Sunflower Café

13

–H

     "Amaya, love, please lay back down, you're gonna make yourself sick."

     "This is kidnapping, Harry, you need to let me go. This is not consensual, this is harassment! I could report you for this. I don't care if you have money, so does my dad. You could get in serious trouble, you could get arrested!" Amaya rambled on, not really paying attention to what she was saying.

     Harry tried to stay calm as he worked out how to help Amaya without startling her. He did the first thing he thought of and unlocked the car.

     Harry unbuckled his seatbelt and rushed out of the car, racing to the passenger's door and opening it to reveal a very distressed Amaya. She tried to jump from her seat past him but he stopped her, using his body to trap her inside.

     "Hey, hey!" Harry tried to lock their eyes while he brought his hands to her cheeks, his voice soft, "Look at me, love. Hey, look at me."

     Amaya's eyes darted worriedly all around, so he had to fight to gain her attention by leaning closer until their noses were just a hair's width away.

     "Amaya, please, I need you to try and calm down for me, okay? I can help you, alright? I'm right here, I'm not going anywhere. Let's get through this together. But first, I need you to take a deep breath with me. Can you do that, love?"

     It took a while to capture her attention, and just a little longer than that to get her to understand what he was asking of her, but she finally nodded in agreement and followed Harry as he guided her through breathing exercises.

     "That's it, love, you're doing great. Just a few more deep breaths, okay?"

     Harry managed to calm Amaya just enough to explain to her where they were headed. She tried to fight again after hearing the word 'hospital', but he was able to soothe her quicker than before, and settled her in the car again before returning to the driver's seat himself.

     "You should still lay back while we get there. Don't want you giving out on me again."

     She complied–which surprised Harry–but not without whining and pouting like a child while grumbling over and over again that she was 'fine' and capable of taking care of herself on her own.

     Harry noticed Amaya become more jittery as they neared the hospital, so he placed a hand on her knee to try and soothe her as he whispered reassuring things. "It's okay, don't worry, they're going to help you."

     "Sure..."

     Amaya didn't sound too convinced by his words, but Harry didn't push her. He could already tell she felt uncomfortable as it was with the situation, and didn't wish to trigger her more in any way.

     Once they reached the building and approached the doors, Amaya's hand latched onto his arm for support. Harry was surprised but quickly composed himself to give her a warm smile.

"Don't worry," he wrapped his arm around her shoulder. "I've got you, love."

     Inside, a nurse with a friendly face smiled up at them as they walked closer, her eyes flickering with surprise as they landed on the beautiful woman next to him.