(Harry's POV)

When I woke up I felt a strange tugging sensation on the left side of my face. I lifter my hand up, realizing there were wires and a pulse monitor attached to my hand.

Hospital?

Well, I do remember the intense pain after that girl snapped those dreadful earmuffs back against my head. Must have needed that surgery anyways. Good thing I signed the papers way back saying that if need be, to get the surgery. There was a risk though, and that was complete hearing loss. I hoped that wasn’t the case in my situations, but I didn’t find out until the doctor walked into my room, followed by Paul and Preston. The guys were nowhere to be seen and that bothered me. They were family, they were allowed in. The look on Paul’s face told me that he was in no mood to deal with the five of us in one small room. He came up to the side of my bed while Preston stood guard at the door. He placed a hand on my shoulder and tried to give a smile. He then lifted his other hand and gave me a thumbs up. That was strange. My brows furrowed in confusion as he grabbed the white board that was placed on my bedside table. He held it up after writing on it for a few minutes. His lips pursed, most likely trying to find the right words to say.

Your left ear took some more damage and they had to go in for surgery and repair the ear drum and some of the bones that were shifted around.

That would explain the hospital. I was right about the surgery. I kept on reading.

The doctor said that your left ear should be back to full working condition in about a month.  

Wait, a month? When I first came in after the crash they told me my ears would heal naturally within three to four months along with my leg. How come if would take a shorter time to recover this time around? Medical miracles? Had to be. I sat up quickly, surprised at the information, but instantly regretted the action. My head spun, as did the room around me. Paul reached out and placed me back down on the bed. Vertigo. One of the symptoms I read about after having ear surgery, along with some stuff that was going to ooze out of my ear.  Great. It was gross to think about, but it was all a part of healing right?

I don’t know how much longer I was in the hospital, but Paul wanted for me to stay for a while and I found out the reason when nearly three hours passed and my mum came bursting into the room. Her face was frantic as she looked at me lying there in the bed. The back of the bed was raised slightly so that I could watch, at least try to, the television. She came up to me and placed her hands on either side of my face, pulling her one hand away when she saw the stitches just behind my ear. I was on so many pain medications that I couldn’t even feel her touch there. Her lips moved, obviously trying to ask me a question, but due to the lack of hearing, I couldn’t understand hand and therefor couldn’t answer.

“Hey mum.” I croaked out. My throat was dry and scratchy. I was only allowed to sip water because gulping down would possibly pop my eardrum and but open the work they had just done. She sat softly on the edge of my bed. Paul showed her the white board and I bet he explained the situation to her when they conversed with each other for a few minutes before she turned her attention back to me. Her hand shook when she wrote down on the white surface.

How are you feeling? She asked. I shrugged and she stifled a laugh. Her hand grazed my cheek and she smiled sadly. I’m glad you’re going to be all right, baby. She leaned forward and placed akiss on my forehead. She took one last look at me before getting up from the bed and leaving the room to talk to Paul and Preston. I watched from my hospital bed as she flung her arms around and shouted. I didn’t have to hear what she was saying to know that she was yelling at them for everything that happened. But really, this part of the whole ordeal was my fault. I wanted to fresh air. Niall just went along with it. Hopefully he didn’t get yelled at too much.

My mum returned, her face red and her dark hair in her face. She took a deep breath before pushing her hair from her face and grabbing the white board from my lap. She hastily wrote down a sentence and handed it over to me. My eyes widened when I read what she was going to do about all that had happened.

I’m taking you home with me.

I couldn’t fight it. I knew that management would be pissed that I would just up and leave and drop off the face of the earth, but it was needed. Everything in London was hectic and the very thought of home, Holmes Chapel, sounded beautiful. Recovery would go easier without all the fans crowding around in London. I gulped and looked up at my mother. She was serious about taking me home. I was past the legal age, but mum’s orders were law.

Screw management. I was going home. I needed it.

--

(Liam's POV)

“Can she really do that?” I asked after everyone quieted down. Anne was back in the room with Harry, packing up what little belongings he had with him at the hospital. She said something about going back to Harry’s flat and packing up his things for a trip back to Holmes Chapel. “She can’t just take him away from London. Management will flip. What about the interview?”

