This is so late, I'm so sorry! Exams were killer and then Carol leaked and that took over my life for about three days. It's just been a mess. Since I'm on winter break now, I'll have the final chapter up a lot quicker, I promise.
Andromeda's hands shook as they sped towards the hotel. Her eyes were wide and unfocused, staring straight ahead. She was glad Ted was driving and not her. She couldn't concentrate, and her thoughts were going faster than she could handle.
"I want to hate Bella sometimes," she said quietly.
Ted's eyes briefly flicked over to her. He took his left hand off the steering wheel to lay it over Andromeda's right arm.
"I don't like thinking that, but I think it anyway," Andy continued. "I want to hate her. She's been trouble for years. She's unpredictable and mean. Apathetic. She's completely fucking talented, and she doesn't use her talent. You've seen her artwork!" Andromeda threw her hands in the air and looked over at Ted. He ran his hand up from her arm to her shoulder and squeezed comfortingly. Andromeda put her hands between her thighs and took a deep breath.
"She doesn't care about anything anymore. She used to care about me. Now she only cares about whatever will get her the next high… And Cissy. She cares about Narcissa, I'll give her that." Andromeda scoffed.
"I didn't want to hate her when we were younger. When she used her talent and was mean to other people but never to me and Cis."
Ted slid his hand from her shoulder to the back of her neck. His thumb moved back and forth in soft, soothing strokes.
"Am I a bad sister for thinking that?" Andy asked quietly, looking down at her legs.
"No," Ted replied immediately. "You're human, 'Dromeda." Ted's use of the nickname helped to calm Andromeda. She loved it when Ted called her that, because she was Andy to everyone else.
Ted leaned forward suddenly and took his hand from the back of Andromeda's neck. "We're here."
Andromeda looked up quickly. She saw Narcissa immediately, her pale blonde hair shining under the light of the street lamps and neon signs around. Then, Andromeda saw a tall, well-dressed man with similarly blonde hair standing next to her. Between them, they held Bellatrix up, though most of Bella's weight was on the man. As they approached, Andy realized that the man was Lucius Malfoy– Narcissa had shown Andy a picture of him a few days prior.
Ted pulled the car directly in front of Narcissa and Lucius. Andromeda's stomach lurched at the sight of her older sister, limp in the arms of Narcissa and Lucius.
"Don't get out," Narcissa softly ordered when Andy opened the car door. "We've got her."
As Lucius picked Bellatrix up, Narcissa climbed into the backseat of Ted's car. Lucius then carefully deposited Bella in the back with Narcissa, placing her head in Narcissa's lap. Lucius stepped back.
Narcissa thanked him, and he nodded to her before shutting the car door, allowing Ted to speed off towards the nearest hospital, which was fortunately close.
Andromeda turned around in her seat to face Narcissa.
"What the hell happened?" Andy quietly asked as she watched Narcissa stroke Bella's hair absentmindedly.
Narcissa stared out the window as opposed to meeting Andromeda's eyes.
"I should have kept a better eye on her," Narcissa replied. "I let her wander off and–" Narcissa stopped when her voice caught. She sniffed. Andromeda could tell that Narcissa was holding her breath to calm her quickening heartbeat.
After a moment of silence, Andromeda said Narcissa's name to get her attention. Narcissa finally met Andromeda's eyes, and Andromeda sighed when she saw the tears beginning to run down Narcissa's cheeks and drop onto her shirt. She reached back to take one of Narcissa's hands in her own.
"She was already drunk when she picked me up," Narcissa explained. Her voice broke often, but she wasn't speaking quickly in the way that signaled an oncoming panic attack. "Stumbling drunk, but not slurring her speech or anything. She drank a lot more once we got to the party, but we weren't there that long. We arrived around 10:20, and I found her about half an hour later. She took Death. That's what Lucius said. I trust his word."
Everyone in the car lurched when Ted made a sharp turn. Andromeda saw the bright lights of A&E looming in the distance, and she unbuckled in preparation for jumping out and carrying Bellatrix into the hospital. Not that she really needed to prepare too much to lift her older sister, who barely weighed eight stone, but it would still need a considerable effort.
"If you two can take Bellatrix," Ted said, "I'll park and come find you once you're inside. I don't know much of what happened tonight, so I'd just be in the way."
Andromeda made an affirmative noise, not trusting herself to speak.
Ted pulled into the empty A&E entrance, and Andromeda jumped out as soon as the car had stopped fully. She immediately yanked the back door open and dragged Bella forward by her ankles, getting her halfway out of the car. Narcissa pushed Bellatrix upwards by her shoulders so that Andromeda could wrap her arms around Bellatrix's torso to hold her up. Narcissa jumped out of the car, slammed the door, and Ted sped off.
Andromeda lifted Bellatrix by her underarms. Narcissa wrapped her arms around Bellatrix's thighs, just above her knees, and led the way into A&E. It was busy, unsurprisingly, but not so much that they didn't attract attention.
