Chapter 5: Any Port In A Storm
Severus moved to the foredeck where his wife Rose lay under an awning. "We are starting back to Tahiti now," he told her. "The captain is casting long lines to fish while we return to port. Perhaps we could do some fishing ourselves."
"You fish; I will watch with wifely approval and admiration," Rose smiled. Severus headed back towards the aft, where Alain was setting the sails. The two wizards talked; Alain bent to reopen the tackle box, when a sudden blast of wind tore the boom loose from its fastening. The boom struck Alain on the back of the head sending him to the deck, and then it hit Severus in the chest and knocked him overboard. "Toby!" Rose screamed. She tore off her wraps and ran to the diving line. "Drop anchor and secure the boom! Man overboard!" She threaded the guideline through a life preserver, tied the line to her waist, hyperventilated and dove after her husband.
Time seemed to have slowed down. Rose didn't have goggles, but she stared through the salt water looking for her goal. She suddenly grabbed the memory stone, using it to channel, and commanded "Accio!" Through the golden glow she was projecting, with eyes that strangely didn't burn from the salt, she saw her husband drifting. He appeared to be unconscious. Her speed increasing, she plowed through the waters, her hands and feet as effective as when the gillyweed had webbed them. She caught a handful of Severus' hair and pulled him to her. Although he was nearly weightless in the water, he still had all the inertia of a full grown male. She got a secure grip around his waist and started for the surface, kicking madly.
Fortunately for them, Toby had the presence of mind to start hauling in on the diving line once it stopped feeding into the water. With this assistance they quickly rose, breaking through the surface of the water into sunlight and air. Toby lifted the unconscious wizard out of the water with "Mobilicorpus!" Rose clung to the life preserver to catch her breath while Toby worked to restore Severus' breathing. Rose couldn't see anything, but Toby soon appeared and helped her onto the deck. "He's breathing, but he isn't conscious," he told her.
"What about Alain?" Rose knelt at Severus' side, checking him for damage.
"He is still out cold; he probably has a concussion," Toby looked pale. Shock was setting in.
"Can you sail the ship, Toby?" Rose asked. He shook his head. "Put them both under the awning and do what you can for them. I'll get some help." She ran for the cabin.
The radio, GPS and sonar were still on and all warmed up. Rose took the handset and sent a Mayday call. Limping through on her nearly non-existent French and the responder's somewhat more fluent English, Rose was able to convey the need for immediate medical evacuation for two and a substitute skipper for the Bella Donna. She gave their location from the GPS receiver. Turning the radio volume up and connecting the deck speakers, she returned to the awning where Toby labored over his fallen captain and passenger. "There is a helicopter coming with someone able to sail the Bella Donna into port. They said they would be here in 15 minutes. The helicopter will take Alain and Severus to a hospital in Papeete, which has the best care for head injuries. If you stay with the ship, I'll go to the hospital with them."
"You cannot take wizards to a Muggle hospital!" Toby exclaimed. "They need a Healer!"
"Well, I don't know any Healers, and even if I did, I couldn't get them here," Rose snapped back. "Can you do any better?"
"We could Apparate," Toby began. Rose shook her head.
"You could; I don't know how," she started crying, "I'm just a Muggle, for all intents and purposes. I can't do anything."
Events had caught up with Rose. She went to pieces for five minutes, while Toby patted her shoulder, muttering, "There now, Miss Rose, you did just fine." He got her a drink of water and a large handkerchief. "As soon as the Bella Donna is docked securely, I'll fetch Raymond to the hospital. He is the best we have on the island. If he can't mend them, he will fetch our local expert off Bora Bora." Toby gave her a wink. "Raymond knows his way around the hospital just fine. Here," he continued, removing Alain's wand and handing it to her, "you keep their wands handy, and try to get all three of you in one room together, and private." Toby looked at her with concern as she awkwardly removed Severus' wand in its sheath and stuffed it in her bag with Alain's wand. "You don't even use a wand?" Rose shook her drooping head. "Blimey!'
