Niall, answer the door please

The Secret of Louis' Success

Liam returned to Niall's room where Niall had drifted back to sleep following his daily battle about bathing , with the nurse. Even the simplest things continued to exhaust him and he  remained  often  finding touch distressing , he hated  even more what he perceived as an indignity, being bathed by a nurse who was only his age. It was slightly easier to bear when Claire did it , but it didn't mean he had to like it. Liam just sat quietly in a chair next to the bed , pondering over his break up with Sophia, Niall's illness, the bands' forthcoming break and Zayn's depression. He found it all  incredibly painful but just couldn't drag his thoughts away. He was abruptly pulled from his thoughts when Niall woke and reacted to his presence.

Niall had actually been awake longer than Liam had realised and had spent the last few minutes scrutinising Liam's face , confused by the intense look of unhappiness."Li?" he finally said and Liam instantly placed a smile on his face. Niall registered the sudden change in Liam's demeanour and felt even more confused. He tried to get his thoughts together but was still unable to process them to make any sense. everything seemed totally unreal to him and he felt himself getting angry, then scared because he didn't know what was happening to him. He suddenly started screaming , throwing his water jug and pushing at the beside locker. Liam jumped to put his arms around Niall to soothe  him but his touch just intensified Niall's reaction.  A nurse and a male orderly  quickly came  into the room and after moving Liam to the side, carefully restrained Niall before the nurse administered a mild sedative. Liam felt shock going through his body. He was committed to helping Niall recover but he was increasingly scared and all his worries of last night, concerning Niall's recovery, flooded back, stronger than before. He walked out of the room, thoughts churning.

"Have you any idea what triggered this?" the nurse came and asked Liam who shook his head.

"I was just sat next to him and he woke up and went ballistic. I just don't know" Liam's forehead creased in worry. "How long will he be like this?"

"There is no telling, I'm afraid. He's made marvellous progress and physically things are going steadily. Even so, we still have no  definite idea how fully he will recover. I'm sorry, I know that isn't helping you but it's all I can tell you for now. How about you see Dr Collins and talk with him? Niall's parents have given full permission for you all to be told everything regarding Niall's condition and the doctor will be the best person to ask. He'll be here this afternoon so will you be able to meet with him then?" 

"Please, that would help. Is it Ok if we stay with him now?"

"It certainly is. I'll let him know. Oh, and Liam, Niall is only mildly sedated so you'll be able to carry out your little plan. I'll show you where . Just remember never to leave him for a moment as he would be incapable of looking after himself. With four of you, I don't see that's a problem" She grinned " I hope you know what you've taken on". Laughing, she walked away and Liam went back into Niall's room, a smile on his lips.

It was nearly an hour later when Louis and Zayn returned from their 'mission'. They pounced on Harry who had fallen asleep in the waiting area and had missed all the drama with Niall. None of the young men had been sleeping too well and Harry often found himself nodding off at odd moments. Giggling together, they joined Liam in Niall's room and the plan went into action. After spending a quiet half hour with him, Harry  and Louis then left to go  to the nurses' station and after a brief  conversation, she lead Harry down the corridor and showed him into a room.They began preparing it carefully.

Zayn and Liam continued to talk with Niall, talking about the recent rugby matches until Liam's phone buzzed. He turned to Zayn and just said 'time'. He  stood up and went close to Niall's bed. "Want to get out of here Ni?" Zayn asked. Niall looked confused but said yes" Zayn grabbed the wheelchair that had been left outside the door and brought it to the side of the bed. "Ni, we have to put you in the chair, can we do that?" Zayn thought it might be better to ask Niall about every little thing to see if that prevented a meltdown. Niall seemed to think about it before he bit his lip and nodded slowly. Liam then very carefully supported Niall as he sat him up. Zayn helped him move his legs so they dangled down the side of the bed., Liam placed his arm behind Niall's shoulders so he wouldn't over balance then  slid his arm under his  knees and slowly lifted Niall off the bed and into the chair. He winced at just how light and frail Niall felt in his arms. Zayn wrapped a blanket carefully around Niall and then went to the door and peered out both ways in a exaggerated manner before beckoning with his hand. They crept past the nurses station , quietly headed to the room where Harry and Louis were waiting. Niall had started to laugh at their antics as Zayn opened the door and Liam pushed the wheelchair into the room.

Niall's face was a picture. Louis and Harry had filled the bathtub with  water and had tipped what appeared to be half a bottle of bubble bath into it. Harry reasoned that Niall might be more comfortable if he didn't feel so exposed. They had fluffy towels ready and an extremely large rubber duck was floating on the water. Niall looked from one to the others and groaned. NO! was the one word out of his mouth. "Yes" the others responded in unison. "It's us or the nurses, Harry said". Niall thought about this for a few moments before sighing and giving up the battle. After all, they'd seen had seen him naked  on too many occasions to count. Liam carefully lifted him out of the chair, undid the hospital gown and slowly lifted him into the bath. Niall leant back into the soothing water and closed his eyes. The boys watched him carefully, making sure that he wasn't showing signs of distress or that he was slipping down in the water.

"Ni?" Niall opened one eye and looked at Zayn. "Do you, ah, do you need help washing?" Zayn asked softly. Niall's face burned red but he  said yes in whisper. Zayn grabbed one of the sponges they had bought and then asked Niall if they could sit him up to which Niall agreed. With Liam supporting him upright, Zayn washed Niall's back and then chest before going down the other end of the bath and washing Niall's legs while Liam let Niall lean back against the bath once more.. When this was done, he handed Niall the sponge asking him if he'd like to take over. Niall's face grew even redder but he was glad that Zayn was being so discreet. Under cover of the thick layer of bubbles , Niall washed his private areas before hand ing the sponge back to Zayn.

"Ni, I'll do your hair if you like? " Harry  questioned and Niall agreed rapidly. His hair was driving him crazy and he found it so relaxing as Harry carefully massaged the shampoo into his limp hair. Harry  was especially careful around the back of Niall's head where he had split it open during his fall down the stair. The stitches had been taken out quite some time ago and the hair that they had had to shave away had  grown back . Harry washed and conditioned Niall's hair as quickly as possible as they could see Niall's energy was ebbing away. Liam grabbed a towel then wrapped it around Niall, while he was still in the water. He and Zayn then lifted Niall out, wrapping a very large fluffy towel around him as Harry whipped the wet one off being careful to keep Niall covered. All the boys helped dry Niall, Louis kneeling to dry his legs and feet while the others dealt with everywhere else. 

"Look what I have" Louis announced holding up a pair of  PJ bottoms and a large T-shirt. "Time to ditch your party dress , Nialler" He helped Niall dress  then as Liam replaced Niall in the wheelchair and wrapped him up in the blanket, the others swiftly put the bathroom to rights. Louis reached for the giant rubber duck and dried it off before handing it to Niall. "Don't forget your duckie, duckie."

This time Liam poked his head out of the door and then indicated it was safe to creep back to the room. Niall couldn't stop himself bubbling into laugher. He was still giggling when they got back to his room. This time Zayn was the one to lift his friend back into the bed and cover him up warmly again.

"mmh, thanks lads" Niall's voice faded away and he was asleep in seconds.

The nurse appeared and whispering, asked how bath time had gone. Harry gave her the thumbs up. She smiled at him and asked what their secret of success was. Louis grinned and pointed to the giant rubber duck that was now sitting on Niall's bedside locker. "You forgot his rubber duck!"