Zayn and Niall: Everybody Needs Somebody Sometimes

Something More

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Zayn stood outside the hospital ward, refusing to say a word to either Harry or Louis. They'd both gone out, leaving himself and Liam to take care of a very traumatized Niall by themselves. Liam managed to soothe the shaking boy to sleep, and Zayn just stood outside, embarrassed for himself, embarrassed for Niall, embarrassed for Louis and Harry.

Liam opened the door and stepped out. "Jesus."

"He's never going to recover from this," Zayn shook his head, thinking of Niall just lying there and witnessing Louis and Harry's interesting adventure. "Shit - I would've passed out in there."

"Can I say something, though?" Liam shut his eyes briefly. "I'm not actually surprised that this happened, you know. Maybe the whole part about it being done right in front of Niall was too much, but, like. Did you not expect that at some point those two would start experimenting with each other? Considering how close they are and all?"

Zayn thought about that for a moment. "Not like this, though. Not - not, like, sexually."

"I always knew it would've just been a matter of time before they try boning each other," Liam said. "You can't just act the way that they do and not expect something else to happen with it."

Zayn smiled slightly, rolling his eyes. "Who d'you think started it?"

"Definitely Harry," Liam was grinning too. "Have you seen the way he looks at Louis?"

"Yeah, I think so too," Zayn said. "Plus Louis wouldn't initiate anything, 'cause he's got Eleanor. Fuck. Doesn't that count as cheating or something?"

Liam's eyes flicked across the hallway, then returned to meet Zayn's. "It does, Zayn. And I hope for his sake, I honestly do, that this business with Harry stops here. You know how Harry is. He gets attached to anything that breathes near him. I mean, their friendship's alright, but if Louis lets this thing carry on any further - I don't know. There'll be consequences, you know? And I don't want that to happen to him, to either of them."

Zayn exhaled. "Never thought about it that way, to be honest. But you're right."

They were interrupted by the tall American doctor, donning his clipboard and stethoscope as he walked up to them with a casual smile. "Hello."

"Hi, how's Niall doing?" Zayn asked, looking at him.

"So we checked the CT scan," the doctor said. "And my medical team discussed it quite a bit today. Your friend's intracranial pressure has reduced remarkably, but it's still there. Many of his brain cells were saved, though we did lose a few from the impact of the crash."

"How's that going to affect him?" Liam asked.

"He'll be a little dazed for a while," the doctor said. "Sleeping lots, reduced memory skill and consciousness for some time - those are all perfectly normal. We're going to slowly reduce the sedatives we're giving him. Meanwhile, to subside the rest of the swelling, he's been prescribed with oral antibiotics and he'll need to rest. The best way to actually recover, I'd say, is for him to just continue sleeping. His body's natural endorphins will attack infections on its own, and sleep helps it to heal from the past few weeks' trauma."

"When can he be discharged?" Zayn asked.

"If he keeps resting like this, he'll be good to go in two weeks, I'd say," the doctor said.

"Will he be completely normal?"

"Quite," the doctor said. "The drugs we used on him will have numbed his motor skills and cognitive ability a little bit, but we've arranged for a few specialized therapy sessions for that. They can't fix everything, but give him some time and he'll figure all of it out himself."