Mixed Direction

Chapter Six: Memories

{Zayn's POV}

"It's about your wife, Perrie," Angela tells me and I nod my head, although she can't see me. I feel my body starting to shut down, immediately thinking the worst. Angela's next words are the words that break me. "I'm sorry to call you out at this time of the night, but I thought you might want to come to the hospital." Angela suggests.

"Wh- why?" I respond. Are they getting me to come and see her before they give her life away peacefully. I'm not giving them consent to do that! But what if it's for the best? I can't let go just yet! I cannot let them take my wife, or my children's mother. My family.

"Mr Malik?" I hear Angela's voice question.

"Pardon, what?" I ask, realising I completely ignored what she just said before. Do I even want to know what she said? It can't be good... nothing has been good.

"Perrie, she's awake." And just like that, my world stopped spinning. I can literally feel my heart beating out of my chest. I start breathing like there's no tomorrow and notice everyone giving me seriously confused looks.

"She's wh- what?" I start to shake, my voice cracking and my eyes swelling like a bath filling with water, soon to overflow and flood the whole damned placed.

"Perrie's awake," Angela repeats. "I guess I'll see you soon," she adds before the line goes dead. I let out another deep breath and shove my phone into my back pocket, missing the hole a few times because of the amount of shaking happening throughout my body.

I look up at the people at the table again. The girls are all looking at me, panic spread across their faces, tears swelling in their eyes. The boys are all wide- eyed and standing up, their knuckles white from their grips on the chairs. My Mum is giving me a panicked, heart broken look. Zuri and Asha are giving me confused looks, Rosie and Lillie are just watching absentmindedly and Ellie... well she's still eating.

"Zayn, what's wrong?" Leigh- Anne asks, her voice breaking a little from the nerves. I go to speak but nothing comes out. My whole body is too shocked to actually comprehend what I've just been told.

My eyes wander back to Ellie, Lillie and Rosie and I look at them, just sitting there. My hands shakily rise to my face and I use the sleeves of my jumper to wipe away my tears and try to knock some sense and feeling back into my face. Perrie is awake. She isn't in a coma. Perrie's awake. Perrie. Awake.

"Perrie," I manage to get out and I watch a tear silently roll down Jade's face. They all give me questioning looks as I force the next words out, not believing I'm actually saying this. "Awake. Perrie's awake," I choke out.

The screeching sound of chairs against wood is sounded throughout the room as everyone shoots up out of their seats.

I just watch as coats are grabbed rapidly and shoes are pulled back on. Ellie comes over to me and I squat down to her height, holding back my tears and letting out a cough to clear my dry throat.

"Can we go and see Mummy?" Ellie asks me. I nod my head and scoop her up, my long arms holding her close to my cold body as I watch Louis grab Rosie and Mum grab Lillie.

Everyone rushes out to their cars, but I just walk, still trying to process the actual reason we're going back to the overly cleaned building.

I strap my daughters in and Mum decides to go with Louis. I push the keys into the ignition and place the gear into drive, but not actually moving. I wait for the others to leave the driveway and then drive out, followed by Liam who had to lock up his home.

The whole drive to the hospital is silent, only sounds coming from Lillie and Rosie to be heard. I find a spot in the hospital car park and meet everyone at the doors to the hospital.