You Only Want Me Cause I'm Taken

Chapter 17

~Niall~

I had planned to stay at home all day, but then I remembered that little girl Caitlin I had met at the hospital. Once she came on my mind, I couldn't stop thinking about her. So I decided to go to the hospital to see how she was doing.

I donned sunglasses and got into my car. St. Patrick's Hospital was only a 10 minute drive from my house.

"Hi there! I was wondering if a little girl named Caitlin is staying at your hospital," I asked the receptionist once I got to the hospital.

"Let's see...there's a girl, six years old, named Caitlin O'Connoly, is this who you're thinking of?"

"Yes, I believe so," I told the receptionist. "May I have a visitor's pass?"

"Sure," she said, handing me a laminated piece of paper with the words "Visitor's pass" on it.

"Great, thanks," I said. "And what room is it?"

"It's room 122 on the 3rd floor," she told me.

"Right, got it," I said. "Thanks again!"

With that, I traveled up to the third floor, room 122. When I got there, the door was shut. I knocked lightly on it. Erin opened the door. I knew something was wrong when I saw her puffy eyes. She smiled when she saw me.

"Niall!" She said. I pulled her in for a hug.

"Erin, how are you?"

"I'm...fine," she answered. She was lying. I knew it at once.

"Niall!" A little girl's voice called from inside the room. I poked my head in. Caitlin was lying in the hospital bed.

"Caitie!" I said. "Mind if I come in?" I asked Erin.

"Not at all," she replied. I went over to were Caitlin lay.

"Hello sweetie," I said. I gave her a hug and a kiss on her forehead. "How are you?"

"I'm good!" She said, beaming. Her smile made me feel incredible. Such a sweet little girl. But I noticed that Caitlin looked a little different from the last time I saw her. She was a bit thinner, and paler, and she looked weaker. She had an IV in her arm. I knew something was wrong.

"Niall, can I talk to you privately for a second?" Asked Erin softly.

"Okay," I said. Erin led me outside of the room and closed the door a little. That's when the tears started spilling down her cheeks.

"Niall," she sobbed, "yesterday, Caitlin was diagnosed with lung cancer." My heart stopped for a second. It felt like my throat was closing up; I couldn't seem to be able to breathe. Tears flooded my eyes. They spilled over in an instant. I gulped for air.

"I'm...so, so, sorry," I sobbed and pulled her in for a long hug. It didn't seem weird to me for that moment that I was hugging a woman roughly twenty years older than myself. I just let the tears run down my cheeks for what felt like hours. In reality, it was probably only a few minutes. Then Erin pulled back, and wiped her eyes with the back of her wrist.

"The doctors say it was...secondhand smoke. My husband is a smoker, you see, and it just..." she choked on her words. "It hurt her, Niall." She started crying again, so I hugged her again. "She loves you so much Niall. She's so much happier now that you're in her life. Thank you so much for everything."

"Well," I sniffed, "I'm here for Caitlin, now and forever. We can help her beat this, right."

"Right," said Erin, mustering a smile. "We have to be strong for Caitlin."

"Niall?" Caitlin said from inside the room. "What are you doing?"

"I'm back, sweetheart," I said, opening the door and coming back inside. "Your ma and I had a little talk, but everything's okay now."

"Okay Niall," she said. She sat up again in bed and hugged me. I hugged her too, fighting back tears.

"So what's up, Caitie?" I asked, trying to be cheerful. She shook her head, blonde curls falling in her face.

"The doctors said I'm sick, Niall," she said, just barely a whisper. She didn't sound like a six-year-old. She sounded like someone much older, much wiser. Someone beyond her years. Although she was young, she understood a lot. "The doctors say I have cancer." She looked up at me, tears rolling down her cheeks. I heard a sob coming from Erin, and she left the room. I felt my throat getting choked up.

"But you'll get better," I told her.

"What if I die, Niall?" She asked, looking down at her hands.

"Don't say that, sweetie. I promise."

"Pinky swear?" She asked, extending her tiny pinky.

"Pinky swear," I said, hooking my pinky on hers. "I pinky swear to you that you'll get better."

"I will?"

"Yes."

"I love you, Niall." I leaned over and hugged the girl's small body.

"I love you too." I glanced away for a second to wipe away a tear. I knew it would be better if Caitlin didn't see me cry. Caitlin put one of her small hands on my arm and looked me in the eyes.

"Niall, I don't want to die."

"You won't die," I said, and my voice broke. Then the tears started flooding out of my eyes and I could hardy see a thing. I felt so pathetic. I'm her hero,I thought, she shouldn't see me breaking down like this. Remember, stay strong?

"Don't cry, Niall," she squeaks. "I'm going to get better. I know this because you told me so." She smiles wide. I smile too.

"You'll get better," I tell her, pushing one of her loose blonde curls out of her face. Erin reentered the room. She seemed to have stopped crying.

"Um, Niall," she said, "the doctor will be coming in a few minutes to talk to Caitlin about the therapy she'll be recieving, and, well..."

"Oh," I said, standing up briskly.

"Do you have to go now?" Asked Caitlin, tugging at the bottom of my shirt.

"Yes," I told her. "But I wish I didn't have to."

"Will you come visit me soon."

"Definitely," I said, tapping her on the nose.

"Bye, Niall!" She cried, throwing her arms around me.

"Bye, sweetie," I murmured, rubbing her hair. "I'll see you soon."