It was exceptionally quiet when the boys entered the Children's Special Unit, an atmosphere much different from the loud ones they have grown accustomed to when they were in public places over the years. A nurse who was behind the counter waved at them before making her way towards them.

"Good morning. Sara's attending to a child at the moment, perhaps I could take you to the holding room and meet some of the children?" the nurse suggested.

The boys nodded and followed behind her towards the holding room that was located a few doors away from the entrance. The fairly large room was filled with interactive toys and there were about 3 young children in the room, probably aged 3 to 5 years old who were playing at a corner with a lady who must have been a medical professional since she was wearing scrubs.

"I'll notify Sara on your arrival and will direct her here once she's done," the nurse told the boys.

The lady who was playing with the children turned her head at the sound of her voice. It was Ranae. She had her soft waves tied up in a loose bun and had a pair of tortoiseshell glasses on. The boys almost did not recognise her until the nurse mentioned her name. "This is Ranae. She is a medical volunteer. She could introduce you to the children, yeah Ranae?" the nurse added.

Ranae pushed the hair strains on her sides back and smiled. "Yeah we've met and sure!" she said. "I could babysit 5 more."

The boys and the nurse tittered at her comment before the nurse left them in the room. As soon as the children noticed that there were other people besides Ranae in the room, they began to shy away and crept towards Ranae who was on her knees. One of the boys hid behind her with his arms around her neck, another who was much smaller hugged her from the side and the girl crawled up onto Ranae's lap. It was such a precious sight for the boys to see how the children were so comfortable with Ranae but at the same time were unsure how they could make the children feel comfortable around them too.

Ranae laughed softly at the children's behaviour as she rubbed the little girl's back gently. "Just give them some time," she cooed. "Have you all sanitised your hands?" she asked, pointing to the sanitiser that was on counter.

The boys shook their heads and then took turns to press some sanitiser on their hands and rubbed it thoroughly. They took a seat on the sofas at the other corner of the room, Harry and Liam on one and Zayn, Niall and Louis on another.

Ranae lifted the little girl who was on her lap and turned her around to face the boys then took the other two boys in her arms. "They get very shy around new people," she said with a smile. "Do you want to sing to them a nursery song? It would calm them down."

The boys looked at each other and nodded. Zayn cleared his throat and started singing, "You are my sunshine, my only sunshine..." The rest of the boys came in and sang the next line together harmoniously, "You make me happy..." Then Zayn went on, "When skies are grey. You'll never know dear, how much I love you." Finally, the all of them sang together again, "Please don't take my sunshine away."

"Yayyyyy," Ranae cheered, clapping her hands and looking at the children who were now smiling and clapping their hands too. "Wasn't that great?" she asked the children enthusiastically.

"Super!" the little girl on her lap shrieked.

"That was lovely, boys!" Sara praised as she walked into the holding room. "I'm gonna bring three of you over to join Amy at the children's ward first. I'm sorry we can't have all 5 of you at the moment. The children are getting a little restless. Then the rest of you stay with Ranae here for a while. How's that sound?"

"Yeah, sure. Harry and I could stay here first, right Harry?" Liam replied.

Harry nodded with his eyes still transfixed on the little girl. The little girl reminded him a lot of Lux, Lou's daughter, whom he love and care for very much. While Zayn, Louis and Niall walked out with Sara, Harry got up from his seat and crouched down to meet the little girl's eyes. The girl giggled and quickly hid her face onto Ranae's chest. "Aw, is little Hannah shy to meet Harry?" Ranae teased as she cupped the back of the girl's head with her hand and kissing the top of her head. "Come on, don't be shy, he just wants to say hi."

"Hello Hannah," Harry said softly, taking the girl's tiny hand with is index finger.

"Do you boys wanna play a little football?" Liam asked the two boys with a small football in his hands. "Come on!"

The two boys released themselves from Ranae's embrace and ran towards Liam.

