::Chapter 2::
"...went to see him just now," said a familiar voice.
"And..." prompted another familiar voice. Fred opened his eyes. They were no longer as heavy as they had been, although he still had a definite throbbing pain in his head. He looked toward the voices he had heard. Standing just inside the doorway were two of his older brothers, Bill and Charlie. Fred looked to his left. George was still laying in the bed beside him. He too was awake, but he quickly motioned to Fred to remain quiet.
"He's surviving, but they think it may be a bit longer before he wakes up," Charlie said.
"How's Mum taking it all?" asked Bill.
"I think she's beyond tears by now. She hasn't said a word for days. They won't let her in to see Ron and the twins here haven't been up when she's come to visit," Charlie said, turning to look at the twins, who both instinctively closed their eyes.
"How about Harry and Hermione?"
"Hermione's in a right state. I haven't seen her leave the chair near Ron's ward yet. Harry's nearly as bad, but every once and again he collects information from some of the healers and gets food for the two of them."
"Excuse me, gentlemen, but there's someone here to see you," said a voice that Fred recognized as Gabriela's. Bill and Charlie left, while Gabriela came to minister to the twins.
"Glad to see that you two are awake. See George, I told you he isn't dead," Gabriela said, smiling at the two of them.
"Can we visit Mum?" the twins said in unison. Gabriela looked a little taken aback.
"You two are hardly healed yet. I can't possibly let you go running about the hospital. I doubt you can hardly even walk yet," Gabriela said.
"What about those muggle things?" Fred suggested.
"Crutches?" George added.
"Yes, what about them?"
"Aren't there any?" Fred asked.
"I'm sorry, guys, but it's practically impossible for me to get you into your mother's ward."
"What about that guy that knows Muggle remedies?" George suggested.
"August Pie or something," Fred added.
"Augustus Pye?" Gabriela supplied with a smile.
"Yeah him! I'm sure he'd know about crutches."
"I'm sure he would, but I'm sorry to say that he was fired just recently for his Muggle antics." Fred sighed. "You two are going to get me fired, but seeing as this is obviously important to you both..."
"It is!" they both agreed.
"Then I have an idea. Eat this while I'm gone. I'll be right back," Gabriela said with resignation before leaving the room. A few minutes later she returned with two old wheelchairs.
"The food tastes like plastic," Fred pointed out.
"What are those?" George asked.
"They're called wheelchairs and I know the food tastes like plastic," Gabriela said with a smile.
"Makes sense," Fred agreed.
"They're so you don't have to walk. They're left over from a stash that Augustus kept on the second floor." She put one of the wheelchairs by each of their beds and then helped them into them. Just as they were about to leave their hospital room, they heard raised voices down the hall.
"No Percy! The last thing she needs is you bursting in their making things worse!" Charlie shouted, trying to reason with his little brother.
"Make things worse, my hat! Honestly, how can things be any worse?!"
"Percy, if you take one more step, I swear!" Bill shouted. But Percy was now within sight of the twins. He continued walking determinedly toward his mother's room. Bill and Charlie, both very strong, tall men, grabbed Percy and pulled him into Fred and George's room.
"Hey! Let me down this instant!" Percy yelled indecorously.
"Listen, Percy," Charlie said while Bill pinned his hands behind his back. Both the twins turned their interest to the scene their brothers were making. During the past year, it seemed that Charlie had taken Percy's attitude toward the family personally. His rage had built for a year and Percy being well pinned down, it seemed the perfect time to vent. "Mum's distraught. Ginny's missing, Ron's in a magicoma and she hasn't yet seen the twins. She does not need you strutting in there and telling her how she should have been more careful or how she's wrong and the whole lot of us are idiots!"
"Is that what you thought I was going to do!?"
"Well looking at your record for the past year, I'd have to say yes," Charlie spat back at him.
"Well you're wrong. I've come to apologize," Percy said. "And to see if everyone was alright."
"Well we're not alright, Perce. And you've waited nearly a year to admit you were wrong, so you can wait until the twins have seen her," Charlie said in a low, deadly whisper.
"You mean those two delinquents are going before me?!" Percy asked in amazement.
"We're not the ones that betrayed the family!" Fred called over his shoulder. With that, Gabriela led the way to Mrs. Weasley's ward, helping the twins to control the wheelchairs. Gabriela knocked softly on the door before opening it. Inside was a single white linen bed and several chairs. Lying in the bed was the twins' mother, while their father sat beside her. She looked up slowly when the door opened, but as soon as she saw Fred and George speeding toward her in their wheelchairs, she smiled widely, tears forming in her eyes.
"Mum!" shouted the twins as they raced to her bedside.
"Fred! George!" Mrs. Weasley said, her voice cracking from not being used in awhile. "It's so wonderful to see you both awake," she said, wiping away her tears.
