Niall, answer the door please

Not what you wanted to hear.

Liam and Harry stood quietly in the doorway of Niall's room watching  and listening to the young man who stood by Niall's bed. He was gently brushing Niall's hair away from his forehead with one hand and holding Niall's  smaller  hand with the other.

"I don't like to see you like this, little brother. Please, I need you to wake up and be OK. Please, Nialler" he whispered. " I need my little brother back. "

"Zayn?" 

Zayn jumped at the sound of Harry's voice and then looked anxiously  towards his two former bandmates, trying to gauge their reaction to his presence. He felt awkward, like he was somehow intruding where he was neither  wanted nor needed. Neither of them had replied to his text telling them he was flying in from Los Angeles but his need to be with Niall overrode his concerns over his welcome.

"Bro, we are so glad you came. Niall needs you. We all need you." Liam wrapped his arms around Zayn in a welcoming hug while Harry grinned at them both. "How did you manage to get in here without being seen?"

"You guys were tied up with the press conference so I  managed to slip in the back way. I've seen Maura and Bobby. Alberto took them back to your house, Liam, so they can rest. He asked me to tell you he was staying with them in case they needed to come back in a hurry. Basil's down in the Accident department getting stitches.  A pap tried to sneak in and photograph Niall. Basil managed to stop him and ended up having  a scrap with him. He's a bit battered but fairly  OK  but the pap came off worse..and he deserved it, the scum. What type of ghoul does things like that? " Zayn spat out hotly. " Where's Lou, by the way ?"

"In a room down the hall. He's taking this very badly and had to be sedated. Actually, I'd better go sit with him to make sure someone is with him when he wakes up" Harry  decided

"Maybe I should go" Zayn said hesitatingly " I need to talk with him alone. Apologise and hope he'll forgive me. I should have listened to him. I was so wrapped up in the lies I was being fed I didn't recognise Naughty Boy was just using me. Lou knew" Zayn shook his head as he spoke.

"Well, if you feel that's what you need to do, Zee, but go easy with Lou. He took your departure very badly and he may not be overly thrilled to see you here. Be patient with him, for his sake and for Niall's. Niall needs his whole family about him right now." Liam patted Zayn's shoulder "I'll show you the way"

When Doctor Collins entered the room, he found Harry sat by Niall's bedside talking about Zayn flying all the way over to see him and that he needed to wake up. Harry was keeping up a flow of small talk but the strain in his voice was becoming more and more evident.

"Hello, Harry. I'm just here to do some checks on Niall. It's fine, you don't need to leave. " He started looking at all the machines and checking the readouts . "mmmh, it looks like there has been a spike in brain activity'. Mmmh"

"Is that good? Does it mean he's going to wake up?" Harry asked

"The simple answer is I just don't know ,Harry. Coming out of a coma isn't like they show it in the movies. It can be a long, slow process. The longer it takes, the worse the prognosis is likely to be, unfortunately. Coma recovery is a bit like a test. The patient scores marks for various functions. The lower the score, the lower the chances of recovery. The increased brain activity is good but the longer Niall remains with the machines controlling functions such as breathing, the more the risk of secondary complications which can be fatal in themselves. 

I'm going to see if we can wean him onto breathing for himself. When this happens, Niall may become distressed so if you think you'll not be able to deal with it, it would be better if you left. But staying with him, holding his hand and talking to him might comfort him. You choose"

"I'll stay" said Harry firmly. Taking some deep breaths to steady his nerves, he took Niall's hand again and started to sing to Niall. He was all out of conversation and singing seemed to be more natural and  'Infinity' seemed the right choice. It felt like infinity that they had been here waiting for Niall to come back to them.

"Ready?"

Harry nodded and watched as the Doctor disconnected some of the equipment. Nothing seemed to be happening  then Niall looked like he was in some kind of struggle then it stopped. The doctor quickly removed the tube from Niall's throat then placed an oxygen mask over his face, adjusting the flow carefully. "Now, that is positive" . He smiled across at Harry then looked down at the blond man on the bed, finally breathing on his own. After waiting  what seemed like an eternity he  straightened up  . "It looks like Niall's score has gone up a tiny bit!"

"You said coma recovery isn't like the movies ?" Harry questioned ' What do you mean? Surely he'll just wake up , like he's been sleeping or something?"

The doctor sighed. Really television , films and books often made it sound like the patient would suddenly open their eyes and everything would be wonderful. It was far from the truth.

"Waking up from a coma has two main types really, one where the patient can make a partial or full recovery, the other when they remain in a vegetative state. That is to say, their eyes are open but they don't respond to anything. Niall should be the first group. He may start reacting to sound or touch. His eyes may open, muscles twitch, etc. Often the eyes might blink open only to shut immediately and the patient return to being non reactive. If and when Niall does start to emerge., he will probably have post traumatic amnesia. This can take days to weeks to resolve. Noise, light, touch, movement, etc might cause extreme reactions from him. He might become angry, violent, curse and otherwise act in an inappropriate manner. Or maybe he might be one of the rare few who come through without any of this. Either way, Niall will need a great deal of support from his loved ones, possibly physiotherapy and even psychological assessment to aid his rehabilitation. And we still can't yet assess what physical damage has been done by his illness.

I'm sorry, Harry. This is probably not what you wanted to hear"

"Do Niall's parents know all this?" Harry worried " I don't think I could tell them"

"Yes, we spoke earlier. If willing Niall  to  make a total recovery would be enough, his mother is convinced he'll be fine. His father, I think, realises that it's a very long road ahead. And  I want you to understand ,Harry, that Niall is still not out of danger. I think it would be unfair of me to give false hope. He has a better chance than he did when he was first admitted and we will continue to do our level best to make sure we do all in our power for him but Niall is going to have to fight hard to win this battle." Doctor Collins looked Harry in the eyes as he spoke and  felt an enormous sense of admiration for the young man who stood before him, ready, despite his own fears and exhaustion, to support his little leprechaun bandmate and help him with his battle to recover.