Paul walked off after not answering my question. I looked over at the guys. They shrugged and looked into Harry’s room, seeing if they could find the answer in there. Harry didn’t seem against the idea at all. He actually looked relieved from what I could tell. “Harry needs to recoup. Get away from everything, yeah?” Zayn spoke up and we all nodded in agreement.

“The interview is still a go.” Paul came back into the area, pocketing his phone.

“Wait. What? What about Harry?” Niall bit his lip when Paul shot a glare at him. Poor guy. He didn’t mean any harm.

“I told them Harry is out of commission for the next two weeks. Doctor’s orders.” A smirk played across his face. Niall tilted his head, not understanding. He began to say something about the doctors saying Harry was good to go even then, but Paul shut him up by repeating himself with more emphasis. “Doctors orders.” We all sighed with relief, realizing what Paul meant. He lied to management to get Harry a few weeks of freedom and time to heal.

But the interview was still a go. How?

“What’s going on with the interview then? Will we just go without Harry?” I asked.

Paul nodded. “Essentially, yes.”

“What do we talk about then? People are going to want to know where Harry is. Do we just tell them the truth? Louis shifted his weight from one foot to the other. He tried to scratch his forehead where the stitches were, but he forced his hand down to his side.

“Tell then what you can without disclosing too much.” Paul shrugged, then relaxed and turned out to face Harry’s mother standing in the doorway to Harry’s hospital room. She motioned to the group of us, excluding Paul and Preston.

“Can I talk to you boys?” She asked. Her eyes scanned us. Louis stepped forward first and then we piled into Harry’s room. Anne shut the door behind us. I took a spot against the white wall and leaned against its cold surface. Once we were all inside, Anne placed her hands on her hips. She meant business. “Can someone please tell me how all of this happened? I know about the car crash, but tell me about everything, from the beginning.” Her voice was demanding. She looked at Louis especially and I wondered what the connection was.

“Anne, Harry didn’t want to worry you.” Louis said timidly. He must have been the one to call her when the crash happened. He glanced over at Harry who was wearing a confused expression. Having us all in the room talking to his mother when he couldn’t hear the conversation had to be strange.

“Well that didn’t go over too well.” Anne huffed in response. Her stance and angered mum presence sent shivers down my spine. “Who was driving?” She asked, pointing an accusatory finger at each one of us. Zayn placed his hands up in defense. I did the same. Louis and Niall both shook their heads.

“Preston was.” We said in unison. It felt bad to throw him under the bus like that, but it was the truth. He was driving, but the crash wasn’t his fault. I clarified that with Anne. “He actually saved Harry’s life when he held out his arm when Harry moved his seatbelt around so that he could talk to us. Some drunken guy hit us. It wasn’t his fault.”

“Oh, alright.” Anne nodded, though she still gave off an air of uncertainty when she looked at us all. “Now what happened today?” He hands fell from her hips as her anger towards us subsided.

“Zayn and I got a call from Niall.” I spoke up, pointing from myself to Zayn.

“Yeah and then I called you when Niall was on the phone with them.” Louis added and Anne nodded, gathering all the information. “Some fans crowded us when Niall and Harry showed up at the café my girlfriend and I were at.”

“The girl just got too close and his ear got hit. Then we all ended up here.” Niall spoke last. His voice cracked as his nervousness grew. “I shouldn’t have taken him out of the flat, but he seemed so depressed and I wanted to get him out and maybe cheer him up. I just-“ Anne stepped forward, wrapping her arms around Niall. He was shocked at first, but then gave into her motherly hug and relaxed in her arms. When she pulled back she waved the rest of us over for a large group hug.

“Thank you boys for taking care of my son.” She whispered, trying to hug us all at once. The silence after was broken when Harry cleared his throat. I looked up at and laughed at his message on the white board.

All right, enough with the sappy crap. Can we get out of here?

A/N: Please comment and vote and do ALL the things! I love feedback even if its just "update soon!" I will also be starting a new fic here soon called Until Now. It's gonna be a Harryx OC story. I am super exited about it and may post the first chapter here soon to get some thought on if people like it or not. Talk to you all in the next chapter!