A/N: All right all right all right I've started writing the new chapter.
Aren't you all pleased? ;-) I assume you are if you reviewed the last
chapter. Oh as a little note if you're going to leave an anonymous review
please put your name or something in there. Even if it's a bad comment I
still want to know who wrote it. I don't like not knowing who's reviewing
my stories no matter what they say. I don't have anything against
anonymous reviews, that's why I allow people to submit them but I would
like to know who it is. Oh and all of your questions will hopefully be
answered in this chapter. This is not going to be your 'happy, lovey
dovey' type story. I'm kind of getting bored with everything being so
perfect so I've decided to shake things up a bit. Harry's allergic
reaction is going to play a huge part in his attitude and actions for at
least a little while. Oh and don't worry I haven't forgotten about litttle
'ol Draco, something is going to happen to him because I can't just have
everything happen to Harry, it gets boring after a while. I won't say what
or when or where something is going to happen but I guarantee that
something will happen. Oh and to whoever asked whether I plan anything
which is how I update so fast, the answer is NO! I do not plan anything. I
don't believe in writing rough drafts or writing outlines or anything of
the sort. It just confuses me and I end up changing it anyways. The
closest I come to planning is thinking about possibilities right before I
go to sleep but that's it. Now that I'm done rambling I will get on with
chapter 3 and as I promised Harry will be waking up but he won't be about
at all. Oh and Harry won't be happy ;-) ENJOY!!
A/N2: Oh and before I forget this first part is going to be Harry's thoughts and POV before and after the surgery so have fun.
A/N3: This chapter is dedicated to Shdurrani aka Alex who really helped me out on the more technical aspects of this chapter.
Chapter 3
I'm walking along behind the nurse down a hallway feeling rediculous because I'm dressed in hospital issue clothing. I'm lost in my own thoughts, I don't notice anything around me except seeing the occasional curtained off area. I barely notice that the nurse, Julie's her name, has stopped and telling me to 'hop onto the bed.'
She seems nice, looks pretty young too, can't be more than 25 is my guess. She's asking me different questions. Some about the medications that I'm on for my asthma treatment, if I remembered to take my inhalers this morning, school.....different stuff. I think she's trying to make me not think about what's going to be happening in a very short amount of time.
She has no idea but I really abhor hospitals and everything to go with it. You would think all the times that I've been in the hospital wing and been here before when I was a kid because of the attack that I'd be used to it, accepting even. But no, I hate it. I detest it. To put it frankly it scares me.
You would think that having faced Voldemort as many times as I have and actually personally destroyed him that I wouldn't be afraid of anything. But no, I'm scared. I'm scared of the thought that I'm being forcefully put to sleep, then being cut, having different things drilled and whatever else they're planning on doing to me, done.
It scares me that something might go wrong and I'll die. Plain and simple. You would also think that having faced Voldemort so much that I wouldn't be scared of death, but everybody deep down has that fear. I mean I'm fifteen years old for Merlin's sake! I shouldn't have to think about dying!
Dad said that everything was going to be fine. That I have nothing to worry about. This is a routine thing that gets done every day almost and that is a very simple procedure. It's not like I'm having brain or heart surgery or something. It's just piecing back together my bloody kneecap!
Julie's been telling me about her too. I knew that she was young, she's only 22 in fact. She was telling me about having Dad as a potions teacher when she was in Hogwarts. She's making me laugh about some of the things that happened in her class. I never talk to anybody in Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw really so I don't know how he is with that class. But it seems to me that he's almost the same way with them as he is with the Gryffindors. Apparently there was a person like Neville, but worse in her class so it made it that much more interesting.
I don't even notice that she's already put the IV in my hand. I absolutely detest being stuck with needles. I really do. I remember going to the muggle doctor when I was younger to have my physicals for school and getting shots and everything and I can't stand them. Julie is really good if she can distract me enough to put it in and not have me notice. Nobody's ever been able to do that before.
