her how badass and bloody brave she looked—except he obviously didn't use those exact words. But he just wanted to make sure she felt as fearless and brave and supported as possible before her surgery. And Harry clearly felt the same way because he cut his gorgeous long hair short and donated it along with her, standing in solidarity with his daughter.

Avery teased him relentlessly about his haircut, but Harry didn't seem to mind in the slightest, more so happy that Avery was still in such good spirits before the procedure. But despite Avery's positivity, Louis could tell that Harry was still battling overwhelming amounts of anxiety, biting his nails and pacing the entire time Avery was being prepped.

So during the procedure Louis made sure to send Charlie out to give Harry and Jesse updates every single hour, hoping that it would ease Harry's rising fears. But Harry didn't actually take a breath of relief until the surgery was over and Louis came out to tell him that everything had gone smoothly.

Harry thanked Louis incessantly, probably saying the most he's ever said to Louis in all this time, even though his entire speech was basically composed of the same two words said all types of ways. Harry even followed up his repeated thank you's with an appreciative hug—or he tried to. But Louis did not want to be reminded of what it felt like to be wrapped in Harry's arms, fearing that he wouldn't know how to let go, so Louis offered a distant handshake instead.

That night, Louis stayed at the hospital to monitor Avery's levels overnight just to be safe. He could have made Charlie or any other intern do it, but Louis wanted to be there for Avery so he stayed. And by the next morning, Avery was awake once again, groggy and tired, but well on her way to recovery.

"Dr. Wesley, please present the case." Louis requests during Avery's first post-op review since she woke up.

Harry sits in the chair by her bed, looking utterly exhausted, yet there are clear signs of relief flooding his features. Louis knows Harry didn't sleep much last night, spending most of the night pacing the empty halls or simply sitting quietly by Avery's side waiting for her to wake up. Louis carefully avoided speaking to him though, making sure to do his hourly vitals check whenever Harry wasn't in the room.

Charlie clears her throat before speaking. "Avery Styles, eight years old, post-op craniotomy tumor resection. Dr. Tomlinson was able to remove the mass from Avery's brain successfully, achieving clean margins as evidenced by her most recent scans taken this morning. She was closely monitored through the night and showed no signs of complications. All cognitive functions are normal, audiovisual complexes are intact as well as motor and speech capacities."

"Fantastic. And how do we proceed from here?" Louis asks next, watching Charlie.

"Chemotherapy." Charlie promptly responds. "Avery will need to be monitored through biweekly checkups during the extent of her methotrexate treatment as a precaution."