Long Way Down // One Direction Sickfic

Zayn Fainted

Louis POV
"Thank you Chile!" Harry called to the crowd and he waved goodbye to the crowd. We had just finished one of our best concerts this tour, and we were extra excited knowing that we had tomorrow off. Unfortunately, as I began making my way towards the lift to get offstage, I noticed that I was starting to feel a bit sick to my stomach - one of the typical warning signs that I was going into a seizure.
"Niall!" I called, catching his attention. He came over to me quickly, putting a hand on my shoulder
"What's up, Tommo?" He asked, looking me up and down
"I think I'm gonna have a seizure" I whispered, and his glance quickly met my eyes, obviously concerned
"Okay, we gotta get you backstage" He replied, putting his arm around my waist and practically pushing me up the ramp and onto the lift.
"Louis, are you okay? Niall, is he okay?" Liam asked as we stepped onto the lift
I did my best to respond, but I couldn't form words. Should I lay down? I thought to myself, but my body wouldn't move or cooperate.

"Lou? Louis?" Liam said. He was now standing in front of me, with his hand on my shoulder. I met his eyes.
"There you are, Lou" Harry cooed
"Whaat happened?" I asked. My brain felt fuzzy, and my head hurt
"You had a quick absence seizure is all" Liam explained. "Do you think you can walk to the dressing room? You're still on the lift" He put his hand on my waist, preparing to help me walk. My stomach flipped, and everything around me got super bright.
"Lou?" Niall asked
"Liam, I think he's going into another seizure" Zayn said, pointing at me, and I felt multiple hands on me as my vision faded into white.

Zayn POV
"Liam, I think he's going into another seizure" I said as Louis zoned out again.
"Yeah, let's get him to the floor, just in case" Liam instructed as we all helped lower Louis to the ground
"Come on Louis, try to come out of it" Harry encouraged as he touched his cheek
Eventually Louis' eyes refocused and he glanced around at us
"Hey Lou," Niall cooed softly
"You've just had another seizure so take it easy mate" Liam said
"Louis?" I asked noticing his eyes had glazed over again
"Shit. This is his third seizure. Zayn can you go find Paul?" Harry ordered

As I stood up and began to hurry off, I was hit by a dizzy spell. In all honesty, we'd been so busy lately and I'd definitely noticed this happening more often. What was odd about this, however, was that it didn't seem to be fading away; and if anything, it was getting worse. Stars danced in my vision as I neared the staircase, but I kept walking. I imagined that Paul had gone downstairs to debrief with security after the concert.
As I climbed down the stairs, my vision tunneled, and before I knew it, I felt myself falling. I heard crashing around me, the sound of me falling, but I didn't feel anything. As I stilled, my vision went black and then there was nothing.

Liam POV
"Come on, Louis" I said, trying to coax him out of his fourth seizure.
"Where is Paul?" Niall exclaimed, pacing back and fourth a few feet away from us. "It's been five minutes, where is he"
"There! There he is" Harry said as Louis finally broke out of his trance and glanced into my eyes
"Louis, you're okay. You've had a few absence seizures, but you're alright" I said, this now being the second time that those exact words came out of my mouth.
Paul was still turned away, which confused me. Hadn't Zayn gone to get him?
Finally, Paul saw us, and practically ran over
"What's going on? Is Louis okay?" He asked
"He's had four absences in a row" Harry explained
"And you didn't think to come find me?" He scolded, obviously mad at all of us
"We did!" Niall exclaimed, "We did, we sent Zayn like five minutes ago"
"Well, he never found me. Louis, are you with me?" Louis glanced over at him. "Can you tell me where you are?" Paul moved on
"Oooome" He slurred, glancing at us
"No Louis, you're in Chile, we just finished a concert" I said
"Okay Louis, what about, can you tell me what my name is?" Paul continued
Louis studied Paul's face for a moment before looking at me.
"Thas Liuum"
"Very good Loui-" Paul began
"Why is he so out of it?" Niall interrupted
"Cluster seizures," Paul said simply. "I'll give him thirty or so minutes to come around more. If he's still out of it or has any more seizures, I'll have Preston or someone drive him to the hospital"
"Where the hell did Zayn go" Harry blurted, looking around. Louis was still lying on the lift, so we had a general view of the hallways in every direction. "Anyone remember which way he went?"
"I think towards the dressing room?" Niall said, thought it sounded more like a question
"No, no. He went towards the basement. He's probably still trying to find you, Paul. He went to the security lounge" I recalled
"Harry, how about you go find him. Tell him that Louis is okay." Paul suggested
"On it" Harry said as he stood up and headed towards the basement
Paul lifted Louis from the ground bridal style, and began walking him towards the dressing room
"Oh my, is he alright?" Lou said, as her and our stylist put their phones down and stood up from their seats, coming over.
"He's had some cluster absence seizures. He should be fine in a half hour, or so, but I want to keep an eye on him" Paul explained, lying Louis down on the couch
Paul's phone rang, and he picked it up.
"Harry, have you found Zayn?" He answered
He was silent for a moment as Harry answered.
"Alright Harry. Stay where you are, I'm on my way" He said as he put the phone down.
"Wait Paul, where are you going?" Niall asked as he began to rush out of the room
"Just stay here and watch Louis" He ordered before he disappeared

