The Writer (AU)

Chapter Thirty Four- You don't need a degree to be a doctor, Ellie

"It's my ribs. I think one of them might be bruised or fractured. It's killing me," I groaned, clutching my torso and short of breath.

"Let's get dressed and then get you to a hospital."

"Harry." There was no way in hell I'd be able to explain just how I got these bruises.

"We can tell them it's from basketball." Sighing and getting dressed, I was engulfed in Harry's comforting scent as I followed slowly behind him in his Nike jumper as we made our way to the car and sped toward the hospital. He kept his fingers loosely intertwined with mine as we walked through the lobby and the nurse at the desk smiled at me.

"How can I hep you?" she cooed with a thick southern accent.

"She has some bruises and her rib is hurting her from a game she just played in," Harry lied smoothly.

"Fill this out and we'll get you to a doctor as soon as we can," she replied, chomping on her gum and handing him a clipboard. Walking toward the dark brown chairs in the waiting room, it was relatively quiet as I carefully sat down next to Harry.

"Let me fill it out," I chuckled as he tried to think of my social security number. taking the clipboard from him, I quickly filled in all the necessary blanks, forged my mom's signature and handed the clipboard back to the woman before sitting back down. Leaning my head on Harry's shoulder, he leaned over and kissed my hair.

"You okay, baby?" he murmured.

"Just tired and my body hurts," I shrugged.

"I'm sorry."

"You don't have anything to be sorry for." He really didn't. None of it was his fault. It was my dad's.

"I wasn't there to protect you and I should've been."

"Harry," I sighed, picking up my head and looking at him. He had a black eye and there were small cuts on his hands. "What happened to you?" Tears immediately filled my eyes and I felt like I couldn't breathe.

"I told you, I got in a fight with the guy at Starbucks."

"Harry." There was no way a guy did this over a cup of coffee. Unless...

"Did you go see my dad?" I gasped. His eyes looked to the floor and I pulled his face to slowly look back at me.

"He had to get some kind of payment for what he did to you. You're my girlfriend and I'm not gonna ever let anyone hit you and get away with it." Pressing my hands to his cheeks and sniffling, I gave him a small, chaste kiss.

"C'mere," I said, pulling him toward me for a hug. His arms wrapped around my waist as tightly as they could without hurting me and we stayed like that for a few minutes before returning to our previous position.

"Miss Adams?" a voice called and I lifted my head from Harry's shoulder to see a tall doctor standing before us.

"That's me," I chuckled, standing with Harry's help and slowly walking toward the doctor.

"I'm Dr. Tomlinson," the man smiled, shaking both of our hands. "Harry? Is that you? I haven't seen you in ages." How did they know each other?

"It's good to see you again, Mr. Tomlinson," Harry smiled.

"Louis will have to invite you over more often." Oh. He was Louis' dad. I could see the resemblance in the icy blue eyes and high cheekbones the more I looked at him.

"So, Miss. Adams, what's going on?" he smiled as I carefully sat down on the white paper and Harry kept hold of my hand.

"Um, I had a game last night and I woke up this morning with a lot of bruises and a sharp pain in my ribs as well as when I take a breath," I replied, surprised at how effortlessly I lied.

"If you could lie down on your back so we can take a look at your ribs and then we can see if you need an x-ray or not." Carefully laying on my back, Harry carefully pulled up my shirt and hoodie. Dr. Tomlinson's hands were surprisingly warm as his fingers lightly padded against my stomach and applied light pressure to the right side of my ribs. I winced slightly, feeling pain shoot through me and my grip on Harry's hand tightened.

"It seems as if it is fractured or even broken. I'm gonna get an x-ray to take a look and see if you need to sit out for a few weeks." Watching as he disappeared behind the curtain, Harry helped me pull my shirt back down and I slowly sat up.

"Alright," Dr. Tomlinson smiled as he walked back inside the tiny space. "If you'll follow me, we can get this x-ray done." Following behind him slowly, we reached yet another small room and Harry helped me lay down. Closing my eyes as they did the x-ray, I tried to keep myself calm. I hated hospitals.

After more waiting, angst, and soothing kisses on my temple from Harry, Louis' dad came back with the x-rays in his hands.

"As you can see," he stated, pointing to my rib. "Your rib is fractured in several places. With the fracture, it might take anywhere from 6-8 weeks to heal. Rendering your season pretty much over."

"Damn," I sighed. It was one of the biggest seasons of my basketball career and I couldn't afford to miss it.

"Is there anyway we could speed it up? This season is huge for me."

"A lot of milk," he joked. "But in all seriousness, milk and maybe some light shooting drills. No hard, extraneous physical activity. I'm gonna prescribe you Tylenol with codine for pain and if you need anything, give Louis a call and I can see you immediately."

"Thanks Mr. Tomlinson. You've been a really big help," Harry sighed before helping me stand up.

"Since it's almost thanksgiving break, you're in luck with not having to miss much school. However, the Tylenol might make you feel drowsy, nauseated, or even almost high off of it."

"That's fine," I shrugged, wincing slightly. Finally being able to leave, Harry helped me back into the car and we headed back to his house. Helping me inside and up the stairs, I slowly sat down on the edge of his bed.

"I'm gonna run you a bath, baby. It'll help you feel better," he murmured and kissed my temple.

"We already showered," I chuckled.

"You heard the man. No extraneous physical activity and a bath will help you relax."

"When did you become a doctor?" I teased.

"You don't need a degree to be a doctor, Ellie. I'm taking care of you now," he smiled. Rolling my eyes as he kissed me one more time before walking in his bathroom, I wanted nothing more than to just lay down and sleep.

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