Getting You Back

Chapter Thirty-Seven: It's him, it has always been him

   Without letting go of him, I peek over Harry's shoulder to the door of the room. My heart stops when light blue eyes stare back at me. Gatlin closes the door behind him then places his hands in his pockets. He stands with tense shoulders and a scowl on his face. His eyes are focused on me the way a lion's gaze is focused on his prey. Being the target of Gat's gaze makes me feel exposed and threatened. 
What is he doing here? I think to myself silently. Why would Gat come all the way up here from Texas? Did my parents call him? How did he find out that I was even in the hospital?
"Gat? What are you doing here?" My words come out low and muffled because I am pressed up against Harry. Gently, I push myself away from him so that I can look at him. I push away too fast, causing my head to spin and for me to melt down towards the bar of the bed.
"Halle, love, you're going to make yourself sick." Harry steadies me by placing both his hands on my arms. He holds me up effortlessly then holds me against his side. I wrap my arm around his broad shoulders and put my weight on him, so I won't fall back towards the metal that encases my bed. Before I could get leaned against my pillows, Harry's hands leave my body and is replaced by strange yet familiar arms. When I look up a pair of blue eyes look back at me rather than the green ones I have a need for. Harry stands behind Gat with his shoulders tensed, fist balled, and his nostrils flaring. I look over Gat's shoulder at my brooding guy. His green eyes are zeroed in on the blonde. I can practically hear the threats that are going through his mind as Harry glares. I hold his eyes for five minutes then look back at Gatlin.
"Gatlin, what are you doing here?" I place my hand against his chest and push against him allowing his arms to leave my body and for space to be put between us. When I pull myself free he place his arm back around me and grips me tighter than he did before.
"Talk to me just for a minute, a minute?" He begs me with his lower lip puckered out. For a moment, with him looking at me like that, I see the boy who I thought I loved once upon a time. But even though that young boy looks back at me within this moment, it is the boy who is standing behind Gat with his fist balled, eyes narrowed, and shaking body that has my undivided heart, my unconditional love, and attention.
"Hals please?"  He throws in the nickname that I have not been called in a very long time. A name that I haven't even thought about to be honest. I place both my hands at my side then put all my weight on them. Gently, I scoot back in my bed to my soft pillows. I keep my eyes focused on my legs so that my eyes are hidden. Mom says it is my eyes that give everything away when it comes to emotions. I don't want Gat to think that I am giving him a second change and I don't want Harry to think that I giving up on him. I don't my easy to read eyes to give off anything that I am not thinking and ruin anything. Right when my back hits the pillows, Gat sits in Harry's spot on the side edge of my bed. His eyes look deep into mine and narrow within a second, he jaw is set and his arms are folded across his chest. It is the stubborn look I have grown all too familiar with. 
"Fine Gat, five minutes." I hear Harry's audible gasp from his spot in the corner of the room. He takes a step towards me with hands outstretched towards me. He wraps his arm around my neck and cuddles me into his chest. I hear beat of his heart beneath my ear and I move slightly with his chest as be breathes in and out.
"Baby?" He whispers in my ear in the smallest voice I have ever hear him speak in. His warm, plump lips brush against my ear and his breathe caresses against the shell of my ear. It causes a shiver to run my spine and causes me to hold on to him a bit tighter." I can't leave you alone with him." I raise my head up so that I can connect my eyes to his. His pretty green eyes are glassed over with the tears. His hands slide down my back then stop at my waist. He grips on to my hips then pulls me back into his chest. "Pleas baby, j-just don't be alone with him." His voice cracks when his tears roll down his cheeks and onto my hand. I wrap my arms around his neck and tangle my fingers into the soft curls at the nape of his neck.
"Everything will be okay." I say the words low so that only he can hear. I look him in the eyes and slowly nod my head hoping that he can feel the urgency that is coming from me. I lean up and press kisses along his jaw, hoping the light touch of my lips would calm him.
