A/N: This is part 2 of the Coma story. A one shot. It's not really a 'chapter 2' but I'm not sure how I want to do that on this platform. There's so much of Draco's recovery that I have not explored. This is more of a summary, to satisfy the curiosity of what happened next. For now, I'll leave it right here.
It was supposed to be a secret, the discharge date of Draco Malfoy from California's Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. Since his awakening, a grueling six months of his recovery had been bootlegged onto the internet. His files compromised, and his security upgraded. It was no surprise to Harry that someone had leaked the date, just as the birth of their daughter had also made its way into the rumor mill without their permission. No one was really that upset about it. With miracles burgeoning in their lives, they couldn't fight their own happiness. They deserved this joy, and if the world wanted to celebrate with them, they'd just have trust whatever power had gotten them through this. They had to trust that fate was on their side.
Draco had learned to walk again, with the internet watching. Due to all the support and overwhelming love, they'd bit the bullet and allowed his ultrasounds to be filmed. The same technology that spent fifteen years acclimating the world to the existence of wizards and their history, prepared the most obstinate minds to accept and respect a male's pregnancy. It was not entirely like a female's, but the boys came from a culture that demanded every bit as much integrity, as their own society attempted to protect them through it.
Harry and Draco tried to be careful, tried not to speak to journalists too much. But they were so happy they didn't really want to keep it to themselves. Secrets couldn't exist in that atmosphere of eagerness and enthusiasm, and recovery. They knew they had to be private and responsible, for their safety and the child's. But they seemed to have the approval of the world, to celebrate this time in their lives openly.
All those months ago, were so horrible, so compelling, that even the most homophobic critics, had a change of heart. Whatever these two men were, they did not deserve that. They did not deserve an attack that had left one running back into the mansion for the other. Followed by cameras, wrestled to the ground by police, and screaming as they wheeled out the other.
That day, live footage did not conceal the face of Draco Malfoy, or even attempt to pixilate his covered body and the red life that bled onto white, sterile sheets as they loaded him into the ambulance. The world stopped to take notice of what was going on. All of this took place six hours after Draco's 911 call had been issued.
From Harry's first scream, the nation was hooked on the drama that took months to unfold. Millions swallowed their guilt, for using these celebrities' real life ordeals as their excuse to let their hearts open. Detractors shamed the phenomena as 'reality tv' and ostracized those entertained by the media focus on the hardship of the two outed celebrities. Others called it a most needed excuse to let themselves love. They atoned for their voyeurism by praying for the boys and watching with sincere respect. The public could not shut off their televisions, they could not put down their devices. Footage kept coming, updates, and finally the news that Draco had awakened from his coma.
Billions of donations were made in Harry's and Draco's name. The Pope visited Draco's bedside, and tearful Neo-Nazis called conferences to publicly swear off hate. NASA recorded the planet's electromagnetic reading as having gone up three vibrational units. A thing speculated to have not happened since the astronomical theorization and event of the Bethlehem comet, based on ancient writings.
The day that Draco walked out of the hospital, surrounded by family and cameras, Beverly Boulevard was shut down to allow for a police escort to shuttle him and Harry to the private estate purchased by the Malfoy family. Purchased, to be near their son during his long recovery.
Spectators lined the roadside as if it were a royal marriage, or a presidential motorcade. Not wanting to be embarrassed as the world watched American manners unfold, the Federal Government issued twenty Secret Service limos to make sure the boys got to their destination unharmed and honored. If this is what the country came out in droves for, won over by the attention to the boys' long journey, then it would be supported.
Draco still had medical issues that forbid him to flay, so everyone knew that he and Harry would be living in America for some time. Reality shows clamored to sign them. There was a certain amount of pride taken in the knowledge that the child of this 'wizard couple' would be born on American soil. Americans didn't get a lot right, politically, so this was starting to mean something on the World Stage. Propagandist's used it shamelessly. To Harry and Draco, and the Malfoy family, it was simply what had to be done.
They became America's Royalty. Adopted and beloved. It was Harry who stood outside the Malfoy gates and tried to thank the public for their support. His rehearsed speech was drowned out by shouts for him to make a public proposal to Draco Malfoy. He could only lower his eyes, blush, and make noncommittal comments. They'd all seen his devotion to Draco unfold over months, there was no point in denying what everyone knew by now.
When fans demanded to know if the rumors of a baby were true, it was harder to get away without commenting. He compromised, knowing Draco was watching the television and weighing how he handled the situation, along with public response. It was Draco who had to risk going out in public again, not Harry. "Let's just say that if such a thing were true, I could not reveal it, for the sake of protecting my child. Not everyone is our friend, but I'm grateful to those of you who let Draco and I live in peace."