The drone of a chopper overhead attracted their attention. "Is that what you requested?" Toby gulped. "Good thing they are both unconscious. You'd never get me up in one of those!" He grasped her wrist suddenly. "Will you be all right?"
Rose gave a cross between a hiccup and a snort. "It's just a helicopter. I've flown in one before. I will be fine." She squeezed Toby's hand. "Go safely, Toby. Bring Raymond as swiftly as you can."
They watched as two men jumped to the deck of the Bella Donna and hurried over to the awning, bearing stretchers and harnesses. "I'm Henri and this is Joel. He is the medical one." They gently bundled the injured into the stretchers. With some skillful if nerve-wracking maneuvers, they got the stretchers airborne, one at a time. "If Madame will sit in this bosun's chair, we will leave for the hospital." They tucked her in, with Joel behind her. Rose shut her eyes and held tightly to the harness. In a minute she was aboard the helicopter, being buckled in like a small child in a seat between the stretchers, while Joel sat across from her and checked over his patients. The helicopter swooped off towards Tahiti's main city.
Rose never had a clear memory of the journey or the hospital admissions. She was beginning to fade from the adrenalin rush and exertion, not to mention her normal pregnancy requirements for food, rest and water. Joel caught her before she passed out and strapped her to a third stretcher, and force-fed her electrolytes for shock and dehydration. When eventually she was able to bring her attention into focus, Rose found that she and Severus were tucked into separate hospital beds in a three-man room, and a nurse and a doctor were fussing over her. Rose was able to answer most of the 1001 questions all hospitals ask, and to request some food and a status report on her fellow patients.
"Captain Alain is in surgery; he has a fractured skull and a blood clot is possible if it is not attended to promptly. Your husband is stable, and although he has a sizable goose egg on his forehead, he is merely unconscious. The x-rays show no problems. We expect he will wake soon. Please call the nurse when he does," the doctor instructed. Both doctor and nurse then left. Her meal arrived; Rose ate mechanically. She still felt exhausted, and decided to rest before anything else. Clutching the pendant, she muttered "Nox" and drifted off in the darkened room.
Severus Snape awoke to a blinding pain centered on his skull, radiating out. Keeping his eyes closed, he took a survey of his body and surroundings. Everything from the neck down seemed to be present and correct, although his chest hurt a bit. He deduced from the feel that he was in a bed, and from the chemical smells, in a hospital of sorts. He heard a faint and familiar pattern of snoring, and took comfort in knowing that Rose was in the room. Otherwise, it was quite still. He devoted some time to pain management techniques he had learned in the war, and then essayed a peek at the world outside his eyelids. The room was small, mercifully dark, and by the equipment it contained, Muggle operated. Rose was in the bed next to his. She seemed fine. His connection through the wedding band spell informed him that she was unharmed, and that news provided so much relief that he slipped back into unconsciousness.
After a couple of hours of restorative sleep, Rose awoke again and decided that she needed to find out where things stood. She gathered her change of clothes and made for the bathroom, which included a shower. Washed, refreshed and clad in Muggle guise, Rose touched her husband's cheek. His color looked better, she thought. She touched the pendant, to see if there was any advice for head injuries stored in the stone. She found a charm for pain, and attempted to perform it, stroking Severus' head and pouring her heart into the effort.
Whether her efforts were successful or not, she did succeed in rousing him. His eyes opened, and he gazed at her, a smile turning up one corner of his mouth. He caught one of her hands and kissed it. "I don't think we are in Kansas anymore, Dorothy," he murmured.
Rose giggled in surprise, the giggle turning into a sob as tears leaked from the corners of her eyes. "You are all right, then?"
"My brains are not scrambled, if that is what is worrying you," he replied. "I do have gaps in my memory, however." He brushed the tears from her cheek after he pulled her head down to his chest.
