Chapter Text
Tomorrow is one of their official non travel days that the band requested when they renegotiated their contracts, but that didn’t mean that the band was not working. They had voted that for this tour to try to combine as many tasks as possible in one day to give them the next day off with no travel or planned official business, a day off to use as they saw fit. It could be a day before a show or after. It prolonged their tour, but in the end, the boys were happier and that carried over into everything else. The management rented an area that allowed them to do interviews, photoshoots, record, and whatever else was necessary. In the end everyone was happy, at least most of the time.
It made sense really because they didn’t have to travel from one studio to the next, and the boys may be tired, but they could push through knowing that the next day was a rest day.
Louis was the one to actually suggest the idea, and for the most part, he could push through if knowing he had a break soon. But for some reason, the idea of pushing through even exhausted him today. He was not looking forward to the concert tonight and activities leading up to it, but he didn’t know why and he didn’t want to concern anyone, he was too proud to tell anyone, least of all his boyfriend. In hindsight, that may not have been such a good idea.
Louis began the morning feeling soft kisses on his nose, lips, and cheeks. Knowing who was doing the kissing, made it that much better.
“Good morning, my Sun,” he whispers as he opens his eyes to Harry.
“Good morning, Boo Bear,” Harry says with his beautiful smile.
“To what do I owe these kisses?”
“Nothing, I just like to watch you sleep and you looked kiss starved, so I had to.”
“Hmmm, kiss starved, huh? I think I still am; do you think you can help me?”
“I’m sure I can.” Harry rolls over on top of Louis and does just that.
“Here,” Louis points and then he points to his shoulder because it feels achy and then somewhere else, each place going progressively lower. When he reaches just below his belly button, both boys’ phones go off.
Harry hurumphs and lays his head on Louis’ stomach. “Can we just ignore it?” he asks.
Their phones stop ringing and they both look up hoping it is too good to be true. Just as Harry leans in and puts a finger in Louis’s waistband causing the smaller man to shiver, their phones go off again.
“No rest for the weary,” Louis says.
“Or the wicked,” Harry grins, palming Louis and kissing him through his boxers eliciting a groan from him.
“I could stay here all day,” Harry says.
“Me too, but we have tomorrow and then a day off, so let’s plan on it,” Louis says.
Just then, their phones go off again and both boys groan.
“Remind me why we decided to join a boy band again?” Harry says.
“I don’t know Haz, to follow our dreams, achieve greatness, take care of our families, be millionaires,” Louis says.
“Oh yeah, right,” Harry says as he rolls of the bed, turning to pull Louis up.
Once Louis is upright, little spots start dancing in his vision. Harry is kissing him, but he can’t return any because he finds himself swaying.
When Louis doesn’t kiss back, Harry looks at him with alarm, seeing that Louis is falling backward, he reaches out to grab him.
“Lou, you good?” Harry asks with concern.
If Harry hadn’t been holding him, Louis thinks he may have bit it right there. When Louis doesn’t respond, Harry’s heart jumps in his throat, immediately concerned. He lowers Louis to the bed and is physically holding him up, rubbing his back trying to get Louis to respond.
It takes Louis a minute to come around and he realizes Harry has him sitting down on the side of the bed and is looking at him with concern.
“Don’t know what happened, it just came on all of a sudden. I feel fine, really,” Louis tries to reassure him.
“Stay there, let me get you some water and then I’m going to order breakfast, we’ll eat in,” Harry says.
Harry walks away studying Louis. Seeing Lou be lightheaded concerned him more than he is willing to admit.
While waiting on Harry, Louis takes stock of his body. He feels okay, maybe a little groggy and his body feels heavy, but nothing to make him feel dizzy. He chalks it up to simply getting up too fast, not eating right and the exhaustion he has been feeling. He looks up with a smile when Harry hands him a glass of water and his prescription pill that he has been taking since the Xfactor days.
Meanwhile, Harry is assessing Louis, taking in his appearance and noticing that Louis looks a little pale. Hoping that he just needs to eat, Harry makes quick work ordering breakfast and the boys get ready for the day.
“You okay, luv?” Harry asks.
“Yeah, why?”
“You keep grabbing your shoulder and rubbing your arm.”
“It feels achy, I don’t know. Like I slept on it wrong. It’s annoying me.”
“Which arm?” Harry asks.
“My left, like up here by my shoulder,” Louis answers as he tries to stretch it out by moving it in circles.