Paul POV
"Zayn, it's time to wake up" I said, shaking Zayn's shoulder. Harry had called me after finding him unconscious at the bottom of the stairwell, so now I was left with the task with trying to wake Zayn, and calm a panicking Harry. "Harry, pull it together. I need you to go find me a bottle of water" I ordered. He was off to do so quickly. "Come on, Zayn" I said as I propped his feet up on the stairs and loosening his belt. "Christ" I said, noticing how his hip bones jutted out. I made a mental note to have a chat about that once he woke up.
"I'm back, here, here's the water" Harry said, holding out a plastic bottle as he practically fell beside me and Zayn
"Easy Harry," I said, unscrewing the cap. I didn't need Harry to look after too, on top of Louis and now Zayn.
I cupped the water in my hand, and then gently rubbed it on Zayn's face and neck. After a few moments, he began to come to.
"Zayn? Zayn? Is he waking up Paul?" Harry asked
"I think so. Zayn, keep coming around, you're okay" I said as I continued blotting his face with the water
His eyes fluttered open.
"Zayn, can you hear me?" I asked
"Mm yeah. Where am I?" He said as he glanced over at me.
"You're still at the stadium. You fainted" Harry told him
"Louis." He muttered after a few minutes of resting on the floor
"Yeah, don't worry. Louis is okay. Are you okay? Does anything hurt?" I asked, guessing that he might've fallen down the stairs when he passed out.
"No. I'm okay I think" He said as he moved to sit himself up.
"Take it easy, mate" Harry said, much calmer now seeing that Zayn was awake. "Do you know why you passed out?"
"I dunno. I think I'm just tired" Zayn shrugged
"When was the last time you ate something, Zayn?" I asked, looking into his eyes
"Today."
"Okay, when and what did you eat" I continued, and Harry looked at me confusedly
"I um, we all had lunch, I was with the boys"
"You said you were gonna get food later and that you weren't hungry" Harry pointedly said, catching onto what I was going at
"No. I ate, Paul. I ate" Zayn assured me, glaring at Harry
"Harry, how about you go back to the dressing room with Louis and the boys? I want to talk to Zayn for a moment" I suggested, and Zayn looked at me helplessly as Harry headed upstairs. I watched as he left, and then turned my attention back to Zayn. "Zayn, I want you to tell me, and I need you to be one-hundred percent honest, what is going on?" I asked sternly.
"Nothing Paul. I'm fine." He mumbled
"Zayn, I'm not stupid. You've obviously lost a lot of weight. So, are you starving yourself? Drugs? What is it?"
"No, and no. I said I'm not doing anything, okay?"
"Okay, fine then. I'll take you to the hospital right now to find out why you passed out on the staircase and wouldn't wake up." I declared
"Fine, fine. I guess I just haven't had much time to eat recently is all. I haven't been hungry. And I've been working out more too, so"  He stammered
"Okay, thank you. So you're not doing any drugs?"
"No, no. I mean, I smoke sometimes but no. I'm not doing drugs"
"Okay, good. This will be easier to deal with than an addiction" I said. I would talk to Liam, or whichever boy Zayn felt comfortable with me telling, and ask them to make sure Zayn didn't skip any meals. He looked to have lost ten? Maybe even twenty pounds. "Now, Zayn, we're gonna go to the security lounge, and you're gonna have a bite to eat, okay?"
"I'm not hungry right now, Paul" Zayn whined, but I wasn't taking any of his crap.
"Okay fine, then I'll take you to the hospital." I bargained
"Paul-"
"Which is it Zayn, food or hospital? It's up to you" I said, not giving in.

As I expected, Zayn chose to eat. I grabbed a pre-made salad from the lounge fridge, and I watched as Zayn ate the entire thing.
"Okay, I'm done now, so can we go?" He asked as he showed me the empty container.
"Yes, but you're going to eat a granola bar or something once we get back to the hotel, okay?"
"Urgh fine" He groaned as we stood up and headed back up the stairs towards the dressing room.