Chapter Two: Auxilium
It felt as if her entire body had been beaten and then tossed over a waterfall. Her head was throbbing, and various parts of her body ached. Her eyelids parted blearily, giving her dull brown eyes a distorted view of a large room with immaculately clean white walls. She lifted her head slightly, receiving a shooting pain in her neck, and laid it back down on the pillow that had found its way beneath her untamed mane of curly auburn hair.
Blinking the room into focus, she lifted her head once more and realized that she was lying on a bed with golden sunlight from a nearby window streaming in onto her, brightening the already blinding white room. There were other people around her, asleep in their beds. She groaned and winced slightly as she sat up fully, seeing that she was now clad in a ridiculously revealing paper gown.
All at once, a sudden panic threatened to take over her entire body as she realized where she was. Hopping out of bed frantically (and also quite painfully and awkwardly), she landed on her hurt ankle and nearly collapsed. Grabbing onto the nightstand next to her, she wildly threw open the drawers, her heart thumping anxiously in her chest. She discovered her wand lying neatly in the topmost drawer and her rain-soaked, dirty, torn clothes folded in the bottom. Self-consciously glancing around at the room's other occupants to make sure they were asleep, she tore off the gown and hastily yanked on her still-damp jeans and long tee shirt. Though the clothes were dreadfully uncomfortable and dirty, they were much better than the generic paper gown that was hopelessly open in the back, allowing for an unwanted breeze in areas that she would prefer not to discuss with anyone.
Snatching her wand up once again, she made to leave the room, but several things stopped her. For one, her ankle did not seem to have healed overnight, and she was forced to slow down dramatically, nearly toppling forward with the sudden halt. The other thing was a nurse who wandered into the room, took one look at the limping, mud-stained patient, and pursed her lips angrily.
"Miss, I'm going to need you to get back into bed," the nurse ordered with a slight edge to her voice, several strands of loose blonde hair falling untidily from her nurse's cap.
But Alex did not want to hear it. She pointed her wand at the nurse and threatened grimly, "I'm positive I know a significantly larger amount of lethal spells than you, so I suggest you step aside and let me leave before I decide this is an opportune time to practice them."
Now the nurse looked not only annoyed but also slightly distressed. "Miss, please. I'm only trying to help you. We've only healed some outer wounds; we still need to fix that ankle of yours. And we can't do so unless you get back into bed."
Alex was breathing hard, torn between the pain in her ankle and the anxiety of waking up in a hospital. The memories of last time that had happened rushed back into her mind as she stood there, her wand still poised before her. Her rash instincts getting the better of her, she made to hurry forward, but her ankle bent beneath her and sent her tumbling to the ground.
Almost at once, the nurse snatched the wand from her grasp and helped her back over to the bed, tucking the wand away in the drawer once again. "Now, I'm going to need you to fill out this form so that we know who you are. The man who brought you in was not able to identify you," the nurse explained as she pulled some papers from her clipboard and placed them on the nightstand. As she turned to leave, Alex furrowed her eyebrows and turned her gaze to the nurse, confused.
"The man who brought me in?"
The nurse turned back around with a weary smile. "Yes. Said he found you unconscious on the street early this morning. He also said he'd be back later to see how you are. I suppose there are still some Good Samaritans out there." With a curt nod, the nurse turned back to the door, calling over her shoulder, "And don't forget to fill out those forms!"
Lying back with no intention of worrying about some stupid forms any time soon, Alex closed her eyes and attempted to forget where she was. But it wasn't long before her peace was interrupted for a second time. It was when most of the other patients had awoken and Alex found her stomach growling hungrily that the man stepped into the room and spotted her, smiling. Before he even got near her bedside, Alex propped herself up on her pillow and gave him a cold, scrutinizing look.
His light brown hair was streaked with gray, and his robes were very shabby, having patches sewn here and there in attempts to make them usable. Pale and looking slightly ill, Alex wondered for a moment whether he should be in her place. But this thought only crossed her mind briefly as he approached her bed, for her nerves were being stretched like a tightrope, and on instinct she snapped, "Do I know you?"
