✓ dark blue -h.s. au- short story

6 "find the cause."

N I A L L

There are two doctors in the room, one holding a needle and the other holding a pad. His neck is a little sore from the angle he'd been sleeping in.

Niall takes notice in his wrists and how they're facing them. He turns them over to him instead so they don't keep him there.

Nothing is really wrong with him. He's just depressed and sometimes has trouble sleeping. The doctors in the hospital never have a problem giving him some medication to help him sleep as long as he takes them only when he's in the building. They even give him a room.

One of the men pushes his hair back. "You started spasming. Are you having night terrors? We need to know if you have night terrors."

"No nightmares," he squeaks out, feeling a little attacked and wishing he has someone to talk for him. He shakily stands up and pushes his hands in the pockets of his sweatshirt. "You have a patient. Um, Harry Styles. Something happened to him, I think."

"You're his friend? He doesn't get many visitors."

Niall fights the urge to walk away, knowing he won't get what he wants if he does so. Some shady business goes on behind closed doors, like how they keep trying to convince guardians to unplug patients who have been on life support for more than nine months. "Something happened to him, I think."

"He's fine now."

"What happened to him?"

"We think he is beginning to wake up. Earlier today, he was responding to auditory signals. We've tried a more physical approach, but his body seems to be fighting us in that. We think in just a few days, we'll have him up. It'll take another few weeks to get him back to normal, but we think he's finally reaching us."

He smiles for just a moment before there's a sound blaring through the hallway speakers. "We need all available doctors in Room Two Four Six. I repeat: we need all available doctors in Room Two Four Six."

Niall doesn't watch them as both doctors make their way out of the room. He follows them. He walks behind the rush of doctors silently, matching their strides until they finally walk into one of the rooms.

He finds it familiar and looks over at the guy lying in the bed. His long hair is surprisingly not that much of a mess, but it's a little greasy. His eyes are closed, breathing steady, but there's a gauge around his neck and around his head. Harry doesn't look like he's suffering.

But the doctors aren't looking at him. They're looking at the girl on the other side of the room. His eyes widen at how much she's thrashing, at how her eyebrows are tied together like she's pain. And maybe she is in pain. Two doctors stand on either side of her, their hands lifting the small girl from behind and patting her back like they expect her to cough something up.

She does. Niall doesn't like that it's red.

One them says, " it's definitely a trauma." Someone in the back says, "maybe it's hemoptysis?"

Someone nudges him in the side. "I want her in an x-ray and then a cat scan. I want you to find the cause and then I want her to be monitored for the rest of the night. For god's sake, and get that kid out of here."

He stares blankly at Cecily who's still being held up. Then he notices that all eyes are on him.

He's being shoved out of the room in an instant. Instead of leaving, he takes a seat on the floor for hours and hours, keeping himself awake and aware until all of the doctors slowly make their way out with her.

She's being dragged down the hall in an instant, being rolled down into another corridor with a door that advises him not to pass.

So he doesn't.

He sits on the floor and stares at the wall. He kicks out his feet and plays with his hands. He thinks and then stops thinking because it's too painful. His thoughts try to kill him sometimes.

When too much time passes by, he thinks maybe he should go home and pretend everything is all right, but then Cecily is being brought right back into her room and he hurries to his feet, not caring that the doctor behind her looks exhausted.

"Is she all right?"

"She's fine. Just a scare. It's never happened before, so we're still running a few things. But her vitals are as healthy as they could be right now and she's doing just fine."

He looks at the doctor. She has blonde hair and green eyes that are about two shades lighter than Harry's. Her jawline is pretty sharp, but her eyes are round and contrast with the rest of her hard face. "Thank you."

"You should go home, sweetheart."

Niall nods awkwardly, not liking the attention one bit. "You too. Goodnight, thank you."

"Bye."