Imagine A World (Luke Hemmings a.u.) [in editing]

32 What

Calum's POV

I watch in horror as my best friend falls in slow motion. His head lands with a sickening crack on the corner of the amplifier in front of him.

The entire place goes silent.

Then there's a scream.

Madeline is right in the front row, and Riley is next to her, her eyes wide.

Madeline scrambles onto the stage and goes next to Luke.

"Wake up, Luke, please, wake up," she repeats over and over. Tears begin streaming down her face.

When she realizes everyone is frozen in terror at what's happened, she turns and screams out to them, "Well? CALL AN AMBULANCE OR SOMETHING!"

I feel a serious sense of déjà vu.

I pull my phone out of my pocket and dial the number.

"Triple Zero helpline, how may I help you?"

"Please," I say into it, my voice flooding with distress, "my friend, he's fallen and hit his head. Really hard. I think he might be-"

"Don't you dare finish that sentence, Hood!" Madeline screeches from next to Luke, trying to tend to him.

I gulp. "Anyway, we need an ambulance. Quick."

"Location?"

I quickly give it to her, and she assures me that help is coming. I tell this to Madeline, but it doesn't relieve her in the slightest.

Ashton has come down from his drum kit now. He grabs Luke's microphone.

"I'm so sorry everyone," he says. "We can't finish the concert. Not without Luke. An ambulance is on it's way. Please don't leave, yet, though. We can't have there be traffic for it to get through."

No one looks sad that the concert's over. Most faces are masked with fear. One girl in the second row pipes up.

"Is he going to be okay?"

I smile softly and crouch down, looking her right in the eyes.

"Help is coming. Hopefully he'll be fine. There's no need to worry."

I glance back over at Madeline. Michael is helping her a little. Her breathing is ragged and shallow.

"I don't want to lose him, not like this," is what she's whispering. She's draped herself over his sweaty body.

Michael and Ashton are giving her quiet words of encouragement, but they obviously aren't helping.

Soon enough, the ambulance arrives. The crowd parts like the Red Sea for the paramedics to come through. They take Luke's body, and Madeline tries to follow them, but they claim the situation is too dire for her to come with him.

Once they've taken him, the boys, Madeline, Riley, and I are steered backstage to the dressing room once again.

We sit in silence for who knows how long, until Michael's phone buzzes. All of us lean forward eagerly, thinking that it's something about Luke. He shakes his head.

"Calendar reminder. It's midnight. Happy 19th to me," he says, his voice breaking. "What a day to celebrate, huh?"

"Happy birthday, buddy," I attempt to say, but my voice cracks horribly as well.

"He'll be okay," Ashton assures everyone, trying to sound confident. "He'll be fine."

He doesn't sound as sure as he hopes to, though.