'Till forever h.s.

Am I dead? (57)

Hello!! So glad we're finally out of that super scary phase where you thought everyone was gonna die ;) They all made it with barely just a 'scratch' huh.

Niall's POV

The cold. The cold has to be the worse part. The shivering that causes even my bones to shake, to crash against each other, the sweat making my skin clammy, the shakiness of my hands. Or maybe the knowingness. Yes, the knowledge this is it. That's the worse part.

"Can you tell me your name again?" The girl we took away from Liam asks. Lauren. I know she asked me about five times, I know she already knows my name and I know she's trying with everything she has to keep me answering. I try to focus on the contrast of her warm hands against my cold stomach, the pressure she's putting on my wound.

Louis drove like a madman, making a harsh turn that causes me to wince. He doesn't have time to say sorry, only glancing at me through the rearview mirror. "Niall." The simple word took a lot of effort, a lot of effort I couldn't afford to give. I cough from how dry my throat was, feeling tears slip out of my eyes from the movement.

Lauren nods and sends me a sad smile, to which I try my best to return. She is really pretty, a calm kind of pretty, like sugar and camomille tea. I feel bad she has dried blood splattered all around her face. My blood, her blood, I can't tell. "That's a nice name," She says, trying to keep her voice steady. "Where are you from, Niall?"

I tried to answer, I swear I did, but I can barely keep my eyes open. The other girl, Mack, held my head on her lap, making sure my neck was as straight as possible and now I understand why. Everything was just so heavy, like this invisible force pushing me against the car seat, my neck and eyelids felt especially strained. The urge to sleep was strong, if I just closed my eyes it wouldn't hurt as bad.

She was talking to me, I could faintly hear it, faintly feel her blood-drenched hand on my cheek, but it felt unreal, so distant. I force my eyes to stay open, glancing to the front seat because Harry hadn't said a word since we left. He sat with his back straight, almost rigid, unmoving, Davina was on his lap but I couldn't see her face from here. I doubt there would be much to see, she looked like a ghost. Maybe my mind was playing tricks on me, but from where I stood I could almost see a tear slipping out of his eye.

He quickly wipes it away, proving me right, and glances up to meet my eyes from the rearview mirror, almost sensing my gaze. He gives me a half-assured nod, "Hang on in there." He tells me. I'm trying, I swear I am.

"We're almost there, third house to the left." Lauren says again but this time she isn't talking to me, though she sends me another sad smile. I look out the window behind her head and realize we weren't on a highway anymore, we were in a residential area. "The garage is around the back, we'll have privacy."

I don't know how much time passed, maybe seconds maybe hours, but the car finally came to a stop. I don't even remember closing my eyes but it happened somewhere along the way, I could still hear them though. "Lauren, you take him and the rest of us will go back to the house, it's safer to split up." It was Harry who spoke this time, his voice cold and emotionless. "Mackenzie comes with us."

I was moving, a set of arms pulling me out of the car while another held my waist and pressed my wound. We stop moving. "I'll be fine," Lauren says after a long pause. There's hesitation but the set of arms holding my shoulders let go followed the thud of a door closing.

We begin walking, I could open my eyes the slightest bit but my vision had started to blur, I couldn't see where I was going but she led the way. I tried not to put a lot of my weight on Lauren but it was getting hard to move, the gunshot was right to the side of my ribs, every movement was strained. She puts me against a wall, the car leaves, I can't breathe.