Misadventure

59

Harry's POV

"Zayn, please help me." I was sobbing hysterically on the living room carpet. "Please, please, please."

"Harry, what's happening? I called the police. They said they Louis was in the hospital, but wouldn't tell me anything else. I'm assuming they called you?"

"You need to come pick me up. Please."

I felt guilty. Under different circumstances, I wouldn't have even asked this of him. It was late on a Sunday night. It was a fairly long drive from Manchester to London, and I knew Zayn had class early the next morning, because I was in his class.

"Why?" There was a sense of urgency in Zayn's voice. "Harry... is everything okay? What's going on?"

"Louis was in an accident." The words came out of my mouth sounding choppy and awkward. They stuck to my tongue, as if my subconscious was trying to hold them inside. Saying it out loud only made it more real.

"Harry. Oh my god."

"He's at the hospital in Victoria," my voice wavered. "They've got him in ICU."

"Oh my god. Oh my god, okay... let's not panic... he's alive. That means he's alive." The problem was, Zayn sounded almost as panicked as I felt. "If you need me to, then of course I will come get you. But Harry?"

"What?"

"Wasn't your father going to drive you to London tonight anyways?" he asked. "It might be faster for him to bring you. Plus, I'd be able to get to Victoria Hospital sooner. That's who called you, yeah? About Louis?"

I didn't know what to say.

Originally, Dad was going to bring me back to campus tonight. It was safe to assume, that plan was most definitely off the table now.

I opened my mouth to explain this to Zayn.

Instead, I fell into a fit of violent sobs.

"Fuck. Harry. It's okay... I can come get you, it's not a big deal. I promise, okay?"

"My dad-" That was all I managed to choke out the first try, before my throat constricted, cutting me off. I drew in a series of frantic, shallow breaths. "My dad was hit by a drunk driver. Last night. The same night as Louis' accident. I think..."

I couldn't bring myself to say it.

It could've been a coincidence

But I knew it wasn't.

There was just too much evidence supporting the contrary.

Dad had texted me last night, saying he was staying at a hotel in Windsor. Windsor was just outside of London. Louis had likely been coming from Will's house. Will's house was in London.

Then there was the timing of the phone calls from the two different hospitals.

They called within five minutes of each other, both saying they had to wait for police to recover phones from the scene of the accident before they were able to contact me.

If they had been in two separate accidents, what were the odds of police recovering both phones within five minutes of each other?

Zayn had mentioned earlier that he saw police cars at the end of Will's street.

But Zayn would've noticed driving by the scene of a car accident. Wouldn't he?

Then it occurred to me, if the crash was last night, maybe the cars had been towed by now. Maybe the two phones were ejected from the vehicle. Maybe, maybe, maybe-