Both of their eyes are closed

part 26

That's for the birthday wishes guys! I had a lovely birthday with one of my best friends in the whole wide world :)

Thanks for reading and voting and commenting and doing all that good stuff!

Love you guys!!! <3<3<3

Hope's P.O.V.

"ASHTON!" I yell as I grab at my abdomen and groan loudly. His head pops up from its position resting on the arm of the couch and I watch his expression go from tired, to confused, to shocked to serious in less that three seconds.

He springs off of the couch and swiftly, as if rehearsed a million times, grabs his jacket, throws mine over my shoulders, and guides me out the door.

Michael and Calum have the car, but Ashton informs me that he  had car rented and set aside just for this purpose. I barely notice all of the people staring, I am however, aware of the scene I must be causing. The pain of each contraction, still a safe distance apart, is unlike any other I had ever felt.

The elevator seems to decend painfully slow and the space seems to be getting smaller and smaller. Finally the doors open and Ashton bursts through, pulling me behind him. At the moment neither of us care about people seeing me, and by people I of course mean the press and fans. There's almost no doubt that this will be n every social media cite by tomorrow at least.

I can't decide if the drive to the hospital is more stressful for Ashton or for me. He continues to call someone on his phone, but pulls it away from his ear without a word.

"Michael won't pick up, neither will Calum." His eyebrows furrow with a mix between frustration and worry. I force myself to focus on breathing.

In.....Out.....In.....Out.

Finally we arrive at the hospital. The cold air wraps around me as I exit the car and make my way to the doors swiftly with Ashtin right beside me. I am more than glad that he is here, however I did image Luke being the oen beside me.

Now isn't the time to be feeling sorry for myself.

"She's having a baby! She's having a baby!" Ashton yells, causing every head in the waiting area to turn. We move up to the front desk and I hear murmers of Ashton and the receptionist speaking, her calmly and him in short, loud sentances. 

The bext thing I am aware of is being pushed down a bright hallway in a wheelchair. Contractions are getting closer and closer together. The hall is both deafening and silent as we continue. Ashton's phone keeps ringing and he keeps ignoring it. We continue into another hallway, and finally into a room with much more comfortable lighting. Ashton is still with us, they put him in the teal gear that everyone in the room has to wear and change me into a gown. I am laid comfortably on the bed where I can finally almost relax...not really though.

Tears flood my cheeks and I realise that I am crying because Luke isn't here. He isn't here with me during the birth of the child that he might not even know exists.

Ashton's phone continues to ring.

"Ashton, please answer it. It could be important," I say, just as he is reaching to turn it off.

"Are you going to be okay? It's the boys, they won't stop."

"GO!" I yell, not meanign to be harsh, but getting impatient, and I want him to return as soon as possible. I try to remain as quiet as I can to hear Ashton outside. Through the thick door I can't make out any words, but I can tell that now he is yelling, although I cannot tell what emotion his voice expresses.

LUKE'S POV

Michael and Calum have been in my room for the past five hours or so. They've been helping me move more parts of my body, I seem to be recovering incredibly quickly according to the doctors. 

"How long have I been...asleep?" I ask, wiggling my fingers stiffly and slowly.

"Five long, crazy months Michael says with a light chuckle. We spent about the first hour of them being here shamelessly crying our eyes out. The rest, moving and asking a lot of questions. Now, hours later, I have only one question.

"Where's Hope?"

"She's at the apartment with Ashton." Calum responds.

"Well can you call them?" Michael takes out his phone and confustion flashes for a moment on his face, only until it is replaced with shock. 

"Woah, I have a ton of missed calls from Ashton," Michael says, putting the phone up to his ear. He continues trying and Calum stays dead silent. I want to ask what's going on but with all of the tension in the room I don't want to be the one to break the silence.

"Ashton?" He finally says, standing out of his chair.  "What....Slow down......Now?" His eyes are wide as if he had just heard something horrifying and this time I can't help but ask.

"Michael? Michael! Michael what the hell is going on? Did something happen to Hope? Is she okay?"

"Luke we have to get you walking," Calum says far too calmly. I eagerly swing my legs over the bed. They are thin and weak but whatever is going on I have to get out of this God damned bed. I try to stand but almost immediately collapse.

"The wheelchair!" Michael shouts. My heart is pounding so heard that I can feel it in every part of me. Before I know it I am in the chair and moving in slow motion down a hall blindingly bright after being in the dark for five months. I can barely open my eyes.

The wheelchair is slowing us down, I know it. 

And as if carried by something, I stand and take off running down the hall with no destination. The boys catch up to me and lead me upstairs to a wing in the emergency section of the hospital. My brain skips around through all of the worst case scenarios.

What if she's dying?

What if she's already dead?

I focus on breathing to keep my thoughts under control. I spot Ashton in the hall way and more or less crash into him. My heart pounding, lungs burning, eyes stinging, close to death and yet still so alive.

"Put these on!" Ashton says with urgency, handing me a pile of teal colored clothing. I do as he says without question and reach for the handle of the door.

Mwahaha I know I'm so evil for ending it there!!!! But I love the cliff hangers, they're stressful but really add to the story.

I LOVE ALL OF YOU GUYS SO MUCH!!!!!! <3<3<3<3