Niall, answer the door please

But who do you get to listen?

Louis arrived at the nurses station, panting heavily. Niall's nurse looked at him sternly and reminded him that there were other , very ill patients near by and he was disturbing them. Louis apologised very shamefacedly but it was obvious he was very excited. He spoke in a garbled rush

"I was singing then forgot the words then she sang then I looked at Niall and he was staring at me frowning"

"Wow, slow down,bro" Liam , Preston and Niall's parents had appeared beside them "Who is she 'and what's that got to do with singing?"

"Li, you know that Irish song Ni always sings when he's drunk? Well, I wondered if it would help if I sang it to him. I started then forgot the words and this little girl, Caoimhe, stuck her head around the door and sang it. She's a fan who managed to follow me and she wanted to see how Niall was. Anyway, when she left, I looked at Niall and he was staring at me and frowning. It wasn't like those quick blinks he's done, it was a proper , full on , stare!"

"This is really great" Nurse Chanelle said " and it should be happening more and more often now. But Louis, don't scream the place down each time or we'll have to bar you from visiting". Louis flashed her a disarming grin but promised he'd control himself better.She smiled forgivingly at him because Louis just had that type of smile that was pure sunshine and having seen those boys so broken, it gave her enormous pleasure to finally see something positive happening for them. "Make sure you do, then."

"Lou, Management want us right now. Zayn's already in the car waiting. Maura and Bobby will stay with Niall tonight. We'd better get going. Stephen isn't the most patient man and I don't want to give him any more opportunity to yell at us" Liam sounded very tired , looked slightly green and his hand was rubbing slow circles over his tummy." Come on, let's go". Preston then turned towards the exit so Louis and Liam , after hugging Niall's parents, slowly trailed after him. Chanelle gazed after them, a worried expression on her face. As a nurse, she could easily recognise the signs that Liam was going to be a very sick young man not too far in the future. She could only hope his meeting was short and that he could get himself to bed. Shaking her head, she went back to her work.

"Thank you for coming, gentlemen" Stephen, Head of Management said. 'Like we had any choice thought Liam sourly. He was beginning to feel absolutely vile and being talked at by the smug Stephen was not what he really wanted to cope with right now"

"I've lined up five or six interviews for you for tomorrow. My secretary with give you a list of the times, places and which ones you will do. You'll be split so Harry and you, Liam, are together and Zayn, I've put you with Louis. Then we have put in another three shows in the North. They will run consecutively. The Ireland shows are staying on hold for the present but we may have to go ahead with or without , Niall. I am also scheduling a press conference to update the fans about Niall's condition. I am expecting a call from his medical team tomorrow". Stephen stopped to draw breath then looking the boys over, finally noticing he was one short. . "Where is Harry, by the way and why isn't he here. This meeting was for all of you and he's no right to miss it"

Zayn, quiet Zayn, was the one who lost his temper. He spoke coldly " If you cared, you'd know where Harry is. He's in the fu*king hospital because he had a major asthma attack. That's two of us patients there but you don't care, do you. It's just money, money money with you" . Zayn stood up, his chair falling over, as he walked from the room slamming the door behind him. Stephen stared at the closed door in stunned silence then turned his attention back to the other two men. It was like Zayn had never spoken.

"Get the information from my secretary on your way out. She has all the dates and times and also what you are permitted to say. You are all to go on Twitter and post the comments that we've written for you. " The boys stood up to leave but Stephen wasn't finished with them yet " And I expect Harry to be there, no excuses" He waved his hand at the door, indicating they could now leave.

"Want to go back to the hospital? "Louis asked the others but they both shook their heads.. They had each been given several pages of information from the secretary and , scanning them quickly, they soon realised their next few days were going to be hell on earth. "I'm not feeling too great" Liam murmured. " I just want to get to my bed and sleep". Decision made, they headed to the van where Preston was patiently waiting to drive them home. He may have been hired as a bodyguard but he felt a fatherly concern for these young men and he was desperately worried about their welfare. Even Zayn, who had looked fairly well when he first arrived from LA, now looked gaunt and ill again. And Liam and Louis looked even worse. Preston silently fumed in anger at the way these boys were being pushed and wished someone could speak out on their behalf. He mulled over in his mind whether ringing Simon Cowell would do any good. But would Simon listen to him, he was only the bodyguard after all.

Back at the hospital, it was time for the nurses to change shifts. Chanelle was handing over to Claire and bringing her up to speed with Niall's progress. Claire had been Niall's main nurse in the ICU and had been reassigned to him. After seeing him barely clinging to life , she was now pleased to know that her patient had made some good progress. The two nurses then had an idle chat about how pleasant all the One Direction men were, so polite and charming. Chanelle then mentioned that she thought poor Liam was not well and they'd have to stop him visiting until his illness had cleared up. Claire nodded in agreement. She knew from her daughter that these lads had spent the last five years almost constantly touring and, in her daughters words, their Management 'sucked'. No wonder they all looked so drained and ill. It was obvious they had no power to alter things but surely someone could. Dismissing it from her mind, Claire went to check on her patients and Chanelle left to go home to bed. It had been a very long day.

"