"Uh- achoo!"
"Huh-echoo, achoo, h-choo, echoo, achoo, achoo, achoo!"
I looked up from the pot of soup I was stirring on the stove, "you good Li?"
I think he might've replied but his voice was too quiet to make out over the sound of the element. I tapped my foot and turned the stove up, hoping to speed up the process. I wanted to go check on him, make sure he hadn't sneezed himself off the couch or something stupid I didn't want to burn down down his house either. I sighed, wishing that Louis or Harry were around to help out. The second they heard we had a break they were both on a plane back to the UK to see their families. Liam and I weren't so impulsive but we were both planning on heading back too. Then Liam got sick, so at the moment we were just around the house.
"I'm out of t-tiss- achoo!"
I spun around just in time to see Liam sneeze yet again, hands over his face.
"Tissues," he finished blearily, wiping his watering and bloodshot eyes. I couldn't help but wince at his appearance. He looked more or less the exact same as he had the past two days but it was still shocking me each time.
"You should go sit back down," I suggested.
"It smells good in here." He smiled, rubbing at his red nose.
I rolled my eyes knowingly, "you can't smell a damn thing sicko."
Liam's croaky chuckle made me wince and reach out to stable him as he coughed a bit afterwards. He sneezed again and groaned in frustration, sniffling failingly.
"Are there any more tissues around?"
"I think you're gonna have to make do with toilet paper for now Mate," I replied apologetically, "unless I take the car down to the pharmacy."
Liam cast a look out the window and sighed, "it's snowing again."
"So?"
"I'm not letting you g-achoo!" He rubbed his nose and sagged even more against the counter, "damn it. . ."
I turned the stove back down and made my way over to him. I touched my hand to his forehead to get a feel of the fever he had been hosting since last night.
"I think you're getting warmer." I sighed.
"Shocker, I feel like cr-crap. I'm going to go steal a roll of toilet paper."
He wandered off, dragging his thick socks along the carpet.
I took the pot off the stove and separated its contents into two bowls while I waited for Liam to return.
When he did get back, he had toilet paper plugged up both nostrils. I couldn't help but laugh, even with sickness practically radiating off him he looked funny.
"Shut up." Liam rolled his eyes, "I'm hoping it'll stop the sneezing."
He plopped down on a the bar stool and picked up the box of cold and flu he'd been taking up. He rubbed his eyes and blinked at the small writing on the back.
"You can't take any more of that yet Li," I told him, pushing his bowl and a spoon from the draw towards him.
"Why not?" he coughed, swallowing with a grimace.
"I don't know, I'm not a doctor. It says on the box you can only have it once every six hours." I shrugged, reaching out to take the box from him. Liam held it out of my reach and I jumped as he tilted back dangerously on the stool. He managed to grab onto the counter with a shaky hand at the last second. A goofy smile formed on his cracked lips and he sighed in relief, "lucky."
"Very," I agreed as I eyed the tiles behind him. If he had fallen, he probably would've cracked his head open.
"I'm just gonna take more anyway." Liam shrugged carelessly.
"Don't, you idiot." I frowned.
"What's the worst that can happen?"
"I don't want to find out. You overdose on fucking cold and flu and I can't even get you to a hospital."
Liam glanced over at the snow steadily falling outside the window.
"Can you even overdose on cold and flu?" he croaked curiously before being sucked into another sneezing fit, a wad of toilet paper flying out of his nose.
"Well th-that didn't w-work," he gasped in between the nonstop sneezes.
"Apparently not." I looked over to the other side of the room where the paper had been catapulted to. I plucked the toilet paper Liam had stuffed inside his pockets out and gently pressed it into his hands so that he could cover better. I wasn't planning on getting sick too.
"Niall. . ." he moaned, "my whole face is congested. . ."
"Yeah, I can tell." I winced. At this point I could hardly understand what he was saying, he sounded so stuffed up. "But you're not having taking any more pills."
"Carry me to the couch?" He stared at me with a cheeky smile. I'd felt his fever, and I had no idea how he was still so chipper. In his situation I would probably be in bed feeling miserable for myself.
