Double Negative

The clock on the wall ticked loudly and slowly. Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick. It ticked a little too loudly and way too slowly. Audrey sat on the examination table with her hands folded in her lap as her feet swung gently back and forth in aimless motions. Despite the loud ticks it wasn't making time go any faster and it was driving her nuts. They'd been sitting there for at least twenty minutes and the answer should have already been prepared for them. The female hummed softly to herself as she waited as patiently as she could manage with the tall red-headed male beside her who sat in a normal plastic waiting chair. Percy's leg had a nervous tick in it. His hands were laced together in his lap as well. Though he had the nervous tick he looked pretty collected for someone who was waiting for some important news – or as nervous as he had been earlier.

Beyond the large door of the little examination room the two of them could hear the hustle and the bustle of St. Mungo's. It wasn't exactly music to their ears and the only sound that could placate the two of them at the given moment would be the sound of a witch or wizard's feet coming to their door and opening it. The room they sat in was painted a yellowish color. It looked more like an aged off-white than anything. The chair Percy sat in was black in color but there were a few white scratches on it where he just made the assumption people from over the years had accidentally marked it up. Audrey shifted again with a little twitch, the paper beneath her crinkling.

"How long have we been sitting here?" Audrey finally asked, breaking her unnerved silence. Percy glanced up through his horn-rimmed glasses, giving her a little smile. The nervous tick stopped as he focused his attention to Audrey. Percy pushed his glasses back up onto the bridge of his nose so that he could see. He shifted so that his hands were laced before his knees and his forearms were placed upon his knees.

"Patience, love." He said despite his growing anticipation as well. Blue eyes watched as the female groaned a bit to herself, glancing up toward the ceiling of the room.

"You are not helping." Audrey retorted to which Percy responded with a little laugh.

"Yes, well, you do have a horrible patience."

"I prefer to call it I don't like waiting forever for a simple answer."

"Again, horrible patience." Audrey just made a huffing noise at him and folded her arms to her as she shifted again, the same crinkling noise of paper following.

Silence fell over the eager couple again. The two were both on edge. Percy's nervous tick in his leg started up again and Audrey eventually started her aimless humming. Both pairs of eyes snapped up as the doorknob twisted due to someone on the other side. Moments later the door opened. They weren't greeted with what they thought they would be. In came a stocky female with with graying black hair and piercing hazel eyes. There were sags beneath her eyes and crinkles on the side of her lips. The witch was solemn-faced and there was a silent hope that maybe she was just the kind of person who really didn't enjoy her job. Especially with her age. Or at least Audrey had been clinging helplessly to that hope. Audrey edged to the edge of her seat, blue eyes hopeful as they remained on the nurse. Percy shifted a bit too, having unconsciously copied her motions as they watched the witch flip open the manilla file in her hand. Audrey swallowed and Percy pushed his glasses up again. The witch ripped out a paper and scanned it over once more before she gave a sigh. Her face had went from solemn to sympathetic and that wasn't a face Audrey liked.

"Miss, I'm sorry, but the results were negative." The nurse spoke, voice gentle. Audrey, who had desperately been clinging onto the hope that this witch just wasn't friendly, deflated visibly. Disappointment entered her eyes as the witch handed over the paper with all of the test results on it. Audrey accepted the paper quietly with a nod as she quickly brushed at her eyes, embarrassed. The gave the female a little pat on the shoulder and turned her attention to Percy as she gripped at the saddened Audrey. Audrey hadn't even bothered to look at the paper. She supposed hearing the answer was enough. She'd much rather not read it.

"The doctor asked me to have you two stay. I don't know what he wants. I just know he wishes to speak to the two of you about the results in that paper." She told him, giving Audrey one more squeeze on the shoulder before she lifted her hand off of Audrey's shoulder. She then turned to Percy and also gave him a comforting pat on the shoulder. "Perhaps next time." She insisted, as if trying to give them a little bit of hope. Percy gave the nurse a nod,

"We'll stay until he comes to talk to us." Percy said before watching the nurse disappear through the door. The moment it closed he was on his feet and taking the paper from Audrey. Before he could utter a word the female had sort of thrown herself at him, arms grasping desperately at him as she buried her face into his chest. Percy, taken by surprise, gently patted her back, the motion awkward and stiff. Hearing the sniffles that only meant one thing the red-headed male gave a sigh and tipped his head down enough to kiss the top of her head. "Shh." He soothed, then starting a comforting rubbing motion on the small of her back. While he did that he used his free hand to hold up the paper and look at it as he tried to soothe Audrey. "Hey, we can always try again. It's that easy." Percy assured his fiancee as his eyes continued to scan over the paper.

"I guess so. But what d'you think the doctor wants with us?" Audrey mumbled, still disheartened. That really hadn't surprised Percy. He knew how excitable she was. It was easy to take her down, too.

"It is probably one of those little pep-talk lectures. Mum got one once." It wasn't until a moment later he regretted his words. His arm suddenly grew tighter around Audrey as he folded the paper in on itself and tossed it onto the space beside her. Audrey's grip had grown a bit tighter too. Percy could feel his throat getting tighter at what he had just read. He couldn't have felt worse for uttering those words before he knew what was going on if he tried. Two bits of bad news in one. How was he supposed to deal with that? What was he supposed to say? He wasn't even used to this whole comforting business. He had never really been one to experience it much less carry it out for others.

Percy didn't say much else but he knew that in a few minutes comforting Audrey wasn't going to be easy. Actually, he was pretty sure she'd be inconsolable. Well, inconsolable didn't even begin to cover it. As the door opened to reveal another solemn faced, middle-aged doctor Percy released Audrey and nodded to the doctor. A smile forced its way on his face as he nodded stiffly to the doctor. The smile felt like a lie. The room felt like a lie. The whole situation felt like some lie and Percy despised it. He felt trapped in a room where the walls were closing in faster than he could react or stop them. As Audrey had finally dried her tears and wiped away the last of them from her eyes Percy could only feel a sinking feeling in his stomach and chest. She had only just calmed down and she was about to get what he would consider the worst news in her life.

Behind the doctor the door closed, the sound echoing loudly down the corridor of St. Mungo's that seemed to have gone painfully silent. Nothing stirred for a few moments. Then the sound of small, choked sobs echoed through the air.

"I'm sorry, Audrey."