I agreed to work at Alicia's shop to try to get back into some semblance of a routine. If it was nothing else it was that, a routine. Almost exactly the same thing day in and day out. The regulars that hadn't met me before got to know me quickly and those who had welcomed me back. I plastered on a smile and went through the motions. There once was a witch who hexed a forced smile onto people because she believed that if the smile was forced onto them for long enough they would believe themselves happy. Muggles believe something along that line. I'm not sure it worked in this case for me.
One day started just the same as all the others, but managed to take an interesting turn.
Alicia woke me up in the usual manner of jumping on the corner of my bed singing the words "good morning" over and over until I showed signs of moving.
"How is she such a morning person?" George said, shuffling into my room.
I rolled out of my bed…literally, smashing my arm on my end table in the process.
"Years of practice?" I groaned and crawled into my closet to dig out my work shirt.
"Clearly that needs more practice" He said nodding towards my end table
"That is the practiced version" I said, struggling to stand up.
Everything was pretty normal at the shop. She had me at the till of the muggle side in the morning, cashing out after they ordered their coffee and pastries or any books they wished to purchase. I was one of a few of her employees that could work both sides of the shop and truly understand muggle money.
Then after lunch she asked if I could essentially wait tables on the magical side. I walked over and there was a group of ancient regulars huddled around the telly in the back corner of the room and basically no one else. I went and was cleaning some of the tables as I walked around. I took my time going from table to table even though with magic I could have done it all in a snap, I wanted to make sure I continued to have something to do. Suddenly I recognized the sounds coming from the television that all the old wizards were surrounding, quidditch. The regular league was back finishing it's final games. I felt the pit of my stomach hit the floor as I thought about the Wasps having been in second place. I wonder where they would finish now without me and Jake.
"Are you okay" a random voice said. I had been wiping the same spot on a table over and over staring blankly in the general direction of the TV and there was a girl standing in front of me with an empty cup clearly trying to get my attention for a while.
"OH yes, sorry. Can I get you something?" I asked, plastering my fake smile back onto my face.
"Peppermint tea...thanks," she said, handing me a few sickles. She must think I have been partaking in the wrong sorts of tea today. Oh well. I charmed over the pot of peppermint tea, heating it as it came, and poured some into her cup.
"Cheers…" she said heading back to her seat
"I don't get why Henry is even still playing that git!" One of the men screamed, drawing my attention back to the group by the telly. Henry...it is Puddlemore playing?
"He isn't playing for England anymore, so why should he play for Puddlemore" Another man said sternly. Oh Merlin. As far as I'm aware they can only be talking about one person who used to play for England and Puddlemore….
"Maybe Henry had some hope that he was sober again" A younger man said which caused the older men to laugh in outrage.
"You okay?" Alicia said, suddenly appearing next to me.
"I'm fine…hey how has that been a thing?" I asked, nodding towards the crowd in the corner.
"Quidditch on the Telly? They started doing that on a non-existent muggle channel a bit ago. I set it up in here when you started playing because the guys liked watching you." Alicia explained.
"Who's playing?" She asked looking over at all of the men grumbling in front of the TV.
"Puddlemore v. Cannons" I answered. I don't know how I even knew that for sure.
"Huh…you'd think they would be more excited then" She looked over.
"Yeah well they don't seem too thrilled that Oliver is still on the team" I answered with a sigh and she looked at me like she was expecting me to break down, jury's still out on whether or not I was.
"He still is on the team?" She asked, a little too shocked.
"Apparently" I shrugged.
"This team just hasn't been the same since he traded that Bell girl" one of the men shouted. Alicia and I chuckled. I'm glad that other people see my side of that as well.
"You boys need anything topped off?" I yelled over to them.
"No we're good" They all said without letting their eyes leave the telly. Alicia and I both giggled again.
"And here they think they are the only one who really sees it how it is" Alicia laughed.
Suddenly the five men rocketed up so fast that their chairs fell backwards. A few of them gasped and one even screamed like a banshee.
