Fortune's Fools

Chapter Twenty-two

Liam cringed at the sounds coming from the other end of the line. The police officer was explaining there'd been an car accident, and from the description of the car, it could only be Harry and Louis. Who else would have his phone on the first speed dial anyway? Through the words there were noises of metal being bent and cut, sirens and calls from what he supposed were rescue-workers.

“So uhm, where did this accident happen?” Liam stuttered, his free hand gripping Niall's that was resting on his belly. He didn't need to see his boyfriend to know he would be biting his lip, tears threatening to fall as he whimpered at every mention of the accident.

“Alright, and they'll be taken to the John Radcliffe's hospital in Oxford, right?”

Niall couldn't understand what the officer replied, his own sobs sounding too loud in his head.

“Yeah, yeah, I'll come there myself. And I'll notify their families. Yes. Thank you. Bye.”

He lowered his phone and stared at the display for a few seconds, his fingers trembling too much to hang up right away.

“Harreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeh!” the raw cry that sounded through the speaker gave both Niall and Liam goose bumps, shivers running over their bare torsos.

“Louis...” Niall whispered and Liam gulped as he nodded.

“Yeah. We should get going soon. I'll call Harry's parents while we're on the road. You reckon we should call Eleanor? I don't have Louis' land line number.” Where he started off slowly and hesitant at first, his speech soon became rambling and it took an urgent kiss from Niall to shut him up.

His calloused thumb slid over Liam's face as he pulled away. “You go shower, I'll call El. I reckon she'll want to come. We can call their parents later on, I'm not even sure if they'll care enough to get to Oxford.” The last sentence came out bitter, but Liam shared the sentiment. He nodded and kissed Niall one last time before he headed to the shower, needing the water to shake off sleep.

While Liam was in the bathroom, Niall thudded around the room, picking up his clothes from the day before and pulling them on before he grabbed his own phone from the night stand. His finger hovered above the speaker button, shaking a bit before it landed and the beeping sound alerted him he should say the name of the contact he wanted to call.

“Eleanor.”

It took her an incredibly short time to pick up, giving away that she hadn't been sleeping either. Maybe she had felt it too.

“Niall?” She sounded panicked, and he could hear sobs from someone else next to her.

“Eleanor... there's... there's been an accident.”

Nothing but harsh breathing could be heard on both sides of the line for about a minute, before finally she had found her voice again.

“What...Where... How are they?”

“We don't know yet, but not very well, since the police called us. They're being taken to a hospital in Oxford. Liam and I are leaving in a bit, we uhm... we wondered if you'd want to come with us?”

“Yes! I'll get dressed and wait for you outside the gates. When will you get here?”

“Fifteen minutes.” Liam answered, just having entered the bedroom in fresh boxers.

“Alright, I'll be waiting for you.”

Niall had hung up quickly, leaving Eleanor trembling and uncertain of what to do next. Should she tell her employers? It was still early, so even with the wedding being today everyone would be still asleep, and maybe that was for the best. Maybe she should just wait until they found out that Louis was gone themselves. By that time, she would be at least half way to Oxford, and even if they fired her later on, she just...