Julie's still talking and asking me questions as she cleans my left leg with this really nasty and putrid smelling soap and wrapping it up. She says that it's disinfecting soap to prevent getting an infection. At least with the wrap that she put on you can't smell it nearly as bad but it's still faintly there.
Julie now says that it's time to go. Now there's nothing I can do about keeping my thoughts or nerves for that matter, at bay. I'm being rolled down a bright hallway turning corners here and there.
Finally we come to the room. Seems too fast for my liking. If I had it my way we'd never arrive. I'm looking around almost frantically trying to take in my surroundings. I'm brought up next to a table in the middle of the room and am helped to move over onto it.
A doctor takes my left arm, the one with the IV in my hand, and strapped down to another piece that's sticking out from the main table. The same thing happens to my right arm too. Then the usual clip that I'm so used to having put on me, is put on my left index finger and then the usual stickers are put on my chest.
At this point I'm really starting to get scared. I feel my breaths getting shorter and closer together and my heart is beating wildly in my chest. It feels like it's trying to get out.
Suddenly Julie is standing over my head and is telling me to calm down and to only look into her eyes. I can't help but trust her so I do as she says. Some amount of time later, how long I'm not sure, she tells me that it's time to go to sleep and that I have nothing to worry about and I'd be awake and out of here before I knew it.
I feel the drugs starting to take effect and my vision starts to go blurrier and blacker as I quickly lose consciousness. In the very back of my mind at the very last moment before I completely black out I feel my heart beating even wilder than before and my lungs stop working. My last thought was 'nothing's going to happen my arse.'
**************************************************
Sometime later, how long I don't know, I felt myself becoming slightly more aware. I knew that I couldn't wake up actually, I didn't have the strength. In the far recesses of my brain I heard a faint beeping at the same time as I barely felt my heart beating. I also felt air being forced into my lungs but knew that it wasn't me that was doing it. All of this confused me and I sank back into the blissful black oblivion.
I felt like I was floating, but I knew that I wasn't dead. I still could hear the faint beeping that was my heartbeat and could still feel the air present in my lungs. In the very back of my mind I registered feeling a slight prick in my right hand and some brief moments of pressure along my forehead. This also confused me but of course I didn't have the presence of mind or energy to actually think about it.
I heard voices around me but couldn't recognize or register any that I knew. Then suddenly there was quiet except for the faint beeping sound. After some time I thought I heard Draco's voice but didn't have the presence of mind to hear what he was saying. Somebody else was talking too, I don't know who it was.
Then it was quiet and I slightly felt a hand grasp my left hand. The voice that drifted into my eardrums and barely processed in my brain was definitely my father's. He was asking me to squeeze his hand if I could hear him. I could tell that he was worried so I did it. That little act exhausted me. I heard him say something else and eventually processed it that He and Draco were staying, wherever I was.
I was confused slightly. I thought that I was going home after the surgery was over, not staying in the hospital. They both knew how much I hated it and I know that they would never go against my wishes unless I was being completely unreasonable.
However at this point I was too tired and finally fully succumbed to the black oblivion that was gathering at the edge of my brain.
***************************************************(End Harry's thoughts)
It had been 3 full days since the surgery and Harry was not improving as much as the doctors hoped he would. The only thing that had improved was that his heart was getting stronger steadily and didn't show any problems.
What the doctors were most worried about was the fact that Harry still could not breathe on his own. He was showing no signs that he could without the help of the ventilator. There was also the concern about the fact that Harry wasn't responding to some external stimuli. Occasionally he would respond to Severus and Draco, who true to their word didn't leave Harry's side, but that was about it.
They would trade off in shifts so to speak. Severus would not allow Draco to neglect his sleep or eating and neither would Draco. So while one was sleeping or eating, the other would stay by Harry talking to him and trying to get any response that they could from the comatose teenager.
