If Only You Knew (Larry Stylinson AU)

Chapter 7

It's a little on the short side... sorry guys I tried aha 

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Just do it. It’s not that creepy. Who the hell am I kidding? It’s beyond creepy... 

Zayn stood outside of the hospital, the same hospital he watched Liam walk into earlier that day. It was late now, the sun gradually sinking and blanketing the city in darkness. Colourful leaves swirled around Zayn’s feet, dancing in the evening wind. He knew he should be focusing more on his task instead of his surroundings but he was entranced by the serenity of the scene. It was so quiet, so peaceful. He loved these kinds of things. Although he would never admit this to his friends he would much prefer to sit at home with a good book and a cup of coffee than play football in the muddy grass like they usually end up doing. He was a quiet type of person on the inside.

Shaking these thoughts away, Zayn focused his gaze back on the hospital doors. A yellow glow was coming from the building, casting shadows across the ground. He forced himself to place one foot in front of the other and slowly made his way into the building. It wasn’t as if he’d never been in a hospital before but he had most definitely never done anything this creepy before. He was planning on figuring out what Liam did here at lunchtimes.

He approached the front desk and cleared his throat to gain the attention of the young nurse who was occupied scribbling something into her notebook. She looked up at him and offered him a smile, her hand stilling. “Can I help you?”

“Um, yes actually. Is there a Payne here?” He asked, realizing how much of a stalker he was being. He couldn’t help it. All day he had been burning with an itching curiosity that could not be tamed. Now that he had a lead he just had to know.

“Ah, you’re here to see Karen? Room 412,” She said, smiling sadly at him and reaching out to pat his arm encouragingly. Zayn was confused but tried not to show it, instead just returning the smile and heading to the correct room. Questions raced through his mind and only doubled when he opened the door to room 412 to reveal a woman laying limply on a crisp hospital bed, machines and wires surrounding her.

Who was this woman? Why was Liam coming to visit her every day when he should be in school? He walked closer to the woman and lightly brushed his fingertips across her arm, her skin cold. Was she just asleep or was there something seriously wrong with her? Judging by the nurse’s reaction to her name it was the second option. The door opened and Zayn’s head snapped around, half expecting Liam to come walking in. He let out a sigh when he realized it was just the doctor coming to check up on her. He wasn’t really sure if his sigh was of relief or disappointment though. 

“Oh hello there,” the doctor said, giving him the same sympathetic smile that the nurse had, “Here to see Karen?”

“Um yeah,” Zayn muttered, looking back down at the woman, “What exactly is, uh, wrong with her?” He asked very aware of the fact that as a ‘visitor’ he should know this already.

“You don’t know? She got in a terrible crash a couple years back. Been in a coma ever since,” he shook his head sadly, “Her family don’t want to give up on her just yet though, her husband doesn’t want to accept that she’s probably not going to wake up... it’s a sad thing to say but we don’t have much hope for her anymore.”

Zayn looked down at her, feeling grief for the poor family of this woman. Was... Was Karen Liam’s mum? Now that he thought about it, he could see the resemblances. He felt a new weight fall in his stomach at the thought of the pain Liam might be going through right now, the pain he probably was going through.