The Ticking Clock [h.s.]

Chapter 9

Tears prick the edges of my eyes as I try to put on a brave face for Megan. I don't think I'm hiding it too well as I see her stunned expression as she reaches for Luke. He is quickly there to wrap his arm around her and kiss her head. She regains her composure and she says "this is my friend, Sarah. You two will get along extremely well." I'm sure she's trying not to overwhelm him too quickly. Megan gives me a small smile before turning back to Harry.

He seems to hold onto her words, but who knows? Maybe this whole situation is just weird to him. I reach out and shake his hand, both of us laughing at the common curiosity. "This seems like a odd thing to do right now," he comments as I take a step back.

Is this the Harry I would have gotten to know?

Then, something shifts. I can't take this anymore. I need to get out, to get away from this feeling of grieving for someone who isn't even gone. I run out of the room and quickly find a seat in an empty hallway. I hear pounding footsteps following, but I don't feel the need to announce my position.

I let out a loud sob as Megan sits in front of me. Of course she was the one to run after me. It couldn't have been Harry who is hooked up to multiple machines by his bed. She grabs my hand, rubbing small circles on the back as she waits for me to say the first thing.

"It's hard for me to be there as just your friend when him and I should be more." She nods with sympathy, seeing that she understands what I am feeling. She doesn't herself feel it, but she can see where I'm coming from.

She is quick to respond, saying, "this is only temporary. He won't be like this forever. He will remember you and that amazing spark you shared on the concert night a few days ago." That brought a slight smile to my face. This girl carries wisdom beyond her years and always knows the right thing to say.

We hear another step of footsteps, turning our heads towards the sound. Michael turns the corner and immediately smiles at us. "I'm relieved I found you. It's like a giant maze in this hospital." We all laugh at his silly comment.

"Michael, how could you get lost finding us? The room is less than 100 feet away. Did you go to find food first?" Megan questions him just enough before he cracks under the pressure, blurting out, "I was hungry. It's been a long day. Leave me alone. Okay, so we are going back to the hotel and you both are welcome to join us if you want."

I quickly agree as I am exhausted from the emotional stress of the day. Megan says she wants to stay with Harry a little longer, hoping to jog his memory.

Ashton and Calum walk up behind us, saying, "Luke wants to see you to say goodbye, Megan and that we will meet him by the car." She shuffles away and I follow the boys as we walk across the hospital to where the car is parked.

As soon as we arrive at the hotel, I go into The room I'm sharing with Megan to take a nap. What turned out to be two hours later, I heard a knock on the door. I open it to see Calum and Ashton standing outside in sweats and t-shirts. Ashton asks, "do you want to come over for a movie night?"

I excitedly answer, "I would love to. Let me just grab my phone and room key." After we enter their room, we all quickly settle into the couch with food and put in my choice, Kick-Ass.

We are an hour into the movie before anything note-worthy actually happens. We hear the door open and see Megan slowly walk in with a tear stained face, hair a mess, and clothes worse for wear. Luke and Michael both shoot out of their seats and practically run to her, asking what happened.

My first thought is that he is gone, he passed away. But then I turn to see Megan holding on to the two boys with white knuckles. "Don't even go there Sarah. He's not gone. I can see it in your eyes." What could made her so upset then? There is five people in this room who give her questioning looks.

She continues, "he thinks he's in love with me, that I'm his soulmate because we both have zero on our clocks. I tried to tell him it wasn't the case, that Luke is my soulmate and that you are his, Sarah, but he wouldn't listen to me." Her last words come out as sobs. She took several gasps of air into between to get the hard words out.

The whole room seemed to be in a state of shock until I picked up the remote from the table. I throw it boldly at Megan, but almost hit Michael instead. Normally, I would have apologized, but the adrenaline in my system told me otherwise.

Before I could even take a step towards Megan, Ashton throws his arms around me, tightly holding onto me as I kick and scream. I see Calum going over to pick up the remote as Luke sat in a chair, face as white as a ghost. Michael seems to be in shock at what happened in the last few seconds.

Once I calm down and Ashton lets me go, I look around the room to see that Megan is nowhere to be found. How could she have vanished out of thin air? The five of us seem to have the same thought at the same time as we all are thrown into a panic. I start to call her and Luke runs out the door with Michael. The place we find her is the place that no one would expect.