Lovely Lonely Lullabies [Sequel to Opposites Attract]

17 ~ Aftershock

Louis' P.O.V.

It felt like I had swallowed razors and my heart was pounding so hard against my chest that I thought it was going to tear right through my skin and end up on the floor in front of me. I wanted to rip it out with my bare hands the way it hurt.  

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Niki's P.O.V.

Everything happened in slow motion. The moment that the EMT's stepped onto the staircase landing, all of the air in the room ran out. My heart sped up to twice the normal rate and Ryder's grip around my waist tightened.

Ariel's face was covered by a breathing mask but it was impossible to miss how pale she was. She looked like a doll, lifeless and cold. As she got closer, I could see more of her. There was a white sheet laid over her body but big stains of red caused the lump in my throat to grow.

I just kept telling myself that she was only sleeping. This was a theatric. The thought that she had tried to end her life, was too much for me to even think about comprehending. Ariel's family and I followed the EMT's outside and to the ambulance. They told us that only her parents could ride with her in the ambulance so I told them that I would take Ryder and meet them at the hospital. 

As much as I wanted to rush to the hospital as fast as I possibly could, I knew that Ryder needed to be taken care of. I took him to a McDonald's, bought him a McFlurry, and we sat in the parking lot while he ate. 

"Ryder, we need to talk buddy," I spoke up after a few minutes.

"Okay," He replied.

"I know that you are scared, and you may not understand what is going on, but I want you to know that no matter what happens, you are not alone and I will be there for you for anything. If you have any questions or you need to talk to someone, you can come find me and I will make time to help you feel better. Do you understand me?" Ryder stopped eating his ice cream and just stared out the window.

"I just want her to be okay. Can we go see her now?" He asked quietly and I sighed heavily.

"Let's go," I pulled back onto the road and made my way to the hospital.

Harry's P.O.V.

It took me two hours to get Louis off of the ground by his own volition. I was surprised he hadn't passed out from all of the pain he had inflicted on himself. It would be a sick sort of miracle if his hand wasn't broken from punching the floor, repeatedly for 45 minutes straight.

All he wanted was to find out what happened to Ariel. I couldn't blame him. I wan't to punch a wall and scream until my voice gave out. I could barely breathe, but I wasn't the one in love with her. I needed to be strong because Louis was not going to make it past this by any easy means.

Zayn walked in the flat as I was coaxing Louis to stand up and get out of the blood drying on the floor around him. His natural reaction was to actually pass out. Not one for seeing blood. I moved him to the couch, left a note for him to call me when he woke up, and went back to arguing with Louis.

Liam cleaned himself up after Louis did a number to his face and was currently holding an ice pack to his left eye. His lip was split and swollen in two places. His right cheek was such a gruesome mix of color that I couldn't even look at him for more than a few seconds at a time.

Once Louis was standing, Liam told me to get him to the nearest hospital and that he would clean everything up while we were gone.

"No." The silence was cut short by a fragile, hoarse voice.

"Louis, what do you mean, 'no'?" I asked tentatively.

"Liam, come with us." Louis was staring intently across the room at the boy leaning against the wall.

"Why? So I can see what I did and hate myself even more? I don't want to see her. Not now." Liam's good eye was staring at the ground, avoiding eye contact with the blonde staring him down.

"She'll want to see you." Liam flicked his eye up to look at Louis with confusion.

"Excuse me?" Even I was shocked at Louis' words.

"She doesn't know anything. To her, you are still Daddy Directioner." the nickname sounded like venom from Louis' voice.

"Louis.... " Liam's voice cracked and it sounded so painful, like all of the air in the room was suddenly stale and I was too afraid to even breathe.

"She'll want you there. She's going to wake up and want to see you. I need her to wake up and see. See everyone that cares about her so she never thinks she can make a decision like this ever again. I need her to wake up!" Louis' scream was so strained and hoarse that there was no volume, but the way he was shaking beside me gave all of his emotion away.

"Okay. I'll go." The taller lad walked slowly to the door and held it open for me to help Louis walk outside.

In the car, Liam used my phone to call Niki. I could hear how hysterical she was and Liam hadn't even put it on speaker. Her crying made my chest constrict and I couldn't breathe. The edges of my vision blurred with a tint of red and I had to tighten my fists around the steering wheel to keep myself under control.

I told Louis that we would go straight to the hospital if he promised to let a doctor check out his hand before he tried to see Ariel. He only nodded as he cradled his bloody, deformed arm in his lap and stared out the window.