"Great to see you too, Mum," Fred said, hugging his mother from the wheelchair, which turned out to be quite the task.
"So how are you feeling?" George inquired.
"As well as can be expected," Mrs. Weasley replied, her voice still weak. "Arthur dear, can you pass me a glass of water?"
"I'm afraid we're out, Molly. Gabby, where might we get some water?" Arthur asked.
"Oh, don't worry about it, I'll get you some," Gabriela offered, taking the pitcher from the patriarch.
"Thank you Gabby, dear," Molly called after the healer in training.
"So, how is Ron?" Fred asked softly.
"He's doing fine. He's just down the hall, if you'd like to see for yourself," their mother responded. "Have Bill and Charlie returned from the house yet?"
"Yeah, I believe so," George replied, glancing at Fred.
"Here you are, Mrs. Weasley. And a few extra glasses in case you get any other company," Gabriela said, placing the pitcher and glasses on the table next to the bed.
"Thank you Gabby. Are you the one taking care of my boys?" Mrs. Weasley asked, smiling at the twins.
"Yes, ma'am."
"I'll make sure to put in a good word for you, dear. They both seem to be recovering quite nicely."
"Thank you ma'am," Gabriela said, an honest smile playing on her lips.
"Hey Mum," Bill said as he entered the room. He kissed his mother on the cheek in greeting and to disguise the message that he had to give her. "Percy's here," he whispered.
"I think we'll go and see how Ron is doing," Fred suggested quickly. George agreed. The twins said their farewells to their parents and left the room just as Percy came storming pompously down the hall, followed closely by Charlie.
"Dad's gonna go ballistic when he sees him," George said.
"At least he's already in a hospital," Gabriela pointed out as she showed them down the hall to where Ron was being kept. As they got closer, Harry and Hermione both ran up to the twins. Both looked tired and a mess. Harry's rolled up sleeves revealed many scratches and one that required bandaging. Hermione looked better, but had a particularly deep scratch on her left cheek.
"Oh dear! Is it that bad that they need wheelchairs to get around?!" Hermione exclaimed worriedly.
"No, Hermione. We're just not strong enough to walk on our own yet," George said, going in circles with his wheelchair.
"So, how's Ron doing?" Fred inquired, wheeling himself up to the door they had been sitting near. Inside there seemed to be complete silence.
"Last time I talked to anyone they said it may take longer than expected for him to come around," Harry said. Hermione, who was standing next to him, gave an uncontrollable sniffle. Now that Fred looked at her properly, it looked like she had been crying for weeks, which he reminded himself that she probably had been.
"Gabriela Seraph, please report to your supervisor as soon as possible," called a voice over the PA system.
"I wonder what that's about... You can find your way back on your own?" Gabriela asked the twins.
"No problem," Fred assured her.
"I'll see you in a little bit then," Gabriela said. "I'll try to scrounge up some better food while I'm gone."
"Great!" Fred said.
"So, what room are you staying in?" Harry asked.
"Just down the hall. Room Twelve, I believe," George answered.
"Speaking of which, we'd better be getting back soon. We're not even supposed to be out in these. You remember that healer that gave dad the stitches last year?"
"Yeah," Harry responded.
"He got fired for using muggle remedies not too long ago," Fred finished.
"Well then, you'd better go back to your room. Gabby seems like a nice person. You wouldn't want her to get fired," Hermione said.
"Right. See you later. Let us know if anything happens." So the twins began making their way back to their room, hoping to have a better dinner than they did lunch.
"I never realized how much wheelchairs work your arms," George complained.
"Think of it as conditioning for the next Quidditch game we play. Once everything is back to normal that is," Fred said sadly.
"Do you ever think things will be back to normal?" George asked.
"I don't know..." Fred admitted as they turned into room number twelve. Inside was a tall, round woman with short black hair. On a tray, she had brought more of the plastic food the twins had reluctantly eaten earlier.
"Who are you?" George demanded. "Where's Gabriela?"
"Hasn't anyone told you?" the woman inquired as she wheeled George over toward Fred's bed, not knowing which was which. "She was fired just now. I would have thought everyone would know by now after they called her into the supervisor's office."
"What?! Where is she?!" Fred insisted.
"Probably down in the orphanage, collecting her things. The supervisor intended to throw her out of the building the way I heard it. Wait! Where are you going?!" But Fred was already racing as fast as his arms could allow toward where he thought the orphanage was. Luckily the hospital was not as crowded as it usually was, so Fred had no trouble weaving between people as he worked his way toward the farthest corner of the building. As he got closer to the orphanage, the crowd thinned even more, allowing him to speed faster. As he turned a final corner, he nearly tipped over as he tried to stop the muggle wheelchair on a knut. There she was, as angelic as ever, despite the tears that were falling from her eyes. At the sound of Fred's wheelchair she had lifted her head, but now she was once again walking toward the orphanage.