Ginny, Ron and Hermione had come in hopes of being with Harry as well but only immediate family was allowed in the unit. The three had reluctantly returned to the Borrow with a promise that Severus would owl as soon as there was any change.
On the fourth full day after the surgery Harry was starting to show faint signs of waking. He had been shifting around a little bit and his fingers had started to move and twitch a bit. Draco was on his shift while Severus was curled up asleep on the couch since it was still early morning.
Harry's eyelids were twitching and fluttering and Draco knew that Harry was finally waking up. He quickly woke up Severus who came over next to Draco and started to gently call the boy awake. Before Harry opened his eyes he started to gag as if he was choking on the breathing tube. Severus said in a calm yet authoritative voice,
"Harry, Harry you've got to calm down. Don't fight the tube it's helping you breathe since you can't on your own. Stop fighting it and let it do its job and open your eyes. Just open your eyes and stop fighting."
Harry couldn't help but obey his father and stopped fighting the tube and opened his tired, unfocused emerald eyes and locked onto his father's onyx ones. He squinted a bit and the blurriness got a little better and saw the undiluted relief in the obsidian and silver depths of his father and brother.
Draco dashed out of the room to go tell the nurse that Harry had woken up as Severus put his hand onto Harry's cheek, lightly rubbed it and said,
"Good morning, you had me worried. Blink once if you understand me, twice if you don't."
Harry blinked once and Severus sighed and said,
"Good, does your knee hurt?" Harry blinked once and his eyes were shining with unshed tears "All right. I'll get somebody to give you something for it. Does anything else hurt?" Harry blinked again.
Severus ran down a list of everything and finally found that Harry's back was hurting. He assumed that it was from being flat on it and not having moved for almost a whole week. What else could it be.
At that point Draco came in with the doctor who said,
"Well Harry, we're definitely glad to see you awake. You've had quite a few people worried lately. I'll bet you're wondering what exactly happened." Harry slightly nodded and the doctor continued,
"Well as it turns out you had a severe allergic reaction to the anesthesia that we gave you. There was no way for anybody to know that this was going to happen since it is not a common allergy obviously. Also since you've never had this type of anesthesia before there was no way to know that it would interact so badly with your medication.
As for where you are you're in the Surgical Intensive Care Unit and have been for the past 5 days. We've had you on IV medications to counteract the effects of the reaction and a brain activity monitor to determine if there was any damage."
The doctor paused and continued,
"As of right now there doesn't look to be permanent damage but now that you're awake we've got to do a few tests to make sure. You weren't responding to some things while you were unconscious and we just want to make sure that there's nothing wrong in the end. Everything with your knee is fine, you should have full use of it again in 4-6 weeks tops. Since your father is a certified mediwizard and has the equipment he's going to be doing your rehabilitation at your home so you don't have to keep coming back here for your sessions."
At this a look of relief came onto Harry's face. He had hoped that that would happen. The doctor then smiled a bit and said,
"Now I imagine that that tube down your throat is not very comfortable. I need to do a quick test to determine if it can come out and if it can it will but if not it's going to have to stay in. Alright?"
Harry imperceptibly nodded and the doctor quickly performed the test. After it was done he said,
"Well Harry I'm sorry but it's got to stay in for a little while longer. Even on a very high oxygen intake you're still not able to breathe enough on your own to get all the oxygen you need. Do you understand?"
Harry blinked once again with the tears in his eyes because the pain in his knee was really mounting. It was bad when he'd woken up but it was really getting unbearable. Also Harry had a very high tolerance for pain, it took a lot to make him show that he was actually in a minescule amount but the fact that he was about to cry from it said something.
The doctor left for a moment and came back with a nurse who gave Harry a shot directly into his IV and his face and body started to relax a bit. He closed his eyes and it became clear that he was fully intending to sleep which the doctor said was the best thing for him to do. This was when he was most relaxed and would definitely help his breathing, or lack thereof.
