(Harry's POV)

So waking up was an experience in it’s own. My head was foggy and I felt sluggish. I went to rub my eyes, but I felt a tugging on my inner arm and found that I had an IV stuck in me. I groaned, feeling the motion reverberate in my sore chest. 

A Hospital.

Well at least I was safe and not in that wreck of a SUV. That was good, but feeling restrained in a bed was equally as bad as being stuck in a car. Not only did the IV prevent me from moving my arm much, my leg was also lifted. I raised my head slightly to see why my leg was in the position it was and I saw that it was wrapped up in a hard cast. 

Great. I huffed and flopped my head back down to the fluffed pillow below. That was when I realized that my ears were covered with a sort of gauze and the bandage wrapped around my head. I wondered if that was the reason why I felt foggy. 

I pulled myself up completely with the handy dandy bar above my bed for help. Even though I had help it was still hard to sit up with a raised leg. I smiled when I saw the room filled with familiar, yet sleeping, faces. 

There was a couch opposite of my small bed and Niall and Liam were sprawled on top of it, limbs dangling off the sides and feet touching the floor. Liam had a brace over his nose and under his eyes were dark bruises. He also had his arm in a sling. He was sitting behind me in the car. He must have gotten a bit if he impact as well. 

 I looked next to them and saw Zayn leaning against the couch, positioned in the small space between the piece of furniture and the wall. I looked around for Louis, finding him dangling over the edge of a small chair next to my bed. 

After sitting on my bed in the silence I realized that the annoying ringing in my ears was over with. I sighed with relief, holding my self up by the handle just above my bed. It was a nice silence. Everyone in the room was out cold even though it was bright outside according to the light shining in through my hospital room window.

What time was it anyway? 

I turned to Louis, since he was the closer to my bed and I leaned over to nudge him awake, nearly falling out of my bed in the process. Louis blinked open his sleepy eyes and looked up at me. He jumped from the uncomfortable looking chair and opened his mouth wide. I half expected there to be a yell of excitement or surprise, but nothing. 

Dead silence. 

I smiled at him the best I could, with my aching body filled with pain medication.   He smiled back and I looked around the room to see the others rustling awake. Zayn's mouth opened wide, almost like a yawn, but it was silent. 

Liam sat straight, rubbing his eyes with his free hand and wincing as he grabbed his shoulder. 

I realized something was terribly wrong when Niall burst up from the couch and I didn't hear a thing. I let go of the bar that held me up on the bed and reached for my covered ears. I saw all of the guys' faces grow pale. 

"What's going on?" I asked aloud, but my voice didn't connect with my ears. I pulled at the gauze and Louis snatched my hands away from causing any more damage. He shook his head at me. 

I frantically searched the room for answers, hoping to make sense of the situation at hand. Louis, Liam, Niall, and Zayn all looked at each other and then at me. 

I knew the looks on their faces were in direct reply to my own expression. 

Shock.

Pure shock.

I couldn't hear a thing.

I was deaf. 

I was on the verge of tears when a familiar face walked into the room. Everyone's face lit up at the site of one of our favorite people. 

"Paul!" Although I couldn't hear my own words, his name still rolled off my tongue and I felt a tad bit better knowing he was there and more than likely knew what was going on. Paul walked over to my side and the boys crowded in around him. On the small side table next to my bed, there was a pad of paper and a pen. Paul picked it up and started to write. He then handed me the paper. 

How are you feeling? 

I looked down at the paper and then back at him. My brows furrowed. He knew I couldn't hear anything and that worried me. It meant he talked to the doctor. The doctor knew why I couldn't hear. I let my mouth fall open, trying to form words, but nothing.

The connection was lost and I found it hard to speak. I was a person who always thought carefully about the things I said and I played then back in my head after the fact, but this time around, I couldn't even be sure of what I was saying. It was impossible. 

