InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "I can kill you with my mind"

It'd been less than a week since Lex had been released from St. Mungo's and already she was back again. True, it was for a follow up appointment but in between there'd been the bad ideas party, the store's grand opening, the talk with Micah, the lecture from Ellie.. And she didn't know who had told Healer Pye what - if anything. Given the look she'd gotten from Florrie, she was pretty sure the mediwitch knew something had happened. No point in thinking about that now. Ellie was right. Micah was right. She needed to focus on her recovery. Which meant doing whatever Healer Pye recommended.

She heard her name and shook herself out of her thoughts, following the mediwizard back into one of the appointment rooms and waiting for Healer Pye. Maybe she could just mention the bad ideas party in passing and it wouldn't be such a big deal…

Augustus actually had no idea what Lex had been up to. Sure he was aware of the bad ideas party, because he knew Maggie and knew she planned that party. In fact, he was usually unofficially on call to help with any injuries resulting from bad ideas because well… bad decisions and drinking usually resulted the same way. (Augustus had NEVER attended himself because he was awkward enough when sober. Put him around women who were drunk and behaving badly, he wouldn’t have been able to function.)

He was just coming back from the ‘dangerous’ dai llewellyn ward where he’d been treating a mild ashwinder bite and burns on one patient. On any given day Augustus could be all over the place, but lately his main responsibility seemed to be to injured Quidditch players.

“Sorry for keeping you waiting, Ms. Yaxley,” he said coming in and adjusted the clean robes he’d just changed into. He took out his wand, and accioed his file to him about Lex’s case before taking a seat with her. “I hope you’d been relaxing like I asked you too since you left the Hospital. How have you been feeling? Any headaches or dizziness?” Augustus asked.

"Oh, it's no matter," Lex said with a smile, though she still looked a bit pale. When he asked about the headache, dizziness, and relaxing, Lex just stared down at her lap. "Mostly…"

Augustus arched an eyebrow at this response so he looked up at Lex. Sometimes it was strange being the healer for people who were older than you, and who you remembered from school. Not that Lex probably ever noticed him, the scrawny little muggleborn nerd but oh well… “What do you mean mostly?” he asked.

"Well, mostly.." She shrugged and stared down at her lip. She remembered Augustus from school, but this was a different environment. She sighed. She had to be honest - that was the way this was going to work. Part of her wished she had taken Micah up on his offer to come with her.

"I mean.. There might of been a night where it I overdid it but otherwise I've been mostly relaxing. Headaches are worse when I try to read… and the dizziness still comes and goes." She looked from the floor to Augustus, fairly certain that she wasn't about to get cleared.

Augustus looked at Lex carefully when she mentioned a night she overdid it. “What night was this? What did you do?” This was not one of those situations where you just let certain details slide. “I mentioned it when you were discharged that the most important thing for you to do is rest. That’s physical and mental rest. This is a brain injury you’re dealing with. And while reading might be something that usually relaxes you, in this case it’s going to put a possible strain on your mental rest. Anything that starts giving you symptoms should be stopped immediately,” Augustus explained as he stood and had his wand out again so he could put up some charts on the far wall to do some of her memory and visions tests.

"Friday night… after getting released from Mungo's.." Lex admitted, running a hand over her hair. "I know it was a stupid idea… I just.. I needed to let loose after being cooped up in here for a week and especially not knowing my future, I just.."

She huffed out a sigh. "I fucked up, I know that, I just…" The not knowing was driving her crazy.

Augustus looked up when Lex admitted to going out somewhere right after being released from St. Mungo’s. “Ms. Yaxley… Lex, I am not here to judge you,” he said making that clear with her hesitations and talking about stupid ideas. “I just need the facts so I can give you suggestions. I need to assess if you’re impressing or not since you’ve left the hospital. Besides, having stupid ideas is usually just another symptom. Your brain is healing and this is not just about motor skills but the way you make decisions too.”

"Well, there's this annual bad decisions party.. Which I went to… so drinking smoking and dancing.. Maggie - Portree's mediwitch - stopped me from getting on a broom for a race." Her decision making skills weren't necessarily the best on a normal day - and this was definitely not a normal day. "I'm going mental without being able to play quidditch.."

