Beth's POV

I wipe my face with the napkin, having just finished a ham and cheese toastie while Harry knocked back the hospital cafeteria's version of a full English breakfast.

"Proper food will be nice," I sigh as I sip my orange juice.

"And privacy," Harry replies and I frown as I watch Harry turn and look over his right shoulder.

I follow his gaze and let out a surprised laugh as we see a girl taking a very unsuccessful selfie of herself.

It's obvious because her phone is aimed over her own shoulder at Harry and I and not positioned at her face.

She'll be lucky if she gets her ear in the shot.

"Unbelievable," I smirk and shake my head, "you wouldn't want to be picking your nose or scratching your arse, would you?" I say to Harry.

I make a mental note to start walking with my hands in my pocket when I'm out in public in case I forget and go to pull my knickers out of my arse, should they attempt to stray.

"Ready to head back?" Harry asks.

"Yep, I've had enough," I say and stand up, grabbing our tray and taking it over to the return area.

I follow Harry as we walk out and I can see the table of two girls out of the corner of my eye, watching us as we leave.

So, I do the only appropriate thing.

I reach out and pinch Harry on the arse, causing him to jump and whirl around, and the girls to gasp out loud.

"What did you do that for?" he asks, rubbing the spot where I just pinched.

"Cause I can," I reply with a smirk on my face.

He looks at me for a moment and I almost think he's angry with me until his mouth breaks into a grin.

"Yeah," he replies, "you can," he nods, reaching for my hand to pull me along.

But he drops it almost as quickly and puts his arm around my shoulder, pulling me close to him and bending down so his mouth is next to my ear.

"Though you realise, I can do it too," he says in a low voice, his hand slipping from my shoulder and to my own bottom before he squeezes it and I gasp a little.

He smirks at my response as he removes his hand and again reaches for mine.

Cheeky little shit.

We walk in a comfortable silence and back into Chloe's room to find that she's not there.

A moment of panic washes over me as Harry and I both freeze until I grab hold of his arm.

"MRI," I remind not only him but myself, "he was sending her for an MRI this morning," I breathe out, "I bet that's where she is."

Harry and I look at each other, neither of us saying anything.

"I'll go and check, just to be sure," Harry offers and gives me a kiss on the cheek before he heads back out of the room.

Calm yourself Beth.

If there was something wrong, they would have called you.

I sit down on one of the chairs and pull out my phone and send a message to Anne to see if she would like to bring the boys in to see Chloe, or if Harry and I need to come and collect them and bring them in. Within minutes she replies that she and Robin will bring the boys in as they would like to see Chloe as well.

As I sit and wait, I debate whether to peek on the internet to see if there's been anymore sightings of Harry at the hospital.

Surely this woman wouldn't have posted anything else?

My knee starts to bounce up and down impatiently until I can't hold it back any longer.

Ah bugger it.

I cave and put Harry's name into Google and wait.

'One Direction fans not happy with private photo leak.'

Hmmm...

I go on to read how fans of Harry are indeed furious about the picture the receptionist took of Harry and Chloe and are absolutely pissed at her for it. The article even goes on to show the tweet and asking if she's crossed the line.

Well she's jumped so far over it I'm sure it could be an Olympic record.

Curiosity gets the better of me and I go into Twitter and it doesn't take me long to find the original tweet.

And all the angry and even threatening responses to it.

Oh my.

There's tweet after tweet in response to the photo and I'm hard pressed to find a positive one. Of course, there's the obligatory Larry conspiracy theories thrown in and that I'm also a beard for the Harry.

What the hell is a 'beard?'

I mean, of course it's facial hair on a bloke but...

Hang on.

Are they saying I'm hairy?

I mean I don't shave every day in Winter but come on.

Yet again I start another Google search and I find the explanation.

My god people come up with such stupid shit, I can't even begin to wrap my head around this crap.

There's a knock on the door and I quickly shut my phone off and look around.

A woman stands there, notebook in her hand and a serious expression on her face.

"Ms. Westlake?" she says.

I stand up from my chair so I'm on equal footing with this woman, whose demeanour is setting off alarm bells in my head.

"Yes," I respond, "can I help you?"

"Natasha Clark," she extends a hand out as she introduces herself, "Human Resources Manager for the hospital."

Ah.

"Do you have a moment? Is this a good time for you?" she asks.

"Yes, of course," I reply, instantly relaxing now that I realise who she is and why she's here.

She gives me a small smile as she pulls another chair over to where mine is and I sit back down on my own.

"Firstly," she opens her notebook and clicks her pen in a very business-like manner, "how is your daughter?"

I'm a bit taken aback by her question, not expecting her to ask me anything personal.

"As well as can be expected," I reply, "Dr. Wynter is very pleased with her progress."

"That is good news," she says, "from one mother to another, the last few days must have been horrendous for you."

