A/N: This chapter is dedicated to Kate Potter, the 60th reviewer!!!!!!!! *claps and cheers for Kate Potter *
Shattered Reality
Chapter Seven
Mrs. Elwood was a kind, motherly woman with graying hair that was always in a loose and disheveled bun at the nape of her neck, and a smiling face to go with her friendly personality. She worked as a nurse in the Children's Ward of a small hospital in Greenwich.
She gently rapped at the door to Room 626, hoping to hear the standard reply of "come in", but no sound came from behind the closed door.
She sighed and opened the door as quietly as she could, then slipped inside. "Hello," she said softly as she peered sadly into the face of her newest patient. "I wonder who did this to you."
The gentle beeping of the life support systems filled the room; the sickly sweet scent of illness hung in the air. The poor boy was hooked up to at least dozens of needles and plugs, machines and IV's.
He lay on the crisp hospital sheets in a pool of moonlight, nearly blending into the snowy whiteness.
Mrs. Elwood brushed a strand of jet-black hair away from his face. He had the most stubborn hair she had ever seen. It stood out from his head and cheekily resisted any attempts at flattening by merely springing up again. The doctors had to shave his head to get a look at his concussion, and, three days later, his dark hair was back, just as if it had never been shaved off.
The boy had arrived in the Emergency Room a week ago, pale as death and clinging to life by the smallest sliver. The doctor's had done everything they could in the past few days: set his numerous broken bones, given him every medication that would possibly heal him, treated his mild concussion, but he remained in a near comatose state. It was doubted that he would ever walk again, as his spinal column had almost been severed.
The nurse gazed sadly down into his face, so young, but so old, and found pity for the child flowing through her. "You deserve to live," she said. "You're a fighter. You've been hanging on for all this time, and you can't just let go now. You've clearly had a very rough life, and someone finally got the better of you. But we won't let them win."
Timidly, she traced the shape of a jagged scar on his forehead. The doctors had deemed this a scar from earlier abuse, but she did not believe that. "The shape is too odd," she had said. "Scars in the shapes of lightening bolts are not normal."
She sat at his bedside for a few moments, mulling things over and watching him distantly. This child- she couldn't quite put her finger on it, but he felt... special. Like lying half dead on a hospital bed was the wrong place for him. He radiated something... power and unimaginable wisdom... but a sense of deprivation and mystery... She shook her head sharply, clearing her thoughts. Something- a slight movement that she detected from the corner of an eye caught her attention.
It's time to go to bed, Sarah, she thought sternly. You're seeing things...
Wait, there it was again! Yes, the boy's hand had moved slightly!
She was instantly up, holding his hand in encouragement, urging him to wake up.
He moaned, and then his eyelids began to flutter...
"Come on, boy, wake up," she said quietly.
... and opened. He blinked a few times, then squinted up at her blearily. He seemed to be in a daze; his emerald green eyes were unfocused.
"W- Wha..." He murmured.
Mrs. Elwood touched his hand gently. He twitched and tried to pull it away, but it sent flaming tongues of agony shooting through him, and he let out a small, muted whimper.
"Shh... Don't try to move. What happened to you, dear?" She asked kindly.
A deep frown appeared on his pale face. "Dunno... can't 'member..." he said helplessly. He tried to prop himself up on his elbows, but he sank back into the pillows with a low moan.
"What is you name?" she enquired.
His eyebrows furrowed and he chewed the inside of his cheek, obviously deep in thought. "My name is... Harry."
"What is your last name?"
This time, Harry thought so hard that his eyes crossed. He shook his head stiffly. "Dunno... tired... head hurts..."he said thickly. He turned over to face the wall, hoping the nurse would go away and stop asking him questions.
Mrs. Elwood to interrogate the lad more, but, as he slipped into slumber, his body relaxed and he began to breathe normally. She decided to let him rest.
She tiptoed across the room to the door and turned to smile at her patient. "If that boy is anything like his hair, I know he'll make it." She chuckled softly, then sidled out of the room.
~*~
Harry heard the soft click of a door shutting and the nurse's retreating footsteps. He lay there for a moment, mulling things over in his head. He chewed his bottom lip thoughtfully, squinting slightly in the bright moonlight.
He couldn't remember ever having felt such anguish and misery, as though he had been beaten until every bone in his body was splintered into a million pieces. In fact, he couldn't remember anything except this feeling...
