What Makes You Beautiful (A Niall Horan FanFic)

Chapter 62: 30 Years Or 2 Months?

TWO DAYS LATER

Niall's POV

I look around our little circle. Everyone is gripping their phones tightly as they contemplate what we should do next.

"Are we sure no one has any idea where she would've gone?" Zayn asks for the third time in the last five minutes. We all nod our heads as we dig our brains for any clues we've overlooked. My hands find the back of my neck as I bend over. I mess my hair up as I think of everything Tara said the last time I saw her.

Nothing helps. All I remember is the betrayed and knowing look on her face after our fight at the fair. God! I'm so stupid! Tara's missing and I can't do anything to help find her, I angrily think. I glance up at the stressed out boys, my eyes lingering on Harry. The look on his face is conflicted, like he's trying to figure something out. Suddenly, Harry shoots to his feet, his hands in the air and his mouth wide open. The usual green eyes are shining bright as his brain works something out.

Harry's POV

I scrape my brain for clues from last night. I remember Tara making the snack for Liam and me. She had mentioned her mum and her eyes got all sad for a moment. After that, we talked and laughed for what felt like hours. As soon as things were going good, Tara got all serious and scary again. The words she mumbled had replayed in my mind all last night. But, for some reason, I can't recall them now. Think, Harold, think! I tell myself over and over. I shut my eyes and picture Tara. Her red hair flowing down her back and her blue eyes gleaming in the moonlight shining through the hotel windows. I can see her face perfectly.

Slowly, I remember. Everything she had said. The entire mystery being solved right in front of my face. The pieces of the puzzle finally falling into place.

Dublin!

My body flings itself forward. I try to slow my thoughts down as they race from one thing to the next.

"I know where she is. But, it's worse than we thought. Much, much worse," I say. I look around at the boys, their faces grim and falling every second. "She's in Dublin, Ireland."

Tara's POV

I meet Kayla at the hospital with a sad smile on my face. I'm happy that I get to see Kayla again, but I'm sad that it's in such grim circumstances.

"Hey," Kayla whispers. Her eyes are red and her face blotchy. I see a large blanket on the seat she was sitting on. Kayla must've spent night here...

"How are you?" I ask Kayla as I give her a hug.

"Okay," Kayla says. She shrugs and sniffles loudly as she embraces me. She is definitely not okay. I let her go and look in her eyes. Two years apart and, right not, I feel like the older sister. I've never felt older than Kayla. She's always been the mature one, the pretty one, the perfect one. It just made sense that I be the "mess up" Kayla always had to pick up after. Jack, being the helpful older brother he is, never bothered assisting Kayla with me. So, I was always being scolded for my wrongdoings and praised for sitting still and not talking. But here, in this bland hospital with my older stepsister, I feel like I'm finally able to repay her. I'm finally going to give back all the hugs and kisses she gave me when I fell and hurt myself; I'm finally going to pick her up when she is down.

"Come on," I say, taking her hand and guiding her to the chairs. "We can wait here for the doctor to come and tell us Mum is alri-"

Just as I'm about to tell her that Mum will be fine and that everything is just going to blow over, the doctor comes over to us with a dreadful expression on. My heart quickens as my mind races over every scenario possible. I stand up but Kayla stays seated, her eyes glassed over. My legs feel like jelly but I force myself to stay upright.

"Hello. I'm Doctor Cohen. You must be Kitara," Dr. Cohen says in a professional tone. I can hear his British accent clearly, just now realizing that it sounds funny since I've been in America for so long. I nod my head and stiffly shake his hand. "As you surely know, your mum has been sick with cancer for quite a while. Yes?"

"That is correct," I say, nodding my head. Dr. Cohen nods his head and looks down at his clipboard. He doesn't speak for what feels like eternity. I just want to scream and pull my hair out in anxiety!

"Well, Kitara," Dr. Cohen says slowly. Again, I just want to scream at him. But I bite my tongue and watch him flip through his many papers. "I have good news and bad news. The good news is that we have an idea of how to get rid of the cancer — for now that is — and the doctor who knows how to do the procedure is in town this week. The bad news, however, is that this, um, particular surgery has been known to be successful thirty-percent of the time. And those lucky thirty-percent people have been living their lives with no problems and their cancer is no where to be seen."

I stare at the doctor. He's so old, you would think he'd have something better than that. I mean, a surgery that has only a thirty-percent chance of succeeding? That doesn't sound too promising. But, what choice do we really have?

"What happened to the seventy-percent?" I ask nervously. The doctor scratches his hairless head and clears his throat a few times. He swallows and I watch his Adam's apple go up and down.

"Erm, the seventy-percent lived," Dr. Cohen says, "for two months at the most."

My jaw drops. They lived for two more months! Those people just died!?

"And you're sure there is no other, much safer, surgery you could do?" I ask in disbelief. Dr. Cohen just shakes his head sadly.

"The other procedures have even less chance of succeeding."

My body shuts down as everything sinks in. Mum could live for another thirty years or she could die in two months if she's lucky. I start to sob when someone, a man I think, walks up to me and picks me up. I hug him and bury my face in his shirt. He strokes my hair, and I hear the doctor say something and then turn to leave. I pull back to find Jack staring down at me with concerned eyes and a sad smile. I try to smile back, but I fail miserably.

Everything sucks right now. Just sucks. Until I get a text.

A/N:

Heylo! I'm so sorry this chapter stinks. Along with the fact that it's shorter than the others! This bugs me!!!

I don't really have much to say... I haven't been able to read up on the latest 1D rumors and such. Oh! Liam Payne is officially single again! YEAH!!! For all you Payno Girls, I wish you good luck with him! Niall and Harry, as far as I know, are still single (YESSS!). Louis is still caught up with the whole Baby thing. But! he's technically single since him and Brianna aren't, like, dating dating (I think!). And, if you still count Zayn as part of One Direction, I'm 99.9% sure that he's also single. So, in my mind, all of the boys of One Direction are single!!! WOOHOO!!!!!!

Anyway, if you like my story, please comment, vote, and/or follow me. Love ya!