Code Black (N.S)

16.

Niall's POV

I woke up from my restless sleep what seemed to be a few hours later, images vividly flashing through my mind. My dream felt so real. 

My heart was still pumping as my eyes adjusted to the darkness. I was still completely alone, there was no sound in the room. The silence gave me an unwilling opportunity to the hear voices in my head and there was no one here in the room to distract me from them.

It was silent, yet I could hear people outside the door, speaking in hushed whispers. The bed was uncomfortable and the smell of disinfectant was starting to make me feel slightly light headed and nauseous.

The silence and darkness made me even more scared. My heart beat increased dramatically, I was concerned that it was going to explode, or fall out of my chest because it was beating so fast.

I could picture flashbacks, of both the nightmare I had just woken from and what had actually happened. I could see the closet door slamming open and being roughly pulled out by someone, away from Harry, who was really the only comfort I had during the whole thing.

I remembered Harry tied to a chair across from me, struggling against the rope, just as I was, yet neither of us were successful. Most importantly, I could picture the man's hand on me, touching my body in the most inappropriate and terrifying way.

What if he came back to finish what he started? I could still see his face in my head, his cold eyes, his evil smirk, which was even more evil than any of the looks I had ever received from Harry, or from anyone else.

~

My door suddenly opened to show my mum. Although she had already been here, she still looked panicked, like she hadn't slept in weeks. My heart nearly stopped as the door slammed open, scared that someone was going to attack me, I felt relieved when I realised it was her.

She didn't say anything, she just pulled me into a bone-crushing hug.

I flinched, not liking the feeling of someone touching me. I felt horrible, as this was my mother, the same person that had raised me all my life, was my only comfort from the bullies in Ireland and yet here I was, acting like she was going to kill me.

I shouldn't be scared of her touching me and I was hoping she didn't notice. I knew it would crush her if she thought I was scared of her. Thankfully, if she had noticed, she didn't say anything. Perhaps she was too preoccupied with convincing herself I was still alive that she didn't feel my body stiffen in her hold.

She kissed my cheek and slowly pulled away before her face turned serious. Her hand reached and grabbed mine, slowly running her thumb on my knuckles.

"Hey," I let out.

My voice was hoarse, like I hadn't drunk in years. I coughed, hoping to relieve the feeling but it didn't help. If anything, it only made me feel more dehydrated.

Mum thankfully noticed my struggle and reached over to grab the cup of water that was sitting on the side table. I took it from her grasp and gratefully drank the whole cup, sighing in content as I swallowed the cool water.

"Are you okay, Niall?" she asked. 

She hadn't asked me anything until that point. Perhaps she knew I wouldn't want to talk about it right after I had woken up, or maybe she was still in shock that the thought of questioning me any earlier completely slipped her mind. 

I set the cup down and nodded, regardless of the fact that she had waited a few visits before questioning me, I still didn't want to talk about it.

"I'm okay. Just-- my luck, I-I guess," I shrugged, causing her to frown, though she didn't say anything. I was rather thankful that she hadn't made a huge fuss like I had expected her to. She seemed quite calm about it but if I knew her well enough, I knew that she was freaking out on the inside.

I felt hot tears start to run down my cheeks, making me lift up my hand which wasn't still in mum's grasp, to wipe them away, hating the sympathetic way she looked at me, regardless of how used to it I was. 

Harry's POV

The news of Stephanie dying hit me rather hard, considering I didn't exactly care about her. I felt horrible. She was dead and the last proper memory I had of her was her storming off after I had broken her heart. Now especially, I could never move away from that. She would never know how shitty I felt about it. 

I left soon after Louis had told me, suddenly feeling sick and all I wanted was to sleep. 

As I was walking away, I felt someone place their hand on my shoulder. I turned to face them, only to see that it was a paramedic, wanting to make sure I wasn't injured but I pushed past her, not in the mood to talk to anyone.

People that I knew kept sending me sympathetic looks, as if they were genuinely sad about what I had gone through but I didn't know why. I treated all of those people terribly, so there was no reason for them to feel sorry for me. 

~

As soon as I had entered my house, I was immediately attacked in a hug. I looked to see that it was my mum, who was crying on my shoulder.

"Harry, thank God you're okay," she sobbed.

I didn't really know what to say, so I silently wrapped my arms tightly around her smaller frame, returning the hug. I hadn't properly hugged mum in years, the closest I got was an awkward hug that lasted a couple of seconds, so hugging her like this felt nice, it made me miss her a hundred times more.

"Yeah, I'm okay," I mumbled.

She pulled away softly and ran her thumb under my eye, catching a tear I had no idea I had released. I guessed that I really was grateful to be alive. It pained me to think of what could have happened.

I would bet anything that people like Liam would be happy if that were the case.

That thought saddened me. That there were people I had known for years who would be glad to see me die. Though I knew I deserved it for treating them the way I did, particularly people like Niall. 

I shook my head, questioning why my thoughts drifted right back to Niall. I didn't need to worry about him anymore. He was okay, I was okay and we could now both go our separate ways, never speak to each other again. He could go back to his friends and forget that I even existed.

Obviously, I wasn't going to mess with him anymore, I wasn't going to mess with anyone anymore, so there was no reason for me to think of Niall. We no longer had each other in our lives. 

~

As I walked through the hall towards my bedroom, Gemma's bedroom door opened as I passed. I couldn't recognise my sister when I saw her. She barely ever cried, she was usually loud and kind of annoying but all evidence of the strong person she had been was nowhere to be seen. Her eyes were bloodshot and watery and there were dark circles under them.  

"Harry! I thought you--" she said through her sobs.

Before I could reply I felt her pulling me into a hug.

"I'm here, Gem. It's okay, I'm alright," I mumbled to her, rubbing my hand up and down her back in attempts of comforting her.

No words were needed to be spoken after that. Gemma and I had this unique bond. We could understand what we were feeling and saying without actually speaking words to each other. 

We stood in the hall for a few minutes, arms wrapped tightly around each other. I could hear her quiet sobs against my chest, before she pulled away.

"Gem, it's okay. You don't need to cry," I assured her.

She nodded, wiped her teary eyes and went back into her bedroom.

As she closed her door, I walked away and went into my room. It was the same as I remembered, my eyes scanned over it before I lay down on my bed, thanking God that these past events were over.