RP: Ken Li Date: Tuesday, 13 July Characters: Ken Li Location: St Mungo's Private/Public: Private Rating: PG - slight language Summary: Ken goes for his physical, but wonky magic interferes....
Ken was tense, really tense, and not because he was standing in a clinic wearing only shorts. He could feel all the muscles in his shoulders knotting up and no amount of deep even breathing was stopping it. So much was riding on the outcome of this physical and he didn't know what he was going to do if the healers said he was ready. Scream probably. Punch something, definitely, and then get very, very drunk. Most likely it would be all three and then he'd do something stupid just to show how much he didn't care (yeah, right).
"Try to relax a bit more," Dorothy, his healer, chided him as she ran a diagnostic with her wand, the tip glowing slightly green as it travelled down his body. Her smile was understanding though, over the past year she had learned just how much his job meant to Ken.
Ken pulled a face at her. "You know it's because you're waving that thing at my groin," he joked, trying hard to do what she wanted.
Dorothy gave him a droll look. "Be good and you have nothing to fear."
Fear. Ken frowned slightly, the good humour vanishing. He was afraid, even thought he felt so sure that everything was back to normal. He could run just fine these days, even though he was careful - just in case - and did a lot of his old fitness regimes. Certainly his body was in good shape, toned and without an ounce of flab, but that was going to mean nothing if Dorothy found that something still wasn't quite right with his knee. The goblins were strict and they weren't going to let him go out in the field if there was the chance he would be at more at risk than usual because his knee was going to give out when he needed it most.
He rolled his shoulders trying to dispell the tension, feeling the muscles crack and click. He couldn't go back to just mentoring and training manuals. He couldn't.
"All right..." Dorothy straightened. She patted Ken's shoulder and grinned. "Things are looking good, Ken. I want to do a couple more physical tests, but I feel confident enough to say that you'll be packing your bags for Peru tomorrow."
Just like that the tension vanished and Ken exhaled. "Oh thank fucking Merlin..." he breathed and impulsively pulled his healer into a tight hug. "Thank you... thank you so much."
"Hey, let go you oaf!" Dorothy was laughing though, liking nothing better than when she could give a patient this sort of good news.
Ken didn't let her go until he'd bestowed a smacking kiss on her cheek. He was grinning madly now, resisting the urge to boogie around the room in joy. Wait till he told Corrie, Lucy, Asha, Albus and all his other friends! Perhaps he'd even take Rose Weasley out for a dance and show off his skills there. Certainly there was going to be a mass outing to the Leaky and he'd be buying the rounds.
Still laughing softly, Dorothy cast a spell on his knee that would indicate any problems he wouldn't feel, and whether he was favouring the other leg, and then directed him to the treadmill. "Let's see you do a hard run first."
Ken pulled on his trainers and then got on the treadmill. Dorothy started it up at first to a slow jog and then the pace increased until Ken was really having to work. He didn't mind though, in fact he was enjoying it, just running hard out, sweat dripping down his face and back as the minutes passed, but not a twinge of pain in his knee. Looking at Dorothy, who was raising her wand to slow and stop the treadmill, Ken's mouth stretched into a broad grin that suddenly vanished as the pace accelerated rather than decreased. "Hey!" he made a grab for the treadmill's handle bars, he got a grip, but his feet were slipping. "Stop it!" he gasped to Dorothy who was looking confused and alarmed.
She cast the off spell again, but this time the treadmill reversed at high speed and Ken was flung off, slamming against the wall with a force that knocked the breath out of him and gave him a massive headache. There was also a cracking sound and he felt a sharp pain in his wrist. "Fuck..." he groaned, sagging onto the ground, his head aching from the bang it had received and his wrist screaming.
"Oh-oh-oh..." Dorothy was almost crying, her hands reaching out as she hurried to his side. "Ken, I'm sorry! I don't know what happened! I was casting the right spell, I'm sure! Oh Merlin... your head... wrist... I'll fix... no, maybe someone else should..."
Blinking, Ken frowned at her, no longer angry but confused. "But you're not a Ministry worker..." he muttered and then shook his head - which turned out to be a mistake because it hurt more than ever. "'s not your fault."
Vaguely he was aware of another Healer coming in and taking him away while Dorothy continued to spill out apologies. Spells were cast to heal his bruises and wrist, but the blow to the head had them worried and he was ordered to stay for a while just in case of concussion. When Ken was finally given the all clear, he gathered his things and was walking out of the ward when Dorothy approached him. She was more composed, but there was obvious strain in her face.
"Ken I... I'm sorry," she twisted her hands together, biting down on her lip.
"Forget it, something went wonky, it's not your fault," he said with a small smile. "I've still got the all clear for my knee, right?"
"Yes," Dorothy managed a smile then. "We didn't managed to do the full physical though so you'll need to do that - so no jaunting off just yet, but I'm sure you'll sail through just fine."
"Yeah, of course I will," Ken was a little disappointed that he couldn't just go and he was going to lose out on the plum job that had come up in Peru because of the delay, but at least this incident hadn't killed his chances completely. "Book me in for a physical ASAP then."
"Sure - and hopefully this time things will be fine," Dorothy's smile got a bit stronger. "I'll be in touch with the new appointment."
"Looking forward to it," Ken gave her a lazy salute before turning on his heel to walk away. He was frowning as he left though, his thoughts on what had happened. Dorothy was a competent healer, with twenty years experience, and it just didn't make sense for her to make such a lousy mistake with a simple spell - no matter what Corrie said. Despite getting the all clear, Ken wasn't happy. He had that bad feeling in his gut that something was really wrong, but he still didn't know what. It was all very frustrating and now likely to keep him awake.
"Didn't think Tuesday the thirteenth was supposed to be an unlucky day," he muttered, walking out of the hospital and onto the footpath. After a moment's hesitation, he turned to head for the Leaky Cauldron. If he was going to think, he might as well do it with a beer in hand.