Oliver Wood quickly paced up and down the hallway. Hospitals always made him nervous. It was something about the smell of it. Absolutely nothing. Everything was so clean and sterile, it dulled the senses. The walls painted to be soothing colors, calming those distraught.
Oliver was distraught, but the walls did not help him. He had gotten an urgent message during the middle of Puddlemore's practice. Oliver Wood had been drafted straight out of Hogwarts and it was his fourth year there.
His team Captain had received a call, by none other than Fred Weasley, demanding Oliver Wood to go to the hospital. Without thinking, Oliver went there. He wasn't sure why but dared not ask. When being called to a hospital, thoughts are often pessimistic and frightening.
When he had arrived, he was met at the door by Fred Weasley. Others were inside, but Fred had been the first one to contact him. Oliver saw others he recognized from his years at Hogwarts inside, too.
"It's Katie, Wood," Fred said. There was no need for introductions or 'hello's'. Oliver stopped. Katie Bell had been his girlfriend since Hogwarts. Despite Oliver's ambitions, as well as her own, to join Puddlemore, Dumbledore had made her an Auror. She had taken a few weeks off of work and had been relaxing, savoring time away from her hectic life.
Oliver stared at Fred in disbelief.
"It's bad, Wood, it's real bad."
"What-?"
Fred sighed. "Attacked…by supporters…Death eaters…"
Oliver shook his head. 'No, not happening!"
They walked inside. "How is she??"
Fred sighed again. "It's hard to-"
Just then a doctor walked into the room. Everyone stood up, wanting to be informed. The doctor seemed intimidated by the large crowd and walked over to Fred and Oliver. They looked important to him, probably the woman's closest relatives or something.
"This is her boyfriend," Fred said, telling the doctor.
The doctor nodded and turned to Fred. "It's difficult to say how she is right now. We've healed most of the wounds, but she's lost a lot of blood. We can only hope that she makes it through the night. She's in a light coma."
"And??" Fred asked, pursuing the topic that only he knew about.
The doctor took off his glasses and cleaned them with a corner of his white lab coat. He put them back on. "With her condition, we're hoping that the baby will be all right, too. We're not so sure. We've never seen anything so-"
"Baby??" Oliver asked, "What baby??"
"Thank you, Doctor," Fred said, taking Oliver's arm.
The doctor looked down. "There's a 75 to 25 percent chance."
"Of her living?" Fred asked. The doctor looked down again. "No."
The doctor went back into Katie's room and Fred led Oliver outside.
"Fred???" Oliver asked, desperately looking at Fred for answers.
Fred sighed. "She's pregnant, Wood. Katie's pregnant."
Oliver stared. Pregnant. She hadn't told him. She'd planned on it, but she hadn't gotten a chance to, yet.
"Since when?"
Fred shrugged. "I found out about a month ago. I think I'm the only one that knows."
Oliver sat down on the bench. If Katie survived, he was going to be a father. If she didn't- NO! He wouldn't let himself think about what would happen if she didn't survive.
"Did you know that I was going to propose?"
Fred's eyes widened. "No way!"
Oliver nodded, smiling. "This weekend. Wow, a baby."
"She never told you?"
Oliver shook his head. "No."
Fred smiled. "Ready to be a daddy, Wood?"
Oliver shook his head. "What if something happens to her?"
"She'll make it."
"No, I mean later, after the baby's born. What she does for a living is dangerous, what if something happens to her??"
"Worry about that when that happens. Right now we have to think of Katie and the baby."
Every time Fred said the word 'baby', Oliver's breath caught in his throat. He was both pleased and fearful at the same time. Now, he wanted to be a father, the father of Katie's baby. Of his baby. But, at the same time, there was a chance that Katie would not make it. Could he stand losing her? Could he stand losing the baby, too?
Oliver was now terrified for two lives. Fred dragged Oliver inside.
Fred opened the door to Katie's room and the doctor shoved them out.
"No! We're going to see her now!" Fred screamed, "If anything happens to her, we have to see her now!!!"
The doctor, obviously intimidated by the two men, obliged. He stepped out of the way and shut the door behind them.
Oliver's breath caught in his throat at the sight of his Katie. She lay on a bed with wires and tubes almost completely covering her. Her face was black and blue, but still beautiful. As beautiful as the day he met her.
Oliver knelt by her side at the bed. His eyes traveled over her broken body. He ran his hand over her stomach and felt a small bump in her lower abdomen that he had never noticed before.
Tears pricked the back of his eyes. He couldn't bear to lose the only person he truly loved. As well as their child.
---->
Katie felt like she was drowning. Seeing the sun above the water but never getting there. Her left leg hurt like a bitch. She desperately wished to know if her baby was okay.
