The Way Things Change

Chapter 2

*Niall’s POV*

“PAUL, WATCH OUT!” I yelled.

Paul stood on the breaks immediately, slowing the car, but it was too late. Thank God we weren’t driving fast.

We were on our way home after our show. We were too tired to go out and celebrate, but still we had enough energy to be teasing each other. We had played the last gig in London, and now we had a five week break before we were going on tour in Australia.

I don’t know why but for some reason I was looking out the window of our minibus, taking us back to our house. That is when I saw her. She was absolutely stunning in a tight fitting dress, but there was something odd about her. Something in her posture made her seem weak or scared. I couldn’t really tell what it was but something was off. There was an old woman standing next to her with a dog. I didn’t know what was going on but all of a sudden she started to run.

She ran into the street, making her way over to our side as if she was going to jump in front of our moving vehicle. I didn’t realize it at first, and when I did it was too late. The boys had jumped at the sound of my scream, they hadn’t seen what was about to happen.

Within seconds I was out in front of the car, yelling to the boys to call for an ambulance. I ran to the body lying in the street. It was a horrible sight, there was a lot of blood and one of her arms was positioned in a weird angle. I went to see if there was a pulse. Luckily there was, but it was very weak.

Liam came to my side taking of his shirt and pressed it on some of the cuts to try and stop the bleeding. I looked around to find the other boys. Louis was on the phone, probably giving the ambulance the details of where we were. I saw Paul and Harry slowing the traffic down. Even though it was late, it was still busy, like always in London. Zayn was frozen to the spot, staring at Liam and me.

“Zayn, get your arse over here and help us!” Liam said, not yelling, but very intimidating. Zayn quickly came to life, running over to help us.

After what seemed like hours, but was actually not more than 5 minutes (we were close to the hospital), we heard the siren.

The EMTs were quick and efficient. Within a short period of time they had the body on the stretcher hooked up to all sorts of equipment. As soon as they had her in the ambulance, they rushed off to the hospital.

The police came to take us all in and get our statements. They also took a lady, whom I recognized to be the lady I had seen the girl running from. She was crying.

***

After we had all given our statement we were free to leave. But nobody attempted to go anywhere, we were just staying in the waiting area of the police department.

“What the hell just happened?” Harry said.

Nobody answered. The good mood from before was completely gone. Everyone was in a state of shock. We all looked like shit, and we didn’t really talk.

Poor Paul. He looked tired and devastated. I went to him with some water. “You know it’s not your fault, right?” I said, taking a seat next to him. It was absolutely devastating to see him like this. He was always our rock. He was the one to keep us grounded and he was always there to protect us.

“But it IS my fault. I WAS THE ONE TO DRIVE THE CAR! I HIT HER!” he started yelling, tears streaming down his face.

“You couldn’t react faster than you did. She ran straight in front of the car. NOBODY would be able to stop THAT fast!” I reassured him, trying to comfort him the best I could. Liam came to sit on the other side of Paul, placing his hand on Paul’s back for comfort. “Paul” he said in a low voice. “You know Niall is right. There was nothing you could do. And the only thing we can do now is pray that they can save her.”

I could tell Paul wasn’t convinced, but he nodded to shut us up.

“If you want I can drive you all to the hospital to get an update on her situation” an officer said. Our heads snapped up, none of us had seen her come over to us. I looked at Liam and he nodded, barely noticeable. “We would like that, thank you” I said to her.

***

We were said to wait, after we arrived at the hospital.

A nurse came up to us after a while and told us that the girl would survive. She was stable, but unconscious, and the doctors were still examining her.

Paul seemed relived after we got this information. I was too. She was alive.

Harry fell asleep on Louis shoulder. He too was sleeping. We were all tired, but I was restless. I waited to hear something from the doctors. Liam did as well.

After half an hour Zayn also fell asleep and finally Paul did as well. I started dosing of a bit, but shortly after Liam woke me up. At fist I was a bit confused, but then realized that there were two doctors who wanted to talk to us.