Beautiful//h.s AU

7

      Callista was awoken by a sudden throbbing in her head. She tried to ignore it, but after a few minutes, she knew it was worse than a simple headache. It was caused by the cancer. She often found it hard to tell the difference between her cancer headaches and her regular ones, but today she knew what it was. She didn't want to move, partly because her head was throbbing, but also because she didn't want to wake Harry. His legs were tangled with hers, and his arms pulled her into his body. But after a few minutes of trying to ignore it, Callista simply couldn't. She turned with great difficulty, so she was facing Harry.

"Harry?" She whispered. He didn't respond. Harry had always been a light sleeper, so it showed how tired he was. "Harry?" Callista said, louder this time. Harry's eyes opened this time.

"What's wrong darling?" He asked, his voice slower than usual.

"My head hurts." She whimpered. Harry kissed her forehead,

"I'll go get some Advil and water. You stay here okay?"

Callista nodded as Harry untangled himself from her and walked out of the room, stumbling slightly. Harry walked downstairs quickly, knowing how much the headache was hurting her. She'd told him about them, and how much they hurt. He only wished he could take it away. He'd gladly experience the pain she was going through, only if she didn't have too. He walked to the kitchen and rummaged through the cupboards for Advil. After he found it, he got a glass of water and walked upstairs to see Callista crying.

"Shh." Harry said quickly, leaving the medicine and water in his bedside table, picking Callista up and cradling her tiny body.

The pain was almost unbearable. Callista couldn't focus on anything, much less divert her attention from the headache. The only thing keeping her from screaming in pain was Harry. Somehow he seemed to lessen the pain.

"I'm going to give you an Advil okay?" Harry asked quietly, "Can you take it or do you need my help?"

"I can take it myself." She said quietly, holding her hand out for the pill. Harry handed it to her and in a few seconds she downed the pill. Harry took the empty glass of water from her hand. "What time is it?" She asked.

Harry felt the table for is phone. "It's 4." He said, "You can't sleep can you?" She shook her head. "So." He said, taking her into his lap, "What do you want to do?"

"You can go to sleep." Callista said, sniffling, "I'll be fine, really." He laid her down on the bed, then laying down next to her.

"I'll stay up all night if I have too." He whispered.

~~~~~

Callista woke up once again at around eleven in the morning. Harry was asleep next to her, his arm slung around her waist, keeping her close. Her vision was blurry and her nose was stuffy, but she didn't feel the throbbing pain in her forehead anymore. Well at least the cancer caused headache was gone. It had been replaced with a headache that was most likely caused by a fever. Callista swallowed, only to be met by an intense pain at the back of her throat. She swallowed back the feeling. She was okay.

Callista's attention turned back to Harry, who was peacefully sleeping. She watched him for a minute before turning back around.

"You don't have to be embarrassed." His low voice interrupted her thoughts. A smile burst out on her face as she heard his voice. She turned around to see him rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. He pulled her in, and just as he was about to kiss her, he realizes how hot she was. Her skin, that is. Not that she wasn't hot of course.

Callista cleared her throats before attempting to say, 'Good morning handsome.' But she failed halfway through the first word, her voice coming out in a little squeak.

"You've got a fever." Harry said, frowning, "I told you not to stay out in the rain."

Callista sneezed. "Sorry..." she croaked, making Harry laugh.

"C'mon darling, you're not walking anywhere like this." He said, getting out of bed. He pulled on some pants, just in case their mums were still downstairs, and then a tank top, just to be safe. He wrapped Callista in a little blanket that was at the top of his wardrobe and picked her up bridal style.

"I love you." She she said, as quietly.

"I love you too my beautiful rose." He murmured, kissing her forehead. He walked downstairs with her, keeping her close to him. The house seemed to be empty as he layed her down in the couch, still wrapped in a blanket.

"Stay here." He ordered, "I'll be back."

Callista snorted. She wasn't going anywhere at this rate. She looked up at the ceiling, her eyes burning from the sunlight coming through the window. Her nose was stuffy, her throat ached, and she was shivering, despite being in a blanket. She realized this wasn't a simple cold.

"Are you okay Callista?" Harry asked from the kitchen. She nodded, then realizing that he couldn't see her.

"Yeah." She said, as loud as she could manage.

Harry set a tea kettle to boil as he rummaged through the drawers for medicine. He felt a pang of guilt for letting her stay out in the rain. Callista's immune system was compromised because of the cancer, making it harder for her to recover from a simple illness. He knew that, yet he let her stay out. But the time the kettle whistled, Harry was feeling horrible. But, he shoved aside those feelings. He was going to help her get better. He walked out of the kitchen with two cups of tea. He set the cups of tea on the coffee table, propped Callista up and handed her tea.

Callista was so thankful for Harry. He seemed so eager to help, and she was so grateful for it.

"I'm going to take your temperature alright?" Harry asked, after a moment of silence. Callista nodded, as that was pretty much all she could do. Harry leaned in and kissed her.

"Don't kiss me." She croaked, "I'll get you sick."

"Does it look like I care?" He smiled, kissing her again. She giggled. "Open." Harry said, pointing to her mouth. She did as he told and he stuck the thermometer in her mouth. She closed her mouth and waited till the thermometer beeped. Callista opened her mouth and waited for Harry to tell her how bad the fever was.

"It's like 39 degrees Celsius." He said, "I don't know what that is in Fahrenheit, but I know it's a pretty bad fever."

Callista leaned into the couch, "You'll stay with me, won't you?"

"Of course darling."