HALF A HEART
Chapter 29
One Week Later…
“We can’t just sit there and not defend and protect the people that need us the most!” I bellowed to a crowd of unfamiliar students. I waited for the cheers to die down. “We need to stand up for what we believe in and make it known that we accept people for who they are and defend those not confident in themselves to make the point known!” I didn’t wait for there to be a cease in sound this time, “Remember!” I bellowed, “Beauty!” The crowd started chanting the words with me, “Confidence! Acceptance! And Individuality!” I roared and took a bow. I waved a couple times before jogging off the stage.
I greeted the principal back stage as he handed me a bottle of water. I took it graciously as I wiped the sweat gathering on my forehead. I pressed my lips to the bottle and welcomed the chill of the icy cold drops as they lubricated my throat.
“That was very good Ms. Richards.” He said.
I nodded trying to catch my breath. “Thank you. I really appreciate it.”
“So did that actually happen to your friend?”
I felt myself flinch…ass hole… “Uh…yeah…” I picked up my bag and started walking out of the Performing Arts Center and into the hallway. I was greeted by a group of five or six students, all looking to be around my age.
“Hi Annie! My name is Valerie.” A short girl with ebony black hair greeted me with a toothy grin.
I stuck out my right hand, “It’s very nice to meet you.”
“I just wanted to say thank you,” she paused, “for doing all of this. The school has been having a hard time with…well exactly what you talked to us about and I truly believe that we’ll see a change in these halls.”
I set my things down on the floor and pulled her into a genuine hug. “That means a lot to me.” I stepped away from her. “Thank you so much.”
“You’re welcome. Oh! And I really hope that your friend gets better. He seems like he was a really REALLY amazing person.” She smiled at me and I nodded back to her as my phone in my pocket began to vibrate. The group of five students left as Valerie began to walk away and I fished my phone out of my pocket before hitting the answer button.
“Annie Richards.” I said as I bent to pick up my bag and my water bottle again.
“Hey Annie.”
“Liam?!” I squealed in delight at hearing his voice again. I have to admit, in my time in London I obviously connected the most with Harry and then Louis, but I respect the other boys so much and would love to actually get to know them better.
“Hey…” He said and he sounded pretty upset.
“What’s the matter?” I stopped digging in my purse when I heard his voice of worry and pain though I heard no answer. “Liam, what’s going on? Is Harry okay?” I asked, my heart beginning to pound painfully against my chest.
“Annie, I have to talk to you about something. Are you alone? Are you sitting down?” He said, his voice finding a twinge of strength.
“No. I’m at a school in Connecticut right now. I just got done with a presentation.”
“Call me when you get to your hotel.” He said and I heard him end the call before I could protest.
I began to fumble with my things as I tried to move as quickly as I could. My bag tumbled to the floor, releasing its contents onto the ivory floor. My nerves were starting to settle in as my mind began to imagine the worst…. Is Harry still alive as I sit here fumbling with Chap Stick and bobby pins?
I gathered all of my things and ran out to my rental car, ignoring the principal as he tried to shake my hand again. I couldn’t explain to him that the man whom he thought was a figment of my imagination may not be alive or may be in a much worse state than he was in when I left London.
I tripped walking into my hotel room and I plopped all of my things on the table, ignoring the fact that the contents of my damn bag fell out…again…
My hands shook uncontrollably as I punched in the numbers of Liam’s cellphone. I put the receiver of the hotel phone to my ear and listened to the low hum of the phone ringing on the other end. My body tensed with anticipation for Liam to answer, and tears rimmed my eyes when I couldn’t shake the thoughts out of my head of what he could possibly need to talk to me about.
“Hello?”
“Okay Liam. What is going on?” I said almost angry as I stood up from the bed I was sitting on and began pacing in the small diameter that the chord would allow me to walk.
“Annie, are you sitting down?” He said glumly.
I rolled my eyes as I sat down on the hotel bed. “Yes. Yes, I’m sitting now.”
“Okay so here’s the deal,” he paused, “Harry isn’t getting any better—“
“—but is he getting worse? Or is he in the same state as when I left?”
“Annie, let me finish.” He said softly. “He’s not getting any better and he’s actually been getting weaker as the days have gone on.”
I put my head in my hand as I tried to contain the tears that were beginning to pour out of my eyes. “So what? What’s going to happen? What are the doctors saying?”
“Annie—“
“Just tell me Liam.” I almost yelled at him.
“Annie I—“
“Liam!”
“They want to take him off life support…” My body started to shake as I tried to hold back the sobs that were fighting desperately to come free of my body. Tears streamed down my face like rivers for the thousandth time and I nearly dropped the phone. “Annie I—“
“When?” I cracked around the knot in my throat. “When?”