"The bloody drunkard fell off of his broom!" the oldest wizard said gruffly. Before I knew it my feet had carried me over and I was scanning the screen desperately. I heard Alicia jumping over the chairs behind me.
"What happened?" I asked, because they weren't showing it again.
"He went to go catch the quaffle and he just fell off of his broom like a sack of bludgers" one of them answered.
Finally it showed Oliver completely unconscious on the ground with what looked like a pile of sick next to him.
"Bloody hell, I told him he was going to kill himself like this!" I screamed, tears flooding my eyes. All of the men turned to face me finally recognizing me for the first time today.
"Alicia!" I yelled.
"I'm here," she said, grabbing my sides.
"Can you go into a coma from getting hit in the head when you're drunk?" I asked Alicia and the group.
"I've never actually tried it myself" an older man laughed.
"Did he land on his head?" I asked the men.
"Like it was a rock" The youngest of the men in the group said. Most of the rest of them were still staring at me gobsmacked.
"Great, just great, I told him he was going to kill himself and did he listen to me? No! I can't lose him Leesh, I won't survive that. I can't. Not him." I was trying to pace but only had the space between Alicia, the men, and the telly, so was mostly just spinning.
"Kates, he's not going to die" she was crying looking at me.
"You don't know that! He got knocked out and vomited all over himself" I was starting to hyperventilate.
"Katie, calm down." She was stern and motherly.
"They are sending him to St. Mungo's," One of the older men said to me as I was sitting there trying to breathe normally and calm down.
"I have to go!" I stated.
"I'll call George and get him to take you," Alicia said.
"Can't. No time. Must go." I said standing up to pace again as she was going to call George.
"Sit down, he'll be here in a second…I need him to make sure you don't do anything stupid" Alicia said and continued on her way to the phone.
I sat and waited for George to come for what felt like forever, but it honestly was likely only seconds.
"Where is she?" I heard George's voice say from the other side of the room.
"Finally! Let's go!" I said grabbing his arm and rushing out the door.
"Never mind then" George said laughing to Alicia and gave her a kiss on the cheek before I pulled him out the door into Diagon Alley.
I was practically running through London with George stumbling to keep up as I still had hold of his arm. I didn't even care to look for muggles nearby before I leapt through the window to the ground floor of St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries.
"Oliver Wood?" I barked at the Welcome Witch the moment I approached her.
"Room 142 on this floor" she said simply.
"Thank you" I said and started to pull George down the hall before he could even finish waving to the Welcome Witch.
"142, 142, 142," I kept saying as we rushed through the hall.
"It's right up there," George said pointing to a room with a healer walking into it. At this point I really was running. Breathe, just breathe. He's going to be fine. He has to.
The door was still open from when the Healer went in, so I just burst in and there he was…still unconscious.
"Sorry…I tried to slow her down but it was a hopeless cause" George apologized to the healer and she just nodded her head and smirked.
"Is he okay!? Is he going to live?!" I practically shouted at the healer.
"Yes he should be fine soon. He's going to be vomiting a lot though I imagine because they are trying to rid his body of alcohol and from the looks of it he might have more alcohol then blood anymore." She said laughing and then Oliver's body started convulsing. She ran over towards him with a bucket and then he pretty much exploded. More vomit than I thought was possible went into the bucket thanks to the aim of the healer.
"He can vomit more than that and live?" I asked, still amazed that one little person can produce so much sick.
"Yes… though it may seem hard to believe… The potion in him is built to not only get rid of the alcohol in his stomach but also the bit that may have been already absorbed into his bloodstream. At this point he is basically living with what the muggles call alcohol poisoning" The Healer explained.
"I told you that you would kill yourself if you kept this up" I scoled Oliver's unconscious body.
"When do you think he will wake up?" George asked.
"Not for a few more days" she said.
"So you want to go home and come back when he is awake Kates?" George asked me.
"No, I want to stay here," I said, still staring blankly at Oliver's motionless body.
