Artwork [h.s]

thirty-one

I was about to nod, but furrowed my eyebrows as I traced back everything that had happened that night for the millionth time. "He went away for like, twenty minutes or so" I said, hearing my own voice as if it didn't even come from me.

"Was he alone or with someone?" The boy said, hovering close to Harry's face to check his breathing again.

"Uh..." I said, trying to remember the best I could, feeling as if all my memories had just been wiped out by the situation we were in. "Zayn" I said after a couple of seconds. "He was with Zayn."

"Fucking hell!" He exclaimed, an edge of anger in his voice, that was suddenly wiped away when he checked Harry's pulse again. "I think it's getting worse" he said, his voice small. "Where the hell is Noah?"

I widened my eyes at his words, starting to pat Harry's cheek nervously, hoping that the touch would've made him open his eyes. I stopped after a while, my gaze still fixated on Harry's face, feeling the beat of the music run after the heartbeat in my chest, but not being able to hear it.

After what felt like an interminable time spent watching the lights hit Harry's face intermittently, I was suddenly pulled up and forced out of my thoughts as three people rushed past me to get around Harry.

I freed myself from the grasp of whoever was standing behind me harshly, taking a step forward as I turned my head to look at them, discovering that it was the brunette boy, who had left Harry's side somewhen while the paramedics made their way through the room.

I started to tap my foot on the ground nervously, my stare fixated on what was going on in front of me, but my mind too distracted to catch more than a cluster of shadows moving around in sharp movements, feeling as if the sickening weight I was feeling on my chest could've swallowed me whole.

"I think they're about to go" the boy said after a while, making me realise something.

"Niall!" I said, widening my eyes as I realised that he still hadn't come back.

The brunette took out his phone fast, dialling the number and bringing it to his ear, waiting patiently for some seconds before closing the call. "He isn't answering" he replied. "Let's do it like this, you'll go with Harry and I'll try to find Niall and get him to call you as soon as I discover where he's at."

I looked up, realising that they were taking Harry away, not giving me much time to make a decision. "Okay. Thank you..." I let my words drift away, realising that I didn't know what was his name.

"Oh, I'm Liam" he said, and I gave him a little nod before rushing through the room to follow the paramedics.

• • •

The ride to the hospital passed by a blur, seconds melting into minutes and houses melting into buildings in a cluster of messy images in my mind.

Before I knew it I was following Harry's gurney into the hospital, soon being stopped by a nurse.

"Wait here, darling" she said kindly, pointing at the chairs of a mildly crowded waiting room. "Your boyfriend is in good hands."

I sat down, her words bringing me out of my confusional state and putting a frown on my face. "He's not... my boyfriend" I said lowly, a feeling I couldn't quite identify starting to spread inside my chest.

"My bad" the middle aged woman said, going back to what she was previously doing fast.

I put my feet over the chair, bringing my knees up to my chest and staring at the dull-coloured floor with a stunned look on my face. I started zoning out, the sounds going off around me starting to mix together into a confused mumble as the edges of the room around me started to become less and less focused as a silent whiteness took over my mind.