Between The Lines

Chapter 19

HARRYS POV

"You hungry?" I ask Carly, who's been chewing on her nails and scrolling through Instagram for the past hour.

She nods. "Can you get me a Snickers or something?"

"Sure." I stand up and walk out of the room, down to the cafeteria.

It hasn't opened yet but there's a small vending machine next to the entrance.

I pull out a few dollars and buy Carly a Snickers and me, a Kit-Kat.

I wait for the machine to return my change before heading back upstairs.

When I reach the entrance to Julie's room, I hear Carly talking to someone.

"No- I don't want her to." She harshly whispers.

"I know! She just-"

She must be on the phone with someone. I wait outside the door a few minutes until she hangs up, then enter the room. I hold the Snickers bar out to her and she takes it. "What was all that about?" I ask, unwrapping my Kit-Kat.

She hesitates before answering,

"It was my aunt. She's been helping me with the bills." I nod. "She wants my mom to live with her." She continues.

"You don't want her to?" I ask.

"No, I know I can't always be with her and my aunt can, but I just don't want to leave her there." She sighs.

"It would be the best thing to do."

"I know." She faintly whispers.

The nurse walks in a few minutes later, holding a clipboard in her hand.

"Hello." She smiles.

"Hi." I mumble.

Carly is staring at the wall, probably thinking over her choices of what to do with her mom.

"She should be waking up soon." The nurse informs. "We have to do some scans, so I'll be taking her now if that's alright."

I look over to Carly still staring at the wall, obviously not paying attention.

"Yeah, you want us to leave?"

The nurse shakes her head.

"No, you're fine."

The nurse takes Julie and her bed out of the room and I take Carly's hand. She snaps out of her trance and looks at me, eyes wide.

"Don't think too hard." I tell her. She gives me a smile.

"You wanna go for a walk... Talk a little?" She suggests.

"Yeah, sounds good." I nod.

We walk down to the lobby and out to the parking lot.

The wind is extremely chilly and I see us getting cold very quickly.

"How about a drive?" I turn to Carly.

"Yeah, it is quite chilly out here." She says.

I lead her to the car and we sit down inside.

"She's had surgery before." She says after a few minutes of silence. "They couldn't get it all out, though."

"So, she still has it?"

Carly nods. "Just not as much."

"So, there's a possibility it's spreading?" I choke. Carly frowns and nods. "It's gonna be alright, okay?" I take her hand in mine and start the car.

We sit in silence for a few minutes and I pull into a Wendy's.

"You want something?" I ask.

"A frosty."

"Real food!" I laugh and she joins in.

"Chili?" She shrugs.

I order us two chilies and we wait by the order window for our change.

By the time we get our food and arrive back at the hospital, it's already past 3:00.

We make our way to Julie's room and a nurse is in there helping her adjust her bed. "Mr. And Mrs. Styles?" It takes me a minute to realize she is talking to me and Carly.

"Uh, yes." I say, stepping forward.

"May I talk to you for a minute?"

I nod and she leads us outside the room.

"We took some scans and it seems her cancer has gotten worse." She informs.

"It's spreading."

"Can you do another surgery?" Carly asks, worry spread across her face.

The nurse shakes her head and shrugs. "We can try, not guaranteeing it will help..."

"Please!" Carly cries. I pull her into my shoulder and brush over her hair a few times.

"Can we just schedule a surgery." I plead.

"I'll see what we can do." She promises before walking off down the hallway.