Harry comes over and starts to massage Louis’s shoulders and noticing Lou is tense. The boys stay that way until they hear a knock signaling their breakfast is here. When Louis moves to get the door, Harry quickly kisses him on the shoulder. “Let me,” he says.
They eat in companionable silence and Harry keeps watching Louis as he unknowingly taps his fingers at his elbow joint.
“Is your elbow hurting as well?” Harry asks.
Louis looks down and quickly pulls his hand away and picks up his tea.
“No. Yeah. I don’t know. It felt good, felt like I needed to do it,” Louis replies, a bit confused by his own behavior if he is being honest.
Harry could tell something was amiss with his boyfriend, he didn’t know what, but he had an uneasy feeling in gut.
There is another knock on the door and this time Louis gets up to answer and Harry watches him noticing him rubbing his shoulder with his other hand. He is lost in thought trying to figure out what could be wrong when he gets knocked on his knee.
“Earth to Haz, are you coming back and going to function today?” Niall asks before he plops down across Harry’s lap.
“Ooff. Get off, you big oaf!” Harry says as he pushes Niall to the floor and see Liam and Zayn making themselves at home.
Zayn looks at the two, “You all going to join us today?” he asks.
Harry glances up after watching Louis still standing near the door tapping on his elbow again.
“Yeah, how much time do we have?” he asks.
“Paul is coming to get us from here in 15 minutes,” Liam answers.
“Lou,” he calls for his boyfriend’s attention.
“Hmm,” Louis looks up not realizing he zoned out.
“We need to get ready, you want the bathroom first?” Harry asks.
“Yeah, sure, give me five,” Louis responds while walking away after grabbing his things.
Liam, who notices everything, watches Harry watch Louis.
“Everything good, H?” he asks.
Harry turns to Liam, “Lou got dizzy this morning, like had to hold him to keep him from falling dizzy and then he complained about his arm hurting. I’m just a bit worried about him,” Harry explains.
“Well tomorrow is our NTD (Non-travel day) so we can all rest after that. We can keep an eye on him in the meantime,” Zayn says.
Harry nods and when Paul knocks on the door, the boys greet their bodyguards as they head out.
***
Louis makes sure to stay hydrated as they record through the morning, and he eats a somewhat healthy lunch. His shoulder hurts off and on and he keeps rolling it around and stretching out his neck. After lunch, he is laying with his head on Harry’s lap while Harry rubs loves on him and massages his shoulder and head a bit. Louis feels like a well-loved puppy. When he hears Julian call his name to record his solos he pops up and starts walking forward. He feels himself start to lean to the side and his brain can’t figure out why, so he tries lean the other direction, putting his hand out for the wall to help balance him. Only there is no wall there and he feels himself starting to lose his balance. He tries to put his leg out to catch himself, but it gets caught behind his other leg and he realizes he is falling. His first thought is knowing the boys are going to take the lick out of him and he will never hear the end of it. The thought goes away when he slams into the wall and then hits the ground with a loud thump. He lays there stunned for a moment, not really sure what just happened as he waits for parts of his body to pulsate in pain letting him know where he injured himself.
Harry is silently watching Louis and gets up in alarm when he sees Louis start to sway. His heart jumps in his throat and he freezes when he sees Louis stumble, hit the wall and the then the floor. He is not the only one who sees it happen, both Niall and Zayn jump up as well.
“Holy shit! Lou, you okay?” Niall asks, the first one to speak.
Harry kneels next to his boyfriend’s side and carefully turns Louis over afraid of seeing his eyes closed. When he sees Louis looking back at him, he has moment of relief; But, only a moment, because when he calls out for Louis, he notices that his eyes are not focused, and he is not responding to Harry’s voice. Fear fills Harry and he leans down and feels Louis’s breath on his cheek, relief washing over him when he feels his breath.
By now, Liam and Julian have come out of the recording booth to find out what is taking so long and see the boys on the floor surrounding Louis. Julian asks what happened and Niall explains.
“I’m ringing for an ambulance,” Julian says as he pulls out his phone.
“No, give him a minute,” Harry replies as he snaps his fingers in front of Louis’s face.
Just then, Louis takes a deep breath and blinks rapidly as he hears a cacophony of voices as everyone starts talking at once. He is not sure why so he looks at Harry and sees him looking at him with concern. His shoulder is really hurting so he rolls over on it to try to lessen the pain.
“Ugh, fuck me. Why am I on the floor?” he asks.
