theodore_nott21 (theodore_nott21) wrote in unforeseen_rpg, @ 2007-09-28 14:37:00 |
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Anthony looked like hell. Of that much, there was really no argument. His clothes were stained with blood and sweat, his eyes had bags and bags underneath them, his hands shook slightly from exhaustion. The two mediwitches from the Ministry helped, sure, but both he and Madame Pomfrey had to brief them on the injured before they could start helping out. About thirty minutes of talking, and hours and hours of paperwork ahead. Still, they and Madame Pomfrey had their hands full transporting the seriously injured that Madame Pomfrey and he weren't able to treat to Saint Mungos, and he was left cleaning up the last few injured. He walked over to Theo, and gave him a weak smile as pulled out his wand, and muttered a sing-song spell, a golden light seeping through Theo's skin and mending the bone.
Theo had woken up alone. He had been disappointed and slightly worried, plus in pain now his spell had worn off. Blaise and - surprisingly - Draco, had come to visit him earlier. Theo was relieved they were both mostly uninjured and had been pleased to see them. Anthony had finally come over to see him, shooing them away. Theo now stared down at his arm. "Thanks," he said.
Anthony yawned, blinked a few times, and rubbed his eyes blearily. "No problem Theo." he said, gently taking Theo's arm in his hands and turning it over, running a finger along the bone, examining the joints with deft fingers.
Theo let Anthony feel his arm and studied the boy's face. "You look terrible," he said bluntly. "I don't suppose I look much better. It's been a long day." He coughed and shifted, his back still bothering him. “It’s okay?" asked Theo, phrasing it as a question. He gestured to his arm with his other hand.
Anthony gave him a wry smile. "Well, I look better than I feel." he said, letting go of Theo's arm and straightening up a bit. "Yeah, it's healed perfectly. No scars, no nada. It'll be a little sore for a day, but then you won't even know it was ever injured."
"You must feel like death run over, then." Theo didn't smile as he said it. He was in pain and it made him tired and cranky. "What about my back?" he asked impatiently. "I slammed into that wall pretty hard. Hurts like hell."
Anthony frowned a bit. "Turn around." he said, conjuring a curtain around them. "And take off your shirt."
Theo did as he said, pulling off his shirt and rolling over onto his belly. "Well?" he prompted.
Anthony ran his cool hands gently along Theo's spine, feeling every disk. "It seems alright. You might have compressed a disk or something." he said, frowning deeper and pulling out his wand. "This might tickle a little bit." he said, and ran the wand along Theo's spine, from top to bottom, a 3D image of the spine appearing in his mind's eye.
Theo let Anthony study him, ignoring the weird sensation. He was impatient - he just wanted this to be over and done so he could leave.
"Yeah, you injured a disk in your spine at T6. I can fix that up, but you'll need to minimize activity for a few days." he said, pressing his wand into the middle of Theo's spine, hard, and muttering a spell.
Theo felt a funny sensation in the middle of his back, but the pain was still there. "Is that it? Can I go?"
Anthony raised an eyebrow, and stood up. "I can clear you, yes..." he said, cautiously. "Unless there's something else wrong."
"You're the Healer, you tell me," said Theo sardonically. He rolled over and tried to stand, wincing. His legs felt weak and his back seared in pain. He slid back down the wall and put his head in his hands. He had been weak too often these past few days. His head was messed up; he couldn't concentrate.
Anthony raised an eyebrow. "Let's get you to a cot." he said, quietly, picking up Theo with some effort and carrying him over to one of the clear cots, laying him down delicately, and going and fetching a bright blue pain potion. "Open." he commanded, placing the uncorked vial at his lips.
Theo seethed. A cot! This was so embarrassing. Still, he knew it was his best chance of getting well again, and besides, he was too drained to protest. He let Anthony carry him over and drank down the potion obediently. He closed his eyes as most of the pain was washed away.
Anthony looked down at Theo, concerned, and ran his wand over him once more. He shook his head, his brow furrowing. "I'll be right back." he said, wandering off into Madame Pomfrey's office and fetching Theo's thick medical file. He pulled out a stool, sat down next to Theo, and began to read.
Theo turned his head and watched Anthony reading what seemed to be his medical file. He had been in the Hospital Wing more than once in his time at Hogwarts, mostly at the start of the year, after a nice summer home. His father hadn't always healed his cuts and bruises from his punishments. Sometimes he just laughed when Theo complained about them, and told him they would build character, that real men could take pain. Theo turned his head away bitterly. More memories he didn't want resurfacing. He looked back over at Anthony. "Well?" he asked, his voice carefully calm and controlled; his face blank.
Anthony read through the rather extensive file. Red flag after red flag. Suspicious wounds after visiting home, injuries that didn't quite heal right. Still, he didn't even need to make the logical leap. There were letters back and forth from Madame Pomfrey to the Ministry about the abuse, as required. Still. He continued reading, looking for prior spinal injuries, brain injuries, anything that could cause this kind of behavior.