"He wants you back baby, he wants to take you away from me. I can't let you slip from my fingers again." This time, I feel the urgency that is coming with his fear. His fingers are locked around mine as our hands rest in my lap. He looks down at me with wide eyes hoping that I am understanding what he is saying. I look down at my hands in his and I cannot help but admire the safety I feel, the beauty that is in his mere hand. His skin is soft and the veins beneath them pop up when his thumb moves across my skin. But most of all, our hand connect perfectly, our fingers lock and our palms are pressed together. Everything I want is standing here right in front of me with his heart on his sleeve and his hand in mine. There is nothing for him to be worried about, there is no one who can pull me away from him.
"We've made it this far, right?" I say, finally looking away from our hands and to his face. I don't know what he sees when he looks down at me but something in my very own faces causes his eyes to widen then soften within a second. "We've been through heaven and hell. I promise you that at the end of the conversation that I will be yours. I tug him towards me by his forearms and when his lips are right by mine I lean up the rest of the way and press them against his.
"I...Love...You..." I finally tell him between three kisses to his lips. I finally tell him the words that I have been holding in. He pulls away from me and rest his forehead against mine. For a second, I feel all his weight on me as he caresses his nose against my cheek and nose. His face scrunches then he pulls away from then follows my father toward the door. Before he leaves the room, he gives me one more look with his scared, hesitant eyes. I nod my head to him silently, hoping that my strength can rube off on him. 'I love you', I mouth to him. With those three little words a small smile appears on his face then he steps out of the room, shutting the door behind him. With the little click of the door the room suddenly becomes empty and quiet. I look down at my hands, trying to figure out what to say to say to Gatlin. A bigger hand comes over mine causing me to slightly jump in my spot. I look up to see Gat closer than he should be. He takes both of my hands in his and gets down on his knees on the side of the bed so we are at eye level. It takes everything in me to not pull away my hands and scoot away from him. The feeling of his hands instead of Harry's feels so wrong. At one point in my life this is what I wanted but now I crave and want the presence of my Englishman.
"Hals." He finally sighs. "I- I want you back. Choose me. Choose me and lets go home, me and you. Hals and Gat." I look at him as he speaks to me but all I see and feel when I look at him is a friend. I don't feel the appeal I once had for him. All I want from him is his friendship. The day Harry came into my life was the day that my love would be only for him.
"I don't want to." I say with the shake of my head. With my rejection, Gat's yanks his hands from mine and glares at me.
"NO?" He yells at me, his emotions getting the best of him. "Halle, you loved me! ME!" He points to his chest to add on to his yells and words. "I was your first love. I was here first." His skin burns a deep red with his growing anger.
"Loved Gatlin, as in the past. As in the only form of love I feel for you is friendship." Gat brings his hands up to his head then runs his fingers through his blonde hair. His body vibrates with the anger that courses through him.
"That English bastard has you brainwashed!" His voice echoes off the walls of the room and mostly likely  my family can hear from their spots in the hallway. Something in me snaps at his insult to Harry. My hand snaps out and strikes him across his right cheek. Gat's covers his red cheek with his hand then glares down at me.
"Don't talk about him like that." I threaten him in a low voice. "I am not brainwashed. I am in love! I love him. He is my soul and my heart. He keeps me sane. Yes, we dated. Yes, at one point in time I thought I would be with you and we would be that couple but I don't want that anymore! I don't want you! I want to be Harry's. I want to be his in every way, his girlfriend, his lover, his wife. I want to have his babies, his half American, half English partially Spaniard babies. I want to be by his side for the rest of my life." My chest heaves up and down by the end of entire speech. My breath comes out fast and labored. My ribs scream out at me in pain from my rant. My eyes sting with the tears that have filled my eyes.