“You stumbled and fell into the wall when you got up. Don’t you remember?” Harry asks more concern flooding through him.
That is the thing, Louis remembers getting up to go record, but he doesn’t remember much else. He breathes in and smells the cleaner in the carpet and begins to feel foolish. Feeling the pain lessening, he goes to sit up and immediately the boys tell him to stay down. Louis hates that he is already wasting time and being a bother so he does what he always does and ignores them and sits up anyway.
Harry watches, he always watches anything to do with Louis and he knows the exact moment Louis makes the decision to act like everything is okay. He doesn’t like it in the least, but he knows there is not much he can do.
“Stay down Lou. Just take a minute before you get up,” Julian says.
“He got dizzy this morning and now this, I think he needs to be seen,” Harry says.
Louis glares at Harry for outing him and becomes indignant.
“I’m good. Just tripped over my two feet. The wall knocked the air out of me, that’s all,” Louis says as he gets up and the boys lean back to let him. Harry stays on the floor ready to catch Louis if necessary. Louis brushes off his pants, fixes his quiff and looks around. “Really, I’m good, let’s record. I’m sorry for scaring you,” Louis reassures everyone and walks toward the recording booth.
Julian and the boys look at each other, not sure what to do, but Julian follows Louis’s lead and heads into the sound booth, while the others return to the couches. Harry watches Louis and sees him take a big breath, shuddering a bit. He also grabs his shoulder, rubbing it.
Harry turns to the other boys to find they are watching him. “That’s two times now that something has happened. He keeps grabbing his shoulder and tapping his elbow. I know he was dizzy just now, I could tell by how he walked,” Harry says.
“What should we do?” Liam asks.
“You are asking the wrong question Payno, it is what is Louis going to let us do?” Niall says.
“Niall is right. Louis won’t let us push him into anything. We have a day off coming up, maybe he is catching something and just needs time off,” Zayn offers.
“Maybe,” Harry says. “Can you all help keep an eye on him? I feel like it is something else, something I can’t put my finger on.”
He looks over at Louis and sees him doing his thing like he always does and he seems fine or he faking it really well.
***
Louis hopes he is doing a good job of faking it. The reality is he wants to lay down. His brain feels foggy and he is trying to compartmentalize to record his solo. They have sound check, meet n’ greet and then the concert. He hopes he can buy some time on a couch.
After Julian is satisfied with their sessions, Paul picks the boys up and takes them to the arena for sound check, but not before Louis convinces him to stop for some food. With his typically nagging and pen chance for annoying the hell out of people when he doesn’t get his way, Paul was quick to comply. Sound check goes fine, Louis is back to his old antics and the meet n’ greet is the same as all the others. They greet the fans; banter back and forth and then smile for pictures. Louis doesn’t tell anyone that the room spins on occasion, and he may have leaned on a fan or two more than necessary, but no one seemed to mind.
While the boys are resting in their dressing rooms before the concert, Louis goes in search of their tour doctor. He is becoming frustrated and more annoyed than anything that his body is acting the way it is. Two days, he just needs to make it two days and he can sleep all he wants. He also needs to be honest with himself. He is becoming worried. Heart problems run in the family, and he takes his blood pressure medication every day never missing one. When he gets up, Harry looks at him, a question on the tip of his tongue.
“I’ll be right back, Luv. Need to see something,” Louis says and that seems to satisfy Harry.
What Harry doesn’t see is Louis pausing to hold onto the wall after the door closes, while he waits for his eyes to focus again. When he can see in front of him, he shakes his head, as if to shake off what he is feeling; trying to put it behind him as he really does not have time for all of this. What he doesn’t realize is he is grabbing his shoulder absent mindedly trying to work out the knots he feels as he goes and look for the tour doctor, Steve.
When he sees Steve, he explains the dizziness and asks for a shot or something to make it stop. Steve asks the right questions and Louis admits his shoulder has been hurting and when he asks which side, Steve frowns when Louis answers his left.
“Let me grab my bag and do a little exam on you. I want to make sure it is nothing else,” Steve says.
Louis agrees and waits, patiently for his once over. He feels like it is nothing, he really does, but there is a part of him that is worried. He knows his left arm hurting could be something to do with his heart and heart problems run in his family, but he has always been healthy and his blood pressure has been controlled by his pills. But then, he has not been part of a world-famous band before and dealt with the pressures that come with it.
