Walking With A Ghost
Chapter 7
It had been nine days now since I had been stranded in Middlesex Hospital. Or was it ten? Everything had a tendancy to fade together, especially time. I felt lost, and bored. I had, ahem, sped up the healing process if you know what I mean with some of my own remedies, I've been getting impatient to get back out into the world. People still questioned me where I came from, but I was sure to never give them a straight answer, or just give them conflicting information so they would stomp away in frusturation. To them I was probably just another drug dealer who got shot on the street, I didn't matter at all. Mikey kept trying to get my contact information, so he could find out where he could visit, but I couldn't give away the wizarding world's secrets! Especially not to a Muggle. I mean, he's a sweet guy and all, but...But exactly? My conscience keeps nagging me, until I mentally beat it with a sausage.
The doctors got a little suspicious over my extremely fast recovery, so I'm being extra careful to only heal myself magically a little at a time. It's a lot harder when you don't have a wand, in fact it's excurating to try and attempt it. But in my case, I would never get out of here by September first if I didn't try. It was either the twenty-third or the twenty-fourth of August, I could barely tell anymore. All I can think about now is that I'd better get better fast, or my friends had better find me, and get me out of here!
A small knock tapped twice on my door, and I looked up over my tabloid that Mallory bought me yesterday. "Come in!"
Mikey's ruffled blonde head poked through the door, his big blue eyes staring innocently at me. "Good morning!" He smiled softly. "I brought french fries!" He exclaimed as he held up a large, greasy bag full of the little yellow sticks. Ah, they were so good ! Mikey carefully sat on the end of my bed, and I sat up and crossed my legs on top of the blanket to sit across from him to share the fast food. We munched in silence together, watching the television. Silences were never ackward between us.
"So." He spoke to me.
"So." I repeated to him, shifting my pale eyes toward him. When I finally looked in a mirror, I was amazed on how different I looked all the sudden. At first, my face looked nearly skeletal from lack of food and energy-drain, and my eyes were sunken and dark. Gradually, I started to look less starved, and more like a normal person. Today I looked just as I had when I departed the magical world, but for some reason my already pale eyes were nearly silver in color. Don't ask why, they just were. It's probably the light.
"You're getting released soon, I heard your doctors talking." he said. I felt hope lift in my heart, then I thought of abandoning my new friends, and it sunk to a bittersweet joy. Why did fate tell me I could never see them again? "Will we see each other again?"
I froze, at a loss for words. Mikey was staring at his feet. "I'd like to see you again, I mean, not like a patient, but outside the hospital. Maybe we could go see a movie together or something, or hang out? Maybe...like a date or something?" His face was the color of a tomato by now, and I felt seriously bad. What the hell was I supposed to say? I wanted to say yes, and desperately hug him, but I couldn't! I'd go back to Diagon Alley, and disappear forever. Just another pretty face in the crowd...
"I...I..." I fumbled with my conscience. My throat seemed to lock. "I want to. But I can't." Mikey frowned and looked at me.
"Either yes or no, Mona." he said, his pale eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
"Yes! I mean..no...? Uh...it's a really long story." Suddenly, for some reason, Sirius' face popped in my head. And Remus' too. "I can't tell you here. I'd get in trouble if I told you at all. When am I getting released?" I asked, trying to come up with something.
"Uh...on the twenty-seventh, in three days." He blandly answered.
I drew a deep breath. "I can't date you. I'm sorry. But I really want to be your friend still! I have a feeling that you felt obligated to ask me, otherwise I'd just disapper. Which you were right about." I said, shooting in the dark with my responses. Mikey nodded to me.
"I guess that's how I felt. But why can't you just tell me where you go to school, even?" he told me, the red shades turning back into his normal skin tone.
I felt lost. I had to make up my mind! I didn't want to lose my friends, and I didn't have to tell anybody else about my being a witch. Just Mikey, and he was trustworthy, right? "I will tell you. But not here. I could be overheard, and you have no idea how much trouble that would get me in. Meet me in the Starbucks off of Charing Cross Road at one, on the twenty-eighth. That's the day after I get released, right?"
He nodded. "But why?"
