The Wolf In sheeps clothing

Too Late, Too Late

The male nurse walked wearily out of the hospital and rounded the building to where trees provided darkness and he was able to stand  without being observed. He pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and lit one, his hands shaking. He knew he was doing wrong but he needed the money and he had been promised that he would be totally anonymous. Still, it was a risk, a big risk. He looked up  apprehensively as two men moved towards him.He was having second thoughts but was it too late to back down? He swallowed nervously, dropping his finished cigarette  and pulling out his pack again from his pocket. Too late, too late, his mind chanted.

The three men conversed in quiet voices, one of them scribbling furiously in a notebook, looking up from time to time to study the male nurse who was speaking rapidly in a  nervous tone. This was what they needed, just what they needed, he thought smugly. Eventually he closed his book, money exchanged hands and the two strangers moved away, getting into a nondescript vehicle and driving off. The male nurse dropped his cigarette and stomped on it before looking around himself carefully before he too, walked towards a shabby car, climbed in a drove off. What had he done? Just what had he done? His mind was at war with itself. Half of him was disgusted with himself, the other half telling him he had to do it, he was desperate. He had needed money and he had got it the only way he had known how but............."

The operating theater was quiet, the two surgeons concentrating on the task of saving their patient. Just the murmured commands for this or that instrument broke the silence. The odd shuffle of someones feet or the placing of used instruments in the metal dishes held out to take them, sounded abnormally loud. The atmosphere was tense.

"Gotcha" one of the doctors finally spoke. He had located what he thought was the cause of the trouble. "Clamp, quickly" he barked out the order and a nurse scurried to obey.

"Blood pressure is dropping rapidly" a voice called out. Then alarms rang "He's going into cardiac arrest!"

"Sh*t"

"You fool, you absolute fool!" the woman screamed at her husband. "They'll find out it was you. You'll be fired and then what?" She rubbed her swollen belly as the baby kicked. "Sssh, shhh, little one" she soothed as she ran her hand over her large bump. "Mommy didn't mean to upset you." She sat down heavily and looked up at her husband. "We're ruined. Better you go and tell them the truth. You''ll get fired but at least it will give them a chance to try and stop this." Her husband nodded. She was right. Maybe he could make sure it was squashed before the whole world knew. It was worth a chance anyway. He kissed his wife and grabbing his car keys, headed out to drive back to the hospital. He could , at least, warn them, and take his punishment. He drove as fast as he dared, but still carefully. But suddenly, out of nowhere, a truck bore down on him, having run a red light. There was the sound of screaming metal then the truck driver staggered from the tangled mess of the vehicles , trying to pull open the door of the car he'd hit. It didn't take an medical genius to see the driver was beyond hope. The trucker collapsed onto the ground, face buried in his hands, then he faded into unconsciousness as people began to swarm around and the sound of approaching sirens was heard.

Back at the hotel Liam and Harry had managed a  little sleep but a combination of Jet lag and worry had woken them after just few hours. Now they sat together discussing the situation, neither of them fulling understanding why Louis was so against Niall knowing the truth.

"Do you really think Lou is being sensible about this?" Harry asked in his slow, deep, voice. "What is Ni does find out? He'll feel really hurt that he wasn't told."

"Yeah, but you know what Niall is like, Hazz. He'll feel he is in debt to Louis and will constantly be trying to do something to pay him back. " Liam said reasonably "And Lou would hate that. He loves Nialler, we all do, and any one of us, from Mark Jarvis, to Basil, to you or me, we'd have all volunteered. It's just Lou was the man. Probably better Ni never knows, it will just complicate things."

"Well, I'm going to talk to Louis about it again tomorrow." Harry said stubbornly. "And Dave. " He yawned widely "I'm going to try to get some more sleep. How about you?"

"Nah, too wide awake. Think I might just watch some TV, get my mind off things." Liam said. "Sleep well, Hazz." He picked up the TV remote and settled back on the couch, idly flicking through channels until his  eyelids slowly dropped over his brown eyes and he slept.

Niall woke early. He had had a very restless night, plagued by bad dreams. He was in pain but refused medication that would help. He welcomed the pain because it gave him something to focus on, a distraction from the nagging worry that something just wasn't right. The nurses kept reassuring him everything was fine but he couldn't shake the feeling. His granny would understand, he thought. She swore blind that the angels sent us warnings when things were not as they should be. He'd always dismissed her pronouncements as superstitious nonsense but he just couldn't shake this feeling. He wriggled uncomfortably in the bed. Sighing, he decided he needed more distraction so he gripped the TV remote from the table beside his bed and turned on the TV. Maybe one of the Hollywood gossip shows would be entertaining. After all, it was mainly rubbish they spouted, but he could do with a laugh.

Liam opened his eyes blearily and tried to focus on the light coming from the TV. He pushed himself up groggily, rubbing his eyes, half listening to the voice of the chirpy blond girl talking about the latest Hollywood scandal, went from bouncy to somber. Suddenly he was instantly awake and staring at the screen. 

Across the city, tethered to his hospital bed by monitors and iVs, Niall also had pushed himself more upright, and hissing in pain, leant forward, mouth open in shock as he stared at the TV.