The little girl lifted her head from Ranae's chest and turned towards Harry. She was such a beautiful girl, piercing blue eyes, rosy cheeks and a really cute nose that Harry almost did not notice her deformed upper lip. Even after he did, he still looked at the girl in the eyes and told her, "You are really pretty, do you know that?" The girl giggled again and opened her arms for Harry to carry her.

Harry held the girl sat down on the mat with his legs crossed. "Are those two her brothers?" he finally asked Ranae.

Ranae tucked her hair behind her ears and straightened her glasses. "Nope. They are all from the orphanage. They are here for their consultation before their surgery next month."

Harry looked at Ranae and murmured, "Oh.."

"Yeah, I know how you feel right now. Their surgeries are being paid for by the funds we raise at Operation Smile. We just have to keep their spirits high and support them through the surgeries. They are very young and get scared all the time."

"You must have witnessed a lot, huh?"

"Enough to break my heart but we have to be strong for them," Ranae's voice trembled as she stood up to put away the toys.

"Hey, you alright?" Harry asked, looking up at Ranae.

Before Ranae could answer him, Amy entered the room with the rest of the boys. "Hey Ranae, you could bring Liam and Harry over. Joshua misses you and wants to see you," Amy told her.

Rane nodded and bent down towards Harry. "Come on Hannah, you're gonna stay here with Amy for a while, okay? I'll be back shortly." She took Hannah in her arms and then handed her over to Amy, avoiding Harry's eye contact that was on her.

"Let's go," Ranae called, gesturing Liam and Harry to follow her.

-

"Is Ranae okay?" Niall voiced out his concern to Amy. "She seemed a little down out of a sudden."

"Nah she's fine. She loves these children so much that she gets sensitive sometimes," Amy reassured him.

"Oh, I was afraid Harry said something wrong..." Louis said while kicking the ball towards one of the little boys.

"Why would he?" Amy asked with a frown on her face.

"Nah, that lad's a goof ball so you never know, you know?" Louis laughed.

-

It was a long day for all of them and it was evident that Ranae and Amy were very drained. They dragged themselves to the locker room to change out of their scrubs after putting some of the children to sleep.

"Thank goodness you're driving me home," Amy yawned, rubbing her eyes. "Ray, is everything alright? You seemed a little off today."

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little tired," Ranae told her.

"I've seen you run a marathon. Come on, spill!"

"There's nothing to spill, Amy," Ranae whined. "You better stop asking me or I won't drive you home."

"Okay, okay, fine. Let's go!"

When they walked out of the locker room and to the corridor, Ranae stopped and checked her pockets.

"Shit! I think I dropped my pass somewhere." Ranae yelled out in panic. "Amy you gotta help me find it."

"Okay relax, Ray!," Amy told her. "Just let me get this call."

Amy unlocked her phone and picked up the call. "Hello? Oh, hi, Niall."

Ranae's eyes widened at what Amy said and mouthed, "What the hell"

Amy placed her index finger on her lips and continued talking on the phone. "Oh, really? That's great! Thank you. We'll see you there."

The moment Amy put down her phone, Ranae gasped and cried, "You gave your number to Niall? Seriously, Amy?"

"Look, before you start, you're gonna thank me."

"Why is that?"

"Well they got your pass. You dropped it when we said goodbye to them just now. They're at the carpark now and told us to meet them there."

"Oh, phew. Okay, let's go."

Amy nudged Ranae's rib, making her grimace at the sudden pressure. "What?" Ranae asked with a slight annoyance in her tone.

Amy grinned and raised her eyebrows.

"Oh, yeah. Thanks, Amy. If you hadn't been a flirt and give your number to Niall, I would have been doomed," Ranae said a matter of factly.

Amy scooped Ranae's arm in hers and whispered in Ranae's ear as they walked towards the lift.

"He asked me for it, silly."

Notes

Ahhh thank you for the votes and for subcribing! Hope you like this chapter!
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