Breaking Heaven

Chapter 4

April 16th

Session 2

I know Mr. Malfoy is not a popular patient around the other doctors. Many have tried to treat him and failed for a variety of reasons. For some doctors he just simply refused to speak during the sessions, like he had with me at the end of our very first one. And for others, he led them to believe they were making progress in treating him, when in reality they were simply being coaxed to chase their own tails until they caught on to what was happening. In one case, Malfoy managed to identify a personal incident that had happened in the doctor's life without the doctor realizing the casual conversations were leading to Malfoy discovering the traumatic incident. He then struck with the information when the doctor was finally beginning to believe he'd identified the cause of Malfoy's "illness" that plagues him. He'd managed to regale the story to the doctor almost perfectly, which had spooked the doctor into quitting the next day.

Yes, Mr. Malfoy is certainly not a well-liked patient by any means.

But even so, we have a certain standard at Brockington. We all go into our jobs knowing what to expect, especially because our government funding requires us to work with individuals who have criminal backgrounds. While they all have their own unique story to tell and reasons that led them to where they are, that doesn't mean they're easy to get along with. Let alone spend several hours a week with trying to identify and treat the source of their issues.

So when I arrive to my session with Mr. Malfoy to find he isn't here, I immediately become concerned. The guard from last week, Hargen, is nowhere to be seen. Not a single guard is present anywhere in the hallway, which leads me to assume that Malfoy is not in any of the other assessment rooms nearby. I pull out my tablet to consult my schedule to make sure I have the time right, only to see that our appointment today has been deleted entirely from my records. I'm beginning to worry that something has happened to Mr. Malfoy that required a crenelation of our appointment. It would have to have been urgent for someone to have removed the appointment from my schedule without informing me. Frowning, I pull up Malfoy's treatment screens, looking for any signs he's been moved to the medical ward for treatment. Scrolling down, I find an entry listed for today.

"Electroconvulsive therapy. Ordered by Doctor Gilderoy Lockhart."

Cursing, I slam the tablet into my bag before taking off at a run down the hallway back the way I'd come, toward the medical ward.

Gilderoy Lockhart is another attending at Brockington Manor, although his position was earned by a silver tongue more than any actual knowledge or capabilities in the medical field. Whispers are often traded among the trainees about Lockhart stealing ideas from his interns and residents at the teaching hospital he worked at prior to Brockington in order to publish his papers without sharing the credit. He's approached me several times to work with him on a paper regarding the permanent damage of childhood neglect on the structures of the brain, but the rumors are enough to keep me from agreeing. And despite my repeated refusals, he always seems to be around "helping."

In fact, he was a strong opponent to me being placed on Mr. Malfoy's care. He'd gone to the board, arguing that I was still too fresh of a doctor to be placed with such a dangerous, mentally unstable patient. He'd insisted Mr. Malfoy be placed in his care instead, as he'd shown himself to be a true danger to those around him and only someone as experienced as himself could handle such a patient. Luckily, the board had elected to approve Malfoy's assignment to me as his primary.

But apparently that wasn't going to stop Lockhart from interfering yet again.

Everyone at the hospital is well aware of my aversion to treating patients with the more aggressive treatments that many doctors tend to fall to when a patient fails to respond to less invasive techniques. While it's not something I myself prescribe for patients, I know many doctors who have used the technique appropriately with some success. However, I have several reasons to be highly opposed to the technique's use on Mr. Malfoy in this instance.

My first cause for concern is the lack of success in the past. Three of Malfoy's previous doctor prescribed ECT to treat what they interpreted to be the "manic" states that resulted in his assaults on his guards. All three treatments produced minimal results, and the few "positive" results they noted seemed to be simply a more subdued nature, which was overcome in just a matter of a few days. And when reading through his file, I became concerned that the level of therapy being used was far too high of a setting than would normally be used for cases like Malfoy's where the treatment was still in the beginning stages. The behavior changes afterward that they note only confirm my suspicion.

My second cause for concern is the doctor who has prescribed the treatment. No treatment notes have been entered, so I can only hope it's because he hasn't started yet. If Lockhart manages to get his hands on Malfoy, I'm worried he'll be beyond the help of medicine. I'd promised if he didn't cooperate he'd end up a sedated mess on the floor. I just didn't anticipate it happening in quite this way.

As I come around the corner I can see the doors to the med care unit are securely shut with a red light overhead, indicating a high-risk patient is in the area. My badge quickly unlocks the doors and I squeeze in through one of the heavy doors, which swings closed again quickly behind me. I can almost instantly hear the sound of the lock sliding home at the area secures again.

