H A R R Y

Everything feels like it's falling apart. Harry feels different somehow, have been laying on one of Liam's spare beds for hours now.

Everything feels like it's falling apart but then Liam walks into the bedroom holding a crumpled figure and it takes him a moment to realize it's Cecily.

His immediate reaction is to the reach for her. When she's close enough, his digits tie around her wrists, hoping not to find a fresh wound. He's thankful when he doesn't, then looks up at Liam.

"What happened to her?"

"I don't- I don't know what happened. She was outside and- and she was passed out. I don't know what happened."

He tears off the covers but Liam signals him to stay where he is, dropping her cold body beside his warm one. She even shivers in her sleep. Or maybe she's shaking. It's hard to tell.

But something catches his eye when she turns. His eyes widen at the sight of bloodied water falling from her left ear. Her eyes are shut but her lips are blue, and when she moves toward him, he feels like wrapping his arms around her to try to warm her.

There's this incessant throbbing in his chest where his heart should be. It feels like his ribs are breaking with the weight of blows caused by the sight of her hurting.

He gets up properly from the bed and moves over to her side, kneeling and pressing a finger to the crimson. "Fucking shit, Cil," he breathes.

She begins to shiver and his hands find a way under her shirt, feeling the sappy, cold skin of her stomach. Harry shakes his head and tries to nudge her wake. All she does is shake, her mouth parting.

He realizes she's choking on water that shouldn't be there. Too much of it is being coughed out of her and he switches on the light, now panicked. His head begins to hurt all over again.

Harry tries to shake the anxiety eating at his chest away, tries to focus on the drowning beauty. He's trying to wake her up now. He lifts her up so she doesn't choke, and pats her back.

Her shirt is lifted and he eyes a new mark on her lower back. There are finger prints on the small of her back. Small, dainty fingerprints lined with an agitated blue. It looks like someone had been trying to grab her, like someone was digging their fingers to try to get her to move.

The prints don't match those of his own fingers. She couldn't have possibly done it to herself. "Cecily, baby. Baby, let it out."

I think I have water in my ears.

Her words shock him. It stings his skin and goes straight to his heart. He pushes his hair back and then winces when his finger presses against something in the back of his head.

I just have a fear of water, I guess.

Why?

I don't know, actually. It just scares me, I'm sorry. You can go in, though.

He pulls away and looks down at his hand, his fingers now coated in a thin sheet of his own blood.

Hey, it's fine. We can uh, we can just sit right here.

His wheezing girlfriend finally stops moving. She falls still against his hand, her whole outfit completely soaked in water. Her skin looks really pale and blue at the same time.

Harry realizes with horror that she's not moving.

"Cecily?"

&

&

&

T H I R D P E R S O N

She's still on the bed.

She's still not moving.

Harry's eyes are wide and avoiding her altogether. Everyone else has joined him in the bedroom. Everyone has their heads down except Niall. Niall is looking at him like he expects a conversation.

Harry is just shaking and he doesn't know why he feels like he'd known Cecily for longer than he really did, but every time he thinks he can look at her, he ends up catching Niall's eyes instead.

The blond steps up while everyone's heads are down, Harry's body still shaking with panic. Niall is the only one not reacting, his depression kicking in at the worst of times. It's not that he doesn't acknowledge that everyone believes the girl is dying or dead, it's that he knows she isn't.

He doesn't like being the center of attention because he likes being alone, but he feels like he should get a word out. "Guys," his tone wavers. He sounds hoarse from not using his voice for so long. "I have something to say."

"We'll call the ambulance in a few minutes," Zayn mumbles.

Everyone's heads lift, all eyes on him. He wants to run out of the room and try again tomorrow. But something tells him what he knows is very important. Harry is the first to speak. "What is it, Niall?"

"You guys don't see me much because I'm depressed and I sometimes go to this one hospital for some medication, and they force me to stay the night most times so I don't pull anything crazy- suicidal thoughts and things- but uh, I uh know some things."

"Okay."

