We're making all the same mistakes.

Chapter 18

LIAM’s P.O.V.

I lay on my bed, feeling so low, as if my heart had been ripped out of my chest. I felt as if I couldn’t fall any further, but boy was I wrong. Suddenly, my phone began to vibrate in my pocket. 

“Hello?” I said miserably. 

“Hello, is this Liam Payne?” 

“Yes...” I sat up on my bed, listening intently as the woman spoke. I gripped the phone tightly, and as each word came through my mobile, it was as if a dagger was being stabbed repeatedly into my heart.

“I’m very sorry.” The woman finished, and I dropped the phone, my throat dry, my heart beating hard, my mind racing, my body shaking. 

I stood up, grabbed my coat, and was out the door in two seconds flat. 

I pushed the hospital doors open and ran to the reception desk. I was panting – the hospital was miles away from my apartment, and I’d ran all the way. 

“Rosie... where is she?” I said, but I didn’t wait for an answer. I saw a doctor and sprinted up to him. 

“Do you know where Rosie is? I need to find her, urgently...”

“Ah, yes, Rosie...” he read out her full name. I nodded. 

“Please tell me where she is, I’m her boyfriend... please... is she okay?”

“I’m sorry, sir, at the moment Rosie is not stable enough for a visi-” 

I didn’t let him finish. Instead, I ran down the corridors, dodging past nurses and doctors and patients, looking through the window in every door until I saw Rosie lying in a bed, surrounded by hospital workers. 

I pushed the door open, desperate to see her. She was lying in a bed, pale and frail looking, with blood across one side of her face and body. Her eyes were open, but she wasn’t looking at anything.. She was just staring into space. 

“Rosie!” I screamed, and the doctors and nurses looked up. One of them came over to me, trying to calm me down. “That’s my girlfriend! Rosie!” 

“I’m terribly sorry, but we are currently trying to make Rosie better – any distractions may result in serious consequences.” 

“Please...” The words died on my lips, as two Doctors pulled me out of the room from behind. They sat me down on a chair and told me to wait, before walking off somewhere. I put my head in my hands. 

“Liam?” I heard a quiet gasp. I looked up. Kirsten was sitting right next to me, tears pouring down her face. 

“What if she doesn’t make it, Liam?” She gulped, her voice croaky. 

I couldn’t bear to think about it. 

“I’ve called everyone...” Kirsten whispered. “They should be here soon.”

We sat in silence for ten minutes, when all of a sudden, Niall, Becky, Harry, Melissa, Holly, Zayn, and Louis turned up, all of them looking scared and sad. 

“What if she doesn’t make it?” Holly said quietly.

“We’ve got to think positively...” Harry said. 

“You’re not about to lose one of your best friends, are you, you don’t know what it’s like!” Becky snapped. 

“Everyone, stop arguing...” Zayn said. 

“Well, we’re bound to be upset, our best friend has been hit by a car!” Melissa stated. 

“I know, but-”

“Come on, Zayn...” Niall said, and all of a sudden, they were all arguing, acting like little babies. How could they? 

“Shut up! SHUT UP!” I yelled, and they all stopped, turning to face me. “Stop it, okay?” I scowled, fighting against tears. “Please, just stop it...” 

My voice trailed away, and we all stood and sat in silence. I couldn’t believe this was happening... 

It seemed like we were waiting for hours. 

After a while, a nurse came out of the room. “Rosie is doing okay.” She said, and we all looked up, not daring to smile, just in case, but wanting to. 

“She can see one of you... just one.” She said. 

I looked up at my friends. 

“Maybe you should go, Kirsten?” I suggested wearily, but she shook her head. “Liam, you go...” I nodded gratefully and stood up. 

In the room, Rosie was lying on a bed, an air bag to help her breathing attached to her face. She was breathing softly, in, and out – I watched her for two seconds, then went to hold her hand, kneeling down at the side of the bed. 

She looked at me, but didn’t say a word. 

I took a deep breath. “Rosie, I’m so sorry about yesterday...”

She moved her head slightly, as if accepting my apology. 

“You’re beautiful, did you know that?” I said, looking into her gorgeous blue eyes. “And... I’m so glad I met you. I don’t think I’d ever manage life without you.”

I heard the slow, repetitive beep of the heart monitor. I tried to ignore it. 

“Please, don’t die.” I found the words tumbling from my mouth before I could stop them. “Please, stay alive... for me, for your friends... and for yourself.” 

She didn’t speak. She just looked at me, blinking. 

I held her gaze, then looked away at her hands. I stroked them softly. 

“Rosie, I don’t care about the paparazzi seeing us together. I don’t care anymore. I thought I did, but really, there are much more important things... Like you and me, being together. And you staying alive, of course.” 

Just for one second, I thought I saw a small smile form on her face... but when I blinked, the smile was gone. 

I stood up and, leaning over, kissed her on the forehead. 

“Rosie... I love you.”