I Saw My Lady Weep

Chapter 30: It's Just The Car That We Ride In...

Healer Allen checked an item from the list he was perusing. He reread his notes and nodded to himself. Then with a sigh he turned his eyes to the small crowd that had gathered in the waiting area. Ginevra Weasley's friends and family had flocked in shifts to the hospital almost as quickly as she had arrived the night before. Only Mister Potter and Miss Weasley's mother seemed to have stayed the entire night... the rest came and went in shifts, it seemed.

The Healer eyed the door to Miss Weasley's room with some trepidation. If he'd got the timing right, the girl would be coming out from under whatever the chemical anesthetic the Muggles gave her at any moment. They'd have to rush to stop her from thrashing around in pain so they could heal the various breaks, not to mention getting her under the effects of a proper Pain Relieving potion. The first few minutes would be highly traumatic to the girl, not to mention the man who'd not left her side since they arrived.

How Harry Potter was going to react to what happened worried the Healer more than he admitted. The boy seemed to have a solid head on his shoulders, but he obviously wore his emotions on his sleeve. The made him potentially volatile, and the last thing they needed in a hospital was a volatile, angry man worried about the love of his life who also just happened to possibly be the most powerful wizard on the planet... if things went very wrong, some of his Healers might not make it through the morning un-cursed...

As if on-cue, Harry Potter ran out of Ginny's room, looking like he'd been attacked. He moved quickly to the counter surrounding the Healer's work-area. "She's awake and she's hurting! You've got to come do something!"

"We're on our way, Mister Potter." Healer Allen turned to his assistance. "Damon, get the tray I laid out last night... you know which one. Marples, grab that..." The Healer was suddenly whirled around to face Harry.

"YOU'RE NOT HELPING HER! GO HELP HER!" Potter screamed into the Healer's face. "She's... she's crying... you've got to..." Allen could see several of Miss Weasley's relatives coming, obviously worried about what was going on. "MOVE FASTER!" It was obvious to the Healer that Potter was on the edge of his self-control.

"I heard you the first time, Mister Potter." Without any warning at all, a red light flared between the two men, and Harry Potter dropped to the floor like a marionette with its strings cut. Healer Allen tucked his wand back in a pocket and shook his head. "I really hate that I have to keep doing that to family members. I do hope he's not too harked off when he wakes up. Marples, grab that tray right there and follow me."

The Healer stepped over Harry's unconscious form and entered the girl's room. She was moving as well as the casts and bindings the Muggles trapped her in allowed her to move. The poor girl's face was a rictus of fear and agony, and it broke Allen's heart that she was going to have to endure for a bit. Standing next to the bed was a middle-aged woman who was obviously the poor girl's mother. "Mrs. Weasley? I'm Healer Allen. We're going to take care of your little girl, but right now I need you to leave. None of you want to see her like this, and she doesn't want you to see her like this either. Besides, you might want to attend to Mister Potter..."

"Harry?" With a look of utter confusion on her face, Mrs. Weasley rushed out of the room.

Allen took a deep breath. He removed his wand from his pocket and spoke directly to Ginny. "Miss Weasley! Miss Weasley, look at me... concentrate on me, all right?" The girl's eyes were almost bulging out of her head. Her teeth were clenched shut, and she was making a high-pitched whine that was louder than one would expect. If she wasn't still contained in the head-cage and plaster body-wrap, the doctor would expect her to be spasming out of the bed.

"It hurts.... It hurts... make it stop..." Ginny sobbed. "Please make it stop..."

Healer Allen nodded. "We will, I promise. Just hold on. I need to immobilize you for a moment so we can fix your bones. Anne, if you'd do the honors." Healer Marples nodded and put Ginny into a Full Body Bind. Allen looked over his shoulder as Healer Damon came in with the tray of potions. "Good... keep those close. As soon as we let her go, we need to get them into her."

He met Ginny's eyes again. "Now, Miss Weasley... I know this is scary, not being able to move and being in so much pain, but try to calm down. This will be over shortly, I promise."

The cast on her arm was an inflatable, made of rubber and metal with space enough for him to get his wand in. He cast the first of the Episkey spells on the break in her arm, and then carefully removed the contraption. He put it aside for study rather than just vanishing it... he did have a fascination for Muggle medical technology. While he was doing that, Healer Marples was carefully removing the screws that held the halo frame from Ginny's head.

"Anne, tell me you Episkey'd the breaks in her skull before starting that," Allen whispered.

Marples didn't even look away from what he was doing. "Don't teach your grand-mother to suck Sugar Quills, Quincy... of course I did." The female healer carefully pulled the halo from around Ginny's head and with a damp cloth mopped small drops of blood from her patent's scalp. "What kind of people would even think of this torture device?" She dropped it on the table next to the temporary cast.

"People who don't have magic to fall back on." Healer Allen nodded toward Healer Damon. He leaned over to look Ginny in the eyes. "Miss Weasley, we're about to let you out of the bind. I'm so very sorry that it took so long... we have some potions for you that you need to drink immediately, and then we can continue... and don't worry; one will take care of the pain."

Marples canceled her spell and Ginny immediately sagged into herself. Tears poured from her eyes and she began to cry in long, painful heaves. Immediately, Healer Damon handed a bottle to Allen. "Ginny, drink this quickly... it'll stop the pain, I promise." He watched as Ginny leaned her head back and downed the potion. Almost instantly, the girl stopped crying and began to relax.