I slide my tablet out again to pull up his patient screen, checking if a room assignment is listed yet, and I'm relieved to see the room 5B now listed next to the scheduled treatment. Down the hall a bit further then. Just as I round the corner at 4D I can begin to hear the sounds of an argument taking place in one of the rooms. It quickly becomes apparent it's coming from the room booked for Malfoy's appointment, and I break into an all out run at the realization. My heels clack on the tiles as I curse for the hundredth time my choice is footwear today.

One of the voices is that of a female's I don't recognize. The other is a voice I couldn't mistake anywhere. It's Lockhart, and he's arguing with the female in a tone of voice that sounds a bit too frantic for my liking.

"Dr. Granger's preferences are a standing order," the female says in a stern voice. "Her patients are not to receive ECT without her direct orders and presence during administration. You are completely out of line."

"Out of line!" Lockhart says in a shocked, nervous manner that scares the hell out of me. "I am a senior attending at this institution. My orders outrank Hermione Granger's preferences. This patient is dangerous, and electroconvulsive therapy is the only way to control him at this point."

"ECT isn't to be used to control patients," the woman says, "It's a treatment. Not a means to shackle them."

"If you would bother to read any of my research-"

At that moment my hand hits the doorknob and I fling the door open, white hot rage nearly obscuring my vision. The first thing I see is Lockhart standing with the female, a nurse, looking red with fury, then white with shock followed by green with nervousness. He's handsome if you like the stereotypical wavy blonde hair, startling blue eyes, and perfect white teeth type. But to me, he's always seemed like an overly sweet treat. One tiny bite is fine, anything more than that makes you sick. The female, a pretty redhead nurse I don't recognize, looks triumphant and apologetic at my arrival. The guard, Hargen, is there, a control gun squeezed tight between his fingers as he stares at the body on the exam table. Another nurse is standing pressed against the hall near the head of the table, looking nauseated as her gaze darts between Lockhart and myself.

And then my gaze falls to Draco Malfoy. His shirt has been unbuttoned, his pale skin stretched over a too-thin frame. Electrodes are scattered across his chest, gathering heart rate information that's reflected in the rhythmic beeping playing out on the monitor. A set of different ones are placed along his forehead, and I can see the two paddles that apply the electrical currents resting on the cart beside him. His wrists are bound to the table by hard, plastic restraints and I can see the red marks around then from where he's struggled. An IV line has been placed, in his arm in case emergency medication needed to be administered if the treatment did not go as planned, and there is blood on his arm from what I assume are several failed attempt to initially place the line. He was staring at the ceiling when I entered, but now his eyes are piercing from across the room, nearly pinning me in place with a mixture of apprehension and confusion.

"Remove those at once," I say to the young nurse standing beside him. My voice is sharp and commanding, making her jump before she hastily reaches for the pads on his chest.

"Not those, you idiot," I snap, striding over to her. "I'll need to monitor his heart rate for the rest of the afternoon. I meant those monstrosities on his head. Get. Them. Off."

The nurse nods as she quickly begins detaching wires before delicately removing the stick pads with a swab of alcohol to remove the adhesive. While she does so I stomp over to the cardiac monitor to examine the readings still printing out of the small printer. I can nearly feel my blood pressure skyrocket as I can clearly see the moment they hit him with the ECT. Appropriately applied ECT doesn't result in the readings I'm seeing. My vision nearly goes dark with fury as I turn on Lockhart and the redheaded nurse, who have been watching me apprehensively since I arrived.

"Ah, Miss Granger," Lockhart says with his fakest, most saccharine smile. "As you can see, we've begun administering Mr. Malfoy's first round of ECT, to which he's responded—"

"Who," I spit, the paper in my hands rattling as my hands shake with rage, "in the bloody fuck thought it was appropriate to shock this man's brain without my orders?"

Lockhart blanches at my words, even going so far as to take a step back like he fears I'm going to actually physically harm him. It's tempting.

"Hermione," he says in a patronizing tone, "you must understand that my years of experience-"

"You," I say with a snap, rounding the exam table, "will refer to me as 'Doctor Granger,' as is appropriate for my education, qualifications, and position here." My voice drops lower with each word, my anger seeping through to ooze over my tongue and lips, my stare hard and unforgiving. "And I will be reporting this to the dean and the board. How dare you violate my treatment regiment? You are not the attending on this case, Dr. Lockhart."

