Project K- Liam Payne Fanfic

01

01

Kassie

The staccato rain drops against the window were intense that night, I can clearly remember that. The October wind was particularly cold as I sprawled across on the couch, blindly flipping through numerous late night talk shows and news broadcasts. I was physically exhausted; my muscles felt as though they weighed a thousand pounds, but mentally, I couldn't have been more alert.

It was a buzz from my phone on the counter in the kitchen that startled me as I hauled my fatigued body off the tepid seat, before my bare feet and numb toes padding across the frozen hardwood floor of my flat. I remember cursing under my breath as I discovered I had nearly twelve missed calls, all from the same, obscure number, and a recent voicemail from the same caller. I figured it was something important, so I listened to the voicemail as my jaw went slack.

"Hey, Kassie, its Amelia. I need you to come to the hospital now- there's been an accident."

Despite my frenzied state, I pressed the 're-dial' button on my phone and tapped my foot impatiently, every second turning into hours as I wait for someone to pick up.

"London-Hope General Hospital, this is Nurse Reed speaking."

My heart picked up pace at her sickly-sweet voice as the skin on my palms started to become clammy, my mind racing with morbid thoughts.

"Hello?" the woman had said again, "this is London-Hope General Hospital, who is this?"

"Kassie. Kassie Heatson. My sister-in-law, Amelia Heatson called me from this number."

The silence on the other end had involuntarily forced panic into my bloodstream. Promptly, I tugged on the nearest pair of shoes, which happened to be my old, extremely unattractive yellow rubber ducky rain boots, and slid my arms through the sleeves of my rain jacket, all while the other end was silent.

"Kassie?" I recognized Amelia's delicate voice as I closed and locked the front door of my flat behind me, cantering between the raindrops to the shelter of my truck.

"Kassie?" Amelia repeated.

"Yeah, Ammie, what's going on?" The truck engine revved up as I quivered under the nights' black cloak, cranking the heat up before pressing the gas pedal down, pulling out of the stall and onto the deserted road. For quarter past eleven, it was peculiarly silent, a contrast from the noisy atmosphere I was used to- I has become accustomed to the the pump music and screaming of high school kids at their weekly parties.

"Where are you?"

"Two road. Why?"

"How far away from the hospital?" My sister-in-law dismissed my question, answering it with her own.

"About five minutes. What's going on?" I remember repeating, my mind spinning as the wind shield wipers swooshed the excess water off the glass.

"Just... Hurry. Please" she finished before the line was cut off and instinctively, I propelled down the slick road quicker. The rain splattered in giant plops on the windshield as I accelerated through a giant puddle, sending small waves of water on the pavement. The heavy feeling in my stomach had told me something wasn't right, but I tried to ignore it, only to have it intensify as I spotted the hospital.

I circled around the lot, diving out as soon as I had found a spot. The momentum from the wind sent the drivers door slamming against the body of the truck, a small clang emitting from the window as it rattled in its frame. Again, I ran through the rain, keeping my eyes trained on the entrance to the building as I set my foot in another puddle, the water seeping through my old and defective boots.

"Kassie!" I looked up to see Amelia waving her arms just outside the entrance, "hurry!" Her tone was rich with fear, the tenderness of her accent no longer present. I ran faster, my breath coming in staggered huffs as the glass hospital door opens, both Amelia and I skidding through the halls.

As I round the corner, I see Julia- my sister- my parents, my nephew Sam and Amelia's mother. I managed to catch Julia's gaze, her usually happy brown eyes were glazed over with a set of heavy tears as my stomach lurched- I'd never seen her cry. She's always been the tough cookie, the comforter, the one who was strong in the midst of a catastrophe.

Amelia abruptly stopped, her eyes tearing up as she looked into the patient room directly in front of her. Slowly, I peered in, and my breath hitched, caught in my throat.

"W-What happened-d?" I remember asking, my heart pounding so hard it was bound to jump out of my chest cavity, "w-what happened to Noah?"

Various tubes ran in and out of his body. His head was wrapped up in a tight white gauze and he looked pale- too pale. His lips were an odd shade of purple red, slightly parted around the breathing tube. The thick, naturally long and curled eyelashes I had always envied sprawled across the skin above his cheekbones as his cheeks seemed more hollowed out than they were when I saw him the day before. I saw Amelia wipe a fallen tear as she pushed the door open, her amber eyes firmly trained on her husband. I followed not too far behind, my parents and Julia following in suit as my jaw dropped, the buzz of my brothers monitor showing me what I had feared most.

"He's brain dead, Kassie. His heart's working but his brain isn't. He was stabbed when I came to pick him from the bar, and the knife was still stuck in his head. They have to pull the plug."

Stabbed. He had been stabbed twice in the head, both pierced his brain, which meant the action had been aggressive enough to shatter his skull. I remember the world reeling, like I was twirling in circles and I collapsed, clutching my head to my chest. My brother- my only brother- had died that very evening and I watched as they took him off the ventilator, the green on the monitor shifting quickly into one, long streamline.

And that was it.

No more hugs, no more goodbyes, nobody else to talk to when Maisie was away and when Julia was busy on the other side of the world. The brother I had learned to love even sometimes more than myself had been murdered, a white sheet covering his pale, lifeless body as the doctor said, "time of death: October 20, 2012, 23:25."

I cried harder than I ever had. I remember lashing around, screaming profanities and questioning why the universe would take my brother from me. He was a good man- a good family man who had so much more going for him. He wasn't supposed to go like this- he was supposed to live to see Sam's graduation, wedding, children... He was supposed to grow old with Amelia by his side.

He wasn't supposed to die at age twenty-eight a leave a two year old son and a lovely wife behind.

He just wasn't.

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So there's the first chapter! I hope you liked it!

Comment, vote and fan pleaseeeee <3

~Kenz

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