Prologue
“I’m so sorry, I’ll give you both some time alone and I’ll be back soon to briefly outline and discuss the important information you’d need to be aware of.”
I sense the so very familiar warm and comforting hand slip out from my grip. My head automatically snaps up towards the empty seat beside me as I hear the loud bang of the wooden door behind me. My limbs feel as if I’m paralysed. The pieces of the puzzle aren’t connecting and I can’t process a word that has left Doctor Roberts’ mouth. Nothing is making sense and the world feels as if it’s spinning. I hear the faint, distant voice of a man calming me down as two large hands grip my shoulders keeping me steady.
“Louis!”
I jump off of my chair in an instant as though someone had just knocked some sense into me. “Louis, Louis, Louis” I continuously repeat ignoring the strange looks being directed towards me from my flushed face and whispered murmurs. “Where the hell did you go, Louis?” I whisper under my breath as my shaking hand tousles at my mop of curls. “Louis!” I shriek. I notice all heads turn to my direction, one in particular. “Louis? Oh goodness Lou, come here!” I sigh in relief as the sobbing boy in the corner captures all of my attention. I jog towards the curled up figure before holding him in a tight embrace.
“Louis,” I try, attempting to gain his full attention. “Lou babe, look at me.” I try a second time, failing once again. “No!” he complains, I can hear his clogged up throat through the hoarse noises escaping his parted lips. “Don’t cry love, it’s going to be alright yeah? I’ll be fine as long as I have you with me, don’t cry, I’ll be okay, I promise I’ll be okay” I kissed the top of his head as I tried reassuring him, but I know that somewhere, somewhere inside of me, those words weren’t just for him, but for myself as well. I’ll be okay; Louis will get me through this wouldn’t he?
“I’m so sorry Haz, I shouldn’t be crying, I’m supposed to be the one supporting and looking after you, not the other way around, I’m so sorry, I’m an idiot” he breaths with a heavy sigh as he wipes at his blood-shot eyes. I let out a little sigh to myself that sounds more like a chuckle as I wipe at his tear stained, flushed cheeks before cheekily squeezing them, attempting to brighten up the mood. I place kisses all over his cheeks, on his forehead, nose and finally on his pouty lips before I continued. “Don’t be sorry darling, you’re not an idiot, but however, you do remind me of 7 year old Louis” I state with a wink before he kisses the smirk off of my face. “Mmm… I love you no matter what happens yeah?” he whispers before his mood falters again into a sad smile. I feel his slim, feminine like fingers slip through my own as he fumbles with my longer digits while covering his face, hiding his teary films from my view.
I lift our connected fingers placing a soft, lingering kiss to the back of his hand before replying, “I love you too. Let’s go, he’s probably wondering where the hell we went” He presses his face into the crook of my shoulder, sniffing. “But I don’t want to go, I don’t want to know. It’s not true Haz. It can’t be true. They’re all liars! They haven’t even checked properly! It can’t be!” he says, his voice rising and cracking at the same time as he stands up, towering over my intimidated figure. “Louis stop, please.” I plead, hating the fact that he’s denying the already proven and confirmed facts. “I’m sorry, I just- I can’t even- I can’t even imagine what it would feel like if-if you know”
“Ohh Lou… don’t think like that babe! No matter what happens, you know I’ll always be here for you yeah? I love you” I reply, as he clings onto my slightly larger frame. I feel a shudder vibrate from his body as a soft whine escapes his lips when I pull back from his tight embrace. “I love you too Harold” he says as we walk back to the room, hand in hand.
