Augustus Pye (healing_charms) wrote in afic, @ 2011-07-10 00:07:00 |
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Current mood: | sore |
Who: Augustus Pye, Penny Clearwater, and NPC Healer
When: Sunday, July 10, early afternoon
Where: Starts outside an ice cream parlour in Diagon Alley and ends outside the Leaky Cauldron
What: Gus and Penny weren't expecting this sort of excitement when they went out for ice cream after church.
Rating: PG-13 for injuries, some swearing, and overabuse of the scouse accent
Gus could feel himself going into shock. Which would make sense from a medical stand point considering the pain throbbing through his leg that drowned out whatever his body was trying to tell him about his other injuries. He was pretty sure that the situation had more to do with the shock than the pain though. While he had worked in St. Mungo’s during the war, he never had to deal with the chaos of battle. It was only the aftermath that were brought in to his ward. He’d never had curses thrown at him, so when the ice cream parlour exploded around him, it took him a few minutes to fully realize what happened. To register that he was sprawled on the ground, surrounded by brick and glass from the chunk taken out of the parlour’s storefront, his leg broken from where a curse hit it and the wrought iron table twisted into some weird modern art sculpture.
After that, he had gone on auto-pilot, pushing back the haziness that wanted to pull his brain under. The Healer part of him turned on, leaving behind the fact that he had been out for ice cream after Church with his girlfriend or that he had been attacked, whether it was by accident or on purpose. He found two long, straight pieces of wrought iron that he thought might have been the legs of his chair and his suit jacket in the rubble around him. He positioned the pieces and wrapped up his calf as snugly as he could before casting a cooling charm on the make-shift splint. It helped the pain a little, at least enough for him to think a bit more coherently even if he still didn’t trust himself to cast any sort of healing charm.
Penny hadn’t even registered what was going on until afterwards. The last thing she remembered was sucking a remnant of heavenly blackcurrant ice cream off her spoon and teasing Gus when everything had exploded. The ice cream had been good. Tart and cold. Like it should be. Now she was lying on the ground, people were yelling, her head was throbbing and trying to move sent sparks of pain shooting through her body. Opening her eyes, she glanced around, trying to make sense of the scene. What was going on? What had happened?
“Gus?” she asked.
Trying to push herself up on her arms to look around, she screamed out in pain and fell back to the ground. Okay. That was a bad idea. Very bad idea. She glanced at her arm. Something looked wrong about it. She was fairly certain it wasn’t supposed to look like that.
“Gus?” she called, hoarsely, unable to think to speak in anything besides her native Scouse. “There's blewd ed me dress...”
Gus’ head whipped around at the scream and he realized a bit too late that moving his head that quickly was a bad idea. The world felt like it had tilted and his vision swam. He put up a hand up to cradle his head and grimaced when his fingers came back slick with blood.
“Penny, I’m here,” he said. Once his vision had stopped spinning, he focused on where she was lying. Making his way over to her was slow going. It would have been hard enough to move through the debris, but having to deal with his sensitive leg and head just made it frustrating. He was panting for breath by the time he got to Penny. He placed a hand lightly on top of Penny’s. “I’m here...” he breathed out. “Are you alright?” He knew that a glance over would likely tell him that, but his vision was going hazy again from his exertion.
"I... Yeah..." Penny said weakly, as she turned her hand to squeeze Gus'. That hand didn't hurt. That was good.
"Arm is wrong. Not se wa’.... Head hurts ... Ay yous or’rite?"
Bugger, the accent was flaring up. That wasn’t a good sign... His head clearing after the bit of rest, Gus focused down on Penny’s arms. The arm he had a hold of looked fine, but the other... Slipping his hand out of Penny’s, he gingerly ran his fingers over her arm. “It looks like a compound fracture,” he said softly. “Although I’m not sure if the wound is from the debris or from the bone.”
Shifting his focused to Penny’s head, he placed his hands on either side of her face, his fingers very gently probing to check for a neck injury before looking for any bleeding from her ears or nose or bruising. “Can you focus on me, sweetie?” he asked. “Do you remember what day it is?”
“You’re bleed’n,” Penny said, her good hand going up to wipe the blood off Gus’ face. She tried to lift her head up, but that just caused it to spin more, so she stayed where she was, lying down and looking up at Gus. “Ay yous or’rite, baby? I... should get yous ter a docti... Wa’ ‘appened?”