Steve runs him through the paces and even says his blood pressure is a bit on the low side, not high like Louis feared. He releases the breath he did not realizing he was holding at that. When Steve pinches the back of Louis’s hand, he looks at him in alarm, it didn’t hurt, but it didn’t feel good either. Then Steve does the same to his other hand and then looks at his fingertips, pressing down on them as well. Steve frowns and then asks Louis to take off his shirt and he listens to his heart and lungs. Louis can’t help growing a bit more concerned when Steve’s frown becomes even more pronounced.
“Louis, I want to hook you up to an IV for a bit and put some fast-working antibiotics in the drip. I will also give you a shot of B12 to get you through the concert tonight and draw some blood and see if I can’t get it to a lab for testing. You have one more day until a break and you need to make sure you take it. Stay in bed, rest, refill the tank, okay?” Steve says.
Louis nods, “What is it?” he asks, a little bit afraid.
“That’s just it. It could be any number of things and something is building, but there is nothing definitive. You are dehydrated and obviously exhausted. Stay away from alcohol for a bit, no clubs and let’s find a quiet place where you can take a quick kip while you are hooked up to the drip,” Steve says.
Steve leads Louis to a quiet area in the back of the arena and has him hop onto a bed there. He makes quick work of taking blood, administering a vitamin shot and hooking him up to the IV. The shot had to go into his bum, but Louis was not in the mood to complain. He wanted to feel better and feel better soon. Steve covers him with a warm blanket and lowers the lights and says he will be back in an hour to check on him. It was almost like Steve read Louis’s mind, he turns to his side and is out before Steve closes the door.
Steve takes one look at Louis and knows there is something more serious going on. He goes to find Paul. After explaining the situation, Paul tells Steve that Julian shared with him what happened during the recording session.
“What do you think it is?” Paul asked.
“I don’t know, but there seems to be an infection building in his lungs and his blood pressure is low and with his symptoms, I would have thought it would be higher. Things are not adding up and regardless, I want to get ahead of this,” Steve explains. “I need to get his blood to a lab and he is resting in my area. Can you check on him in a bit, I should be back in an hour?”
“Do you think he should perform?” Paul asks.
Steve rubs his hands down his face, “Yes, no. I mean, he has to, right? I think with the IV antibiotics he will be okay, but let’s see how he feels after the treatment. I’m hoping that it is just exhaustion, but I can’t explain the pain he has. That is my biggest worry right now.”
After Paul agrees to check on Louis, Steve heads out to the lab.
***
Harry looks around their dressing room after hitting up the canteen for some food for Lou and him.
“Has anyone seen Lou?” he asks.
“Not since he left, when was that?” Zayn says as he looks at his phone. “About an hour ago, I think.”
“Let me text him,” Liam says.
The boys look at the table where they hear a phone ding and see Louis’s phone charging.
“That’s weird,” Harry says to himself. “Lou never goes anywhere without his phone.”
Harry sticks his head out the door and looks for one of their bodyguards. When he sees Alberto, he walks over and asks if he has seen Louis.
“I thought he was in there with you, is he not?” Alberto asks.
“No, he left about an hour ago and no one has seen him since,” Harry replies.
“Crap, I ran to the loo then and he must have stepped out. I will go look for him,” Alberto says.
Harry steps back inside and tells the other guys and as they go back to doing their own thing, Harry’s mind wanders. He processes how Louis was this morning, then at recording and now he is MIA. He is worried, but he doesn’t know why, just a feeling he has. He gets up and heads out to go look for Louis himself. Louis always is watching out for Harry, but now he wants to see Lou, he needs to see Lou if only to reassure himself.
“H, where you going?” Niall calls out when Harry reaches the door.
Harry turns, “I need to go find Lou, something isn’t sitting right with me.”
Niall, Liam, and Zayn look at him and they all nod, knowing there is no point to disagree with Harry. They all know better than question. Niall says it is some soulmate shit and secretly he hopes it happens to him someday, that he finds someone to have what Louis and Harry has.
With the three alone, Zayn is the first to speak up.
“Do you think Louis has been acting weird? I mean, look what happened this morning,” he says.
“Yeah, but he said he tripped. He just seems quieter and more run down than normal, but then, aren’t we all?” Liam says.
“I trust Harry, he has this sixth sense about Louis. If he feels something isn’t right, then it usually isn’t,” Niall says.
That seems to satisfy the boys, but not before Zayn says, “I hope this time H is wrong.”
