One More Spoon of Cough Syrup [Zayn Malik FanFiction]

Chapter 1

"There are things we can't recall, blind as night that finds us all; Winter tucks her children in her fragile china dolls." - 'Passing Afternoon' by Iron and Wine

Leaving the house at four thirty in yhe evening was almost a daily routine for me for a pretty long time now. See, even though both my mother and father happen to be in chemically-induced comas, the visiting hours still apply to me.

It's pretty unfair.

I lived with my best friend, Lana, ever since the accident since she was geographically the closest.  Most of my family lived abroad from southern America to Saudi Arabia, others in Essex. I couldn't move from London, though, my wholw life was there.

To say that I  was grateful to Lana's family would be an understatement. If it weren't for them, I'd probably be living in Essex, miles away from university which was of upmost importance. Lana  was basically like my sister although we looked nothing alike. I was five foot nine, she was struggling at five foot six. My skin was olive, hers was pale. My hair was jet black, darkest of brown in the sunlight, hers was strawberry blond. My eyes were brown hers were green, sometimes blue and sometimes both. My hair was dead straight and hers was wavy. I liked sports and video games. She liked everything a girl's meant to like...although she loves baseball.

Another thing? Lana's got life figured out. I have no idea what I'm doing anymore.

I put on my Guns n Roses t shirt, black skinny-ish jeans, my black leather jacket and my black combat boots. I'm not goth, if you're wondering; it just felt right to wear black. "Lana, I'll be back around six," I told her.

She hugged me tightly and said "Are you sure you don't want me to go with you?"

I nodded lightly. "I'll be fine." It was a fifteen minute walk to the hospital. I had a driver's license, but ever since I moved in with Lana, I knew I'd need some help to pay with fuel, so I sold my car to avoid wasting money. Don't get me wrong, Lana was pretty rich, but I didn't want to be a burden.

I reached the hospital in less than half an hour; a new record, I guessed from the top of my memory. Since I came here almost everyday now, I knew every receptionist that had a job here.

Today, the blonde lady, Alex, sat at the desk with a steaming mug of her usual decafe coffee in one had, the other typing rapidly on the keys. Her brown dark red hair was pulled into a bun and her grey eyes were filled with concentration. She drew her eyes away from the screen as I entered, my boots tapping lightly on the tiled floor; she smiled almost instantly, but for a reason I didn't know, her smile was weak.

"Saniya," she smiled. "Here to see mum and dad?"

"Hey Alex," I smiled. "Yes, as usual."

Her smile seemed to fade, but she made a fight to keep it visible. That was my Alex - always trying to be the optimist. But optimism was obviously a characteristic all workers at a hospital had to have. That and the ability to easily accept things. Alex got up from her chair, leaving her coffee on her mousepad and made her way to me. "I think you should see their doctors first."

I usually saw the doctors once every alternate week to check up on their progress. I had already talked to Dr. Carr and Dr. Allen two days ago. "What about? I spoke to them only recently."

She pursed her lips and brought her pager out, summoning the two doctors. One more sympathetic smile and she was back typing at her computer looking much more hesitant and upset. I noticed that often, she'd hold down the backspace key, erasing large typing errors. Weird.

I sat patiently in the waiting room when the two men accompanied by Maya, their assistant, walk in. As I usually did, I got up without word and followed them to a smaller, more private room. I sat on one side of the round table next to Maya, opposite Dr. Carr and Dr. Allen.