Stumbling through the dark

Gone

The doctor held up his hand for silence as each man started bombarding him with questions. They lapsed into silence, watching him anxiously. "Which one of you gentlemen is Mr Tomlinson.?" Louis raised his hand. " I have you as  Mr Horan's emergency contact so If you could come with me, I'll update you as to Mr Horan's condition."

"You can tell us all. " Louis said, indicating the other men. "He's like our brother"

" Very well, then . Mr Horan came through surgery  fairly well although he is still very poorly.  I had to clamp and close several bleeding blood vessels and remove some scar tissue that had occurred from previous stomach  damage. He'll be kept in recovery until he had regained consciousness and then he'll be moved to the ICU until we are are completely sure there will be no further bleeding. As part of his treatment,  he will require some blood transfusions but at the moment we have none of his blood group readily available as he is, unfortunately . a very rare group.  We have  sent out requests to see if other hospitals have what we need and hopefully some will arrive soon."

"I'm  same group as Niall" Zayn spoke up. "I can donate". 

"I'll get that arranged. I'll send a nurse to arrange the necessary checks and cross  matching. It will at least give us a chance to get him started. Thank you" The doctor nodded. "You'll be able to see him shortly but please keep it to two people at a time. He needs quiet and rest"

"Will he be OK?" Harry spoke softly.

"He'll receive the best care. "

"His daughter got married today. She's on her Honeymoon. Do you think we should call her back?" Harry asked though he was scared to hear the answer.

"I don't think Mr Horan is in any immediate danger at the moment  so, unless things change, I'll leave that  decision to you."  The doctor nodded then left them. Several minutes later, a nurse arrived and escorted Zayn away and the remaining young men sat down again for another long wait.

"Gentlemen, the doctor asked me to escort you to the ICU. "A dark haired nurse had appeared quietly in front of them. "  Mr Horan has woken  briefly but is  now sleeping again . You are welcome to sit with him however. " They all stood and followed her . Looking through the window of Niall's room, they could see him laying there, unmoving, hooked up to various machines and with an IV slowly dripping blood into his veins. "Just two at a time, please" she reminded them.

"Harry, you and Liam go in" Louis said quietly. "I want to check on Zayn" The other two nodded and slipped into Niall's room whilst Louis went to find Zayn's whereabouts.

"In here, sir" a nurse opened the door of a small side room. Zayn was sat up on a bed, drinking a big glass of water while a cup of tea and a sandwich waited on the side table for him.

"You, OK Zee?" Louis asked

"Yeah, I'm fine. How's Nialler? They wouldn't tell me beyond the usual "as well as can be expected. I mean, what the f.ck does that mean?"

"He's holding his own.  Look Zee, I want to apologise for what I said. My temper got the best of me"

"Lou, don't.We both know I messed up. I'll never forgive myself for what I did. Now  I know Ni is OK , I'm leaving. I've caused enough hurt" Louis flinched at Zayn's bitter tone.

"Zayn"

"Louis"

"What about Niall?" Louis asked " What do we tell him"

"Nothing, you tell him nothing. Look, go see how Niall is for me" Zayn smiled at Louis though his eyes remained emotionless. 

"I'll see you in a bit. You'll want to see Niall." Louis said and Zayn just smiled again, making no reply. Once Louis had left, he hurriedly ate the sandwich and stood up from the bed, slowly checking his balance. The nurse came in at that point  and seeing him moving around told him he could go visit Niall if he felt alright. She gave him directions to Niall's room. Zayn thanked her and, when she had left, slowly made his own exit.

The boys alternated with each other for the next few hours , refusing to leave even though they were exhausted. Eventually Niall's eyes fluttered open and Liam called a nurse.

'Wa..water" Niall croaked and she held a cup to his lips, allowing him to sip a small amount through the straw before helping him settle him back against his pillows. He blinked in confusion, not remembering how he got to where he was. His last memory was the bright lights of the Emergency Room and a doctor asking him questions. He turned his head and saw Louis huddled into a chair next to his bed, a worried look on his face.

 "Mate, you look awful" Niall managed to rasp out.

"Look better than you any day of the week, Nialler" Louis sassed back, sitting up straight. "How  are you feeling?"

"Sore, sick. M' stomach hurts"

"Bound to mate. You just had surgery" Liam chipped in as he moved to stand next to the bed. 

"Do you remember what happened?" Harry asked. He'd slid into the room quietly and the nurse didn't shoo him out.

"Just remember being in pain. I was at the cemetery then the next I remember I was somehow here. But I don't know how I got here" Niall sounded very confused.

"Someone must have found you" Louis said then, trying to avoid Niall asking questions he didn't want to answer  and praying none of the other boys would say anything. "Maybe you should stop talking and rest. We'll be back later ,"

'Yeah, I'm tired" Niall closed his eyes and drifted to sleep.

"Let's go and let him sleep." Louis said then led the way out of the room. Once away from Niall he spoke again. "I'll get Zayn and we can go home and talk.  We'll meet you at the car" Louis headed off and Harry and Liam made their way out of the hospital to wait from Louis and Zayn to join them.

Louis opened the door to the room where Zayn had been put to recover from donating blood. The room was empty.  Zayn was gone.