Apologies for the delay again, though I didn't forget this time. I simply wanted to change a huge chunk of it, that I didn't get around to doing until last night. Anyway, I hope you enjoy...please leave me reviews so I can smile about something (well, so long as its nice)
4.
"I'm sorry madam! You can't go in there!" A young man, whom I suspected to be a trainee Auror, stepped into my path, blocking my way.
"Excuse me!" I snapped at him, trying to get by. In my flustered and panicked state I hadn't caught what he'd said as I tried to side step him.
"I'm sorry, this ward is high security. No one is allowed in without proper clearance," he insisted, holding out his arms in front of the door to stop me getting past.
"I'm well aware of that!" I huffed. "I've been here before, now let me through!" I tutted at him. "Do you not realise who I am?" I asked, when he blocked me again. "My husband is in there and I need to get through, NOW!" I shouted at him, losing my patience.
Not ten minutes ago I had been all cosy in bed, reading a book before going to sleep. And then Harry's patronus had landed in the middle of the bedroom, informing me that Ron had been injured and was at St Mungos. I'd rushed out of bed, pulling clothes on over my pyjamas and pulling my hair back into a messy ponytail on my way down to use the floo. I hadn't even stopped to grab any shoes, lilac fuzzy slippers still adorned my feet.
"I'm sorry madam, but it is the policy on this ward that..."
"I don't give a rat's arse about your policy. I need to see my injured husband right now!" I spat at the stupid little man who was really irritating me now.
The door to the ward crashed open at that moment as Harry came charging through, obviously having heard raised voices. He took one look at me and then the Auror. "Parker!" he barked. "What the hell do you think you're doing? Let Weasley's wife through!" he ordered, pushing him aside to take my arm and lead me through the doors, leaving Parker stumbling over his apologies behind us. "Idiot!" Harry hissed under his breath. "Sorry, he's new and..."
"How is he?" I asked as Harry hurried me along the corridor, past private rooms all set aside in this special ward for Aurors.
He turned to me, his face grave and my heart dropped. "Right now, he's totally out of it. They gave him some potion to knock him out because he wouldn't lay still," he admitted.
I breathed a sigh of relief, he was alive at least. "What happened?" I asked.
"Erm," he grimaced.
"Harry. What happened?" I demanded to know.
"Well, he, erm...he sort of...fell over," he shrugged and looked rather sheepish.
"He fell over?" I repeated, disbelievingly. "He's a highly trained Auror and you're telling me he got injured because he fell over?"
"No," Harry sighed and removed his glasses to rub his eyes. "Okay, that's not quite what happened. See, we were out on what was supposed to be a routine raid – got a tip off about some new Dark Artefacts going on the market. Only, we got ambushed, it was probably all a set up. One minute I saw Ron duelling three at once – a witch and a couple of wizards, next thing I saw," he winced again and I felt like smacking him, wishing he'd just get on with it. "Well, one minute he was holding his own, duelling, the next he'd erm...he'd been blasted through the side of the building and he was covered in rubble," he confessed and couldn't meet my gaze.
"Was he...was he conscious?" I asked him rather hesitantly with my heart in my throat.
"I don't know, I was a bit busy myself!" he snapped. "The second that back up arrived, I got him out of there and brought him straight here."
"How bad is he exactly?" I asked, my imagination was running away with me.
"Erm, probably best to ask his Healer," he looked relieved to see said man just exiting a room. "How is Mr Weasley doing?" Harry asked him. "This is his wife," he added as he introduced me.
"I see. I'm Healer Gresswell, pleased to meet you Mrs Weasley." He shook my hand. I was so distracted with worry that I didn't bother to correct him that I still went by my maiden name. To be honest, after all the fuss I had made about not changing my name, I rarely corrected people in most circumstances outside of work. "Your husband is rather a lucky chap. He's suffered some broken bones, about crushed three of his ribs, which is why we have him on a sleeping draught, he was flailing around too much and we couldn't set the bones correctly. We had to remove most of his crushed ribs and give him a dose of Skele-Gro to allow them to regrow accurately. He's lost a fair amount blood and has a few cuts and bruises...but all in all, he's very lucky. He should make a full recovery. He'll remain asleep for the next few hours though," he explained, checking his charts.
