White Impact- Niam

White Impact: Ch. 20- Ink

Liam’s POV

I shift my weight on the bench. Pain shoots up my leg like a lightning bolt and I can’t help but cringe; my whole body tensing up at the sensation. My eyes squeeze shut in agony and I try to keep in the scream that tries to rip itself from my throat; for fear that Niall would hear it and come back. I know how much this means to him. I bend and roll up my trousers to inspect the damage again.

This time I’m met with deep blues and violets painted amongst a ginormous, round mass that I suppose was once my ankle. I know it’s my body trying to make up for my stupidity, but Jesus Christ, it looks like hell. I bite my lip hard as I reach down to prod the swollen mess as gently as I can.

What if I was wrong? What if it is broken? Christ, Liam, you’re not a doctor. You were probably wrong. The adrenaline probably just masked the pain. What if it’s bad? What if it’s beyond repair? Are there even surgeons left out there to repair it?  Oh God, what did I do? I was so stupid. Shut up, Liam. You’re okay.

Just wait for Niall to come back with the medicine. But the thought of him out there by himself right now makes me even more nervous. The pain and nerves all seem to collapse into my stomach and I heave over the side of the bench as if I were going to puke. My stomach contracts and my whole body aches and groans in desperation. Stop it. It hurts. I thump back against the cool metal and the thoughts in my head cloud the pain at least for a bit.

Niall means more to me than a goddamn ankle. I would give my life for him if it came to that. He’s out there somewhere near that goddamn hotel. He’s in danger. Because of me. Because of my stupidity. I know it sounds cliché but I love him more than anything in the world; I just never knew let myself before the wave. And now that I have, if he gets hurt I’ll never forgive myself.

I grab the tarp from the ground and roll it up. Setting it on the bench, I prop my foot up because I heard once that you’re supposed to elevate it when shit like this happens.

Niall’s POV

The moment my feet hit the water I’m acutely aware of the cold. It envelopes me in its blueness and nearly rips the air from my lungs. It’s like being pricked by a thousand needles all at once. It takes a moment for my body to react and for my feet to start kicking. I don’t bother to open my eyes; not only would the salt water sting like hell, but they stay squeezed shut for fear of what I’d see down there. I feel my arms slide through the water as if it were made of sheets of freezing silk.

I break the surface and air rushes into my lungs in gasps. My heart is pounding uncontrollably. I tread water and do my best to clear the water away from my eyes. I take a deep breath to calm my nerves and take in my surroundings. I’m not even halfway to the hotel. In fact, I’m still very close to the wall that the fire escape is attached to. I curse under my breath. I’m not quite in the open, but there’s something about deep water that freaks me out. If I swim across the alley to the hotel, I’ll be even more exposed. And for some reason, that scares the hell out of me. Not really knowing scares me. Being in the open scares me. I wasn’t ever really too good with open water, and even though I realize that I’m not in the middle of the open, a good thirty feet of openness is enough to trip me up.

I can’t bring myself to make the first move toward the hotel, so I just continue to tread water while my limbs grow more and more numb and my teeth begin to chatter. It’s been only a few minutes and I know I can’t stay like this. I need to move. I need to get my blood flowing. I could swim to the building across from the fire escape, and then to the hotel, or I could go diagonally. The openness of the second option terrifies me, but it’d be faster and I don’t think I can handle the cold much longer. The water doesn’t have much of a current, but it does lap up against the buildings a bit from the wind. It’s the only noise I hear besides my own breathing. It’s rhythmic, but it doesn’t seem natural. It would almost be peaceful if it weren’t for the situation that I’m currently in. My fingers are turning purple at the tips. My heart is pounding. I watch as my arms create the swooshing motion that pulls me a little farther from the wall.