The lady in the suit coughs awkwardly and I raise my eyes to look at her. "We are going to take you to another room now." She informs me, almost robotically.

I wrap my arms around myself, fisting the fabric of Harry's jumper and sigh. "Sure."

I don't want to cry. Not in front of strangers and not when Harry's just promised to come and find me.

He promised.

Some of the staff waiting with us have already hurried ahead, not willing to wait any longer for the girl about to fall to pieces in the corridor outside Harry Styles' room. Only the lady in the suit seems to be willing to treat me like a person rather than just a victim of a tragic accident.

"My name is Suwen by the way." She says in an almost embarrassed voice. She keeps her eyes straight ahead as we leave Harry's room behind us but I can see the pink tinge in her cheeks. "I'm a social worker here at the hospital and speak the strongest English."

"Ok." I say glumly. I don't really feel up for getting to know one another right now. The only people I want to socialise with...I'm not allowed to. "Suwen." I say suddenly, the idea coming to me like a light being switched on. "My Aunt lives here in Kuala Lumpur. I haven't got a clue what her mobile number or address are, but I do know the company she works for. Do you think someone could try and get in contact with her?" I start frantically jerking my head around in search of a clock. "What time is it anyway?"

Suwen looks somewhat shocked at my outburst. She checks the dainty silver watch strapped to her left wrist and turns to look at me. "It's almost three-thirty in the afternoon. We will try and get in touch with your aunt, Sarah, but you need to be seen to by the doctor first. The police are going to want to speak with you at some point too...about the accident."

She looks just as uncomfortable mentioning it as I do hearing about it. I hadn't even considered that I'd have to talk about what happened to us. As if experiencing it the first time wasn't bad enough, now I'll get to relive it verbally.

"Ok." I sigh and lower my gaze to the linoleum. Everything already feels wrong and we've barely been here ten minutes.

"It's just this next door on the right." Suwen tries to say enthusiastically and veers off into the nearest room on the right hand side of the corridor. I follow after her, not surprised to find two scrub-wearing staff members waiting for us inside. The room is smaller but looks exactly the same as Harry's; pale and with minimal furniture. I seem to instinctively drift towards the bed where there's a pile of khaki fabric resting on the blanket hanging over the end.

"Some clean clothes for you to change into." She smiles and then points at another door within the room. "There's a shower in there. I'm sure you're eager to freshen up."

She has no idea.

"Thanks." I mumble and scoop the clothes up in one swift motion. I hurry into the attached bathroom and lock the door behind me. Aside from the sound of the extractor fan now kicking in, it's completely silent. I can't even hear the voices of Suwen and her colleagues in the other room.

It's more of a wet room than a bathroom; the floor and walls tiled with the same beige design so that when they meet, it's difficult to tell them apart. I peel Harry's hoodie off and place it neatly on the lid of the toilet seat. The swimsuit however - I discard with such ferocity that it tears at the seam. The relief of no longer wearing it is indescribable. There are red marks streaking across my bikini line where the material had cut in and I seem to be absolutely covered in sand. I step forward and jab the button on the wall.

A powerful jet of water bursts from the shower head above and I release a high pitched squeal.

It's hot.

Aside from where the sun had projected onto the surface of the sea water for so long, my last hot water experience was the morning of the day I boarded the plane. I don't even have a clue how long ago that was. All I know is that I'll never take hot water for granted again.

I step underneath it; allowing it drown my entire body. Right now, underneath the steady stream, it's almost easy to forget that outside of this room there is a team of people waiting to examine me. It's almost easy to forget that in a room further away than I would like, Harry Styles is in exactly the same situation. But mostly, it's almost easy to forget that I am one of two survivors of Malaysian Airlines flight MH003.

I am a survivor.

I stumble back against the wall; my back slamming against the tiles so hard that it almost knocks the wind out of me.

It's almost easy to forget...but it's not enough.

I remember Harry's promise to come and find me and Suwen's promise to contact Jules and push myself away from the wall.

Pull yourself together, Sarah.

There's a dispenser of hair and body wash on the wall and I push it furiously; allowing a large dollop of the peppermint scented soap to fall into my palm. It's freezing in comparison to the water but I lather myself in it anyway - just wanting to rid of any remaining traces of sand still clung to my skin or hidden in the roots of my hair. I'm not sure I'll ever be able to face sand or a beach again.