"No way." I shook my head, trying not to laugh, "carry yourself."
Liam sniffled wetly and even managed to squeeze a tear from his eyes, still grinning, "that hurts Niall."
I snorted and picked up my soup. I walked off towards the lounge, hearing Liam getting up behind me.
"Ni, you might actually have to carry me. . ."
I slowly turned, not wanting to spill my lunch.
Liam was stood completely rigid, eyes unfocused as his body swayed from left to right. He had gone as white as paper apart from his Rudolf red nose.
"Shit." I put my soup down on the nearest surface, it happened to be the cabinet on the wall, and went over to him. I took his own bowl from his hands first and put it back down on the counter, keeping a hand on his back in case he fell in those few seconds I was preoccupied.
"You dizzy Mate?" I asked softly, not wanting to overwhelm him more.
"V-very," Liam replied, fright etched into his voice.
"I r-really don't f-feel g-good Ni," he whimpered just before his legs collapsed. He caught himself somehow with a grunt, just like he had earlier. My grip on him had instinctively tightened.
"Okay, it's alright, shut your eyes if that helps. I've gotcha," I promised, heart racing around in my chest. He definitely wasn't kidding around or being chipper anymore.
I carefully lead Liam over to the couch, taking tiny steps and holding him as close to me as possible. He had his eyes squeezed shut like I'd suggested but he was still whimpering an whining, somehow he must've still been able to feel everything spinning.
I sat down with him and he leaned his head forward over his knees, the back of his hand against his mouth.
"Take it easy Li, it should stop in a second," I whispered reassuringly, drawing patterns on his back with my fingertips.
"My h-head hurts," he groaned in frustration. He sneezed again and grabbed onto my arm as all his muscles tightened.
I sat there with him for a few minutes before he slowly eased up from his curled over position and leaned into the back of the couch, staring up at the ceiling.
"I think I'm good." He sighed, voice still thick with congestion.
"Thank god, that was scary." I shook my head with gritted teeth.
"I've got such a killer headache now," he complained, rubbing his fingers against his temples.
"I'll shut the curtains," I offered. Once all the light was locked out I switched a couple of lamps on and retrieved the two bowls of soup from the kitchen. I figured Liam would probably want to sleep, but having something warm in his system would probably help clear up his sinuses and chest.
Sure enough when I got back he was trying to lay down.
"Sit up and have a bit of soup before you sleep Payno, it'll help." I stopped him, resting the bowl on his lap and folding his fingers around the spoon. He tried to push both things away, mumbling something about having a headache again.
"Please?"
". . .Fine" he grumbled. I grinned triumphantly and tucked into my own lunch as Liam took a few small mouthfuls of his. I swear I even heard a sigh of relief out of him as he swallowed the first time.
"Good is it?"
Liam just moaned in appreciation, eyes shut in bliss. He sniffled and plugged his nose, probably to stop more sneezing, before taking in another mouthful.
I switched the TV on, making sure the volume was quiet. Liam slurped through the majority of the soup and then I went to the kitchen with the two empty bowls. I loaded them into the dishwasher and checked the time. It had been 5 and a half hours since Liam's last dose of cold and flu. I supposed that was closer than it was before, and it would be good if he could take it before he slept.
I picked up the box and grabbed his drink bottle out of the fridge.
"Is that what I think it is? Half and hour early? What if I overdose?" Liam smiled drowsily when I walked back into the room.
"Shut up smartass, I'm the one keeping you alive right now." I wagged a finger in his direction as I popped a pill from it's capsule. I held out the glass and the pill for him to take.
"Thank you," he said, catching my eye. It might've even been genuine, if I'd read him right.
"No worries." I plopped back down onto the couch. He blew his nose and I purposely kept my gaze firmly set on the TV, knowing how he was about blowing his nose in front of people. I only looked back over to him when I heard the tissue fall into the overflowing bin by the couch.
I watched as he swallowed the pill and laid down across the length of the couch, knees bent so that he could fit.
He looked totally miserable, all slumped with his pale face squished into the cushion. His nose was still so red and there was a flushed pin colour decorating his cheeks underneath his bloodshot and glossy brown eyes.