"He left you and cheated on you." I feel myself flinch back at his words as if he has slapped me physically rather than by the obvious truth.
"W-hen..." I begin to sob in my bed. "When you love someone and they leave, you let them go. If they come back they're yours to keep." I know the truth, I know that he cheated on me. I know that I am taking a chance with my heart for getting back together with him but I am giving my heart what it needs. The person who broke my heart is the only one who can put it back together. There is no other person I want to have my heart but him. If this is a chance that I have to take then I am willing to make it. 
"Hals, I came back." He doesn't get it, he doesn't get how he is the only who came back. He is the one who came to me, I didn't go back to him. I shake my head at his words. I wipe away the tears that are falling down my cheek then look back up at him.

"I didn't, I didn't come back." His arms goes limp at his side then he looks at me with a blank stare as if I have killed him. "I am sorry but I don't want you. It's him, it will always be him." His blank stare goes from cold to a hard glare. His hands ball into fist at his side.

"So you choose him?"
"I pick Harry." Gatlin quickly turns on his heel without looking at me then thrashes open the door causing the door knob to his against the wall. Tears well up in my eyes when it is just me in the room. Nothing will be the same between Gat and I. He will hate me for falling in love with someone else and for not choosing him. Me loving him, being his friend, is not enough for him. My heart begins to race in my chest against my ribs causing the room to spin and my body to sway back and forth. I try to focus focus on one spot in the room but the walls continue spin.
"Harry." I say out loud. A minute passes and he still doesn't respond. I wrap my hand around the metal baring that is around my bed. Even though I am stable against the railing the room still spins around me. I slide down my bed and place my feet on the cold floor. My legs buckle beneath me then tense up. I hope by me getting closer to the door the louder my voice can be so that someone can hear me. I take a tiny step towards the door but I stop when the pain goes up my leg. It feels like pins are being shoved into my feet with each little movement.
"Harry?!" I yell out with a little step toward the door. My foot slips against the smooth tile of the room causing me to go forward and tug on the wires that are connected to me.

"Baby?" Harry peaks his head in just as my body begins to sway to my left and begin to go down towards the cold floor. Arms come around me, keeping me from falling towards the ground. Right away, I am pressed against a hard chest and hands begin to smooth out my matted hair. Harry leans my body against his and moves us closer towards the machines so the wires aren't tugging and pulling on me.

"We need the doctor in here please! SOMEONE!" Harry yells out towards the open door. Suddenly, my activities weigh heavy on my shoulders and make me feel weak. I lean against Harry and rest my head on his shoulder. I hide my face into the crook of his neck so his warmth comes over me.

"Halleiana!" My parents come in running into my room. Both of them look frantically around the room then at Harry and I. My mom's face crumples at the sight of me, half awake and broken in Harry's arms. She comes towards me with her hands extended and tears in her eyes. She cups my cheek in her hand and caress it with her thumb.
"Are you okay? What happened?" She ask me frantically as she just stands next to Harry and I. She doesn't move me or ask Harry to release me over to her, she merely stands next to me knowing that I need him. "Thank you Harry." She smiles over at him. Before she can ask again what happened, Elliot walks in with a man in a long white coat and glasses behind him.
"Ms. Martinez, it is lovely to see you awake. Please lay back down and rest" My doctor insist. Harry effortlessly picks me up from my spot and carries me over to the bed. He sets me down on the rough, white sheets. I give his hands a light squeeze then smile up at him. Harry sits himself down into the chair that is placed next to my bed. Harry gives me a smile that relaxes me. Just as I raise my hand for his, he puts his arm over the railing to connect his hand with mine. I intertwine my fingers with his and hold on to his hand. He brings our connected hands up to his lips and places a sweet kiss onto my knuckles.
"Thank you for choosing me." He whispers against my skin. I feel everything in me warm up with his words, I may look like crap right now, broken and small but here he sits with his lips pressed to my skin and his hand in mine, making me feel more beautiful than I ever have in my life.
"I will always choose you."