Reluctantly, I step out from under the water, not oblivious to the pool of sand now gathered around the plug hole and pull a towel off of the rail next to the door. I dry quickly and pull the khaki clothing on; a sweatshirt and matching sweatpants. I can't help feeling like I'm being unfaithful by not wearing Harry's Greenbay Packers hoodie, but having just scrubbed my body within an inch of my life - I can't face wearing something that grubby again.

I stand in front of the door for a long time, playing with the lock. Do I really want to go out there and be reminded of this all over again? Do I really want to be prodded and poked and interrogated?

But the sooner it's over, the sooner I'll see Harry and Jules and my parents again right?

With pursed lips, I unlatch it. Suwen's voice is the first thing I hear. She's speaking in her native tongue, the words so fast that they seem to all merge into one sentence. I pad around the corner and find she's deep in discussion with one of the scrub-wearing staff members who'd been in the room when we'd arrived. They stop talking as soon as they notice me.

"Ah!" Suwen says, beaming again. "Do you feel better?"

I know I should be politer to her really, given that she's been nothing but kind to me since I arrived. She has a kind face with large, chocolate eyes. It's like she's just asking to be your friend.

"Yes, thank you." I twitch my lips into a small smile and make my way to the bed. I can feel the two of them watching my every move and it's incredibly disconcerting. "Did you manage to contact my Aunt?"

She shakes her head. "Not yet, Sarah. Doctor Sayid here needs to run some tests first, ok?"

I pull myself up onto the bed and almost cry.

A mattress.

It's soft with crisp bedding and it moulds around me as I relax into it.

No more palm leaf for me.

"Ok." I confirm, my mood somewhat lifted.

A shower and a mattress...I'm ready to take on the world.

Doctor Sayid takes blood and urine samples and assesses the now almost fully healed gashes on my left shoulder and right shin. Throughout, I can't help feeling that this is a massive waste of time. Harry and I were ridiculously lucky with the physical injuries we sustained. If we'd gotten something more serious...would we honestly be here today? Regardless, Dr Sayid is still stood by the window, gloved and holding a test strip in my pot of urine while Suwen sits in the wooden chair beside the bed.

"Were you a Harry fan before the accident?" She asks randomly. She's blushing again and I wonder if maybe she's the Harry fanatic. I tear my eyes away from Dr Sayid and roll my head over the pillow so that I'm facing Suwen.

"Not really." I admit with a grimace. "Sure, I knew who he was. But I wasn't a fan."

It's a weird thing to say at this point, given that we've just spent a rather intimate period of time together. I'm definitely a fan of Harry as a person now. Perhaps if I listened to his music again, I'd become a fan of that too. Addie would certainly be thrilled.

Suwen smiles, almost to herself. "What you two have been through is something nobody else is ever going to understand. You're always going to have a special bond."

I'm not really sure what to say. It's like she's read my mind and understood my worries about my situation with Harry. I want that special bond. But more than anything, right now I just want the opportunity to actually speak to him. This is the longest we've been apart since we met on that tragic first day and with every minute that passes - my chest seems to get tighter.

"Hope so." I mumble. As right as Suwen might be, I'm not sure I want to discuss this with someone I met an hour ago. Especially when there's a doctor dipping my urine in the same room.

Doctor Sayid disposes of her gloves and makes her way over to the bed. She explains something to Suwen in Malaysian and shrugs at the end. Suwen chuckles and hugs her clipboard.

"She's surprised." She tells me. "Given the circumstances, you're barely even dehydrated. Whatever the two of you did out there...it saved your lives."

I open my mouth and then close it again. I can't talk about this. Not right now. It doesn't feel right discussing what happened without Harry here. If I'm quite honest, it doesn't feel right discussing it at all.

Suwen's head suddenly snaps to the direction of the door as the volume outside of my room rockets from silent to chaotic. What's going on out there? There's shouting in the corridor; manic and loud, accompanied by forceful footsteps slamming against the linoleum. Have the paparazzi got in? Is it Harry?

There's no time to react; the door flies open and slams against the wall behind it, revealing a red faced, flustered woman. Her hair is piled high onto her head and hanging limply over to one side as if styled in a last minute afterthought. She stares at me, wide eyed and attempting to catch her breath while I stare back from the bed.

"If you ever do that to us again, I'll kill you myself."

It's Jules.

a/n: I've had these last few chapters planned since about episode 3 lol! If I stick to my plan then there's about 5 chapters left of Stranded! (So far I haven't stuck to my plan very well and written so much that they've become additional chapters lol)