Harry never does find Louis. He asked everyone and no one has seen him. And the one person Harry wants to find, who would know, Paul, he can’t seem to find either. He looks until he must get ready and is called back to hair and makeup. The uneasy feeling he has in the pit of his stomach unsettles him, but he is left no choice in the matter. He keeps telling himself that he is sure it is nothing. Just him being over paranoid, but Louis being gone without a word or anyone knowing where he is, doesn’t add up and that makes Harry feel uneasy.
***
Louis rolls over and stretches, one of those luxurious stretches where for just a moment everything is right in the world. He smacks his lips to get the dry mouth taste out and he looks around to see where he is, something that is common when they are on the road. Everything comes rushing back and he looks down to see the IV still in his arm and then looks up to see how much is left in the bag to get an idea of the time. He sees that it is almost empty. Knowing it takes three hours for a drip, he knows he has been gone from Haz for a bit, so he reaches for his phone to text him. But his phone is not there and that is when he remembers. He groans out loud.
“Hey,” he hears and immediately recognizes Paul’s voice. “You good?” he asks as he comes to stand next to Louis.
“I think so,” Louis croaks and smiles when Paul hands him a bottle of water. “Thanks” he says after he has taken a sip and tries to sit up. Paul’s hand is there to help him and stays there while Louis regains his equilibrium, thankful that the room does not spin.
“You care to tell me what is going on?” Paul asks.
Louis looks right at him, typically he would lie, or deflect because he doesn’t want anyone to worry about him, but this time he doesn’t. Deep down, he is worried. Something isn’t right and he doesn’t know how to explain it. He hates feeling this way. He takes a deep breath and tells Paul what he has experienced. Although it seems forever ago since he woke up beside Harry. Louis expresses his concern over the pain he is feeling. Usually, he has a high pain tolerance, but this type of pain is really uncomfortable and he can’t make it stop.
Paul listens, understanding this is very un-Louis behavior and Paul takes it seriously. When Louis seems to finish, Paul asks, “How are you feeling now?”
“I think I’m good. Nothing hurts, my head feels clearer, not foggy like before, and I feel better after the kip,” Louis says.
“You think you are good to perform tonight?” Paul asks.
Louis nods and after reassuring Paul that he will tell him if anything changes, Steve walks in and asks the same questions as Paul. He takes his blood pressure again and notices that it has gone up, after writing it down, he tells both of them that he wants Louis to text him after the concert so he can check his pressure again at the hotel and see if he needs another drip.
“Okay, you have 30 minutes until showtime. Go to hair and makeup and I will grab you dinner. But Louis, come off the stage the moment you feel off. It is okay if you do and no one will be upset,” Paul says.
Louis nods his head in understanding, knowing that what Paul is really saying is that he doesn’t have to perform tonight. He appreciates it, he really does, but he doesn’t want to let the fans down or cause any worries.
“I will but can you both not say anything to the boys. I don’t want them to worry and you know how Harry gets,” Louis says.
Both men agree and watch as Louis walks out.
Steve is first to break the silence, “What do you think?” he asks.
“I think that we really need to watch him because the one thing I know about Louis is he downplays everything and doesn’t want to concern anyone. The fact that he sought you out and was honest with me tells me there is more to this,” Paul says.
“That is kind of what I was thinking,” Steve says.
“When will you get the blood work back?” Paul asks.
“Sometime tomorrow,” he answers.
“Let me know what it says. I may not be his father, but he is like a son to me and I want to get ahead of whatever is happening. Be nearby tonight too, just in case,” Paul says.
Steve agrees and both men head out.
The boys are backstage, getting their mic packs and in ears situated. Niall sees Louis first and gets Harry’s attention and nods his head towards Louis’s direction.
“Louis,” Harry calls out and Louis looks up and smiles at his boyfriend, walking toward him. “Where have you been? I was looking all over for you, and no one could find you.”
Louis rubs his hand over the plaster on his arm hoping Harry doesn’t see it. “Sorry H, I went to go find Paul to ask a question and we ended up talking and I fell asleep. Paul didn’t want to wake me until it was time to get ready. I’m sorry if I scared you, I’m fine, I promise,” Louis says, rubbing his hand on Harry’s face to reassure him.
Harry studies Louis looking for the lie, the tell, that Louis is not being completely honest with him, and he doesn’t see it, so he hugs him instead; reassuring his own brain that everything is okay.
“Just, next time, let me know or at least take your phone with you so I can text you, okay?” Harry whispers into Louis’s ear.
