i n s c a p e. // one direction //

{ e i g h t}

E i g h t.

Dannie's POV -

I woke up, my hair saturated with sweat, drool stuck to my chin. My hands were cold and clammy, and I hated to imagine how I looked right now. Then suddenly, it all came back to me.

The window. The hospital. Pain.

There had been so much pain, so much that I had eventually blacked out at the hospital. I had been doped up on pain meds ever since, but apparently they were just now starting to wear off. I could feel an aching pain in my back, and I found it extremely difficult to move. I groaned with pain and within seconds a face appeared, hovering above mine.

"Are you alright?"

Louis.

I nodded my head, but the pain seemed to deceive me and caused my face to contort in pain for a brief second, which was all it took for Louis to flick the lights on and sit beside me.

"You're lying," He frowned. "Why do you keep lying?"

I would be lying if I said I wasn't the least bit offended; wasn't I allowed to lie? I was lying to protect myself, to protect the guys. I hadn't done anything wrong.

"I can see all those gears in your head ticking around," He continued, poking me in the temple. "Why won't you open up?"

"Opening up means trusting, and I'm not sure I'm ready for that," I revealed. I bit my lip and made a move to roll onto my side, but besides the mind numbing pain that came from my lower chest, I found something very peculiar. My legs were numb.

"Louis," I panicked, "Why can't I feel my legs?"

He looked down obviously unaware that the simple action would cause me to just about have a panic attack. He wasn't answering, which meant I was definitely heading down the correct train of thought; I must've done something to my legs during the fall. What the hell had I done?

"Hell, hell, hell. What did I do?" I cried out, yanking my hands through my knotty hair. I wouldn't cry, though; no, crying meant weakness, and that's the last thing I needed.

Louis bit his lip. "You jumped."

I froze; he sounded like he wasn't even halfway done sorting through the thoughts he had about what I'd done.

"Why did you jump?" He looked up at me, his eyebrows clenched together, desperate to understand.

"Nothing, Louis. I'm okay, now. I promise."

Lies. Hiding the pain was what I was best at, though; normal kids learned how to ride a bike when they were kids, I learned how to close myself off and act as if I was invincible, that pain had no effect on me.

"How can you even say that!" He exploded, finally. "You're not okay! You can't even walk! How is that okay?"

I shook my head and told myself to keep it together. I'd be okay. I'd go home tomorrow, able to move my legs or not, and they wouldn't have to deal with me anymore. It would be easiest for all of us.

"I'll have you know that I've dealt with much worse than this in my life," I shrugged. This was just another drop of rain in the shit storm my life had become.

The door opened, the hallway light momentarily blinding both of us, and then Harry appeared looking as sleepy as ever.

"What the bloody hell is going on?" He yawned, rubbing his eyes. "I can hear you from two rooms away."

"Sorry, Curly," Louis stood up and turned to face me, Harry following suit.

"How're you feeling?" Harry asked, raising an eyebrow.