Chapter 3: The Husband

Hermione rushed down to the surgical floor that Malfoy worked on as soon as she left Ron Weasley. She had told him she would be back in just a moment, and then she had left in a flash. As she made it down to his floor, she noticed that he was talking to a tall man with dark hair and dark eyes to match. Hermione knew he was probably a patient or someone's family, but she didn't care. She had to warn him in case the husband came looking for Ginny. As soon as she reached Malfoy, she yanked him around.

"It was the husband."

Malfoy clenched his jaw and looked down at her angrily. "What?"

Hermione spoke in a quick, hushed voice. "The husband," she said. "Ginny—it was the husband—he's the one who did that to her."

Without responding, Malfoy turned back around, pulled his fist back, and punched the man he had previously been talking to right in the jaw. The man immediately stumbled and fell back. Hermione screamed and covered her mouth as many nurses and doctors began reacting all around them.

"Mal—"

"Meet Michael Corner," Malfoy said as he turned back to Hermione and massaged his knuckles. "Ginny's husband."

Hermione shook her head as she walked with Malfoy up to Psychiatrics. He was flexing his fingers as they walked.

"You shouldn't have punched him," Hermione said.

"You should have heard that sob story he was feeding me—my wife! My wife!—I almost felt bad for him."

"You're going to get in trouble," Hermione said, shaking her head again.

"It will be worth it."

When they finally made it up to Ginny's room, Ron was still there, and he was sitting in the chair that Hermione had previously occupied. It looked as if he and Ginny had been talking, and when the doctors walked in, Ron looked up at them.

"Ron, this is Dr. Malfoy. He was looking after Ginny's injuries before she was moved up here," Hermione said.

Ron stood up and extended his hand. "Ron Weasley," he said. Malfoy took Ron's hand and nodded, and Ron took his seat again.

Hermione walked over to Ginny and looked down at her. Ginny, who was laying on her side in the exact position Hermione had left her, stared straight ahead. "Ginny, your husband came by—"

Ginny's face lit up as she looked up at Hermione hopefully. "Michael?"

Ron leapt from his chair. "Where is he? I'll kill him—" he rushed toward the door but Malfoy blocked his exit.

"He has been taken off the premises and taken to the police station for—"

"I'm not pressing charges," Ginny said quickly.

Ron turned to Ginny angrily. "You have to be kidding! Look at you!"

"He's my husband, Ron."

"Can I have a moment alone with Ginny?" Hermione looked between Malfoy and Ron. Malfoy still hadn't said anything since he and Hermione had come in the room. Ron looked like he wanted to protest, but after a firm hand on the shoulder from Malfoy, he turned and left the room. As soon as Hermione saw Ron and Malfoy talking outside the door, she sat down in her seat across from Ginny. Ginny had the blank look on her face again.

"Ginny?"

"I'm not pressing charges," Ginny said without looking at Hermione.

"I don't want to talk about that," Hermione said gently. After a pause, Hermione spoke again. "Ginny, this isn't the first time this has happened." It wasn't a question.

Ginny did not respond.

"You said earlier that he's been… messed up ever since last year… what happened last year?"

Ginny sighed, and Hermione noticed the look of defeat cross her features. "He, uh…," Ginny paused. "He shot a kid."

Hermione's eyes widened only slightly. "Why?"

Ginny closed her eyes. "He's a police detective. He works gangs and narcotics, and last year it just… I told him I didn't want him to do it, but he said he had to. He was just promoted to special operations… said he had to…"

"Then what happened?" Hermione asked.

"There was going to be a big bust—this gang they've been trying to get for years, but something went wrong and his team wasn't prepared for it. A lot of people ended up dying that night, including two men from Michael's team. Michael said he didn't know how many people were hit by his bullets, but… he knew one hit that kid. He said… He said he saw him go down."

"And ever since then…?"

"It was hard on him. He felt guilty—said he could have stopped it somehow, but—" Ginny looked up at Hermione and Hermione noticed the look of desperation on her face. "There was no way he could have stopped it. The kid wasn't supposed to be there. He didn't know."

Hermione nodded. "And now?"

Ginny looked away from Hermione again. "He just… He has visions—dreams… He remembers and he gets… angry," she finished quietly.