Gus was going to shake his head, but realized that’d be a bad idea just in time. Especially with the nausea creeping into his stomach. “It’s fine. Head bleeding just looks bad, but it generally isn’t. More likely have some other sort of trauma...” he said absently, figuring that Penny was coherent enough if she was talking this much to not have too horrible a brain injury. Pointing his wand at his shirt sleeve, he cast a very small severing charm on the fabric before ripping it off and sliding it down his arm. “I don’t know... there... I think they were curses...” he said slowly as he worked at first wrapping the wound on Penny’s arm and then splinting it. “Broken leg. I think I hit my head... We need to get to St. Mungo’s.”
"Ay yous juss try'n ter get me ter stop worry'n?" Penny asked, keeping her hand touching Gus, needing to feel grounded, safe.
"If you're fine, then why do we need to go to the ‘ospital?" Penny asked. She didn't like hospitals. Truth be told, she hated them, magical or not. Gus was trying to reassure her. In the back of her mind, she knew it must be serious enough if Gus was saying they needed to go to St. Mungo's. She didn't want it to be serious though.
"Right.. I dun think I can apparate..."
“No apparating,” Gus puffed out as he kept his hand lightly pressed against the bandage to try and keep the bleeding from the wound under control. “Shouldn’t move you if your head hurts that much...” Not that Gus was sure if he could move much himself. His thoughts grew foggy and the sick feeling creeping through his body wasn’t helping to focus on anything else. “Someone will have rang... spelled... you know what I mean. At least the DMLE...”
As if one cue, there was the familiar pop of apparation and people in the even more familiar green robes of St. Mungo’s appeared. He relaxed as two of the Healers came over to them, the shock slowly seeping back into his brain as he didn’t have to focus on the task at hand. He didn’t hear what they said, he didn’t need to. He knew what they were doing. The diagnostic spells, the numbing spells needed to make transport easier, simple healing spells to stabilize the patient. It wasn’t until one of the Healers got up and walked away to tend someone with minimal damage that another Healer was already looking after that his focus sharpened again.
“Where’s he going?” he asked, his brow furrowed in confusion.
“There are other people who need tending,” the Healer said as she tried to pull his hands away from Penny’s arm. “Now, please, I need you to let go, Healer Pye. We need to get you to St. Mungo’s ASAP.”
Penny wasn't sure why the healer left, but she knew he shouldn't have. She still hurt and that meant a healer should take care of her right? Her arm was still bleeding and it looked like something was sticking out of it, but maybe she was imagining things.
“Aym stayin’ w’ Gus," she said, cradling the Splinted, injured arm to her chest and scooting closer to Gus. She didn't want to be alone right now, certainly not in a hospital.
Keeping his hand on Penny’s arm, Gus wrapped his other arm lightly around her shoulders. All he could do was stare at the other Healer for a long moment as he gathered his thoughts together. “Other people need tending?” he ground out. “Those other people are being tended to already. She has a compound fracture! That qualifies as emergency surgery!”
His eyes narrowed considering the Healer looked uncomfortable as she continued to try and disentangle him from Penny. “She’s not our concern,” the Healer finally said.
Gus felt like ice water had been poured through his insides which really didn’t help the nausea at all. He had heard that tone of voice far too often though. That tinge of disgust at having to deal with a patient you didn’t even want to touch, but you had to still be civil about it because you were a Healer after all. His jaw set firmly. “I don’t fucking believe this. Penny, can you ring 999?” he asked, even as he shifted to get his own phone out of his pocket and tried to ignore the pain that shot through his leg.
Penny couldn't help but snort.
"Yer concern is ter ellp anyone oo's injed," she grumbled and she took Gus phone and dialed 999, hoping they'd be able to get a signal here.
“Not when they’re criminals,” the Healer said simply and even though Gus kept glaring at her because of that statement, she seemed to relax. “Now that that’s settled, if you could let go, Healer Pye, we need to get you to St. Mungo’s.”
Ah, that’s why she relaxed. She thought she had won the fight. Penny was getting alternative medical care, so... “I’m staying here,” Gus stated firmly.
The Healer sat back with a start and blinked a few times. “What?”
“I’m refusing medical transport and treatment.” He couldn’t help the rush of satisfaction that went through him as the other Healer gaped at him, her mouth opening and closing wordlessly.
“You- you can’t do that! You are in no condition-”
“My leg is broken,” Gus listed off, not waiting for her to finished whatever spiel she was going to go on about his coherency. “It’s a tibia fracture, maybe also the fibula, in my left leg. Considering my coat isn’t soaked through, it’s not compound. I understand that not getting it seen to can lead to it not properly healing and in the worst case can lead to amputation and my death.” He fixed the Healer with a glare. “However, we are seeking medical care from another hospital, so I decline your medical care.”
Penny bristled at being called a criminal.
