Her Persistence - Completed

Chapter 38

Calum's PoV

The concert went flawlessly and the four of us leapt offstage and ran to the dressing room, hyped up and ready to enjoy a night of fun before we headed to the airport for our next flight. Next in our tour was Austria and we were heading straight to Vienna. With laughter filling the air, Luke swung the dressing room door open but froze instantly by the doorframe. We all stopped as suddenly as we could, all crashing into each other. I peered over Luke's shoulder to see what the issue was and my eyes widened in shock.

"And also my favourite song on the new album is Teeth." A small child was talking to Poppy, who was knelt down in front of her, feeling around on her arm. When she reached near the girl's wrist, the girl sucked in a sharp breath. Poppy was quick to distract her.

"Fight so dirty but your love's so sweet." She sung. The girl laughed as she continued.

"Talk's so pretty but your heart's got teeth." The two of them softly sung the chorus of our song whilst Poppy checked her over, the girl oblivious to what Poppy was doing. I stared in awe, my heart full as I watched Poppy handle this with not only professionalism but a motherly touch that I'd never really noticed before. It was so sweet to watch as she made this girl comfortable, checking on her without scaring her or snapping at her when things didn't go to plan.

"There we go!" Poppy said excitedly. "You're all checked. Now, I just have to put this sling on before you go to the hospital. While we wait for the ambulance, I think there are four men who would love to meet you, Patience. And Grace of course." Poppy's eyes travelled over to an older sister who was looking down on her phone. As soon as her name was called, she looked up and over to us letting out a little squeal as she jumped up and ran to us, hugging us all tightly. The small girl was quick to join in, but hugging with one arm as the other was now in a makeshift sling.

"Hi Grace! Hi Patience!" Ashton knelt down to give them both proper hugs, followed by the rest of us. The girls were so excited, letting out little squeals as Grace snapped loads of pictures on her phone.

"This is amazing!" She beamed. "The best day of my life!" Poppy was next to be asked for a selfie with Grace and she pulled a funny face, followed by one where they were both doing pouts and peace signs. I laughed at their actions as Poppy messed about with the kids as if they were hers to look after. Grace took some photos of Patience with us all too and soon after, paramedics arrived at the door to take the girls to the hospital. Within a second, Poppy was straight to nursing mode, handing over details to the paramedics.

"Patience has what I believe to be a fractured wrist from a fall in the pit. Her elder sister is her next of kin as her parents are abroad. I've put a sling on it and she has had pain killers but it'll need an X-ray and probably a cast." The paramedics nodded quickly and waved the girls over to follow them. Both looked nervously between the paramedics and Poppy, who once again switched to her motherly persona as she knelt down and brought both kids in for another long hug. She whispered something to them both and they nodded, smiling once again. The sisters then held hands and walked over to the paramedics, waving goodbye to us all as they left the room. Silence ensued for a second as we all took in what had happened.

"Wow Poppy, you have a great way with kids." Ashton complimented her on just what I was thinking. If I had any reservations about Poppy being a mother they had definitely been erased now. She was so caring towards those two girls, so willing to help and understanding to their minds and how they would perceive things. It was so refreshing to see.

"Thank you. I just love kids, what can I say?" She said as she laughed, giving me a quick glance as if to hint at what she had said.

"Well I think you'd be a great mom." Michael added, giving her a pat on the arm. "Which reminds me, its time to check in with Crys. Anyone want to say hi?" He began to dial her on a video call and we all waited anxiously, only to see her and Sierra pop up onscreen.

"Guys!!" Sierra waved, excited to see us all. Luke's face beamed as soon as he saw her, any issues melting away as soon as their eyes met.

"Hey! How are you all?" I asked, offering a small wave from the back as we crowded to all be seen in Michael's phone.

"Great thank you! I just thought I'd keep Crystal company for a bit, we both had a day off today." Crystal was beginning to show a little pregnancy bump, very neatly shown off in a flowery dress.

"You look great Crystal!" Ashton added and crystal laughed.

"Thanks guys! We miss you all so much. We're hoping to be able to fly over soon, maybe a couple of week's time?" The boys erupted into cheers and whoops at the thought of seeing their girlfriends again after the break away from them. I looked over to Poppy, a warm smile on my face as I thought about how lucky I'd been to have her with me this whole time, despite the setbacks. But my smile was short lived.
Poppy stood away from everyone at the corner of the room coughing and trying to clear her throat, rubbing it as she grabbed a cup of water. I walked over, trying not to attract anyone else's attention as my worry increased.

"Baby?" I asked as I closed the gap, the sound of her hacking cough catching me off guard. She tried to sip some water but the cough was too much, causing her to spit the water back out as she looked up at me with her eyes wide.

"It hurts." Her voice was raspy. "So much." She clutched at her neck, clawing at it as if she was trying to scratch the pain away.

"I'll call Sam." I said, my hand diving in my back pocket for my phone. Her hand grabbed mine and stopped it, shaking her head at me.

"It's fine. It'll pass." She whispered, her throat hurting too much to talk too much. "I'm having surgery done as soon as we get to Austria." My gut tightened as my eyes widened. What? She was going to have surgery whilst we were on tour? When I couldn't be with her? No. I promised her. I said I'd be there. I can't let her do this alone. She needs me there.
Poppy could tell I was both shocked and frustrated by the news as she placed her hands on my shoulders and caused every thought to pause. "Don't you dare beat yourself up Cal. We're in this together. No matter what."