Chapter 4: Everytime
Notice me
Take my hand
Why are we
Strangers when
Our love is strong
Why carry on without me?
Hermione had been doing well in her new life, and Draco was well aware of that. Inadvertently, they had both decided to live as muggles after they had broken up to get away from the painful memories of their life in the wizarding world. He had quit his job at Gringots because he couldn't bear to see Lavender, and she had resigned from her job at St. Mungo's. Her new job as the author of the new hottest book, A False Love, was an instant bestseller. Her picture was on every bus in London, and her fame seemed to spread like a wildfire raging through the city. Her book seemed to attract so many people because a lot of people could relate to it, or so they said. Draco was curious; what was this new book about?
One day, while he was at the bookstore, he grabbed a copy and wrapped a Qudditch magazine around it until he got up to the cash register. Once he was outside, and in a taxi, he pulled the book out from the plastic cellophane store bag it was in. He saw Hermione's picture on the back and smiled. She was still as beautiful as he remembered. Her bright eyes were still so full of emotion. Her soft, rose petal lips reminded him of all the tender kisses they had shared in their better days. Her dewy skin still reminded him of the fresh snow that fell on their first Christmas together.
Draco missed her. He still hadn't talked to her since he had called her a few days after their fateful meeting at their, now Draco's, apartment. He still loved her, and he wanted to believe that she still loved him. His hope was the only thing that kept him going through those long sleepless nights. He wished she would give him another chance. He closed his eyes, and still remembered the light scent of her hair from that night they had spent on the roof together. He laughed when he remembered how she had wanted to be a star.
He looked out at the night sky, and saw a solitary shinning orb in the sky. It was "his" Hermione. He closed his eyes and made a wish on the star; he wished for Hermione to come back to him.
I make believe
That you are here
It's the only way
I see clear
What have I done
You seem to move on easy
Hermione glanced over at her clock- 11:45 AM.
"Shoot," she muttered and quickly grabbed her light, spring jacket. After finding her keys (always a difficult task) she ran out of her new apartment and jabbed at the elevator button. She watched as the elevator lights lit up as it got closer to her.
5…
6…
7…
8…she walked into the elevator and pressed 'P' for parking. She had an interview with the newspaper at 12:00, and she couldn't be late. Ever since her new book, she had many job offers for newspapers and such. It had always been her dream to write; it was just something she enjoyed and most importantly, it made her feel whole again. Ever since Draco, she felt like she was missing a piece of herself. When she wrote the book, she wasn't expecting it to become popular; she just need to express her feelings, which she found possible through the eyes of her characters.
She stepped out into the lobby and ran out to her car. She pulled out onto the main street and looked at her car clock. It was now 11:53, and it took at least 15 minutes to get to the newspaper office. Panicking, she accelerated the car- going 25mph to 50mph, on a 35mph street. She was zooming from lane to lane; whichever had the quicker traffic. 11:57AM.
She was almost there, but something caught her eye that made her take eyes off the road. A platinum blonde was walking down the street. Could it be? It couldn't; it wasn't him. Her mistake of looking for Draco proved fatal. A pretty red car slammed into her new Lexus, horn blaring. She could only feel the impact; a sharp jolt sending her into numbness. But it didn't matter anymore, she felt at peace with herself; she had told the world her feelings, and now it was okay for everything to end.
It was 12:00AM.
I may have made it rain
Please forgive me
My weakness caused you pain
And this song is my sorry
At night I pray
That soon your face
Will fade away
She awoke to find herself in immense pain listening to the sirens of an ambulance. Slowly, she opened her eyes and saw the white ceiling and a man looking down into her eyes.
"She's awake," she heard the man say.
Another man rushed over to her, "Miss? Can you hear me?" he placed his hands on hers, "if you can, squeeze my hand," he said gently.
Hermione tried to talk; she wanted to scream, but she couldn't. Frustrated, she squeezed the man's hand with as much force as she could.
"Miss, we are going to have to give you a shot to take away some of the pain," the first man said.
Hermione hated shots and she was deeply afraid of needles. She hadn't had to worry about that before at Hogwarts because Madame Pomfrey relied on potions only. She felt the needle puncture her skin, which was just enough to make her see black.
*~*
Draco had just gotten to work at 12:00. After his break up with Hermione, he went into law enforcement. He started out as an officer, then got promoted to sergeant. He liked his new job a lot. It gave him a chance to experience both the good and bad in the world.
