Stumbling (H.S. / A.U.)

Chapter 57

TODAY'S UPDATE WILL BE CHAPTERS 56-60!!!

MAKE SURE YOU READ ALL THE NEW CHAPTERS!!!

Sunday, October 8th

Harry's POV

The stale air of the hospital churned around me and my stomach felt queasy. I haven't eaten in who knows how long, but still something threatened to come up. The doctor said he was checking something out before returning to me. Dr. Rienks advised me of the visiting hour times all night and through the morning, but I stifled him and everyone else with any and all funds I had on me.

Louis was laid out on the floor, a towel wrapped up under his forehead as a makeshift pillow. Liam had stepped out to go grab some food, while Avery recently got discharged from a room. Avery lucked out, the worst things that happened to her was some trouble breathing from the tear gas, some cuts on her hands, and a pretty gnarly bruise on her shoulder from slamming into the door while helping us get out.

I haven't slept since we got here. The images of Liam and Louis helping me load Riley and Niall into the van while Avery shouted from the driver's seat have haunted me all day and night so far. Yelling at me that this is my fault.

If it wasn't for me Oli would be here. If it wasn't for me mum would still be alive. None of this would be happening.

If it wasn't for me Niall would still be here.

If it wasn't for me Riley wouldn't be down the hall in a bed surrounded by tubes that were sustaining her.

The doctor had let me go back once and see her, but it was traumatizing to see her like that. Between Riley being rushed to the ICU and Niall being rushed to trauma care, everything felt like it was being reduced to moments. Any one of them we are going to hear the news that one of them didn't make, something went wrong, and everything is fucked.

In such a short time so many things went wrong.

Dr. Reinks came back to tell me what was happening, and Louis joined in listening. "The women you came in with, the two, both were injured. Now, Miss Clarke had sustained some light trauma to her airways, along with some contusions on her body, but the troubling thing was it seemed like she had inhaled a strong amount of Bromoacetone. Was she subjected to any mace or some sort of lachrymatory agent recently?"

Louis was first to speak up, "Miss Clarke?" I was as confused as him, thinking he meant someone else, but it sounded like our group...

The doctor flips through some paperwork on the clipboard in his hand. His eyes squint while he adjusts his glasses. His salt and pepper hair was disheveled and he had been here the entire time we were here, and at this point was coming up on hour 15 of his shift at least. "Yes," he clears his throat and uses a finger that he was just pushing his glasses up with to now scan through the document and focus in on certain parts, "Miss Alice Genesis Clarke, date of birth April 11th, 1996. The woman... you... brought in?"

The woman... we... oh fuck. Avery.

"Shit. Yeah, Alice." I say and give Louis a look. He hesitates but then reads the expression to understand my nonverbal communication. "Sorry, I thought you said something else. Yeah."

"Yes? How much was she subjected to?" Oh shit. He asked me about the mace. That's what it was in the room, that's why everything was smoky and we all were struggling. They threw some pepper spray type agent into the area before they went in. It was hard to remember everything because the entire event was so surreal.