Across the Hall

Chapter 11

    They must have been a sight, as they moved from the emergency room into an actual room. Mad Hatter on the bed, Catwoman in a trench coat standing by the door on the phone, and a very fretful Alice standing next to her Hatter, trying to stay calm, watching the Sports Center rerun on the fuzzy small telly. Niall felt bad for worrying the girls so, wondering now what position he'd be in without them. He turned his head on the pillow, reaching up for Whitney's hand.

    "Sit with me?" he asked quietly, smiling at the feeling of her small thumb caressing the top of his hand.

    "There's not enough room, all your wires and stuff." she told him, running fingers through his hair.

    "Sit up here. These pillows are shit. Your lap is way more comfy." Rolling her eyes, she waited until he was sat up, moving the pillows so she could sit. Dangling her legs over the side, Niall quickly settled his head onto her leg.

    "Much better. Thanks, babe." She merely shushed him, rubbing his chest, ghosting occasionally up to his jaw. 

    "Liam said Harry's asleep on the couch. They're gonna wait at home, unless you get admitted." Annie spoke, coming back in the room, placing her phone back in her pocket.

    "Please, don't talk about me being admitted. The only thing worse than the chair was being in the hospital." Niall whined, looking up at his girlfriend for a bit of sympathy.

     "Why didn't you tell me you were hurting?" she asked, her voice low and barely audible. He hated to see that look in her eyes, that hint of disappointment.

      "There was so much going on. I was finally out of my chair, more mobile, able to take care of myself. And you were sick, I didn't want you over doing it to take care of me. I was hurting, but I figured I could get over it. 'M sorry, baby." he pouted, batting his eyelashes up at her.

     "Just please don't do this again, sweets. I almost had a heart attack when I saw your face." Niall was quick to pepper her arm in kisses, sending her into a soft fit of giggles.

     "Hey look, the doctor's coming." Annie called from the door, coming closer to Niall's bed, following the man in the white lab coat.

    "Alright, Mr. Horan-"

    "Niall, please."

    "Alright, Niall." the doctor began again, "you were lucky, you haven't damaged either of your knees any further. You've just been over stressing them, with all the moving and the therapy. I'm going to advise you take it a bit slower these next few weeks, if you want to be up and moving by Christmas." Niall groaned, wishing the girls hadn't heard the doctor talking about him taking it easy, but he thought of having to face another surgery, shivering at the thought. 

    "I'll send you some paperwork for your therapist, and a prescription to adjust your pain medicine. You can fill it downstairs before you head home. I suggest you wait until tomorrow to take any though, with the alcohol in your system." With a shake of the trio's hands, the doctor quickly discharged Niall, but not without rolling a wheelchair into the room first. An eyebrow raised, ready to argue, until he saw his Alice's face. 

     "Just until we leave here. For me?"

     "For you. And because my buzz is wearing off." he teased, settling into the chair, allowing her to push him through the halls.

      With the hospital trip put behind them, the group was ready to put the craziness behind them, but as was the usual, someone was always up to something. Annie was leaving at the end of the week, a whole two weeks in Mexico with her parents and brother. Niall snorted at Harry's pouting face, remembering how badly he'd teased him when Whitney was gone for just a day. Harry even tried folding his long limbs into her suitcase, before sighing, giving up in a huff.

    "I can call you, love. I'll be back next Saturday evening, and we can spend all day cuddling."

    "We better." he mumbled, kissing her as she climbed in her truck, headed to her parents' house. Niall had unofficially moved Whitney in with them, not wanting her to be alone any more than she had to. Harry and Liam were getting their chance to watch their blonde band member deal with a girl to come home to every day, watching the shifts in his personality. He was much more softer and gentle, traits they'd only seen from him when he was with Lux or Theo. Whitney was so much like him, but different in her ways. She was much quieter, even though they both liked to talk. Whitney was always quick to make someone smile, not knowing how to handle grumpy boys.

    Grumpy was exactly how Niall felt, just three days into their little adventure. It wasn't anyone's fault, but he was still in pain. He'd gotten up early, but not early enough to catch Whitney before she headed out to run errands, leaving him a note promising lunch when she got back. He'd been on a different prescription of pain meds since his latest hospital adventure, and they'd left him irritable and moody when they wore off. He hadn't smoked since Liam had arrived, minding the fact that Harry didn't like it, and Liam was trying to quit, but now he needed one to take the edge off. Cursing at every hobble with his crutches, Niall meandered his way out to the courtyard, thankful the November air wasn't too brisk. He smiled briefly, thinking of how differently his girlfriend thought, always bundled up with bright pink cheeks. Sliding down against the wall, he lit the smoke, pulling out his phone to catch up with the rest of the world.

    Niall wasn't the type to Google himself, but he wasn't one to shy away from articles about himself either. Scrolling through the entertainment section of one news site, he was struck by a certain headline,

     "WHERE IN THE WORLD IS NIALL HORAN?" he mentally slapped himself, thinking that no pictures of him had been snapped since before his birthday, almost two months prior. Of course people were going to wonder what black hole ate him. Curious now, he opened the link. The author rambled on about how the One Direction boys had gotten more coy with age, learning how to better evade the paparazzi, but this was something quite new. There were a few pictures from right after their last show, and when he was in the car, headed to his dad's once he arrived in Ireland. But a certain paragraph is what caught those intrigued blue eyes.

     "No one, not even close friends and relatives of the Irish boy band member, have said anything about Horan's whereabouts. Sources are mixed about where Niall is at this very moment, ranging from holiday in the Bahamas, to a few stating Nialler's lying low in the States, enjoying some anonymity."

Sources? Who the fuck knew he was Stateside? His family, the boys, Sean, and the girls. That was it. Had someone told? Niall was currently furious, acutely aware of his surroundings. Had someone around him slipped a tip to the media? How long before the camera flashes were in his face again?