Impossible Beings: Destruction

A Time to Heal (Louis)

Harry turned at the sound and ran to the door.

“Harry, wait,” Zayn called after him but, with no surprise, Harry ignored him and pulled open the door. I made my way over to join them with Niall trailing behind.

At first, there was nothing but an empty hallway and the three of us stared at each other with confusion. We were on the fourth floor of an abandoned building. There was no way it could have been someone bumping into it by accident.

Harry checked along both sides of the hallway and was about to turn back into the apartment when he looked down.

“Holy shit,” he gasped, eyes widening, “Liam!”

I hurried closer to the door, moving next to Zayn as Harry bent down to the floor.

“Christ,” I said under my breath as I took in the scene in front of us.

It was Liam, alright, but not the Liam we saw before we separated in the woods. He was beaten, bruises of various sizes and colors darkened his skin and something had stained his now ripped jeans. I swallowed hard when I realized that it was blood.

He wasn’t moving but I looked closely and was relieved to see that his chest was moving up and down. They were shallow breaths but at least he was alive.

Gingerly, Harry took up Liam’s arm and pulled him off from the ground. Zayn offered to help but Harry shook his head as he cradled Liam in his arms. The rest of us made way for Harry and then followed him to Liam’s side of the apartment.

Liam was still motionless when Harry laid him down on the bed.

“Liam,” said Harry, his voice was low and concerned as he pressed his palm against the side of Liam’s face.

We watched in silence and I was able to get a better look at Liam’s injuries. Apart from the cuts and bruises, my eyes landed on a rather nasty wound that resided on his right side. It wasn’t deep and the bleeding had stopped but it was raised and red, showing the beginning signs of infection.

I took in a sharp breath and looked at Harry.

“Harry, look at his side,” I said with a nod, “that looks pretty bad.”

Harry followed my gaze and his brow creased in the center. He brought his eyes up to meet ours before stopping at Zayn.

“Help him, Harry,” Zayn said.

He shook his head, “We’ve talked about this, Zayn.”

“That doesn’t matter right now. Just do it. They will understand but you have to help him now.”

I looked between the two of them, confused about what they were talking about. I checked on Niall as well, with the thought that he may have an idea but his eyes were locked on Liam, not at all bothered by the current conversation.

I turned back to Harry who had his mouth opened as if to say something but instead, he looked back down at the body in front of him and nodded.

After a moment of thought, Harry got up and repositioned himself on the wounded side of Liam. I leaned forward to watch as Harry placed his hands over the cut.

He was idle for a few minutes. His eyes were closed with brows creased in the center. I was waiting for something to happen but nothing seemed to change. At least, not until Harry opened his eyes and removed his hands away from Liam’s side.

“What?” I whispered in disbelief. For when Harry lowered his hands, there was nothing left of the open wound. There wasn’t even a mark to show where it once was.