In His Arms[Ziam/Ziall Fanfic]

Chapter 16

My entire body has gone numb. Harry’s head is rested beside the girl’s lifeless body, and Louis is there behind his boyfriend, holding back his own tears and gently stroking Harry’s curls with his agile fingertips. She’s gone. Just like that. And we don’t even know her name. I stare at her young, peaceful face, tears slowly falling down my cheeks, and all I want at this moment is Zayn. I want him to hold me in his arms, cradle me back and forth until all my problems somehow melt away. I want Zayn to be okay, not in the hospital but home with me. Forever. 

I wipe my face with the sleeve of my shirt, lean over Harry to place a kiss on the little girl’s forehead, and the same to her mother who has been crying since her daughter's heart monitor came to an end. Her hair was a mess, face haggard, swollen and red. I knelt in front of her, she raked herself with sobs and I opened my arms, engulfing her into me. She cried harder, her tears soaking into my shirt. I didn’t say anything. I just held her in my arms for minutes, hours, days, for an entire lifetime. I held her until the nurse’s wheeled out her daughter’s body to the morgue and she followed in step, never leaving her side. 

“At least Rebecca died happy,” her mother sobbed, before nodding her head in a farewell gesture and proceeded down the hall. 

Louis held Harry’s head in his lap, still pushing his bunch of curls from his face. Harry cried hard, his face runny and red, wiping his face with his hand, only to do it seconds later to wipe away more tears. Louis looked at me, tears staining his face. We stayed in Rebecca’s room for a while longer until the nurse’s came back to clean the room for a new patient. 

I hated hospitals. How fast they could forget a life, and easily make room for another. The three of us stopped at the boy’s restroom before heading back to Zayn’s room. We washed our face with cold water, wiped it with paper towels and looked back in the mirror. Our eyes were still blotchy and swollen, but we hugged each other tightly before going back to Zayn’s room. 

When we got there, Zayn was being spoon fed jello from a nurse. I didn’t know whether to hug him to death or drop to my knees and cry all over again. Zayn looked up at the three of us, and smiled weakly. Louis muttered something before running towards the bed on jumping on top of Zayn. He got a glare from the nurse but he didn’t care. 

“Don’t you ever think about dying, Malik. If you do, I’ll kill you myself. And then I’ll bring you back to life and cry about it!”

Zayn patted Louis’s hair. 

“I love you too, Lou.”

Louis sniffed, wrapping a lazy arm around Zayn and cuddling closer. Harry kissed Zayn on the forehead, taking the nurse’s seat when she left. 

I just sunk to my knees, feeling tears rake through me like a storm. He’s alive. He’s alright. He’s going to be fine. I looked at Zayn, into his soft, warm eyes. He smiles at me, motioning me to come to him, opening his arms wide in the process. I dash for him, doing the same as Louis had done previously. 

Zayn groans though. I accidentally hit the side of his chest, and I bury my apologies into his neck. 

“I thought I was never going to see you again,” I cried into the nook of his neck. “I don’t know what I would have done if I lost you.”

“You didn’t,” Zayn assured, combing my hair between his fingers. 

I looked at him, a sad expression staining his face. I can sense the question lingering inside of his eyes. Where’s Niall? Was he here? Did he come to see me? How is he? 

And before anyone of us can answer, Zayn’s asking said question. 

“Where’s Ni?” he asked, looking around the room.