Those who listened for it, heard the answer in his words and relished his generosity. He could've said no. He could've ended the affair with their fascination. He'd admitted as much, and remained loyal to Draco's privacy at the same time. Hearts swelled.
Draco was less inclined to speak with the public. He always smiled, always found something polite to say when cornered by journalists, but remained tight-lipped on his status. Unlike Harry, he denied the pregnancy rumors and laughed them off, his bright smile never confirming whether he was joking or not. Naive photographers kept camera's aimed at his abdomen. Wizard photographers aimed their lenses at the pale skin covering his jugular. If there was a baby, that vein would become more and more prominent. A wizard's pregnancy required a higher blood volume to support two lives. His body had to compensate for not being female, and not having the extra layers and channels to boost nutrients to the fetus. For months, the oversized shirts he wore, Harry's shirts, hiding his flat stomach and narrow hips, hypnotized a nation into seeing something that wasn't there. Unlike a woman's pregnancy, he lost weight instead of gained. There were setbacks, and publicized trips to the Emergency Room, but he managed to hold himself together.
A team of doctors, international specialists who knew his story, had banded to together to making sure he survived the birth. Celebrity aside, the Institute for Medical Research had convinced him and Harry that their pregnancy was important to the world for many reasons.
"Wizards may know all about this, but traditional medicine has never seen this before. Please allow us to document as much as we can and to learn from it. In return, you will receive the most expert assistance we have available. We have specialists on every continent, in every culture. We're asking for a lifetime commitment to learning. You and your family will never have to pay for medical help ever again. We can arrange it. Our data will be confidential, respectful, and as unobtrusive into your lives as possible. All that we ask, is that you allow us to continue to follow your medical journey. We want to be in the delivery room, but we will respect your privacy if you're not up to that. Take your time, think about it. If this pregnancy is possible, we believe there will come a day when this will happen to more males. With your help, especially in light of your ordeal, we will be in a position to help other men in this circumstance."
Draco didn't need heavy decisions like that. When everything was said and done, he felt alone. Even with Harry's arms around him, even with Harry's kisses and assurances that everything was going to be okay. His body just felt weird. That little thing moved inside of him and he couldn't wrap his mind around why this was all happening to him. Harry was strangely accepting of all this. Everyone seemed to accept it, even his father, and that mad Draco even more uncomfortable. It was like they were feeding him drugs and insisting life was fine, when he'd survived the worst attack of his life and knew that it wasn't. It took Harry reminding him that he'd been asleep while every who loved him didn't know if he would ever wake up or not.
"I know we're acting strange to you, but you weren't there. You weren't scared out of your mind that you'd never wake up. You slept through the horror of not knowing. If all of this is the price paid to get you back, your family is all for it. I'm all for it. Stop worrying, I'm going to take care of you. All of this attention will go away eventually. We'll go back to England. We'll get a place far from everyone and raise our family. I promise this is all going to be okay. We've survived the worst of it."
Draco missed his old life, and sometimes, when he thought the mansion was empty, he curled up on the sofa and cried. Security cameras fed the footage into a medical database. Draco had no idea that one day, medical students would be privileged to witness his emotional release as he ushered the age of male pregnancy into the Western world. Cyber hackers got to the footage sooner, leaving social media to speculate on his public smiles and his private struggle.
When Harry did propose, in the privacy of their home, Draco did not say yes. He did not want Harry to marry him just because of the child. "You're not to feel trapped by this, and I'm too off balance to be sure of any answer that I might give you. Don't ask me that. Not now."
Harry was not discouraged. He took on the herculean task of making Draco happy again. In his mind, he was already committed to Draco and his daughter. Nothing was going to change that, not even Draco's battle with depression. If Draco cried, he wanted to be there to hold him. If Draco raged and screamed, he wanted to be there to take the abuse. He wasn't going anywhere, and Draco's mother, Narcissal, kept coaching Harry that that was all Draco needed to see.
"He thinks he's trapping you. He thinks you're staying with him out some outdated chivalry. Out of pity. When he realizes you're staying because you want him, not just your child, he'll come around. Right now he feels so guilty, like he's holding you back, yet he's too damaged to give you anything in return."
"But he's giving me everything."