“They want to do it next Thursday…”
“Thursday but…Liam today is Tuesday! I—I can’t possibly get back in time! I—I—I!” I let the sobs come free now and started messaging my temple with the hand that wasn’t holding the phone.
“Annie, NEXT Thursday. There’s over a week. Please come home next week. We don’t want you to be dwelling on this while you’re here. Keep doing what you’re doing. It’s what Harry would want…”
I rolled my head back when I knew he was right. “Liam, I can’t just stay here a half a world away when I know what the outcome is going to be.”
“Harry wouldn’t want you to be waiting next to him. He’d want you to make sure that you’re doing exactly what you set out to do. If you come home now then you wouldn’t have done that, and all of your efforts might be for nothing.”
“Liam—“ I pleaded.
“Annie, just stay there. All of us have agreed that that’s where you need to be.”
“Why are you telling me this? Why isn’t Gemma or Anne… Or even Louis?!”
“They all know that they can’t have this conversation with you without making this situation ten times harder on themselves,” He cut me off when I started to talk again, “Annie, this conversation is destroying me on the inside you have to know that. I volunteered to tell you because you deserve to be told by one of us, not some random message on a machine or by someone you don’t know.” I heard his voice crack as he finished talking.
I nodded around the knot in my throat. “I’ll talk to you later Liam.” I croaked.
My face contorted as I tried desperately not to sob hysterically. I hung the phone up again and crashed my face into my pillows, letting my sobs be drowned out by the cotton.
How could Liam tell me that? How could he say that I need to stay in the States when they will be ending Harry’s life in a week?
Annie…He’s right…Harry would want you here…He wouldn’t want you dwelling on the outcome as he lay in front of you…
Just stay here…
You can do it…
It’ll be okay…
“Harry!!” I wailed.
“We can’t just sit there and not defend and protect the people that need us the most!” I bellowed to a crowd of unfamiliar students. I waited for the cheers to die down. “We need to stand up for what we believe in and make it known that we accept people for who they are and defend those not confident in themselves to make the point known!” I didn’t wait for there to be a cease in sound this time, “Remember!” I bellowed, “Beauty!” The crowd started chanting the words with me, “Confidence! Acceptance! And Individuality!” I roared and took a bow. I waved a couple times before jogging off the stage.
I greeted the principal back stage as he handed me a bottle of water. I took it graciously as I wiped the sweat gathering on my forehead. I pressed my lips to the bottle and welcomed the chill of the icy cold drops as they lubricated my throat.
“That was very good Ms. Richards.” He said.
I nodded trying to catch my breath. “Thank you. I really appreciate it.”
“So did that actually happen to your friend?”
I felt myself flinch…ass hole… “Uh…yeah…” I picked up my bag and started walking out of the Performing Arts Center and into the hallway. I was greeted by a group of five or six students, all looking to be around my age.
“Hi Annie! My name is Valerie.” A short girl with ebony black hair greeted me with a toothy grin.
I stuck out my right hand, “It’s very nice to meet you.”
“I just wanted to say thank you,” she paused, “for doing all of this. The school has been having a hard time with…well exactly what you talked to us about and I truly believe that we’ll see a change in these halls.”
I set my things down on the floor and pulled her into a genuine hug. “That means a lot to me.” I stepped away from her. “Thank you so much.”
“You’re welcome. Oh! And I really hope that your friend gets better. He seems like he was a really REALLY amazing person.” She smiled at me and I nodded back to her as my phone in my pocket began to vibrate. The group of five students left as Valerie began to walk away and I fished my phone out of my pocket before hitting the answer button.
“Annie Richards.” I said as I bent to pick up my bag and my water bottle again.
“Hey Annie.”
“Liam?!” I squealed in delight at hearing his voice again. I have to admit, in my time in London I obviously connected the most with Harry and then Louis, but I respect the other boys so much and would love to actually get to know them better.
“Hey…” He said and he sounded pretty upset.
“What’s the matter?” I stopped digging in my purse when I heard his voice of worry and pain though I heard no answer. “Liam, what’s going on? Is Harry okay?” I asked, my heart beginning to pound painfully against my chest.
“Annie, I have to talk to you about something. Are you alone? Are you sitting down?” He said, his voice finding a twinge of strength.
“No. I’m at a school in Connecticut right now. I just got done with a presentation.”
“Call me when you get to your hotel.” He said and I heard him end the call before I could protest.
I began to fumble with my things as I tried to move as quickly as I could. My bag tumbled to the floor, releasing its contents onto the ivory floor. My nerves were starting to settle in as my mind began to imagine the worst…. Is Harry still alive as I sit here fumbling with Chap Stick and bobby pins?
