A Twist of Fate [niall horan]

Chapter 42

Aubrey's P.O.V.

Swarms of people prolonged my arrival to the circulation desk of the hospital my aunt was rushed less than twenty four hours ago, only adding to the rapid beating of my heart. A few gurneys stood idle at the sides of hallways which made me wonder if my aunt was sprawled out across one of them. Unfortunately, she wasn't on any which only made my heart beat quicken even more.

As soon as Lauren called me, I felt all of the blood flow in me come to complete halt. Not only was I more than three thousand miles away from her, but I had no idea how in the world I could mentally grasp the fact that my aunt could possibly be in critical condition while I was no where near her. Without hesitation, I booked the soonest flight I could get- let me just say boarding a plane at three in the morning isn't the best of ideas.

Almost eight hours later, I found myself running around JFK looking for my luggage and pushing myself past the crowds of people filling one of the country's busiest airports. On my way out, my eye caught a couple standing in the corner of the airport's entrance, simply holding each other in the other's arms, looking as if they were to part forever. Pain mixed in with regret flooded my emotions as I pictured Niall and I in the same position.

I needed Niall now more than I ever needed anyone. He was the only one who could manage to keep me sane in situations like this; he was the one was keeping me from breaking. If he were with me right now he would have a tight hold around my fingers as he tried to reassure me everything was going to be okay because nothing felt okay at the moment. One thing after another was slowly crumbling in front of me while I could do absolutely nothing about it.

Now as I stood before the entrance of the emergency room, I took a deep breath before bracing myself as best as I could for what lied ahead. Lauren didn't mention to me what was wrong, but from the tone of her voice I knew it was something extremely serious. Scared couldn't even begin to describe how I felt. A final intake of breath, I pushed through pale white doors before being greater with the forlorn faces of my brother and best friend.

"Aubrey!" Both of them practically screamed as they ran to meet me halfway in the hallway. In no time I was wrapped up in the warm embrace of the people I missed most, well minus one.

"Oh I've missed the two of you so much," I sniffled as I tightened my hold around them. Minutes later we pulled away and made our way to the bench outside of what I assumed to be the room my aunt was staying in. Doctors walked in and out of different rooms, each with different expressions on their faces as they scribbled away at the papers tucked into their clipboards Maybe one of these doctors had some information on my aunt; I was dying to know what was going on with her. Two weeks ago she was fine, besides the cancer spreading but they told me it wasn't anything to worry about. What the hell happened between now and then?

"Is she okay?" I whispered after a pregnant silence formed among the three of us. All that was heard among us was the constant beeping and various alerts around the hospital. Lauren squeezed herself between Adam and I before she looked up at me with her glossy blue-green eyes, again reminding of Niall. Shaking my head at the thoughts of him, I looked at Lauren with pleading eyes, begging her to spit out what she was holding back.

"Laur, tell me. Please, I need to know she's okay, please tell me she's okay," my voice trailed off as I felt my lip trembling with each word that left my mouth. My best friend looked back at me with a look of uncertainty: a look I knew all too well.

"She's dead," I whispered.

"No, god no Aubrey," Lauren rushed out sending a million waves of relief throughout me. I continued looking back at Lauren, waiting for an answer from her, anything. Finally, after what seemed like a life time she spoke. "She was misdiagnosed."