Sweet Misery
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An owl glided upon a summer breeze, soaring above the tops of roofs, with a letter clutched tight within its talons. Its golden eyes scanned the land below it in search of its destination. With a loud hoot of triumph, it began to descend to a window of a two-story home. Landing on the ledge outside the window, the owl gave three quick raps on the window. The owl waited a moment for an answer, but didn't receive one. It rapped on the window again then emitted an indignant shriek. Still no one came to the window. The owl shrieked again then removed itself from its perch and flew around the home to find another way to deliver the letter.
At that moment, a black Toyota pulled up in front of the home. Lily Evans climbed out of the back, her arms filled with shopping bags. She adjusted the bags to wave goodbye to her muggle friend, Julie, before turning to head up to her house. As the Toyota drove away, Lily set down the bags to brush her hair off her face. Looking up at her house, she saw a golden owl circling the house. She grabbed her bags and started to jog up to where the owl was, but slowed as she passed a car she had never seen before. She paused to inspect it before continuing to where the owl was.
'Cloud!' Lily said to get the owl's attention. The owl hooted and swooped down, dropping the letter in Lily's outstretched hands. 'Thank you Cloud!' Lily managed to free one of her hands and gave the owl a light pat on the head before it flew off, back to the Fonseca residence. Lily dropped the letter into one of her shopping bags and walked the rest of the distance to the front door. Once inside, she announced her arrival as she walked towards the stairs to take her stuff upstairs.
'Lily, please come here,' she heard her mother say from the living room. A little confused, Lily walked into the living room. On one end of the room sat her mother, the other her father, and between them was a man in a pinstriped suit. She looked from one person to the next.
'Who's he?' Lily asked in regards to the stranger.
'Andrew Dean,' the man replied, standing up. 'I'm your parents divorce lawyer.'
'What?' Lily replied, her eyes widening slightly. Lily tried to comprehend what he had just said. Divorce? He couldn't be serious could he?
'Sweetie, your mother and I are getting a divorce,' her father said.
'It has nothing to do with you, Lillian,' her mother added. 'It's because your father can't keep out of his secretary's pants for one minute of the day.'
'You can't go one minute with out making me seem like the bad guy can you?' her father snapped. 'Well you had your part in this too you know! All those midday escapades with that man from down the street!'
'How dare you! It's because of you that I—' Her parents continued to shout at each other while Mr. Dean tried to break it up. Lily dropped all the things she was carrying, her actions going unnoticed by the adults in the room. Her hands slowly crept up to her ears to try and block out the shouts. She shut her eyes tight and pressed her hands hard against her head wishing that it would all stop. She began to mouth something that, if her parents had been paying attention, would be incoherent. Tears began to stream from her eyes. No matter how much she pleaded silently, none of it stopped.
'STOP IT!' Lily screamed, throwing her arms to her side. All became silent. Lily looked up and saw her parents frozen mid-sentence, not moving at all. They stood like statues, as Mr. Dean looked shocked from her mother to her father then at her. She knew he was questioning himself whether or not she had done this. Lily, shocked by what had happened herself, slowly began to step backwards out of the room. As Mr. Dean was about to say something, Lily turned and ran from the house. She had to get away. She would be in so much trouble with the Ministry. There was no doubt that they already knew what had happened. They'd be arriving at her home at any moment; she couldn't be anywhere near there. Plus returning home would mean facing the fact that her parents were getting a divorce. It couldn't be happening… they never fought. Things were always so peaceful when she was home. Her life was falling apart. The tears began to flow faster as she realized this.
Lily continued to run till she felt as if she was going to collapse. Panting, she looked around at her surroundings only to realize she had no idea where she was. It was no matter; she wasn't going back. She placed her hands in her pockets as she walked down the street to continue on her way. She hadn't taken more than a few steps when she felt her wand in the pocket. She stopped and pulled it out slightly. Lily looked around and saw no one on the street around her. It didn't look as if anyone was in the buildings around her either. She quickly signaled the Knight bus and waited patiently keeping a look out round her. She didn't have to wait long before the bus appeared before her. She climbed on and dug through her pockets and pulled out the only money she had; ten pounds in muggle money. She looked up at the driver.
'Will this do?' Lily inquired softly, not sure if the driver would accept muggle money. Just as the driver was about to turn her away, someone from on the bus held out eleven sickles. Lily looked up and saw a boy she only knew by sight and reputation. She just stared at him, almost questioning his motives. He gave her a slight smile and handed it to the driver. Lily slowly walked back to the seats that had slid to the front of the bus when it came to a halt and picked one, moving it away from the hoard slightly.
