CHAPTER 32
Harry Edward Styles P.O.V
I cannot believe what we just saw!! We watched everything slowly unfold and we couldn't do anything other than watch. Do you know how that feels? He's my little brother and I watched him being shot, I watched him being cut and I listened to his cries of pain. And all I could do was watch.
Zayn Javvad Malik P.O.V
We watched the whole thing. It was like a horror movie come true. You can imagine how we, non-horror movie lovers, would react to it happening in real life. But I'm not worried about how Louis, Liam, Niall or I will be; I am mostly worried about all three Styles triplets. Yes Marcel got shot and a million bad things have happened and we had to watch it all, but the other two haven't been normal since.
Harry was the one holding the phone as we all watched over his shoulder. They watched in silence and fear, faces pale and more than frightened expression plastered on their faces. The moment Marcel was shot and knocked to the ground, that's when they snapped. Marcel was knocked to the ground and instantly they both began to scream. They were begging the men to stop as if they could hear them. Harry reacted as if the phone was poison and threw it away. It landed face down at the end of the bed and Liam went over and grabbed it.
By now, Harry and Edward were both mumbling nonsense and bawling their eyes out. They were so desperate for this all to be just another one of their bad dreams. I was quiet surprised that Edward was acting this way. Yes, I have gotten to know him over the last week and I know that he isn't at all the stereotypical 'bad boy', but originally he struck me as a tough and emotionless person. With all his tattoos and piercings, everyone would but he's extremely protective. He's been worried sick about his little brother that he's known for about 4 weeks now but I did expect that because Marcel is the only family member he has I think he was just dying to have a brother. Although he's also really protective of Harry. He's only known Harry for just over a week but I can tell that he wouldn't let anyone touch him. If Louis or someone would play a prank on Harry, you can just see Edward's edginess and he'd always be the one to take Harry away and clean him up (usually because the pranks would involve Harry being splattered in the face by something). I'm even surprised of how protective he is of Niall. We all know how well Niall and Edward have hit it off and I bet, to Edward, Niall feels like another brother. Maybe he feels that way about all of us though.
Anyway, we watched the rest of the event through the phone and Harry and Edward would occasionally look up and watch it too but pretty much instantly start crying heavier and go back to slowly rocking with their heads in the knees. We watched as Marcel was pushed to the ground after he was cut, and it looked like he had passed out. Suddenly, one of the police officers fired their gun. The bullet flew through the air and shot through the arm of a man that was holding a gun to Marcel's head. That's when hell broke loose. Guns were fired and the crowd started to scream and run. Bullets flew everywhere and random people, both cops and bad guys, would fall to the ground, clutching a new wound. We could see that the bad guys made like a wall that covered Marcel's body as the big man, we assumed was the boss or ringleader, grabbed Marcel's ankles and started to pull him into the building they were standing in front of. Suddenly, an extremely loud gun sounded and the man fell to the ground. The bullet came from a police helicopter that was flying above the scene.
The man that was dragging Marcel away fell and slammed into the ground. His body lay lifeless on its back, right next to Marcel's. His arm was sprawled over Marcel and a gushing wound was in the middle of his forehead. His blood oozed out of his head and slowly covered every inch of his face. His open eyes were soon drowned in his own think blood. The dark liquid started to fall rapidly to the pavement and his bleeding head rolled onto its side, the lifeless body staring straight at Marcel. Marcel's body was sprawled over the road and pavement on his stomach, his face facing the now dead body that was extremely close to him and somewhat on him. The scene was gruesome. Dead bodies everywhere, blood splashing onto everything. People, buildings, the road, the pavement.
"I ummm..." Niall swallowed nervously, looking over Liam's shoulder at the phone. "Maybe we should..." he said before slowly reaching over and turning the phone off. Liam slid the phone into his pocket and we slowly turned around to look at the brothers. What we just watched will definitely give me and the boys nightmares but Harry and Edward... I don't know what will happen to them. I don't think they saw they last parts though. That's fortunate.
They were both cuddling each other and crying into each other's necks. "Hey," Louis said, sitting next to Harry and rubbing his back.
"You alright?" Niall asked, doing the same but to Edward. Neither of them said a thing or even signalled anything. They didn't nod their heads or shake them in any way. They just sat there and comforted themselves.
"I don't think I'm okay," Liam managed to say. We all (not the twins) turned to see Liam standing in the same place but very pale in the face. Oh boy... Liam can't handle horror movies scarier than Harry Potter and he just witnessed someone get shot in the head and die and we can't say it was special effects because it was real life and he knows that.
"Oh come here," I said, opening my arms out for him. He nodded his head and bit his trembling lip as he walked over. As soon as I wrapped my arms around him, he started to sob and sniffle into the crook of my neck.
I started to tear up myself; I was terrified and sick with worry. As all six of us cried to ourselves, we heard a faint knock on the bedroom door. We all lifted our heads as the door gently creaked open and in the doorway stood an extremely distressed Simon.