"The patient is dangerous," Lockhart says hastily, stepping back again until he is almost standing behind the red headed nurse. I'm close enough to her now I can read the name stitched on her scrub top. Alice.

"I am well aware of Mr. Malfoy's status," I say, lifting my tablet to indicate my source of such information. "But the way his treatment is to be conducted had been delegated to me, despite your objections to my assignment to him."

Lockhart looks annoyed now, his face reddening as he screws up his blandly handsome face in a retort. "My objections merely lay in my concerns for your safety. This man's dangerous condition has resulted in several injured staff. I'm well acquainted with the case, and I felt the intervention was necessary to ensure the proper treatment was being pursued."

"If you were that well acquainted with his case, you would have seen that ECT has been tried before and has resulted in nothing more than the patient being abused and sedated. I will not," I hiss, "discuss his care with you any further without the dean present."

I turn away from Lockhart now, and I can hear him sputtering behind me as I walk toward Malfoy. His eyes are still on me, looking confused and relieved now. The nervous nurse has removed the electrodes from his head, but left the ones on his chest as I'd requested. His heart is beating steadily, a even beat that makes the distress on his heart during the "treatment" even more noticeable.

"And Lockhart," I say, not turning around to face him. I continue to keep my eyes on Malfoy's as I address the pseudo doctor across the room. "If you touch any of my patients from now on, I'll make sure you never practice medicine again. That's a promise."

His response is only the sound of a horrified squawk, followed by the quick click of his overpriced dress shoes on the tile on his way out of the room. The door snaps behind him with an air of finality that makes me smile.

When Malfoy finally speaks, his words are sticky in his throat, making me wince. "You really are quite protective, aren't you Doctor?"

I contemplate his words for a moment. Protective. Is that what this was? I examine him as I consider the notion. I suppose that was as close a word as there could be to the responsibility I feel on my shoulders every day when it comes to the people in my care. I don't tolerate those in power using it to manipulate those who they have charge over. No one should ever be completely helpless to the whims of another.

"I believe every person deserves respect, and those with the ability to ensure that are duty-bound to do so."

Malfoy's monitors begin to beep erratically for a moment, causing me to jump. I immediately move around the table again to the small printer, examining the paper with the readouts of his heart beats. The rhythms appear normal for the most part, however the sudden change just now makes me nervous. I turn off the printer, changing the settings in the system to ping me every half hour if there's been any more arrhythmias. While it's unlikely Lockhart applied enough power to cause any extreme damage, I'm not entirely convinced it's outside the realm of possibilities

"So no more electricity for my little old noggin?"

I glance up from the screen to see Malfoy giving me a small, delirious smile. This is on par with what his doctors have said his response to ECT has been in the past. He experiences a period of euphoria and confusion, followed a few days later by periods of aggression. It's nice to see the man who was so stoic last week grinning like a child at me now, but I know we need to get him settled in a more permanent medical supervision room soon. I need to ensure he's receiving the care he needs quickly so I can get to the dean in time to demand Malfoy receives the treatment by staff that he will need when the aggression hits. I don't want him or any staff injured when the problem can be avoided.

I can't help but give his goofy grin a returning smile. "No. No more."

"I'm going to hurt someone," he almost sings. "I always do when they hit me with the juice."

"I know," I sigh, resting a hand on his wrist. He jumps at the contact, but he's too bewildered to pull away. "I'm going to help the nurses get you settled, then I'm going to discuss your care with the dean. I think I'd like to sedate you for the next few days, to give your brain and body a break while you recover."

He sighs and tilts his head back further on the pillow, the picture of resignation. "Do what you've gotta do, Doc. But don't let that one touch me," he says, shrugging his shoulder toward the meek nurse who's gone back to pressing herself as far into the wall as she can. "She doesn't have a spine to speak of, and I have no patience for that."

"I agree," I say, my voice hard as I raise it to meet the timid brown eyes of the nurse. She's shaking slightly, as if she's actually afraid I'm going to bite her. I'm certain she knew the procedure was against my orders, but didn't have the skin to refuse Lockhart's instructions. "You're excused, nurse."

The girl doesn't hesitate. She hastily squeezes past the table, nearly running for the door in her hurry to remove herself from the situation. Alice watches her run by, an eyebrow raised in interest as the girl retreats. She turns back to me, her expression clearly challenging me to try to dismiss her.