“I will Sun, I’m sorry,” Louis whispers and tries not to feel guilty when Harry squeezes him a bit tighter.
“Well, you better go because Lou will have your head for being late, I’ll go get you some food,” Harry says as the two walk off.
“Not trying to start problems, but did you think that was weird?” Niall says.
Zayn nods before saying, “And did you see his plasters? I think he went to the doctor or something, they are right where you would get blood drawn.”
“Or maybe the fact that Louis’s smile did not quite meet his eyes and there was no joking or deflecting like he usually does,” Liam adds.
“Exactly,” Niall says, “something doesn’t feel right.”
The concert goes off fine. Everyone plays their parts, and the fans know no different. Louis’s smile doesn’t quite meet his eyes and he moves his shoulder back and forth rubbing it a few times, hoping no one notices; however, Steve is in the wings watching and catches Paul’s eye every time he does it. During their intermission, while Harry and Niall are still on stage and the others run to the bathroom, Steve pulls Louis to the side.
“How much pain are you in?” he asks.
Louis knows he could lie, but it wouldn’t do any good. “It’s like a 2-3, more uncomfortable really.”
“Sit down for a minute and drink some water. I want to check your blood pressure,” Steve says as he leads Louis to a chair.
Louis does just that, closing his eyes and takes some deep breaths hoping the tightening in his chest will go away as he rubs at his chest. He wasn’t thinking what this would look like when Zayn and Liam are next to him looking at him with concern written all over their faces.
“Lou, you okay man? Did you get hurt?” Liam asks.
Zayn stands there, concern etched all over his face.
Fuck, Louis thinks. The one thing he didn’t want was happening and he doesn’t know how to explain what this looks like. He opens his eyes as he is rubbing his chest again, not really sure what to say.
Steve saves him, “he is just having a blood pressure issue and we are keeping an eye on it.”
“I’m fine, just a precaution. My blood pressure has been off, and we may need to change to dosage of my prescription. That’s all, no need to worry,” Louis reassures them.
The boys don’t look convinced, but there is not much they can do so they quickly change their shirts as they head back out.
Liam stops when Louis grabs his arm, “Hey, can you stall for a minute until I get back out there? Don’t let Harry know. I haven’t had a chance to tell him,” Louis says.
Liam nods and goes on stage. Harry side eyes the stage entrance waiting to see Louis and doesn’t miss the look Zayn and Liam share before Liam is coming over and putting his arm around Harry, both lean back from their mics and Liam whispers, “need to stall a minute or two.”
Harry instantly is worried, “Why? Is it Lou? Did he get dizzy again?”
Liam smiles, “No, no, he is taking a shit and asked for us to come up with something.”
Harry laughs at that and feels his heartbeat slow down a bit. He sees Zayn talking to Niall and Niall looking at him and smiling. He figures he knows too. Boy, is he going to tease Louis for this one.
“What do you want to do?” Harry asks.
“Let’s do some YMCA or something,” Liam responds and clues the band in and asks for the house lights to come up as they lead the audience in a rendition of the song.
With crisis averted onstage, Louis realizing he has a few more minutes, he pays attention to Steve.
“Your blood pressure is all of over the place, high, then low, then high again. I can’t get anything definitive. You need to wait a minute and focus on your breathing, and I will try again,” Steve says.
Louis listens and leans back and tries to relax and feels the cuff tighten again on his arm.
“What is it?” he hears Paul ask.
“It’s low, lower than earlier today. I took it twice and it says the same thing. It just doesn’t make sense. With his symptoms and performing the concert, it should be high,” Steve says.
Louis half listens because now that he is sitting down, he really doesn’t want to get back up, but he knows the show must go on. “Am I good to go now, the song is almost done, and they need me back out there,” he says.
“I see no reason for you to stay out but come off the moment you feel worse, and I still want to check you out back at the hotel and run another test there,” Steve says.
Louis nods his head in understanding and gets his mic pack hooked up again and adjusts his in ears. He takes a deep breath and wills himself to school his face as he jumps back on stage ready to finish the concert. He sees Liam, Niall and Zayn all look at him and when they get close by, they ask if he is okay or will touch him in a way that tells him that they know something is off. He tries his best to reassure them and gives Harry his best boyfriend smile trying to not cause any suspicion.
When they all take their final bow, Louis stumbles when they stand up. He immediately feels arms tighten around his waist as everything goes foggy.
