Dedicated to the magnificent beauty that is @onlyafterlaughter If you want a dedication all you have to do is vote and leave loads of comments!
We had a cat named Dusty when I was about Edward’s age. She was a dusty grey and white, and she was, quite simply, the love of my life. We did everything together. We watched television until Mum ordered us to bed, ate dinner – I’d deliberately drop little pieces of my meal on the floor for her to snatch up – and even slept curled up together, her small frame pressed against my feet.
We did *everything* together. Until one day, we didn’t.
I came home from school, and as usual, the first thing I did was strip my checkered tie from around my neck and throw it on the ground, calling out Dusty’s name. Mum walked down the steps, her lips bitten, and met me at the bottom. She told me Dusty had gotten sick, that she’d taken her to the vet.
As a child, I didn’t question it much, just wondering when she’d be home. Mum waited until Dad got home from work that night before they told me the truth: Dusty wasn’t coming home. She was, they said, in a better place.
It was the most painful thing I’d been through in my entire life, losing my beloved cat and best friend. But that pain paled in comparison to the ache in my chest right now. I hadn’t lost a pet; I’d lost the two most important people in my life.
I’d lost my parents.
My chest constricted, each breath feeling like my last, my head spinning until black spots danced before my eyes. Dr. Styles’ worried voice and the relentless hammering of the heart rate monitor were the only sounds I could register. I couldn’t even hear myself wail.
“Annabelle, take a deep breath.”
Through the frantic pulse thrumming in my ears, I heard Dr. Styles’ voice, distant. I felt his hands on my shoulders, his eyes assessing me, but couldn’t see clearly.
“You need to try and breathe, or you’ll send yourself into a panic. We don’t want that.”
Despite the suffocating grief, the desire to let the panic wash over me, to feel *something*, I knew I couldn’t. Despite wanting to collapse and weep for hours, I couldn’t allow myself.
Down the hall, a boy named Edward – always cheerful, blissfully unaware of the devastation – needed me. I had to be there for him, because there was no one else. Losing myself in a panic would exhaust me completely, and the emotional trauma could be far worse.
“There you go, that’s it.” Dr. Styles coaxed, my vision slowly clearing, my limbs regaining feeling. Tears continued to stream down my cheeks, but I ignored them as the pressure in my chest eased.
I’d found the strength to pull back from the brink, but that didn’t mean I had the strength to stop the blubbering. I deserved to cry for my loss, even though my father had always scolded me for tears.
Those grey eyes are too pretty to be clouded with tears.
“Did they suffer?” I asked, though I wasn’t sure I wanted an answer.
My blurry eyes found Dr. Styles at my side, his hand still resting on my shoulder.
“I don’t believe so, no.”
“That’s… that’s good.” I stuttered, looking around the room, trying to regulate my breathing. I could mourn later, after I was sure Edward was alright. I needed to see him with my own eyes. “Can you please take me to see him now? I need to see him.”
“Of course. Mary, could you please fetch a wheelchair?”
I heard only the squeak of Mary’s sneakers as she hurried out of the room.
“How am I supposed to tell a five-year-old that his parents, *our* parents, are gone?” I asked no one in particular, staring at my shaking hands.
I couldn’t fathom having to sit him down and explain that Mummy and Daddy weren’t coming home with us, that even though I didn’t have a flat or a job, I’d have to take care of him.
“Where are we going to go? What am I going to do? I have no job, no money, and the house is too expensive. We can’t afford to live there, hell, we as a family could barely afford to live there.” My thoughts spilled out, swirling like smoke. “We’ll have to sell the house. I’ll need to get a job and find a flat, which probably won’t be in this area, so I’ll have to find a new school for Edward. Oh my God, he’s not going to understand.”
“Hey, enough of that.” Dr. Styles finally interrupted my spiraling. If he hadn’t, I might have continued for hours. “You don’t have to worry about that right now. As for telling your brother what happened, we have trained specialists here at the hospital who can help you break the news—”
“Break the news?” I felt a surge of anger, though I didn’t know why.
