After The End: Book 1

14. Dark

Naomi POV

Louis was inconsolable through everything that happened in the aftermath. Something was deeply wrong with him. In crisis, normally Louis was the one holding things together. He was calm and collected and plan oriented. This time, he sobbed and struggled to catch his breath. He stared at me with blank eyes looking both lost and terrified.

The police came back to get his statement and as I listened to him recount in detail what had happened, I was completely shocked. Louis explanation didn't make anything more clear. It didn't help that when he got to the more emotional parts of his story, his voice wavered so much that I was still unsure of what he was describing. At least when the police had arrived to speak with him he'd figured out how to stop crying.

What was becoming increasingly clear to me was that Louis was in shock. He hadn't yet processed what had happened to him, and the police seemed to gather the same conclusions because they patted him on the shoulder sympathetically and told him they would catch up with him soon.

Liam and Zayn returned and told us they didn't know much more either, only that the three perpetrators were still being chased through London and that they had little chance of being able to leave the city. They had been the ones to forcefully remove them from Harry's bedroom and then when it was announced that the police were coming, they'd pulled the gun on Liam to ensure themselves safe passage to the exit. The police had been their signal to retreat. I thought in horror of the way Zayn had been completely unphased by the pistol, stepping forward to aid Liam.

"Fucking shoot me," he'd taunted. He'd looked the gun wielding man right in the eyes. "Show me how tough you are!"

Liam, apparently not trusting Zayn's calculated risk strategy had shoved the gun away from his chest apparently startling the man, who then accidentally fired into the adjacent wall. There was a small hole there now. Luckily, Louis flat took up the entire floor and we didn't have to worry about a stray bullet flying into a neighboring unit.

The gun firing had caught all of us off guard and we had scattered, allowing the three of them to escape. The police had shown up immediately following the incident and they were confident that they hadn't gotten far. Paramedics had showed up almost immediately after too and that's when Louis had been dragged from the room. I'd requested Niall go remove him. I didn't want him to have to see Harry die, and based on his condition, we weren't optimistic of another outcome.

As Louis told the story of how Harry had been made to fake his own suicide, I saw something break in him. It was like Louis had a sand castle crumbling beneath his feet after hours of effort, just for the tide to roll in as he'd been working on the finishing touches.

As the police finished with him, the paramedics had come rolling out of the room with a stretcher between them demanding that the elevator be cleared immediately. From our place in the corner of the living room, Louis had sat straight up trying to get a view of the curly hair that signaled Harry's existence. We couldn't see much. He was laying, pale and lifeless. A breathing mask was strapped to his face, and tubes and blood were his most prevalent features.

"He's still alive?" Niall had confirmed. He sounded more panicked than I'd expected from him, after how cool and collected he'd seemed. Louis had told me previously, that Niall was the only one that ever checked in on Harry besides himself.

The male paramedic hadn't looked up at all, keeping his eyes on Harry with intense attention.

"Barely," the woman answered slamming the open button on the elevator. "He's barely there."