Anorexic Harry // Part Two (request)
The four boys ran out... The stage lights hit… The audience was deafening…
The black dots grew to a solid darkness and the last thing Harry remembered was the cry from someone.... Someone he loved… Someone who cared…
“Harry…!” Cried Louis as he watched the youngest fall to the floor a few feet away from him.
The audience became silent… James quickly stood in shock… Liam and Niall froze in horror.
“Medic!” Called James, heading over to Harry, “We need a medic!”
Louis’ shock quickly morphed into concern as he ran to Harry’s side and crouched by his body.
He watched as the boy’s eyes fluttered lightly.
“You’re okay Harry. I’m right here and help is on the way.” Louis soothed,
“Mmh…” Harry groaned as he rolled, weakly, onto his back.
His eyes now open all the way but straining against the stage lights. Louis was quick to notice this.
“James!” Called Louis, “Can you dim the lights, I think they’re hurting his head.”
James was quick to jog off stage and ask the crew to turn down the lights. Louis watched Harry relax as the lights dimmed.
“Is that better?” Asked Louis gently, never once taking his eyes off the green eyes boy.
Liam, Niall and James had now moved so they were all standing behind Louis, watching their friend lying on the floor. All four boys were quick to react when Harry began to push himself up. Louis placed a hand on his chest, gently trying to push him back down. Liam and Niall ran to each side of him to try and soothe him. As Louis lay his hand on the boy's chest he could feel every rib under his hand and that concerned him greatly.
“No, love.” Called Louis, “You need to stay down. The medic is on their way.”
“N..no… I’m, I’m fine. I don’t need a medic.” Harry pushed Louis’ hand off and forced himself into a sitting position.
“Okay...okay…” Louis said, knowing that he wasn’t going to be able to keep Harry down, “But, take it easy, yeah. And you have to see a medic, love. You collapsed. You need to be checked over.”
“N..no. I’m fine. It’s fine.” Harry was quick to push himself to standing.
Louis made sure to follow his actions in case anything happened. It was a good thing too, as, as soon as Harry took a step his legs gave out and he fell into Louis’ grip.
“Woah, you’re okay,” Louis soothed, steading the boy.
“Let’s get him to the dressing rooms, it’s more private,” Said Liam as he made his way to Harry’s side, slipping his arm around Harry’s waist on one side as Louis did the same on the other. They slowly hobbled backstage.
“Harry, you can lean on us, it’s okay,” Louis soothed, as the boy was too light for that to be his weight. However, he looked to Harry’s feet briefly to see that his feet were dragging on the floor. The boy was stupidly light.
They made quick work of getting the boy on the sofa in the green room and James ran in not long after with a medic following behind him.
“Hi Harry, I’m Luke.” The medic introduced himself as he crouched in front of the man, “So, I’ve been told you had a fainting spell. Can you tell me what happened?”
“I… I uh… I was walking out on stage and I felt dizzy and there were black spots. T...then I was on the floor… Louis was looking down at me…” Harry explained.
“Is that it?” Luke asked and Harry nodded, “Okay Harry, can you take your jumper off for me please?”
Harry’s eyes widened. Karen had seen him shirtless, sure, but he couldn’t let the other boys see.
“I...I...um…” Stuttered Harry,
“Come on guys. Let's step out. Give Harry and the medic their space.” Instructed Louis, sensing that Harry was uncomfortable with all of them watching. As much as he wanted to stay he knew it would be the best if he left.
The boys all left the room leaving just Harry and Luke in the room. Once the door was closed Harry slowly pulled the jumper over his head. Once off, he closed his eyes, not wanting to see the look on Luke’s face. Luke instantly knew the problem when he saw the other boy shirtless. When he saw the way his ribs stuck out and stretched his skin. How pale he was. The boy was clearly significantly underweight.
“Okay Harry, I’m just going to check your heart.” Explained Luke as he held the stethoscope to various places on Harry’s chest and back. “Okay…” He muttered, placing a blood pressure cuff on his arm.
“Okay,” He noted down the numbers. “Right, Harry, is there anything I should know, medical history, allergies, any medications?”
Harry looked down at his feet.
“I uh, I…” Stuttered Harry, “I’ve been prescribed antidepressants but I haven’t taken them in a while.”
“Okay,” Luke nodded, “Anything else?”
“I, I have anti-anxiety medication.” Harry said, still not looking up.
“Okay, do you take them like you're supposed to?” Asked Luke gently.
Harry just shook his head.
“Alright, anything else?” Luke knew what he was looking for. He knew what he had but he didn’t know if he was given a diagnosis yet or not.
“I… I’m diagnosed anorexic….” Harry whispered, tears clouding his eyes.
“Okay.” Luke spoke gently, “I thought as much.”
Luke moved to sit on the sofa next to Harry.
“So, you know why you collapsed. Your body is shutting down Harry and from the sound of your heart I’d give you little over a month left at most if you don’t turn this around.” Luke explained, “Now, I’m not going to force you into the hospital yet, but you’re on bed rest until further notice. I’ll arrange for you to see a nutritionist and you’ll be given a food plan to follow.”
Harry nodded at each thing he said. He knew it was coming. It had been coming for a while.
“I understand you have a busy job and there are things you absolutely cannot miss so if you have to leave the bus or the hotel you will be in a wheelchair until you are deemed safe by another doctor, okay?” Harry nodded again, not trusting his voice.
He really hated that it had come to this but there was nothing he could do. It was his own fault.
“Okay, now you can put your jumper back on and I’ll go and explain the situation to the other boys. They need to know, as you are in store for a difficult few weeks and you need their support to get through this.”
Harry nodded as he began to pull on his jumper. Not watching as Luke left the room to talk to the boys. He took some steadying deep breaths to try and calm himself down. He let the tears fall as he hid his face in his hands. He was sobbing his heart out when he felt an arm wrap around him.
“It’s okay, love.” Soothed Louis as he pulled Harry onto his lap, “It’s okay. Let it all out, it’s okay.”
“I...I’m s...s...sorry…” Harry stuttered as he latched onto Louis, sobbing into his chest. “I’m so...sorry…”
“It’s okay, love… We’re going to get you help and you’ll be fit and healthy again in no time…” Louis soothed, “It will all be okay.”
Harry cried into Louis' shirt, not even realising that Liam and Niall were now sitting in the room until Liam spoke up.
“Harry, we are here for you no matter what,” Liam spoke, his voice full of concern but never once shaking, “You will get through this.”
Harry nodded against Louis’ chest, it was the only way he could respond to the boy's words. He couldn’t bring himself to talk anymore.
He knew it wouldn’t be easy, getting better but now the boys knew and they were going to help him. For the first time in years he actually felt hopeful for his future.