In A Hopeless Place

Chapter 21

I glance at the clock, 8:15. I've sat in this waiting room for two hours now.

My back was killing me, my chest aches with heartache, my muscles are tense with stress.

Paul had brought me to the hospital and offered to stay, but I ordered that he left. He didn't argue, which I appreciated. He just left and told me to call him if I needed or wanted him to pick me up.

I run a hand through my hair.

I wonder where the gang is. Do they know about Zayn being shot? Are they worried?

"Zayn Malik?"

I stood up quickly.

The doctor extended his hand and I shake it. "I'm Doctor Cowell," he says and I nod. I was afraid that he was about to give me some bad news, but he smiled warmly at me. "You're his girlfriend? Sister? Friend?"

"Girlfriend," I say quietly and he smiles comfortingly at me.

I don't care that the doctor possibly knew that Zayn was from Delirium. I'm sure Josh wouldn't be able to fix something like this.

"Well, we had to take him into surgery. We removed the bullet successfully, but we lost him twice," he says and my heart pounds as I held back my tears. "We got his heart rate stable. When he first got here, his heart wasn't beating and he had a lot of blood loss. I'm surprised that his heart is still going. He's a strong man."

"I know," I whisper. "Is he okay?"

"Yes. He's fine." I mentally thank God with all of my heart. "He may be in some discomfort when he wakes up, but we've put him on some anesthetics to ease it a little. So, he shouldn't be in too much pain, maybe a little loopy. I assure you that Mr. Malik will be just fine. They got him here just in time."

"May I go see him?"

"You may go see him."

"How much blood did he lose?"

"About two units. Luckily, we had a nurse who had his blood type and generously gave her blood to save him. He should be okay, though. If anything happens, come get me. He's right in there." He points to a door before walking off.

I run into the room to see Zayn still sleeping.

He looked so tired.

I sit down on the chair next to his bed and gently stroke his face.

He had wires everywhere. The heart monitor was beeping, so that was good.

I continued to stroke his face, and felt his warm temperature again.

I hold his hand and intertwine our fingers together and cry. I let all the tears roll down my cheek. I have never felt so emotional in my life.

"Don't cry, baby."

I look up, slightly startled.

Zayn's eyes are barely open. I could see the light hazel eyes that peered through the thin slits.

"Zayn?" I whisper.

He's staring at me. He gives my hand a squeeze before lifting it up to brush away my tears.

I smile a little and cry more as I lean up and kiss him on the lips. He barely kisses me back, being too tired and weak.

"Am I okay?" He asks and I nod.

"Doctor said that you'll be fine, love." I smile at him and stroke his arm.

"Then why are you crying?"

"Because I thought you were going to die," I whisper, tears falling from my eyes. "Just like my parents did when I was ten," I finally tell him. He looks at me and he was beginning to wake up a little more and his eyes were adjusting to the light. "They were shot, just like you were."

"Carter," he says softly. "I wouldn't leave you even if the doctors said it was impossible for me to live." I smile at him. "How long has it been? Where is everyone?"

"I don't know how long it's been and I don't know where the gang is. I don't even know if they know what happened."

"When do I get out?"

"I don't know that either." I laugh slightly and he smiles weakly. "I'm going to get the doctor."

I come back into the room with Doctor Cowell trailing behind me. He smiles at Zayn.

"Why, hello, sir. I'm Doctor Cowell, nice to meet you. You were shot in the stomach, which caused you to lose a lot of blood, but we fixed that problem. We just took the bullet out and stitched you up. You should be just fine," Dr. Cowell tells him.

"When can I leave?" Zayn asks.

"Probably in a few days, but it depends on your healing though. Are you experiencing any pain?"

"Yeah, a little."

"On a scale of one to ten, ten being the worse, what would you say the pain would be?"

"Four... or maybe a five," Zayn says and I could tell that he was holding back some groans.

"Alright, we're going to up the medication slightly to make sure the pain won't pass over, at least, a two. Where is it hurting?"

"My stomach."

"I know your stomach, but where? Everywhere or where the stitches are?"

Zayn weakly points to a part of his stomach.

"Okay, that's where the bullet was, so the pain should be gone when the medication kicks in," he explains as a nurse puts a needle in Zayn's arm, injecting the medicine.

Zayn's eyes start getting droopy almost immediately.

"Alright, Zayn. I'll let you rest, but I'll be back within the next hour," he says, smiling at Zayn, then he and the nurse leave.

I sit back in the chair that I was sitting on before and stroke Zayn's face as his eyes close.

"Sleep," I tell him soothingly as I press my lips lightly to his cheek.

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Hey guys! Just letting you all know that there are only 2 chapters left of this story and both will be updated tomorrow :) I just want to thank you all so much for reading my story. It really means a lot. And thank you to those who voted for this story, gave me feedback, and fanned me. You guys are amaZAYN xD

Comment, Vote, Fan!!!

-Abby xx