The Guardian

Chapter Fourteen

Everything was a blur as I sprinted down the bleachers in a panic, the athletic trainers at Niall's side. 

Why was he so distracted? That's so unlike him... God I hope he's okay. God please let him be okay.

The ambulance was at the field within minutes and since Ella was my ride, I didn't exactly have access to a car. So I rode in the ambulance with Niall, holding his hand the whole way there. 

Seconds after we arrived in the emergency room, Maura and Bobby rushed inside. 

"Is he okay? Is my baby okay?" she panicked, clinging onto my arm as she asked the nurse.

"He's gonna be fine, the doctors will be here shortly."

She sighed and walked over to Niall, leaning over and kissing him softly on the forehead.

"But I'm going to have to ask you to exit the room and wait outside while the doctor is here," the nurse added, and we nodded.

 I gave Niall's hand a squeeze before following his parents into the waiting room. 

My heart was pounding as I waited for word from the nurse. It was taking longer than I had expected, and I began to worry.

About 10 minutes later, the nurse returned. 

"You can come see him now," she said with a smile.

I rose from the uncomfortable waiting room chair I had spent the past hour in, my tailbone sore from sitting. I let Niall's parents go in first, but I followed close behind. 

He was still asleep.

"Just a concussion, nothing severe. The way he landed was what knocked him out, but there shouldn't be any memory loss, besides maybe what happened. He should be up any minute now."

We all sighed with relief as we sat around Niall, waiting for him to wake up.

 I held his large hand in my smaller one and watched him as he slept. He looked adorable. Angelic, almost. I rarely ever had the privelege to watch him sleep until now, being I was always the first to fall asleep and the last to wake up. 

A few seconds later Niall's eyelids began to flutter, but they stayed shut. 

"Mryans mersey," he mumbled.

We all raised an eyebrow and focused our full attention on Niall.

"Mot mine, she mwore mryans," he mumbled again, this time a little louder.

I processed what he had said, or what was trying to say, and my eyes went wide.

Brian's jersey. He was upset I wore Brian's jersey and not his.

I swallowed hard.

"What's he saying?" Maura asked.

"Something about his jersey I think," I said. I wasn't lying, it was true. I just didn't give all the details. Didn't need to make things awkward.

His eyes finally opened, and a look of confusion appeared on his face.

"What the... where am I? Am I in the hospital?" 

We nodded.

"What? What happened?!"

"At the game... you got hit in the head with the ball and it knocked you out."

He blinked a few times, trying to remember. He then glanced down to look at what I was wearing-jersey that was not his-and his cheeks flushed red. 

"Oh, I sorta remember now... I was, uh, distracted." He swallowed hard, turning his head away from me. "Ow," he groaned, his hand flying up to rub the spot on his head where the ball had hit.