"A blast of wind broke the lashing, and both Alain and you were struck by the boom as it swung free. Alain suffered a fractured skull; I called for help on the ship's radio and a helicopter picked us up and brought us to this hospital in Papeete. It has the best program available for head injuries. Aside from the knot on your head, the doctors think you should be fine. How do you feel?"
"Your charm has eased the pain in my head. I feel some pain in breathing, however," he added. "And I definitely need to use the bathroom, if you don't mind."
Rose released Severus and helped him to rise. She collected his Muggle clothes and wand and handed them to him. "Take a shower; you will feel so much better," she directed.
While Severus was in the shower, someone knocked on the door to the room. Rose opened it to find a nurse, an orderly, and a gurney with an unconscious and heavily bandaged Alain upon it. Behind this procession came the apothecary Raymond, dressed as a doctor, stethoscope and all, and behind him Toby, to Rose's delight. The nurse and orderly together gently transferred Alain to the third bed. The orderly removed the gurney while the nurse attached all the tubes and wires dangling from her patient to their proper hangings and plugs in and around the bed.
"Miss Rose! How are you?" Toby beamed. "You are looking much better. Where is your husband? You know Dr. Ouellette, of course?"
I'm feeling much better, thank you Toby. Severus is in the shower; he's just woken up. Dr. Ouellette, so kind of you to come!" Rose held out her hand to Raymond, and he kissed the back of her hand instead of shaking it. "Did you manage the boat all right, Toby?"
"She's secure in the harbor until Alain is ready to sail her home," Toby said with satisfaction. "Henri, that pilot you summoned, was very competent." Severus returned from the bathroom, damp but clean, in time to hear Toby add, "If ever I'm in a crisis again, Miss Rose, I hope you are there to help. You have a treasure here, Snape. Your missus knows how react to danger. She was in the water after you like a seagull after a fish before I quite realized you went overboard. She has nerves of steel and lightning reflexes."
Severus came up behind Rose to wrap one arm about her waist. He felt her tense up, and rubbed her side. "Perhaps you'd care to tell me what happened, Toby? Rose is too modest." Severus held out his right hand to shake those of Toby and Raymond.
Raymond spoke. "Let me just see that my patient is comfortable and then we can talk freely in the parlor. Nurse Monique," he added, "I would like you to remain with the patient. If he should regain consciousness, I will need to be notified immediately. You may request anything you need of the hospital staff. I am assuming," he added to Severus, "that you are planning on leaving the hospital shortly?"
"If you sign us out, Doctor," Rose replied. "I want to be sure my husband is out of danger."
"Of course," Raymond replied. "This way, please."
Once the four were settled in the parlor, Toby told Severus about Rose's actions to rescue her husband from drowning. Severus kept a firm hold on Rose's right hand, but she could tell by touching her wedding band that he wasn't as alarmed and upset as she feared he would be, or as she was. She slowly relaxed a bit as Raymond doled out potions to Severus for the headache and swelling, and checked both Snapes' conditions. "I see no reason why you cannot return to the resort tonight," Raymond said. "I will be staying in Papeete for the night. I've hired Monique as a private nurse for Alain, but I want to be within call if necessary. He is lucky to be alive," he added. "You were quite right to summon the medical helicopter, Rose. Without immediate attention, he could have suffered a brain hemorrhage and died. On behalf of my friend, I thank you."
"I am glad I could help. I was afraid that both of them would die because I don't know how to use magic," Rose said, tears welling up yet again. She fumbled in her bag and handed Alain's wand to Raymond.
"There are some things magic cannot fix, my dear," Raymond replied. "Muggle technology has its uses, too. Once the smartest Muggles left the Dark Ages behind, they devised some innovative solutions to practical problems," he smiled and gave the classic Gallic shrug of the shoulders. "Chacun au son gout. Go with your strengths and be flexible."
"Good advice for us all, Raymond," said Severus Snape. "Now, how do you suggest we return to the resort? I am unwilling to risk Apparition in my present condition."
"Nothing could be simpler! I shall charm a Portkey for you," Raymond replied.