Before You Start A War

Chapter Twenty-Three

"Goddamnit, Harry, of course I care!" Liam interrupts him, pushing Harry's shoulder so he falls on his bum. "Do you know how hard it is for me to turn him away? I want to help him, Harry, and in any other circumstance, I would fight tooth and nail to save his life!"

"What circumstance?" Harry asks, his voice still harsh as he pushes himself up to stand in front of Liam. "What's different about this circumstance?"

"If I help him, I could lose everything. My friends, my job, maybe even my life! Corporal Maddox told me when I was first brought that if I ever helped the enemy, I'd be banished, or even killed! I know you don't consider him the enemy and I don't either; I know what he's done for this company, and for you, and how hard he fought to still be alive today, but I can't risk losing my life because his is in danger. I just can't." Liam drops his head, ashamed of himself. "I know how much he means to you, Harry, and I'm sorry I can't help you. But if Corporal Maddox or his assistants find out I tried to save the person they set out to kill from the start, I'd he done for."

Harry shakes his head, "Maddox and his assistants are dead."

Liam's head shot up, "What?!"

"I killed them. When they told me Niall was going to be killed, I broke from their grips and shot the three of them." Harry admits.

"Shit, Harry, what the fuck?!"

Harry scoffs at Liam's concern, "I did what I had to! I wouldn't have been able to live with myself knowing Nall was going to die and I didn't do anything to stop it."

"Harry, if the company finds out about this--"

"I know, and I don't care." Harry drops back down to his knees next to Niall's cot, pulling the knot in the coat he wrapped around Niall earlier loose. He hopes the wound hasn't scabbed over yet, as he doesn't want this to be more painful than it would be normally.

The coat arms fall over the sides of the cot, and Harry cringes when Niall's shirt sticks to his skin, the blood already dry and brown, completely staining the material. He can feel as Niall's skin pulls when he tries to move the shirt, and he can hear a sharp intake of breath from above him. Eventually, he gets the material away and he can hear the shirt ripping away the scab that's formed.

He closes his eyes for a moment and takes a deep breath, preparing himself for the sight. He only saw it slightly earlier, though he was more focused on making sure Niall was awake instead of fully assessing his wounds. Harry gulps and opens his eyes again, glancing at the wound. Right then, he feels as if he can throw up the little bit of food he has in his stomach, and he reels back slightly.

There's a large horizontal gash through Niall's side, the blood oozing out from where the scab previously formed. There's purple and green bruising around the wound and the blood is messy and brown from where it dried earlier.

Harry's hands shake, bringing the tweezers closer to Niall's body. He pulls the skin on his side tight, trying to see if the bullet is still in his body somewhere, but he cringes as Niall's blood begins oozing faster, dripping onto the cot.

"Fuck, Harry, stop. You're going to make it worse." Liam warns.

"I have to at least try." Harry mumbles without looking up.

"Harry," Niall's voice is weak, but Harry perks up immediately. The tongs drop from his hand as he's engulfed into Niall's bright eyes. "He's right."

"No." Harry disagrees, reaching his hands up and cupping Niall's face. "I know it hurts and I might mess up a little but I will fix you, Niall. You're gonna get better."

"Look at me, Harry." Niall looks down on himself, his neck straining. "I'm broken and weak, and my time is running out. I won't survive this, no matter what you do."