Hold Me Close (Sequel To Take Me Home and Keep Me Safe)

Chapter Three

Zayn sighed as he shrugged on his jacket and stuffed his used scrubs in the plastic bag in his locker, rolling out his neck. He had just finished a fifteen hour shift and to say he was exhausted was an understatement.

Glancing at the clock, he realised that Liam and the boys would still be at Louis' game for the next couple of hours, and he felt slightly relieved at the thought of going home, taking a shower and catching up on some sleep in peace - though of course, he missed his family a great deal during the longer shifts, he just really needed a nap right then.

However, when he reached the bottom floor and was saying goodbye to a colleague, he caught sight of a man in the hall way. His dark hair was caked with dried blood, checked shirt half unbuttoned to reveal a bandaged torso, one arm in a sling held against his chest.

"What the..." Zayn felt his heart begin to pound as he marched over at almost a jog, cupping his husband's face in his hands the moment he reached him, scanning him over for any further injuries. "Li - what - what the hell happened?"

Liam glanced up at his with wide brown eyes before letting out a small sigh and slumping his shoulders a little. "I - I crashed the car, Z, there was ice and another car skidded and -"

Zayn gulped at the thought and shook his head, moving his hands down to his husbands neck and then shoulders gently, looking down at his wrapped midsection. "Are you okay? You're hurt," he rushed, panicked.

Liam nodded quickly. "I'm fine. They said it's just a few broken ribs, sprained my wrist...Zayn, the boys -"

He stepped back at that, not likigg his husband's tone. He glanced around the busy hallway, trying and hoping and praying to see their two thirteen year olds messing around somewhere. When he couldn't spot them, his eyes landed back on his husband and he felt his stomach flip when Liam teared up.

"Li. Where are our boys?" he asked slowly, every inch of his body freezing at the idea of the worst case scenario. He didn't feel tired anymore. He wasn't sure what he felt.

Liam gulped and blinked away tears. "Ni - Ni's okay, he's allowed home tonight if his MRI comes back okay. He - he hit his head and he was out for a while so they're just running all of these tests but Lou -" he choked up then, and Zayn felt his stomach flip again, heart thudding.

"What? Where's Lou? He - he's okay, right? He's not..." he couldn't bring himself to say it. Couldn't even bring himself to think it.

Liam quickly shook his head and Zayn was sure his bones were turning to liquid. "No! No, he's, he's here...they took him to surgery, Zee, almost an hour ago now. I haven't told Ni, he was already so scared and he wasn't letting any of the doctors touch him, I couldn't put that on him too. They - they said Lou lost a lot of blood. God, the blood..."

Zayn gulped down the bile in his throat. It wasn't something he wanted to think about . Not ever.

He realised then just how wide his husband's eyes were, how terrified he looked. He gently took the man by the elbows and led him to a row of chairs, sitting beside him. He kept one hand where it was, thumb rubbing back and forth over the torn and bloodied shirt comfortingly.

"Did...I mean, they told you what the surgery was for, right?" he asked quietly, gnawing at his lip as anxiety coursed through his veins.

Liam gave a shaky nod. "His leg...he was so scared, Zayn," he whispered, glancing up at the man. "He said he could see his bone, that it had gone straight through...there was all this blood and they took him in the first ambulance. Ni and I went in the second, by the time we got here, he was in surgery. The doctors said they had to realign the bone, but there was a chance they wouldn't be able to save the leg," he finished quietly.