If It's What You Want A Harry Styles Fanfiction || h. s.

Chapter 47

Ashley struggled to get over the upper respiratory infection for several days. Harry continued to mother her leaving only for meetings. He'd watched movies with her, distracted her with scripts, purchased a large two-person lounger for the back deck so that they could relax outside when she began to feel stir-crazy, made love to her, and occasionally argued with her.

He'd convinced her to join his family for a dinner in addition to attending his friend's wedding. She'd agreed to spend several extra days in the London and surrounding areas with him. Once the doctor gave her clearance to travel, she thought she might be able to get more excited. Her nervousness worried Harry. He kept thinking she might bale on him at any given time.

****

"Ready to go?" he asked.

"I think so. You really don't have to take me to the doctor. I'm fine," she said.

"You still seem rather sickly. I'm happy to drive you. I can wait or you can call me when you're finished."

"The visit will take a little extra time. He's requested a chest x-ray, so I'll have to do that before seeing him. Hopefully, radiology isn't backed up."

"I didn't think VIP patients waited for anything."

"VIP?"

"Sweetheart, your doctor has been out more than once, brings your prescriptions, knows your family. Wouldn't you call that VIP?"

Oh god. If he knew their family status . . . Had he figured something out? No, no, she thought. I'm not ready to deal with that. I just need to be sure of him before I tell him.

****

"Ashley, I'm on the fence about you traveling," said her doctor.

"This is a really critical trip. You know Uncle Raymond is still not back on his feet. I need to take care of this business."

"Ashley, listen to me. You have a spot of fluid in your left lung. That's indicative of pneumonia even after starting a second round of antibiotics. Traveling is exhausting, time change affects sleep patterns. It's much colder there. That change in weather is going to affect your reactive airway. It's just not a good mix."

"What are my options? I have to go to this wine festival to secure our holiday offerings for the restaurant."

The doctor sighed resigned to the fact that she would go no matter what he said. "Okay, here's what we'll do. I can give you separate antibiotic and steroid injections. I'm going to send a small nebulizer unit home with you. I want you taking the breathing treatments twice a day for the next 5 or 6 days. You can stop it, but if the constriction or wheezing starts, get back on the treatments immediately. Understand?"

"Got it," she said smiling brightly.

"I'll send my nurse in with the injections. Afterwards, she'll show you how to use the machine. I want to talk with you before you go," he said as he walked out of the room.

Ashley cursed under her breath over the situation. She took her phone out to check her messages. Of course there was a text from Harry. She was surprised he hadn't come up. She'd been in the office for over an hour. Instead of reading the text, she called him.

"Hello. Everything okay?" asked Harry.

"Yes, it'll be just a bit longer."

"Did you read my text?"

"No."

"Okay. I'm in the waiting room."

"Wait. What?"