Just A Harmless Joke//One Direction

Chapter 16: Wake Up

The boys arrived at St. Agnes Medical Hospital in less than 20 minutes.

They rushed past the Lobby and up to the front desk.

"And how may I help you?" The lady asked. She was young, with a kind face, high cheeckbones and cherry red lips. 

"We're looking for Raine Mellark, Eleanor Calder, Danielle Peazer and Katherine Payne." Louis rattled off quickly. 

The lady nodded. "Three of them are still being inspected while the other one is in the Emergency Room--"

"Emergency Room?" Niall repeated, horrified. 

"Was she-- brunette?" Liam chocked. Harry, Louis, Niall and Zayn knew why he had asked that question- the two people he loved, his sister and his girlfriend. One of them might be fighting for their life. 

The lady looked thoughtful before answering: "Yes, I believe she was." 

Tears started to well up in Liam's eyes. "Curly haired?" He croaked. 

The lady paused again. Everybody held their breathe. Then, she answered;

"No." 

Liam burst in to tears. All the five boys had tears streaming down their faces, but nobody was crying harder than Liam- he held on to Louis' shoulder, sobbing loudly. 

"It's okay," Niall croaked, his face wet with tears. "She'll be okay." 

"Liam?" A small voice said from behind the boys. They spun around to come face-to-face with Danielle. 

"Danielle!" Liam exclaimed, throwing his arms around Danielle and sobbing in to her.

"I'm s-s-sorry..." Danielle cried, sobbing as well. "I couldn't save her, I couldn't, I couldn't..."

Suddenly, Eleanor and Raine came up behind Danielle. 

"ELEANOR!" Louis screamed.

"RAINE!" Zayn shouted.

Zayn attacked a teary-eyed Raine and Louis hugged Eleanor tightly.

Niall was sitting on one of the arm chairs, his face buried in his hands. Harry sat on the couch, tears streaming down his face.

"It was my fault," Eleanor sobbed. "My- my- m-my fault... I was driving and- and-"

"She's in the emergency room," Raine told Zayn, sniffling. "The doctor- the doctor said she was... She was..." 

Zayn shook his head and just hugged Raine tightly. "I thought I lost you," He whispered. 

Suddenly, a doctor walked up to them. He was in his late fourties, with shaggy brown hair and stormy grey eyes. 

"Liam Payne?" He called.

Liam pulled away from Danielle, took her hand and walked up to the doctor. Everybody crowded around him. "Their car crashed in to a truck this evening," The doctor said. "And as you know, your sister, Katherine Crystal Payne, is in the Emergency Room." 

"Is she okay?" Niall demanded before anybody could say anything. "Is she alive?" 

"She's alive," The doctor said stiffly. "But..." 

"But?" 

"She made an attempt to shield these three girls-" The doctor motioned at Danielle, Eleanor and Raine. "- Even though she very well knew that the force of the impact. Her attempts were not in vain; the three didn't get hurt too much, except for a few sprained ankles, gashes and pieces of glass stuck in a few places, nothing deep. Katherine, however, got the full blow of the accident."

"Sh- she tried to... protect you? That's why she's in there?" Liam asked Danielle, who was positively bawling now. 

"She protected all of us." Raine said quietly, Zayn's arm around her waist. 

Eleanor nodded, burying her face in Louis' shoulder and crying a bit more. 

"She's currently in a state of comatose, and I don't expect her to wake up for another... 1 week, more or less?" 

"Can we see her?" Harry asked silently.

"Family only," The doctor said, blocking everyone else but Liam and Danielle from passing.

"Wait," Liam protested. "Please, let them in. They're like family to her. To me." 

The doctor looked as though he'd say no, but he nodded hesitantly and said: "30 minutes."

They walked in to the room the doctor had told them to go in to. There was a glass that seperated them from Katherine, and personally, Liam felt as though it was a good thing.

Because when he took one look at her, he started sobbing. 

Her chestnut brown hair was spread around her pillow, framing her deathly pale face. There was a long gash across her cheeck. There were numerous scars and cuts on her arms, legs and hands. 

A lot of cords and thingamabobs (Liam didn't want to know what they were) were connected to her, an oxygen tank stood next to her bed and there was a machine that beeped faintly (Danielle mumbled something about the heart rate). 

Niall was the first to move.

He stepped up and put a hand up to the glass. His whole body was shaking and tears kept rolling down his face. 

What hurt the most was his eyes- they were broken and full of sadness. Louis and Zayn knew that after all these days, Niall's heart finally broke. He had already died inside. 

"I didn't get to say sorry to you, Kat," He whispered, closing his eyes as he felt an almost physical pain shoot through his heart. 

"Please, wake up..."