A/N: Alright I decided to stop it there. Next chapter should have Harry off the vent and being moved so that Ginny Ron and Hermione can come visit and then going back to the manor okay? I hope that chapter wasn't bad but I thought that it would be kind of interesting to have at least the first part being Harry's thoughts before and right after. I remember when I had knee surgery thinking about stuff and thought that it'd be kind of interesting. If it was boring I apologize but I'm not going to change it. Now push that little button and tell me what you think, I've been writing this chapter off and on for about 5 1/2 hours now and since I'm sure you all are dying to read this I decided to post it and if my beta (luv u arabella, happy new year hope you don't have a hangover from the festivities!) finds anything wrong then I'll replace it with her betaed version. TTFN ALL AND Feliz Nuevo Año or for those of you who don't speak spanish, Happy New Year!!!
A/N2: Oh and before I forget this first part is going to be Harry's thoughts and POV before and after the surgery so have fun.
A/N3: This chapter is dedicated to Shdurrani aka Alex who really helped me out on the more technical aspects of this chapter.
Chapter 3
I'm walking along behind the nurse down a hallway feeling rediculous because I'm dressed in hospital issue clothing. I'm lost in my own thoughts, I don't notice anything around me except seeing the occasional curtained off area. I barely notice that the nurse, Julie's her name, has stopped and telling me to 'hop onto the bed.'
She seems nice, looks pretty young too, can't be more than 25 is my guess. She's asking me different questions. Some about the medications that I'm on for my asthma treatment, if I remembered to take my inhalers this morning, school.....different stuff. I think she's trying to make me not think about what's going to be happening in a very short amount of time.
She has no idea but I really abhor hospitals and everything to go with it. You would think all the times that I've been in the hospital wing and been here before when I was a kid because of the attack that I'd be used to it, accepting even. But no, I hate it. I detest it. To put it frankly it scares me.
You would think that having faced Voldemort as many times as I have and actually personally destroyed him that I wouldn't be afraid of anything. But no, I'm scared. I'm scared of the thought that I'm being forcefully put to sleep, then being cut, having different things drilled and whatever else they're planning on doing to me, done.
It scares me that something might go wrong and I'll die. Plain and simple. You would also think that having faced Voldemort so much that I wouldn't be scared of death, but everybody deep down has that fear. I mean I'm fifteen years old for Merlin's sake! I shouldn't have to think about dying!
Dad said that everything was going to be fine. That I have nothing to worry about. This is a routine thing that gets done every day almost and that is a very simple procedure. It's not like I'm having brain or heart surgery or something. It's just piecing back together my bloody kneecap!
Julie's been telling me about her too. I knew that she was young, she's only 22 in fact. She was telling me about having Dad as a potions teacher when she was in Hogwarts. She's making me laugh about some of the things that happened in her class. I never talk to anybody in Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw really so I don't know how he is with that class. But it seems to me that he's almost the same way with them as he is with the Gryffindors. Apparently there was a person like Neville, but worse in her class so it made it that much more interesting.
I don't even notice that she's already put the IV in my hand. I absolutely detest being stuck with needles. I really do. I remember going to the muggle doctor when I was younger to have my physicals for school and getting shots and everything and I can't stand them. Julie is really good if she can distract me enough to put it in and not have me notice. Nobody's ever been able to do that before.
Julie's still talking and asking me questions as she cleans my left leg with this really nasty and putrid smelling soap and wrapping it up. She says that it's disinfecting soap to prevent getting an infection. At least with the wrap that she put on you can't smell it nearly as bad but it's still faintly there.
Julie now says that it's time to go. Now there's nothing I can do about keeping my thoughts or nerves for that matter, at bay. I'm being rolled down a bright hallway turning corners here and there.
Finally we come to the room. Seems too fast for my liking. If I had it my way we'd never arrive. I'm looking around almost frantically trying to take in my surroundings. I'm brought up next to a table in the middle of the room and am helped to move over onto it.
