The Wolf In sheeps clothing

I Hope We're In Time

"Lou?" Harry looked at his bandmate , totally confused. "Come clean? What's happening?" Lou sighed quietly. This was just what he wanted to avoid. He just wanted to take care of Niall without the whole world, including the lads, from knowing what he'd done. "Lou?" Harry repeated again.

"I'm Niall's anonymous donor" Louis finally admitted quietly. "But nobody was supposed to know." He wiped a hand over his face then groaned quietly in pain as he shifted his body slightly as he attempted to get more comfortable. "Look, you know Niall....I just....Well....I don't think he should......." Louis struggled to explain  his feelings, unable to form a sentence, his thoughts so confused.  The lads just stared at him, making him sigh. He felt sick and just couldn't get his head around his thoughts and emotions just right now. Why wouldn't they leave him alone?

"Gentlemen, I'm afraid I must ask you both to step outside as I need to check on Mr Tomlinson." A nurse had quietly entered the room as Louis had been trying to explain and he felt himself slump in relief at his temporary respite from their questions. Both Harry and Liam  said a quiet and reluctant 'see you later' and left the room. "Now, Mr Tomlinson, let me see how you are doing." The nurse then  began her 'obs'

Louis lay quietly as the nurse checked his blood pressure and temperature, watching lazily as she scribbled notes on a chart. He was feeling increasingly exhausted and just wanted to sleep but his stomach was beginning to churn and he swallowed convulsively in an effort to avoid being sick. The nurse noticed his fretful movements and instantly grasped the problem, getting a bowl under his chin in the nick of time as he vomited up the small amount of water he had drunk earlier. He had sweated  profusely then began to shiver as the sweat cooled on his body. The nurse tutted sympathetically then wiped his face with  damp cloth. "I'll be back in a moment" she assured him and whisked herself briskly out of the room, leaving Louis to close his eyes and drift into a doze.

"Dear me, young man" Louis dragged his eyes open and looked up at the doctor standing next to his bed. " The nurse tells me that you are trying to cook yourself"

"Huh?" Louis said confused ."Cook myself?"

"Your temperature has gone rather high, young man, and your blood pressure has decided to do the same. Let's see if we can't locate the cause, yes?" He stood back as the nurse pulled down the bedding and then Louis submitted to a gentle but thorough examination. The nurse and doctor conversed in terms that Louis didn't understand but, as he felt so ill, he didn't bother to try and follow what they were saying , and, instead,  allowed himself to float in a half daze, barely aware when his body had been warmly covered again . It was easier to sleep, he thought, so he did.

"Gentlemen" you might as well go home and come back tomorrow" The nurse approached Harry and Liam who had slumped in chairs in a small waiting area near Louis room. "Mr Tomlinson needs rest and, to be honest, you both look like you could do with some yourself." The nurse said kindly. "Come back tomorrow."

"Yeah, but you you tell us...Is Louis Ok? I mean, he's fine, isn't he?" Harry asked, a note of anxiety in his raspy voice.

"Mr Tomlinson is as well as can be expected after major surgery" the nurse replied primly, trotting out the standard medical reply. "Now, if you'll excuse me." She gave them a professional smile and left, both men staring after her. They wanted answers...now!

"Dave!" Liam suddenly said. "He'll know". Harry nodded in agreement and both men hurried out of the hospital. First they'd call Dave then get some much needed sleep.

"Dave!" Liam whined. "Come on, please, mate?"

"No, Liam. No, I mean it. I'm sorry but if Louis wants to talk about it, he will. I'll not going behind his back." Dave said firmly. He understood where Liam was coming from, he really did, but though Louis had discussed the matter with him as a friend, rather than a therapist, he didn't feel happy about sharing what was, in reality, a confidence.

"But...." Liam tried again.

"Li, you're a great mate but I can't and won't, betray a confidence. Look, go talk with Lou in the morning. If he wants to, he'll tell you. If not....well." Dave was sympathetic but he just couldn't betray a trust.

"No joy?" Harry asked quietly as Liam terminated the call.

"Nope, he won't tell me anything. Guess we'll need to tackle Louis again." Liam grumbled quietly. "Maybe we should get some sleep. It's been one f.cked up day so far." Harry nodded in agreement and both men headed to their separate hotel rooms for a much need sleep.

"Temperature still rising doctor, and but now  his  blood pressure is dropping like a stone" the nurse informed the tall man who had just entered Louis hospital room. "He was doing fine but now he's declining." The 'on call' doctor frowned as he studied the chart she had handed him.

"Weird" Doctor Cole muttered. "Niall is doing better than Louis and I'd have expected it to be the other way around. Call Doctor Evans. I want his opinion." The nurse nodded and left the room to page the other doctor.

Doctor Evans finished examining Louis then stood back. "I agree, Cole. We'll have to go back in surgery. We're in danger of losing him. I just hope we're in time.

"Sweetie, just have a sip of this" the nurse held a cup up to Niall's face and he wrapped his lips around the straw, sucking feebly at first and then with more enthusiasm. "Sorry sweetie, not too much. just yet, You can have a little more in a while. How are you feeling?'

"A bit sick and very sore" Niall's voice was a little raspy. " but ok, I guess. How is my donor doing? I mean, that was something, a stranger doing this for me. How are they?"

"I'm sure they are fine" the nurse answered rapidly, sounding tense . Too rapidly. it seemed to Niall. He  frowned at her tone and the sudden  stricken expression on her face. 

"They are Ok, aren't they? Niall tried pushing himself up as he spoke, subsiding with a groan of pain back onto his pillows. "Please, find out for me? Please? I owe them"

"Sweetie, you just worry about getting yourself well" the nurse said then changed the subject quickly "Would you like a few more sips of water?"

"He's asking about Louis" the nurse told Doctor Cole after leaving Niall's room. "I just said I thought he was fine but he's not convinced."

"Try and keep things under wraps, nurse. Niall is doing well so far but we don't want any complications and stress is definitely to be avoided. He's no idea Louis is the donor and he mustn't find out."

"How is Louis" the nurse asked as she nodded in agreement to the doctor's words.

"He's declining rapidly. They are just prepping him for surgery. We've got to go in again. Something is badly wrong and it isn't just infection. If you are a praying woman, I would ask you to do it."