Precious (Harry Styles)

NINETEEN

Ariana arrived at the hospital and found Louis crying on a bench.

She ran over to him, fearing the worst.

"Louis! Louis! Please tell me he's not.." she couldn't say the word.

Louis looked up at her. He looked dreadful. Eyes puffy, red and watery. He was pale and shaking. Ari fell into his arms and they were both crying hard.

"He's alive." He sobbed. They sat there for a while, before heading back inside.

*****

"I thought he was gonna die." Louis whispered. "I was so scared."

"He's a fighter, we know that." Ari replied, as they both watched Harry as he slept.

Despite being hooked up to machines and drugs, Harry was wheezing. His skin was grey, almost see through, paper thin, almost.

The Doctor and nurses did their half hourly checks, trying to do their best to reassure them that he was in a stable condition.

But at 3:30 that afternoon, Harry deteriorated.

"What's happening?" Louis cried as people rushed around their baby boy.

A nurse took them to the side of the room. "I'm sorry. He's struggling to breathe. They're putting him on a ventilator. He can't do it on his own."

"He's dying isn't he?" Ari asked.

"We're doing all we can. The Doctor will speak to you soon." She replied.

They stood against the wall, watching and waiting. Eventually, people left, just leaving one nurse and the Doctor.

"Louis, Ari, come and sit down." He said.

They all took a seat. "I'm sorry. Harry can no longer breathe on his own. The machine is doing it for him. He won't survive long unless he has another transplant. The lung is too damaged, and if it stays in his body much longer, he won't live. We've put him back on the transplant list."

Louis and Ari were distraught.

"He's near the top of the list. We just need to wait and hope. I'm sorry I don't have better news for you."

The couple nodded. "Th-thank you." Louis said.

The Doctor left, as the nurse stayed to make sure Harry was as comfortable as he could be.

Louis and Ari sat in silence next to the bed, crying and even praying.

*****

Days went by.

Days of sitting and waiting. Watching.

"I have some news." The Doctor said as he entered Harry's room.

The couple sat up, anxious to know what it was.

"A donor has been found. The lung should be here withing two hours. We need to start prepping Harry soon."

Ari burst into tears as Louis let out the breath he'd been holding.

"Thank you. Thank you." He said as he hugged his wife.

"We'll be back shortly."

The Doctor left as a nurse came in to do his checks.

"Oh god Lou. It's happening."

"Yes love. It is." He gently stroked Harry's pale cheek.

*****

Letting Harry go to surgery was difficult. They didn't know for sure if they'd never see their Beautiful green eyed darling alive again. All they could do was wait and hope.

Hour by hour passed. With each hour, they grew more concerned. Doctors kept them informed of how the operation was going.

Eventually, their doctor entered the room.

"How is he?" Louis asked, holding Ari tight.

"It went well. No complications. He's just gone down to recovery. We'll keep him there for a while, then bring him up."

"Thank god." Ari sobbed as she fell back into her chair.

"Thank you." Louis said to the Doctor, before he sat down too.

*****

Two hours later, the doors opened and Harry's bed was wheeled back in and put back into position.

Louis and Ari jumped up and raced to his bedside.

"Hello precious. We missed you." Louis said quietly, brushing Harry's chocolate curls off of his forehead.

"He'll sleep for a while, it's normal. He's still on meds, but different ones, we'll explain later. You should get some rest." The nurse told them.

They acknowledged her and she left.

"You have a lie down love. I'll keep an eye on him." Louis said. Ari nodded and made herself as comfortable as she could on the two seater sofa in the corner of the room.

Harry woke up two days later. He was in some pain, confused and unhappy. He wanted to go home, but wasn't allowed to, just yet.

They took it in turns, day after day. One would rest or check on the other children, while the other watched over Harry.

Finally, two weeks after the op, Harry was allowed to go home.

*****

It was a Saturday, so the kids were at home with Louis' Mum, when they arrived home.

"HARRY!" Niall yelled as the front door opened.

"Niall... remember what I told you. Not too noisy love, ok?" Jay reminded him.

"Sorry." He said quietly, as Louis laid Harry down on the sofa, carefully.

"Hi Harry. Glad you're home." Gemma said. "We missed you lots." She smiled.

"Harry needs a nap, kids. Why don't you go upstairs and play until lunch?" Ari said. They ran off, the bedroom door slamming to the sound of them giggling.

"I'll make some tea." Ari said. Louis nodded and sat on the edge of the sofa next to Harry.

"You go to sleep baby." Harry looked up at him and frowned.

"What's wrong darling?"

Harry made tired grabby hands at Louis.

"Ok love, come here. Be careful though." He lifted Harry up onto his lap, and the boy rested his head on Louis' chest.

They'd both missed this. Harry listening to Louis comforting heartbeat, and Louis missing the warmth radiating off of his Precious boy.

Harry was soon asleep.

That took me all day to write, as I kept stopping to watch the new sex education on Netflix.

All the love 💖💖💖