"Alice," I say, removing my hand from Malfoy's wrist to slide to his chest, examining the attachment of the electrodes to his skin. His body shivers under me, and I'm aware of the fact I forgot to attempt to warm my hands before placing them on him. "Sorry, Mr. Malfoy. Alice, thank you for your attempts to protect Mr. Malfoy today. Can I trust your consideration for his well being to continue long enough to get him safely to an observation room while I speak with the dean?"

A flicker of apprehension flashes across her eyes, so fast I would have missed it if I hadn't looked up at the exact right moment. But she quickly schools herself into an expression of mild interest as she says, "Of course, Doctor."

I understand her nervousness to be around Malfoy for longer than necessary, especially when his doctor will not be nearby to supervise. While he's been temporarily "controlled" he still poses a danger to himself and others. I give her a gentle smile, the last good-natured bit of myself I have left to give today.

"I'm going to administer a sedative now," I say, striding to the cabinet of locked drawers on the other side of the room. "Can you please ensure the other nurse placed his IV line appropriately? It looks like there was a struggle to place it."

Alice nods and strides to Malfoy while I enter the necessary code to unlock the drawer I need, and select the vial from the stock of mild sedatives kept in the room for these such procedures. I scan the barcode on the side of the bottle with my tablet, which thinks for a moment as it examines his files for any allergies or recently administered medication that have interactions with the sedative. The system give the all clear, along with the appropriate range of mediation to give depending on the level of sedation intended. I draw up just enough to make him sleepy and his limbs heavy and relaxed, typing in the dosage in the system.

"The line is intact," Alice says with a frown as I reach the table again, "but it looks like they made a pin cushion out of him first."

Indeed it does. There are several bruises already forming on his arms from attempts to place a line. While at first glance it's obvious Malfoy is dehydrated, something I intend to speak to the care staff about, his veins are strong in his arms where even most new nurses wouldn't have struggled so much to get it placed. I strongly suspect Lockhart attempted to place the line himself.

"Alright, Mr. Malfoy," I say, holding the syringe up. "This stuff is going to take the edge off real fast. It might even get you to fall asleep. Are you ready?"

He smirks with lidded eyes as he spits out, "Like I have a choice."

Frowning, I remove the cap from the syringe and insert the needle into the port on the line. "I'm sorry that you don't," I say, depressing the plunger on the syringe to administer the dosage.

He gives me a confused look and says, "You're not at all what I expected, Doctor." His silver eyes, so sharp last week, are already growing hazy. "Maybe you're just as broken as I am."

"We're all a little broken, Mr. Malfoy," I say, shaking my head. "Enjoy your nap. I'll check in with you later."

He mumbles something, and from the tone of his voice I can tell he intends it to come out stern. But the sedative works quickly, and he's out so suddenly I don't get a chance to ask him to repeat himself.

"Please ensure he gets up to a room immediately," I say to Alice. "And please let the care staff know I'll be rather cross if I find out he's neglected anymore. He's sedated and restrained, so there's no reason for him to not be monitored closely."

Alice nods, staring at Malfoy. "He does look rather benign now, doesn't he?"

I turn to look back to Malfoy again, taking in the sudden softness of his face. It's normally drawn into a sneer or frown of disdain, but in sleep his face is smooth and calm. His face is still angular, with a sharp nose and tight jaw line that befit a man born into a certain level of wealth. But seeing him this way, he's surprisingly attractive. And it goes to show how much a pretty face can be destroyed by a damaged soul.

"Indeed," I say, pulling my eyes away from him. "It's a shame he's always in such a foul mood otherwise."

Alice gives a gentle smile, then moves to stand at the head of his bed. She attaches the cardiac monitor to the bed, then releases the brakes to allow the bed to move freely. The wheels move unhindered, allowing her to easily maneuver it on her own out the door. I follow her out, then turn toward the direction of the dean's office. And every step I take away from Malfoy and Alice, I get the sinking feeling that I'm only going to uncover more and more disasters in his file. And so this conversation with the dean is critical.

Hermione Granger doesn't take no for an answer.

.x.x.x.

Hello again, darlings. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter!

To my guest reviewer, M: The story will take place in equal parts Brockington Manor/Post-Brockington, alternating between chapters. Things may change toward the end, because as I approach the halfway mark (this fic is about half written already) I'm having more to say about their current relationship rather than the one in Brockington. But we shall see. I'm having fun writing this way, because it gives everyone a chance to enjoy the slow burn of their relationship growing, while seeing things at full-speed after the fact.

Thank you to AuraAuthor, HeavenlyMonster, reptilegirl, and my lovely guest reviewers for your kind words. I love you for it!