"But he isn't going to be awake" George said again like I didn't catch it the first time.
"I know!...I know….but he has waited in the hospital for me before….tw-twice before" I said stumbling on the word twice.
"Alright…well let me go call Alicia. Are you going to be okay in here for a few minutes?" George asked.
"Yeah I'll be fine" I answered, still not looking away from Oliver.
"When are the visiting hours over?" George asked the healer.
"Well being that there is no chance of her waking him up she can stay in here as long as she wants to" The healer said and smiled at me with this knowing intention behind it. I wanted to stay so I wasn't about to explain that if I was anything to Oliver anymore it was just an ex girlfriend.
I curled up like a cat in a chair next to his bed near his head. I stared silently at his face wishing he would wake up so I could smack him.
"So you are just going to stay here all night staring at his unconscious body?" George asked coming back into the room.
"Yep." I nodded.
"That sounds totally normal and healthy." He laughed sitting in the chair next to me.
"My shift is about to end, but another healer should be in shortly. This pail here is charmed to attract the emesis, so if in the meantime Mr. Wood is to start gagging, just hold it up near his face and it will take care of the rest" the healer said in a far too cheery voice popping quickly back into the room.
"Yeah. Completely sane thing for you to do" George said when she was out of the room again.
"I'm fine, George. I can't leave him, I have to know he is okay. Just go home and tell Alicia I'm fine." I protested.
"Okay. But I'm never letting you live this down" he said ruffling up my hair as he walked out of the room.
"You better not puke until the next healer comes or I may just have to kill you myself" I said to Oliver after George left.
It's so weird to think that this was Oliver. It was so hard to believe that this thing that was lying almost lifelessly in this bed could possibly be the person I used to know.
The only sign of life was to see him breathing and occasionally his body would twitch like he was going to start heaving, but I would yell at him which somehow seemed to be effective.
I don't know how out of the two times I've been in a hospital Oliver has sat in the room and just waited for me to wake up. The first time he almost even lost his spot on Puddlemore reserves for a season because instead of going to practice he stayed with me. He also nearly got arrested because I was on the fourth floor and visitors aren't allowed up there at night for their own safety. Eventually the healers just found it endearing and would sneak him in. In the beginning I was still under a poorly done imperius curse too, I was a hazard to myself and others but he stayed in my room all night.
And then in November I was in a muggle intensive care unit and he seemed to be in there every time I woke up. And in CCUs they normally don't let people just hang around, especially when they aren't family. I wonder what he told them he was to me.
Why does he love me so much? I don't understand what he sees in me that causes him to act like a mad man. I get hurt and he fights with authorities just to stay with me, we end our toxic relationship and his quidditch game is off, my fiancé dies and he becomes a drunk lunatic and ends up almost killing himself.
"Any vomit while we were out?" A healer said as she entered the room. I sat up in the chair. Something about this healer had an air to her like Mcgonagall. She entered the room and you gave her your full attention.
"No but he looked like he was about to a couple of times" I said as she waved her wand over him and looked at it like she was scanning for something.
"Alright he should be good for a while" she said looking at her wand.
"How long is he going to be puking like this?" I asked.
"With this one? Who knows." She said, looking down at him almost in disgust.
"Has he always been like this?" She continued, looking up at me.
"No…" I said and looked at my feet.
"Do you know how long he has been like this?" she asked me.
"About two months" I answered, still looking guiltily at my feet.
"Wow….there is a lot of alcohol in him for only two months" she said looking back at him.
"Well in the easiest way of saying it, I don't think he has been hungover from this yet" I said looking back up at her.
"None stop drinking for two months! It's a wonder he is still alive!" She said looking even more disgusted.
"Right. Well the overnight healer will be in next. Just explain to her who you are and that you wish to stay, she should understand" The healer said and left the room.
Who I was….does she really think that I'm his girlfriend. Oh well I don't care. As long as he can't hear them call me that. He'll never wake up if he either hears me protest it, or me pretend I'm something I'm not.