“My apologies, Annabelle. We have specialists to help explain to Edward what has happened, what’s happening. Dr. Horan would be willing to lend a hand as well, he, unfortunately, has experience in the matter.” I slowly nodded, biting my lip, a habit I’d developed when nervous or angry or confused.
“I’m sorry for lashing out.” I apologized, aggressively wiping away the constant stream of tears. “My brain is just on overdrive.”
“I understand.” His voice was soft, and I found myself staring up at him, grateful.
“Thank you.” I said after a beat of silence, the two of us just eyeing each other awkwardly. “I suppose I haven’t thanked you enough for what you’ve done, so thank you. Thank you for getting Edward and me out of the vehicle and saving our lives. And thank you for trying to save…” The words caught in my throat, and I let them dissolve into the air conditioning. “I don’t know what would have happened if you hadn’t been there.”
“Don’t think about that.” I nodded, locking eyes with the man who had saved my brother and me. Mary returned with the wheelchair, breaking the connection.
“Ah, thank you, Mary. I’ll take Annabelle to her brother’s room myself. Page me if you or any of the staff members need me.”
“Will do.”
As Dr. Styles unplugged me from the machines and adjusted my IV, we remained silent. My brain worked overtime, just thinking about seeing Edward, and I couldn’t stop the tears from falling. I had only minutes before I had to be strong, before I could collapse in front of a person I couldn’t cry in front of.
Moving to the wheelchair was more painful than simply sitting up in bed, but Dr. Styles tried to make it as easy as possible. The entire process took nearly five minutes before we were on our way down the hall.
As Dr. Styles had promised, we turned a corner, and the change in atmosphere was astounding. The walls were painted vibrant greens, yellows, reds, and adorned with murals outside patient rooms. Screens hung outside each room, displaying a child’s name and cute icons. My heart warmed slightly, thankful that Edward was somewhere a little cheerful, even if it was in a hospital.
“Dr. Horan.” Dr. Styles called out to a blonde man at the edge of the nurse’s station. The man chuckled, tossing a stuffed giraffe onto the counter beside him, and didn’t even bother turning around at the mention of his name.
“Harold, why so formal this evening? Oh.” His playful banter was cut short as he turned and saw me in the wheelchair.
“Dr. Horan, meet Annabelle Chambers, your patient’s sister.”
“Right, hello.” His accent differed from ours, the man potentially hailing from Ireland, if I could pick out my accents well enough. “I’m Dr. Niall Horan, pediatrician and Edward’s doctor.”
“Hi, pleasure. My brother, how is he? Dr. Styles says he’ll be just fine, but…”
“Trust me, Ms. Chambers—”
“It’s Annabelle, she prefers to be called Annabelle.” Dr. Styles corrected him.
“Your brother is a-okay! Aside from some bruising and a minor laceration to the head that needed a couple stitches, he’s quite alright. Very brave boy as well, barely cried when I was giving him his stitches.” I let out a deep sigh of relief and relaxed back into the chair. “He’s been asking a lot about you. You’re like his hero.”
Since leaving sixth form I haven’t been around all too much, well until my adult life got flipped upside down.
It's not that I don't love my family dearly, it's just that I had wanted to get out of Northwich since I was a young girl. Seeing the world was always a dream of mine, still is, but I only made it as far as London. But no matter what, I always made time for Edward.
Nearly six years ago my parents surprised me with the announcement of her pregnancy with Edward. At first I was shocked, I mean we all know how babies are made, but then I was incredibly excited. After his birth, I was coming home from Manchester nearly every other day just to cuddle with him and love on him. I’d always had a soft spot for kids.
Ever since then I’ve been involved in everything, from watching his football matches to teaching him how to tie his shoes.
“Yeah, we’re very close.” I say, looking around the hall in hopes of seeing Edward’s name on one of the screens nearby. “May I please see him now?”
Dr. Horan gave a little glance up to Dr. Styles before nodding, almost as if gathering permission. With a nod, we began to follow him down the hall.
