No Regrets

*LIZZIE’S POV*

My phone buzzing on my end table woke me up. Reaching over, careful not to disturb Harry as he lay practically wrapped around me, I let my eyes adjust to the light before I could read my screen to see who was calling. It was Eleanor.

“Hello?” I whispered, looking over to Harry’s still peaceful face on the pillow.

“Lizzie, will you come down to my room?” Danielle’s voice frantically asked on the other line. Confused, it took me a moment to process what she asked.

“Is everything all right?”

“Just hurry, please.” She almost sobbed before the line cut off. Slowly sliding Harry’s hand off of my waist, I slid out of bed- making sure that Harry stayed asleep as I dressed my self. Quickly throwing on a pair of Harry’s sweats with a big tshirt, I practically ran out of the apartment, taking the time to quietly shut the door behind me, before continuing my modified sprint down the hall to Danielle’s room.

“It’s me! Open up!” I half whispered as I knocked on the door. Danielle opened it less than a millisecond later.

“Lizzie, thank god.” She said as she let me in, looking out in the hall to make sure no one was there before she closed the door behind me.

“What the hell is going on? I’m scared, Dani. Talk to me.”

“It’s not me; it’s Eleanor.” She said, leading me towards their bathroom where Eleanor was soaking in a massive bathtub.

“El? What’s going on?” I asked, kneeling down next to her. I noticed immediately how pale she looked prior to noticing the amount of bloody towels on the floor in the bathroom.

“Lizzie, I don’t know what’s going on.” She whispered as she turned to me, silent tears racing down her face. “I’m so scared.”

“What happened?” I asked, becoming more and more worried for her.

“I felt sharp pains in my stomach earlier this morning, so I called Danielle thinking that it was just period cramps or something…and I started to bleed, and it was so much more than period amount.... but…”

“But what?” I asked, frantic for her to continue so that we could figure out how to help her.

“I haven’t had my period for the past 12 weeks…” She whispered, looking down at the bath water.

“Did you tell Louis? Or take a pregnancy test?”

“No.. I was afraid. I can’t be pregnant now. Louis can’t be a dad right now.” She shook her head, though it seemed to pain her because she immediately stopped. "If I didn't take a pregnancy test, it seemed like it wasn't real."

“Eleanor, I know you probably don’t want to do this, but we need to get you to the hospital.” I said firmly, continuing on before she could protest. “You need help; you’ve lost a lot of blood. We have to tell Louis.”

“Please, Lizzie..” she began to cry harder for a few moments before she finally looked up at me. “Okay.” As Danielle ran down the hall to get Louis, I got Eleanor out of the tub and helped to dress her, though she was bleeding very severely.

“El?” Louis’ voice suddenly echoed throughout the apartment.

“We’re in here!” I screamed out as I focused back on Eleanor who seemed to be turning paler and paler.

“Oh my god,” Louis said as he entered the bathroom, running to Eleanor. I stepped back as he wrapped her in his arms, squeezing her tight.

“Louis, I think we need to get her to lie down again,” I said gently as he picked her up, leading the way to the couch. “There’s no way in hell we’re going to be able to get her to the hospital like that. I’m calling for an ambulance.” I walked back to get my phone off of the bathroom counter, trying to keep a calm head as Louis was quickly losing his. Dialing the emergency number, I immediately gave the operator our address, but before I could continue, Eleanor seemed to be fading fast.

“Lizzie! She’s not responding; what do we do?” Danielle asked from where she sat, shaking Eleanor’s arm. Unsure, I handed Danielle the phone to talk to the operator before I took control.

“Louis, lay her on the ground. We need a firm, flat surface.” I said, thankfully without questioning me, he complied. “Eleanor! Eleanor, I need you to respond!” I practically screamed, tapping at her shoulders. She didn’t respond. I felt my body temperature drop. I was scared. Bending down, I tried to listen for her breathing, but I heard none. Looking for her chest to rise, I saw no signs of life. Still scared, my fingers shook as I fumbled with the zipper on her hoodie before I could completely unzip it, revealing her grey sports bra. Pushing the halves of the sweatshirt aside, I began my thirty chest compressions for CPR as I listened to Danielle and Louis on the phone.

“25..26..27..28..29..30,” I counted aloud to myself. Brushing her tousled brown hair from where it lay across her face, I tilted her head back before I bent down, pinching her nose shut as I pressed my mouth entirely on hers, giving her two rescue breaths. Going back to the compressions, I listened as Danielle hung up my phone.

“Paramedics are on their way; I’m going to get Harry, Zayn, and Niall. Louis, stay here and help Liz.” She said calmly, much to my satisfaction as I was quickly losing my cool. Danielle left as I continued the CPR rounds. Louis was babbling mostly incoherent stuff, trying and hoping to get Eleanor’s attention. I had continued on with five cycles of CPR before the other three guys and Danielle burst back in.

“What’s going on?” Zayn asked, running over to where we were all huddled on the ground. Allowing Louis and Danielle to offer an explanation, I focused on my CPR, making sure that my compressions were deep enough and my breaths were strong enough. Feeling a hand brush my shoulder, I turned for a split second to see Harry kneeling behind me, worry splattered across his green eyes.

Suddenly, as I was about to do compression 21, Eleanor let out a faint cough. Removing my hands, she continued to gasp and sputter for a few seconds before finally opening her eyes.

“El, it’s okay; we’re here.” Louis bent down and spoke slowly as I continued to check for signs of normal breathing, eternally grateful that my school had taught a CPR course every semester. Her eyes continued to loll and dilate, unable to focus on anything.

“It’s okay,” everyone kept repeating as they each offered their own form of comfort. Just as she closed her eyes again, there was a pounding on the apartment door. Practically flying, Niall opened the door to three paramedics accompanied by a stretcher. Stepping aside as they did their job, I felt Harry’s arms surround me from behind as he bent down, silently resting his head in the crook of my neck as we watched, frozen. Niall, Zayn, and Danielle had formed a sort of barrier next to us, linking arms around each other as we painfully watched Louis, unable to help him as he continued to try to talk to Eleanor as the paramedics transported her unresponsive body onto the stretcher.

“Lou, come here; let them help her.” Harry said as he pulled himself away from me, attempting to pry Louis from where he had attached himself to Eleanor’s left arm. It took much coaxing, but Harry got Louis to disband himself before he practically collapsed into Harry’s arms. Louis buried himself in Harry’s mop of curls before he let himself sob. His cries shook me to the core.

Unsure of how else to respond, I wrapped myself around Harry and Louis; expanding both of my arms around their backs, I was quickly joined by Danielle, Zayn, and Niall as Louis softly composed himself… his sobs subsiding.

“She’s stable. Let’s transport her before we lose her again.” One of the paramedics announced suddenly. Jumping back and allowing Louis out, he once again attached himself to the stretcher as the paramedics began to wheel her out- Danielle following close behind.

“Harry, are you all right to drive?” Niall asked suddenly. We all turned to the green eyed boy next to us, awaiting his answer.

Notes