"Boys..." he started but stoped once he saw all of us crying. He must have figured out that we watched the whole thing unfold. "You saw?" he asked quietly. Louis nodded from the bed and looked back down at the floor. "Look boys-"
"Is he dead?" Harry said suddenly, looking up with a pleading look.
Simon sighed. "I wish I could answer that with a 'no' but I can't. The fight between the police and whoever the other people are is still going on. Marcel is in the middle of the fight but it's not safe to get him. The gun fire needs to stop before policemen can go arrest the men and for the paramedics to do and get Marcel."
"Do you know why he was taken in the first place?" Edward asked, desperation everywhere on his face.
"I'm sorry Edward but we don't know. They didn't give a ransom or take him hostage for a heist or anything. So far, all we can conclude is that they just wanted to..." he paused briefly, thinking about whether or not he should say what he wanted to in front of us. "Torture him. They thought he was you Harry so who knows what they originally had planned."
Simon stood in the doorway awkwardly for a few minutes, just watching us crying and trying to get a hold of ourselves. When I say 'us' I mean Liam, Louis, Niall and I. Edward and Harry had stopped crying. They're not even sobbing anymore. I think they've gone into shock. They are just sitting on the bed, pale white, and rocking back and forth slightly. They look like ghosts. They're here but with no real purpose other than to feel pain.
"We've been getting a lot of questions and comments on twitter and Instagram and through the mail," Simon said, trying to change the subject I think. Liam and I looked up at him so he continued. "Some people are shocked and millions of fans are sending you guys support. Even you Edward, even if they don't know you too well," he laughed awkwardly. "Most of them are here for you guys. The others think it's a stunt but no one is sending hate or anything-"
"Simon," I interrupted.
"I know, I know. I should probably stop talking," he nodded. His phone suddenly vibrated in his pocket. He reached in and pulled it out and read the text with a neutral expression.
"What?" Niall asked, looking at Simon's face.
"The ummm... The gunfight has finished leaving 15 of the kidnappers dead, the other five men severely injured, under arrest and being brought to the hospital. 3 of the officers have been killed and another 16 have been harmed and being rushed to hospital."
"What about Marcel?!" Harry and Edward both yelled.
"He's being airlifted to hospital now. It will shorten the travel time by about 20 minutes if he was flown rather than driven."
"And how is he?" Louis dared to ask.
Simon delayed his answer as he thought about the appropriate word. "Marcel is..." he continued to think of the word nervously. By him not saying it was the worst thing he could do. The longer he delays the worse we know it is. "He's unwell, apparently." He said before he got another text. We waited about a minute for Simon to speak again. He opened his mouth and read the text. "Did Marcel have an eating disorder? How thin was he?" Simon asked, still looking down at his phone.
"I," Edward spoke up. "I do think he had an eating disorder but he'd never admit it," he practically whispered because his voice was so quiet. "How thin was he? He was pretty thin but still looked toned and normal I guess."
"Yeah," Harry chirped up. "Really thin actually but he still managed to have rock hard abs," Harry smiled at the memory.
"Uhm..." Simon said, nodding his head. "Do you think that he'd be anorexic by any chance?" he asked. These questions are not what I was expecting and judging by the faces of the others, they didn't expect these short of questions either.
"No," Edward said, shaking his head slightly, like he was trying to remember something. "He couldn't have been. He tells me everything and if he was anorexic he would have told me plus," he said, looking up and stared straight at Simon. "He wasn't that thin."
"Anorexic people aren't always stick thin. Sometimes their bodies just refuse to go lighter. You can become anorexic by not eating enough not just being extremely thin," Simon stated before looking back down at his phone and typing something in.
"Why would you ask that?" Harry spoke.
"The medics in the helicopter say that he is underweight and malnourished but they also say that he couldn't have become that thin from only one week of starvation. He'd also have a different figure if he was starved. His stomach would still be normal but his chest and limbs would be thin. His whole body is in equal proportions. Like his body was used to the lack of food," he finished.
Well, that was something I was not expecting. I was expecting something about blood loss or trauma (I reckon he also has that).
"Oh Marcey," Edward sobbed into his hands. "He hates himself already and that just adds something to his list of imperfections. He's dyslexic, claustrophobic, vegetarian, depressed, OCD, practically blind, bullied, he self-harms, he has no friends and now you're telling me he's also anorexic," Edward started to tear up again and dropped his head into his hands. I didn't know all that about Marcel especially the part that he self-harms and that he is depressed. He struck me as a shy but happy person. I could tell that everyone else was as shocked as me, but out of as all, I think Simon was the one that looked the most shocked.
"Can..." Harry whispered after a few awkward minutes. "Can we visit him?" he said nervously, his head still facing down but his eyes looking up. In a way I was expecting him to be excited. Marcel is now in our hands. He's safe now. But I then realised why he didn't want to get too excited. Marcel is in a horrible condition and even though he's with us, he could still die. It's just a horrible though that I for one just can't stop thinking about.
