Change My Mind

25 - A penny for your thoughts

Harry's POV

Sitting on our private jet on the way back to California I had mixed emotions. I didn't want to leave, and I couldn't take her with me. We had barely had 24 hours together, and most of that time was spent at the fundraiser. 

But at least we had made the best out of the time we did have on our own. There wasn't a spot of skin on her I hadn't tasted, or a nerve ending I hadn't stimulated. I had barely slept at all, because I couldn't get enough of her. I was physically exhausted and emotionally on fire after our night together. I couldn't recall ever having been able to perform like that. Images of her kept flicking through my mind and I must have had a smirk on my face, because suddenly Niall threw a pillow at me and told me to snap out of it. 

"Sittin' there lookin' like some sex-crazed maniac..." He mumbled and shook his head at me. 

I chuckled at him and shrugged. "Sorry, can't help it." 

"Pretty crazy that we met her dad, huh?" Niall asked and gave me a serious look. 

"Yeah, that was a pretty big surprise. He seemed kind. Meeting him kinda makes a lot of things about Elowen make sense," I said and smiled to myself at the thought of her. 

Niall was about to say something when my phone rang. It was a number I didn't recognise. I shrugged and picked it up. 

"Hello?" I said and waited for someone to say something. 

"Umm, hello? Is this Harry, who knows Liv? Olivia Baxter?" The voice was recognisable, I was sure I had heard it before. 

"Yes, this is he," I said. "To whom am I speaking?" Niall furrowed his brows questioningly at me, and I put the call on speaker. 

"Hi I'm Shawna, I'm Liv's housemate. Maybe you remember me?" She said and there was definitely something that rang a bell. "I'm sorry to call you like this, out of the blue, but something has happened to Liv." 

Both Niall and I scooted out to the edge of our seats. "What's happened, Shawna? Is she okay?" I asked. 

"Well they think she might have partied a little too hard. She's in the hospital and she's refusing to let them call her mom, brother or El. She's been admitted with an overdose." Shawna sounded like she was whispering. 

Christ, Liv. She couldn't leave well enough alone, she had to go too far. The rate she was going at currently would most certainly cost her her job, her friends and maybe even her family. 

"Can you tell me where she is? I'll go straight from the airport," I said and jotted down the info she gave me. 

I hung up and looked at Niall with a serious expression. "How the hell are we going to deal with this? I'm not hiding anything from El." 

"Maybe just hear Liv out before you tell El. With a little luck we can convince her to call El herself." Niall was calmer than me, which was a strike of luck. I needed a rock to lean on.

***

As soon as we landed we got in my car and drove to the hospital. We were shown to Liv's hospital room, where she was lying in a hospital bed, looking small, pale and drained. She heard us open the door, and as soon as she set eyes on me, she started sobbing. Niall and I placed ourselves on either side of her bed, and just sat there quietly. Niall stroked her hair a couple of times and smiled at her, telling her everything was going to be fine. I held her hand, and stayed quiet. I didn't know how to talk to her without making her feel worse. 

We were there for hours. Liv drifted in and out of consciousness, whimpering in her sleep. Niall and I had brought laptops and worked from her hospital bed. We had no idea how long it would take until we could get some kind of clarity as to what was going to happen from there on. Was she going to be sent home? How long was she staying at the hospital? Would she go to rehab?