His day started out faster than he thought it would have. Almost as soon as he had stepped into his office, his beeper went off saying that there had been a car accident. He ran back outside and got into his car, taking off towards the scene.
When he reached his destination, he grimaced at the scene. He saw what looked to be a brand new silver Lexus completely smashed by a red truck. "Ouch", he thought, "it'd be a miracle if somebody survived that."
Draco walked over to the officer who had got there previously.
"What do we have here?" Draco queried.
"Well, apparently, the truck pummeled that Lexus on the driver's side. The driver of the truck states that he was coming off of that intersection over there," he paused to point to the intersection, "and the driver of the Lexus was just sitting there in the middle of the road. He avers that he hadn't seen the Lexus soon enough to stop in time. It was a pretty bad impact."
"And the passengers?"
"In the truck, there was a man and his 5 year old daughter. The man was able to walk away with just a few scratches, and the daughter needed a few stitches," the man paused, as if recollecting his memory.
"What about the person or was it persons? In the Lexus?" Draco asked the officer.
"She wasn't so lucky. We had to pry her out from her car. The door had smashed in on her and completely crushed her left arm. The window also shattered and she was pretty bloody. The paramedics said that they thought she might have fractured a rib and punctured her left lung because of the impact. She'll be lucky to survive this one."
Draco nodded, "That's too bad. Do you have the names of the victims? I will need to record this in our files."
The officer nodded and Draco took out a pen and accident report form, "I don't have the name of the man and his daughter with me, I already sent that in, but I remember the woman in the Lexus. She is that author of the new book, what's it called? Oh yeah, A False Love. My wife said that…"
Draco, turning paler by the second, cut the officer off before he could finish, "You mean, Hermione Granger?"
"Yeah, that's the one."
Draco's swallowed to prevent himself from throwing up, "What hospital did they take her too. Quickly!"
"Why? Do you know her or something?" the officer said.
"It doesn't matter to you! Now! What hospital," Draco said, panicky.
"Sheesh, no need to get angry. They took her to…" he scanned his report, "Good Samaritan Hospital- you know the one on 51st street and Shore lane?"
"I know where it is," Draco snapped, while running back to his car and slamming his foot down on the gas. He even turned his siren on so he could get there as quick as possible. Their past differences didn't matter anymore; he had to make sure she was okay. He vowed he would do whatever it took to make sure she survived.
Everytime I try to fly
I fall without my wings
I feel so small
I guess I need you baby
And everytime I see you in my dreams
I see your face, it's haunting me
I guess I need you baby
Though her eyes were closed, Hermione could hear and feel everything that was happening. She felt like she was neither dead, nor alive.
"Doctor!" a nurse practically screamed, "we're losing her!"
"Damnit! We're going to have to go in and try to get the fluid out of her lung! She's drowning in her body! Move people, we have a life to save," a masculine voice yelled.
"What about the anesthesia?" a panicked nurse asked.
"What is she on now?"
"She's on 75 mils of Fentanyl. I can up it to 100 mils once we start, if you want," a nurse replied.
"That's going to have to do. Start increasing it now," the doctor replied.
Hermione could hear the panicked voices as she lay on the cold steel bench. What was going to happen? Was she going to die. She heard them say 'we're going to have to go in' and she began to panic as well.
"Doctor! Her pulse is getting stronger!" a nurse with a thick French accent yelled.
Hermione couldn't hear the doctor's reply because she was too focused on the anticipated pain. She kept waiting for it to come, but surprisingly, it didn't. "The medicine must have kicked in," she thought, hopefully.
*~*
"Sir! You cannot go in there! Not even family is allowed!" a nurse said, while another tried to restrain Draco.
Draco, being as strong as he is, loosened their grips on him and pushed through the doors into the trauma room. He saw Hermione's battered body and the table, and choked back a cry. Blood was everywhere, and Hermione's face was twisted due to the pain she was in. He badly wanted to go over to her and take away all of her pain, but he knew using magic would not be a smart idea in front of muggles.
The head doctor looked up at the new member of the room, "Nurse? What is this man doing in here?"
"I tried to stop him sir, but he got past me. Should I call security?" the nurse asked.
"No, you don't understand!" Draco protested, "I'm a sergeant of the London Police Force," Draco flashed his badge, which seemed to pacify everybody in the trauma room.
