Tubes (narry) #Wattys2015

8. Niall James

Finally. After waiting five hundred four hours, we're back at the hospital with Liam. Both Louis and I, though Louis still thinks its pointless. I wanted to use a different excuse but there is a limited amount to use when leaving the appointment to see a sick boy named Niall. So I said I had to use the toilets again and ventured back to Niall's room, planning in my head what I was going to say. I had also forgot about my 20 Seconds Of Courage.

"Harold." Niall smiles at me. "Hi." I grin awkwardly, letting the door shut on its own this time. I fumble around with my fingers as I tell myself to say what I had planned to say. "Uh-I've been reading the book." I look up at him to look at his expression: It's gleeful. "The Fault In Our Stars?" I nod. Niall nods of approvals slowly, sticking his jaw out. "You like it?" I nod again but with more enthusiasm. "We're like the book." Niall chuckles to himself. "Huh?"

"You and I, we're like Hazel Grace and Augustus. I'm Hazel Grace, but have the personality like Augustus. I'm only saying that because you seem more shy." Niall gives me a smile to assure me he didn't mean anything insulting by that statement. I smile back. "And you're Augustus but with Hazel Grace's personality. And you don't have a fake leg but we can look past that. We met in the hospital, and you came to me first." I guess that's similar to the book in a way, but it sounds to me that Niall is quite excited about that. Maybe I should make one more thing like the book, just to give this another spark.

I ask, "What's your middle name?" He says, "James." Niall James. That could work...I'll call him Niall James from now on. "Okay, Niall James." Niall laughs and I smirk a smile, looking down at my feet. Niall coughs, which makes me look up at him. "Will you hand me that rag." Niall points to the wall I'm leaning against, never taking his hand away from his mouth. I look to my right and at the rag that's folded up perfectly on a table. I pick it up and hand it to him, his soft hands grazing against mine just barely. His hands are so soft....I want to touch them again.

Niall removes his hand and wipes his mouth, then his hand. When he sets the rag on his side table and picks up his glass of water, I can see smears of red in the cloth. Is that blood? Well it has to be. What else would it be? Is he dying? I pray he's not dying. That would make this whole world stop spinning and the sun collapse.

"A-are you okay?" I ask a bit skittishly. Niall nods, swishing the water around his mouth a bit before spitting it into a bucket that rests on the other side of his bed, not visible to me. He takes three big gulps of the water before setting the glass down. "Want to watch Iron Man?" Niall asks, grabbing the remote and turning on the TV. It's a commercial, but it had also said that Iron Man will be on after a few short adverts. "No um----I mean of course I want to but I have to get back to my friend so he....Yeah. But, maybe next time." Niall nods, understanding, and bids me a goodbye wave. "Bye Harold." I wave. "Bye Niall James."