1D • Stories

Nouis ~ Hypothermia (2)

Louis's POV
"How is Niall?" The interviewer asked us.
"He's awake, and feeling like himself again. He's got a nasty cut on his leg, but otherwise he's good," I told her.
"Oh good. And how much does he remember about being underwater? Does he remember any of it?"
"He remembers some of it, definitely, but I don't really know how much of it he remembers in detail."
"We haven't asked him about it," Harry clarified. "We don't want to bring up any traumatic memories for him."
"No. Of course not. So, is he out of the hospital yet?"
"Yes. He should be. He's being discharged today so either he'll be leaving the hospital soon or he'll already be on the bus waiting for us."
"That is fantastic news, and I know that all of your fans are wishing Niall all the best."
"Of course they are, they're amazing," Liam chipped in.
"Is Niall going to be joining you for the charity gig later?"
"We have a charity gig later?"
"Yes, as far as I've heard, you're opening it. Didn't you know?"
"Not until right now. So... maybe?"
"We'll see how he's feeling when we get back to the bus."
"Ok. Well, I'll let you boys go and I look forward to watching you perform later."
"Yeah, that sounds good."
"Thank you for having us."
"No problem and I hope that Niall's doing well when you see him."
"So do we. Thank you," Liam said and we left.

~

When we got back to the bus, I climbed in first and looked around for Niall. It was empty.
"Niall! You're..." Liam began, but he trailed off as he came in behind me. "Where's Niall?"
"That's what I'm wondering."
"Where's Paul?" Harry asked
"I'll call him," Liam answered.
"It's lunchtime, he should have been discharged by now," I said before I went over to Niall's empty bed.
"Why are you still at the hospital?" Liam asked on the phone and Harry and I turned to him. "How's he gotten worse? Is it his breathing?" Liam asked and my blood ran cold. No. No. Niall was ok. He was better now. "Hypothermia? ...ok, we're on our way," Liam said before he hung up. "Niall's body temperature has dropped, he's close to being hypothermic. Paul says that we should get to the hospital."

We rushed to the hospital in a taxi before we ran to the ward that Niall was on.
"Boys stop," Paul told us and we stopped in our tracks. "Niall's doing ok. The nurses have him wrapped up, but he's only semi conscious."
"What happened?"
"Why's he nearly hypothermic?"
"Paul?"
"They're not sure. They think that it's an infection, but it's not affecting his lungs."
"Oh, that's a relief."
"Where is he? Can I be with him?"
"Of course you can. He's just under observation."
"Ok," I said before I rushed off and Liam and Harry asked Paul more questions. Niall was on his side on the bed and he was wrapped up in lots of blankets. He was shivering and small groans escape his lips before I got into his bed and cuddled up to him as much as I could.
"Shit. He doesn't look good," Liam said as he arrived.
"Shh," I told him as I tried to grip Niall tighter. He was freezing.
"I'll find some more blankets," Harry said before he rushed off.
"Shush darling... darling..." I said as I held Niall's body close to my own.

Harry's POV
I bumped into Niall's doctor and he warned me against giving Niall any more blankets as he might warm up too quickly. Instead he gave me a giant Stitch toy, from Lilo and Stitch, and I returned to Niall's bay.
"He's gone quiet," Liam told me before he saw the toy. "What the fuck is that Harry?"
"Something for Niall," I said before I put Stitch at the foot of the bed. Louis and Niall were both asleep, and Louis had his arms wrapped tightly around Niall.

At 4am Niall woke up, he was groaning and moving uncomfortably. I think that I woke up because of him, but never minding that, I went to him and checked his temperature. He was getting warmer, but he was clearly in some discomfort. I moved his blankets around and felt around his body to see if anything was pressing into him, but it wasn't.
"Urgh... murgh..." Niall moaned and I shook his shoulder gently to try and wake him up.
"Niall, what's wrong?" I asked but he just moaned more.
"Murghurgh," He said and I saw that he was refusing to grip Louis, so I got Stitch and placed it into his grip. Niall instantly went quiet as he hugged the toy and I kissed his forehead. Louis then moved and I went over to him.
"Louis? Are you comfortable there?"
"Hmn...? Nyo..." He groaned as I put my hand onto his side.
"Niall's fast asleep so you can move somewhere more comfortable alright."
"...yeah," Louis said and I gave him a hand as he sleepily tried to stand up. We took a few steps, but he stumbled and I lay him on the ground.
"We'll sleep here," I said and Louis attempted to nod.
"Hmn..."
"Ok Lou," I said before I lay down and let him rest his head against my chest. If he knew that he'd been replaced by a stuffed toy, he'd be very angry.