She remembered being attacked while she was at home. That was supposed to be illegal, in her book. The bad guys weren't supposed to come after you at home. That was supposed to be the one place where you were safe. Except that that was not true. It happened for the Potters and now it's happened to her.
She thought about her baby. If she died, would any tell Oliver? She was going to tell him, but she hadn't gotten around to it lately. She was worried how he would take it. He would be a good father, Oliver Wood…if she lived.
--->
She saw someone next to her. Then a smile. She smiled weakly. She woudl know that smile anywhere.
"Oliver."
Oliver's heart leaped at hearing her whisper. "Katie!"
She smiled and looked at him. "Sorry you had to miss part of your practice," she said weakly.
He smiled and laughed uneasily. "Whatever it takes."
She looked down and her smile faded. "Oliver, I have to tell you something…"
He put a finger to her lips. "Shhh, I know. I know about the baby."
"You do?"
He nodded. He didn't say anything else. Oliver grinned and kissed her gently, afraid of hurting her.
"Nothing could make me happier right now," he whispered into her ear, "save for you getting better."
She smiled. "I'll work on that."
And in that next moment, she was out again. Oliver look at the doctor desperately.
"It's okay, Mr.-?"
"Wood."
"Wood. Wood as in Puddlemore United's Oliver Wood?"
Oliver nodded, slightly annoyed.
"Anyways, Mr. Wood, she's lost a lot of blood. Although she speaks sufficiently and although she may say that she feels fine, she is in a lot of pain right now and there's still that chance that she may…"
Oliver nodded.
Fred took Oliver out of the room and Oliver re-acquainted his old Hogwarts friends in the waiting room. Angelina and George were married and had two children.
As it got late, Oliver slowly fell asleep in the uncomfortable hard plastic seats.
Hours later, someone was shaking his arm.
"Mr. Wood! Mr. Wood!"
The doctor was pulling him towards Katie's room. He jumped up. His first instinct was to get to Katie and his baby.
He ran to Katie's room. The doctor followed him, shouting, "Her vitals are down, we're losing her!"
Oliver literally freaked out. He lunged at Katie's bed, grasping her hand.
"Katie, I love you, please," he whispered into her ear. He saw a faint smile on her lips. She heard him as she was dying.
Suddenly, nurses and other doctors rushed into the room as Oliver heard the beeps on the monitor grow farther between. He stood there, frozen. He watched doctors rush over to Katie, bending over her body.
Oliver felt like he couldn't breathe. He loved Katie so much, she couldn't die.
Before he knew it, he was being shoved out of the room. Fred was standing outside the door and Oliver joined him. They paced for what seemed like hours.
Oliver kept thinking about Katie. If something happened to her, he wasn't sure how he'd survive.
He looked over at Fred. Fred seemed so calm. Oliver wished he could be more like that.
An hour passed and everyone calmed down considerably. Oliver almost even fell asleep again. When he looked at him watch, it was 4:25 in the morning.
A doctor came out and Oliver and Fred stood up, concerned. The man looked at them and sighed.
He reached for Oliver's hand, shaking it. "I'm sorry, Mr. Wood. We did all we could."
Oliver sank back down into the chair. The world seemed to spin. He almost felt drunk, like nothing was real.
Fred kept standing, shaking his head. "No."
The doctor walked down the hallway and slowly, the nurses and other doctors left Katie's room, turning off the lights and closing the door behind them.
Katie.
She was dead.
Their child was dead.
Oliver would never see her again.
He would never see their baby at all.
Before he knew it, he was sobbing and he didn't care who saw. He was struck by anguish. Katie was gone, ripped from his life before he got to say goodbye. He couldn't breathe. He felt like he wanted to die. Including his baby, his family was gone. Katie, the baby, they were gone, forever. He couldn't go back to their apartment and see her everywhere, in the picture, in the furniture.
Even Quidditch would never be the same again. He would never be the same again. He wanted so badly to have his baby back, to have Katie back. Katie was his life and now his life was gone. Torn.
He smiled slowly, weakly. As she was dying he had whispered, "I love you" into her ear one last time and she had heard him. He tried to imagine her weeks before this had happened, happy, smiling. He would never see her face again. He would never hear her whispering into his ear in the dark again.
Oliver was raked by loneliness. The only person he ever truly loved, and still did, was dead. He knew that he would have loved the baby, too. Would have. That would never happen. Oliver was going to be a father, he was going to propose to the one person he really loved. Not anymore. They were both dead.
He couldn't breathe. His heart was broken. He had never in his life felt this much pain. His life was torn, never to be the same again. Not even close. Not without Katie.