InsaneJournal

RP: Ernie and Audra
Who: Ernie Macmillan and Audra Macnair
When: May 3rd, mid-day
Where: St. Mungo's, Spell Damage Ward
What: Ernie finds his way to consciousness and Audra dotes accordingly
Rating: PG, for loves



Consciousness came slowly. So did his memory - when he manage to open his eye, the blurry scene matched the mess in his head. What could he last remember? Weird feeling - cold. Numb. Like he felt now.

He was lying down. There were lights but nothing that helped him focus. He was alive... probably. Ernie moved his tongue in his dry mouth and tried to speak; pieces of him didn’t want to cooperate. He closed his eye again and it was a good five minutes before he swum back to the surface to take another peek at the world.

Once Audra had heard about Ernie, she had rushed over to St. Mungo’s. The Healers hadn’t been keen with her staying at first since she wasn’t technically immediate family, but after a few well-chosen words (as well as the need for her own medical treatment), they had relented and let her stay.

Exhaustion from the battle had come quickly, and she had dozed in the chair next to Ernie’s bed somewhat uncomfortably. She eventually had shifted so that she slept leaning against his bed, her head tucked on her arm, her hand grasping Ernie’s gently. They had survived, although it seemed just barely... and she didn’t want to let him go.

Someone was holding his hand. He was lying down. There were lights. He felt like he was made of marshmallow and cotton wool and the air smelled like that salve that Hestia had given him for his back. Hospital. He was in hospital.

He pulled at the hand that was holding his, attempting to bring it closer to examine it, but it came out weakly. There wasn’t much strength in him.

The tug, no matter how light, jolted Audra out of her sleep. She sat up with a start and a wince, the sharp movement making her shoulder cry out in protest. She looked down at Ernie’s hand where it weakly wrapped with hers and then looked up to his ravaged and bandaged face. “Er- Ernie?” She stood up and gently hitched her hip onto the side of the bed so she could sit next to him.

“Ernie, you’re at Mungo’s. I’m here. It’s over,” she gently ran her thumb over his skin, “Rest and get better, okay? I’m not going anywhere.”

His heart jumped in his throat at the sound of his name, but it was short lived. It wasn’t his Mum’s voice, but Audra’s. He shouldn’t be disappointed, but he couldn’t help but be a little bit. Even through the fog of medication, the numbness, he could feel that.

Ernie squeezed Audra’s hand. “Ok?” he murmured, mouth not exactly cooperating.

Audra couldn’t help the tears that spilled down her cheeks, though she did her best not to let herself go down the road of grief quite yet. There would be time for that. Time to mourn for her friends who had died, and time to mourn for lives that would never be the same. But Ernie was alive and she was alive and they had each other.

“You know,” she said shakily, “When I said don’t die, I didn’t realise I needed to specify that I didn’t want you to almost die either.” She released his hand and reached up to gently touch his unbandaged cheek.

“Beg’rs can’ choose,” he slurred, closing his eye and taking a deep breath as he swam a little closer to consciousness. The blurriness was starting to hurt his head - which, he supposed was a good sign that he wasn’t completely out of it. “Glass’?”

She chuckled softly, “I s’pose not.” She studied his face as he struggled to come fully to consciousness; she couldn’t even imagine the pain he had endured (or the wooziness potions were causing him now). Her brow furrowed and she looked around the room, “Glass? What do you mean by... oh, do you want some water?”

“Plur’l. T’ see.” He made a vague gesture at his head. Oh. Memories bubbled up to the surface - the exhausted and blunt sounds of healers, wands waiving purposefully, the icy-burning feeling of debresion. Singular now.

He made a move for the first time, craning his stiff neck to the right, trying to put his right arm into view. It was bandaged but it was still attached. It was numb. Felt detached. Was detached? That memory wouldn’t quite come to him. Ernie shifted back into the mold his prone body had made.

“Don’t- don’t move,” she looked around the room and spied the glasses, though when she picked them up she found she was at a loss. He didn’t have use of both eyes anymore... and the bandage was going to prevent him from putting the glasses on anyway. She screwed up her nose in thought for a moment and then took out her wand.

A few quick charms later, and she placed the monocle gently on Ernie’s face. She used another quick charm to make it stay without him having to hold it in place. “Better?” She sat back down on the bed and took his hand in hers again, resting them in her lap. “Can I get you anything?”

Clearer, certainly. The room clarified into sharpness of shape and he could see Audra - drawn and pale, arm slinged, definitely in need of sleep and a shower. A sorry shape, perhaps, but certainly better than no shape at all.

“Just’n?” What other answer could there be to that question? Oh, but the moment he thought the answer, an ache came with it, the sort that potions couldn’t suppress. His pupil dilated a little; the hand still in Audra’s gripped a bit tighter, bracing himself for an answer he wasn’t sure he was prepared to hear. “Wait- dunna-” Ernie interjected nervously, the cold grip of paranoia worse than any dementor sliding over him.

A look of confusion crossed Audra’s face for a moment and then she breathed a sigh of relief. No, she didn’t know the extent of Ernie & Justin’s relationship, but what she did know was that Ernie’s friend had been in to visit Ernie and other patients at the hospital.

“He’s fine, Ernie. Apparently a close call, but he’s fine. He came to visit you earlier,” she squeezed his hand gently and gave him a soft smile, “He said he needed to see others, but he’ll come around again.”

Ernie nodded his head and closed his eye in relief. The hold on his chest, on his heart, didn’t clear immediately, but he exhaled a breath he hadn’t realised he was holding.

“Run m’ down? Ev’r’thin?”

Audra let out a long sigh, “That’s a lot to tell, Ern. Are you sure you’re up for it?” She knew better than to ask; Ernie probably wouldn’t rest until he knew everything. She scooted a little more fully onto the bed and took a deep breath. There was a lot to tell.

“I still don’t know everything... but I’ve been able to piece some things together that I didn’t see myself. I’m sure you’ll learn more and more as the days go on.” She then proceeded to tell him about the battle, about Harry’s “death” and Neville’s bravery, about the duels in the Great Hall and how nothing seemed to be hurting anyone. She told him about her duel with Crabbe’s father and then about the showdown between Harry & Voldemort.

“...and like that... it was just... over,” she said quietly, “The dust settled and everyone started to pick up. Find loved ones... dead or alive. I saw Callum... and then I found out about you. I’ve been here ever since.”

She talked, but Ernie honestly couldn’t keep his attention focused. Moments were remembered and recognized, then discarded just as fast as his head swum. Being able to see was nice, but it wasn’t doing much for the rising pressure in his head and he fumbled to pull the modified spectacles from his face.

“Y’should go t’him.”

She reached up and gently took the glass(es?) off Ernie’s face and put them on the table, “I will, eventually. But right now, I’m not leaving this hospital without you walking by my side.” She slipped off the bed and straightened the blankets, “You need to rest. I’ll watch out for you so you can sleep undisturbed, all right?”

Audra touched his arm, a sad smile she knew he couldn’t see flitted across her features, “I love you, Ernie. And whether or not you like it, you’re all I have, so I’m going to take care of you.”

“Love you too. No poking.” His lips curled into a nearly-imperceptible smile as he put the world in darkness and tried to go under it again.