His eyes shut and his body jerked a few times as he sneezed again.
"Bless you," I murmured.
He just hummed and nodded thankfully.
Hardly ten minutes later he was sound asleep, his breath rattling slightly thanks to the stuffiness throughout his body. His mouth was open and his arm was dangling off the side of the couch, almost inside the bin.
I supposed that would probably be it for him until much later. He'd just sleep there until the fever broke and the headache eased.
The only thing I could really do was sit with him, I thought. I didn't want to leave, just in case he tried to get up and got woozy again.
I turned the TV down another notch and settled down properly, knowing that I wouldn't be moving for a while.
Eh. It's super short, sorry guys. Double update though, the other one should be way better :)
***Extension***
Sorry guys, I'm about to make this real intense.
Two days later Liam was still feeling pretty crummy. Whatever type of cold this was, his body didn't seem to be handling it very well. Usually he'd be getting over it by now, but this time around the winter cold was lingering far too long. He'd been a sniffling, dizzy, wreck for nearly a week now and he was, by lack of better word, sick of it.
He caught himself gazing listlessly at the powered down television and blinked his watery eyes a few times, sighing as he finally looked away. The bowl of soup in his lap was cold, so he put it down by the foot of the couch and curled back up into the cushions. His hands and feet felt like blocks of ice.
"Where are the strepsils Li?"
Liam tried to clear the knives out of his throat before he replied but it proved useless, his voice still sounded like it was in shreds, "table, left them for you."
"Are we running out?" Niall rasped as he trudged over to the coffee table. There was a fluffy blue blanket draped over his shoulders like a cape.
Liam had found him nursing a headache the night before when he'd gone out to refill his hot water bottle and now Niall seemed just as poorly as he did. It had come over him so quickly and Liam felt awful about it, there was no doubt that he'd caught it from him.
"That's the last of them," Liam replied with a cough that made his chest ache.
After picking up the card and examining the two lollies left Niall paused, "you should have them."
Liam shook his head, "just take them Ni."
"You already made me have the last of the decongestants, you should have these," Niall protested. His voice was weak, but Liam got the feeling that he wasn't going to give in so he didn't bother putting his throat through the pain of saying anything else.
Instead, he tucked his legs up and gestured at the empty space, silently telling Niall to sit.
Niall did as he was told, moving at the pace of a man many years older than he was. He grimaced in pain as he tucked his blanket up around him. "I thought this was just a bad cold but it really feels like the flu. Did you have your shot this year?"
"No," Liam croaked.
Niall opened his mouth to reply but decided against it at the last moment, instead burying his face in a cushion and coughing his lungs up for a minute or so. When he filly reemerged his face was pink, "ow. . ."
"Showering helps," Liam offered.
Niall cracked a smile, "I'm too lazy. Would rather just sleep."
"Me too."
The two of them sat in silence for the next hour or so, when Liam opened his eyes and glanced over at Niall he saw that he was sound asleep. His mouth was hanging slightly open.
When Liam's phone started vibrating in his back pocket he just about jumped out of his skin. The suddenness of the movement woke Niall too as he sluggishly dug his phone out and answered the call. He would've just ignored it, but it was Harry and it might've been something about work.
"What?" he yawned. He tapped Niall's shuddering back a few times as his friend released a storm of sneezes.
"Just checking in on ya Mate. Lou's with me at the studio, we were just saying how weird it is not seeing you guys around," Harry replied on the other end of the line.
Liam smiled and rubbed his throbbing forehead. "It's only been like five days."
"Feels like it's been forever. How are you anyway? You don't sound very good. Where's Nialler?"
Liam took a wheezy breath and explained everything. It took a while because his voice kept dropping out on him and at one point he thought Niall looked oddly like he was about to throw up, but after that was determined to be a false alarm he finished up and finally was able to let go of the sneeze that he'd been holding in.
"Well, the two of you aren't going to get any better without any supplies. Louis and I are coming over," Harry stated.
"What about the-"
"Nope, we're already on our way to the pharmacy. We'll see you soon."
