three hearts in one home (l.s.)

3. Traffic and answering machine

“Well done, everyone!”, I call and smile at the children, “You can try to swim another round without your kickboards and then we’re done for today!”

I watch them swim for a bit and I can’t help but feel proud of how fast they’re all learning. I walk around the pool in case someone looses energy.

“Very good, buds. Mary, try to swim a little slower but more precise, if possible.”

I wait at the stairs for them and high five every single one as they climb out of the pool.
“Very good. Now, let’s go get dressed, shall we? You’re all probably cold.”

They nod and chuckle before running of to the changing room.

I follow them in case someone needs help with packing or drying their hair. I stop at the little storage room and put pack their kickboards. Louis will be there soon. I probably won’t do it. I’ve always been scared of talking to strangers, I often have crushes on guys at the club or even just when passing them on the street but I never make the first move.

“Harry?”, Milan asks and tugs my shirt, “Dry my hair?”
His whole shirt is wet from where the water drops from his hair onto the fabric.

“Yeah, of course, love. That’s very much necessary, isn’t it?” I chuckle and lead him to the hairdryers in the hallway.
“Stand under this.” I point to the hairdryer on the wall, “I’ll press start for you and you’ll  just have to move your fingers through your hair a bit alright? It works just like a normal hair dryer.”

He nods contently and smiles. I help all the others too before their parents start arriving one after another. Louis is late, of course.

When Anna gets picked up, Jonah is the only one left.
“Daddy’s so not puntu-, how do you say?”

“Punctual”, I say, “No, he really isn’t. Don’t worry, he’ll be here soon.”
I ruffle through Jonah’s hair shortly and he smiles up at me.

“Me and Daddy watch a series tonight. It’s with dogs. It’s mine and daddy’s favourite.”
I grin. “Sounds like a lot of fun. I think I’ll  need to watch it once, too.”

He nods eagerly. “Yes. You can even visit us and we watch it together.”

“Sounds like a plan. We’ll  have to do that one day.”
I look at my clock impatiently. I still wanted to get some work for uni done today. If Louis doesn’t arrive soon, that won’t work.

He’s already nearly ten minutes late and he hasn’t written me a message yet.
“Where is he?”, Jonah whines and drags out the ‘e’, “I want to watch my dogs.”

I smile at that but then pull out my phone again. “Should we try and call him? He’s probably just stuck in traffic once again.”

Jonah chuckles and nods. I press the little telephone icon and wait for the signal to appear but I’m led right to the answering machine.

“That’s not daddy’s voice.” Jonah chuckles and I laugh, too, but than I get a little concerned. There’s probably no need to, but he usually at least tells me when something is wrong. And he’s never been later than fifteen minutes.

I look at the clock again. He’s thirteen minutes too late now.
“Why doesn’t daddy answer but the computer lady?”

I shrug. “I’m not sure. He probably turned of his phone. Maybe it just lost battery.”
Jonah shrugs too.

I impatiently start to walk up and down the hallway, not only am I stressed because of my project for uni, I also start to worry.

“I don’t want to wait anymore”, Jonah wails when we waited for half an hour. I tried calling Louis two times more and wrote him a message but he didn’t reply.

I do the only reasonable thing in a situation like this. I call Liam.
“Harry?”, he answers the phone, “Where are you?”

I sigh. “Sorry, Li. I need your advice.” I speak a little more quiet so Jonah won’t get worried, “Louis is not showing up. But it’s been more than half an hour and when I call him, the answer machine immediately answers. He usually writes me a messages when he’s late, I’m a little worried and I have his son here with me.”
It’s quiet at the other side for a while.

“Do you know if he has any family in town? Or friends? You could drop of Jonah there and write Louis a message. You shouldn’t be his babysitter, Louis is getting irresponsible.”

I look at Jonah who sits on his bag at the corner of the hallway, staring at the opposite wall while biting his fingernails.

“I don’t know that, no. I literally talked to him five times or something. Liam, I’m scared he might have an actual reason to not show up. What if there’s been some family emergency or he’s gotten into an accident?”

I start walking up and down the hallway again, still insecure about how to handle all of this.

“I don’t know, Harry. That’s pretty unlikely. I suggest you wait another ten minutes and if he hasn’t showed up by then, we’ll call the nearest hospital to check if him or any family members are there right now. If that all goes wrong I’m sure we’ll find another solution. Tell me how it went, okay?”

I nod but then notice he can’t see me so I mumble a quick: “Yeah, sounds like a plan, thanks Li.”

I hear Jonah whimper from across the hallway and walk towards him. “Hey, love, it’s alright. We’ll find daddy, don’t worry about it.”
He stares to the floor and frowns. “Where is he? Maybe he forget me.”

I smile and put an arm around his shoulder. “No, J, he didn’t, he would never. Your daddy loves you the most. I’m sure there’s some kind of explanation to why he’s so late.”

I can’t wait the whole ten minutes so I get up after a few minutes passed, walk to another room and leave Jonah in the hallway so he won’t worry even more before dialling the number of the nearest hospital.

“Hi”, I say and I feel my voice shaking a little. I’ve never been good at making calls, especially not those kinds, “I, um, my friend, I, sorry. I just wanted to know if maybe, um, someone called Tomlinson was taken to the hospital in the past hour.”

“I’m sorry, but in what way are you related to him? It’s my duty to maintain confidentiality.”

I scoff. “I have his son with me, I need to know where the fuck he is."

It’s silent for a few seconds. Shit, I freaked out a little.
“Sorry”, I add, “I really need to know this. I know it’s your duty but can’t you at least tell me if he is there?”

“If you would please wait for a second, I need to ask the doctor regarding this case.”

I hear the woman on the other side talk to someone before somebody else takes the phone after a minute.
“Hello, sir. You’re asking about someone called Tomlinson, am I right? You’re with his son?”

I take a deep breath, getting more and more nervous, the longer this call takes.
“Yes”, I confirm.

“Sorry for the wait. It’s not easy to decide whether we should inform persons about what happened or if the patient even is at the hospital. But since you’re with his son, we decided we have to tell you this: yes, I’m sorry to inform you but twenty minutes ago, Louis Tomlinson was admitted into hospital.”

~~~

dam dam dam

hope you liked this chapter too, i told you it would be a little exciting:)

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