"Angry at you?"

Ginny didn't respond at first, and when Hermione thought she wouldn't, she opened her mouth to speak again, but when she did, Ginny spoke. "I'm not always the best wife."

"Ginny—"

"No, he needs someone who understands what he went through, and I can't. Sometimes I… Sometimes I do things that I shouldn't. I push him too much, or I ask too many questions, or I burden him with… problems. He's just… He's sensitive. And he needs more time to heal, and I have to understand that."

"Ginny—" Hermione tried again, but Ginny went on.

"I cheated on him," Ginny said quickly. Hermione closed her mouth and waited for Ginny to speak. Hermione could tell that she needed to say this—needed to get it off her chest. "A little bit after it first happened was when he first hit me. I didn't know what to do. I went to talk to one of my old friends… well, he was an old boyfriend from college… Dean… I shouldn't have gone to him, but I didn't want to go to my brothers… I—I needed someone to talk to and Dean was so kind and gentle. But… Michael found out. That was the first time he sent me to the hospital."

"And you didn't report him?"

"It was my fault."

"Ginny," Hermione placed a hand on her arm. "No matter what you do or say to your husband he has no right to hurt you this way. You understand that, don't you?" Ginny didn't respond so Hermione went on. "I understand what it's like coming back from something like that. I've had many patients who have been police officers. I have many patients whose wives cheat on them. I know it's extremely difficult, but he shouldn't be taking that out on you. He should be talking to someone—someone who can help him."

"Someone like you?" Ginny asked, looking at Hermione for only the second time since she'd reentered the room. Hermione noticed the anger in her voice. "A shrink to think he's crazy and prescribe him pills?"

"Someone to talk to him," Hermione said. Ginny looked away again and there was a long silence. Eventually, Hermione spoke again. "Did he ever hit you before that?" Ginny shook her head. "But since then… this happens often?" Ginny didn't respond immediately, and Hermione waited for an answer. She needed Ginny to voice it. She needed Ginny to say it out loud so she couldn't deny it to herself—so she could face what was happening to her and realize that it wasn't okay. Finally, Ginny nodded.

"Yes."

"How many times?"

"I—"

"How many times?" Hermione said more firmly.

"I don't know," Ginny said quietly. "He… he hits me maybe once a week… But it's only been this bad… two… maybe three times."

Hermione had to hide her reaction. Three times! Three times her husband had hospitalized her or beat her so badly that she should have been hospitalized. He hit her once a week, and he had hurt her this badly three times in less than a year, and she never turned him in. Hermione had seen many cases of domestic violence, and although this wasn't the worst one, it was nearing the danger zone. Of course, all domestic violence was horrific, but there was some that… Well, there was some that ended in death.

"Ginny," Hermione began slowly. She needed Ginny to voice it. All of it. She needed her to hear it. "What did he do to you?"

Ginny didn't say anything, and Hermione asked again.

"What did he do, Ginny?"

Again, Ginny was silent, but Hermione noticed that her eyes were brimming with tears.

"Did he slap you?" Hermione asked. Ginny didn't respond. "Did he push you?" Silence. "Did he punch you? Knock you to the ground?" Hermione paused but Ginny didn't say anything. "Did he kick you?"

"Stop," Ginny said hoarsely.

"Did he choke you?" Hermione had noticed the finger marks on her neck. "Did he knock you into the wall? Drag you by your hair?"

"Stop," Ginny said, a bit louder this time.

"Did he tell you he would kill you?" Hermione paused. "Did you think he would?"

"STOP!" Ginny screamed. "Stop! Stop! St—" Ginny's voice broke and she was reduced to sobs. She turned her face into her pillow and sobbed. Hermione felt bad for pushing her, but she needed Ginny to hear it. A moment later, Ron came bursting into the room for the second time.

"Gin—" When he saw her sobbing into her pillow he walked to the side of her bed so that Ginny was blocked from Hermione's view. Ron leaned into Ginny and whispered words of comfort to her that Hermione could not hear. Hermione looked up and saw Malfoy standing in the doorway holding a file. With a look at Ginny and Ron, Hermione got up and met Malfoy in the hallway.

