Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to JK Rowlings.
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Chapter Four: A Day In The Life
~@~
Draco Malfoy was jarred awake by the burning sensation on his left forearm, muttering for the lights, he saw the red cross burning brightly against his pale skin and curst as he quickly got out of bed and grabbed some clothes. Pulling them on as he went, he stumbled out of his room and into the common area where a small kitchenette was located so he could to grab a quick bite as, goodness only knew when he would be able to again.
He had his shirt half on and was just pulling up his pants when he tripped over a furry lump that let out a loud yelp that started barking. "Oh, for crying out loud!"
He let out a steam of obscenities as he stumbled forward, but caught himself before he fell. Righting himself, spun around and was tempted to issue a hard kick to the yapping mutt when the door to his right swung open and a silencing charm was cast, instantly quieting the snarling beast. "What are you doing?"
"What is that THING doing here?"
Nieal blinked blankly at him, but shut his door and sleepily walked into the common room. "It's four in the morning, mate, go back to bed."
Draco just sighed and continued into the kitchen as his arm continued to burn. "Can't, got a call." and showed his arm for emphasis.
Nieal shook his head and sleepily wiped at his eyes. "When I said you need to get out more, this isn't what I meant."
Draco just shrugged as he began to pull items to make a few sandwiches out of the icebox, casting a spell to make them do so as he ate an apple now. "They're a little short staffed right now, and we're having to pick up the slack."
"Is that safe? You're not even done school yet."
He just shrugged as he swallowed down a big bite, mindless of the juice running down his chin. "That's bureaucracy for you, as long as they have at least two licensed doctors on the ward, they don't care if the rest are students because they don't have to pay for them, but if we don't show, we don't pass." He reached for the milk jar to take a swig, but detected a sweet smell just in time and set it down with a smirk. "A flatulence potion?"
Nieal shrugged with a smile. "Can't blame a guy for trying, you almost drank it."
"You added just a little too much. Smelt sweet."
"I'll remember that for next time."
"I'll have an antidote ready."
He wiped his face and glanced over to the counter and saw the sandwiches finished and wrapped, so picked them up and put them into the pockets of his work robes and slipped them on and held up his wand ready to apparate when he turned to Nieal again. "Why is that mutt here?"
He grinned at him, "So, who was that girl who flooed for you yesterday?"
"Right then. See you tonight."
With that his flat disappeared around him, replaced by the noise of the University Hospital Triage Ward, the organized ciaos of staff running this way and that trying to treat six patients at once. "About bloody time you got here! Thought you'd stop and see a show on your way or something?"
Draco pasted on his most charming smile as he turned to he old charge nurse. "Gladys, love of my life. You know, you are the best part of my week." He rolled up his sleeve and held out his arm to her.
"I should leave it on ya, for your cheek."
He pouted at her until she rolled her eyes and touched her wand to his arm and immediately the burning stopped as the cross disappeared and his name appeared on the board as available for patients, and the slots were immediately filled, charts floating towards him.
"What's going on?"
"Riot at a Quidditch match."
Draco shook his head as he made his way to his first patient, "Yet another reason not to play."
Gladys just snorted at him. "Don't say that too loudly here, these ones are fanatical."
He looked down at his first chart as he pulled back the curtain, nothing but his name and 'Superficial Wounds' being recorded. "Okay, Mr. Tuttellman…" He looked up at the orange man before him. Paint, or die covered him head to toe, and the little clothing he did have on, very small and very tight shorts, just barely came over his stomach, only because the man kept stretching them up every two seconds, were flashing a large 'C'. He had a nasty gash over his eye, what looked like a broken hand by the way he was cradling it at his side, and what seemed to be bruising along his chest and down his legs, but he couldn't be sure because of the…orange. He cleared his throat and began to list all the bones in the body in the back of his head to try to keep from laughing out right. "Cannon's fan I see."
"Damn straight! At least they don't cheat to win like these HARPIES are want to do!" An indignant cry went up from the curtain beside at his words.
"Now, now. We're not here to debate the game. I am going to have to remove your… colours to do a full exam. Is your paint bonded magically to you, or time released?"
He sniffed at the question. "Are you one of these Greenies? Are you going to sabotage me once I let you near me?"
"I assure you, sir, I will not sabotage you."
"Witches are vindictive little things, will do anything to get fans. Won't you! Suitably named, you Harpies!" He was now yelling out as Draco took a step back, suddenly wanting to call in a psyche consul.
"Mr. Tuttellman…"
"Digging your little claws in wherever you can—"
"Mr. Tuttellman, if you don't stop, I'm going to have to sedate you."
"They got to you, didn't they? They're almost as bad as those Veela's, except they mean it!"
"That's it!" A cry went up from the curtain beside them and a streak of green came flying through and ploughed right into Mr. Tuttellman, causing both to fall hard onto the floor as they began to physically beat on each other.
Draco stood paralyzed in shock for a moment, watching them go at it before taking out his wand and pointed it at his patient. "Petrificus Totalus." He instantly froze as the witch kept punching at him. Draco stepped forward, wand still poised, and grabbed her shoulder, "You, back to your bed, unless you want a body bind as well."
