1D • Stories

Niall ~ Amsterdam Knee Aftermath

Louis's POV
"Written on these walls are the stories that I can't explain," Harry sang as I turned to Niall. I watched as Niall hunched over and looked at his knee. I focused on Niall as he looked like he was in pain. "Leave my heart open but it stays right here, empty for days," Harry continued and Niall stood up, turning back to the fans. I turned my attention back to the crowd as well, but kept a watchful eye on Niall.

I noticed that Niall shook his head before he hunched over again and reinspected his knee. Something was definitely wrong. I glanced at the crowd before I moved carefully towards Niall. I mimed to the sound guys to let them know that something was wrong but to carry on. I frowned as I came close to Niall and noticed exactly how much pain he was in.

Niall looked up at me with a pained expression. I mimed to him to ask if he wanted us to carry on and he nodded and mimed back. I did the mime twice more before I rested my hand onto his shoulder. When he sang his parts in the rest of the song, his notes sounded flat and he was definitely in pain.

~

The lift moved and I turned to see Harry, Liam and Niall taking their earpieces out. Zayn and I sank to our knees to drop our heads below the stage. The lift stopped and we stepped out of it. I saw the pain on Niall's face as he stepped off the platform and I wrapped my arm around him.
"You can stop now Niall. You can sit down," I told him but he shook his head.
"I've got to get to the bus," Niall told me as he began to limp on his bad knee.
"I'll give you a hand," Zayn said as he put his arm around Niall to support him and I followed behind them.
"What happened Niall, did you twist it?" Liam asked him.
"No," Niall replied before he groaned.
"Did you fall on it?" Zayn asked and Niall shook his head.
"Did an object hit it?" Harry asked and Niall nodded.
"I saw an Iphone on the floor close to you, was it that?" I asked Niall and he nodded.
"Aw mate," Liam said as we stepped out of the arena and Niall groaned as his knee impacted onto the hard concrete.
"I'll get Paul."
"Good idea," I replied as Harry left us to find Paul.
"Almost there Niall," Zayn reassured Niall as we got to the bus and I opened the doors. Zayn and Liam helped Niall inside the bus as I heard people taking photos behind us. It must be nice for people to have privacy, I thought as I climbed onto the bus and saw Louis and Zayn helping Niall to sit down onto the sofa.

~

Niall lowered his head and wrapped his hands around his knees.
"Where are his high dosage pain killers?" I asked.
"In the bag at the end of his bed," Zayn replied as Niall began to cry. "Hey. It's ok Niall, we've got you," Zayn reassured Niall as he sat beside him.
"I've got them Louis," Liam called out to me as I searched Niall's bag and I looked up to see Liam holding Niall's painkillers. "They were under his pillow."
"He must have been in pain before the show," I said as Liam and I walked back over to Niall. I grabbed my water bottle out of my bag as Liam took two tablets out of the packet and I sat beside Niall.
"We've got you some painkillers Nialler," Liam said gently and Niall raised his head and stretched out his hand. Liam placed the tablets into Niall's hand as he knelt in-front of him. After Niall swallowed the tablets, I handed him the water. Niall took a swig and I took the water back quickly as I noticed that Niall was shaking badly.
"Deep breaths Niall," Zayn told him as he gently rubbed his hand in circles around his back. Paul came into the bus and we turned to him as he came straight to Niall. Liam stood up to let Paul kneel in-front of Niall.
"How are you feeling Niall?" Paul asked simply and Niall shook his head.
"Hurts," Niall groaned.
"I know. I know," Paul said, rubbing Niall's good knee with his hand. "Has he had any painkillers?" Paul asked us.
"Yeah, he's just had two high dosage ones," I told Paul and he nodded.
"Good."
"I'm scared," Niall choked out and we all looked at him.
"What about?" I asked him gently.
"Surgery," Niall struggled to say and I felt the atmosphere shift. We all loved Niall and we knew how scared he had been before the surgery and how resilient he had been after it. It was now that his resilience was breaking down. "I can't..." Niall gasped before he shook his head and closed his eyes.
"Ok Niall. Ok," Paul reassured him as he placed his hand onto Niall's shoulder.
"What can we do?" Harry asked.
"Not much I'm afraid," Paul replied. "We'll let the painkillers take effect, then we'll get a medic to have a look at your knee Niall and see if any-thing's been damaged ok?" Paul told Niall gently and he nodded. "Good lad," Paul said before he left.
"I don't know how you kept going," Zayn told Niall softly.
"I didn't even realise that something was wrong," Liam confessed and Niall began to cry.
"Hey, it's ok Niall," Zayn told him. "You're ok and we're with you alright."
"Ni," Harry said as he came over and knelt in-front of him.
"Make them stop," Niall begged us and we frowned before we heard the fans screaming outside.
"We can't stop them mate, you know that," I told Niall.
"Whoever threw the object Niall, they didn't mean to hurt you."
"I know," Niall gasped between tears. "I don't want... I don't want to think about fans right now."
"Then we won't," Zayn told him. "We won't."

After some silence, gentle small talk and singing to make Niall feel better, the medic arrived.
"Hi guys," He greeted us.
"Hi," I replied.
"How are you feeling Niall?" The medic asked him as he knelt down.
"Not good," Niall replied.
"How does your knee feel? Does anything feel out of place?"
"No, it's just painful."
"Ok, lets roll your trouser leg up," The medics said and he did so with Niall's help. The medic then inspected Niall's knee and Niall closed his eyes. "Everything seems ok Niall. I think it's just soft tissue bruising that might have been made worse because your body is still recovering from the surgery."
"Everything is still in place though?"
"It is as far as I can tell. If you're still in pain tomorrow or your knee began to swell up we'll get an x-ray done ok?"
"Ok," Niall agreed. "I want to lie down."
"Lets lie you in my bed Niall as it's on the bottom," I told him and he nodded in agreement. Harry and I helped Niall to get into my bed. Within 10 minutes, the bus began to move off and we heard Niall's breathing change as he fell asleep. We all sighed in relief. "He was in so much pain at the end of the show," I told the boys.
"He didn't sing his parts properly either towards the end," Zayn added.
"I can't believe that I didn't notice."
"Me neither. I saw him playing the guitar and I wondered why he wasn't on the catwalk with us."
"He shouldn't have carried on in the amount of pain that he was in."
"We can't force him off the stage."
"No, but he should realise that his health is more important than all the shows that we do."
"I think he realises that. He just doesn't want to let the fans down."
"No, I know. We've got to look out for him, it's been only 5 months since his operation."
"Yeah," Harry said and we all looked towards Niall.