“Easy there big guy,” I mutter, as I help Niall into the back of my car. Louis’ sprawled on my backseat with his eyes squeezed shut. Niall shoves him down as he piles in. Liam’s in the front seat scrolling through his phone, not quite as intoxicated as the others. I climb in the drivers side, sighing as I start up the car.

I’m barely pulled out on the road before Niall’s up in the middle seat, leaning forward with his arms wrapped around Liam’s and my seat.

“I love you lads,” he says matter-of-factly. Liam looks at me and we both roll our eyes, turning the radio up louder. Niall’s swaying to the beat, and humming along. Louis groans out back.

“ ‘so loud,” he mutters. I look in my mirror to see him press his head to the cold window.

“You okay back there, Lou?” Liam asks, trying to look past Niall’s wiggling body.

In response, Louis just groans again.

“Please tell me if I need to pull over,” I say. “I don’t want puke in my car.”

“I’m getting too old for nights like this,” Liam mumbles, a yawn escaping his lips.

“You live for this!” Niall slurs, giving Liam’s shoulder a slight squeeze. “Or has Soph finally tamed you?”

Liam rolls his eyes, ignoring Niall.

I’m honestly surprised Niall’s still conscious with the amount of liquor he’s consumed in the past three hours.

Niall continues singing along to the radio. Quite loudly too. “We are the NEW AMERICANA” he bellows. “RAISED ON..” then his voice trails off as he forgets the words. I assume that he’s finally sleeping as he quiets down.

To my surprise, it’s Liam who asks me to pull the car over. He hasn’t even had that much to drink.

“Shit- hold it,” I mutter quickly, getting ready to pull over.

“No Harry, look,” he says pointing at something out the windshield. I look to where he’s pointing and see a small figuring waving their arms frantically. As we get closer my headlights shine on her face. I notice a streak of blood falling down her face.

“What the hell?” I say and I swerve to the side of the road. The car jostles as we leave the pavement and the boys outback groan.

“What’s going on?” Niall mutters.

I keep my eyes fixed on the girl as she staggers into the road, clearly hurt. I get ready to unbuckle my seatbelt just as she collapses onto the ground.

“Shit!” Liam gasps, and we both jump out of the car, rushing over to her. Liam quickly bends down first, checking for a pulse while I kneel in front of her, trying to get her to wake up.

“Can you hear me?” I ask, gently shaking her shoulder.

“Harry, she’s hurt,” Liam mumbles.

I take a look at the rest of her body. Her shirt’s risen up just above her waste and I see a huge bruise emerging on her stomach. Her hair is matted with what looks like her own blood.

“Can we move her?” I ask, clueless of what to do.

“Yeah, we should bring her in, just be careful,” he notes.

I gently slide my arms around her and lift her off the ground with ease. She stirs in my arms, her eyes barely cracking open. I hear a groan whimper escape her lips. “Help,” she whispers.

“Hey-“ I say immediately, “It’s okay, you’re okay, we’re going to the hospital right now.”

Liam slides into the drivers side this time, instructing a very sleepy Niall to move up front so I can fit out back with the girl.

“What the hell?” Louis exclaims, a little more awake as I climb out back. He helps support her head as she continuously fades in and out of consciousness. Liam speeds the car towards the hospital, as I try to keep her awake.

“Just look at me,” I say, her eyes blinking furiously. “Keep looking at me.”

“What the fuck happened?” Niall asked, turning around in his seat to take a look.

“Lost hiker?” Liam suggests. There were a lot of trails nearby, she could’ve easily gotten hurt and lost.

“Some of these cuts are nasty,” Louis mutters, brushing back some of her hair. He reveals a gash on her forehead, probably where most of the blood is coming from.

As we pull into the hospital, Niall jumps out first, rushing to the door to help. He opens it for me, allowing me to keep her in my arms. I look down, her eyes are closed, her body limp. I go as fast as I can, yelling ‘help’ to try and get someone’s attention. The double doors to the emergency room slide open and I run inside, the boys trailing behind me.

“Help!” I call, nurses and doctors look my way.

“Help, she’s hurt!” I’m yelling.

A gurney is rushed over and people are pulling her from my arms. I go to set her down on the bed, when I feel a slight tug on my wrist. I look down and her eyes are wide open for the first time, and they’re filled with fear. When I look down as her wrists, I see red marks all the way around. She’s looking right at me, grasping for life. “It’s okay,” I assure her. “We’re at the hospital, you’re safe.”

The nurses start checking for heart rates and pulses and it’s chaotic really, so when she loosens her grip on me, I take a step back. There are five people towering over her, shining lights in her eyes and checking her pulse. A man in a white lab coat, who I presume is the doctor, is saying about bringing her up for an exam, to check for any internal bleeds. The four of us just look in horror, as she gets rushed away.