Breathing heavily, she glared, but stood and returned to her cot. Squeezing the bridge of his nose, Draco quickly weighed his options. Considering the now angry and hostile neighbour his patient now had, it probably wouldn't be the wisest course to leave him there, so conjuring up the floor layout, he opened up his bed, and just as a new bed came open across the ward, he laid claim, levitated his patient and took off running, just in case.
As he skidded around the corner, a fellow med student seemed to be eyeing his bed gleefully and Draco was ready to body check her if necessary, after all, she did it last shift, he still had the bruise to prove it, too prideful to get it healed. "Don't even think about it, Reynolds! That's my bed, go leach someone else's."
She turned and glared as she planted herself down anyway. "I've been waiting for an hour for a bed to open up on this end! My patients a hypochondriac who needs to be by the windows or he thinks the air is not clean and he's going to die! He's out side right now. I'm not giving up this bed!"
"Tough! I got it; I'm here with my patient, so it's mine."
She crossed her arms and looked over his shoulder at the bobbing orange figure. "What's you're patient?"
"So far external injuries and a psyche consul, but I think once I get the paint off, I'm going to see some indication of internal bleeding as well."
"Oh?"
"Paints darker on the chest and his eyes look a little red in the corners. Yours?"
She ground her teeth together then stood up. "Fine, take the damn bed."
"Glad you see it my way." She just flipped him off as she stomped away and Draco lowered Mr. Tuttellman down and set to work.
~@~
By two in the afternoon, Draco sat tiredly on an upside down wooden bucket between two beds, eating a sandwich and making notes on his stack of charts from his last eight patients, recalling all of the procedures he did in each case. This was the part he hated, the paper work, but it had to be done, not only so everyone would know at a glance what was wrong, what's been done and how to treat, but in extenuating circumstances, this was how the institution covered their backs.
"That's what quick quills are for Mr. Malfoy. You are wasting my time." He glanced up to see Dr. O'Malley glowering over him, arms crossed with a hard glare, "And there is no food allowed on the ward."
Draco took one last bite and wrapped the rest, sticking it back into his pocket. "I apologize, Doctor. Dr. Miller prefers us to do it this way, says quick quills add too many side notes, and she does allow us to eat discreetly when we've been on for long periods of time."
"Do I look like Dr. Miller to you?"
He cleared his throat. "I apologize again, sir. I meant no disrespect."
"I suppose you were hiding back here? Just got on shift, did you?"
Draco's gaze became hard. "No, Dr. O'Malley."
"Then what are you doing?"
"I just started my lunch break."
"Well then, consider it finished." He handed him a stack of charts. "Get started on these, and since you're so fond of doing the notes by hand, you may do so, but I want them extensive."
Draco had to bite down hard on his tongue to keep from telling the guy off, repeating to himself, 'You need to finish school first, then tear him a new one…" Aloud he said nothing for the sake of his career, though it hurt his pride to do so. He just brushed past him and once out of ear shot of the sneering wizard, began muttering about the best ways to exact most amount of pain with the least amount of damage. Yes, there were some useful things he had learnt in medical studies besides the art of healing.
He marched to the admitting desk to file his completed charts from this morning that he was going to have to notate at some other time and slammed down his pile, startling the afternoon duty nurse, Judy.
"I thought you just went for lunch?"
"Not any more."
"Dr. O'Malley?"
Draco nodded, trying to look unconcerned. "I just think he likes violating labour laws or something."
"He only does this to you, you know." Draco blinked as he took in this tidbit of information. "Did you eat?"
"A bit."
She stuck her head out and looked around. "Come in here and finish eating, I'll watch out for the Doctor, but be quick about it."
He smiled gratefully and hopped over the desk to sit on the floor. "Thank you." He quickly tore into his sandwich, finishing the rest of it off in two quick bites and started on the second.
"When's the last time you ate?"
He swallowed down his mouth full and looked up. "I had an apple at four."
"This morning?"
He nodded as he stuffed the rest of the sandwich in and pulled out an apple, debating if he had time as he chewed.
"What time are you off?"
He swallowed. "Do you have water?" She handed him her bottle, which he drank from gratefully. "Eight."
"Eight! Tonight!"
"Yeah, I was paged in early for an emergency this morning."
She shook her head. "You're right; he is violating labour laws if you haven't had a break since four."
Draco sighed and shoved his coveted apple back into his pocket. "Is he out there?"
"No."
"Thanks for this, Judy." He stood, jumped the desk, grabbed his charts and began to whistle as he strolled away, seemingly without a care in the world.
"You should say something to him, this isn't right."
He turned back and smiled sadly. "What good would it do? He would just write on my evaluation that he feels that I don't have the stamina for this field of study and that my patients would suffer under my care. I know he treats me differently, but I have to take it. Nothing he can say then." He turned back and resumed his whistling, making his way to curtain three.
Drawing it back he saw patient number thirty-seven for him today. "Hi Sarah, how are you feeling today? I hear you fell and hurt your leg."
