United We Live

Sixteen

Harry burst into the waiting room.

Liam, who had been patiently waiting for his return, stood in alarm when he saw the youngest making his way hastily towards him. In his erratic movements, Harry nearly wheeled over a poor nurse making her way through, and the singer called rushed apologies as he finally wade his way over.

"What on earth has got you so wound up, mate?"

"The kid, the one that Louis found in the woods that day, he's awake. I heard him screaming down the hall, I know, I know, it wasn't right for me to go sneaking around but I couldn't help myself. Liam, I heard him talking about Niall-"

Liam reached out, grabbing the singer's shoulder as he threw his hands out in gestures.

"Harry, take a breath, you're telling me that comatose boy Louis rescued is awake?"

"Yes, Liam, keep up. He was talking about Niall-"

"Are you sure he was talking about Niall? What exactly did he say? How did you even get in there?" Liam was frowning deeply, digging his hands into his pockets as he studied his companion in concern.

"Well, I couldn't be in the room with him, obviously. But as I was passing by his room, I overheard him talking about some blonde, with a heavy accent. How many other blondes with accents could he had run into in the woods? Don't you see we need to talk to him!"

The older teen shook his head.

"Harry, hospitals have rules. We can't just walk into an intensive care patient's room without being immediate family. We're going to have to go by the book with this. Let the police talk to him once we're sure he's recovering well. Trying to do this all by ourselves is a terrible idea, and likely just to get us all in trouble."

Harry's eyes narrowed.

"I am aware of how things work, Liam. But I can't just stand here when that kid in there knows something. This is our brother we're talking about."

Liam pinched the bridge of his nose, guiding the singer towards security as they made their way out of the hospital.

"You think I don't know that? I'm worried sick over Niall, Haz. It's killing me that we don't know where he is or what's happened. But we can't walk into a traumatized teen's room and start interrogating him. That's still a kid in there, and yeah, he may know something about Niall, but I don't want to be responsible for terrorizing someone to find Niall. And you know he would think the same."

Liam opened the door of their van, ushering Harry inside from the onlookers gathering outside. All the while, he kept a careful watch over the younger's injury.

"Liam, it's been too long. This is the first lead anyone has had on his disappearance. We can't go back to Louis and Zayn without hearing more!"

"Then we don't tell them. Haz, it'll just upset them both. They're already in fragile states as it is. Louis has been recovering too slowly; doctors are worried he might be developing another illness like bronchitis. He's exhausted with the doctor's constant watch and heavy medications. And don't get me started on how Zayn has been pulling away mentally from us. It's a literal fight to get him to talk, or even eat something more than what could feed a rabbit."

Harry clenched the seat in front of him, a scowl deepening on his face.

"You want to just not tell them?"

Liam sighed deeply, but refused to meet the younger's fiery stare.

"We can't tell them. Not until we know better answers, I don't want them to hear another disappointment. We've only just established a tentative norm for us. Until they seem like their recovering, I don't want to disrupt that."