A young doctor quickly met the Black sisters with a gurney and helped them place Bellatrix onto it. The doctor wheeled Bellatrix into a workspace between two curtains while asking what had happened. Another doctor joined the first and began checking Bellatrix's eyes with a light.
"She's overdosed on drugs and alcohol," Narcissa reported quickly, standing a few feet from the foot of Bellatrix's hospital bed. "She's had vodka and firewhiskey, and a drug cocktail. I don't know what was in the cocktail, but they call it Death." The doctors seemed to recognize the name, as they briefly exchanged dark looks.
Andromeda felt a stress headache forming and rubbed the bridge of her nose. She could feel tears coming to her eyes as well. What a mess this was.
Narcissa continued when prompted by one of the doctors. "She's twenty-two years old. She's been abusing drugs and alcohol heavily for the past two years; smoking cigarettes since she was seventeen. No allergies to any medication; no previous hospitalizations. Her name's Bellatrix Black."
A nurse came and herded Narcissa and Andromeda into chairs away far away from Bellatrix.
Andromeda really wanted to be sick. And cry. And fall into a nice, comforting coma. And to add insult to injury, she could feel a panic attack coming on.
"Fuck," she exhaled. Narcissa turned to look at her and immediately wrapped her arms around Andy to hug her tightly. With the arm rest between them, the embrace was slightly awkward, but still comforting to Andromeda. As she began the breathing exercises she often used to calm down, Ted burst into A&E and jogged over to the two sisters.
Mindful of the slight dizziness her panic had brought on, Andy stood to greet him and pulled Narcissa up with her. Narcissa let her arms fall to her sides as Andromeda wrapped her arms around Ted's neck. He, in turn, squeezed her waist, almost lifting her off the ground in the process. Andromeda felt her tears soaking into Ted's shirt, but couldn't bring herself to care all that much.
Once she was calmer, and her tears had slowed, Andromeda pulled away from Ted and sat back down. Ted sat next to her. Andy put her head in her hands and exhaled through her teeth. She waited a moment before inhaling, then leaned back in her seat and looked up again.
Andromeda heard Narcissa inhale sharply, her tell-tale sign that she was trying to stop herself from crying. Andromeda rubbed her sister's back and tucked a stray strand of sleek hair behind her ear. Out of the corner of her eye, Andy saw Ted stand. He walked towards Narcissa with small steps, pulled her up by her hands, and gave her a firm hug. Andy waited for Narcissa to awkwardly extract herself from the embrace and was quite surprised when Narcissa returned the hug with force. Narcissa shook with quiet tears, and Ted tightened his arms around torso.
When Narcissa finally pulled away and sat back down, she left a seat in between herself and Andromeda, which Ted took. He kept one arm around Narcissa's shoulders and the other around Andromeda's. Both sisters leaned into him.
Eventually, Andromeda fell into a restless sleep with Ted's arm around her. When she woke up, everything was as quiet as it could get in a hospital. Her neck and back ached terribly from her uncomfortable sleeping position, and her mouth tasted entirely foul. When Ted noticed she was awake, he kissed her forehead.
"Hi, darling," he smiled tiredly.
Andromeda sat up and rubbed her eyes. She noticed that Narcissa was still asleep under Ted's right arm.
"What time is it?" Andromeda asked hoarsely.
"Almost three in the morning."
Andromeda groaned quietly. "Is there news about Bella?"
Ted raked a hand through his hair. "She's in her own room now. She's not conscious yet, so I was going to let you and Narcissa sleep a while longer."
Andromeda nodded. She turned in her seat to face Ted and pulled one of her legs up into the seat with her. "What did the doctor say?"
"They pumped her stomach, got the drugs and alcohol out of her system. She's not exactly breathing on her own yet, but the doctors say she should be soon, and she's unconscious. She'll be okay, 'Dromeda."
Andromeda took a deep breath, put her head in her hands, and cried quiet tears of relief. She felt Ted's hands rake through her hair comfortingly. After a few minutes, Andromeda's tears slowed.
She wiped her eyes on her tee shirt, sniffed, cleared her throat, and sat up straight.
"We should go sit with her," Andromeda decided, "so that we're with her when she wakes up."
Ted nodded in agreement. He quickly woke Narcissa and told her what they were going to do. She nodded groggily, and the trio made their way to Bellatrix's room.
Bellatrix was still ghostly pale; Andromeda's stomach dropped at the sight. Her lips were cracked, and her thin torso rose and fell with every slow breath she took with the help of a ventilator.
Andromeda pulled a chair up to her older sister's side and took one of Bella's hands in both of her own. She sighed shakily and let her head drop to rest on Bella's arm. When she allowed her eyes to close, Andy felt sleep begin to take her again. With the knowledge that Bella was safer now, Andromeda slept soundly.