Breathing For This (Sequel To Trembling Hands)

Chapter Thirty Eight

Chapter Thirty Eight

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~ Liam's POV ~

Brielle was nearly three hours into her chemo treatment - thankfully she was sound asleep and experienced no pain so far. We've all been keeping a close eye on her and waiting anxiously for the remainder of the medicine to be drained from the bag.

"Do you think she's really going to be okay?" Niall asked nervously

I gave him a comforting pat on the back and said, "I think she's strong enough to beat this."

"I didn't mean the cancer," he sighed, "I mean her depression. As if her past wasn't bad enough, now she has to go through this too? And we all know how insecure she's always been. I'm just scared she'll get worse."

"We're all worried about her," Harry said, "But we have to be strong for her. If she thinks that we're upset, it will make her even worse."

"It's just not fair," Niall frowned, "She doesn't deserve this."

"Bad things happen to good people," Zayn muttered, "I know it's not fair, and I wish that we could take it all away from her, but we can't. The only thing we can do is be there for her."

"Yeah, I guess so," Niall sighed. In all honesty, we were all hurting, especially Niall. Watching someone you care about struggle is worse than going through it yourself. But Harry was right, the only way to keep her going is to be strong.

I was a bit confused when the door opened, but then I remembered Paul was stopping by to help with the mopping situation. I got up to greet him and explain our collective inability to use a mop.

"You mean to tell me that none of you idiots could figure out how to mop a floor?" Paul said, shaking his head in disappointment, "And, in the process, you broke a glass dish?"

"Yeah, that about sums it up," Louis laughed

"Okay, so first you have to clean up the glass," Paul sighed as he swept it into a neat pile, carefully scooping it up and dumping it in the trash. "And to mop, you literally just dunk it in the bucket, rub the floor, and use the little contraption on the side of the bucket to wring it out."

"See, I told you we don't dump the bucket on the floor!" Louis said

"At least I didn't try to put soap on the floor or break a dish!" I laughed

"The soap was a great idea, it would have been much cleaner" Niall argued

Paul sighed deeply and continued mopping, clearly amazed that we could take our stupidity to a new level. It was hard not to laugh at his frustrated expression.

"Can I just ask why you called me for this?" Paul chuckled, "I'm security, not a maid."

"But we had a situation with some deadly shards of glass and dirty floor germs, we needed your protection," Louis laughed.

"Yeah, yeah," Paul smiled, "Paul Higgins, Head of Security and Master Dirt Fighter"

"Don't forget about the Glorious Glass Attacker part," Harry smirked.

"Niall?" Brielle called from inside.

"Coming!" he replied, and frantically ran inside. We followed close behind him, hoping that everything was okay.

"Are you okay?" he asked, "Are you in pain?"

"Just a little," she sighed, "But I think it's done." She pointed to the empty bag hanging on the pole with a small smile.