A doctor takes my left arm, the one with the IV in my hand, and strapped down to another piece that's sticking out from the main table. The same thing happens to my right arm too. Then the usual clip that I'm so used to having put on me, is put on my left index finger and then the usual stickers are put on my chest.
At this point I'm really starting to get scared. I feel my breaths getting shorter and closer together and my heart is beating wildly in my chest. It feels like it's trying to get out.
Suddenly Julie is standing over my head and is telling me to calm down and to only look into her eyes. I can't help but trust her so I do as she says. Some amount of time later, how long I'm not sure, she tells me that it's time to go to sleep and that I have nothing to worry about and I'd be awake and out of here before I knew it.
I feel the drugs starting to take effect and my vision starts to go blurrier and blacker as I quickly lose consciousness. In the very back of my mind at the very last moment before I completely black out I feel my heart beating even wilder than before and my lungs stop working. My last thought was 'nothing's going to happen my arse.'
**************************************************
Sometime later, how long I don't know, I felt myself becoming slightly more aware. I knew that I couldn't wake up actually, I didn't have the strength. In the far recesses of my brain I heard a faint beeping at the same time as I barely felt my heart beating. I also felt air being forced into my lungs but knew that it wasn't me that was doing it. All of this confused me and I sank back into the blissful black oblivion.
I felt like I was floating, but I knew that I wasn't dead. I still could hear the faint beeping that was my heartbeat and could still feel the air present in my lungs. In the very back of my mind I registered feeling a slight prick in my right hand and some brief moments of pressure along my forehead. This also confused me but of course I didn't have the presence of mind or energy to actually think about it.
I heard voices around me but couldn't recognize or register any that I knew. Then suddenly there was quiet except for the faint beeping sound. After some time I thought I heard Draco's voice but didn't have the presence of mind to hear what he was saying. Somebody else was talking too, I don't know who it was.
Then it was quiet and I slightly felt a hand grasp my left hand. The voice that drifted into my eardrums and barely processed in my brain was definitely my father's. He was asking me to squeeze his hand if I could hear him. I could tell that he was worried so I did it. That little act exhausted me. I heard him say something else and eventually processed it that He and Draco were staying, wherever I was.
I was confused slightly. I thought that I was going home after the surgery was over, not staying in the hospital. They both knew how much I hated it and I know that they would never go against my wishes unless I was being completely unreasonable.
However at this point I was too tired and finally fully succumbed to the black oblivion that was gathering at the edge of my brain.
***************************************************(End Harry's thoughts)
It had been 3 full days since the surgery and Harry was not improving as much as the doctors hoped he would. The only thing that had improved was that his heart was getting stronger steadily and didn't show any problems.
What the doctors were most worried about was the fact that Harry still could not breathe on his own. He was showing no signs that he could without the help of the ventilator. There was also the concern about the fact that Harry wasn't responding to some external stimuli. Occasionally he would respond to Severus and Draco, who true to their word didn't leave Harry's side, but that was about it.
They would trade off in shifts so to speak. Severus would not allow Draco to neglect his sleep or eating and neither would Draco. So while one was sleeping or eating, the other would stay by Harry talking to him and trying to get any response that they could from the comatose teenager.
Ginny, Ron and Hermione had come in hopes of being with Harry as well but only immediate family was allowed in the unit. The three had reluctantly returned to the Borrow with a promise that Severus would owl as soon as there was any change.
On the fourth full day after the surgery Harry was starting to show faint signs of waking. He had been shifting around a little bit and his fingers had started to move and twitch a bit. Draco was on his shift while Severus was curled up asleep on the couch since it was still early morning.
Harry's eyelids were twitching and fluttering and Draco knew that Harry was finally waking up. He quickly woke up Severus who came over next to Draco and started to gently call the boy awake. Before Harry opened his eyes he started to gag as if he was choking on the breathing tube. Severus said in a calm yet authoritative voice,
"Harry, Harry you've got to calm down. Don't fight the tube it's helping you breathe since you can't on your own. Stop fighting it and let it do its job and open your eyes. Just open your eyes and stop fighting."