Deep down inside, I wanted the ringing to come back. At least it was something to ease this aching silence. I let my head drop below my shoulders and I counted my breathes to ease my anxiety. It didn't work. Would I ever be able to hear again? I never realized the comfort that even white noise have me. What would happen if I were permanently like this? 

"Oh god." I said aloud. The boys stood back and watched as my breathing turned into heaving sobs. I wanted to tear the bandages from the head and smack my ears until the sound came back. Any sound. Anything.  My hands found their way to the gauze again and I tried to pull at it. This time Paul was the one to stop me. He grabbed the paper again and scribbled another sentence before shoving it in my general direction. 

It'll be all right, Harry. It read. 

I hoped it would be. I let my hands fall to my lap and a nurse came into the room and helped me into a more comfortable position on my bed. He raised the back of the bed and adjusted my pillows so that I would sit up without much effort. She also lowered my leg and propped it with another pillow. I leaned back against the raised bed and sighed, my mind ran rampant with terrible thoughts of never getting my hearing back.

I felt a hand on my trembling shoulder seconds after the thought ran through me. I looked up to see Niall trying to give me his best smile as he patted me on the shoulder. He nodded in silence, which gave me some comfort. Zayn stood behind him and nodded at me as well. Then Liam and Louis joined in. They all stood around me, calming my anxieties. They were my family, my brothers, and my best friends.

I really started to think that things were going to be okay just like Paul assured me before.  I stared at the paper pad and pen in my hands. I quickly drew a heart and showed it to the room. They threw their heads back in what I figured were laughing fits. It made me smile. Eventually, they got past Paul’s protesting and gave me a group hug. It hurt to be mauled over by four grown guys after being in a bad car crash, but it was a good hurt.

 After an hour of visiting, the boys had to leave. They all got sad expressions on their faces and it made me a little depressed inside. I watched Paul and Louis, who were the last to leave, stand outside my hospital room door, discussing something that looked important, then a doctor, my doctor, walked up to them.

I leaned forward, more towards the door, as if the shorter distance would improve my lack of hearing. I huffed when my situation didn’t get any better. The doctor spoke to Paul and then looked at me. Louis paled by the doctor’s words. Whatever was wrong with me...

I hope it can be fixed.

(Louis' POV)

“…Perforated ear drums…” The doctor said. He pulled out a small, paper diagram of an ear. I looked at it intently, wanting to know exactly what his words meant. He pointed at the center of the ear and continued. “Harry hit his head pretty hard in the car crash, due to the faulty air bags.  That caused his eardrum in his right ear to essentially pop from the sudden pressure build up. It’s also called a ruptured ear drum and it causes temporary deafness.”

“That- That sounds bad, but at least temporary is good.” I looked over at Paul and he looked just the same, like he had heard this all before. I changed my attention back to the doctor. Some things still needed to be explained. “How come he can’t hear completely though, if he just ruptured the one side?”

From what I could tell, Harry was completely deaf. I’ve had clogged ears before from being sick, but I could still hear out of my other ear. It only made sense that Harry would be able to do the same.

The doctor pursed his lips and folded the paper diagram before he pocketed it. “The angle that the drunk drive hit your SUV caused the whiplash that caused Harry to not only hit his head on the dashboard, but so forcibly against his seat that he ruptured the other ear drum as well. It had a part to do with the way he was sitting in the car as well.”

I winced, imagining the pain Harry must have felt. “How long does it take to heal? You said temporary right? What happens now? What about his leg? Why is it in a cast? When will that heal? Will he be able to walk?” I had so many questions. Everything was running through my mind at once.

“Louis, calm down. Harry’s going to be okay.” Paul spoke over my frantic questions. I shut my mouth and listened to what the doctor had to say. “Go ahead, doctor.”

I listened intently. Anything the doctor said Harry needed help with in his recovery, I would do it. Well, the rest of the guys would help too, but Harry was my best friend, and the whole reason he was sitting that certain way in the car was because he was talking to me.