I was sitting with my head in my hands when the new nurse eventually came in. She was a much younger healer. She looked as if she was just out of Hogwarts.
"Oh, are you his fiancé?" She asked in a high pitched voice.
"What makes you think that?!" I snapped.
"You're ring" She said with a fearful tone.
"Oh…no….I'm just his friend" I said with a sigh.
"Oh well then where is your fiancé?" she asked.
"About six feet under ground 20 minutes from here" I said and looked up at her.
"Oh….I'm so sorry" she said very quietly.
"Do you know by any chance how many times he has vomited in the last hour" she asked after looking at a bunch of charts on the wall.
"None… he has only puked twice since I've been here" I answered rudely I have no idea why I'm being so mean to her….Maybe I need sleep. I don't even know what time it is.
"Oh well I better stay in here for awhile because this next one is probably going to be a big one." She said and sat down on a stool next to the bed studying him.
And as if on cue Oliver's body started to convulse again, then came the Niagara Falls of vomit.
"It's hard to believe that someone can vomit so much in their sleep safely" I said.
"He wakes up during emesis and then falls asleep again as soon as he is done…it's how the potion works" the Healer said, struggling to hold the bucket up.
"So he can hear me right now?" I asked.
"Yeah" She said.
"Do you need help" I asked as the poor girl was almost to the floor because the bucket was becoming so heavy.
"Yes, that would be nice, thank you" she said and I walked over to help hold up the bucket.
"Now that I know you can hear me. Know that if you get any sick on me I will not be afraid to punch an unconscious man" I said to Oliver and it looked like he was trying to look up at me but unable and the healer just gave me a concerned look.
"So can you understand me?" I asked him.
And his head seemed to move up and down as if to nod yes…but that could just be because of a change of pace of the vomit exiting him.
"Was that a yes?" I asked the healer.
"I would think so" she said and actually laughed a bit.
"So when he wakes up for real will he remember all of this?" I asked her.
"Yes…it's goal is to make them maybe realize why it's bad to drink so much and so that they might stop," she explained.
"See if you would have just listened to me at Christmas then you wouldn't be here right now" I said and again he looked as if he was trying to look up at me.
"Oh I am so going to use this to my benefit! I can talk and you can answer because you're puking nonstop!" I said laughing and the healer was clearly starting to wonder if she wanted to be in the same room as me right now.
"I can say almost anything to you right now and there is nothing you can do to make a comeback, this is fantastic" I chuckled.
"Like how no one ever liked you're stupid plays in Hogwarts and they never really did work." I could see him struggling so much to want to say something.
"Oh and that time you had a 'raisin' in your salad for lunch in your 7th year…yeah that was really a bug… George and I watched it fly onto your plate but we lied because it was much funnier that way" I saw his eye meet mine and he wanted so badly to talk.
"Oh and your Scottish accent isn't nearly as sexy as you think it is…some of your ex girlfriends in school said that it annoyed them when you tried to seduce them with it." At that one the healer started laughing.
"Fred, George, and I did grease your broom and the quaffle before practice that one time" I said and he stopped vomiting, turned to look at me, closed his mouth to speak and instantly passed out back on his pillow.
"You have no idea how perfect this is." I said to the healer and she was cracking up as we tried to put the bucket on the floor without spilling any.
"Sorry that I was so rude to you earlier. " I said to the healer.
"It's okay…tense times" she said.
"My name is Katie," I said, holding out my hand for a handshake.
"I'm Anna… or Healer Collins…but you can just call me Anna" She said, shaking my hand.
"Are you going to be with Oliver often?" I asked.
"Probably for nights, maybe even longer, it depends on my shift" she said.
"You should try to be on a lot… and sleep sometimes of course, but like I have a feeling that the other healers won't let me scold him while he is puking." I laughed.
"Yeah… probably not" she chuckled.
I curled up in the chair and tried to sleep some in between vomiting sessions.
"Well you seem more alive then I was expecting" Alicia said when she entered the room in the morning.