"I'll tell you soon. Just come, okay? I'll be there." He nodded, and we went back to eating french fries. Soon, his pager beeped, and Mikey scurried from my hospital ward. What have I done? I told myself again and again. How could I just do that, and tell him about the whole world? But something was pushing me to do it, and telling me that there was a purpose to it. I wasn't going to end up dating him, I knew I couldn't do that. But who knows? Anything can happen really. I just had to be sure that nobody else knew. Who knows what the Ministry would do, damn them and their stupid laws! Of course you couldn't tell the whole Muggle population, but I met Muggles who know of the wizarding world before. Like parents, and a few spouses. Lily's parents knew, and were proud of their daughter beyond belief! I could just pray that Mikey would take this well, and believe me. And if he didn't believe me, then I could make him. I am a witch, you know.
"Wake up!" A woman's voice called from behind the door of Sirius and James' room. The both groggily sat up, hearing more pounding at the door.
"All right, all right. We're coming!" James slid out of the bed, and stiffly walked over to the door, unlocking it and opening it up. Outside stook...Lily!
"LILY!" he exclaimed, throwing his arms around the witch's neck. "I LOVE YOU!"
Lily grunted, and replied tiredly "That's nice, James. Now let go, or you might have to join Mona in the hospital."
Sirius was sitting up, and smiling at his friend. Lily was seventeen too, and a very powerful witch. She had red hair, and bright green eyes. Ah, Lily Evans, came all this way just to help them!
"Don't think I'm doing this for you, I just want to find Mona." Lily told James, shaking her index finger at him. "Now, what have you done?"
Sirius answered, "We called a bunch of hospitals in the area, and narrowed down the list. We asked people if they saw her around here, and we only got a couple people who were in this park a few nights ago."
Lily raised an eyebrow. "That's it?" She sighed. "Let's get out a map of London." James grabbed one from inside the small desk near the window of the motel room, and spread it out on the floor.
"Okay, so we're here." Lily stated, circling their area with a marker. "Where's that park?" Sirius pointed to a small green area on the map, about a mile away. Lily drew a line across the map to the park, and looked up again. "Hm. Where would be somewhere she'd like to go?" Lily mused, looking around the map, until her eyes fell on a small church. The caption off to the side said it was an old church, and never closed it's doors. "That's it!" she told to no one in particular, and circled the church. It was about two blocks away from the park. "Now...since she left around midnight, it probably took her an hour or two to get there, and that's about the time she went missing. So, she had to be taken to the hospital closest to the church..."
They all looked at the map again, searching for a hospital. "There it is!" James cried, pointing to a small blue square labeled 'Middlesex Hospital.' "We found her!"
Sirius rolled his eyes. "Technically Lily did. She didn't even need to call anybody!" He sighed, grateful that they had Lily for a friend.
"Well, you two had better put on some clothes, then we can get going. We haven't any time to lose!" She left the room to go wait in the hallway while the boys dressed. They came out together a bit later, both wearing leather jackets they bought so Peter wouldn't worry about them riding around on Sirius' motorcycle. Lily was wearing big sunglasses, a red knit sweater, and shorts.
"Let's go!" James cheered, and led their small group out the door, Lily holding the map. "This way!"
"No, it's this way." Lily corrected him, and turned to the left instead. Sirius laughed, and followed behind. Today was certainly going to be entertaining!
About an hour and a few pit stops later, the group had arrived at Middlesex Hospital. It was enormous! The building was brown brick, with so many floors! Wings stuck out in every which way, they were awed at the size. How would they find Mona here? Lily started walking to the doors, and stopped before they entered.
"Okay, listen up!" She snarled at them. "You aren't going to say anything, touch anything, breathe on anything, and if you do, so help me God, I'll casterate you both!" Lily took a deep breath, and managed to smile. "Glad we got that settle. Just let me do the talking, okay?" The boys nodded in fear, and followed their friend at a safe distance. The red head walked up to the desk, and rang the little bell. A secretary walked out of a back room, and smiled at them.
"How may I help you?" she kindly said, her name tag read Mandy.
"We're looking for a patient here, we want to visit, but I forgot what number the room is." Lily said, smiling at her. James opened his mouth to say something, and Lily slammed her foot into his toes. Sirius snickered, and the secretary just blankly stared.
"What's your friend's name?"
"Mona Lisa Proctor. I don't think there's anybody else named that..." Lily trailed off, watching the woman scan a long list of names.
"Hm...Ah! Here we are, room 876. Have a nice day!" she offered a big smile, and waved them off. Lily grabbed the boy's arms, and dragged them to the elevator. They both stared openmouthed at it, and when Lily pressed the button and the door opened, Sirius leaped back and gave a little scream! The people rushed out, muttering behind their hands. James was simply shocked, and was afraid to step on it.
