three hearts in one home (l.s.)

4. Waiting rooms and babysitting

I called Liam the second I ended the call with the hospital. I don’t even know what to feel. Besides being extremely concerned, I’m  also overwhelmed with having to take care of Jonah and figuring out what the hell I’m supposed to do now.

We took the underground as fast as we could and are now five minutes away from finally arriving at the hospital. I probably shouldn’t take Jonah there with me but I didn’t have the patience to drop him off at the flat first. Besides that, maybe Louis is just fine and it’s just a small injury.

“Where is my daddy?”
I frown. I don’t know what to tell him. He’s scared, biting his finger nails and wiggling his foot. I can’t tell him yet. He might worry without a reason. I’ll tell him the second I know what happened to Louis.

“Harry, where is daddy?”
I pull him a little closer and try to comfort him even though I am freaking out internally.

“I’m not quite sure. I’ll tell you in a few minutes, love. Let me talk to some people and then we’ll know.”
He frowns but seems to accept my reasoning before turning to stare out of the window again.

I check my phone just to see if Liam wrote me another message. He’s the best at giving advice.
Liam: it’ll be alright, if you need something, please call me. I’m still at work but i can be there right afterwards xxx

I smile at the message and then signal Jonah to get up so we can take the next stop. I lift him up so he sits on my waist, his arms wrapped around my neck.
He’s become unusually quiet and I’m sure he’s extremely worried, I am too.

We arrive at the hospital after a few more minutes of walking and I push the door open.

“Hi”, I say to the man at the reception, sounding a little out of breath, “I’m here to see someone called Louis Tomlinson, is that possible?”

He starts typing something into his computer and I feel Jonah shifting on my arm.
“Why we here? Is daddy sick?”

I slowly stroke through his hair. “I’m not sure, love. He might be. We’ll find out soon, alright? Please don’t worry about it too much.”
Jonah snuffles quietly, hiding his face in my neck.

“You’ll have to wait over there”, the man says and point to the hallway, “First door at the right side. Someone will be there to inform you soon.”
He hands me some papers I need to fill in and then I walk down the hallway, Jonah still on my arm, holding onto my shirt tightly.

We sit down at one of the chairs. “When will we know?”, Jonah asks and he’s on the edge of crying, his lips trembling a little.

“Soon, love, I’m so sorry. Do you want a friend of mine to pick you up? Does this make you feel bad?”

He shakes his head and nods right after. “Makes me feel bad but want to stay with you.”
I smile softly and want to try to comfort him before a doctor enters the waiting room.

“Good evening”, he says, “I am here to talk to you about Mister Tomlinson. I’d need some information first, though. As you probably know I have to remain confidentiality Are you related to Mister Tomlinson?”
I shake my head. “Look, I know we have to do this, but I have his son with me. Does he need to stay here, I don’t know if it’s a good idea if he listens to all of this.”

The doctor nods shortly and a nurse comes to pick Jonah up and being him to some room to play at.
I know I shouldn’t leave him alone but I’m completely overwhelmed with taking care of him too.

“So, you’re friends? Partners?”
I shrug. “Friends, yes. I teach his son to swim and he didn’t show up to pick him up.”

He nods slowly, as if he was thinking about what to say. “It’s one of those cases where it’s hard for me to decide. You have to understand that I can get in trouble if I inform you about stuff, Mister Tomlinson didn’t agree on beforehand.”

“I know that. Isn’t there some kind of emergency contact he determined; I could get in contact with them.”
I am getting extremely nervous. I feel like something pretty bad happened if the doctor doesn’t let me see or talk to Louis.

“He did, his mother.”
I want to tell him that that’s great, I’m sure she could also take Jonah if Louis isn’t capable of doing that right now, but the doctor says: “She passed away six months ago. Mister Tomlinson didn’t change the contact yet.”

I don’t know what to reply to that. Shit. Fuck, I can’t even get in contact with his family, if there is any left.

“Alright, since you’re with his child I feel like I at least have to tell you in what state Mister Tomlinson is in right now. I can’t tell you what happened or give you any details but he is in a coma with the prognosis of a minor craniocerebral trauma. The longer the unconsciousness lasts, the worse the prognosis. Overall, younger patients have a better prognosis than older ones. Well only be able to tell you more, once the patient wakes up out of his coma again.”

The doctor goes on and on about what exactly that means, but I can only think of Louis, laying there in his hospital bed, I don’t know in how much danger. I can only think for his mum dying, can only think of Jonah being without his dad in some playroom in this hospital.

“Sir?”
I snap back into reality, seeing the doctor stare back at me.
“Sorry, what was the question?”

The doctor smiles reassuringly. “Do you know if there’s anyone who could take care of his son until Mister Tomlinson is capable of doing that again? Any friends or family in town, maybe?”

All I can think of is Louis saying: “Just moved here two months ago, didn’t really have the chance to make friends yet, Harry.”

Or: “Sorry I’m late again. Being a single dad is hard, I didn’t have anyone to pick him up today."

And: “My friends are all back home.”

Never once did he mention any family besides his mum. Fuck.
The doctor patiently waits for my answer. “Um, no, I don’t know about that.”

He nods slowly and looks a little concerned. “We don’t have any contacts left either since his mother passed away. We will need to get Jonah into temporary foster care, then.”

I scoot my head up, a little shocked by what the man just said. Of course, it makes sense, where else should he stay? But I can’t bring myself to imagine that sweet boy in some family he doesn’t know, alone while he worries about his dad.

And without really thinking, I say: “I don’t know if he has any friends here besides me. I’ll take Jonah.”

~~~

hi:)

just wanted to let you know that I am not an expert concerning hospitals or accidents and the following injuries, I tried informing myself and making it as realistic as possible, but please don't be confused if something seems weird or unrealistic

thanks for reading, voting and commenting:)