Niall, answer the door please

Are we going home now?

"I don't believe it!" Liam spluttered looking down at his phone, reading the text that had just come in. "It has to be a joke"

"What does?" Louis asked idly as he flicked through the TV channels searching for something, preferably sporting, to watch.

"This text from Management". Liam looked incredulous."We've just been given a whole week off. All interviews and promotions have been put back. Nothing for a whole week."

"Now, that is a joke" Louis  agreed with Liam. "Management giving us a week off. Give over, Payno"

"No, seriously, look.." He handed his phone to Louis who read the text, then passed it on to Harry and Zayn.

"What crawled up Managements' arse then ?" Louis sassed

"No idea, Mate, but I'm not complaining. I'm going to shower then go see Niall. You lads coming?"

They all agreed and went to their various rooms to clean up, each other hoping Niall would be having  a  better day , today.

They were all fairly silent on the journey to the hospital, each of them wondering how their friend would be . They all hoped for the best yet there was always that nagging worry that things were not going well.They were all so lost in their own thoughts that it was a surprise to find that Paddy had parked the SUV and was ready to usher them out and into the hospital via a back entrance. There were still a few paps who were haunting the hospital hoping to photograph the lads and get comments from them , so avoiding them was the name of the game.  Management was keeping Niall's condition under wraps  for the time being and the band had been forbidden to tweet anything other than  Niall was getting better.

Niall's room was again dark when they arrived but the little Irishman himself was awake though very sleepy. As he suffered badly from claustrophobia, he had been given sedation to  keep him calm and relaxed during the various scans and other assessments done that morning , and the effects were still wearing off.

"Hey Nialler, how are you doing mate?" Liam walked up to the bed and gently hugged his band mate hoping that Niall wouldn't flinch from being touched. He breathed out in relief when he got a small smile  from Niall in response. Harry and Louis did the same but Zayn hung back, nervously switching his weight from foot to foot. Louis looked at him with narrowed eyes trying to work out what was going on with Zayn. Not coming to any conclusion, he shrugged then turned his attention back to Niall.

'I'm Ok' Niall said , looking confused." Are we going home now?"

"No, not today, Niall. You need to stay with these pretty nurses a bit longer. I'm jealous" Harry gave him a cheeky grin but it faded quickly when he saw the confusion still on Niall's face.

"No, I need to go home. Tell my Ma, I need to go home". Niall started working himself up so Zayn slipped out of the room to fetch one of the nurses. She came in and patiently explained to Niall he was in hospital and why, and that he  needed to stay there and be looked after for a little longer. Niall accepted what he was told and calmed down again. 

"Do you remember now, Niall?" she asked him and he nodded in response. The nurse then told the boys that Niall was becoming rather disorientated and upset at times due to his short term memory being disrupted as a result of the coma. She  suggested they just remind him of why he was here if it happened again . "It will come back, so try not to get stressed, my lamb". She patted his cheek. "You can't go home but how about your friends take you out into the hospital garden for half an hour?"

The nurse went and got a wheelchair and a male orderly came to lift Niall into the chair and carefully strap him into a harness that would prevent him falling forward as his muscles were weak after being confined to bed for so long. The nurse then wrapped him up warmly and gave the boys directions to the garden after assuring the boys that it was in a secured area and the paps would not have access to it. The boys headed off down the corridor and Louis, being Louis, started running as he pushed Niall along. It took Liam , Harry and Zayn to get Louis to tone down his high spirits but Niall's laughter burst out and they all drank in the happy sound they had missed for so long and had been so afraid they would never hear again. They might not have Niall back as he was yet but at least they could see a flash of the old Niall from time to time. 

Niall turned his face up to the sun and sat there quietly. He was still slightly drowsy but the fresh air was  helping to clear the remains of the sedative from his system. The others chatted to him and to each other but Niall didn't really join in. He was content to just sit in the peaceful garden and feel the sun on his face. At the end of the half an hour, they reluctantly started to push Niall back into the building and his room.The male orderly was waiting to lift Niall back out of the chair and settled him back into bed where Niall promptly fell asleep, worn out from his brief outing. The lads all decided to go down to the canteen and get a drink while Niall slept, returning just as Niall was waking up.

"When did you guys get here?" Niall asked as they walked into the room. He'd already forgotten about being in the garden with them earlier. Harry reminded him but Niall didn't seem to process what Harry was saying and began to get fractious. Harry quickly changed the subject by asking Niall if he was thirsty and passing him some water. Harry hoped the nurse was right and that the memory problems were only temporary. Niall would not be able to ever perform again if he couldn't remember the songs.Harry shook his head and brought his attention back to the here and now.But every now and then he slipped back into his worries and let them  nag at him. He was finally beginning to grasp the enormity of the problems Niall would face in his recovery.