More than a memory (A One Direction fanfic)

Chpt 12 - A taste of his own medicine

Chpt 12 - A taste of his own medicine

Niall stumbled through the door, his hand held up to his face to cover the large, swollen black blister that was forming atop his eyelid. Blood gushed out of his nose relentlesly and he walked with a noticeable limp. A wet brown stain had appeared on his grey shirt and it was slightly ripped. He held his inner elbow lightly and bruises and cuts were trailed all the way down his neck and jaw-line. His eyebrows were furrowed and knit together; signifying that he was in great pain.

"It's over." He spoke in a grave, gravelly tone, his eyes boring into Zayn.

My body did not know how to react, it just shut down. My face went slack, lips slightly parted, body unmoving and the color drained from my face as I stared at him. I froze up to a point where I was sure that I was no longer breathing. But then the shock began to melt away, and everything began to return slowly.

I opened my mouth to speak, but then snapped it shut; choking on my own spit. I tried once again and with a little more success, I said something, but it came out raspy; barely audible.

Louis came to my side, silently escorting me to a chair. I felt slightly disorientated and I wiped my now-sweating brow. My lip quivered. "W-What happened?" My voice shook as tears threatened to fall. Niall sent what looked like a glare my way as he passed me, but ignored my question. He sat carefully onto the couch with his legs apart and wiped his nose furiously with the back of his hand, leaving a crimson smear on his hand. His other gripped his crotch tightly, as of someone had kicked him there.

Zayn rushed to grab the first aid kit, which he had already set out on the kitchen counter-top; as if he knew this was going to happen. He whipped out some tissues and handed them to Niall, who accepted them thankfully and held them up to his face, pinching the bridge of his nose.

Sobs began to wrack my body and I didn't take my eyes off of Niall. He was now leaning down and spitting repeatedly into a bucket, a mixture of saliva and blood falling into it. For a split-second I saw him glance up at me. When he realized that I was staring intently at him, he turned away towards Zayn, as if he couldn't bear to see me.

"How did it go?" Zayn asked solemnly as he began to tightly wrap Niall's hand in a thick, cream-colored bandage.

"He is being questioned by the police and has been arrested for assault towards both me and-" He burst into a coughing fit, covering his mouth with his uninjured hand. He finally managed to choke out. "-her." He swallowed hard and chugged a glass of water that Harry had offered him. "As for me, they did ask a few questions - but in the end what I did was considered self-defence."

I watched on in fear. I had never seen Niall in such bad shape, his whole body was literally black and blue. "Wh-what did you d-do?" I asked feebly, and someone finally noticed me. Zayn caught my eye and shook his head quickly, giving me a look that quite clearly said : 'dont ask'.

I turned to look back at the blue eyed boy - although his eyes didn't seem blue anymore; they seemed to have changed to a dull grey and had lost their usual glow.

He was busy showing Harry his inner-elbow, where a shard of amber-colored glass was buried deep into his arm. Harry gently held his arm and pinched the shard with his thumb and fore-finger. "Hold still." He told Niall and went to dislodge the glass, causing Niall to grit his teeth and suppress a yelp of pain. He dabbed at the cut with a flannel, and cleaned the wound. "How did that happen?" Harry asked him, a look of concern upon his face.

"He threw a beer bottle." Niall answered, pointing to the dark stain on his grey shirt.

After Harry had finished bandaging his arm, Niall tugged at the hem of his own shirt and lifted it off of his body, leaving his chest and abdomen bare. I gasped as I noticed a large gash down his chest, which was bleeding profusely. "Shit.." He cursed under his breath and covered the abnormally large wound with his hand. "Fucken' hell!" Harry exclaimed as he realised how deep the cut was.