Stumbling through the dark

I Wonder.........

Niall was in a state of panic and struggling to breath. Where had the blood come from? What was happening to him? He started shaking in shock and Liam was quick to put a comforting arm around his shoulders, quietly talking in a soothing tone to try and calm down his friend. Harry re-entered the room with both a nurse and a doctor hard on his heels.

"It's OK, Niall. Calm down and let's get you sorted" the doctor said quietly. "Gentlemen, if you'd just leave us for a while? Nurse will come and tell you when you can return". The doctor then turned back to Niall, smiling encouragingly at him as the boys left the room, anxiety for their bandmate etched on their faces.

"At least he's in the right place for this" Liam said in an effort to comfort both Harry and himself.. "I just hope they can find the cause and get it sorted. I hate seeing Nialler like this".

"Yeah, doesn't seem fair. Ni seems to have been a magnet for everything bad lately. It's like everything has gone wrong for him since Zayn left the band." Harry slumped down on a couch in the waiting area and leant back, closing his eyes. He felt totally drained and allowed himself to drift. Liam paced up and down for a few minutes before sitting next to Harry but, unable to relax, sat and fidgeted then stood up and resumed his pacing. 

Niall's nurse had quickly removed the soiled bedding then helped Niall wash his face and hands before the doctor began to check him over. Niall's blood pressure had dropped and he was feeling very weak and dizzy. Although he had stopped vomiting, he was still feeling very nauseous. He struggles to answer the doctors questions as he felt exhausted and finding it hard to focus. 

"Niall? Do you understand what I've just told you?" Niall dragged his eyes open and stared at the doctor, frowning.What had he just been told?

"M'sorry" Niall murmured "What?"

" I said, I'd like to do an endoscopy. Your test results show you have a urinary tract infection which explains some of your symptoms but not this. I want to check what is happening in your stomach. Your nurse  here will get you ready. The sooner it's done, the quicker we can track things down. I'll see you shortly". The doctor murmured a few instructions to the nurse then left the room.

"Doctor?" Liam  called out to the man leaving Niall's room "Is Ni going to be all right?"

"Liam, is it? I think so. He's going to be taken to the Endoscopy Unit in a few minutes as we need to check his stomach. and hopefully it will give us the answer.Actually, Niall might feel more relaxed to have a familiar face with him. Perhaps one of you?" the doctor raised a questioning eyebrow and Liam was  quick to volunteer. 

Harry had chosen to wait in Niall's room in case Simon arrived. He would need to be told how Niall was and what was happening. Concern for Louis had to be temporarily  put on the back burner. A porter arrived to take Niall down to the Endoscopy unit, accompanied by both Liam and the nurse. Harry gave his friend a hug and  watched him disappear down the hall and out of sight.

"Now sweetheart, you are going to be conscious during this but we will give you what we call a 'twilight' sedative. You will only vaguely be aware of what's happening as you'll be nice and sleepy. We'll spray your throat with a numbing agent then pop the tube down your throat. You may feel you can't breath  and gag slightly ,but it will only be for seconds" the nurse explained carefully. She made it sound like it was nothing but Niall felt even more panicky. "Liam will be with you the whole time. Now lets get you  ready"

The sedative was taking effect and Niall felt himself feeling like he was floating. He could hear the voice of the doctor and nurse talking to each other but he wasn't taking any real notice. Liam was holding his hand, giving it an encouraging squeeze every now and then. "Ready Niall? Just open your mouth for me. Well done. Now we're just spraying the back of your throat". The spray itself made Niall gag " Now the tube is going in" Niall gagged even more. He started to panic, feeling he couldn't breath but Liam soothed him and the moment passed. Niall was then unaware of the the narrow tube carrying its small camera moving downward into his stomach. He allowed himself to float in his twilight world.

Liam looked at the screen fascinated . He watched as the small camera, now in Niall's stomach moved around allowing the doctors to examine the organ. Fascinating, thought Liam, but really gross at the same time. "A ha!" the doctor announced. "That's the problem. Now we just need to know what caused it"

"What is it?" Liam asked anxiously. "Is it serious?"

"Yes and no" was the response." It's serious if  left but it is  fixable. My problem is that if we don't know what caused it in the first place, there is a danger it may happen again"

"Yes, but what is it?" Liam persisted.

"Somehow the lining of Niall's stomach has become quite damaged. Normally this type of damage is seen in  a much  smaller area that becomes ulcerated. We are going to have to play detective. I wonder.................."