Breathing For This (Sequel To Trembling Hands)

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Eighteen

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~Zayn’s POV~

The last time this happened, we were asked to wait in a separate waiting room, but this time, we wouldn’t accept that. We made sure Brielle was moved straight into a private room and not one of us left her side, not even for a second. She’s been unconscious since the plane ride, about an hour ago, but the doctor said that it’s normal for that to happen after having a fever that high, her body needs to try and regenerate itself.

“Do you think she’ll be okay?” Niall whimpered in pain, gently stroking the hair off her cheek.

We’ve all been complete wrecks, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen Niall so devastated, not even the first time something like this happened. I honestly don’t know how much the poor boy could possibly take. Just the thought of something like this happening to Perrie breaks by heart.

“I’m sure she’s going to be fine” Harry reassured him, gently touching his shoulder supportively.

“Her vitals are all fine” Liam pointed out, “The doctors said she was stable and from what they can see, there’s no permanent damage from the seizures”

“I just can’t help but worry” Niall said, tears beginning to fall from his eyes once again, “I’m so scared of losing her; I just don’t know what to do”

“There’s nothing you can do, Nialler” Louis sighed, “Just be here for her”

“You won’t lose her, mate” I nodded, “She’s a fighter.”

The past hour and a half has been complete hell for all of us. There wasn’t a single dry eye when we realized what was going on; we were all on the verge of hysterics, except Niall, he never really came out of the hysterics. We were all worried about him too.

“Do you know what the worst part is?” Niall asked rhetorically, “It’s that I could have stopped this, if I would have only known she did it again. I should have seen the signs, I should have gotten her help, I should never have just assumed she had stopped forever, I-I…”

He just couldn’t handle himself; he was sobbing into Harry’s shoulder once again.

“Niall, don’t you dare blame yourself for this” Liam scolded, “We all wish we would have known, but there’s no way we could have known, she did it on her leg on purpose so we wouldn’t find out”

Liam was right, but Niall was too… We all shouldn’t have assumed she was automatically better.

“I wanted to be angry with her for not telling us, but I just can’t” Niall cried, “When I first found out, I just wanted to scream and tell her how stupid it was, but now I just want to see her beautiful blue eyes again”

“We all do, Nialler, trust me, we all do” I sighed, holding back tears of my own.

It was heart breaking to watch Brielle laying limply in a hospital bed resembling a corpse, but it was even worse that Niall was kneeling next to her with tears streaming down his face as he blankly stared at her. It was hard to watch. I couldn’t help it, but every time I saw that scene, it just made me think about if Perrie was the one laying there. I felt so horrible for Niall, I just wanted to take away all of his suffering, but there’s one thing that this has shown me: never take time with your loved ones for granted, not ever. The next time I see Perrie, I’m going to tell her how much I love her and apologize for not doing it more often.

“Niall, do you want us to get you some food?” Louis offered, “You’re probably starving by now”

“No, I just want Brielle” Niall said, his voice shaking