Harry couldn't help but obey his father and stopped fighting the tube and opened his tired, unfocused emerald eyes and locked onto his father's onyx ones. He squinted a bit and the blurriness got a little better and saw the undiluted relief in the obsidian and silver depths of his father and brother.
Draco dashed out of the room to go tell the nurse that Harry had woken up as Severus put his hand onto Harry's cheek, lightly rubbed it and said,
"Good morning, you had me worried. Blink once if you understand me, twice if you don't."
Harry blinked once and Severus sighed and said,
"Good, does your knee hurt?" Harry blinked once and his eyes were shining with unshed tears "All right. I'll get somebody to give you something for it. Does anything else hurt?" Harry blinked again.
Severus ran down a list of everything and finally found that Harry's back was hurting. He assumed that it was from being flat on it and not having moved for almost a whole week. What else could it be.
At that point Draco came in with the doctor who said,
"Well Harry, we're definitely glad to see you awake. You've had quite a few people worried lately. I'll bet you're wondering what exactly happened." Harry slightly nodded and the doctor continued,
"Well as it turns out you had a severe allergic reaction to the anesthesia that we gave you. There was no way for anybody to know that this was going to happen since it is not a common allergy obviously. Also since you've never had this type of anesthesia before there was no way to know that it would interact so badly with your medication.
As for where you are you're in the Surgical Intensive Care Unit and have been for the past 5 days. We've had you on IV medications to counteract the effects of the reaction and a brain activity monitor to determine if there was any damage."
The doctor paused and continued,
"As of right now there doesn't look to be permanent damage but now that you're awake we've got to do a few tests to make sure. You weren't responding to some things while you were unconscious and we just want to make sure that there's nothing wrong in the end. Everything with your knee is fine, you should have full use of it again in 4-6 weeks tops. Since your father is a certified mediwizard and has the equipment he's going to be doing your rehabilitation at your home so you don't have to keep coming back here for your sessions."
At this a look of relief came onto Harry's face. He had hoped that that would happen. The doctor then smiled a bit and said,
"Now I imagine that that tube down your throat is not very comfortable. I need to do a quick test to determine if it can come out and if it can it will but if not it's going to have to stay in. Alright?"
Harry imperceptibly nodded and the doctor quickly performed the test. After it was done he said,
"Well Harry I'm sorry but it's got to stay in for a little while longer. Even on a very high oxygen intake you're still not able to breathe enough on your own to get all the oxygen you need. Do you understand?"
Harry blinked once again with the tears in his eyes because the pain in his knee was really mounting. It was bad when he'd woken up but it was really getting unbearable. Also Harry had a very high tolerance for pain, it took a lot to make him show that he was actually in a minescule amount but the fact that he was about to cry from it said something.
The doctor left for a moment and came back with a nurse who gave Harry a shot directly into his IV and his face and body started to relax a bit. He closed his eyes and it became clear that he was fully intending to sleep which the doctor said was the best thing for him to do. This was when he was most relaxed and would definitely help his breathing, or lack thereof.
A/N: Alright I decided to stop it there. Next chapter should have Harry off the vent and being moved so that Ginny Ron and Hermione can come visit and then going back to the manor okay? I hope that chapter wasn't bad but I thought that it would be kind of interesting to have at least the first part being Harry's thoughts before and right after. I remember when I had knee surgery thinking about stuff and thought that it'd be kind of interesting. If it was boring I apologize but I'm not going to change it. Now push that little button and tell me what you think, I've been writing this chapter off and on for about 5 1/2 hours now and since I'm sure you all are dying to read this I decided to post it and if my beta (luv u arabella, happy new year hope you don't have a hangover from the festivities!) finds anything wrong then I'll replace it with her betaed version. TTFN ALL AND Feliz Nuevo Año or for those of you who don't speak spanish, Happy New Year!!!
