Stumbling through the dark

Nurse

Louis sneezed violently then rubbed at his watering eyes, frustrated with himself. F*cking bad timing, he thought to himself. There was absolutely no way he'd be allowed in to visit Niall. All the boys knew that Niall no longer had a cast iron strong immune system and even a cold could cause him serious issues. He sat at the kitchen table, nursing his hot honey and lemon drink, pondering on why it was that  colds always made you feel really ill yet were not normally a serious health problem. He jumped when Harry suddenly spoke behind him.

"You sound terrible, Boo. I guess that means you won't be coming with me to visit Niall. They won't want you within fifty feet of him" Harry's deep slow voice was sympathetic. Louis really did look ill. His eyes had big, black circles under them and he looked even smaller and paler than normal. Harry was very concerned about him. Lou been constantly battered in the media lately, especially by one particular paper, and the stress had obviously been affecting him. "Look, take some tylenol and go back to bed. Sleep will do you good" Harry said firmly. He expected Louis to protest but was shocked when Louis immediately agreed and, taking his drink with him, slowly trudged up the stairs back to his bedroom. Harry 's brow furrowed as it was so unlike Louis. It wasn't just the fact Louis had a bad cold, his happy -go--lucky approach to life had vanished. Continuing to frown, Harry pulled out his phone to call the only person , apart from his bandmates, that he fully trusted. Two of his ' brothers 'were suffering and he just wanted to help.

"Hey guys" Harry greeted Liam and Niall as he entered Niall's hospital room. "How's it going?" Both men looked up and Liam smiled at him ,but Niall just scowled. "What's up, Nialler?" Harry wanted to know. Niall, like Louis, was usually a ray of sunshine but today he and Louis were mirror images of misery and Harry felt his concern for both men deepening.

"I want out of here" Niall's tone was extremely grumpy. "You have no idea of the torture I'm enduring!". Harry looked puzzled but was soon enlightened by Liam as to the 'torture ' to which Niall was referring . Harry winced at the description of the urine sample collection . Poor Niall, he could appreciate how the little Irishman  felt.

"Will you be discharged soon?" he wanted to know.

"Nay, not until they find out what's wrong. It just seems test after test. I'm sick of it.i'm thinking of discharging myself and going home to Mullingar". 

"I understand you want to get out of here, Ni, but is that wise, mate? Harry looked at Niall who just shrugged his shoulders and twisted the top of his sheet between his fingers. He looked frighteningly frail and it was obvious, from the sound of his voice when he spoke, that he was as emotionally fragile as he was physically. " Nialler, you have to be sensible about this. You don't want things to get worse. It will only get you back in here". 

"Where's Lou?" Niall asked abruptly, totally ignoring Harry's question.

"He's not well himself today. He's got a foul cold and I sent him back to bed." Harry said, accepting the change of subject. When Niall was in a stubborn mood, there was no reasoning with him. One just had to abide ones time and hope that good  sense would eventually return.

"And he went?" Liam queried in surprise. Louis was like Niall, ignoring health problems. For him to give in so easily was unheard of.

"Yeah, with no argument. Actually lads, I am really worried about him. The media are crucifying him and the attacks increase daily. You can guess which paper is leading the way. I know he's physically sick but a cold has never pulled him down this much before, not even when we were touring and there was no break." Harry sounded as worried as he looked.

"We gotta do something to help" Niall said positively, distracted from his own worries by his concern for his bandmate. He swung his legs over the side of his bed and stood up only to  be  abruptly stopped  as both Harry and Liam unceremoniously grabbed him and bodily lifted him back into bed.

"Stay put" Liam said firmly. "Let's talk first. And anyway, you aren't going anywhere soon". Niall glared at him  but Liam coolly told him his face would stay that way if he wasn't careful before sitting back down in his own seat. Niall huffed in response but made no further attempt to leave his bed.

"Management" said Niall "it has to be connected to Management."

"What makes you think that?" Liam asked curiously receiving a shrug for an answer.

"They like to cover stuff up, remember. And both Zayn and I were told we'd be punished if we let on the truth about Zee leaving the band and my..urrrh...well, you know. They've always given Lou a hard time for sticking up for us over things. They suspect that picture in the media was Zee and Lou but they don't have positive proof. Stephen is just the sort to make him pay. The thing is, how do we stop it?" Niall said,  frowning in thought as he rubbed his tummy. He was feeling a little queazy and shut his eyes, leaning back, as he hoped the nausea would pass.

"I have done something" Harry blurted out . "I rang Uncle Simon"

"And ?" Liam wanted to know, looking  at Harry in astonishment. Harry normally talked stuff through first so this was a shock to hear. 

"He's coming here to talk to us this afternoon. He wanted to make sure that Ni, here, was also  included in the convers..................'Harry broke off at the sound of what seemed to be choking and both he and Liam turned to Niall who was staring down at his sheet, now covered in blood and vomit.

"Nurse ............." Niall rasped out, his body shaking in shock. Liam wasted no time, he pushed the nurses call button as Harry rushed out into the corridor shouting for help.