The nurse calmly said, "Sir, you have to let the doctors be. They know what they are doing and cannot work with you barging in here." The nurse took his arm and gently led him out of the room.
"At least tell me how she is fairing?" Draco pleaded desperately.
"Hold on a second, sir," the nurse disappeared into the trauma room, then reappeared shortly. "They finally got her stabilized, but she will still need to go into immediate surgery afterwards."
"Do you know the damage?" Draco asked, calmer now that he knew she wasn't going to die, at least not yet.
The nurse gave an agitated sigh at the persistent questions and looked at the chart one of the 'on scene' nurses had filled out, "The crash has shattered her left arm, and she will most likely need reconstructive surgery to fix that. She'll need several stitches along her face, and she fractured a rib, which caused a punctured lung. Her lung had filled with fluid, which caused to suffocate within her own body and flat line for several seconds. Fortunately, they were able to revive her, and drain her lung. She will still need to go into surgery to repair her fractured rib and arm. Do you need anything else?"
"Do you know I will be able to see her?" Draco asked, hopefully.
"Are you immediate family?" the nurse asked.
Draco quickly racked his brain for ideas. He knew that if he said he was her boyfriend, Hermione would vouch that it was a lie after she recovered. "I'm her brother." Draco said.
The nurse gave him a look over, "She is tan, with brown hair and brown eyes. You are blonde, blue eyed and no offense, on the paler side. You expect me to believe that you two are related?"
"I'm her step-brother," Draco replied hastily, "our parents are in France right now, and I'm the only person she has right now."
Although the nurse looked like she didn't believe it, she didn't say anything. "Why don't you give me your phone number and I will make sure that a nurse on duty will call you as soon as she is out of surgery?"
"Thank you so much," Draco said, and gave her his phone number.
*~*
Draco walked out of the hospital feeling like shit. He had to question himself why he was even here. It's not like Hermione still cared for him. "Because you still love her, dumbass," the little devil on Draco's shoulder said. "Because you still care for her, and know that she would help you in your time of struggle, wouldn't she?" Draco's angel joined in.
Draco walked out into the parking lot and looked up at the cloudy sky. "Why me?" he screamed. Several onlookers stared at him, but he paid them no mind. Tears began to stream down his face as he hoarsely whispered, "Why her?"
*~*
While in surgery, Hermione dreamed of Draco. She saw Draco at their old apartment with Lavender. It was like she was there in ghost, and could witness the past. Lavender jumped on Draco coming out with their drinks. And the ghost Hermione felt tears coming down her cheeks. Draco was telling the truth when he said it wasn't his fault. Just before the dream ended, Hermione realized that Draco really did love her.
When she awoke, she squinted at the bright light. She was in a stark white hospital bed with a rather flat pillow beneath her head. On one side of her bed was a bouquet of roses, and on the other side was Draco. Draco!
When Draco noticed Hermione looking at him, he jumped up and rushed to her bedside. "Hermione! I am so sor…"
"Shhh," Hermione whispered, "it's my fault. I am the one who should be sorry. I should have listened to you; I should have believed you. I am so sorry," she rasped. It hurt to talk, but she needed to tell him this.
"It's okay. All that matters is that you are okay now," Draco replied, stroking her hand. "I missed you a lot."
"I know," Hermione replied, "and I cannot tell you how much I am sorry for all of the pain I caused you. It was all my fault."
"No Hermione, it wasn't all your fault. It was your smile, your face, you, that kept me going."
"Maybe, but I was also the one to break you." Hermione whispered, her smile fading away from her face, just like the rain that streaked the windows.
*~*~*~*
A/N: This is the longest chapter I have written for this fic so far, so I am really happy! The song is Everytime by Britney Spears. I branched this chapter off her music video. They aren't the same plotlines, but they both deal with someone getting hurt. Draco and Hermione are finally on speaking terms again! But will they ever be able to work up to the love they once shared?
I am sorry I took so long to update this story. Please deal with me and continue reading this. School has been so busy lately, but finally, all the work has been paid off and I am getting recognized for being so busy. Maybe the teachers feel bad for me. LOL. Thanks to those who reviewed last chapter: Courtney11989, SwimGoddess, and Syaoronsangel.
Also, I have a new fic out that I have been writing with my friend, Anna. It's a DM/HG Shakespearian romance. Please R&R!!
Now, you guys know the routine, click that little review button down at the bottom! :-)
Thanks so much!
Jenn