The line went dead and Liam tossed his phone onto the floor. "Lou and Haz are coming around," he whispered to Niall with a glance at the drawn grey curtains. They hadn't been opened for a day at least, maybe it had stopped snowing.
"Are they bringing stuff?" Niall said. His voice was even quieter than Liam's, hardly a murmur.
Liam nodded.
"Painkillers?" Niall uttered hopefully.
"I think there's still some of those left. Do you want me to get you some?" Liam really didn't want to move, his body was protesting before he'd even started. However, Niall had run around after him for the best of three days and he majorly owed him for that
"Please? I think I have a migraine," Niall responded, sounding about an inch away from tears.
"Okay Ni. Hang tight."
Liam was pleasantly surprised when he rose to his feet and actually felt marginally better than he had earlier. His ears weren't ringing anymore and he wasn't dizzy at all as he walked slowly to the kitchen. He sighed in relief when he made it without any incident, hopefully that meant that he was coming out the other side of this dreadful sickness.
After collecting Niall's painkillers Liam headed back to the lounge to deliver them. He left the lamp on but turned all the main lights off to save Niall from any unnecessary pain before collapsing back into the couch and cuddling a cushion into his chest.
"Thanks, Li," Niall croaked.
Liam yawned, he was already so close to sleep again. "It's all good."
Then nothing. His body was still craving all the rest it could get.
***
Niall woke up before Liam did. His head was too sensitive to miss the music coming from Liam's cell phone and although he did spend a few moments blinking in the darkness and struggling to make sense of why he'd woken, he did manage to pick up the phone before it stopped ringing.
He coughed a couple of time to clear his voice. "Hi?"
"Liam Payne?"
Niall didn't recognise the voice on the other end. He weakly clawed his way up into a sitting position and glanced over at Liam, "he's here."
"This is the hospital, we've reached you through the mobile of a Mr Harry Styles? This was the mostly recently called number."
Niall blinked once, and then again. His mouth was already dry, but as the facts registered it grew dryer than the desert. He opened and closed it a few times but no words would come out.
"I know these calls can be difficult sir but I need you to talk to me. You are an acquaintance of Mr Styles?"
"Yes," Niall whispered.
On the other couch Liam was finally coming around, the sound of talking disrupting his rest. Niall was the only other person in the house, so who was he talking to?
He rubbed his eyes as he sat up and reached over to turn the brightness up on the lamp. As he did so, the lack of colour in Niall's face became painfully apparent and once again did Liam wonder if his friend was about to be sick all over the place. Then he spotted the phone and Niall spoke another pained yes.
Before he could ask what was going on he was overcome with a round of agonising sneezes that made his whole body shake. When he was finally able to lift his head Niall was struggling up from the couch, untangling himself lethargically from the blankets.
Liam tossed his own blankets to the side and rubbed his sore nose, "what's going on?"
Niall straightened up and ran a hand through his knotted hair. Liam was already exhausted, sick, and looking absolutely shocking. He was going to sugar-coat everything the hospital receptionist had just told him. There was no need to stress Liam even further. He'd just have to deal with that part himself for the time being.
"We're going out. That was the hospital, Lou and Haz have had a little accident on the road," he said. He hurriedly wiped his eyes and offered a hand to help Liam up, "everything's going to be fine. They're okay."
With adrenalin firing through Niall's nerves he was able to ignore the remnants of his headache and the heavy ache that had settled over his body. He pressed the remaining two strepsils into Liam's cold hands and ushered him down the hall to the front door where the shoes were. Then, he rushed to the bedroom to collect some coats from the wardrobe.
Liam caught his arm as they started for the car, the cold air already biting through their pale skin, "Niall."
Niall swallowed and lifted his head to meet Liam's eyes. Liam inhaled sharply, the look in Niall's eyes told him exactly what he'd feared. Something was seriously wrong. This was no 'little accident.'
Niall tugged on Liam's arm, "come on."
"Do you want me to drive?" Liam asked as they approached the car. Nobody in their right mind would let him drive. Niall knew that he probably didn't look a whole lot better, but now that his headache was mostly gone he knew that he was in the better condition out of the two of them.