"Give him time to figure it out. He's only had a few months to learn to walk again, deal with his injuries, that whole night, and learning that he has no choice but to have a baby. If he's distant, he has a right to be. We're lucky he's talking to us at all. And I don't know about you, but I'd rather have a fake smile from him, than none at all. It means he's trying."
Her comfort went a long way. It got them through. Draco's due date came and went. As it turned out, they did need a team of international doctors. Mediwizards were not prepared for the challenges Draco's injuries held. It took all of them to get the child out of him safely, without compromising one life or the other. Harry had spent the night holding his breath. After the first flatline, they'd forcibly removed Harry from the room. They couldn't figure out why the infant's heartbeat faltered the longer Draco's contractions were allowed to build to their peak. The scientists who'd documented the changes that would allow Draco's body to deliver, had no answers at to why there was so much difficulty, and so much pain. In the end, Harry was sent to watch from the theater window, along with invited specialists from all over the world, as the team determined too late, to take the baby by means of a Cesarean delivery.
Standing beside Mr. Malfoy, who put his arm around Harry, he watched his daughter come into the world.
So what, if the news had gotten out. So what if the parking garage was full of reporters, flashing cameras, and well-wishing fans. Draco had stopped bitching about having to endure a wheelchair. Draco was smiling. He was laughing. He was alive. And even better, he was holding the most amazing thing in the world. Five pounds, two ounces, she'd packed a lot of trouble into that tiny, trembling presence of hers. This was not a day for being upset that their getaway had been discovered. This was not a day for letting anything take away from her.
Lucius himself held the car door open as Harry helped Draco to his feet. Draco never let go of the baby, not even when it seemed practical to do so. Hospital security had been called to assist, keeping the crowd at a distance until Draco was safely in the car. People gasped, to see him uncover the baby's face and deliberately allow a few seconds for photos. To Harry, the sight brought a fountain of relief. Up until now, Draco had said all the things he was supposed to say, to make everyone think he was going to be all right. His face had been an emotionless mask, indecipherable when he gazed at the baby. Harry realized that it was like Narcissa's graceful silence. Easily mistaken for cold, when it was just a survival mechanism. All mothers must have it, he realized.
At the time, Draco's brain was still in shock, still wondering if everything was going to be okay. Still wondering, like the rest of them, how something so fantastic could come to them in the first place.
"Harry, why did it take this, to make me see this is what I wanted? Why couldn't I simply know, before any of that ever happened?"
Sitting on the hospital bed, Harry had taken his hand. "Because we don't let ourselves believe this kind of happiness is possible. We don't allow it, not in a world where it doesn't seem to be available to others. We say it's not real. Even wizards say it's a silly fairy tale. When you slept, I asked myself that question every day, and now I have my answer. You wouldn't let yourself have her, unless you could justify it. We would've talked ourselves into an abortion, trying to protect some sense of masculinity or even our independence. We were still holding onto shit like that. That night was so terrible, that it destroyed that way of thinking for us, forever. We had to let those ideas die, so that she could be born. I know it's too much to ask you to be suddenly happy, with all this on you, but I am. Please, love her too. Please give her a chance. I am totally in love with her right now and I have no problem saying that I want you both. I just need to believe that you're going to catch up with me."
Draco's tears had come from nowhere. There'd been no warning that he was suddenly going to let Harry see him feel. He'd been hiding that, pretending to be strong for his family, for months. Respectfully, Harry waited in silence as shudders took Draco's voice and would not let him speak. His face crumbled on sobs that had been building since the night of the attack, and were just now finding an acceptable form of release. Harry couldn't help him. It was like seeing his daughter take her first gulp of air, and the resulting tiny scream that squeaked out into the room. He couldn't breathe for her, she had to do it on her own. And what a beautiful, strong cry it grew into. Draco had to clear his emotions. He had to clear the unheard screams. He had to push out the fear of what had been happening to his body all this time. Especially since it had resulted, not in demons, but in angels. He had been holding his breath the whole time. And now he knew, he was going to be okay.
The most beautiful sight in the parking garage, wasn't the baby. It was the way Draco looked at their daughter, and showed her off to the cameras and the people. He might one day regret allowing boundaries to slip, and inviting the public so close to his happiness, but today was not that day. Today, he wasn't afraid for the first time in a long time. And that meant more to Harry than anything. Draco's smile was real and bright, and cleansed of all pain. His joy even brighter. Harry let him wave to the crowd for exactly five minutes before his protective instincts took over and he gently ushered Draco into the limo. He would have the glossy magazine photos, the world over, to prove that Draco's glow was real, and that their lives were going to be great.
End
Top stories from this writer: Unbearable series