Chapter 18:
Liam's POV-
My hands were clammy. This was the first time I had been admitted to the hospital since my operation, and I was scared. Niall burst through the door to my room and took my hand in his. "What happened?" he asked. I tried to swallow the lump in my throat, but it wouldn't go away. "I relapsed," I squeaked out. "I came in for my scan today, and I lit up like a Christmas tree." The whole time I was talking, Niall was whisper "No..." over and over again. Tears were already coming down his face. "They're not sure if I'm going to make it out of this one, buddy." "NO!" he suddenly screamed. "It's not fair. You can't just leave me. It's not fair. It's not fair..." He was crying now. I rubbed my thumb in circles on the back of his hand. "It's not fair..." he mumbled. "There's nothing I can do about it," I told him. He looked up at me. "Don't give up," he said. "I'll be back tomorrow, okay?" "Okay," I said, and he left.
Niall's POV-
I had to go. I couldn't stay in that room of sadness with my possibly dying best friend. I just couldn't do it. I had to leave. I knew I had to tell the other boys, but I felt like there was one other person who needed to know first. I drove up to the house and sighed. It had to be done. This is what I told myself as I rang the doorbell. She answered the door right away. "Niall? What do you want?" Erin asked. "It's Liam." I choked out. "He's-" "I don't care. I don't want to hear anything about Liam. Ever. So don't show up trying to tell me things about him. He broke my heart, and I'm done with him." I was furious. My best friend was dying and instead of being with people to comfort me, I was here. "He was sick you bitch!! He only did the things he did because he loves you, to protect you!! But, clearly you don't care." I started to storm off the porch, but Erin grabbed my wrist and stopped me. "What do you mean?" I took a deep breath and turned to face her. "The day he visited you in the hospital, the day he broke up with you, was the day that he got his diagnosis." "Which was?" "He has leukemia. He broke up with you because he wanted to protect you. He didn't want you to have to go through the pain of losing someone you love." I could see the change in her face. She literally had no idea. "But that day, when I saw you guys on the street, he looked so happy. I thought he'd moved on." "Clearly you didn't pay close enough attention. He was happy because that was the day after he found out he was in remission. I guess you missed the fact that he was hooked up to an oxygen tank." She looked shocked. "Yeah, I missed that. Wait, if he's in remission, why are you here?" I breathed in a shaky breath. "That's what I was trying to tell you when I first got here. He relapsed." There was a look of sheer terror on her face. "But now I have to go. The other boys will want to know. Goodbye, Erin," I said, and walked away. "Niall?" she called out. I turned to face her. "Thank you. For telling me. Even though I didn't deserve it," she said. "You deserve to know. No matter what you've said or done. You still deserved to know." I turned and walked back to my car. Now, I had to tell the other boys.
