Hopeless

Chapter 41

Phoenix's POV

I guess it was safe to say the week practically flew by. Our concerts in Madrid and Lisbon were very well-received, and they went ballistic when I opened the concerts in Spanish. I guess being a good girl and practically being one of the better Spanish-speakers in my grade helped a lot. Monday, Wednesday, and tonight, Friday, I had meet 'n' greets, since the other two bands had meet 'n' greets, it was some sort of package deal, where if you got VIP tickets to see one band, you saw all three acts. The VIP tickets sold out like crazy when the news was released.

After the meet'n' greets, Paul, and the rest of the bus, personally escorted me back to the bus. About fifteen minutes later, I was usually sound asleep in my bunk. I still felt under the weather, and I had to change all the keys I usually sang in. I began coughing and sneezing, with a runny nose and itchy eyes, on top of being tired all the time. On concert nights, I was asleep by about 11-11:30pm, and because the next day was a traveling day, I slept in until about 3-3:30pm. I'd still be tired during the afternoons, and I'd be asleep by 9:30-10pm on non-concert days. Those days, we usually had a concert the next day, so I slept in until 1pm, so I could be ready for rehearsal at 3pm, with concerts at 7pm. 

Dani always made sure to have my Starbucks order waiting for me at rehearsals, so I performed my concerts while on caffeine. Then, after concerts, Payrin always made sure I had water, and that flushed the caffeine out of my system so that by the time meet 'n' greets were over, I was about ready to drop from exhaustion.

Payrin made sure to wash my hair every morning, since I only had the energy to use a makeup wipe or two to scrub off my makeup. Dani took over doing my makeup, but both girls ran everything by Lou, so I looked exactly how Lou wanted me to look, from my hair to my shoes. Lou had a hard enough time with One Direction, so Dani and Payrin volunteered to help her out and take care of me.

As much sleep as I attempted to get, I usually woke up in the middle of the night with a nightmare. That usually kept me awake for a couple hours, so most of the time, I ended up taking my pillow and blanket and sleeping on the couch. I tried to make as little noise as possible, but I wouldn't be surprised if I woke people either from my screams or from getting out of my bunk.

Niall's POV

Phoenix seemed to be getting progressively worse and worse. At first, I thought it was that she was just really tired. Then, she started sneezing and coughing. She had to drop keys for her songs. Along with the sneezing and coughing came the runny nose and itchy eyes. I think she went through a box and a half of tissues each day. I couldn't tell you how many times we were sent to the store to get more tissue for her. Then, the nightmares happened. She ended up screaming a few times, but mostly she'd slip out of the bunk, blanket and pillow in hand, and go sleep on the couch. Paul imposed a quiet curfew at 11pm and lights out by 1am, but I was usually awake until 3 or 4am. I was always awake when Phoenix had her nightmares, and I always knew when she had one, because she'd quietly sneak out of bed and go to the couch. I have to give the poor girl credit, though, because she did her best to be quiet. I know she didn't want to wake me, although that made no difference, because I was already awake.

Tonight, Friday, went like every other night since Phoenix had been getting sick: concert, meet 'n' greets, head back to the bus, Phoenix in her bunk by 11pm, which imposed the quiet curfew, and lights out by 1am. I scrolled through Twitter, like I always do right before going to bed, and 3am rolled around. Phoenix started rolling around in her bunk, and I knew it had begun. It was like clockwork. I curled up under the blankets and waited for Phoenix to wake herself up. But it didn't happen. 3:30 am rolled around, and she still thrashed above me, beginning to whimper. 

Paul pulled aside my bunk curtain and asked me if I was awake. I said that I was, and he motioned for me to get up. After pulling the curtain open, I saw that Louis, Liam, Harry, Luke, Calum, Michael, and Ashton were all standing there next to Paul.