Both Niall and Liam look at each other in alarm when they realize that they are both holding Louis up, quickly loosening their hold with their other arms to tighten their grip. Louis’s eyes are still open, but he doesn’t seem to be with it. As soon as they are off stage, they are calling out to Louis and looking for a couch to lay him down. By now his feet are dragging and both stop and scoop him up carrying him towards their dressing room. It takes Harry a second to catch up with what he is seeing and realizes it is the same thing that happened this morning. Steve and Paul are there immediately, and he is helping Liam and Niall lay Louis down. When Harry looks at Louis’s face, he is pale and his eyes are closed.
Steve slips a blood pressure cuff on his arm and that is when Harry finally moves, coming up behind the couch and leaning over and holding Louis’s hand, squeezing it and his other hand is brushing his hair off his sweaty forehead. He sees Steve look to Paul and doesn’t miss the look they give each other.
“What is it?” Paul asks.
“It’s lower than during the concert, but I don’t know what is causing it to fall like this,” Steve replies as he takes out his stethoscope and listens to Louis’s heart.
Harry doesn’t have time to process that this info does not make sense to him when he hears Steve say “Help me sit him up.” Harry, being the closest does so with Paul’s help.
Steve listens to his lungs and again to his heart. “I can’t hear anything out of the ordinary. His heart sounds strong,” he says and then he checks Louis’s blood sugars.
Just then, Louis groans.
“Louis, honey, are you okay?” Harry asks. “You passed out for a minute like you did this morning. Just stay still until you feel a bit better.”
Harry is watching Louis as he starts to perk up, oblivious to what is going on around him. He looks up in concern when he sees that Steve has set up an IV stand and is getting ready to insert a catheter into Louis’s arm.
“Wait, what is that for?” Harry asks.
“He is really dehydrated, and I need to give him some antibiotics. This is the easiest way,” Steve says.
Harry doesn’t watch him set it up, only looking at Louis’s face, caressing his head, his face, squeezing his hand, trying to do what he can to comfort his boyfriend.
Louis just feels heavy, like he is underwater, and he is not sure where he is, but he sees Harry, so he knows he is safe. He wants only one thing and says as much, “Sleep?”
Harry looks at Steve to see if it is okay.
“Do you want to go to sleep Louis?” Steve asks.
Louis doesn’t know how he does it, but he nods his head, eyes already closing.
“That should be fine. We can keep an eye on him,” Steve says.
Harry leans down and whispers, “Go to sleep Luv, I’ll be here when you wake up and when you do, we are going to have a really long talk about what you are keeping from me.” He kisses his forehead and gently lays down Louis’s hand on his chest and Niall has already grabbed a blanket, tucking him in.
Once Harry feels like he cannot do anymore for Louis he looks up at everyone, standing up to his tallest height which towers over all but Paul in the room.
“Someone is going to tell me what the fuck is going on right now or I swear to God, I will take Louis back home and we will not finish the tour,” Harry says glaring at everyone in the room. “And don’t think I won’t. He is the absolute most important thing in my life and if he is in danger, I will move mountains, hell, I will pay to blast mountains to make sure he is safe. Something is being kept from me and I don’t know if all of you are involved, but someone in this room knows something. So help me, you better tell me and knowing Louis, he probably said not to concern me, but at this point, I don’t care. We have paperwork, I am his power of attorney, I will evoke that and any other shit I have too, so someone better get to talking.”
They are all stunned for a moment, one because Harry doesn’t speak that fast or use that type of language and two, they are all a bit guilty of keeping something from him or at least not sharing concerns. Harry death glares at each person, no one escaping his anger. Niall, Zayn and Liam look down apologetically, but Steve and Paul are nonplused by this outburst, their faces showing their concern, but they look Harry in the eye.
Paul breaks the uneasy silence and explains what he knows and how Louis came to Steve and then what he shared with Paul. He also mentions Louis’s request to not say anything because he didn’t want to be a bother. Liam explains what happened during the concert and then Harry looks at Steve, questions scrolling through his mind.
“I am going to murder him once he is okay,” Harry says glaring at Louis.
Steve explains what he knows and what he suspects, but he has no definitive answers. He thinks it is something to do with Louis’s BP meds, but he will not know until he gets the bloodwork back.
Harry listens, taking in all the info, his emotions run from angry to concerned to scared. He gets why Louis didn’t tell him because Louis doesn’t want anyone to take on his worries and he is too self-depreciating for his own good. He puts his hands up to his eyes, feeling a stress headache come on.