"Patriot, actually," she growled before reaching emergency services on her mobile and requesting an ambulance to meet them outside the Leaky Cauldron, telling the dispatcher they'd been hit by a car. It seemed the most likely excuse and she could deal with forging records later when her head wasn't splitting.
"They're ed their way. We juss need ter get ter de front o' de leaky."
Penny glared at the Healer. "Wul yous at least ellp me get de esteemed 'ealer pye ter de muggle entrance ter de leaky? er would dat put yous tew close ter a 'ewk?"
Gus wasn’t sure how he wanted the Healer to answer (or if the Healer could understand Penny fully for that matter). On one hand, he wasn’t sure if Penny could get him out to the Muggle world on her own and directing the paramedics into Diagon Alley would cause more trouble than they needed right now. On the other hand, he didn’t trust this Healer to actually be helpful. At least it seemed like the Healer was having as much of a dilemma about the situation as he was. The Healer made up her mind though and with a flick of her wand, he felt himself get lighter. He reached out and grabbed Penny’s good arm tightly as he felt himself floated into a standing position even though his feet didn’t touch the ground. “Don’t let go of me...” he breathed out to Penny, worried that the Healer would take an opportunity like that to apparate him away.
Penelope wrapped her good arm tightly around Gus, hand gripping him tightly. She was not letting him go an she was certainly not separating herself from him and facing a hospital alone.
It was slow going to the entrance of the Leaky, hobbling along with people making commentary along the way. Penny did her best not to listen, but you couldn't help it.
"Juss a little fther," she reassured Gus, knowing this must be excruciating for him.
"Yous can do it baby."
Even with the magic doing most of the work of moving him, Gus felt like it was miles to get to the end of the alley. His head was swimming, it felt like his stomach was going to jump out of his throat at any moment, and his skin felt both hot and cold at the same time. He couldn’t really focus on the people they passed, but from the vague glimpse he got of some of their faces, he figured he must look like shit. He focused on Penny’s voice. He needed to stay conscious until the ambulance came or at least until the Healer was gone. If he passed out, he gave up his consent and he doubted that this Healer would count his girlfriend as a viable decision maker.
Finally making it into the Leaky Cauldron, he prepared for the worst when the Healer took the spell off of him. His right leg trembled a bit as his full weight was put on it and he let out a deep breath.
“Are you sure about this?” the Healer asked, probably wondering if declining wizarding medical care automatically meant that you were out of your mind enough to not be able to give consent.
“If you have the paperwork, I’ll sign it right now,” he said after he pulled himself together. “Otherwise, I’ll sign it when I’m back to work. If they want my reasoning, write that if St. Mungo’s can refuse to treat people, I can very fucking well refuse their medical treatment right back.”
Penelope wasn’t sure she had ever been as glad to hear sirens as she was in that moment. Keeping her hold tight around Gus, even as she slumped slightly under the additional weight and tried to stay focused, she glared at the healer.
“If you’re done ‘elp’n, dun drain me ‘tatis de bewgaroof so de ‘ealers oo actually ellp people can do their job whun dee ge e’yer,” she snapped before hugging Gus. “It’s sound as a pound, baby. 'ear de sirens? They’re com'n. Dun we’ll be sound as a pound.”
Gus nodded his head and immediately regretted it. Wincing, he tried to settle his arm more comfortably around Penny’s shoulders. “Yes, yes, I hear them,” he breathed out, beyond relieved at the thought that he could soon just pass out and let the doctors take care of him. He took a deep breath before hobbling forward shakily. “Let’s get out front then and hope they believe our story.”
Penny took a deep breath, knowing she had to be strong for Gus. They just had to get out to the front and then they’d be okay. Her head was swimming and she was biting her lip from the pain, but somehow the two of them managed to hobble out to the street before half-collapsing against the wall of the pub.
She barely registered the ambulance coming to a halt and people jumping out and asking questions. Too many words and bright lights being shined in her eyes. She managed to say her name, though, and Gus’... and told the nice folks in uniform that he was her husband. They had to coax her away from him when the loaded Gus onto the stretcher and Penny clutched his hand.
“Not go’n ter let go...”
Gus was completely relaxed by the time they got him on the stretcher, grateful beyond words to be lying down and taken care of. He managed to squeeze Penny’s hand and give her a weak smile. “I know,” he breathed out. “But you got to let them take care of you.” He knew what would happen. Surgery for both of them, unless his fracture was easy to set, but then he’d be waiting for the swelling to go down before a cast could go on. It was a more tedious process than if they were going to St. Mungo’s, but it was better than many alternatives that other people had. And they’d be in the same place at least... Considering how Penny felt about hospitals, that was a good thing indeed. “We’re going to be alright, sweetie.. We’re going to be alright now.”