"Thank you," I whispered, blinking back tears, imaging how much pain he must have been in. We'd all suffered injuries throughout our time, and yet it never got any easier to see the one's you loved hurt and in pain. "Can I see him?" I asked hopefully, wrapping my arms around myself as some kind of protection.
"Of course, he's just in here." He turned to open the door he'd just come out of and waved me inside.
Ron was lying perfectly still in a stark, clean white bed. Crisp, stiff sheets pulled up to his armpits. He was topless, his arms laying atop of the sheets, one of them adorned with a heavy bandage. Evidence of his chest being heavily bandaged was evident over the top of the sheets as well. Raw, pink lines and deep purple blotches marred his skin here and there – wounds that had been healed with magic, but still had a way to go.
"Oh Ron," I gasped, my hand over my mouth in shock. The scariest thing to me was how still he was, the short rise and fall of his chest the only indication that he was still alive.
"I know he looks a bit of a mess right now. But he will soon heal and recover," Mr Gresswell assured me.
"Is he in any pain?" I asked.
"No. The sleeping draught will take care of that. If he's in pain when he wakes, we can give him another potion for that. I'll leave you with him now, if you have any further questions, please have someone find me."
"Thank you," I barely looked up at him as I pulled a chair to Ron's side and sat down, brushing the hair off his face, mindful of the cuts and bruises.
"Do...do you need anything?" Harry asked after a few moments of silence had passed. I looked around, surprised he was still here, stood rather awkwardly by the door. "I mean, I can get you some tea or..."
"I'm fine," I shook my head.
"Right, yeah..." he nodded and looked awkward again as he checked his watch and sighed quietly, leaning against the wall.
"Harry, why don't you get off home?" I suggested, scooting to the edge of the chair so I could reach Ron's hand and not pull on his arm.
"Are...are you sure?" he asked, hesitantly.
I nodded. "You can't do much else for Ron right now and I'll be fine. Go home, get some sleep." I told him, noticing how he looked almost dead on his feet – it had been a long day for the pair of them.
"Right, yeah. Well, if you really don't mind. I think I will," he nodded to himself. "It's just, Ginny will be getting worried and she won't sleep until I'm home, and right now, with the baby and..."
"Harry," I gave him a little smile, tearing my eyes away from Ron for a second. "Go on, get home to your pregnant wife." I shooed him away. Ever since Ginny had discovered she was pregnant about five months ago, Harry had become an absolute nervous wreck! He was convinced he was doing everything wrong and that he would make a lousy father, even though he was also excited about the idea.
"I'll see you later then," he came over and gave me a one armed hug around my shoulders. "Let me know if there's any change, okay?" I nodded, patting his hand on my shoulder. "And don't worry, he'll be fine," he promised, kissing the top of my head lightly and making his way towards the door. "I'm going to post an Auror outside the room, so if you need anything – tea, food, to owl me or whatever, get them to do it, all right?"
"Thank you Harry," I looked up, offering my thanks with a smile. Harry was still my best friend. Obviously my husband was too, but...Ron and I shared something much deeper than friendship, something much more personal, so it was different between him and me now.
"Oh, I'll let his parents know in the morning. No need for them to panic and rush over right now. Besides, you'd no doubt like some time alone with him," he smiled, before he opened the door and waved his goodbyes.
"Thanks," I repeated over my shoulder, grateful to have Ron to myself for awhile. I adored his parents, but his Mum did tend to overly fret, and some quiet time to sit and be alone with my husband for awhile would be nice. Harry waved again and closed the door with a quiet click.
"Now then Mr Weasley, it's just me and you," I whispered, standing to lean over his bed and lightly kiss his forehead. "And you really need to stop scaring me like this, okay?" I whispered, wiping a stray tear from my face. "After all," I added, taking my seat again, "it's not like this is the first time I've spent hours sat at your bedside," I sighed, holding his hand gently in my own, running my thumb back and forth across his knuckles.
I spent the next few hours, sat in silence, barely taking my eyes off my husband and not letting go of his hand as I reminisced on our life together – the many times I'd sat, just like this, by his side whilst he was unconscious. When he was poisoned on his 17th birthday, after the battle at the Ministry and all the various illness' and injuries he'd succumbed to in school. Since he'd become an Auror, he'd finished up in here more than I would have liked, so much so that the Welcome Witch downstairs didn't even have to ask my name now, she merely directed me to where ever he was.
