Eyes Wide Open

Chapter 29

After loading Jackie into the back of the ambulance, the paramedic looks at the kid who carried her off the stage. With a shake of his head he waves him over.
"Hop in, you can ride with her." He says.

Harry jumps into the back and sits down not taking his eyes off the girl on the gurney. "This is all my fault." He whispers as the paramedics work on her. "I keep doing stupid things that hurts her, making her feel worthless, like life isn't worth living. She doesn't think I love her, when I'd rather die than be without her in my life." He sobs.

The female paramedic, a mother of two, sits next to Harry, placing her hand on his knee. "Look I don't know what the full story is here, and I know you don't have time or even want to get into all that right now. But, hun, let me tell you something I've learned from my years of experience." She says softly. "If you truly, deep down, in your heart of hearts, love this young lady as much as you claim, then tell her the truth, everything. If you've ever lied to her at all, get it out there in the open, bare it all for her to see.
And then, and only then, if you believe she may give you another chance, never lie to her again. If you don't think you can do that? Son let her go, let her find someone willing to give her that one think you're not. And that's honesty." She whispers, patting Harry's knee, then she stands up to help unload Jacqueline so the can roll her into the ER.

After Jacqueline is seen by a multitude of doctors, she's finally placed in ICU, everything from her breathing, heart rate, to brain waves is being monitored. Harry being allowed to stay with her, walks to the waiting room to let the others know what's going on. When he walks into the room where the guys are he's surprised at the amount of people there for Jacqueline, it isn't just her band members and his, it's also makeup, wardrobe, and some of the lighting and tech crew that's come to know and love her over the past few months.

Drew stands up, still holding Niall's hand, when he sees Harry walk in. "Well? How is she?"

"Very malnourished." Harry says, sitting on one of the tables before his knees gave way.

"How did this happen without us noticing?" Amber asks, wiping away her tears. "We see her every damn day. We should have seen this happening."

"I did." Lottie says, curling up to her brother. "I should have said something about it sooner."

Nat, Louis' girlfriend, wraps her arms around Lottie. "Oh sis, it's not your fault, none of us have been very attentive, lately."

Belynda, head of wardrobe, nods. "I should have said something long ago about her weight loss." She says. "Especially when she got to wearing junior miss sizes instead of her original adult ones. Now some of those don't even fit." She says as tears roll from her eyes.

"We all know none of you here are at fault, this is all in my lap." Harry says. "But I want you all to know right now, Mitch was wrong about me, I was never with anyone else in the five years we were apart. There may be pictures out that look like I'm with other women, but that's all they are, pictures. Hell most of them are fake, if you look close enough you can tell." Harry says.

"And the girl I saw coming out of your room in Jamaica, when we were working on your first solo album?" Mitch asks.

Harry shrugs, then shakes his head. "You could have asked at the time. She works for Christopher Nolan, she was dropping off the screen play he wanted me to check out for the movie I did."

"Oh. Why didn't you say all this then?" Mitch asks. "Why let her think what I said was true?"

"She wouldn't have believed me anyway." Harry says. "By then the damage had been done, my mistake was forgetting to throw away that fan's stupid number. Hell, I just told her what I did to get her to move on quicker. How was I supposed to know Jacqueline could read lips?"

"Dude, you really need to, once and for all, clear the air with her." Niall says. "So you guys can either get back together or just move on."

Harry nods as he stands up. "I'm going back in there. The doctors are allowing me to stay with her, I'll send everyone a text to keep you updated on her progress." Walking back into Jacqueline's room, Harry sits in the chair beside her bed. Picking up her hand he notices how fragile she looks and how cold she is. Standing, he grabs the extra blankets, adds them to what's already on the bed, then tucks her hand under the covers hoping that'll help keep her warm.