Theo sighed when Anthony didn't answer and turned back to inspecting the ceiling. He waited for the other to say something, knowing he must be reading through all his excuses and injuries, learning things Theo didn't particularly want him to know.
Anthony read to the back of the file, a process that took around five minutes even at the lightning fast pace that he read, then he closed it. "Where do you feel the pain?" he said, bringing the file to his chest automatically, hugging himself in thought.
"Around my upper to middle back," Theo answered, not looking over. "My chest hurts slightly, maybe from smoke inhalation, I don't know. And my arm, but you've covered that." He turned his head, staring defiantly into Anthony's face.
Anthony bit his lip, looking down at the floor and running through the options in his mind. Chest pain plus back pain equals organ injury. But he was cleared for that. So, spinal injury. Cleared for that. Brain injury? Possible, but no other symptoms, so unlikely.
Theo watched Anthony bite his lip, looking worried. "What's wrong with me?" Theo asked softly.
"I'm not sure." Anthony said, quietly, as he ran his hand through his hair. "What curse were you hit with?"
"I... I don't know," said Theo, thinking back. "It was all so hectic; curses were flying everywhere. It could have been anything."
Anthony shook his head. "Do you have any ideas? What did it feel like, exactly? What color was it?"
Theo's brow furrowed in thought. "It threw me back against the wall, knocked all the wind out of me. It was pretty strong... A blasting spell? Reducto? It looked a bit different to Reducto, though, and it was stronger. I don't know what colour. I wasn't really paying attention." Theo rolled his eyes.
Anthony closed his eyes in thought. It had to be organ damage. Triage must have missed something. "Roll over." he said, gently prodding Theo every two inches on his chest with his wand, until he had a grid of two inch by two inch squares.
Theo had done what he said, rolling onto his back. He was now very confused and slightly scared, and took a couple of deep breaths to calm himself.
Anthony opened his eyes, muttered a charm, and the grid glowed. "Keep your eyes on the ceiling." Anthony said, quietly, as Theo's chest turned transparent. Anthony watched the organs carefully, inspecting them bit by bit.
Theo nodded and did what he said. He didn't want to see what Anthony was doing to him.
Anthony shook his head. This was a puzzler. He continued watching - perhaps something would change.
Theo swallowed. "What's wrong?" he asked worriedly.
"I wish I knew." Anthony said. He smiled a little bit, then suddenly leaned close to Theo, saying loudly, "Boo!" Then he pulled back and watched his heartbeat.
Theo jumped. "What the hell was that for?" he cried angrily. His heart pumped in his chest. "Merlin."
"Watching for a heart abnormality." he said, with a bit of a smile. "Not the traditional way to do it, perhaps, but I needed a smile."
"Right." Theo didn't smile. "You are crazy, Goldstein." But... Abnormality...? What was going on? Theo glanced down at his chest absently and nearly screamed. "Merlin! Why, in the name of all that is holy, didn't you warn me you were opening up my chest?" He looked back up, feeling sick. "What's wrong with me?"
"It's not open. Just see-through." Anthony said. "I told you not to look down, hmm?" he chastised. "And, I don't know."
"Well can you hurry up and find out?" Theo whined. He closed his eyes, feeling sick and hurting despite of the pain potion, and wanted Blaise.
Anthony shook his head. He reversed the charm, and watched Theo's chest slowly fading back to its normal pallor. He moved his wand up to Theo's head, and began tracing dots around it just like with his stomach.
Theo sighed. He let Anthony continue to inspect him, fear gnawing at his insides.
Anthony paused, midway through what he was doing. "Wait. Is it still hurting?" he asked, looking Theo in the eyes.
"Yes," said Theo quietly. "Less now because of the potion but yes, it is still hurting."
Anthony tapped his nose. "Well, well." he said. "Roll over. It's your spine."
Theo sighed and rolled over, wincing.
Anthony ran his wand over Theo's spine, and smiled wryly. "Gotta be an organ issue." he muttered to himself. "Must be."
Organ issue...? Something was wrong with him and Theo didn't know what, and neither, it seemed, did Anthony. That worried Theo.
Anthony rubbed his nose in thought. "I'm going to keep you under observation for a while. Nothing else I can do at the moment."
"Maybe we should go find someone more... professional?" Theo suggested weakly, biting his lip.
Anthony raised an eyebrow, a little insulted. He straightened up. "I'm what you've got. You're going to have to deal with me."
Theo sighed. "I didn't mean it like that," he said wearily. "I just don't want to die, okay? And no offence, but you said it yourself... You don't know what's wrong with me."
"And they won't either. Rest, Theo." he said, standing up, fully. "You won't die. I've lost too many today."