InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "You make my mouth drool!"

Blows to the head weren't new to Angus over his many years in pro Quidditch, and he was intimately familiar with all the usual follow-up tests and questions. He sat patiently and answered her questions thoroughly: he'd had no dizziness, no blurred vision or ringing in his ears, no spells of confusion, no trouble sleeping or trouble waking from sleep, no headaches. As far as he could tell, he was physically shipshape -- but he also knew that his physical condition was the smaller part of what he and Florrie needed to talk about today, and he wasn't really looking forward to the larger part.

"Looking good, right, doc?" he asked her, jumping up from the exam table once they were through. "I reckoned it would be. That Bludger barely touched me, anyway." He offered her a friendly grin. "When you're a big bloody target like me, you do learn how to dodge a bit."

Florrie grinned in spite of herself at Angus' words. "I reckon you do. There's nothing physical that I can find," she told him, because there wasn't, and that was good news. "We still need to talk about flight safety, though." Which was a cue for Angus to start, because Florrie wanted to let him say what he needed to about that instead of talking about her own concerns.

He nodded and looked down; even if he didn't particularly want to talk about his state of mind and was worried about his chances of flying again once he let it all out, he'd already promised himself he was going to do the responsible thing and be honest with his medic. She'd been good about letting him fly; he didn't reckon she'd pull back on that without good reason.

"Yeah," he agreed. "Well, so… first, I wanted to say thanks for letting me go back in after the hit, Flor. I know some might say I shouldna have been flying after that, but it meant a lot." Angus tried for a smile at her and was only moderately successful. "But since then it's been a bit rough. The first little while after the match I was thinkin' maybe I shouldna be flying at all. You know… if I'd blundered right into someone while I was blanked out and hurt them, or if I cost points for the team. I'd never want that."

Maddie had set his head on straight about that, at least; then his talk with Gregor had convinced him he needed to be doing more to keep everyone safe, including himself. He ran a hand through his hair, mussing it further than it already was. "I want to be flying, Florrie. And I know I can. But I need to be more sure I'm all right for it. Reckon I could use your help with that."

"I'm responsible to both you and Merc for your flying. If I thought we hadna had the match in hand, I'd never've let you back on the pitch." It was a sign of Florrie's own distress at this discussion that her Scottish accent, which she'd worn the rough edges off of during her long years at Mungo's, was out in full force.

She settled on the exam table next to Angus, turned toward him so she could get a good look at him without him having to look at her. "I agree that we have to find a better way to help you and to make it safe. I was terrified when I saw you lose yourself on the pitch, especially with the hit to the head. Something like that could kill you. Do you have any ideas about how we should solve this problem?" Florrie had one, that she'd thought about a lot, but she didn't want to impose it on Angus if he had better ideas of his own. Especially not when he'd so clearly thought a great deal about the matter.

Angus shook his head, still looking down at his hands. "Aside from what we're already doing, the breathing and focus exercises and that, not so much. Spell Damage at Mungos tried so many different things on me the past year and more. Potions, charms, crystals, feckin' aromatherapies... I don't even know what's left to do. The one thing all those Healers agreed on was it'd take time. They've seen enough of us who were in Azkaban, I guess they'd know.

"And it's true it's got better -- when I first came out it was every day. I dinna remember most of that first month out at all. And now it's once a week or once in two weeks if I'm doing especially well, and not as bad as it was. So maybe time heals all, like they say. But in the meantime, while it's affectin' my game..." He sighed, pushing his fists down into the exam table in frustration. "I'm not much for waiting, do ye ken? If a Muggle doctor told me she could fix my wee brain in surgery, I'd let her cut open my head in an instant."

"Aye, I ken," Florrie told Angus, nodding in sympathy. "I had a thought recently, though, that might not solve all, but could help wi' yer safety, at least, if you'd be willin' to try it. If we could find some way to tell when it came on, a charm or some such, and it could alert me on the ground, then at least we could get you down safely. Can the Healers detect the spells when they happen or no, or do they ken yet?"

Angus raised his head, looking at Florrie again. "Aye, I had a young Healer very eager to put all kinds of tracking spells on me while he had me under observation. There's something to do with heartrate… or was it breathing rate? Dinna recall. But it didna help with preventin' anything, so they never went anywhere with it." He shrugged. "Still, I reckon that's as good an idea as any, Florrie. I'm game to try it. Reckon Healer Kaur can send you whatever he found out." He rubbed his beard and smiled, a bit more hopeful. If this worked… well, his head would still be cursed, but at least he wouldn't have to worry so much about hurting anyone when he flew. "You reckon it'll really work?"

"I reckon it's a step that will keep you safe enough while flying. So we'll not have to worry about ye driftin' into the stands, or the rest of the team." Florrie's smile was tinged with relief; if this worked, and she expected it to, there would be no question of grounding Angus. And she had no doubt that any two of the starters could handle part of a match without him.

"And I can keep flyin'?" That was the question that had been on Angus's mind since the match -- whether, knowing he himself wasn't so sure on the question, Florrie and Merc would still let him go in. "If this works, I mean -- you'll tell Coach he can still put me in?"

Florrie's smile only grew as she nodded. "Aye, if we can make it work. It willna be perfect, but it'll be safe enough."

Angus sighed and bowed his head again, this time in relief. "Thank Merlin, and thank you." He glanced over at her with a determined look, clear-headed and focused now that he had something to focus on. "All right, darlin'. What do we have to do first to make this work?"

"Tomorrow morning, first thing, down to London for both of us and we talk to Healer Kaur." Florrie's smile grew fierce and focused to match Angus' own determination. "I used to be Deputy Head of Mediwitches; I still have a few strings I can pull at Mungo's. Tonight, though, Angus--tonight, if you want to, we fly."

Angus grinned back at her, his spirits lifting with every word. "Yeah? I'd like that." He stood, stretching out his back. "Then lead the way, Florrie. I'll do my best to keep up."