Chapter 84
*Aria's POV*
I lay on the bed, struggling to breathe through the pain that shot through my abdomen every time I inhaled. I didn't want to say anything and sound like I was moaning too much so I kept quiet and tried to get through it.
There was a soft knock at the door, I opened my eyes and looked towards it. It slowly eased open to reveal the rest of the boys, Bo and Rose waiting to come in. They all smiled at me when they saw I'd seen them and started to creep in.
'We're not supposed to be in here.' Bo whispered.
'But we're coming in any way!' Harry said and came over to me by the bed and hugged me gently. The rest of them did the same, all trying to avoid the stitches on the left side of my abdomen.
'Yeah, some man kept saying it was 'vital' for you to rest but we wanted to see you.' Zayn explained and he leaned in for a hug. Bo then gave me a hug and walked over to Harry and sat down on his lap. Harry then wrapped his arm around her waist and kissed her neck. There were only three other chairs, Louis was in one by my side so Niall and Zayn quickly filled them whilst Rose and Liam stood together at the end of the bed, hand in hand.
'I don't need rest.' I smiled. 'Strangely, I don't feel tired.'
'How do you feel though?' Liam asked from behind Rose with his head resting on her shoulders.
'Not bad.' I lied. I didn't want them to know how much pain I was in. They didn't need to be burdened with it. He raised an eyebrow and looked at me dubiously. Damn it. He knew I wasn't telling the truth.
'Okay, it hurts... a lot.' I grimaced. He nodded, happy that I'd told them how it really felt.
Louis' hand squeezed mine. 'Why didn't you say anything?' He asked. 'You could get more painkillers or something.'
'I didn't want to make a fuss.' I admitted.
'You wouldn't be! It's their job to look after you Aria.' He shook his head in exasperation. 'Once these buffoon's have gone I'll call the nurse.' His thumb traced light circles on the back of my hand as he spoke.
I nodded, accepting the fact that he'd definitely do it. He wouldn't forget.
'Oh... Lou' Niall chimed in. 'We've spoken to the guys in charge and all that. They said we can postpone the three tour dates for Ireland and move them to the end of the tour, but that's all we can have off. We have to start back again in Edinburgh on the 20th.'
'Yup' Harry added. 'We get three days off. Thanks Ri Ri' he grinned at me, which caused me to laugh back before gasping in pain.
'Are you okay?' Louis was quick to ask how I was. All I could do was nod as I got my breath back. 'Okay...That's good of them. Aria will still be in hospital by the time we get back to London.' He then looked to me, 'so I won't have to worry about you being home alone.' Only once he said that, did I realise that yes, I actually was scared about maybe having to be home alone now. As far as we knew the gunman/woman was still out there.
'Exactly' Zayn nodded. 'Then you'll only be away for three days and you girls can stay with her or something, can't you?' He said looking from Rose and Bo who were both nodding already.
'Of course we will.'
It was sweet how they were all worried about me and trying to sort things out so I wouldn't be alone. It made my heart swell.
'Knowing you girls you'll both just about move in if you have to.' Niall said and Rose laughed. 'It'll be fine Aria. You've got nothing to worry about. We'll look after you.' Niall said softly.
'We'll be your personal body guards!' Harry grinned.
'Oh god.' Louis mumbled. 'This sounds dangerous.'
We were interrupted by the door swinging open. A small, thin nurse was stood there. Her greying, caramel coloured hair was pulled back into a pony tail that swished as she stood in the door way. 'Goodness! It's like Grand Central in here!' She gave a disapproving yet friendly look to the boys, Rose and Bo. 'I'm afraid you're going to have to leave.' She stood inside the room to the side so everyone, who had all stood up, could get out of the room. They called goodbye and left.
'Now' the nurse murmured, 'I need to give you something for the pain, my dear.' She pottered around and fiddled with the machines and wires attached to me before noticing Louis who still sat by my side. 'Oh! You gave me a fright.' A hand flew to her chest as she puffed out a breath.
Louis smiled as he spoke. 'Sorry love.' He said politely. He then squeezed my hand and spoke to me. 'I'm going to get a bottle of water, I'll be right back. Don't move.' He kissed my temple.
'Damn, I was thinking about going for a jog.' I frowned.
He laughed as he left the room quickly.
'Now he is a piece of eye candy!' The nurse giggled. I looked at her with surprise, she was quite old, I didn't expect her to say something like that. 'Isn't he in that band? One Connection or something?'
I smiled as I corrected her. 'Direction'
'Oh! That's it!' She nodded. 'They're a lovely group of boys.' She carried on doing what she was doing.
'Yeah. They are.' I agreed. Then came a knock at the door.
I took my attention from the nurse, who was filling my wrist with pain medication with a massive needle, to see who it was. Two tall men filled the door frame, both wearing the police uniform, their hats under their arms. I noticed Louis stood behind them, looking at me over their shoulders, a bottle of water in his hand.
The nurse ushered them in and sat them down before smiling at me and leaving the room. Louis took my hand in his again and we waited for the police to speak.