"You would be too if you learned that you can taunt Oliver while he's vomiting and he can't say anything to defend himself" I laughed.
"What?" Alicia asked with a weird look on her face.
"When Oliver is vomiting he is conscious, I can talk to him and he can hear me and comprehend what I'm saying. So I've been scolding him because he can't retort with anything!" I smiled.
"You would find fun in that" Alicia laughed.
"Anyone who knows Oliver would" I smiled.
"Have you eaten anything recently?" Alicia asked.
"Nope! Not that I can think of" I answered.
"Well then let's go get something for you to eat" she said and I looked at the chart that predicts when Oliver vomited.
"He shouldn't puke again for another hour or so I've got time." I stated.
"You are my strangest friend," she announced.
We went up to the fifth floor to get some breakfast.
"So you seem to be doing fine," Alicia said.
"Yeah…I'm only staying here because I want to be the first one to yell at him when he wakes up for real" I said with a smile.
"George was thinking that you would be sitting in the chair staring at him and not moving" she said.
"I mean, there is a lot of time spent doing that" I laughed.
"Do you think that's healthy?" She asked.
"Was it healthy when he was doing it to me?" I asked.
"Nope." Alicia laughed.
"And neither of those times was he at fault, nor did he get any validation from them" I explained.
"You don't owe this to him. People don't have to trade off hospital watch" She said.
"I do. I owe a lot to him. But I'd be here anyway. For a lot of reasons. I just need to be here with him right now. I can't explain it" I shrugged and drank some pumpkin juice.
"Okay. I'll send Ange at lunch to make sure you aren't checking in between Lockheart and the Longbottoms." She sighed.
"Rude. But okay. Maybe have her bring me a change of clothes" I agreed. I was still in my uniform for work and starting to feel a bit grimey.
"Sure thing" she nodded.
"He's meant to vomit soon, fancy a quick holler?" I waggled my eyebrows at her.
"Mostly I feel like I need to make sure that this isn't some sort of hate crime" she laughed.
We walked back to the room and Anna was in taking a scan with her wand.
"Oh good you're back. I think he is going to blow soon" she said when we walked in.
"Alicia, this is Anna, my new favorite healer of all time, Anna, Alicia" I said laughing while I introduced them.
"So this activity is sanctioned?" Alicia laughed.
"Barely" Anna laughed as Oliver began to twitch.
"Okay! Quick! Alicia, think about all of the things that you have ever wanted to say to Oliver. Anything at all. " I directed.
"Will he remember what I say?" She asked.
"Yeah but until then he can't retort" I laughed.
Anna grabbed the bucket and put it close up to his face and then he was awake.
"Good morning again Ollie, bet you were hoping I was gone by now, but nope I'm not leaving, this is way too much fun." I said.
"And Alicia is here too" I said and Oliver struggled to look over at Alicia and then back at me.
"Go ahead Alicia say whatever you want, honest it's fun" I said and she laughed.
"Oliver, your quidditch practices were unnecessary and you've really become a major twat lately and you know it. This isn't how anything gets solved" she said with a laugh.
"Man that's therapeutic" she said with a smile.
"RIGHT?!" I said. There was a glimmer of pain in his eyes looking at Alicia's. I wondered if she went too far. Hers looked back at him burning with a fury I hadn't seen before. I sort of think she wanted to kick his ass. Was she actually mad at him for this? For being a drunk or for putting me through this.
"How is there possibly this much to vomit out inside of him" Alicia said breaking the staring contest.
"I'm sure that's what Oliver is saying right now" I said and Oliver nodded.
"Wow, I guess he can understand us" Alicia chuckled.
"Aw poor Oliver, I bet he wishes he could talk right now, and to think that he wouldn't be dealing with any of this if he had just listened to me in the first place instead of making a fool of himself on national television." I said in an annoying baby talk voice.
"You have way too much fun with this Katie" Alicia said and Oliver moved his head to agree again.
