The Fighter

Chapter Thirty Nine

Chapter Thirty-Nine

That night was one I’ll never forget.

I called Niall at nine, and he showed up thirty minutes later to find me pacing in the waiting room. I hadn’t shed a tear all night, too worried to do anything. It just didn’t seem real, any of it. It was all just a dream to me, something that I could pinch myself and wake up from. It was a nightmare. A really, really vivid nightmare. But seeing Niall put it all into context.

He coaxed me into sitting with him, speaking in hushed tones of what was going on. Niall then called Nixon and the boys, who all showed up around ten o’clock. Liam and Nicole were both in ICU, being treated for a billion different things. The chairs in the waiting room were filled up, some of us leaning on the walls. The air, however, was thick with tense silence. I felt numb all over, and helpless, knowing that there was literally nothing I could do. I was just by myself, standing up and leaning against a wall away from everyone, taking in the smell of a hospital. I hated it more than ever right now.

The boys were carrying on behind me, but I hadn’t really been paying much attention to them at all. Nurses and doctors would come and go, the phone at the desk situated in the center ringing non-stop. I had my arms wrapped around myself, struggling to keep my eyes open and stay upright when there was a hand on my shoulder. I jumped a little bit and turned around to look into the deep blue eyes of Niall. He looked extremely worried.

He handed me one of the Styrofoam cups of coffee, I knew by the smell, and leaned against the wall as well. “I know it might be shit, but I put a lot of stuff in it to make it taste better.” He said, bringing his to his lips. I nodded, looking down at the milky brown liquid. We were silent for a few minutes, simply because I couldn’t find any words to say, and Niall didn’t know what to do. He cleared his throat after a bit, finally breaking the tension. “Has anyone gotten in touch with their parents?” He asked me, and I shook my head ‘yes’. “The hospital called Liam’s mum and sister Ruth, and they’ll be here sometime tonight, I guess. Nicole, well, I’m Nicole’s only family. And the fucking doctor won’t tell me anything.” I said, my face heating up and my hand that was holding the coffee beginning to shake. “Hey, hey, calm down. We’ll find something out soon.” Niall said, putting his cup down by his feet and taking mine away. I closed my eyes and let out a sigh even though my chest felt like it weighed fifty pounds. He drew me into his chest, wrapping me up.

I don’t know how long we stood like that, comfortable in our silence, before I felt a tap on my shoulder. Pulling away from Niall, I slowly turned to face an older man in a long white coat and a stethoscope around his neck. He had age lines around his eyes and mouth, but his brown eyes were light and he was obviously normally a happy man. He seemed nice, his broad smile genuine as he looked at me. He put a hand on my arm, Niall close behind me. “Hello, are you Bleu Rochester?” He asked, and I nodded slowly. “I’m Dr. Barton. I’m sorry it’s taken me this long to get to you with information, we had a little bit of a problem with….some of our other staff. But that’s besides the point.” My heart was thudding out of my chest right now. “I just wanted to inform you that Nicole has finally been stabilized. She’s in ICU right now, being treated for some cracked ribs, a fractured skull, and a broken leg.” My heart was dropping into my stomach at all of her injuries, besides the fact that she was stable. I blew out a shaky breath, blinking a little longer than necessary. “Is there any chance that I can see her?” I asked. His lips were set into a thin line, and he stared at me as he thought it over, Niall’s hand drawing shapes on my lower back. “I think that we can do that. But only you.” He added as Niall started to push me forward. I gave him an apologetic, sad look over my shoulder, but he gave me a grim smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Go on. I’ll be out here waiting.” He said. I nodded before following the doctor.