'Where to, Miss?' the driver asked.
'Firan Valley,' Lily replied, saying the first place that came to mind. In an instant, the bus sped off, sending the chairs sliding to the back. She kept her eyes down, not looking around.
'Lily Evans, right?' a voice asked. Lily tilted her head up slightly and saw the boy who had paid for her ride. He held out a tissue for her. She took it to wipe her eyes.
'Um, yeah,' she said, her voice a little shaky from crying. 'Thank you for helping me back there… I'll pay you back, I swear.'
'No, forget it,' he replied. 'It's nothing.' He gave her a quick smile before his seat slid from the bus coming to a sudden stop.
'Miraga City,' announced the driver. The boy stood up and made his way off the bus. Lily finished wiping the last of her tears away as the bus began to speed off towards it's next location.
It had all been so sudden… How long had she been in the dark? For all Lily knew, it could have been going on for years. Seeing the signs would have to be hard for her since she was away for three-fourths of the year. Lily kept replaying the scene in the living room over and over. The driver announcing they had reached Firan Valley interrupted her thoughts. Lily stood up slowly and walked off the bus, looking around at her surroundings. This was the first time she had been to Firan Valley, yet now was not the time to be sightseeing.
Lauren was lying on her front lawn when Cloud came gliding down to her, landing on her knees. It hooted in expectation of a reward for a job well done.
'Well you're back,' Lauren said sitting up and petting the owl's wing. 'Let's get you something to eat then you can rest.' As Lauren stood up, she saw someone walking down the street, her head hung.
'Lily?' Lauren said, as the girl got closer. She looked up and practically ran to Lauren. 'Lils… what's wrong?'
'Everything's falling apart' Lily sobbed. Lauren put her arm around Lily, leading her inside asking to be told the entire story.
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'You ran away?' Lauren said as Lily finished the story. Lily nodded. 'Lils, this must be so hard for you… I'll tell you what; I could probably talk my parents into letting you stay a night or two if you at least let your parents know where you are. And hey! No need to worry about howlers!' Lily smiled slightly at Lauren's attempts to cheer her up.
'Thanks Laur…'
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Lily wrote a short letter about her whereabouts to her parents and sent it off with Cloud. The owl, rather indignant about not receiving any rest, took the letter and flew at his own pace. The afternoon grew to evening and evening to night, but Cloud had not returned. The owl had not returned at all that night, but midmorning the next day, the owl returned with a new letter clasped in its talons. Cloud entered the living room through an open window and dropped the letter on Lily's lap. Lauren took Cloud to give him some food as Lily tore open the letter. Lauren returned to the living room to find Lily missing. She looked around and saw Lily standing by the front door pulling on her shoes with tears flowing down her cheeks, a letter clutched tightly with in her hands.
'Lily?' Lauren asked stepping forward.
'I have to go,' Lily replied through her soft sobs. 'Thanks for letting me stay… I have to go.' With that said, Lily flung open the front door and ran out pulling out her wand as she did so. The Knight Bus appeared almost instantly. Shoving a galleon, which she had discovered buried deep within her pockets, into the hands of the driver.
'North Manchester General Hospital,' Lily said, her tears increasing as she spoke. 'Please hurry!'
The driver gave a quick nod and just as Lily sat down, he sped towards Manchester. Lily stared blankly out the window, twisting and tearing the letter in her hands. Her eyes were faded from the tears devoid of happiness. The scenery whipping by the window began to make her sick. She closed her eyes tightly and buried her head in her hands. It wasn't too long after when the bus came to a screeching halt.
'North Manchester General Hospital' the driver announced. Lily practically jumped out of her still sliding chair and ran off the bus, going unnoticed by the muggles around her. Rushing into the hospital, she was immediately met by her father.
'Is she here? Is she okay?' Lily sobbed frantically, grabbing her father's arms.
'They're taking care of her right now Lily,' her father replied. 'We just have to sit and wait. Everything's going to be okay Lily.'
A man in a white lab coat with a clipboard clasped firmly under his arm strode quickly over to Lily and her father. 'Mr. Evans,' he said, pausing only to move the clipboard and grab a pair of glasses from his breast pocket,
'How is she doctor?' Mr. Evans asked, hugging Lily tightly as if doing so would comfort her. Nothing could comfort her till she heard what she wanted to hear from the doctor himself.