"There is only so much I have left in my life" I said and smiled. Oliver looked up at me and then at Alicia and seemed to be saying bye to her as he fell asleep
"That's almost depressing. How long is he going to be like this?" Alicia asked.
"He should be done puking tonight" Anna said looking at her wand.
"And if that happens then he might even be awake by tomorrow night" she continued.
"Aw really?" I said laughing.
"Well I have to go check on one of my other patients. I'll be back in an hour. If he vomits again you can handle it right?" She asked, looking at one of her charts.
"Yeah I should be good, but if something happens and I need to find you where will you be?" I asked.
"I should be anywhere on this floor. I'm still new so they don't let me on the other floors" she said laughing at the thought of it.
"Alright" I smiled and she left the room.
"I should be heading home as well" Alicia said.
"Alright well talk to you tomorrow" I said and gave her a hug.
I hadn't slept much last night but I didn't think I could sleep now. It was only around nine but there was nothing else to do so I took out my wand and turned my chair into a big comfy couch. I was sitting on my couch with my head in my hand looking at my ring when suddenly a large man with balding red hair burst into the room.
"You the healer" he asked me in a Scottish accent.
"No I'm the friend" I said still with my head in my hand.
"Oh..." He said.
"I can go find her if you want me to," I said standing up.
"No that's alright I'll find her" the man said and then left the room. So I sat back down and before I knew it I was asleep.
I woke up who knows how much later after that to weird groans coming from Oliver. He had to be sick but the bucket was too far away. So I got up and held it up for him.
"Have you been trying to wake me up for long?" I asked him and he shook his head.
"Okay good because I would have felt a little bad if you've been sitting here with sick in your mouth for an hour." I chuckled.
"So the healer said that you should be done vomiting tomorrow…or today" I said to him and I could tell just by looking into his eyes that he was happy.
"So you should be up and going by tomorrow night," I said.
He was done a lot sooner then I had expected him to be. The bucket wasn't even half full. It was like a normal person's amount. I wobbled back over to my couch, fell on it and back to sleep almost instantly.
Angelina came around dinner time apologizing for not coming earlier like she had planned. I honestly hadn't even noticed because I had been sleeping. She was more understanding than the others about why I felt the need to stay.
"Maybe this is exactly the therapy you've needed the whole time" Ange said when I got done explaining how I had been scolding the vomiting Wood.
"I mean I haven't really gotten into the heavy shit. That doesn't seem fair somehow" I shrugged.
"Even still" she shrugged.
After we had dinner we went back into Oliver's room for a little. He was vomiting far less frequently and less quantity too. I told Angelina that if she was going to yell at him she needed to think of one good thing and it had to be quick. He started to twitch, the healer wasn't in the room so I grabbed the bucket and assumed the position, He sat up and Ange shouted "I won the cup with shitty players, harder factors, and only one year as captain!" Oliver basically belched up some vomited, looked at us with the most confused look on his face, and passed out again.
"That was great!" Angelina was laughing maniacally. She left a bit after.
"Did I miss a lot of fun?" Anna asked coming in, I had fallen asleep on the chair again after Angelina left. I was a bit surprised to see Anna back on shift.
"Yeah… some quality vomit therapy" I said yawning.
"Well good news/ bad news, he should be done now" She said looking at her wand after a scan.
"Really?" I said sitting up in my chair.
"Yep, for the first time in two months Oliver Wood is completely alcohol free" she giggled.
"When do you think he will wake up?" I asked.
"Within the next two hours" she shrugged.
"What time is it?" I asked
"Around ten" she laughed
"When are you ever going to go home Katie?" Anna asked me.
"When he does I suppose" I laughed .
"Well I'm going to go check on my other patients. I'll be back in an hour and I expect that he will be awake by then." Anna said as she left the room.
I curled back up in the chair and fell asleep.
"Kates" I heard a very weak voice say.
I sat up and Oliver was awake looking at me.
"Oh well good morning" I laughed.
"Have you been here the whole time?" he asked weakly.