He slowly raised himself up onto his elbows, ignoring the lances of anguish, and worked his way up to sitting position, improvising the yelps of agony with grimaces.
Harry sat thoughtfully in his small bed, beginning to feel the first pangs of confusion. He desperately tried to remember who he was, but he came up with a blank every time...
A memory flitted past his eyes. He tried to grab it, frantically clawing at the air, but it evaded his fingers and flitted away. It stopped and hovered in a patch of moonlight, glinting enticingly. That was odd, it looked like a small golden ball, the size of a walnut, with tiny silver wings that rotated at hyper speed.
Harry warily reached for the glittering bauble, ignoring the antagonizing fire that sprang up and rushed through his veins. It was just out of reach... He bent forward slightly, stretching his arm out. He could feel the bones grinding together; his spine was aflame. But he blatantly refused to adknowledge the anguished screams that fought in his chest.
His hand penetrated the moonlight's silvery glare. A weird tingling rippled up from the tips of his fingers, into his arm...
He jerked his arm away quickly, expecting it to hurt, but it didn't. He flexed his limb, marveling at how the stiffness had vanished.
Timidly, he placed both of his hands in the pool of light. The tingling sensation swept through his damaged limbs, warm and comforting. He could actually feel the bones being repaired; it was like a liquid melting, then a solidifying into hard bone.
A cool breeze swept through the dimly lit room, blowing his hair away from his face. It felt like a loving hand, gently caressing his cheek. Then the breeze was in his mind, blowing away the fog of confusion and leaving it miraculously clear. An unearthly, eerie melody was borne on the healing breeze; it filled his heart until it felt like it was going to burst and made his ribs rattle. His hair was standing on end as the music sent shivers down his spine.
His back didn't ache anymore... his arms where healed... he felt all of the needles and wires drop from his skin as though a hand had severed them in two...but there was an fierce stinging in his forehead... he clapped a hand to it, feeling how easy it was to move the once shattered limb.
He felt renewed. A fresh vigor and sense of vitality surged through him. Harry laughed loudly. He wanted to run as fast he could! He wanted to fly through the air, feel the cold wind blowing his hair back, hear the crowd's wild cheers...
Harry blinked. Fly through the air?
He ignored it, feeling suddenly tired of this stuffy room and starched bed. Harry catapulted himself from the bed, landing cat like on the cold tile floor. He crept toward the door and silently pulled it open, then peered around the corner. The corridor was desolate and empty.
He slipped out into the silent corridor and closed the door with a faint click, then set off. He didn't know where he was going, but he just needed to get out of that bloody room!
He had scarcely gone ten paces when the sound of humming reached his ears and a blurry shape appeared from a room. Everything was fuzzy and indistinct, but Harry could hear the vague squeak of wheels. It was the nurse with a cart!
Harry tried to flatten himself to the wall, to hide in the shadows, but she had already seen him. With a distant gasp, she let go of her cart of charts and flew down the corridor, wondering who was out of bed.
Harry began to slide along the wall toward the door, but the nurse reached him before he could get inside.
"What are you... oh my!"
He backed himself against the door, expecting it to be firm like the walls, but it swung open under his slight pressure, and Harry tumbled into his room.
Mrs. Elwood raced after him, intending to help him, as he was most certainly severely injured, but was stumped when she saw what was happening.
The boy was lying on the floor in a quaking heap, giggling like a five year old who had eaten too many cookies at snack time.
She stood awkwardly in the doorway, watching the boy as he shook with laughter, then tapped him lightly on the shoulder.
He glanced up at her, grinning widely, and brushed his bangs from his face. His brilliant green eyes were bright and dancing with mirth. "Yeah?" He choked between his infectious laughter.
The elderly nurse had never seen anything like this. Just half an hour ago, this boy had awoken from a mild coma, barely able to speak, hooked up to dozens of life support systems, with so many broken bones and injuries that he couldn't move, and yet, here he was, eyeing the corridor as though he was about to streak past her and sprint down its length and back, yelling at the top of his lungs!
She felt weak. Unable to think of a better plan, she escorted her patient to his bed and forced him into it. He wanted to do everything except get back into that bed and be imprisoned in that suffocating room, but the nurse ignored his pleading protests and puppy dog eyes.