"Gabby! Gabby wait!" Fred pleaded as he worked to catch up with her. "Did he sack you?"
"Yes, the stupid git!"
"Why? Because of the wheelchairs?"
"No, Fred. It wasn't that."
"Why then?" Fred inquired, but his inquiry only led her to cry harder. She sat down on the pristine white floor, wiping her green eyes with her white robes. "Do you want to talk about it?"
"He doesn't know an elvish lullaby from a bedpan!"
"What?" Fred was thoroughly confused now. Gabriela looked up into Fred's eyes.
"Do you remember the first day you woke up?"
"Yes, you were singing."
"Yes. Well, you were recovering so poorly that I used some elvish techniques. Human contact and a healing lullaby. And look at you now. Practically racing through the halls, running down everything in your way. Well, my boss took it as violating the Healer - Patient Contract. So now I'm out of a job and a home."
"Come on, I'll go with you to gather your things," Fred offered.
"Thanks, Fred." So the two of them went to the orphanage, which turned out to be a cold, dark, and dingy place. Two long, narrow dormitories, conjoined by a small room with a few ancient, broken toys and books was all there was to it. Gabby walked into the leftmost dormitory and down until they were nearly at the end of the row. Gabby crawled up onto her little twin sized bed that looked to be a 300-year-old hospital bed. She took her photo album and her hair brush, put them into her school trunk, which was very beat up, and then took the old quilt off of her bed. She levitated her trunk in front of her and held her blanket in her arms.
"So what are you going to do now?" Fred asked.
"I don't know yet," Gabriela said with a sigh. "I guess I could find another job and get an apartment. But there aren't any other hospitals like this in the entire United Kingdom. I can't very well change my profession. I've only been studying magical medicine for more than seven years."
"How good are you at potions and charms?" Fred asked.
"I'm best at potions, but I did well in charms also."
"Well, I'd have to talk this over with George a bit, but what would you say to coming to work in our shop?"
"Working in a joke shop? I don't know..."
"No, listen... George and I are always inventing things. Some of them are potions, some require charms, and more often than not, they backfire on us. We could use someone that knows a lot about medicine around the shop. Besides, people are always asking us about side effects of certain ingredients or asking for help if something goes wrong. You'd be perfect. There's a small apartment above the shop that you could live in. It's the perfect solution!"
"Well, if it's alright with George, it sounds better than what I was planning," Gabriela said.
"And what was that?"
"Move back into the castle and spend the rest of my life dealing with first years that don't understand it's unsafe to transform each other's quills into snakes," Gabriela revealed. Fred laughed. "I'm serious. Or the third years who come back from their Hogsmeade trips with so many tempting sweets in their bags that they can't resist eating them all before they get back to the castle. The Hospital Wing is always full after Hogsmeade trips." They turned the last corner, coming back to room twelve.
"There you are, George," the new attendant exclaimed as Fred and Gabriela entered the ward.
"This is Fred, Suzy," Gabriela corrected the healer. "That one's George."
"I didn't know you could tell us apart," George said, getting up to switch beds.
"After having the both of you in my ward for two and a half weeks, I would hope I could tell you apart."
"So, what happened to getting some decent food?" George asked, eying the gross food that still sat on the tray as he struggled to get into his own bed. Gabriela went to help him intuitively.
"Well, I don't have access to the kitchens anymore, or I would go cook you something. But I know a few of the cooks. Let me just–"
"I'll do it. You stay here," the healer offered.
"Thank you , Suzy," Gabriela said as she pulled the covers over George's legs then went to help Fred into his bed.
"So, George, what do you say to hiring Gabriela as our full time medic?" Fred asked as Gabriela pulled the blankets over his legs, just like she had for George.
"Sounds like a good idea to me," George said.
"You!" shouted a man's voice from the hall. All three of the teenagers' heads whipped around to see who had shouted so. Gabriela blanched when she saw whom it was. Her ex-supervisor. "You! I thought I'd gotten rid of you! What are you still doing here?! Helping him of all people!"
"Sir... I was just... I- It's not..." Gabriela stammered, tears forming in her eyes again.
"Excuse me, but Miss Seraph is the best healer we've seen in our whole lives!" exclaimed George.
"Yeah, and we've seen a lot of healers in our day," Fred added.
"And because she is such a fantastic healer, she's already got another full time job lined up."
"And she is still here because she is our guest. We have asked that she remain with us until we are well enough to go back to our illustrious shop and pay her loads of money for half the work she would be required to do here. Now, if you don't mind, we need our rest, as Miss Seraph was kindly telling us before you interrupted so rudely."
"Good day to you, Sir," George said, dismissing the man, who left in quite a huff.
"You guys are the best!" Gabriela said, hugging both of them.
(A/N: Working on Chapter 3 now. Should be up soon.)