Niall walked around to the driver's side and opened the door, "no Li, we don't need another accident."
He didn't know quite how it had happened, but somehow him and Liam ended up parked up at the hospital. The journey there was one big blur that Niall couldn't comprehend, he wasn't sure even of how much time had passed.
He turned the engine of and let his seat-belt snap back into it's socket as he opened his door. It didn't matter how he'd gotten to the hospital, what he needed was to get inside and be grateful that the car hadn't skidded on the icy road on the way.
A hazy whirlwind took over his vision and a cold sweat broke out all the way up his spine when he stood up and he knew that he had a fever. Were you meant to go into a hospital when you were ill?
"Let's go Niall," Liam prompted urgently, breaking Niall out of his stupor.
Bundled together like mother and child they hurried to the entrance and through the doors where they were nearly bowled right over by the wall of fresh heat that knocked into them as the doors shut.
Liam was sneezing again, so Niall dragged him over to reception. There was quite a long line, with all the snow there had probably been quite a few accidents.
They waited impatiently for about ten minutes before Niall couldn't stop himself from grabbing the shoulder of a nurse that was passing by.
"Our friends have had an accident, we're trying to get in to see them but this line hasn't moved in ten minutes," he croaked, ducking his head to cover the round of coughs that followed.
The short lady gave a sympathetic smile and nodded her rounded face, "with this weather we're having a bit of trouble getting everyone around. There's been a fair few piles up on the roads today and every parent in town is bringing their kids in with the winter flu. I can take the names of the people you're looking for and keep an eye out?"
It was better than nothing. "That would be great, thank you. It's Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson."
A flash of recognition passed over the woman's features before she turned to Liam with a concerned look as he turned away to resume his sneezing fit from earlier.
"Sorry," he rasped thickly when he finally resurfaced from his hands a few minutes later.
"Don't be, neither of you kids look very well." She took Niall's forearm gently, "come with me."
Niall allowed her to lead him past the reception and down a busy corridor, keeping tabs on Liam the entire time to make sure he didn't get lost or spontaneously pass out. Niall's own head was beginning to feel strangely foggy, but his worry for Liam, and even more so Louis and Harry, far surpassed his concern for himself.
The nurse took Niall and Liam into a quiet room where an elderly woman was resting in a bed, a pair of inquisitive blue eyes followed them curiously as they entered.
"You don't mind if these two bunker down with you for a bit Lucy? Their friends have been in a crash but their both too ill to stand around in that line out there."
The nurse words were proven when Niall's next step scuffed on his shoe and he suddenly toppled over, lucky enough to land mostly on the chair just to the right of him with a throaty 'oof.'
The older woman, Lucy, smiled sweetly. "Of course Love, I'll be glad for the company."
The nurse very quickly checked both boys over to make sure neither needed to see a doctor before setting them up on the seats on the side of the room with blankets and tissues and heading for the door. "I'll have a chat with the receptionist, she'll let me know when she knows what's going on with your friends."
Liam lifted his head tiredly, "thank you."
With one last smile, the kind nurse left the room.
The old woman was quite talkative at first. She yapped on about herself, telling stories and anecdotes from when she was young. Well, that was what Liam thought she was talking about. His ears were kind of blocked and he kept nearly nodding off in his seat.
Lucy finally realised about quarter of an hour later that they weren't up to chatting and apologised for her blabbering before sitting politely and quietly for the remainder of the wait.
When the nurse from earlier entered the room Liam jumped to his feet woozily, but Niall was sound asleep and snoring slightly.
"It's okay, don't panic, they're both expected to be just fine," she said. A rush of relieved air flew from Liam's chest. It made him cough but it was only a short bout, he was just glad his friends were okay.
"We can see them?" He rasped.
"Uh, I can take you to see Mr Styles, but your other friend is currently finishing a surgery," the nurse replied. Liam paled, but before he could question her about it she quickly explained, "he punctured a lung, but it's fine now. They've fixed everything and now they're just stitching him up."
Liam exhaled. He wasn't sure how much more of this he could take.
