The Runner ➳ Narry (Book One)

Chapter Thirty-Eight

"No," I sputtered out, my eyes glued to the bullet wound on Niall. "No."

"Harry," Niall whispered, his bloody hand pulling out of mine to grab onto my shirt. He swayed a bit, and I quickly reached out to hold him steady. Louis' face was pale as he went around the back of Niall, placing his hands on his back to keep him standing.

I couldn't breathe, tears threatened to fall out but they wouldn't. My mouth was like cotton, and the pain in my shoulder was being dulled out by the pain I felt in my heart.

Niall's eyes drooped, his breath wavering. "I think I'm going to pass out," he breathed.

"No," I said again. "Niall, stay awake, please!"

Niall shook his head before his body went limp, falling straight to the ground from our clutches.

"Shit!" Louis said. "Oh my god," he was panting as the both of us quickly squatted, turning Niall over. His breathing was slow, his skin pale.

I shook Niall's shoulder, no sound seeming to come out my throat at first. "Niall! Niall, wake up!"

"Shit, shit, shit," Louis muttered. I tried to wake him up a couple more times, but his eyes stayed shut.

"We need to stop the bleeding," I choked, using my hands to apply pressure where Niall was shot.

"We need help," Louis pushed one of his hands onto mine, using the other to rip his shirt off of his body. "Use this, we need to get to the hospital."

Tears began running down my cheeks as I grabbed the shirt from Louis, quickly pressing it to the wound. "This isn't fucking helping!"

"Harry, come on. Get him up," Louis' face was ashen as well, his voice high and frantic. "We need to get to the car."

Quickly as possible with one hand holding the now blood soaked shirt to Niall's body, I bent down and wrapped his limp arm around my shoulder, and began pulling him up.

I must have momentarily forgotten about my collar bone. The pain was unreal as it ripped through my body. "Fuck!" I cried, setting Niall back down and clutching my shoulder.

Louis looked to me, confusion etched in his face. "What the hell did you do?"

"It's from breaking down that damn door!" My eyes were squinted shut in pain. "I can't carry him, you have to."

"But-"

"Louis! We don't have fucking time, he's going to bleed out! Get him the fuck up and get him the fuck out!" I screamed, tears of pain both from my shoulder and from the heartbreak streaming down my face.

Louis quickly bent down and wrapped his arms around Niall's back, pulling him up to his feet. His body was limp, almost falling to the ground again but Louis caught him. With my one-armed help, we managed to get Niall's unconscious body onto Louis' bare back, blood immediately seeping through the shirt pressed against Niall's wound and staining Louis' skin.

"This is disgusting," Louis muttered, grabbing hold of Niall's arms to keep him on his back. He began walking at a speed that made me have to jog to keep up with him, one of my arms completely immobile.

Niall got shot. He got shot. "This is all my fault," I muttered, reaching up to hold Niall's body against Louis. "This is all my fault."

"It's not your fault, Harry. It's not important right now," Louis said, hoisting Niall up higher on his back.

"It is my fault!" I said through tears. "I should've made sure he was far out of the way of fire!"

"Harry, if there's anyone to blame, it's me! I didn't make sure he was out of the way. There was nothing you could have done, you were being held at gun point!" Louis protested, his voice straining a little from the weight on his back.