When no one's watching

Chapter 23

Liam's pov:

Walking back down from the bathroom I was looking for Zayn.
There were many people so I couldn't spot him immediately.

But finally I saw him and a smile crept over my face without me initiating it.

He was standing a little away from the people talking a sip from his cup.

"Hey Z, I'm back." I smiled at him and wanted to take his hand but could stop myself.
I knew that it was dumb that I cared so much about the other's opinion.

He didn't reply to me and I realized that he wasn't looking too well.

"Aren't you feeling good?"
Zayn looked at me and shook his head while swaying.

"How much did you drink when I was gone?! You are literally swaying!"

I was extremely confused that Zayn seemed so drunk. Like he had drank way too much while I was gone but I probably wasn't gone for more than 5 minutes so how was that possible?

"I only drank a few sips of this."
He looked at me helplessly, looking as white as a ghost.

"Are you feeling sick?"

He nodded slowly and I held him so he wouldn't sway around even more.

"Everything's spinning, Li." Zayn's voice sounded heartbreaking like he had no idea of what was going on.

I didn't have an idea either, I was utterly confused.

Zayn's pov:

Liam was talking to me but it sounded like he was 10 miles away.
Like I was underwater and he was above the water telling me something.

My surroundings were blurry and when I closed my eyes everything started to spin.

I could feel Liam's hands softly squeezing my upper arms and he said something but I couldn't make out what he was saying.

I was feeling nauseous probably because everything was spinning in front of me.

Suddenly I could sense Liam dragging me closer to him. He had one hand around my waist and the other one holding my hand.

I could feel that we were walking and soon we were standing in the warm summer wind.

Before really looking where I was going, my knees got weaker and I could feel myself sink down.
Before I could fall I felt Liam's firm grip around me to hold me up.

Liam's pov:

I had decided to go outside with Zayn so he would get some fresh air.

I had no idea what this was.
A panic attack? It didn't seem like it since last time was very different.
He drank too much? It was quite impossible to drink that much in 5 minutes and immediately act like this.
Maybe he ate something bad earlier?

Just as we stepped outside the house Zayn almost collapsed next to me but fortunately I held him.

I slowly took him down the stairs.
"Should we walk for a bit?"
I purposely went closer to him so he could hear me.

He nodded and held my hand.
His face pale as a sheet and I feared he would collapse.

We weren't far off the house, not even 30 feet as Zayn started breathing heavily.
Now I started to panic, something was absolutely wrong.

"Do you wanna sit down?"

Zayn's pov:

The nausea and the whole world spinning were getting worse every second. I felt like I couldn't hold myself on my feet anymore.

I was kneeling on the ground, bending over.
Liam was next to me, holding me.

Tears were stinging in my eyes and I felt like throwing up any second.
"Liam..."
I wasn't able to finish the sentence , it felt like I couldn't move anymore.

I was dry heaving and could feel Liam's warm hands comforting me.
"It's alright, Z everything's gonna be okay."

His voice sounded from so far away like I had been put into a box of glass and he was talking outside of it.

I couldn't hold myself and my head fell onto Liam's shoulder.
He held me tightly and rubbed my back.

"I think we should go home. Is that alright?"
I nodded slowly but I was getting more and more tired every second until I barely could open my eyes anymore.

He stood up and held me to get me up.

Just after we started walking the dizziness increased and I could feel my eyes rolling back.

The last thing I heard was Liam shouting my name from far, far away before everything went black.

Liam's pov:

Zayn seemed to get worse and so I decided we should go home.
I had no idea what this was but I knew that it was getting worse.

I helped him stand up and just after we started walking I could feel his grip getting limper and limper until he fully let go of my hand.

Suddenly, his eyes rolled back. I screamed as he fell onto his knees before collapsing completely.

I kneeled down next to him and put his head onto my lap.
I felt tears running down my cheeks and I was screaming his name over and over again.

Suddenly, I could hear Louis' voice shouting something and I looked up.

Louis and Harry were running closer to us and Louis bent down next to Zayn.

"Oh my god, Zayn?! What happened?!"

I was sobbing and looked up to Harry who was standing there, his eyes wide in shock.

"Harry please, call 911."
He nodded and immediately took his phone out and walked off a bit.

"What happened Liam?!"
Louis was shaking Zayn's limp body like it would help and tried to wake him up.

"That doesn't help, he won't wake up like that."
I tried to sound calm but I was a mess and I wanted to shake him up as well.

Harry came back and also sat down.
"They're coming as fast as possible."

After 10 minutes I could finally hear the ambulance sirens.
Those 10 minutes had felt like eternity, Zayn hadn't woken up.

I took his small, bony wrist and tried to feel his pulse.

I couldn't feel anything and looked at Louis helplessly.
I felt like I had been electrified and couldn't say anything anymore.

Louis immediately felt his pulse and his eyes went wide.

"He almost doesn't have any pulse, Liam."
Louis whispered silently just by the time the ambulance arrived.

As the emergency paramedics rushed towards us and took Zayn out of my touch, the sentence Louis had said echoed in my brain and my body went numb.