Niall whimpered softly from beside him and Liam glanced down to see his eyes flickering open and shut. Instantly he knew that Niall's headache from earlier was back, he could see it on his face.
"Ow. . ." Niall moaned as he covered his face with his hands.
He fussed and complained for a few minutes but when he learned that he and Liam could go see Harry he quickly forgot about the thudding pain in his head and leaped to his feet, relying on Liam to keep his from toppling straight back over as the room spun sickeningly around.
"No, I'm okay, can we just go?" Niall stammered as the nurse tried to sit him back down, "please?"
She looked very uncertain, but Liam had already started for the door and Niall was right next to him, head ducked down into his shoulder protectively.
"They were building quite a crowd so we moved them upstairs into one of the empty private rooms," the nurse explained as she ushered the boys into an elevator at the end of the hall, "you're the kids from that band my daughter's always raving about, aren't you?"
Liam smiled as the lift started going up, "probably."
Niall hardly made it the rest of the way to the room. He stumbling dizzily all over the place and kept trying to sit down. Liam didn't have a whole lot of strength left, but fortunately he managed to drag Niall through the corridors all the way to Harry's room, puffing and panting as he went.
"This is it, in we go. . ."
The nurse pushed the door open and Liam and Niall tumbled inside, tripping over their own feet. Niall miraculously managed to grab onto something and keep himself upright but Liam fell right on his face.
"You lads are in worse states than I am," Harry chirped from the bed, chuckling lightly.
Liam sniffed and picked his head up to scan his friend over. Harry definitely sounded a lot better than he looked. There were bloody cuts and bruises all over his face and one large piece of dressing stuck on the side of his forehead. One arm was resting awkwardly over his chest and despite his easy going tone he looked like he was in constant pain, going by the permanent wince on his battered face.
Niall collapsed into a chair with a heavy groan. He opened his eyes, "I'm glad you're okay Haz."
Harry gave a pained smile, "me too Ni."
The nurse carefully helped Liam up off the floor and he wandered over to the bedside, feeling all kinds of awful. Both from the flu wrecking havoc in his system and because he was the reason Harry and Louis had been out on the road in the first place. If they'd managed their supplies better this never would have happened.
"Li. . ." Harry sighed knowingly, "this isn't your fault."
Liam shrugged and pulled up a chair. Slowly, he tucked his legs into his chest.
"So what happened?"
"They're saying we got hit at an intersection but I knocked my head pretty hard on the window, I've got a concussion and I can't really remember anything."
"Concussion's suck," Niall croaked airily.
Harry glanced over at him, "is he okay?"
"Migraine, he'll fall asleep in a minute," Liam replied with a cough into his elbow. His chest burned and he turned away to continue coughing as his eyes began to water.
"You sound awful," Harry commented.
Once he could speak again Liam retorted, "shut up, I'm fine. You're the one in a hospital bed."
"I'm honestly fine Li. My head's a bit banged up and I dislocated my knee, so what? I'll survive," Harry said with a roll of his eyes.
Liam gestured at the odd positioning of his arm, "and that?"
"Oh. And I snapped my collar bone. It will heal. All good."
Liam inhaled and shook his head, "you're way too chill. You could've died."
They sat in silence for a few minutes, Niall's snoring being the only sound, before Harry piped up again.
"Have you heard anything about Louis? I was unconscious, they haven't told me anything and I haven't even seen him."
Liam looked around for the nurse to explain but she seemed to have disappeared. He scratched the back of his neck and leaned backwards in his chair, "um. . .well, we haven't heard a lot. Just that he's okay."
Even with his face all bashed in Liam could tell that Harry's wasn't going to let it go.
"And. . .?"
Liam looked down and huffed a short breath. "He punctured a lung. He should be coming out of surgery any minute now. He's alright."
"Shit. Poor Lou, the air bag probably smacked him right in the chest."
Quarter of an hour later the door opened and startled Niall, who woke with a stifled cry as Louis was wheeled into the room. He was unconscious and still, and honestly it kind of scared the other three boys.