“With treatment and a close eye, his ear drums should heal within the next three to four months. Around the same amount of time is needed for his leg. He fractured his tibia plateau, but it was an easy set. All Harry needs is some rest for a couple months.” I was relieved to hear that no surgery or anything was necessary, but four months? That was ridiculous. I looked at Paul and saw him contemplating something. I paled when I realized what the problem was.

“Harry won’t be able to hear for a while… What if he has trouble singing?” I glanced over my shoulder at Harry who was staring at us with his wide, green eyes. “God, Paul. What’s going to happen?” This was a serious matter. I knew that our schedule was full of appearances, talk shows, and shows. Music was basically out life, it definitely was Harry’s. What happens when you can’t hear the music?

Paul held his chin with his hand. I waited for his reply. He shook his head. “We let him heal. That’s the best we can do. I will talk with the others about this. They already know about the crash, it’s all over the news. It’s best to deal with one dilemma at a time.”

“This is Harry we’re talking about.” I frowned.

“I know. We’ll figure something out.” Paul said. He then chatted with the doctor for a little longer before leaving. I stayed behind with Harry for a while after that. I felt bad leaving him there by himself in silence. I sat at his bedside and tried to write down everything the doctor said to Paul and me. We sat there in silence as Harry read my handwriting. He seemed more relieved than before, which made me smile. He sat again, in silence, until a few minutes later. I heard a buzzing coming from the drawer in the small table next to Harry’s hospital bed. I opened it up to find his phone and a bag of ruined, blood stained clothes inside.

His phone was lit up with several missed calls and frantic text messages. Harry looked at me, reaching for his phone. I handed it over to him. I heard him swear under his breath. He handed the phone back to me. He kept silent, but he pointed at the screen, and mouthed the word ‘call.’ I glanced at the phone and saw that all the missed messages and calls were from his mother.

“Oh god, she doesn’t know what’s going on.” I quickly redialed Anne’s numbed, Harry’s mother, and pressed the phone to my ear. It didn’t even ring through once before she answered.

“Harry!? Thank god. What happened? Are you okay? I saw the crash on the news!” I took the phone away form my ear as she yelled frantically into the speaker.

“Hey Anne, it’s Lou-“

“Louis? Where’s Harry?” Her tone became serious. “Why do you have Harry’s phone? Louis, what’s going on? Where’s my boy?” I could feel the emotion seeping through Harry’s phone. His mother was really worried. My mother was worried as well, and so was Eleanor. They both called me immediately and I told them what happened. Apparently no one told Anne.

“Harry’s alive. Don’t worry. We’re actually at the hospital-“

“He’s hurt? Which hospital? Why can’t I talk to him? What happened to my son?” I couldn’t even get a full sentence out to her before she started talking again.

“He got pretty hurt, but the doctor said he’ll be okay with some rest for a few months.” That’s really all I knew I could tell her. It would be hard to explain that her son was temporarily deaf. “Uh, he’s sleeping right now, that’s why I answered.” I laughed nervously into the phone. I didn’t want to lie to her, but I looked at Harry and he was scribbling furiously on the paper pad he had. I read it and was relieved that Harry was feeling the same way.

Please don’t tell her about my hearing. I’ll be fine soon enough. She’ll just worry.  

I looked up at Harry, making sure this is what he really wanted. “I’ll keep you updated, yeah?” I said into the phone. Anne huffed and still wanted to talk with her son. She told me to wake him up, but I came up with an excuse for that as well. “I have to go. Uh, not supposed to have mobiles in here.” With that, I said my goodbye, reassuring Anne that he son was in good hands, and hung up the phone. I sighed heavily after placing the phone down on the side table.

“Don’t make me do that again.” I said to Harry. He looked at me with a confused look. I was going to have to get used to this if I was going to be looking after Harry. It would be a hard adjustment. 

A/N: Awh, LOUUUUUUUU! He just wants to make sure his bestie is okay. It will definitely be a hard adjustment for the band, but they will make it through this! Not without some obstacles though. Please vote and comment and do ALL the things. I need some of your thoughts to keep me inspired! -Jach