Serendipity by the Sea

Chapter Seventy-One

HARRY's POV

"Thank you for coming." I felt blind and empty inside since the service had ended. I had to bury my wife today. I lost her about five days ago, after she gave birth to our beautiful daughter, Claire Sarah Styles.

"The service was beautiful, Harry." My mom and sister hadn't left my side since it happened. Once they found out what happened, my mom drove as fast as she could to London to be with me. The rest of the band was nearby too. Niall had been great with Claire and had let me sleep last night, which was the first eight hours of sleep that I had gotten since Sarah had left me.

Everything was empty without her; our SUV ride home, our apartment, my heart and now, as I stood in a receiving line at her funeral, I felt more and more alone. I felt alone until Gemma brought Claire into the room and walked up to me.

"She's been looking for you." Gemma handed my daughter to me and I cradled her in my arms.

"Thanks for looking after her, Gem."

I walked away from the crowd of people in our apartment and took Claire back to the nursery. I sat down in the rocking chair, which was the last decision that Sarah made before she passed away. I pulled Claire into my arms and kissed her forehead. Her eyes looked straight into mine and a small smile crept onto her face. She always held onto my finger, when we were like this; she had been growing so fast even just the short time that I had her home.

I rocked back and forth in the chair, thinking back to the day of her arrival.

Flashback to Five Days Earlier:

"I want to see her." I said to the doctor, who was at the nurse's station outside of the nursery.

"Harry, are you sure? She's not the Sarah you want to remember."

"I need to see her."

"This way."

I followed the doctor down the long hallway and we entered an area, which needed his badge for clearance. He opened a swinging door and I walked through. The room was dark and cold. I put my hands in my pockets and saw a sheet covering something in the center of the room.

"Harry, this is going to be very hard. Are you sure?"

"I need to see her one last time, please."

The doctor lifted the sheet back, uncovering Sarah's face and her shoulders. He placed a hand on her bare shoulder and brushed the hair away from her face. "I'll give you a moment alone."

"Doc, thank you."

I turned back towards Sarah and lifted the sheet to grab her hand. I linked my fingers with hers and placed a hand on the top of her head. "Baby." I couldn't stop the tears and as they fell from my eyes, I kissed her hand. "Baby, please don't leave me." She didn't answer. Her eyes were closed and as I started to look around the room that we were in, I couldn't believe that this would be the last time I would see her. The doctor was right, this was the hardest thing I would have to do, to experience in my life. I lost her. She would be gone forever, after this moment together.

"We had a baby girl." I wanted her to answer me. I kept looking at her beautiful face, wanting her eyes to flicker open. But, they wouldn't. They never would.

"I read your letter." I couldn't say anything more than just a few words. The tears were still streaming down my face and I kept massaging her hand with my thumb. I looked down at her hand and her wedding ring had been removed, probably for the surgery. "What am I doing to do without you?"

"Why? This can't be happening. This can't be real." I laid my head down next to hers. The steel bed that she was lying on was cold and hard. I wanted her to be comfortable. I wanted to lift her into my arms and hold her close one last time. "You were the love of my life, Sarah." I paused and wiped the tears from my face. "You showed me a side of myself that I never knew existed. I love you so much. I will never stop loving you."

The door of the operating room creaked open slowly and I turned around to see the doctor standing in the doorway. "Do you need more time?"

"If I don't leave now, I'll never leave."

Flashback ends