“I know this is a very difficult time for you both, which by the way I am very sorry for your losses. I think it would be best if we sat down and had a conversation about how to go about telling Edward of your parents’ deaths.” Fighting back another round of unwanted tears, I agreed with Dr. Horan. “For right now, I think it would be suitable just for you two to be reunited. We can speak about the specifics in the morning if you’re feeling up to it.”
“That sounds good.”
I practically brushed Dr. Horan off as my eyes wandered the halls. Unfortunately for me, the rapid eye movement and motion of the chair brought a piercing headache, which caused me to almost double over in pain.
“Annabelle, are you feeling alright?” Dr. Horan noticed as Dr. Styles abruptly stopped and came around to my front.
“Yeah, I’m just working myself up. I’m fine.” Dr. Styles studied my face before taking my wrist in his hand. The three of us silently sat in the midst of the hall whilst Dr. Styles took my pulse and continued to study me over. “It’s just a little headache from the lights. I assure you that I am fine.”
“She’s fine.” Dr. Horan said after Dr. Styles simply stood there staring at me. “I think we should get her in for another CT scan, I’m not liking some of the signs that I’m seeing…”
“Oh for crying out loud!” I nearly shouted, pushing Dr. Styles’ hand off me. Despite the pain, I took control of the wheelchair for myself and began trying to roll myself down the hall. “I said I am fine; I need to see my brother.”
“Annabelle, there could be serious—”
I didn’t allow Dr. Styles to finish, even when he took control of the wheelchair and stopped my movements. I jerked around in my seat, the pain in my ribs and shoulder minimal at the moment.
“Listen here, doc, I am not going to have a CT scan or an MRI or even go back to my bloody room until I’ve seen Edward. After I make sure he’s fine and hold him in my arms for a while, you can take me back and do whatever tests you deem fit. But for the love of God, let me see my brother.”
Dr. Styles looked incredibly taken aback by my words, perhaps because he’d never had a patient chew his head off before. His jaw clenched a bit as his vibrant eyes scanned my body. I’ll admit, if I were weak, the pout would draw me under and I’d probably give in. But I am not weak.
“Harry, it can wait. Let her see her brother.” Dr. Styles sent a glare in Dr. Horan’s direction before clenching his jaw one last time and cursing lightly under his breath.
“Mate, you’re exhausted.” Dr. Horan cut him off from saying something and jeopardizing his professionalism. “How about you go, take a nap and I’ll take Annabelle to see her brother. I’ll have her back to her room when she’s done, not a minute later and then you can put in the order for the CT scan.”
My hard-headed doctor looked between Dr. Horan and me, almost as if we’d been plotting this behind his back.
“Alright, but if anything, and I mean anything, Niall, happens to her, you page me immediately.”
“Understood. Now go.” Dr. Horan stated, swatting him away from the chair.
With one last look between the two of us, Dr. Styles backed off and carried on down the hall until he was out of sight.
“Don’t mind him, he can be hard headed sometimes when it comes to his patients. He simply wants the best for them.”
I didn’t hold anything against the man, how could I? He saved my life and Edward’s too. I don’t think I could ever be truly angry at him; a little annoyed, maybe?
“You know whilst you’ve been napping away, he’s been scurrying around checking on you and Edward.”
“First off, I was practically in a coma, and secondly, he’s been checking on Edward? I thought that’s your job, you know, as his doctor?” Dr. Horan let out a hearty laugh and continued to push me slowly down the hall.
How long is this hall? What happened to Edward being just down the hall?
“Oh I’ve been doing my job, missy, don’t you fret. But Harry’s been, well Harry. Doctors are taught not to get involved with their patients outside the doors of this building, but your case is rather unique. You met prior to entering through the doors and that’s had an effect on him. He’s very passionate and I think he’s taken a little bit of a liking towards you.” He muttered out the last part, but I heard it anyway.
“What?”
“What? I said he’s very passionate and I think that Edward’s taken a little bit of a liking towards him, that’s all.” I hummed lightly and rubbed my temples.
Maybe I do need that CT Scan.
“And here we are! Edward, I’ve got a surprise for you buddy!”
“Annie!”