This was the first time he'd been kept in overnight for some time though, so I knew he'd done a pretty good number on himself this time. Usually he was patched up and sent home to recover and I'd get to play nurse and take care of him for awhile. Not that he'd ever admit it to anyone, but he lapped up all the care and attention.
In the quietness of the room and the lateness of the hour, I found my thoughts drifting back to our wedding day almost a year ago. Then further back to the day he had finally proposed to me and then further still, the first time he'd told me, quite earnestly, that he was in love with me. All of them were very special, tender moments in my life that I didn't ever want to forget. And I was never quite sure which was really my absolute favourite moment.
With a smile, I remembered every detail from our honeymoon and every special moment we'd spent together and all I knew was that I wanted at least a hundred more years of this. A hundred more years to call him my husband, to share my love with him and revel in his love for me. And, one day, perhaps not too far in the future, I wanted to have a family with him. Make babies of our own and raise them together.
I was so lost in my own thoughts and in my focus on Ron's still form lying in the bed that I barely noticed the healers popping in once or twice to check his pulse and his temperature and other things. I didn't even notice daylight creeping in through the tiny window in his room.
Not until there was a quiet knock and the door opened a crack. "Mrs Weasley?" a voice asked. I didn't bother to correct him either – truth was, sometimes I wanted to simply be Mrs Weasley, Ron's wife.
"Yes?" I replied. Looking up and realising then how stiff my back and neck were from sitting in the same position all night.
"I'm sorry to disturb you," the Auror that Harry had posted outside the room stepped in quietly. I had honestly quite forgotten he'd been out there. "I just thought you might like some tea and biscuits?" he asked, handing me a small tray with said items on.
"Oh. Yes. Thank you," I smiled my thanks, taking the tray from him gratefully. I hadn't realised how thirsty I was. "That was kind of you," I added.
He shrugged, already backing out of the door. "Don't mention it," he muttered. "Your husband, Ron...he's a good bloke. Hope he's better soon," he added before closing the door behind him.
Setting the tray down on the bedside table, I poured myself some tea and nibbled on a chocolate biscuit before enjoying the hot beverage with a sigh.
And then there was movement in the bed. Ron's fingers moved, and then his eyes fluttered and his mouth twitched into a grimace as he tried to move.
"Hey, settle down," I whispered to him, carefully urging him back against the pillows. "You're going to be sore and the Healer says you need to keep still," I told him gently, not sure if the Skel-Gro would have completed it's work yet or not.
"'Ermione?" he asked, bleary eyed.
"Yes, I'm here, sweetheart. Been here with you all night," I muttered and kissed him on the forehead gently.
He smiled, his eyes still closed as he lay back in the bed with a sigh. "You smell like biscuits," he mumbled, his nose twitching a little as he sniffed. "Chocolate, I think."
I laughed, softly. "Oh, I think you're going to be perfectly fine," I smiled, glad to see he was awake and coherent and behaving in a typical Ron fashion. "Though, don't you dare scare me like that again," I warned him, jovially.
"I'll try not too," he muttered, already exhausted from the brief exertion.
Over the next few hours he regained his strength and was visited by various family members including his parents as well as Harry and Ginny who all fussed over him, relieved to see he was doing better. After a final check, Healer Gresswell, decided Ron was fit enough to go home, though he was ordered to rest at home and advised to stay off work for the next week.
Once safely home and I had him settled in our bed, I kissed him softly, loving the fact that he responded, that he was feeling up to such activity. "Now, can I get you anything?" I asked, tucking the duvet in around him.
"Well," he began, giving me a cheeky grin, "can I get some of them biscuits now?" he asked.
I laughed and kissed the top of his head. "Just because I'm relieved you're okay, you can have the whole packet."
"Brilliant!" Ron grinned from the bed as I left the room. "Maybe I should get injured more often," he mused to himself.
"Don't even think about it Ronald!" I yelled back.
If you enjoyed this one, please leave me a review! I really appreciate every last review people take the time to post.
Last one in this series to be posted next week...and then I need to decide which theme to post next, or post a mixed bunch and add to them as I write stories for them (as not all themes have the 5 stories each written yet) So, I need to decide what I'm doing with them...which would you prefer?
Thanks.