I gathered all of my things and ran out to my rental car, ignoring the principal as he tried to shake my hand again. I couldn’t explain to him that the man whom he thought was a figment of my imagination may not be alive or may be in a much worse state than he was in when I left London.
I tripped walking into my hotel room and I plopped all of my things on the table, ignoring the fact that the contents of my damn bag fell out…again…
My hands shook uncontrollably as I punched in the numbers of Liam’s cellphone. I put the receiver of the hotel phone to my ear and listened to the low hum of the phone ringing on the other end. My body tensed with anticipation for Liam to answer, and tears rimmed my eyes when I couldn’t shake the thoughts out of my head of what he could possibly need to talk to me about.
“Hello?”
“Okay Liam. What is going on?” I said almost angry as I stood up from the bed I was sitting on and began pacing in the small diameter that the chord would allow me to walk.
“Annie, are you sitting down?” He said glumly.
I rolled my eyes as I sat down on the hotel bed. “Yes. Yes, I’m sitting now.”
“Okay so here’s the deal,” he paused, “Harry isn’t getting any better—“
“—but is he getting worse? Or is he in the same state as when I left?”
“Annie, let me finish.” He said softly. “He’s not getting any better and he’s actually been getting weaker as the days have gone on.”
I put my head in my hand as I tried to contain the tears that were beginning to pour out of my eyes. “So what? What’s going to happen? What are the doctors saying?”
“Annie—“
“Just tell me Liam.” I almost yelled at him.
“Annie I—“
“Liam!”
“They want to take him off life support…” My body started to shake as I tried to hold back the sobs that were fighting desperately to come free of my body. Tears streamed down my face like rivers for the thousandth time and I nearly dropped the phone. “Annie I—“
“When?” I cracked around the knot in my throat. “When?”
“They want to do it next Thursday…”
“Thursday but…Liam today is Tuesday! I—I can’t possibly get back in time! I—I—I!” I let the sobs come free now and started messaging my temple with the hand that wasn’t holding the phone.
“Annie, NEXT Thursday. There’s over a week. Please come home next week. We don’t want you to be dwelling on this while you’re here. Keep doing what you’re doing. It’s what Harry would want…”
I rolled my head back when I knew he was right. “Liam, I can’t just stay here a half a world away when I know what the outcome is going to be.”
“Harry wouldn’t want you to be waiting next to him. He’d want you to make sure that you’re doing exactly what you set out to do. If you come home now then you wouldn’t have done that, and all of your efforts might be for nothing.”
“Liam—“ I pleaded.
“Annie, just stay there. All of us have agreed that that’s where you need to be.”
“Why are you telling me this? Why isn’t Gemma or Anne… Or even Louis?!”
“They all know that they can’t have this conversation with you without making this situation ten times harder on themselves,” He cut me off when I started to talk again, “Annie, this conversation is destroying me on the inside you have to know that. I volunteered to tell you because you deserve to be told by one of us, not some random message on a machine or by someone you don’t know.” I heard his voice crack as he finished talking.
I nodded around the knot in my throat. “I’ll talk to you later Liam.” I croaked.
My face contorted as I tried desperately not to sob hysterically. I hung the phone up again and crashed my face into my pillows, letting my sobs be drowned out by the cotton.
How could Liam tell me that? How could he say that I need to stay in the States when they will be ending Harry’s life in a week?
Annie…He’s right…Harry would want you here…He wouldn’t want you dwelling on the outcome as he lay in front of you…
Just stay here…
You can do it…
It’ll be okay…
“Harry!!” I wailed.
Notes
Hey guys!! OMG IM 18!!!! O.o I feel olddddddddddd. I think my parents have something planned for me so I SHALL LET YOU KNOW HOW THAT GOES(:
Okay so I know that basing off of comments and such, this was probably a pretty emotional chapter to read. TRUST ME it wasn't easy to write either!!! D: But just bare with me! I PROMISE!!
Thank you so much to everyone who has read this story, and to all of you who have been commenting what you think and I seriously find SO much joy from reading what you guys have to say(: So PLEASE continue to comment and tell me what you think!!
Like I said before....maybe possible 75 votes for my birthday??? It's tomorrow... IT WOULD BE SO FREAKING AWESOMEEE
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Questions:
HARRRRYYYYYYYYYY
How will Annie cope in the next week?
What will happen when she gets back to London?
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Inspirational Quote: "Smile, what have you got to lose?"
LOVE YOU GUYS SO SO SO SO MUUUUCH!!!!
~JoseyWhite
Chapter 22 is my fav chapter!!
11/9/16