"He's okay?" Liam asked hurriedly as the doctors set Louis up on the other side of the room. He stood up and peered over, unsure if he was allowed to get any closer just yet.
"We'll have to watch for infection but he should be just fine. The surgery went perfectly, the lung is repaired and we removed the piece of plastic from him leg too. He should wake up in about half an hour."
Liam sneezed in response and the doctors all left in one herd, leaving the room shockingly empty. It was quiet for a moment before Harry began pulling his sheets away, moving to get out of bed.
"What the hell Harry, stop!" Liam ordered, rushing over as quickly as his poorly body could manage.
"Liam," Harry whined as Liam pressed him gently back into the mound of pillows, "I just wanna go see him."
"One, he's not even awake yet, and two you're just going to hurt yourself even more," Liam stated, wagging a finger. "Lay back down."
Meanwhile, Niall had stumbled over to Louis' bedside and was peering down at him through squinty eyes, so tired that he was nearly falling asleep.
"You actually look worse than he does Haz," he rasped thoughtlessly, rubbing an eye.
"Thanks," Harry scoffed. A soft whimper followed, "my jaw hurts. . ."
"Maybe because it completely purple and black," Liam said as he tucked the sheet back under the mattress, hoping that Harry wouldn't be able to escape them.
Louis was super groggy later on when he woke up. The remainder of the anesthetic in his system as well as the pain medication made him airy fairy and listless, he couldn't hold a normal conversation or explain his side of the story about the accident, much to Harry's disappointment. He'd be patient though, Louis would sober up sooner or later.
For now he just enjoyed the odd behaviour of his friends. Liam and Niall had been given some medicine too and they were pretty all over the place alongside Louis, saying some very strange things and pulling some even stranger facial expressions. Although tired and doped up on his own pain meds, Harry was definitely the most lucid and it was amusing to witness everyone else's delusions.
Soon however he grew too tired to keep his eyes open, and with a fond smile on his face he slowly drifted off to sleep.
***
It was two days before any of the boys left the hospital. Louis' doctors wanted to see that he was infection free for 48 out before letting him go and none of the other boys were going to leave him there. Harry was still in a lot of pain, and Niall was a sick mess. Liam was mostly better. Still tired, but that was likely due to all the sitting around he'd been doing in the hospital because there wasn't a whole lot else to do.
"Ouch, fuck, come on Li what are you doing?" Louis screeched as Liam accidentally rammed his wheelchair into a corner.
"Sorry!" Liam exclaimed, "believe it or not, I'm doing my best. This is harder than it looks!"
Niall made a noise and held his temple with a sniffle, "why are they so loud. . .?"
Harry had to agree. His own head was thumping away and his concussion was beginning to make him feel sick to his stomach again, and Liam and Louis' volume was not helping.
He tipped his head forward as Niall pushed him slowly after the others. Once they reached the car Liam helped both Louis and Harry load into the backseat while Niall climbed into the passenger seat and immediately curled into a tiny ball. He reached an arm out and turned the car on before switching on the heating.
"Why'd both you idiots have to hurt your legs? This would be a lot easier if you could walk," Liam uttered as he struggled under Harry's weight.
He got into the car and drove safely all the way back to his place, being super careful at every intersection.
The car ride actually helped Harry's head some thankfully and once he was all situated inside Liam's lounge on the couch he was able to drift into a pretty peaceful sleep after popping a couple more pills. Louis took the other couch, propped up against every pillow in the house to support his broken ribs, while Niall claimed the bedroom down the hallway. He locked himself away in the dark and didn't come out until much later in the day when his headache had finally begun to ease.
It really was fortunate Liam had recovered during their stay in the hospital because they'd be totally screwed if he hadn't. With all three of the others down for the count there was so much to do. He spent the next few days helping with bathroom trips, making meals, getting drinks and medicine, shoulder massages, anything you can think of. Somehow, he enjoyed it.
He was honestly just glad that everyone was okay. He didn't know what he'd do without his best friends.
***
Hahahahaha that ending is probably one of the worst I've ever done. . . Sorry lovelies. I just hope the rest makes up for it. This is the longest extension I've done, I think!