"Yeah pretty much, I saw it happen on the telly in Alicia's shop and ran here as fast as I could. I couldn't recover if you died" I said, my eyes slowly started to well with tears.
"Why" he asked.
"Because you're my best friend….and I would have felt like it was my fault" I said and walked over to the side of his bed.
"Well it would have been" He said and tried to laugh. His voice was dry and raspy.
"Thanks, you help a lot," I said.
"You still wear that" He said pointing to my finger with my ring.
"To be honest, I don't know why. It's like I owe it to him to" I shrugged.
"Like you owe it to me to be here right now" Oliver asked, somehow he sounded bitter.
"You are unbelievable, you know that" I said.
"You know that's not why I'm here." I walked over to look out the door. Maybe Anna was coming to save me from this.
"Katie I'm sorry…that was uncalled for…I'm just a little…grouchy" Oliver said and held his arm out like he was reaching for me.
"I don't believe it, you grouchy? That doesn't sound like you at all" I said sarcastically.
"You can thank alcohol for that, and I have none in me right now, or else I wouldn't be awake and not puking," he laughed.
"Oh and so now I'm just supposed to forgive you for everything" Now I sounded bitter.
"That's what I was hoping for at least" he chuckled.
"Oh good you're finally awake" The man from this afternoon said as he entered the room.
"They called you!?" Oliver said with a heavy sigh.
"They dinnae hav to, I just had to turn on my bloody telly, dinny I" The man said… and I connected who he was… a strict Scottish man…he had to be Oliver's dad. How have I never seen him before...
"You wodja thought that someone who knows he is on national, if no international television would ken better than to be playin oot yer tree" Oliver's dad shouted.
"Sorry hen, you'll have to excuse me while I holler at me son, name's Red by the way" he said to me in a softer tone.
"I'm Katie, and it's fine he deserves it. Not too long before you came in I was yelling at him myself" I said with a smile and he smiled back.
"I like this girl," He said. Oliver was slowly turning red.
"I'll leave you two be," I said and started for the door.
"NO…no. Katie you don't have to leave" Oliver said giving me the most intense look I've ever seen.
"He's right, I wouldn't want ta take time out of yer visit" Red said.
"Are you sure?" I asked.
"Yeah, just stay" Oliver said and I got that it was more than that he didn't want me to leave so I went over and sat down on my couch.
"I was having a rough time in life and I had a few drinks," Oliver said to his dad.
"A few drinks. What an arse. Do you know how much of a bawbag you've made me look at work? Boy can't handle the drink. " His dad said and put his hands into his pockets and looked at the floor.
"I'm sorry Dad," Oliver said as he played with his fingers.
And then there was this really awkward silence before Red went over and patted Oliver on the head.
"You better be" he said and then walked away from the bed.
"It was nice meeting you…." He started to say towards me.
"Katie" I finished for him.
"Katie! That's right Katie…well it was nice meeting you Katie" Red said hold out his hand.
"You too," I said and shook his hand.
"See ya later kid" He said to Oliver and then left the room.
"It's funny but that is exactly how I would have ever pictured you're dad" I said a while after Red left.
"Yeah…thanks for not leaving" He said, finally looking up at me as I pulled a stool up closer to his bed so that I could sit near him.
"You're welcome but I don't see why I needed to stay," I said.
"Because he would have been much worse if someone else wasn't in the room to witness a murder" He said playing with his little dress thing that they make people in hospitals wear.
"Why would he kill you Oliver…I mean after 26 years I have a feeling that he is a little bit attached to you" I joked.
"Yeah…" he said, seeming not all too sure.
"Oliver just stop drinking, get your shit together, get back on the team, and I'm sure he will be just as proud of you as ever" I said trying to get him to look at me.
"Yeah I wish it was that easy" he said and briefly looked up at me. He might be free of alcohol, but he still looked awful. I guess to say he looked drained is too literal.