The little girl whimpered as she clutched her mothers' hand. "Billy pushed me out of a tree." She took a shaky breath. "He said you were going to cut it off. Are you?"
Draco leaned down to meet her gaze in all seriousness. "Absolutely not. We only do that to boys."
She looked at him wide eyed for a moment then giggled.
~@~
He watched the clock as the hand moved to read Eight Forty-five. He was going to be late.
"Are you still here?" He looked up as Judy came up behind him, arms full of fresh linens for the aids to change the beddings with.
"Shhh. Don't interrupt me. I'm on my last one, and if I don't get out of here in the next two minutes, I'm going to have a very angry woman after me."
Her eyes lit up at this. "Do you have a date tonight? I want details."
He tried to ignore her and keep scribbling notes. "I'm serious! I'm supposed to meet her in fifteen minutes, it's a formal event, I have to get ready, and I'm banned from the Quick Quills!"
"Well, where did you meet her?"
"Shhh!"
"Draco!"
"Shhh!" She huffed at him as he kept writing furiously. Pausing for a moment, he skimmed the page, added a few punctuations, then slammed his quill down triumphantly. "Finished. Now, all I have to do is file these and get out of here, unless…"
"Is she pretty?"
"Beautiful."
"Air head?"
He shook his head vehemently. "Finishing her degree in ancient runes. Please, I'll owe you one. Anything you want."
"Anything?"
"Anything."
"Fine, go, but you only have ten minutes to get there."
He thrust his stack of charts at her, nearly causing her to lose them and the linens and gave her a hug. "Thank you!"
Taking a step back, he pulled out his wand and apparated home and ran straight for the shower.
"Draco?"
He just waived as he went by, "No time," and slammed the door shut, stripped down, and jumped in long enough to wash off the grime from the hospital and get out. After rinsing the soap from his eyes and shutting off the water, he opened the shower door to reach for a towel but found none there. "Nieal, where are the towel's?"
"What?"
"The towel's, where are they?"
"Sent out for laundry."
He gritted his teeth, but picked up his dirty robes none the less to wrap himself in and ran out and into his room only to find it completely bare. "NIEAL!"
"What?"
"WHERE ARE MY CLOTHES?"
His flat mate came to stand in his doorway. "Liz thought it would be a nice surprise to send all your stuff to get laundered for you."
At that moment he didn't knew if he wanted to scream of cry. "I have to be at a very important function in two minutes, and I NEED my dress robes!"
"I'm sorry mate. But, you never go to these school things anyway, I'm sure they won't even notice you're missing."
"No, it's not for me; I was supposed to go for someone else who…" His voice suddenly went very quiet. "If you cannot fix this in two minutes, I swear, you can find a new place to live."
They stared at each other for a moment in silence, Nieal realizing he had gone too far with this one. "Give me one minute." He disappeared with a pop and Draco collapsed against the wall, trying to get his breathing under control.
True to his word, a minute later he appeared again, holding dark blue velvet robes in his arms. "Will these do?"
He slipped them on; they were a bit long, but otherwise fit fine. "Yes, where did you get them?"
"My brother. I'll have you're stuff back by the time you get home."
Draco nodded and left it at that, not having the time, nor trusting his temper at the moment to say anything else. He just raised his wand, and went to the university.
~@~
Virginia was pacing in front of the gates in an agitated manner. Draco was now officially late. She was trying to smooth out the invisible wrinkles of her cream robes when she spotted Draco running down the path towards her. She wanted to get mad at him, but his appearance made her stop. "Draco! What happened?" He looked ready to kill anyone who crossed his path, bags under his eyes, hair still in wet clumps on his head.
He cleared his throat and ran his hand through his hair, attempting to do something with it. "I'm running a little behind." His gaze took her all in and he suddenly broke out into a small smile. "You look beautiful."
She blushed at his compliment and made no reply. "Let's see what we can do to fix you up." She did a quick drying spell, then began running her fingers through her hair, after he knelt down a bit to make it easier for her to reach, so she could style it just the way she liked. "There, good as knew."
Their noses bumped when he lifted his head slightly at her declaration and she was lost in his eyes. She felt herself leaning in ever so slowly and as her eyes fluttered shut and their lips were about to make contact, there was a scrapping sound and he was gone.
"Damn robes!"
Her eyes flew open to see Draco laid out on the ground at her feet and she couldn't help but laughing at the absurdity of the situation. "I'm sorry! It's just that…"
He just scowled, got up and brushed himself off. "Well?"
"Maybe we should just get going."
He just shook his head and she could have swore she heard him mutter, "Perfect." He nodded his head none the less and extended his arm, which she took, and they began down the path. "So, where are we headed?"
"The Sigrid Haughty Museum."
"I have to go to a museum too! You never said anything about that!"
She rolled her eyes as she dragged him along. "You never know, you may learn something."
"I should change your punishment."
"Too late."
She looked over at him and almost did a double take when she saw a pout on his face. "That's not fair, you misrepresented yourself."
"Well, we'll see."
~@~
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