"Well, yes," I admit, "but I have to say your staff here have been very good to us," I say, because the majority of them have and they have done everything they can for my little girl.

Natasha nods and smiles in response.

"Secondly," she continues, "let me just say on behalf of the hospital how sorry we are about this unfortunate breach with a member of our staff."

I don't say anything, the ball is in their court as to what they want to do about it, so I simply nod in response.

"We take breaches in confidentiality like this extremely seriously and we've considered what this particular employee released on social media and there is absolutely no excuse for it. It simply cannot and will not be tolerated."

"So, what's going to happen?" I ask, wondering how serious they actually think this is.

"Her employment will be terminated immediately," Natasha responds.

"Fired?" I reply.

"Absolutely," she nods her head, "Leighton Hospital cannot be seen to tolerate such transgressions, it reflects badly upon us," she says.

"Hang on," I put my hand up.

I know this woman crossed the line but I'd the for anyone to lose their job, especially since jobs can be so hard to come by.

"What did you think was going to happen?" Natasha asks me.

I'm about to answer when there's loud laughter coming from out in the corridor and we both look to the open doorway.

Chloe is being wheeled back in by an orderly and guess who's by her side.

Harry.

His smile disappears when he notices that I'm not alone and a frown appears in its place when he spots Natasha.

He leans down and whispers something in Chloe's ear before kissing her cheek and walking over to us and standing by my side, leaving the orderly to move Chloe's bed back into its spot.

Christ, he really is quite tall and imposing from down here.

And his dick is almost in my face.

Focus Beth, focus.

Natasha and I both stand up and again she offers her hand, introducing herself to Harry.

"Natasha is here about the woman posting on social media," I explain, clearing my throat.

"Right," he says, his face an expression of seriousness.

"Yes," Natasha says, "now as I was saying..."

"Actually, can we take this outside?" I ask, silently gesturing in Chloe's direction.

Not much gets past her I'm afraid.

"Chloe, we're just going outside for a few moments," I tell her and receive a thumbs up as she watches the tv whilst shovelling food into her mouth.

Of course.

The three of us walk out and into the nearby waiting room that Harry and I were in yesterday.

"As I was saying," Natasha continues after the three of us are seated, "we do not tolerate such a breach in patient confidentiality so we're left with no choice but to let her go."

"But that's so..." I begin.

"Just what were you expecting?" Natasha asks me.

Yes.

Just what was I expecting?

Things were different now, my emotions much more settled now than they were a week ago.

Do I really want someone to lose their job though?

Can I live with that?

"Beth?" Harry gently touches my knee and gives me an encouraging smile.

"Natasha," I begin, "if you had asked me this a few days ago, I would, without any hesitation, agreed with firing her," I explain, "I don't want to see someone lose their job."

Both Natasha and Harry start talking at the same time and I hold my hand up to stop them.

"Let me finish and then we can talk," I tell them both, "I've given this a lot of thought...just hear me out."

I turn my attention to Natasha first.

"I understand that whatever your employees do is a reflection not only of themselves, but as a representation of your hospital. You need your patients, and the public to know that their confidentiality will be ensured and that their privacy will always be protected, you need to be seen as being proactive in this situation, yes?" I say to Natasha, who nods her head in understanding.

"Harry," I turn my attention to him now.

"Yes love," he answers and my heart flutters in response.

"You need your fans to know that there is a line when it comes to your privacy and that it has been crossed," he nods his head and his tongue darts out to wet his lips.

Lord...

"And...I...uh..." shit, I need to concentrate, "currently with nearly everyone having a camera in their phone and social media so accessible, people must know those limits," I continue, "I'm not stupid in thinking our photos are never going to be taken, but there has to be a line and there has to be respect and privacy when needed, there has to be boundaries."

I pause to see if either of them have anything to say but neither of them stop me so I take this as a good sign and continue.

"So, this is my proposal," I press on, "instead of firing the woman, demote her. Cleaning bedpans, laundry, washing dishes in the cafeteria, something that sends a message and also takes her away from being in contact with patients."

"But..." Natasha starts.

"I haven't finished," I cut her off politely, earning a smirk from Harry, "the hospital could make a reasonable donation to a charity of Harry's choosing as a goodwill gesture and finally, formal statements can be issued to the public."

Natasha purses her lips in thought before answering me.

"What did you have in mind with the statements?" she asks.

"Well the hospital is within its rights to say it doesn't condone this and that you wanted to dismiss her but after talking to Harry and myself, another form of agreement was reached, let it be known the hospital does not tolerate this."

Natasha slowly nods and I think I'm on a winner here.

"Harry of course can issue his own statement, I'm not going to dictate to him, this is his thing and he knows best," I smile at him before looking back at Natasha, "however, one thing I will not back down from is a formal apology from this woman. A formal, public apology. I understand she's a fan, but this is just simply wrong. She needs to take ownership for her actions and publicly apologise to everyone," I pause for a minute, "and I guess if she refuses to do that, then you can fire her," I shrug my shoulders.

