The Perfect Match.

Chapter 69

"He's making amazing progress, Louis," Jeff is saying to Louis only a few weeks after Harry's procedure.

Louis is walking with Jeff down the hall to Harry's room; Louis is exhausted from the amount of time he has spent between this hospital and home over the past 4 weeks.

"His levels have finally come up," Jeff continues to tell him while they walk, "I know Harry's kept you up to date on all of this..."

"When does he get to come home though?" Louis interrupts quickly. "We have everything at home ready for him... I can keep him in the bedroom. It's just... Jeff, you know how Harry is. He's getting restless in this place."

"I know," Jeff sighs and stops a few feet away from Harry's room, "but I'm afraid that... that he's going to have to stay a little bit longer. His levels are not where they need to be for him to be let out, Louis. I know you have to understand that... I want Harry home with you guys. I do. As his friend, I hate this. All that he talks about is being home."

"So," Louis clears his throat and crosses his arms, "how much longer do you think he'll have to stay here?"

Jeff places his hands in the pockets of his doctor's coat and sighs, "maybe a couple more weeks if his numbers continue to climb like they are."

Louis nods and bites his lip before he's looking away and straight at Harry's room a few feet down the hall.

"The important thing is... the transplant was successful and he is getting better every day," Jeff quietly tells Louis, "and I promise to you, I will have him home with you and the girls as soon as I possibly can, Louis."

"Thanks," Louis whispers and sighs, placing his hands inside his jeans and walking off to Harry's room.

He knocks before walking in, seeing Harry lying in the hospital bed, his eyes on all the photos he has set up beside him.

"Hey, love," Louis softly says with a grin while he's walking over to Harry's bedside.

"How'd the talk with Jeff go?" Harry manages to ask, his voice weak.

"Uh," Louis starts, rubbing his palms together while he's taking a seat on the bed, "he said your numbers are improving every day."

"But I can't go home yet," Harry nods slowly, keeping his eyes on Louis.

"He... he said they need to increase a little more before you can," Louis sighs, "I know you don't want to be here any longer..."

"No, I don't," Harry quickly says back, "I want... I want to be at home with my family, Lou. This has been the longest 4 weeks of my life."

"I know," Louis nods, "it's been the same for me."

"Gemma's over 13 weeks... she's almost 14 weeks," Harry says in a whisper, his eyes on the photos again. "I'm missing it all."

"Harry, she's coming to visit you almost every day," Louis sighs and takes Harry's hand in his. "Love, I know that this has been anything but easy this time. I know you didn't want to spend this much time here, but... the transplant was a success. That's worth being happy about."

Harry swallows hard and leans back against his pillows, his eyes looking up at the ceiling now.

"Why can't my numbers increase as fast as they did before?" He thinks aloud.

"Look, Jeff said maybe just a couple more weeks," Louis tries to cheer him up, "and maybe it won't even take that long. Your numbers did increase pretty rapidly within just a few days last week."

Harry squeezes Louis' hand as he stares back at him, "I miss you, Lou. I miss everyone. I miss our bed, too."

"I can imagine," Louis tries not to snicker at Harry's remark, "these fucking hospital beds are the worst."