"Come on!" Lily hissed, and pushed him on, pushing the close button before anybody else could get on, and punched the eigth floor button. The elevator shot up, and James and Sirius both collasped on the floor, clutching on to the railings. The man in a wheelchair next to them had his mouth wide open, and Lily looked at him with her "God, save me now!" look. A little ding sounded, and the doors slid open again.
"Move it!" Lily barked at the wizards, and they ran from the elevator. "Now, help me look for her room." They walked around the hallways, looking everywhere but not finding the stupid number! Nurses everywhere gave them disgruntled looks, and Lily looks of pity when James accidentally knocked an entire cart of IVs over. Next, when Lily took her eyes off Sirius for one second to drag James away from the blood test tubes, their handsome friend crashed straight into a poor man carrying a two foot tall stack of papers.
"Oof!" And the papers went everywhere! Both guys were sprawled on the floor, and they stared at each other in shock for a moment. The new Muggle had blonde hair and huge, innocent blue eyes with a tall, slender build.
"I'm so sorry!" Lily gasped, and James scattered gathering up all the papers. "Sirius, you idiot!" and she smacked him upside the head.
"Ow!" James laughed, and helped the Muggle gather up his papers. Lily stood up again, holding most of the stack.
"I'm so sorry sir, but if you could please tell us where room 876 is?" she kindly asked, and the doctor's eyes lit up.
"You're looking for Mona! You're here! Her friends!" And he threw his arms around Lily, dropping all the papers again (Mikey has quite a habit of doing that, doesn't he?) "I know her! I mean, I met her, or am meeting her, uh...I'm confused...wait, maybe I'm not..." Mikey looked utterly puzzled, and scratched his head, messing up his blonde hair again. It kept falling into his thick glasses, and he smiled at Lily. "This way!"
He led them down the hallway, leaving the papers behind. It's not like anybody else could read them, he'd just print more later. Then he spotted Mallory down the hall. "Mikey! Did you finish those labs yet? Wait, where are they? Did you drop them again?" Mallory chided him.
"Yeah, I did, twice, but these are Mona's friends!" he excidedly told her, and Mallory squealed in delight, running down the corridor yelling "They're here!"
She burst through a white door, and into room 876. "Mona, they're here!"
"Who, the nice men in the white coats? Thank the Lord, it's about time they came back to get you!" I dryly replied, taking a swig of orange juice. Sirius tenatively stepped through the door, and Lily shoved him aside, wrapping her arms around me in a huge hug.
"You're okay! We were so worried!" She cried, squeezing me even harder. James peeled Lily off me, and gripped me in a death grip for five minutes. My lips even turned blue, and Mallory's ribs hurt just from thinking about that hug. Finally, Sirius gently hugged her, and I gratefully hugged back in relief of not having to experience another "James" hug. "I missed you." he softly told her, and I nodded in agreement. My friends were here!
Finally everybody sat in chairs out in the waiting room so there was enough space. I was in a tracksuit instead of the hospital gown, since she could walk even though she still had a heavy limp from her knee. James started talking.
"We've been searching for days, you know that? You made us sick with worry! Don't ever leave us again!" he spat.
"Yes, mother." I muttered, and rolled my eyes.
Sirius started talking again. "Remus is pissed, you know that? And he's scary when he's angry. Then he's mad at me for letting you out of my sight, that guy is freaky. Oh yeah, he also sends his love!" I nearly spat her coffee out at this, and Lily snickered.
"You make a lovely couple." she teased.
"Shut up!" I growled. "Anyways, when can I get out of here? I'm supposed to be released, but I can probably get Mallory to sneak me out. I had to have a knee replacement! I have a metal knee! And look at this scar!" I rolled up my sweat pants to reveal a giant silver scar that went across the entire curve of my left knee. There was no way that even St. Mungo's could give me my normal knee back. Sirius gasped, and gently touched it with his fingertips. Then he gave me another hug, which I dutifully accepted. My friends were very huggy today! It was a nice change, but they had better get back to normal soon, or I might be here for another week with broken ribs.
"So," Lily started. "We're taking you to St. Mungo's right now to patch you up, m'kay?" She said like it was the most logical thing in the world!
"I can't just pick up and go! Are you crazy!" I blurted out, and Lily sighed, and looked over her shoulder to make sure nobody else was in the room but me, her, Sirius and James.
