Chapter 50 - Wake Up To Me

It had now been six days since Bellatrix poisoned Scabior. And for the first time since Lucius had begun treating him, Scabior was finally showing some signs of improvement.

Lucius noticed when he was changing Scabior's bandages that the wound on his leg was no longer oozing black blood. It was healing, and the black lines that had once snaked their way across Scabior's body had faded from existence. This meant that Scabior no longer needed to keep taking the antidote that was putting him to sleep. Lucius would continue using the herbs for another day or two as a precaution, and to make sure that the last of the poison was out of his system. But it was no longer necessary to keep giving him the antidote every day.

The other thing that Lucius noticed was that Scabior's temperature had gone back to normal. He had stopped shivering and sweating, and was now breathing easier than he was before. These were all good signs indicating that he was recovering. The only thing left that troubled Lucius was that he could see that Scabior had lost weight. Scabior had always been a bit on the thin side, his lean frame now looking skinnier than before. He needed more than the nutrient potion he'd been given for the last several days. He needed regular meals to start putting weight on him again.

.oOo.

Scabior was lost in a world of darkness and torment. For days he had wandered the vast regions of his mind, unable to escape the pain he was in even during sleep. Sometimes he could hear distant voices, but he couldn't make out what they were saying. Other times he thought he could see the images of those that were speaking to him in his mind. But the images were blurred and hazy, and he wasn't sure who was speaking to him.

There were no dreams in this world, only blackness and agony. This was a different kind of pain, one that permeated his every thought and action, violating the sanctity of his sleep. There was no escaping the searing pain in his chest, the stabbing pains in his leg, or the burning heat within his flesh.

Then, at long last, the pain began to diminish. The tightness in his chest lessened, allowing him to breathe easier. He could feel the world of pain that had imprisoned him for so long beginning to fade. And as one world began to fade, another began to appear, a brighter world, one filled with hope and promise for a better tomorrow, and Scabior opened his eyes to the familiar world he'd left behind.

His surroundings were so dark that when he opened his eyes he wasn't sure if he was really awake. There was a small cluster of lit candles flickering on his desk, illuminating the room so that once his eyes became adjusted to the low light, he could see the figures of two people in the room with him. One of the people in the room with him was Lucius Malfoy, who was sitting at his desk. It quickly became apparent who the other person was, as she bent down and wrapped her arms around Scabior's upper body, hugging him and holding him tight.

"Violet?" Scabior croaked, his throat dry and his voice low and weak.

"Easy now, Violet," came Lucius' gentle voice from across the room. "Give him a minute to gather himself."

"Oh, right. Sorry." Violet reluctantly let go of the still dazed and exhausted Snatcher, and carefully lowered him back down onto the mound of pillows on the bed.

Lucius stood up and walked towards the bed. "How are you feeling, Scabior?"

"I've been better," Scabior replied in the same dry, hoarse tone. His throat was parched and sore. He went to lick his dry, chapped lips and found that he didn't have an ounce of saliva. "Water," he rasped.

Violet brought him a glass of water, then placed one hand behind Scabior's back, helping to ease him into a sitting position so he could drink. Scabior managed to sit up in bed, but not without feeling a sharp twinge of pain in his wounded leg as he shifted position on the mattress. He then allowed Violet to tip the contents of the glass down his throat before laying back down in bed.

He felt grateful for the cool drink. He'd never felt thirstier in his life, and he wished that Violet had allowed him to drink the entire glass of water instead of offering him a few sips. He was just about to ask for more when he noticed the fluids he drank beginning to swirl uncomfortably in his stomach. Scabior managed to keep the water down, but he felt horribly sick to his stomach.

Scabior groaned. "I feel ill."

"It's not surprising," said Lucius, taking hold of Scabior's wrist and checking his pulse. "After everything you've been through, you ought to consider yourself lucky that you're still alive and breathing."

Scabior's eyes narrowed as he glared at the hand holding his wrist. He didn't like it when Lucius started playing mediwitch with him. But since he knew Lucius was the one responsible for saving him life, he decided it was best to keep quiet about it for the time being.

