Niall's POV I'd had surgery to fix my leg. In the recovery room, the nurse told me that I was being given fluids to help with my dehydration.
3 days of surviving off a packed lunch, one bottle of water and moisture that I had to suck off a rock, had taken its toll. I was very dehydrated, and I needed to have a feast once the doctor's allowed me to eat.
~
It had been dark, lonely and painful. But now I was warm, my leg was pinned together with steel rods to help it heal, and Louis was napping beside me. I could hear his gentle breathing and I could feel his hair on my arm. "Louis?" I asked softly, and a moment passed before I felt his hand gently rest on my chest. "Niall? Are you awake?" "Yeah," I said as I raised my hand and Louis took it into his own. "Are you, awake?" I asked and he laughed. "No. Liam and I woke up at 3am in order to find you." "You did... find me." "We did," Louis said, and he kissed my forehead. "How are you feeling?" "Groggy." "You only came out of surgery," Louis said before he paused. I presumed that he was looking at a clock. "2 hours ago." "That would, explain it." "I could do with napping for longer. Can you wake up in... 3 hours time?" Louis asked and I smiled. "I can... try." "Are you thirsty?" Louis asked me, and I nodded. "Ok. Can you turn your head to the side?" Louis asked, and I did so. "Here we go Niall. No, let me," Louis said as I reached my hand out and he lowered it down.
He gently put a straw into my mouth and, as I drank some much needed water, I opened my eyes. "There you are Niall. Hi lad." "Hi Louis," I said before I finished drinking. "Are you done?" "Yeah." "Ok," Louis said and as he put the water down, I noticed that he had a bandage on his head. "What happened... to your head, Louis?" I asked as I pointed at his injury. "A rock hit me while I was protecting you." "Protecting me?" I asked in confusion. What had Louis protected me from? "Don't you remember?" "No. I was on... a beach. Now we're here." "Ok. When I found you, you were in a shallow cave. You tried to push me away, but you were warning me that there was going to be a rockfall. I lay over you and protected you as part of the roof caved in." "Thank you." "It's your very welcome Niall." "How bad... is it?" "I'm ok. It's quite deep so the doctor gave me some stitches, but that's it. I'm ok otherwise." "Are you sure?" "I'm sure." "Thank you," I said, and Louis kissed my hand. "I love you, Louis..." I said as I closed my eyes, sleep taking over me once more. "Niall? Alright, nap time," Louis said and he nestled his head next to mine on the bed.
~ One Direction's Management
Liam's POV "They're just through here." "Thank you," I said. Myself, Harry, two members of our management and an array of our security team were walking through the hospital. Soon, we arrived at Niall's room and Louis had his head beside Niall on the bed, they were both fast asleep. "Time to wake them up boys." "Niall needs rest. But I'll wake Louis," I said and I exchanged a look with Harry.
Our management had been very angry that we had tricked them and forced our interview to be cancelled: but even they had enough heart to be relieved that Niall was alive, safe and doing well. "Louis. It's time to wake up," I said softly as I shook him. "Hmn?" "Time to get up Lou." "Liam?" "Yeah, it's me. Are you ok?" "Yeah, I've just been sleeping. What time is it?" "6pm." "Oh, we've been asleep for..." Louis said before he looked at the still sleeping Niall. "Let's go outside," He whispered. "Yeah," I said, and Louis was slightly taken aback to see everyone standing at the door.
~
We went outside and Louis closed the door behind him. "How's your head Louis?" Management asked. "Better. It's still sore, but the doctor's given me some painkillers." "Good. And Niall?" "He's had surgery on his leg. But he's waking up well and as long as the doctor is happy, he's due to be discharged in two days." "Great. We'll get you back to LA for your concert on Friday." "This Friday?" "Hold on," Louis said, and they turned to him. "You... you can't be serious," He said with a small laugh. They were joking, right? "Niall's been missing for 3 days, he was alone with a broken leg at the bottom of a cliff. He could died, and you want to have him on crutches running round a stage?" "He will be walking. Preston, book the flights." "He can't do a concert. He needs time for his leg to heal," I explained. "The fans will understand if we tell them why we have to cancel it," Harry added. "All of you boys are contractually controlled by the record company. As long as Niall can stand, he will perform." "You can't...!" "Louis," I said sternly as I put my hand onto his chest. He was about to punch a member of our management team but they were right, we were legally required to do what they told us to. "We will help Niall," Harry told Louis as he turned to us. "Like how you just fucking helped?" Louis replied to Harry. "Louis..." "Stay away from me," Louis said, and he went back into Niall's hospital room.
"You should have said more Harry," I told him gently. "We can't change the situation." "I know we can't, but this is wrong, you know it is." "We just need to survive for 6 more months, then we'll be free of our contracts. Just 6 months." "I know," I said before I let out a sigh. "Niall could have died Harry." "And you found him. You made sure that he's safe." "It was Louis that found him." "And we'll get him through this," Harry said as he put his hand onto my shoulder. "We'll get all of us through this." "I hope that you're right Harry."
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