"Listen, Mona. I know you've gotten attached to people here, and that just causes you even more pain because you have such a hard time with changes. You don't even exist in this world, you belong back in the wizarding community. Your whole family doesn't exist here, they've been a reigning pure-blood ancestry for as long as anybody can remember, which means you have nobody here. No birth records, nothing. You can't stay, no matter how you try." Lily told me, and I felt a hallowness since I have known her words are true since the moment I opened my eyes up in my hospital room.
"I know." I softly replied. "I'll go get my things." And I left the waiting room. I didn't really have any belongings, I had thrown out my old clothes because they were impossiably dirty and bloody. My money was somewhere else, I guess I just wanted to say good-bye. I opened the door up, half expecting somebody to be there, sitting on the bed with a bagel playing poker. Nothing. I saw the thin navy hoodie that I took from the hospital, and I pulled it on over my head, ruffling up my dark brown hair. My bandage was gone now, I was just letting the scar air. It was still puffy and pink, with a couple stitches in it. The same went for my leg, only my other appendage hurt about five times worse and I constantly had to streach it and limp around like an old man. I sat in a chair for a minute, tying my sneakers. I leaned back when I was done, and watched the main entrance from my window. Had it only been barely more than a week when I woke up to find Anna telling me about the frenzy the interns had over me for my surgery? Only a couple days earlier when I played poker with all the nurses, and ate French fries with Mikey? How did time get away from me this time? Oh well, I'd see him again. At least, I hope I will. Of course I'm breaking just about every law created from the day the magical world decided to vanish, but rules are meant to be broken as James tells me. My thoughts flashed back to our first year, when I barely knew anybody and was being forced to rejoin society and stop my escapades into that other world I went to in my mind while I wandered? I sighed softly. Time passes oddly, doesn't it?
My door creaked open, Mikey poked his face in. "Hey, what are you doing in here?" he asked me.
I sighed. "Saying good-bye." He raised his thin eyebrows.
"You're here for another three days." Mikey informed me, and crossed his arms. "I brought you your evening pills, anyways."
I nodded, and swallowed them without water. "Thanks." There was a pause, and Mikey ran a hand through his spikey blonde hair.
"I guess I'll be seeing you at the coffeehouse in three days, then!" he cheerfully informed me, then gave me a quick kiss on the cheek! I jumped a few inches, and he left my room, grinning like a maniac. I sighed, and the sun glimmered over the rooftops of the city. It was a hazy evening, the blood red sun seemed to quiver at the horizon. I slowly got up, turned around, and left the room without looking back. My friends were waiting down in the lobby, James and Sirius standing on either side of Lily like bodyguards in their black leather jackets and sunglasses. I quickly tugged my hood up, and led the way out through the hospital doors, down the bustling streets back to the magical world, never to be seen again by many of those I befriended, just a passing memory, like the quivering sun. I was shaking slightly, but my jarring walk across the cobblestone streets hid it. Whenever I felt as if I would cry, I just sped up, my friends never commented on the pace I set.
We reached the old, rotting wood doorway between the bookshop and the other store, with "The Leaky Cauldron" on it's shuddering sign. I stared at it for a few seconds, then glanced back on the Muggle world. A few Muggles passed us, an elderly couple out for an evening walk, a mother and her small child who was chasing pidgeons, and a group of teenage boys and girls, laughing at something a Italian boy had just said. They could have been us, walking so happily and carefree. But they were just oblivious to our world, right under their noses. As they passed by, a few girls looked at Sirius with flirtatious smiles, and the Italian boy winked at me. Then they were gone, never to be seen again by us, and the same for them.
"Come on!" Lily motioned to me from the doorway, the boys were already inside. I turned away from the Muggle world, and strode into the Leaky Cauldron. I more limped now, but no matter. People cheered upon my return, and I accepted a free dinner and drink from Tom. Everybody crowed around me, trying to squeeze my story from them, I ended up streaching the story a bit, and never quite telling the same one, and just confusing everybody even more. A lot of my stories are like that, it seems. But they were so glad to see me! Eventually I looked at my watch, it was nearing midnight.
"I've gotta go, I'm tired! I mean it, Jean. I'll hear all about the alley gossip in the morning." I kept making excuses all the way to the stairs, and finally descended up to my bedroom and crashed onto my bed. It felt so soft...and the pillows smelled right, the rattling window and broken radiator were home to me. The floor smelled musty, and had a coating of soot on the walls and the smart-alek mirror, but this was what I had. I curled up, not bothering to change or shower, and fell immediately asleep.