Contingency (Sequel to Contentions)

~2~

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“He-uh-He didn’t make it, babe,” Niall said quietly, looking down at his lip and fumbling with his thumbs.

“He wasn’t able to come with you guys to save me?” I said, a little offended that he didn’t deem me as worth the time to come and rescue.

“It’s not that he didn’t want to-“ Niall tried to articulate, tears building in his eyes and cheeks growing red.

“S’alright, mate,” Louis said softly, resting a hand on his shoulder and instead picking up for Niall in a calm, collected tone. “Brin, Harry was shot trying to protect Jessie when the house was raided-”

“No…” I croaked, eyes widening and tears threatening to bubble in my eyes. “N-Not Harry. Please not him too-“

“Hey, Hey, let me finish,” he cooed, cupping my cheek with his free hand earning a grunt from Liam. “He’s still alive, alright? But…But he’s in a sorry state. He’s…shit, this is hard…babe, he’s paralyzed from the waist down.”

“Harry,” I choked, trying to imagine the bright and lanky ray of sunshine confined to a chair; it was absolutely horrible. “Wh-Why-h-how-b-but-“

“Easy, kid, he’s still himself. Nothing can get the lad down, even a wheelchair,” Liam said quietly from up front making me shrink into the seat, trying to get his voice out of my head. I bit my lip and shook my head slightly, tugging my knees up to my chest and staying silent as I huddled as close as I could to the window, the coolness of the glass on my forehead making me sigh.

“Niall, do you mind holding her?” I heard Louis say quietly, my daughter being passed up to the blonde lad who immediately cradled her to his chest, a large smile spreading across his face as she clutched his shirt in a tiny fist.

“Now that she’s alright, can I take care of you, babe?” Louis asked softly. “You’re looking a bit sickly yourself.”

“I’m alright,” I rasped, a blatant lie. I had been sick for a little over a month, my stomach always in knots and horrid coughing plaguing me in whatever I did.

“Just humor me,” he smiled, scooting over so he could press his palm against my forehead, a frown slipping onto his lips. “You’re burning up, darling.”

“I’m fine,” I tried once more but it did nothing, he continued examining me and by the time he was done, I was lying down, my head in his lap as he stroked my hair.

“I’ll give both you and Lennox a small injection of antibiotics when we stop,” he informed quietly. “Other than that, just make sure to eat well and take the vitamins that I give you. You have to work up your body’s strength again, alright?” I nodded, my eyes hooded at the feeling of his fingers rubbing my scalp soothingly.

“Get some rest,” Louis said quietly, continuing his movements. “We have a long drive ahead of us. I’ll wake you up when we get to the hotel.

“Hotel?” I yawned, feeling myself drift away.

“Yeah, darling. We’re in America,” he informed making my eyes bulge open, body jolting up despite the protest of my aching limbs.

“AMERICA!” I screeched.

“Easy!” Louis yelped, grasping my shoulders and forcing me to lay back down despite my weak protests.

“Wh-Why are we in America?! H-How did he even…” I choked, trying to come up with a logical explanation on how Richard had gotten me to America. “H-He couldn’t have…”

“You didn’t know you were in America?” Louis said gently, suddenly treading rather lightly in his speech. “Didn’t he ever take you on a plane? Or even a boat?” I shook my head, lip quivering as those memories of my initial capture came flooding back. I was silent, just trembling and clutching my hair as I tried my hardest to remember but I knew it was no use; nothing was gonna come back to me.

“I don’t know,” I mumbled honestly, playing with the hem of Louis’ long sleeve sweater. “To be honest I don’t really remember much ever since…yeah. I was either drugged, pregnant, or in too much pain to register anything.” Silence filled the air and I sighed, knowing how tense everything had become.

“Mummy,” I heard a small voice croak making me wince at the roughness of such a small child’s voice.

“Right here, darling,” I said quietly, watching as she twisted out of Niall’s arms so she could shakily stand on her little feet while holding onto Niall’s hand.

“Fish?” she mumbled, holding her hands out to me. I slowly sat up, now very aware of the pain in my ribs as I leaned forward and puckered my lips, letting her hold my cheeks and kiss me adorably, making a huge ‘mwah’ sound. I laughed slightly and winced as my torso throbbed horribly, my daughter quickly picking up on it.

“Richy hurt mummy?” she frowned, her chubby fingers playing with my hair.

“No, no, love,” I smiled shakily. “Mummy’s alright. Just…Just lay down with Niall again, alright? Get some sleep.” Her tummy suddenly rumbled and her cheeks grew red as she looked down, moving to lay down against Niall but I caught her arm, looking down worriedly.

“Are you hungry, baby?” I asked softly, hearing Louis behind me already digging through his bag to produce another bottle.

“Me okay, mummy,” she reassured despite another tiny grumble in her stomach. Even at such a young, young age, she always tried to stay quiet about her hunger in an attempt to spare me the guilt, but of course that only made me guiltier.

“Here, bug,” Louis smiled, shaking the bottle and handing it to Lennox. “It’ll taste a bit funny at first but it’ll help you feel better.” She nodded, placing it in her mouth as she plopped down on Niall’s lap, sucking on it contentedly. As soon as she wasn’t looking, my hand was pressing hard against my mouth, tears welling in my eyes as my free hand wrapped around my torso; the pain in my ribs growing increasingly unbearable.

“Sit back,” Louis murmured in my ear, helping ease me back as he pet my hair. “Where does it hurt?” I pointed to my left side and he didn’t hesitate to lift up my shirt, a gasp of protest leaving my lips, his gaze darkening.

“Louis, talk to me,” Liam barked from up front. “How is she?”

“She’ll be fine,” the older lad responded gruffly, letting my shirt fall back down but not removing his intense gaze from my shifty eyes. “Just fine, Liam. She just needs rest and painkillers.”

“I’m going to sleep,” I blurted, scooting as far as I could from Louis, trying to avoid his questioning. He said nothing at first and I allowed my eyes close, my heart pounding at the thought of what he had just saw.

“We’ll be talking later,” was all he muttered before I drifted off into a restless sleep.