"It is…just try, try to get back on the team, try to get your reputation back, and I guarantee you that he will be just as proud as he was before. But you know you could have just listened to me in the first place and you wouldn't be in this mess." I said and he looked at me for real now.
"You assume he's ever been proud of me. But that's not the point." He shrugged and looked back at the hem of his gown.
"If I try, you have to try with me" He said with a small smile.
"What…try to play quidditch again?" I said in complete shock.
"Yes, I will play quidditch again if you do too, and only if you do too" Oliver said, looking up at me with a very evil smile.
"I….but….I…." I was speechless because he had to try again and I didn't want to.
"Just say you will or I won't touch a broomstick again" Oliver said, crossing his arms to try to prove his point.
"That is so a lie! You would die without Quidditch" I said.
"Well then it will be you're fault that I'm dead" He said with a stupid cocky smile.
Oliver can't die…or stop playing quidditch…it just wouldn't be right…it would be like swimming without water.
"Fine" I mumbled while looking down at my feet.
"What? I didn't hear that" Oliver said with his smile getting bigger.
"Fine" I mumbled a little bit louder.
"Fine what" he said….he was totally taking advantage of this for no reason right now.
"Fine I will play quidditch again…but only so that you will…I can't say that I'm going to be any good without Jake" I said.
"You will be," He said, not really smiling anymore.
"Oh…you're awake" Alicia said as she came into the room.
"Yep, good as new," Oliver said with a smile. He used to say that every time that he would wake up two days after a quidditch match in Hogwarts.
"You should be good to go home Mr. Wood" an older Healer said as she came in the door.
"What happened to Anna?" I asked the healer.
"She went home, she told me to tell you goodbye though and that it was fun" The Healer said.
"I can go home though….like right now I can just get up and go home?" Oliver said a bit over enthusiastically.
"Yes sir, you are free to go when you please" She said and then walked out the door and Oliver leapt out of the bed.
"Goodness watch it Ollie, no one wants to see up your dress." I said and shielded my eyes.
"Well it's a good thing I'm not wearing one anymore then isn't it" Oliver said and I looked back to see that he was now wearing a zip up jumper and jeans.
"So then, you two want to go out to lunch?" Alicia asked.
"No, I probably have to meet with my publicist for the rest of the day to try to fix all of this." Oliver said and put his hands in his pocket.
"Yeah and it would be nice to remember what it is like to sleep in a real bed" I said.
"Alright, I guess not then" Alicia said and we all started to walk out towards the entryway.
Oliver walked us to the shop entrance to say goodbye.
"Hey Kates" He called before we were inside.
"Yeah?" I answered.
"Thanks," He said.
"For yelling at you while you vomited?" I said.
"Yeah….pretty much" Oliver said laughing.
"Oh well then you're quite welcome, it was truly my pleasure" I laughed.
"Yeah…just one thing" Oliver asked.
"Yeah?" I said.
"Why didn't you yell at me for anything recent…like Jake or transferring you or any of that?" He asked.
"I don't know… didn't seem fair, I need you to be able to contribute to those fights if they ever happen. Plus I've got enough beef with you from Hogwarts to yell at you through another at least 48 hours of vomiting. " I said with a smile and he laughed.
"So, I guess I have to figure out how to get my spot back on the Wasps," I said to him.
"Trust me, if they let me back on you'll have no issues" He laughed a bit awkwardly.
"Ollie" I said before he could walk away.
"Hmm?" he asked.
"You really scared me. Don't do it again" I said, looking up into his eyes.
"Sucks doesn't it?" He said, looking down into mine.
"I'm serious. I need you to tell me you'll treat your life with more care. I didn't end up in hospital out of any recklessness of my own accord." I said, my eyes were welling up.
"I know. I'm sorry. I do think it's going to be a bit before I can even look at butterbeer the same way again, so you can at least rest comfortably there." He said.
"'Good. I'll see you soon?" I asked. I honestly didn't know if I would. I didn't know where we stood anymore.
"Yeah. See ya" he said, he patted the top of my head and strolled away.