"Now this one, Ginny... this one is to help your bones heal the rest of the way."

Ginny swallowed the potion, but gagged. "Oh... that was bloody awful... what was that?" she whispered.

"Skele-Gro... and yes, it's bloody awful. One more, dear... and this one's going to be just as bad, I'm sorry..." Allen handed over the last of the potions. "This one will help repair your internal injuries."

He handed the last of the potions to Ginny. She had the beginnings of a dreamy smile on her face; it was obvious the Pain Potion was doing its job and doing it well.

Ginny drank the last of the potions, barely able to swallow it. "Ghastly... oh, I think I'm going to throw up..."

"Common side effect, I'm afraid. Now just close your eyes, why don't you, while we work on you a while. You're likely to get drowsy, and my advice is not to fight it." As Ginny's eyes began to close, Allen turned to his fellow healers. "Anne, if you would cut the cast off of her leg and get to work on the mess the Muggles made there, Roland and I will work on the cracks in her ribs..."

XxxxxxX

Harry slowly became aware that he was lying on the floor. His head was propped up in someone's lap, and someone, presumably the same person whose lap his head inhabited, was gently running their fingers through his hair.

"Ginny?" he asked. His voice was shaky, like he'd just been woken up, which of course he had.

"I'm sorry, Harry, but Ginny's still being treated by the Healers. But if there's anything I can do for you while Ginny's incapacitated, I will. Within reason of course... I'm sure Ginny wouldn't appreciate my doing certain things with you... and she is after all still my friend..." Harry opened his eyes, only to discover that he wasn't wearing his glasses any longer. A blurry face was leaning over him; he couldn't make out the person's features clearly, but even if he didn't recognize the voice, the long, stringy blonde hair was a dead giveaway.

"Luna?" Harry was puzzled. "What are you doing here?"

"I was owled that Ginny was in hospital, so I came. It's what friends do," she said, as if he was being silly for even asking the question.

His brown knitted for a moment. "Luna...?"

"Yes, Harry?" She reached to her left, out of Harry's line of sight, and brought his glasses to one of his hands.

"What am I doing on the floor?" Harry asked.

"The Healer Stupefied you. You were getting a bit hysterical, really, so you shouldn't blame him for stunning you." Luna's smile was upside-down to him. "Do you want to get up now? We all decided that you could use the rest, but if you're ready to get up, no one will mind."

Surprising himself, Harry shook his head. "Not quite yet. The headache hasn't quite gone away."

"That's fine. I find you comfortable. Not as comfortable as Neville, but comfortable." Her ever-present smile grew wider. "But then, few things are comfortable as Neville."

He thought about that for a moment. "I think I'm ready to get up now."

"All right, Harry." In a surprising show of flexibility, she leaned down and kissed him. It was a chaste kiss, a kiss between friends, but the act itself shocked him. He'd been friendly with Luna for years, but they'd never so much as hugged before.

"Why did you just kiss me?" he asked.

"Because... I knew you'd never let me after you stood up, ever, and I've been wondering what kissing you would be like since my fourth year." Luna's smile never changed. She leaned back and let Harry climb to his feet, then held her hand out.

Harry helped Luna stand, all the while looking around nervously. No one seemed to have noticed... "Um... thanks, I think..."

"Harry, don't worry... I am not trying to seduce you or anything. Your relationship with Ginny is quite safe. Now that I've kissed you once, I'm satisfied. Because now I know. You have very beautiful eyes, Harry, but it would never work between us. You're just too..." Since first he'd known her, Luna was at a loss for a word.

"I'm too what?" Harry asked.

"Emotionally constipated," Luna said at last. "You bottle everything up. And I don't think I could have a relationship with someone like that. I'm no good at drawing out people's feelings. Ginny, on the other hand, is an expert at it. She's suited to you," Luna said, still smiling. "You and she are going to last together for a long, long time."

"Well... thanks, I guess." Harry frowned at the conversation, not sure why it was occurring at all.

While he was thinking, Ron and Hermione approached. "Good to see you back on your feet, mate... I almost fell over when the Healer dropped you like that. You okay now?" Ron asked as Hermione pulled Harry into a quick hug.

"Fine, yeah. Luna was... um... watching out for me." Harry smiled sheepishly.

"Good for her! Look... um... the Healers finished with Ginny while you were out. They're only letting two people in at a time. You and Luna... do you want to go look in on her?" Ron asked. Harry looked at Ron with the same expression he would give someone who had asked about whether Harry wanted to continue breathing.

"Harry should go. I'll wait. He needs some time with Ginny by himself." Luna gave Harry a gentle push. "Go tell her you love her, Harry. It's what you're thinking." Harry just nodded.

As he entered the room , he smiled at Ginny. She was sleeping, and once again looked angelic. The casts were gone, as was the cage around her head; she was no longer a broken doll. Ginny looked tired, but no longer looked to Harry like she could die at any moment. He pulled the lone chair up to her bedside and simply stared at her.

Even without makeup, and her hair a mess, and the circles under her eyes, she was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen. He sniffed a couple of times, slowly coming to the realization that he was crying. He'd never cried because he was happy before. He leaned over and gently placed his head in her lap. It was, in his opinion, much more comfortable than Luna's.