Chapter 2

"I would like to have my father referred to a different healing team."

"Mr. Malfoy, you need to understand that the injuries caused by the explosion and the car crushing your father were extremely severe. Hr. Williams and his intern, Hr. Weasley specialise in muggle-"

"Just process his request, Stephanie. We can't do our best if the patients' families don't fully trust us and cooperate."

Recognising the light but firm voice, Scorpius leaned back from the reception desk and spun around to look at the petite Rose. The nurse behind the counter stood up hesitantly.

"Healer Weasley. I'm terribly sorry you had to hear this. I will prepare the request form."

Rose nodded gently at the witch and locked her gaze straight onto Scorpius Malfoy's grey eyes. "If I were you, I would trust Healer Williams with my father's life. He's the best you could ever hope for. I understand your discomfort with me being the second healer on the case. I will sign off your father's chart tomorrow. Have a good night, Malfoy."

The faintest sense of guilt shot through Scorpius' stomach as he saw Rose's stern expression. He didn't doubt her ability. It was just that things had never been easy between the two of them, as well as between their families. Having Rose aware of so many of his private family matters would only add more problems to the ones he was already facing.

"Weasley, wait," Scorpius reached for her shoulder as she turned her back to him and walked away.

"What else can I help you with?" Rose asked with genuine care. Her face was calm and stoic.

"I'm… I'm sorry," Scorpius stuttered. "I didn't mean to doubt your abilities. I just want to make sure people don't talk about my father's situation. Our families have a long history of rivalry and..."

"You don't think I'll keep my mouth shut, Malfoy?" Rose folded her arms, her eyes narrowing.

"Look, I said I didn't doubt you," he sighed. "I'm just trying to do everything I can to keep this a secret. I know the news will leak sooner or later. And I also know it can come from any witch or wizard in St. Mungo. So the fewer people know, the better. I can only hope to delay – eventually The Daily Prophet will have us on their front page and our company's competitors will find out that my father is in a coma, and then stock prices will-"

"Malfoy, Malfoy, easy," Rose put both her hands on his shoulders, trying to keep him from shaking. She gently held his elbow and guided him to the nearest bench. Scorpius sat downheavily, and buried his face in his large hands, his fingers raking through the slick blonde hair in desperation. "Why is he in a coma? The surgeries went well."

Rose sat down next to him. "Your father was in shock, Malfoy. It takes some time to recover. When he's in a better state we will do more surgeries. The apothecary will send up some morepotions in a few days and that will help him recover faster."

"Yes, I know, you explained that to me. Still, we don't know when he'll wake up..." Scorpius mumbled.

"We'll run the tests again tomorrow. I mean, I will make sure the new intern runs the tests first thing in the morning."

Guilt hit Scorpius again. Just minutes ago he had requested to have Rose off the case, and now she was comforting him and listening to his ranting. This is odd, he thought; he rarely complained to anyone, even to his best mate Albus. He was always in control of everything. He hadn't realised he was at the edge of breaking down, and now his father's coma had been the last straw.

"Weasley, I'm sorry again. I was frustrated. I hope my request didn't hurt you."

Rose smiled softly. "No, I totally understand, Malfoy. We were never on good terms even back at Hogwarts. I know it's inconvenient for you to have me suddenly know everything about your family. Health history. Relationships between you and your parents. Your family's business, as I'm sure I would be hearing a lot of business conversations in the patient's room if I were the healer of the case."

"I never said anything like that." Scorpius defended himself.

"You were always uptight, Malfoy. Back at school you were discrete about your family and all. But I knew under those perfect uniforms and that stoic expression, you had a lot to deal with." Rose chuckled.

"Did Albus tell you all of this?" Scorpius' eyebrows furrow.

"I happened to be observant, Malfoy. Even so, Albus held you in high regard. I know there's a lot more to you than this cool, indifferent facial expression." Rose smirked.

"Thank you, Weasley. You're the first person to say anything good about this infamous Malfoy trait." Scorpius shook his head, his lips curving to form a small smile. For the first time that day he felt himself relax a bit.

"You're welcome. It's obvious whatever you did, you were working hard to protect your family."

"Yeah? And you know that because you've read many of bad rumours about my family on the front page of that rubbish newspaper Daily Prophet? Rumours like how Scorpius Malfoy gotexpelled from Hogwarts because of drug abuse? Or how The Malfoy Enterprise cheated in their bidding for Bitexco Tower?" Scorpius suddenly snapped back. Rose noticed his musclestense up. Her eyebrows furrowed, as she was clearly taken aback by his sharp comments.

"I didn't mean that, Malfoy. I knew you were trying to protect your family because I do the same for mine. Believe me, they go after us too. We had to put spells around the Burrow to prevent paparazzi from taking inappropriate pictures of us."

Scorpius let out a heavy sigh. "I'm sorry. I did it again. I'm not myself today. Please accept my apology. I am being a prick to you while you are trying to comfort me."

Rose nodded curtly. She glanced at the man in front of her with concerning in her eyes. His usually immaculate hair is now sticking up at all angles. His long fingers are circling the pale forehead above shut eyelids. She gently held his hand, making him jerk at their touch.

"Malfoy, you're dehydrated. Just drink some fluids," Rose conjured a glass of water from thin air. "You don't have to stay here overnight, you know. We have the best team of healers here. Go home and take a rest. You've had a long day."

"Thank you," Scorpius drank the water all at once and felt much better.

"I've gotta go. Goodbye, Malfoy." Rose stood up and turned away, but Scorpius grabbed her hand unexpectedly. "Rose-"

Gazing at Rose's cheeks, all flushed up, Scorpius realized he had just acted rashly. He quickly loosened his grip and shook his head apologetically. "Sorry again! Er, Rose, can I call you Rose?"

"Er, I guess you can. And enough with the apologies." She chuckled.

"Right, Rose. Thank you very much for today. Thank you for saving my father and all."

"You're welcome. Get some rest, Scorpius. And good night again." She beamed an assuring smile at him before turning on her heels, this time for real, and delicately walking away.

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