As she backed out of the room a few moments later, keeping a stern eye on a scowling Harry to make sure that he didn't sneak out of bed the moment she left, she paused and sniffed the air. She hadn't noticed it before, but there seemed to be a strange scent in this room. The smell of sickness was gone, to be replaced with the lovely scent of... lilies?
~*~
A/N: I told you the next chapter would be about Harry, and, guess what! It was! I'm going to have to experiment some more with overlapping time frames. There's lots of stuff the others need to do....
*hides in closet and yells in a muffled voice* I hit a slight wall, but it's nothing I can't handle! The part where the block is doesn't take place for a LONG LONG LONG LONG LONG LONG *takes a breath* LONG LONG LONG LONG time! *grins, then keels over from lack of oxygen*
Oh, this is IMPORTANT! Who was the stupendous, wonderous, wonderful, brilliant, perfect person who put me on their Favorites List? *pulls out a microphone* Will that person please step forward and identify his or herself so he or she can collect his or her due gratitude? And the next chapter will dedicated to him or her.
Ok, I have to eat my own words. I'm back to answering the reviews!
Avidia- *cheers* YAY! UPDATE! *bows down before you* You are The Goddess Herself.
Sorry 'bout the geographical mistake! It's about 105 degrees here, with 100% humidity to go with it!
*is very flattered * Oh, I would love that! *starry eyes * Me, on your Favorites List? *faints from glee *
Your cyber nose is very good. Actually, that's where I dug myself out of a plot hole! Snape originally didn't have his memory modified, but my Muse bit me and screeched in my ear. (It hurts really badly when she bites you, she has a beak! Btw, would anyone like to meet her? She wants to get some credit, so I guess I'll have to introduce her in the A/N for the next chapter.
We're a lot alike... that's my theme song too... I make all of my friends mad and they yell at me and I just grin stupidly and sing louder and when one of them tries to attack me I just bounce away... *bounes up and down* BOINGY! BOINGY! BOINGY! I'm the Energizer Bunny!!!!!! BOING!!!!!!!!!!
They're coming to take me away, haha! They're coming to take me away, haha heehee hoho! To the happy home with trees and flowers and basket weavers who sit around and twiddle their thumbs and their toes and they're coming to take me away HAHA!
*screams* AAAAAAHHHHH!!!! NO! THEY'RE HERE!* hides in closet*
I LOVED reading your review! It made the cotton in my stomach act up… *shifty eyes * lady Python didn't hear that, did she? I think she's onto my Cotton Stealing scheme!
Phoenix Feather- *falls out of chair * Whoa… just… WHOA!
Otaku Freak- whoa, don't burst a lung there!
Gengi- Lessee… If Harry had gone to Antarctica, I assure you that he would've said "Hi!" to the penguins! But if he went to America, I would spazz out, make myself an orphan in this story, and become a character. Tempting, but, no. He's still in Britain! If he went too far, they would never find him… OOOPS! *eyes go REALLY wide * You didn't hear that, did you? No, of course not! *slips you a fie dollar bill * Now, forget that I said that… Darn, I just drew attention to my mistake… Shutting up.
TotallyMe- Thanks a ton! And then some more!
Kate Potter- Kate, Kate, Kate. This story wouldn't be a story about Harry Potter if he didn't get found…. Shuttin' up.
Badger Lord- Yes, I am quite devious, aren't I? *evil laughter * And I am lovin' it! Actually, Snape kept his memory in my original version, but I discovered that I had suddenly fallen into a very deep and dark pit. So I fixed it, and the pit vanished! Or maybe I was on a sugar high… you know, hallucinations… *giggles stupidly, then runs into a wall *
Coconut- ice agent h/h- I'm flattered. No, really, I am! How do I write so quickly and "brilliantly"? I simply put a Muse Charm on myself. No, I just sit down and write! It takes about one hour for me to turn out a chapter, than another hour to get it completely finished! You'll have to wait to find out how everyone reacts when they… Shuttin' up. *tapes mouth shut, then zips it closed *
Well, thanks tons and tons and tons and tons and tons *takes a breath * for reading and reviewing my story! This one is very close to my heart, and I'm really super proud of how well it's doing! *hugs Muse * Thanks a ton, Angel!
Angel: *squawks irritably and pulls away *
Lily of the Valley: *shakes head sadly * Never, ever try to hug a griffin. Especially if they are a figment of your imagination. Who would like to meet the infamous Muse?
~*~Lily of the Valley~*~