'Her condition is stable,' replied the doctor, looking over the chart. 'The crash has left her with a collapsed lung and a serious concussion. We've stitched up the laceration on her forehead and set her broken bones. She's in the ICU as we speak. We're sure that your wife will pull through just fine. I promise she will.' He gave Mr. Evans and Lily a reassuring smile that caused both of them to sigh in relief.
'Can,' Lily said a little unsteadily, 'can I see her?'
'Of course,' replied the doctor. 'Nurse Deans will take you down to your mother's room.' He signaled to a nurse, who came over immediately looking to the doctor inquiringly for her orders. 'Take the Evans down to Marie Evans room.' He handed the nurse the chart. The Nurse turned to the Evans and smiled widely.
'Follow me,' she said. Lily felt elated as she followed her father and the nurse down the white walled corridors of the hospital. The nurse opened the door to her mother's room and inform Lily and her father that she would be just outside if they needed anything. The mess of wires and tubes attached to Mrs. Evans was a bit alarming. The steady beep of the monitor that displayed all her vital stats was just audible over the sound from the corridor outside. Once Lily stepped into the room, she practically ran to her mother's side. She placed bother hands around her mother's left hand and squeezed lightly. The car accident had done a lot of damage, but nothing that couldn't be fixed as far as Lily was concerned. She smiled at her mother before looking up to her father to say something when the monitor began to beep erratically. Lily's head snapped towards the monitor and all the lines had suddenly gone flat. Mr. Evans rushed out to the corridor and began to yell for a doctor.
'Mom!' Lily shouted. 'No! Mom!'
A few doctors and nurses came rushing into the room. A nurse Lily recognized subconsciously as Nurse Dean led Lily out of the room saying something about 'letting the doctors work'. She let herself be led out of the room.
'Please… Mom… don't leave me...' Lily whispered. Lily stared transfixed in fear at the hoard of doctors working desperately to revive her mother.
'Charge to two-hundred!' Lily heard a doctor shout holding two paddles that were connected to a large machine in his hands.
'Clear!' was the last thing Lily heard, as she was lead out into the corridor. She watched through a small window in the door as the doctors tried for a half hour to no avail. She saw the doctor who had spoke to her and her father not too long ago say something to one of the nurses and walk to the door. He ran his hands through his hair exhaling heavily as he did so.
'What happened?" Mr. Evans asked. 'You said she was stable!'
'We failed to discover the internal hemorrhaging, in your wife's stomach,' the doctor said, his voice remaining steady. 'We're sorry we didn't find it sooner.'
'You said she was going to make it through!' Lily shouted. 'You said she'd be okay!'
'I'm sorry,' the doctor replied. 'We did the best we could miss. We couldn't save her. It was just too late.' Lily gave the doctor a look of pure hatred before turning to her father and hugging him tightly as she closed her eyes and repeatedly began to try to wish it all away.
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A week had past and it was only a day before Lily had to leave for Kings Cross Station. She had packed up all the things she would need for school and wandered her house passing by the piles of boxes. She made her way into the living room where her father was sitting on the floor taping a box closed.
'Why do we have to move?' Lily inquired, leaning against the wall across from him.
'We'll be closer to my new job so I'll be able to be home sooner and spend more time with you when you're home for the summer,' Her father replied setting down the tape and picking up a black marker. 'You'll like Carlisle, trust me.'
'I'll try but I can't guarantee anything,' Lily mumbled.
'I know it's hard Lily…' her father said rising from his seat on the floor. 'We're going to make it through this. Maybe a new life is just what we need. Don't worry, you'll make new friends up there.'
'I'm fine with the friends I have, thanks,' answered Lily before walking back up to her room. Her father sighed inwardly and continued to pack.
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A/n: well, it took about six, seven months, but it's done! I'd like to thank Padfoot for helping me with the hospital thing. It helped INCREDIBLY. I don't know what I would've done if I didn't get that hospital…
Do you know how hard it is to fake knowledge of the medical variety? Huzzah for ER.
Anyway, now I can calm down a little. I finally have finished chapter 28. I also posted another story. It's a Remus/Gwynn fic. I missed writing Gwynn…
Oh yeah! Before I forget I have an art page. At this moment, my featured drawing is one I did of Lauren. Or at least how I see her. I also have some of Gwynn up there, but those aren't from Sweet Misery but from my other fic. Here's the link: http:tanshin.deviantart.com
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