"So, either way, she doesn't really win, does she?" Natasha muses.

"Nope," I agree, "it's like when you want a child to do something, you give them two choices to pick from but at the end of the day, you still get the desired outcome you want but you lead them to think they have the control with the choosing."

"So, she either takes the demotion or she quits because she doesn't want the alternative position?" Natasha finishes.

"Correct, but she has to apologise either way," I say, "because I'm sure someone will let slip how Harry wants to bring his legal team into this..." I trail off, glancing a Harry who is just staring at me, a blank expression on his face.

"You're a very clever woman Ms. Westlake," Natasha regards me with a small smile, "let me take this back just to confirm, but I like your idea."

"Thank you," I smile in return, "your hospital could really make its mark here with how celebrities should be entitled to privacy and how it won't be tolerated."

"I like your way of thinking," Natasha says as she folds up her notebook after completing her notes and stands up from her seat, Harry and I doing the same.

Again, she extends her hand out for us to both shake.

"I'm sorry we had to meet under such circumstances," she says with a sad kind of smile, "I'll be in touch," and with that she leaves Harry and I in the waiting room.

Harry is still looking at me strangely.

"What?" I ask, "should I have told you what I'd been thinking?"

"No," he shakes his head, "you don't have to tell me everything," he pauses for a moment, "but bloody hell..."

"Again...what?" I ask.

"I'd hate to cross you," he says shaking his head, "this idea of yours is like something management would come up with...actually I don't know if they'd think of something so thorough..."

I regard him silently for a minute.

"I can't tell if that's a good thing or a bad thing," I reply.

"It's an amazing thing," he says, "a little scary maybe, but damn, you've really thought this through."
"She pissed me off," I shrug my shoulders, "she doesn't need to be humiliated since I think that's already happening at the hands of your fans, but she does need to be held accountable. I have to advocate for my child's privacy and I have to defend yours..." I trail off as I start to pace around the room but I'm soon stopped by Harry's hand on my arms and his mouth on mine.

"What was that for?" I ask a little breathlessly after he pulls away, "I mean, not that I'm complaining..."

"The idea of you wanting to defend me," he smiles, "like you're in my..."

"Corner," I finish for him, "I'm in your corner," I smile back up at him, "well of course I am Harry."

"It just makes me happy to hear you say it," he says, "because I'll always be in yours love."

We stand there hugging each other as he kisses me again and I'm reluctant to stop but I know we should, otherwise goodness knows what'll happen.

"We should get back to Chloe," I whisper.

"Mmmm...we should," he agrees and pulls away, putting his arm around me as he leads me to the door and opens it, "maybe I should hire you as my PR person..." he smirks as we walk out.

"Sweetheart, you couldn't afford me," I play along as we walk back to Chloe's room, "all the money in the world..."

"I can pay you in other ways," he whispers into my ear.

"Really?" I ask as my gaze is instantly drawn to his tongue that darts out purposely to wet his lips.

"Yep," he grins a he glances downward and back up, "I can make a down payment right now..."

"Hmmm..." I reply, "I think you'll find, given our current circumstances of where we are, that might be a bit hard to do..."

"Oh, it's definitely hard," he replies before we both start to laugh.

"Oh my god," I give him a playful swat on the arm as we reach Chloe's room.

To our surprise, the door opens and Dr. Wynter comes out.

"I was just looking for you," he says.

"We were just having a chat with Natasha..." I begin.

"From HR?" he says, "good, good, that was quick," he says with a nod of his head, "did you manage to come to a mutual agreement with regards to the situation?"

"I believe so," I look at Harry who confirms what I say with a nod of his head, "she just has to confirm it with the powers that be."

"Excellent," he continues, "now I just want to say that Chloe's results came back and they are perfectly normal, I'd just like to keep her in for one more night, purely for observational purposes as it was quite a hard knock to the head."

"So, can we take her home tomorrow?" Harry asks, his voice tinged with excitement.

"At this stage, yes," Dr. Wynter smiles warmly at us, "there will, of course, be some follow up appointments to check her progress, but I don't see why you can't take her home in the morning."

I let out a huge sigh and it's one of happiness and relief.

Harry shakes the doctor's hand and thanks him for all that he's done.

"Well I'll let you get back to your visitor," he says to us cheerfully and walks off.

"Visitor?" I frown and before I can say anything else, Harry has the door open and is into her room like a shot, his face one of anger.

But it breaks into a huge smile when he sees who it is.

Silly me.

It must be Anne and Robin with the boys I remind myself as my legs finally remember how to work and I walk in after him.

But I stop short in surprise when I see who's sitting next to Chloe's bed in a chair, a huge bunch of balloons tied behind her on the bed rail.

He jumps up quickly when he sees me and holds out his hand eagerly, a warm smile on his face.

"Pleased to finally meet you," he says, "I'm Niall."