That did make Augustus pause as he was taking notes for a moment. Maggie. Well at least she talked Lex off a broom. “Right well… obviously drinking, smoking and partying will be out for awhile. Well, maybe parties but as long as you’re careful. Drinking and smoking will have to go on hold,” he suggested. “Certainly no flying. I’m sure your medic knows all of this too and will suggest it,” he offered. Augustus frowned at the mention of playing quidditch again. “I know this can be incredibly frustrating, but it is imperative that you don’t exert yourself through any physical exercise. Concussions are tricky because there is really not set standard. You could be fine within two weeks. Or at most, a few months,” he explained. “The more that you take care of yourself, the more likely you’ll make that recovery time shorter.”

"There's the Macmillan quidditch Christmas party that I'm expected to attend… as well as a few others over the holiday... " She couldn't just not show up to some of those parties. Not to mention there was her birthday and Lex's in early January.

"Augustus… if I sit around doing nothing for a month or two then I won't be in any state to play even if I'm medically cleared." Not that she wanted to think about being grounded for two months. She was pretty sure she'd drive Micah mental during that time.

He frowned at the mention of parties and the holidays but also the contrary want of going back to playing Quidditch too. “As long as you’re careful, you can attend parties. Just know your limits. Recognize when you’re getting tired.” That was all reasonable, wasn’t it? “Since it is the holidays too, if you insist on going to parties and visiting and such, I’d also recommend flooing instead of apparating too,” he added that as an after though. “But no drinking. You’re already dealing with some level of diminished capacity, you don’t need more.”

Augustus sat up thinking about what else she could do. “You’re not going to be doing nothing the whole time. This is just something to consider at the beginning. Anything that gives you a headache, dizzy or makes you feel sick is going to be bad for you.” It was just that simple. “But those symptoms will start to go away. And that’s when you start going back to routine.” Augustus pointed to the wall where he had some cards floating up with different shapes and colours. “Anything that helps in testing your memory, your concentration or ability to recall information. That will help to show your brain is starting to work normally again.”

Lex nodded, wincing slightly at the effort and wondering if she should be taking notes on all this. She sighed, looking up at the card that were floating on the wall. She'd had plenty of injuries over the years she played, but this was more difficult than the others to deal with. "What… what are the chances I'm going to end up like George - out for the rest of the season?"

“As long as you follow my instructions… it’s not going to be very likely,” Augustus said because really that was the main point he wanted to hit home about. “Do not cause yourself undue stress. Relax, relax, relax. You’re on a break aren’t you? This is a good opportunity for you to recover.” There was still a beat. “But this is no guarantee. I’d like you to come in for check ups at least twice a week. If you could, I’d like you to track your symptoms as well. I can estimate how long this will take depending on continuing symptoms vs how quickly you’re improving.”

It was a glimmer of hope and one she was eager to take. "I could kiss you, Augustus." And then the second half of what he was saying sunk in and her shoulders slumped. "I'm not very good at relaxing without my broom," she admitted, knowing she was a handful. "What sort of symptom tracking?"

Augustus’ usual professional composure might have dropped for a moment there because no… no no… don’t remember that you’re talking to an attractive woman, this was work. But with a shake of the head Augustus went back to her question. “I’m sorry but you’re absolutely not going to be able to go back on a broom until your symptoms start to go away,” he explained. “Well… you can do it anyway you wish. You can keep a diary and just write down how you felt and what you were doing. You can take a calendar and put stickers on good days and days days and write down why. If the symptoms go away… then you’ll know because you’ll be tracking less.”

“Isn’t there anything I can do to help them go away faster?” Limbs were easier in that regard- knit the bones back together and then start rehabbing the muscles and ligaments. But to just rest without doing much of anything … well, it was hard for her. “What can I do to stay in shape? Jog? Swim?”

Augustus frowned. Did no one listen to his instructions? RELAX. “No,” he said simply about getting there faster. “This is not something you rush. Look, you could rush this and go back to playing quickly and be at a higher risk of re-injury. Or, you can take the time to recover and go back and have a lower risk of re-injury. These are your two options.” Putting that out there so Lex could make the sound choice herself. “If your symptoms start decreasing you can start doing low aerobic exercise. I’d recommend light jogging over swimming.”

“Ellie said as much.” And Lex didn’t want to end up like that. “Alright,” she said with a sigh. “Let’s do it the proper way. If I haven’t screwed it up too much already.”

Augustus didn’t mention anything about Ellie, but he did let out a sigh of relief. “Good,” and then went to stand up. “So let’s get your check up done then, so you can go home and enjoy your holidays.” It would be just a simple check up to test her vision and coordination before testing her memory. This was just early days so just simple baby steps!