"Not yet. He hasn't arrived at the hospital yet and as soon as he does, he has to have an emergency surgery to get the bullet out and that is expected to last two to nine hours. Depends on where it is in his arm and the damage it caused," Simon sighed. "Look boys, no person especially a teen should have to watch that happen to their own brother or best friend's brother. I'm sorry you saw what you did but I'm here to take you back now. You don't need to be here anymore. I'll take you to the hospital as soon as he's allowed visitors."
Simon spoke very carefully as he said what he did. "Come on boys. This isn't a hotel," he said as he walked over to Harry and Edward.
Talking about hotels, what happened to all our stuff we left at the hotel last week? Is it still there? Did someone collect it for us?
Simon helped Edward to his feet and lead him out of the room as Louis helped Harry. Simon walked up the stairs with Edward and we all followed him up and into the tiny cottage that stood above the underground mansion. We walked through the tiny hall and made our way to the front where a single helicopter sat on the grass.
"In you get boys," Simon said, trying to sound cheerful. We all made our way into the helicopter and buckled up. Harry and Edward were sitting next to each other and they were both holding hands. They were shaking slightly and were still very pale.
"He'll be alright," Liam managed to say as Simon got into the front, next to the driver. We took off soon after that and during the whole ride, no one said another word. We all just looked out the window or watched the other people look out the window. Simon was the only person that did something and all he did was check his phone every time he got a text and he sent one back.
"He's in surgery now," Simon said after about 20 minutes. Harry and Edward both looked up when he spoke before going back to resting their heads on their knees and closing their eyes.
The rest of the ride was quiet and before we knew it, we were landing on top of the Modest! Washington DC headquarters. As we all jumped off, we could see that the whole building was surrounded by paparazzi. "I don't want you talking to them until Marcel is here with us. I think that might be easier for the six of you," Simon said as we descended the stairs from the roof to the top floor. "Most people here have helped us with searching for Marcel and know what happened so they won't bother you. The ones that didn't work with us have been told not to ask about anything. That it is a private matter," he said as we exited the fire exit stair case and rounded the corner to the elevators.
"Can we visit him tomorrow?" Harry asked as we walked into the lift.
"I think that the doctors would proffer for you not to, but considering you are his only family, I think I could pull a few string and allow you and Edward to see him," Simon smiled weakly as Harry and Edward's faces lit up.
"I'm sorry about you guys though," he said to the rest of us. "He's in ICU and only family members are able to visit him," he said and we all sighed in defeat. The elevator dinged open on the 29th floor and we all stepped out. "This is where you guys will be staying tonight. If you want to stay for more than you can. Julian is here to record the new songs for your album with you. Might as well get some work done, hey?" he tried to joke. We only nodded and separated in the room to do individual things (other than the brothers who stayed together).
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The past few hours were spent trying to take our minds off of what happened. Louis, Liam, Niall and I recorded our parts for about five different songs for our next album but Harry hadn't moved off the couch or even spoken so we had to postpone Harry's parts and the full group harmonises and the duets we had with him. He just sat with Edward, both curled up into the same blanket, staring aimlessly into thin air.
"Maybe we should call it a night. You guys don't seem to have your hearts into it today and you all need to get some rest. The mini-fridge is full if you get hungry and the bunks are in the other room," Julian said before he packed up the microphones and left, waving just before he closed the door.
"Do you reckon he'll die?" Harry said when the door was fully closed. That question caught us all off guard even Edward I think.
"I hope not," Liam frowned. "I hate to be the bearer of bad news but we have to stay in reality. He might not make it through the night," Liam whispered, looking at the brothers. "What he went through was pretty extreme. Medicine can only get him so far. His body needs to do the rest of the work. His body needs to want to fight threw it," he said sadly.
Harry's eyes and mouth were wide open in shock. "He's gonna die?" he whispered, his bottom lip starting to tremble.
"I never said that," Liam said, panicked about hurting Harry's feelings and hopes. "He could quiet possibly be perfectly fine in a couple of days," he tried to comfort him but failed. Harry was still in the same position but tears started to roll down his face. Edward lifted his head slowly and saw his little brother crying. He slowly lifted his hand up and caressed his face. He rubbed small circles on his cheek with his thumb before wiping away his tears.
"It's okay, Harry. Marcel's a tough cookie. He'll make it and by the end of everything, he'll have a great story to tell," Edward smiled sadly. Harry nodded slowly and leaned into Edward's arms.
"We'll leave you two if you want to sleep here," Niall said before indicating for us to follow him into the next room.
It took about 10 minutes for all of us to get ready for bed but we all managed to get into the bunks. Niall fell asleep in the same bed as Louis because he was worried about nightmares. Niall being the 'baby' of the group and him being so innocent, the images of the man being shot in the head will haunt him for a while.
Liam fell asleep in my bunk because he was scared as well. It took ages but we all managed to fall asleep, cuddling each other.