"That doesn't sound good, Lou," Niall whimpered. The two men were sitting in their room, trying to listen the conversation that Zayn and Richard were having, but it was pretty quite. Then came the noises that were scaring Niall. The thuds and bumps, and then muttered curses. "Louis, please, what if Zayn hurt Richard, we should go check on him,"
"Fine," Louis agreed at last, grabbing his husband's hand and leading him from the room. When they arrived in the living room, they both froze. Neither man could understand what had happened.
"Richard!" Niall cried, running forward and dropping to his knees, grabbing his son in his arms and cradling his bloody head, "Shit, Lou call the ambulance,"
Louis dropped down beside Niall, tears forming in his eyes and he looked at his unconscious son. Zayn hadn't done this, had he? He couldn't have. Zayn was Louis' brother. Richard's Uncle...he would never...
"Hello, what's your emergency?"
"We need an ambulance now, our son is unconscious,"
~
"We are leaving!" Harry yelled, slamming his suitcase down on the ground. Zayn stared at him in disbelief. He and Charlie were standing by the door, holding their suitcases in their hands and staring at Zayn with hard eyes.
"Charming, wait," Zayn said, reaching forward to hold his husband. The curly, however, shied away, not letting their skin touch. "You...you can't do this. Where will you go?"
"Anywhere but here," Charlie chimed in, looking down at his feet and not daring to look Zayn in the eye. Because this scared him more than he'd like to admit.
Zayn felt like his world was ending. But then again, who could blame him? He had beat his nephew senseless, he had said the word that he promised himself he would never say, and he was about to lose the love of his life and his beautiful son.
Zayn knew why he snapped. Who wouldn't go crazy after living in his shoes for years after years? Hell, everyday Zayn cared for two autistic people, taught art classes to a bunch of uni students, slaved over to pay the bills, worried about the well-being of his naïve son, and protecting everything that he created, in other words, keeping his family together and strong, unaffected by the outside world.
But there was no taking that word back that dreaded word. Retard. Why had he said it in the first place?
"Please don't go," Zayn whimpered, suddenly feeling like a kicked puppy. His eyes were wide in fright of losing everything.
Harry 's face twisted, seeing his Zaynie like this. But Zayn had hurt him. Really really hurt him, so he grabbed Charlie's hand and pulled him out onto the porch, where they called Liam, begging him to come and pick them up.
"Charming," Zayn cried, dropping to his knees and putting his head to the ground, "Charlie, come back,"
~
"Your son was hurt very badly," The doctor said, rubbing his hands together and biting his lip, "He has many stitches on his face, a few on his neck, and....He must have fallen, or his head must have been hit against the wall or the ground, because there was a rupture in the artery that provides blood to his brain. It's called a brain aneurysm, and it can be very serious. I will need to do immediate tests to decide what the best treatment is for him,"
Louis stood, in shock, while Niall broke into tears, running down the hallways of the hospital and out of sight.
"In the meantime, he is in very serious condition and will be under close watch. The symptoms he may include, nausea, headaches, neck pain, and...Possible stroke or seizure,"
Louis was shaking, so worried, completely torn apart. That was his son. His little boy.
"But...he will be okay?" Louis inquired his voice cracking.
"I can't guarantee anything; sir," The doctor said, "But I will do my best. Richard is awake now, also, if you would like to go see him,"
Louis did, he did want to see his son, but he didn't think that he could walk into the hospital room without his husband. So he turned on his heel and walked down the hallway, in the direction Niall had run. When he found his blonde haired lover, he was curled into a ball in a linens closet, tears running down his face as one looking nurses cooed over him. Louis would normally have felt angry at the nurses and jealous, and normally he would have marked his territory by kissing Niall hard on the lips and looking to the nurses in spite. But, at the moment, that wasn't what was important.
"Babe, it's okay," Louis said, tears coming to his eyes as he wrapped Niall in his arms. Niall continued to sob. "He'll be okay,"
"What if he isn't?" Niall asked, "We failed as parents, Lou. Look at what happened. He got expelled once, he smokes, and we couldn't even do our jobs of protecting him."
Louis felt his stomach drop. Niall was right, of course- Niall was always right-but Louis tried to ignore that right now. Suddenly, Louis' phone rang, and he answered it after reading the caller ID.
"What's up Liam?" Louis asked, trying to keep his voice calm.
"I need a favor Lou," Liam said quietly.
"Of course," Louis said. Because even though his life was falling apart, he would still do anything for his friends and family.
"Harry and Charlie don't want to stay with Zayn anymore," Liam said, "And I would have them at my place but I'm going out of town for work this week. Do you think you could take them? I know you have a spare room,"
"Of course," Louis said, "But...why are they upset with Zayn?"
"Zayn...he's having some troubles, lately,"
~
"Where's Richard!" Charlie screamed, holding his necklace in his fist.
"Charlie, he's hurt, okay?" Niall whimpered.
"I want to see him now!" Charlie yelled, tears streaming down his face and snot dripping from his nose. Louis and Niall weren't used to dealing with Charlie in this state.
"Maybe...maybe you can go see him, okay? But...but you have to be quiet and gentle,"
That's how Charlie ended up walking into the hospital room, and breaking down into tears when he saw his face and how hurt it looked.
"Richard?" Charlie whimpered, rushing to his boyfriend's side.
"Hey superman," Richard said, trying to sit up but feeling too much pain in his neck to really do anything. Charlie reached forward, grabbing Richard's hand.
"My Dadda did this, didn't he?" Charlie cried.
"Yes," Richard said, "But it's okay, superman, everything is going to be okay,"
"But you're hurt, and you are in the hospital. Isn't that bad?" Charlie asked, sitting on the edge of the bed.
Richard didn't answer. He only reached with his arm with no IV and grabbed Charlie's cheek gently, pulling him in for a kiss.
"So, what now?" Charlie asked.
Richard was about to answer, when a wave of pain shot through him and his body tensed in agony. "Charlie, get me that bucket,"
Charlie did as he was told and as soon as Richard had it, he vomited his guts out, pain searing through him and a terrible headache coming on like a bulldozer. Tears welled in his eyes and he looked up to Charlie, who was going to cry again.
"Richard, are you okay? Do I need to get help?"
"No,"
"But...Richard," Charlie burst into tears.
And then Richard's body began to convulse, shaking and trembling. Charlie knew it was a seizure, he had seen his Daddy have these before. And he knew he needed help, but he couldn't get himself to move. He grabbed Richard's hand and sobbed.
"Richard! RICHARD!"
Charlie's yells attracted the doctors, and then Charlie was being dragged from the room, as nurses and doctors swarmed around his boyfriend, who was still shaking on the bed.