"What happened?" he asked immediately.

"Nothing," Hermione said. The last thing he needed was more ammunition to look down on her profession. "She's upset about what happened. What's in the file?"

"The results of the scans. I ordered a rush on them."

"And?"

"It's bad, but it's not awful. Her trachea is a bit crushed, but it will heal naturally on its own. She has a broken cheekbone that needs to be stitched up and taken care of. Other than that, she has a few cracked ribs and her wrist is mildly fractured."

Hermione sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "I've seen worse."

Malfoy nodded. "So've I."

"But she can't just go back. She won't press charges, so they'll be back together soon."

Malfoy shook his head. "I know it's bad, but there's nothing we can do. I can try to keep her in the hospital as long as possible, but other than that, she will have to go home eventually, yes."

Hermione ran her hand down her face and sighed again. "Okay," she said. "Let's get the brother out of here, fix her up, and let her get some rest. I'll try to talk to her more in the morning."

"He won't leave," Malfoy said. "I've already tried to convince him."

"I won't be able to talk to her with him here," Hermione said.

"Maybe she'll tell him to leave," Malfoy said hopefully. Hermione shrugged and turned back to go into the room again. She paused and turned back to Malfoy.

"I still want to do a rape kit," Hermione said to him.

"Why?" Malfoy said confusedly.

"Husbands rape their wives," Hermione said, creasing her brow as if daring Malfoy to challenge her.

"Yes, but I don't think that happened in this case," Malfoy said. "I can usually tell when domestic violence victims are also rape victims. Ginny… She loves him too much." Hermione didn't know if that part was exactly true. She remembered how Ginny told her she'd cheated. There was something there. Something that Hermione could tap into to let Ginny know that she didn't love her husband enough to protect him. "If there was intercourse involved," Malfoy was saying. "I'm almost positive it wasn't forced. And even if it was, she wouldn't say it was." Hermione wanted to interject, but Malfoy continued. "Look, I'm all for preventing marital rape, but I'm not for wasting hospital resources when the victim most likely wasn't raped and will certainly deny it even if she was. It would be best if you just talked it out of her."

Hermione shook her head. "I won't be able to. There's no way we'll be able to keep her longer than two more days, and that's not enough time."

Malfoy smirked. "I guess you'd better get to work then."

Hermione opened her mouth to retort, but before she could, he shoved the file in her arms and walked down the hall. Insufferable ass, Hermione thought to herself as she watched him walk away.

When Hermione walked back into Ginny's room, Ron was standing in the corner looking stormily out the window, and Ginny was lying on her back, staring at the ceiling but no longer crying.

"Ginny?" Hermione said although her eyes were going back and forth between Ginny and Ron.

"I've asked Ron to leave," Ginny said flatly.

"I'm not leaving," Ron said.

Hermione looked back and forth between them. "Ron, can I speak with you outside?" she asked.

Ron clenched his jaw, but obliged, following Hermione outside.

"I know you're worried about your sister, but she's in good hands here. If she wants you to leave, you should leave."

"She only wants me to leave so that I'm not here when he comes," Ron said angrily.

"I'll try to talk to her," Hermione said. "But I can't do that if anyone is around to interfere." When Ron still didn't look convinced, Hermione placed her hand on his shoulder. "I know you're worried," she said. "But I promise you it's better this way. If I'm going to have any chance of helping her, I can't have any distractions."

After a moment, Ron nodded. "Well," he said. "As soon as I tell the rest of the family, they'll want to come and see her… I've got four brothers, plus my parents who will want to see her."

Hermione gaped momentarily and then composed herself. "How long do you think you can go without telling them?" Hermione asked.

Ron shrugged. "Maybe the rest of the night. But by morning, I'll have to tell them."

Hermione nodded in understanding. "Well, try to hold off as long as you can."

Ron nodded and went to go back into the room, Hermione guessed so he could say goodbye to his sister. Hermione decided she would wait out here until they were finished. As Ron headed back into the room, he paused with his hand on the knob. He turned back to Hermione.

"Thanks, doctor," he said.

"Hermione," she said with a smile. "You can call me Hermione."

Next chapter: So, where's Harry Potter?