𝙲𝚘𝚗𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚟𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎 ✓

t-h-i-r-t-y--o-n-e

It's quiet.

Almost too quiet.

Well, it would be too quiet if it weren't for the beeping of the machines, the quite puff of air coming from the respirator resting on his face as it makes sure his lungs receive the very necessary oxygen that keeps him alive.

There's a bandage around his head, flattening his hair down and making him look so much younger than he really is. One arm is in a cast that goes up past his right elbow, bent at a right angle, and there's an intricate brace from his left mid-thigh all the way down to his mid-calf. His knee is dislocated, his arm is broken, his head is bandaged, his arms and shoulders are all cut up with road rash, and he looks so pale. God, he's so pale. They never thought he could be so pale, he's always had such a beautiful vibrance to his skin. But here he is, lifeless and pale.

"How is he?" His friends ask, his mother sighing where she sits.

"Stable, but critical. If he can make it through the night, we can hope for the best," Receiving the call had been the most horrifying moment of her life.

"Your son was in an accident, we urge you to get here as soon as possible before he goes into surgery," She had rushed out of the building, leaving everyone else behind her as she raced to the hospital to see her beautiful boy off to surgery.

His brain injury had presented as mild. He was conscious when the paramedics arrived, but it soon became apparent that he'd suffered a moderate head injury instead. The bleeding was putting too much stress on his brain and they had to do surgery to alleviate the pressure. It was successful, they just have to monitor him to make sure he makes it through the night.

If he does, then his chance of survival goes up into the upper nineties, percentage wise. They just have to be patient and see if any complications arise.

"He's going to be okay," Louis takes the seat beside her, resting his hand atop his friend's where it rests on the bed - pale and lifeless.

"I know he is. Still worried, though," Liam and Louis both nod at that and rest their hands on her shoulder to let her know she's not alone.

"So, you are the boys that became like brothers to my son, yeah?" She asks, "I'm sorry I never properly met you before now," Louis smiles, Liam taking a seat on the other side of the bed, the gentle breathing of the boy in between them filling the silence.

"Didn't have much of a choice. He just kind of drew us in and soon enough we were stuck. He became our best friend," Louis says sadly, looking at the pale body on the sheets. His skin has never looked so pale, so sunken and hollow. He's only been out of surgery for twelve hours, he shouldn't look so sickly already. It almost looks as if he's been here for years, lying on this thin, stiff bed with nothing more than two pillows to prop him up.

"He had a way with that. Spent a lot of time alone as a child, partly due to us always working. It always took us away from him. He grew up alone, for the most part, despite his older sibling. But even through that he learned how to make friends. I regret not meeting them, meeting you," She sighs, taking her son's hand in hers, lifting it so she can press a kiss to it before just resting there, her chin on his hand as she looks at him, "He always wanted to connect, but I never had the time."

"He knows you love him," Louis starts, "He didn't really talk about you much but you could just tell. He's a great person, he wouldn't be that way without you," She sighs again.

"I could have been better. Could have given him more attention, more love. He didn't have to do it all without me, I made him be alone," Louis shakes his head. She's right, to a degree, but she doesn't need to be thinking that. Not when her son is lying where he is, in the state he is in.