Lucius cast a few basic diagnostic spells on him, and determined that Scabior was suffering from a mild case of dehydration. And although he was grateful for Lucius' help, Scabior quickly became annoyed when the blond aristocrat started treating him as though he were an invalid in St. Mungo's.

"Lucius, I - " Scabior began, but was cut off in mid-sentence when he started coughing again. His coughing only lasted a few seconds, and wasn't as severe as the fits he used to have a couple days ago. But it was enough to cause concern with Violet who thought he would have been over his coughing fits by now.

When Scabior stopped coughing, Lucius lit the tip of his wand and leaned over him in bed. "Open your mouth," he told Scabior.

"Wha for?" Scabior questioned irritably, eyeing the glowing tip of Lucius' wand.

"Please, Scabior, don't be difficult with me," Lucius sighed. "This will only take a minute."

"Fine," Scabior grumbled, and allowed the blond wizard a brief look inside his mouth.

Holding his wand aloft, Lucius positioned his wand so that the light shone directly into Scabior's mouth. He then saw that there were minute flecks of blood coating the back of Scabior's throat and tongue. Most of it was bright red, though some of it was considerably darker, indicating trace amounts of poison still lingering in his bloodstream. He also took a moment to examine the Snatcher's throat, noticing that it was quite red and irritated.

Lucius extinguished the light in his wand and took a step back from Scabior's bed. "There now. That wasn't so bad, was it?"

Scabior frowned and held up the middle finger on his right hand.

Lucius turned to Violet and continued speaking as though he hadn't noticed Scabior's rude hand gesture. "Scabior is stil coughing up small amounts of blood. This should stop in a day or so as his body heals and the last of the poison fades from his system. He'll probably have a slight cough and a sore throat for a week or so while he recovers. But given enough time and rest, I believe he will make a full recovery."

"Lucius," Scabior began again. "While I am appreciative of your 'elp, I would appreciate it even more if you got out of my face for five minutes an stopped treating me like some kind of crippled weakling."

Scabior's attitude and tone of voice made it clear that he'd had enough of Lucius' mediwitch treatments for one day. Lucius didn't mind, though. The resurgence of Scabior's typical bad behavior meant that he was feeling more like himself again.

"I'll be outside if you need me," said Lucius. And with that he turned and exited the tent.

"Violet," said Scabior once Lucius had left. He gently patted the bed beside him. "Come 'ere, sweet'eart."

Violet walked around to the other side of the bed and sat down.

"Lie down," he said.

She lay down beside him.

"I'm so tired," he told her. "I feel like I've been drifting in some sort of 'ellish limbo these last few - " Scabior paused, looking somewhat confused, then he asked, "'Ow long 'ave I been out of it?"

"About a week now," Violet replied. "You've been sleeping for six days."

Scabior sighed heavily. "Wha time is it?"

"About an hour or two before dawn."

Scabior was quiet for a while as he lay on his side facing her. He thought about everything that had happened since he'd been attacked by Bellatrix, and realized that there was something missing.

"I don't remember anything after we entered that moldy 'ouse," he said.

Violet hesitated. It was painful for her to have to think about what had happened to him while they were imprisoned there. "You...you had a seizure," she said. "You were vomiting blood. Everyone thought that...we...we thought you were dead."

It came as a bit of a shock to hear this. He didn't realize that he had been so close to death. And if he'd been able to remember meeting his deceased brother, he would have known just how far gone he really was.

Violet reached towards him and smoothed several strands of his messy red and brown hair out of his face, then reached up and began combing her fingers through his hair. "Scabior," she said softly. "I thought I lost you. You gave me such a scare. Please, don't ever do that to me again."

Scabior couldn't help but smile a little. "Don't worry about it, pet. I don't intend on pulling a stunt like tha again anytime soon. But you should know better than to think I'd die tha easily."

Violet smiled back at him, her heart finally feeling at ease because she knew he was going to be alright. "I love you, Scabior," she softly whispered, feeling warm and content as she rested her head against his chest and closed her eyes.

"I love you too, sweet'eart." He then slid one arm out from under the blankets, wrapped it around her waist, and the two of them drifted off to sleep together.