Someone comes up to us with a clipboard in hand, she’s a nurse, I think.

“Can you tell us what happened?” she asks.

I’m not really listening, I’m looking past her at the stretcher being pulled.

Liam nudges me and I jump.

“Sir, can you tell us what happened?” she repeats.

“Um yeah, we were driving and she flagged us down,” I say, “I pulled over and she had blood and stuff all over her.”

“So you didn’t know her previously?”

We all shook our heads.

“We all kind of thought she might be one of those missing hikers they’ve been talking about on the news.” Liam says, “She was right near the trails.”

The nurse nods, thanking us. “You all did the right thing bringing her in.”

She begins walking away, when I blurt out, “Where can I wait for her?” All I can think of is the scared look in her eyes, the sheer terror.

The nurse looks at me surprised.

“I just don’t want her to be alone.”

The nurse nods, still looking skeptical. But she shows us the way to the waiting room.

“You’ll have to move your car, but you’re welcome to stay as long as you’d like. Coffee’s that way,” she says, pointing down a hall. I nod, thanking her.

“Mate,” Louis says, rubbing his head, “this is sweet and all, but who knows how long she’ll be getting checked out, and we don’t even know when she’ll wake up.”

I look back at the rest of the boys, all looking haggard.

“Right,” I mumble. They are of course. It was silly to stick around. But as I stared around the empty waiting room, I couldn’t imagine her waking up to no one, so I suggest Liam drive the boys back to my house.

“Harry-“ Liam protests.

“No, it’s fine,” I say, “I wanna be here when she wakes up, or at least ’til her family gets here, she was really scared.”

Liam nods slowly, and only when he knows I’m sure does he lead Louis and a still-stumbling Niall back to the parking lot.

I take a seat in the empty waiting room and slide back in the seat, staring up at the ceiling.

I’m jumped awake by the voice of a man, “Excuse me, sir?” he’s saying.

I rouse myself, standing up from my chair.

“Sorry to wake you-“ he says, looking apologetic, “My name’s Dr. White, I just wanted to ask a few more questions.”

I nod, wiping my sleepy eyes.

“You stumbled upon her in the middle of the road, you reported?”

“Yeah, on high street, she waved us down from the side of the road,” I answer.

“Any ID you could find?”

I start to shake my head, before remembering her duffel bag that Liam had grabbed off the ground. Probably still in my car.

“Shit, yeah- well maybe, she had a bag with her, it’s probably still in my car though.”

“Any way you could retrieve that?”

I nod, pulling my phone out.

I feel bad, dialing Liam this late, but he answers after a few rings.

“Mate, I need you to bring that duffel you found in.”

He mumbles a bit and I hear rustling, I think he was putting clothes on. I take it as a yes, before hanging up.

The doctor waits with me for Liam to come in.

“How’s she doing?”

“Her facial injuries are being cleaned, she took just a few stitches to the one on her forehead. It’s the arm break and ribs we’re concerned about. We’ve got her all secured-“ he assures me, “but the break isn’t consistent with a hiking injury.”

I look up, confused.

“There are three various breaks to the arm. The newest being her separated shoulder, but our orthopedic surgeon noted the other breaks took place over large spans of time, at least two months apart. This wasn’t a fall.”

I recall the marks around the girls wrists, a knot growing in my stomach. I tell the doctor what I remember.

He nods, letting his head fall a little. “That’s what we suspected.”

Liam enters not long after, her duffel clenched in his hand and his face looking tired.

The doctor empties the contents of the bag on the counter, until he finds a small wallet with an American license inside.

Isabelle Sheppard is her name, twenty one year old from Maine. Her smiling face looks up at us. It's an obviously old picture. The license isn't even valid anymore.

“Great,” he says, “Still plan on staying?”

I nod, resting back into my chair.

“Alright, I’ll update you whenever I can.”

Liam settles next to me, leaning his head against the back of the chair.

“The doctor thinks she was abused,” I say quietly.

I see Liam squeeze his eyes shut and a sigh escapes his lips.

“I don’t understand-“ I begin, thinking of her bruised eye and swollen jaw. “how anyone could do that.”

Liam shakes his head. “I just keep thinking of Sophia,” he mumbles, “I can’t imagine laying a hand on her.”

We don’t talk much the rest of the night. I think Liam ends up falling asleep, but I can’t seem to again. I flip through some magazines, go grab a cup of coffee, but mostly just sit, thinking.

The sun’s just rising, and Liam starts to stir when the doctor reemerges, telling me that Isabelle’s awake.

Notes