He runs a shaky hand through is dye- blonde hair. "Okay, well um, Zayn, you overdosed on something and they got to you too late, couldn't really pump your stomach because it was already digested and was already in your system. They put you in room 375, I think. Right next door to mine. And uh, Harry," he lets out a breath, "no, you guys can't keep staring at me like that. I get all antsy and have panic attacks."

Everyone looks away and Niall almost feels better, but he knows they're all waiting for him to continue.

"Harry, you're in room 315 with Cecily. I think your file said you fell on some ice and you popped a vein at your neck if you didn't have a full blown trauma. Cecily fell into a lake, I know that for sure. She was in there for a while before the ambulance came, swallowed a lot of water. I read her file a while ago, but I knew it was her from the instant I saw her. She even looks like she drowned.

"But uh, what I'm trying to say is that you're all kind of asleep. You're all in comas. I mean, I'm not, obviously. And neither is Cecily, not anymore, I think. You die here the right way, you wake up. I go home most nights on this side and walk over to my window, and I uh, sometimes I don't remember much when I wake up, but my neck always hurts, you know? Depression leads to suicide and I am so afraid of windows and heights, but it's the only way out of here sometimes."

Zayn gets up first and he looks livid as he crosses over to Niall, pushing him against the wall with too much force. "What's wrong with you, mate? No one wants to hear a plot of a novel, okay? I don't know what you took this morning, but you can leave right now if-"

Niall cowers back at his touch, trying to steady his breathing. "You're all stuck in different time zones. I can prove it, I can prove it."

No one moves.

"Please let go of me. I can't breathe, Zayn."

He releases his collared shirt and both Harry and Zayn look to each other. They have wide eyes, but neither of them says anything until Niall digs in his pocket, taking out small strips of paper and dropping one in everyone's hand. He writes down February 23 and then passes the pen down to the next person.

Harry holds it but just looks at him, confused. "What do you want me to do with this?"

Liam watches from the corner. Tries to keep himself from throwing up.

"Write down today's date and don't tell anyone."

Harry writes down December 31 and then passes it to Zayn who makes a face but still writes down the date. August 29.

He gives a nauseous Liam the pen. His hand shakes as he writes November 2.

Then he looks up at Niall. Really, everyone is looking at Niall. Niall looks at the naked wall and then opens his piece of paper. "February twenty third."

Harry bites down on his lip and opens his paper. "December thirty first."

"August twenty ninth."

"Shit," Liam hisses. "It's definitely not my birthday. I um, I wrote down November second."

"These are the days you were admitted into the hospital," Niall frowns. "I um, I'm sorry. I should've said something earlier."

Liam stands up. "What happened to me?"

"You fell on a fallen tree, I think. The doctors said it was nasty."

"Well how do we get out of here?" Harry.

"You need to get out the right way."

"What does that even mean?"

Niall suddenly remembers. His fingers start to tingle, tiny little nerves jumping with the excitement of waking up. "I have to go. I'm sorry about today."

"What do you mean you have to go? Niall, you can't leave us here. We're like mice." The panic is clear in Harry's voice. He sounds just as antsy as Niall feels. "We can't stay here like this. Can't you stay?"

He's never tried fighting the thoughts of his window and the large height of his building. He's never not had his fingers clutched to his balcony window, never not had his ears bleed as he fell down for so long until he wasn't falling anymore.

And if he's the only one who can help, can't he just stay a little longer, help everyone figure something out? "Yeah, I'll stay right here until everything's figured out."

Harry nods reluctantly but then shakes his head.

"What is it?"

"You need to leave. If what you're saying is true, then Cecily is there in the room awake, and she can't be there alone. She needs someone, you need to make sure she's all right. Niall, you need to-"

"Okay." There's no point in arguing. His nerves are starting to burn. The medication is wearing off and he needs to get home.

The hospital building is tall enough, he evaluates, and there's bound to be an empty room on one of the floors.

"I'm going. I'll see you guys later, okay? I'll come back."