“At what point do we take him to the hospital? I mean, this is what, three times he has gotten dizzy and now it looks like he is passed out. Can’t we run some more tests or something?” Harry asks.
“That’s why I was going to examine him at the hotel. I have an EKG machine to monitor his heart and some other equipment. Umm, I think management would prefer we try to avoid the hospital, but rest assured, if I feel he is in danger, I will not hesitate. He has responded well to the antibiotics and is coherent. It seems to be a problem when he goes from sitting to standing. That could be vertigo, syncope, any number of common ailments,” Steve says.
Harry walks over to the couch, kneeling down next to it and rubs the back of his fingers on Louis’s face. His skin is cold to the touch, he doesn’t like it. Louis is his warmth and runs hot. He lays his head down on his chest and hears his heartbeat, reassuring himself. The others look away feeling like they are invading a private moment.
“We can’t stay here, can we go back to the hotel and you can do that EKG thing?” Harry asks.
Paul looks at Steve. “We can stop the drip and get him to the bus and then up to his room. I can check him out at the hotel. That way he can sleep the rest of the night and be comfortable,” Steve answers.
That moves everyone into action. Paul goes to find the guards and get the bus to be pulled into the underground part of the stadium, so the fans don’t see anything. By now, most have left anyway. The other boys pack up their bags, including the one Harry and Louis share. Steve unhooks the IV as Harry goes to pick up Louis.
“Haz, don’t. You will hurt your back, let someone else do it,” Liam says.
“No Liam. I need to do it. You all kept this from me, and I am not letting someone else do it. Help me organize his limbs though.” As Liam gets ready to help Harry, Harry leans down and whispers what is happening to Louis and frowns when he doesn’t get so much of a whimper in response. Louis is typically a light sleeper, but he makes no noise at all.
They are all able to be secreted into the hotel without any fans seeing them. Just in case, Paul convinces Harry to let him take Louis. Once Louis is in their shared room, Harry makes quick work of taking off his concert clothes and he gives him a sponge bath to clean the concert sweat off, while all the time, lecturing Louis about everything. This keeps him calm and the fear at bay that Louis makes no sound. He makes quick work and he has Louis dressed his most comfortable jammies when there is a knock at the door.
Paul, Steve and the boys are all there, some carrying items, but all showered and changed.
“We didn’t want to leave him alone and we figured you would be hungry so we are ordering food while Steve does his thing,” Niall says.
Harry smiles and nods and opens the door to let them in. Steve heads right over to the bed and Harry follows telling him what he did and that Louis did not move or wake at all. Steve frowns leans down and puts his fist in Louis’s sternum, rubbing a little bit. Louis doesn’t respond and he does it again and lets out the breath when Louis groans.
“He’s in a deep sleep, he is responsive,” Steve says.
“What did you do? That looked like it hurt,” Harry asks.
Steve explains while he is setting up the IV drip and leads to the EKG machine. He shows Harry what to do and his explanation seems to satisfy Harry.
“Come on H, why don’t you shower while we wait on the food,” Zayn says. “We will come get you if anything changes.”
Harry reluctantly agrees, a shower would feel nice, and he feels really icky. He takes a quick one and when he comes out, Steve has a chair next to the bed, reading a printout from a box on the side table.
“Nothing of concern from his EKG. Everything is normal, but I am going to email this to a cardiologist friend of mind to see what they say. I really think he is suffering from a really bad case of dehydration, exhaustion and some malnutrition,” Steve says as he looks over to the guys eating pizza. “I will stay until he finishes the drip, and he should be good in the morning.”
Harry nods, hoping that is true. He looks to the boys, “I assume you all are staying here tonight,” he says.
“Yep, we already flipped for the other bed, Liam has the sofa tonight,” Niall says.
Paul stands to leave, seeing that there is no imminent concern and tells them to contact him if anything happens and he bids everyone goodnight.
An hour later, everyone is out for the night except Harry and Steve. The drip is almost done, and they had been quietly chatting as Harry has been running his hand through Louis’s hair.
“Is he really going to be okay?” he finally asks.
“I can’t guarantee that he will or won’t, but I am not seeing anything that would put him in danger. I suspect that it could be his medication, but I need to wait on his blood results. His blood pressure is stable tonight, the highest it has been all day. I want to come and check him in the morning before you all head out and I suspect he will be in a normal range,” Steve says.
Harry nods and a little while later, he is curled up next to his favorite human, hoping that this is just a bad day.