The man raised his eyebrows and gave her a kind look. "Actually, I was the one that brought you here."
There was a short pause. "Well, are you expecting some sort of thanks?" she shot back.
"No. I only came to see how you were. But I thought that you would be slightly more grateful; you could have died out there had I not found you," the man told her seriously. Alex scowled.
"Listen, I don't know what you expected in coming here, but whatever it is, you're not going to get it. I don't care if you think you did the right thing in bringing me here, Mr. Good Samaritan. I do not belong in a hospital, and that's that. So good day to you," she snapped irately, crossing her arms over her stomach and glowering at him. The mysterious stranger, however, didn't seem at all fazed.
"I didn't catch your name."
Alex stared at him. Her name? After her outburst of callousness, he just stood there and asked for her name? Frustration welled up inside of her as she sat there, not sure what to make of this benign stranger.
"I believe that's because I didn't throw it," she retorted.
"Well, then. Forgive me, I haven't introduced myself. I'm Remus Lupin," the man told her, extending his hand for her to shake it. Alex stared at it in revulsion and didn't budge. Remus Lupin… it seemed oddly familiar. Deciding it was merely the effect of her nerves, now stretched taut with frustration, she inwardly shrugged it off.
"Mr. Lupin, exactly how thick are you? I believe I have made it abundantly clear that your company here is unwanted. Are you deaf to all that I have just said or are you simply incapable of giving up when a girl has shut you down?"
Remus looked mildly surprised. "Believe me, I'm not here to try and get a date with you. I truly wanted to make sure that you're all right. Whatever happened to you had to be a traumatizing experience."
"Well, thank you for your unnecessary concern, but I'm a big girl who can take care of herself. And whatever happened to me on Grimmauld Street is none of your business," Alex told him, his exceedingly gentle exterior causing her to become more and more frustrated. Remus calmly strolled over to the table at her bedside and glanced down at the papers.
"I see you haven't filled out your forms yet. Do you have an aversion to people knowing your name?"
"Of course not," she scoffed. "A name is only a name. The important thing is the identity that is linked to it. Nobody has ever been terribly interested in knowing my identity. Therefore, why would I go around giving my name to any scruffy stranger that waltzes into my life expecting thanks that he is not going to receive?" She raised an eyebrow, daring him to argue.
"Point taken. But would you give your name to someone who is interested in the identity associated with it?" he inquired. Alex frowned at her own defensive rhetoric being thrown back in her face.
"If it'll get you to leave me alone," she grumbled. As he eyed her expectantly, she reluctantly gave in. "Alexandria. Alexandria Cain."
Remus smiled. "Alexandria. That's a beautiful name. May I call you Alex?"
"May I call you Lupy?"
"Alexandria it is," Remus replied, his eyes glinting with amusement. "Well, Alexandria, I've got some important work I need to be getting back to. I'll come back and visit again tomorrow."
"You… What?" Alex felt herself groping for logical reasoning. "I've been nothing but rude to you, and you actually want to come back? Are you sure you don't belong in the mental ward here? What reason would you have to come back?"
Remus sighed. "Clearly you have trust issues. My reason for coming back is that I'd like to see you again and make sure you get properly healed," he elucidated before turning around and strolling back out of the room.
Alex was too tensed up to lay down again, so she continued to sit there with her arms folded and her hands clenched into fists. After the door closed behind Remus, she closed her eyes and slowly counted to ten under her breath. When she opened her eyes, she found a patient across the room eyeing her curiously.
"Do you mind?" Alex spat, causing the woman to blink and look away. Alex reluctantly leaned over and began to fill out the forms; but all the while, she couldn't seem to get Remus's frustratingly benevolent smile out of her head. She had been lying unconscious in a bad neighborhood- what kind of person was altruistic enough to bring her to the hospital and then visit her? Not anybody she had met in her life. Wondering about possible ulterior motives and when she was going to get out of that hospital, Alex rested back against the pillow and let herself drift into a fitful sleep.