A Hybrid And One Direction (ON HOLD/SLOW UPDATES)

Chapter Nine

Chapter nine

     "Will he be ok?" I ask, watching as the boys minus Zayn pace the hospital waiting room.
     "He was shot in the chest. The doctors and surgeons can only do so much." Paul says. Him and I are sitting in hard plastic chairs. I guess neither of us felt like pacing.
      On the other side of the waiting room, a mother whispers quietly to her toddler, occasionally casting glances in our direction as her daughter plays with small toys. A man sits nearby, preoccupied in his phone. Other than that, the waiting room is empty. Bodyguards surround us protectively, since they couldn't shut down the hospital to keep prying eyes out of the band's business.
      "This will delay our tour to visit our families for quite some time." Louis comments, giving up on his pacing and sitting in the chair next to me.
      "That's what you're worried about right now?" I ask, turning to face him.
      "Just trying to distract myself." He mumbles.
      Minutes later, the doctor comes to get us. We walk into Zayn's hospital room. He's unconscious, with bandages  covering his chest near where his heart would be. I start to worry more.
       Paul pulls the doctor aside. My cat hearing allows me to hear what they say.
       "Will he be ok?" Paul asks. The doctor looks around to make sure no one else is listening before whispering,
       "The chances are he won't. The bullet is right next to his heart, and we can't remove it without creating more damage. I'm sorry."
       Zayn won't be ok?? My mind is filled with every thought and no thought at once as I stand there stunned. Niall notices and comes over to me. "Is everything ok?" He asks.
        I take a deep breath before answering. "What if Zayn doesn't get better? The bandage is over his heart." I say, pretending I didn't just hear what I did. Niall gives me a half smile, but I can see the worry in his eyes as he realizes I'm right.
       "He will, don't worry. He's a he's a strong man. He won't go down without a fight." But what if his fight isn't enough. What if the five boys in one direction becomes four?

      Hours later, Zayn's family arrives and I sit in the waiting room due to overcrowding in the hospital room and the fact that I'm not that close to him. Parsley has been getting restless in my pocket, so I text Louis and tell him that I'm walking to the park across the street to get some fresh air. He asks if I want a body guard, and insists at one point that I let one come with me, but I refuse and walk out alone (with Pars).
     I walk into the trees and take Parsley out of my purse. It's one of those purses that you can carry small dogs in. The boys asked why I wanted it when I bought it. "Because I like the extra room." I had said. It was easy to hide her in it, because she was so small. She  prances around the grass and pounces on a butterfly as I think about nothing in particular.
     I suddenly remember something. My birthday is in a few days. I remember what my dad said to me before he left, "On your seventeenth birthday, just like every other hybrid, you will be faced with a choice. It will determine the future of hybrids everywhere. You have the choice to lose your tail, ears, and other abilities that only hybrids have and become human. Or, you could keep them forever. Whatever you choose, know that I love you." Lately, it's been getting harder to understand Parsley. Her meows sound more like incomprehensible noise. More like the "meow" sound that most people associate with cats. 
       With everything weighing on my mind, I lean against a tree and begin to drift off to sleep.
      A soccer ball bounces over Parsley and into my lap, startling me awake. "Oh! Sorry!" Someone says, running up to me and grabbing the ball. I look at his face, it seems oddly familiar. I can't quite put my finger on it. Another guy comes running up beside the first one.
      "Now look what you've done, Brendon! I told you this wasn't a big enough park to play soccer in!" He chuckles. "We're so sorry." He adds, turning to me. I smile, and it's only half forced.
      "It's ok," I assure them.
      "Is that your cat?" The guy named Brendon asks. I look at where he is pointing and see Parsley up in the tree, staring wide-eyed at us.
       "Mommy, that ball almost hit me!" She meows at me.
       "Um yeah, she's mine. Her name's Parsley." I answer. The second guy reaches up and pats Pars on the head. She scurries away from him and up onto a higher branch.
       "Nice going, Dallon." Brendon mutters. For the first time, I notice their distinctly non-British accents.
       "You two have strange accents. Where are you from?" I ask, blanking on any other way to ask. I'm not very good in social situations, if you hadn't already guessed.
        "We're from the U.S." Dallon answers. "We're... on vacation." He says, pausing and exchanging a look with Brendon. That was the worst lie I've ever heard, but I decide to go with it.
       "You're on vacation and you're playing soccer in a park?" I ask, raising an eyebrow.
       "Ah, yeah, we got a bit of free time, and we found a soccer ball in our hotel room, so..." Brendon answers. "So, do you live around here?" He asks, quick to change the subject. Parsley timidly creeps down the branch she was on before, just above Dallon's head.
        "No, I come from around London. Just um... touring, I guess you could say." I answer.
       "With your cat?" Dallon asks, looking up at Pars right when she jumps on his back and clings onto his shirt.
       "Oh, I'm sorry!" I apologize, jumping up and prying my cat from Dallon's shirt. "Yeah, we couldn't really leave her at home, she'd tear up the curtains." I lie. Thinking back to what I was thinking about earlier, if I decided to become fully human, then I'd be able to enter society, but I probably wouldn't be able to keep Parsley... I make a split second decision. "We're actually looking for someone to adopt her."
        "What?!" Parsley asks from my arms.
       "Aw, this little sweety?" Dallon says, reaching for Pars.
      "Dal, put down the cat." Brendon says. "Well hey," he continues, "I think we have to go do a concert now, but-"
      "Go do a concert?" I ask.
      "Go to a concert, he means." Dallon corrects.
       "But, we should hang out again sometime, if we can. Let's exchange phone numbers. I mean, as long as you don't give our numbers to anyone." Brendon continues.
      "Why would I give your numbers to anyone else?" I ask.
     "No reason. Just don't." Brendon assures.
       We exchange numbers and part ways. They walk off towards a hotel as Parsley questions me about giving her up, but it's getting harder to understand her. "I just got a *meow* you can't seriously tell *meow* that you're going to give *meow* up already we were having so *meow* fun" and so on. I feel bad, but if I'm going to grow up and become a part of society, I need to take responsibility, and that means giving Parsley to a loving family who can take care of her properly.