Guess Who? (Larry AU)

Chapter 15

A/N:

Typed it on my phone so sorry for all the errors and the shortness of the chapter :-/

Louis P.O.V. -

It's been about forty hours since I've left Harry's bedside. Mum keeps fretting that I'm not eating or sleeping enough, but I reassure her that I am. I studied Harry very carefully and he still looked the same as he did yesterday. His skin was no longer a soft pale but a sickly pale, and a white bandage wrapped clear across his head prevented me from seeing his curls, except for a few loose ones that snuck out from the front of the bandage near his eyes. He looked so peaceful on the bed, much more so than I had been when it was my turn in that ugly gown. However, our reasons for lying there in those beds were completely different. I was starting to doze off into a daydream when someone violently shook my shoulders. Suddenly alert, I swirled my head to see my mother on the verge of tears.

"What's going on?" I ventured carefully.

"Oh Louis, come quick it's Fizzy!" she sobbed. My heart seized and my eyes widened. I leapt out of the chair and brushed past my mother. I sprinted down the hallway faster than I had ever run down the football field. When I finally arrived at the room, a nurse pushed against my chest, stopping me from entering the room.

"I'm sorry, sir. You can't go in there," she warned from underneath her mask.

"That's my sister!" I protested. What did they mean I couldn't go in there? I had to see her; I had to reach her. She needed me!

"Her immune system is very weak right now. You may stand here while the doctors stabilize her. They're just switching her drips and upping her dosage. We're trying to give her a fighting chance, but it doesn't look so good." The nurse's brown eyes softened as she spoke the words I dreaded to hear.

"H-how long do you think she has?" I gulped and braced myself for her answer.

"I'd say two weeks tops, if you're lucky." A bullet through the heart, that's exactly how those words hit me.

"No," I croaked. I had to steady myself against the doorframe as my legs would no longer support my weight. "That's... it's impossible! You told us she had two years! You-you lied... you lied to us!"

"I'm sorry. We didn't expect her to give out like this. She's been so strong in fighting off the illness; it's almost like she's given up internally. There isn't anymore we could have done." Sliding to the floor, I put my head between my knees and sobbed. She was dying. My baby sister was dying, and the worst part was Harry wasn't even here to hold me. The kind nurse was still standing there while waiting for the cue, but she let me grieve in peace. After about five minutes, a hand tapped my shoulder. Drying my eyes, I stood up to follow the nurse into the room. She gave me a mask to place over my nose and mouth before I was allowed in.

Fizzy looked so much more than ill. She looked...well... dead. She struggled to plaster a smile to her face as I walked to her bedside. I kneeled onto the floor and gently took her hand in my own. "Oh God, Fizzy, I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry. This shouldn't have happened to you!"

"Hey Lou," she responded with ragged breathes in between each word. "Don't cry now, silly. Everything happens for a reason."

"Why are you so sick? Why now? We should have a lot more time left than they say we have. I don't understand. Why did this happen? What god-awful reason is there for this to happen?" I wept.

"Harry," she replied so simply, so quietly like it was an obvious thing.

"What?" I studied her carefully.

"Harry is what came out of this. W-when I got sick again, it brought us t-to the h-h-hospital. That was the day you met Harry. If I hadn't relapsed, the two of you would still be strangers. He would just be Niall's weird roommate who never sleeps in the dorm. Look at that, I played matchmaker," she started to laugh but it immediately turned into a coughing fit. I tensed up but she waved her hand in dismissal.

"Oh Fizzy, you always look on the bright side don't you? I just don't get it. The doctor, or nurse rather, said it was almost like you had given up not your body. Did you... did you give up?" I asked tentatively.

Fizzy avoided my gaze before nodding. When she looked back her eyes were also soaked with tears. "Louis, you haven't been happy in ages. When you met Harry, I saw that happiness fill you once more. That's what I've been doing my whole life. I've been fighting to live just long enough to see you happy and in love. That's all I've ever wanted. It hurts to stay here, Louis. We all know I'll go eventually. We're just delaying the inevitable. It hurts so badly, but the pain was worth it if I could manage to see you happy. Don't let him go, Lou, whatever you do. He's good for you and you for him. I want you two to grow up and get married and have lots of little Harry and Louis JR.'s! When I leave this place, I'll leave knowing you're in good hands. Harry made me a promise that I won't tell you because it's between him and I, but just know that I know you will be just fine. It may not seem like it now, but in twenty years when you're brushing your daughter's hair you'll think back to how I used to love it when you braided mine. You will smile. You won't shed a tear. Please don't ever cry again, especially not over me," she concluded. I couldn't speak; I was absolutely floored. How did she get so wise and precious and grown up... in the blink of an eye? She wasn't supposed to talk like this. That's how I'm supposed to act. Fizzy has always been brave, strong, and a fighter. Although no one knew exactly what she was fighting for, she did. We all assumed it was the will to live, but no. She just wanted us all to be happy. God, I'm going to miss this kid so damn much.

"I love you, Felicite," I whispered and squeezed her hand. She looked much to frail to hug. I was scared she might shatter like a stained glass window.

"I love you too. You're my big brother and I have so much to thank you for, but now you have to go back to Harry." Fizzy nodded towards the door. Reluctantly, I walked towards the door. I looked over my shoulder once more to see her drifting off into sleep. As I made my way back to Harry's room, I saw the chairs where we had first met. That day his eyes were so dark and his hand was wrapped in a blood-soaked bandage. Curiosity had gotten the best of me that day, and I had taken a leap of faith to talk to him. I'm sure as hell glad I did.

Once I had take up residence in Harry's room once more, I decided a chair wasn't close enough. After making sure there were no employees in sight, I climbed up into bed next to Harry and lay down. His heartbeat was strong and his breathing was slow; it relaxed me as I gently rested my left hand on his rising and falling chest.

"Harry, I-I don't know if you can hear me. I've never talked to anyone in a coma before so it's a bit of uncharted territory for me. Anyways, I-I know the doctors have said you need to stay under for just one more day, but I need you. It's Fizzy.... she-she's dying. I can't do this alone. All I want is for you to hold me, comfort me, and tell me it will all be okay. I miss you so much, and if you don't wake up I don't know what I'll have left in this world. Since I'll have lost both you and Fizzy, please come back to me. I don't just want you, I need you. I've never needed anything before and it scares me how much I need you, so please come home to me." I muffled my cries by burying my face in the pillow beneath my head.

I had a huge headache from crying, and the stress of the past few weeks had finally caught up with me. I was too tired to go home or even back to the chair. Instead, I fell asleep right there on Harry's hospital bed.