Ch 78: Unexpected Events
When Hermione awoke the next morning, her first thought was of utter relief that she had made it through the night without getting ill. She got out of bed quietly and took a shower before heading down to the kitchen. As if the food poisoning wasn't enough she discovered spotting indicating she had gotten her unpredictable period again. To say she wasn't at her best would be an understatement. Thinking some sustenance might help, she went to make some toast, but she was suddenly struck with a wave of nausea. Gripping the sink, she tried to take deep breaths to help it pass. Quickly throwing the toast away she turned to more gingerale to settle her stomach before turning to tea. But when she went to try food again later, her stomach quickly protested. Giving it up as a lost cause, she decided it wasn't worth the risk. Instead, she sat at the kitchen table and studied her questions for the Tarragon Foundation where she was set to visit later that morning.
Before long, Hugo and Ron had also come downstairs. Hugo was munching on toast and tea while Hermione tried desperately to not look at the food. Ron soon joined them at the table and noticed his wife's stubborn refusal to make eye contact with him or anything resembling food.
"Alright, Hugo, you need to get yourself together or you're going to be late."
"Ok. I need five minutes, and then I'll be ready," he said as he dashed off to find his shoes and jumper.
Once Hugo left, Ron looked again at his wife. She was dressed in her most prim and proper muggle suit, a grey pinstripe pencil skirt with a tightly fitted jacket and modest heels. Her hair was pulled tightly back into a bun with many pins to hold back any curls daring to break free. But, she looked quite pale, and the dark circles under her eyes betrayed both her exhaustion and her lingering dehydration.
"You sure you're up for today? There is absolutely no shame in re-scheduling, you know."
"I'm fine, Ron. Really, I am. Just slightly weaker than normal. But I'll be fine. I promise that after my meeting today I will take it easy – maybe even take a few days off."
"Alright. If you're sure, then you're sure. And I am clearly not going to change your mind. But I may just have to hold you to those days off."
She smiled and leaned over to kiss him gently. "Would it make you feel better if I promise to call you as soon as I am done? It should be early afternoon I think. I am not planning to go into the office after the meeting."
"Yes please. I'll be at the shop today, so it will be easy to pop out anytime if you don't feel well."
"Alright. I'll call you when I'm done. You're sweet to worry, but I'm fine."
"OK. Take care, love. I'll see you this afternoon." He leaned over and kissed her forehead as he grabbed more toast and headed out to walk Hugo to school.
She watched them head out but felt a cramp in her stomach as she stood. Great, she thought, period cramps on top of already sore abs from a weekend of vomiting. Just what I need. She sipped at some tea and used her wand to vanish the food remaining in the kitchen. A few more deep breaths, and she gathered her things to head into London for her meeting.
It had been a long morning for her already tired body, but she had definitely hit her mental stride. She thrived on this type of intellectually stimulating discussion, and learning from the various departments at the Tarragon Foundation had made for a thrilling morning no matter how poorly she felt. After several hours with the legal team, she had been walked through the various intricacies of alternative tax structures so as to best protect the charity and the organizations they would be funding. Then she'd been able to spend time with the Director of the charity, learning about how they managed staff, fundraising and vetting the organizations they supported. But despite her mental excitement, her body was screaming at her to go home and rest.
"Hermione, we have a bit of time before our next meeting. Do you need a break for the loo or anything?"
"Yes, that would be good, thank you."
When Hermione locked the bathroom door behind her, she grasped the edge of the sink with shaking hands and exhaled slowly. Her cramps had been worsening as the morning went on, and strangely more on the left than the right. She was already feeling shaky from the weekend of being ill, and not eating anything on top of that had made her incredibly weak. She felt waves of sweat breaking out, and was worried she might pass out. Shakily, she eased herself down the wall to sit on the floor of the small, private lavatory. Sighing, she put her head against her knees to keep from fainting. In a panic, she rummaged through her purse and found a hard candy that she put in her mouth to try and send a little sugar running through her veins.
I only have to make it another hour or so, she told herself. Then she could collapse on a bench and have Ron come pick her up. The faint feeling passed, and she picked herself up off the floor, splashed some water on her face and put on some face powder and fresh lipstick. Glancing at her reflection, she marveled at what a difference lipstick could make on a day like today. Staring her reflection in the eye, she took one last deep breath. One hour, Hermione. You can handle anything for one hour.
Walking out of the lavatory, she saw the smiling secretary. "We just found out that the CEO of our parent company will be here for lunch. He dropped in to meet with our director unexpectedly. When he heard we had a visitor with us today from a new foundation, he insisted on joining you two for lunch."
"Oh, splendid," said Hermione with a false smile plastered on her face. "What luck," she said as she tried to breathe through another cramp.
"Yes. He just popped down to our accounting department for a moment but should be back in a few minutes. Stephanie is in the conference room, and I have lunch set up there for you. I hope you like curry!" she said with a cheerful smile.
Hermione blanched at the mention of it and wondered if she would faint on the spot. But, the wave of nausea passed after a moment, and Hermione was able to follow the cheerful secretary into the room where the other woman was waiting. The smell of curry was quite overwhelming, but she realized she could lessen it by breathing through her mouth for a bit. She figured she could make it through with rice and tea and simply move everything else around her plate. She thought distracting the director with questions would help as well and began peppering her with follow up questions from the morning with questions about the CEO soon to join them.
"So, could you tell me about your parent company? I didn't really read up on that at all before coming," said Hermione taking a slow sip of tea. The cramps on the left side of her abdomen were getting worse and not better, and she wondered if she could keep up the facade.
"Well, the Tarragon Foundation was created by the CEO of Dracunulus Pharmaceuticals and his wife. Though, he is much more hands on than she is. So, with his focus on pharmaceuticals and health, our focus on public health issues was a natural fit for his area of interest and expertise. He is particularly dedicated to ensuring that the medicines made by his company get to the poorest corners of the world. But he has also focused on trying to leverage the existing distribution channels for the pharmaceuticals to help distribute other basic goods like vitamins and immunizations."
"That's lovely. I don't know anything about the company and family. Anything I should know?"
"Well, they are a quiet family. Old money I believe? Not sure actually. Though I believe he built the company himself. I don't believe they do much society nonsense outside of their charity work. I think they like to let their charitable work do their talking for them. They have a really lovely son about twelve years old who went to boarding school this past year up in Scotland somewhere. He missed his son last year terribly and speaks about him often."
"Oh, I know the feeling. My daughter is that age and went off to school last year as well. And I miss her all of the time. They sound like a wonderful couple."
"Oh yes, the Malfoys are simply brilliant."
As the woman spoke, a strong wave of pain came searing from Hermione's left side, and she knew she could feel the cold sweat across her brow. But now she wondered if she was hallucinating as well. "Did you say Malfoy?" she stammered as she tried to place her glass of water back down on the table.
"Yes. Draco Malfoy is the CEO of Dracunulus Pharmaceuticals, ahh – here he is now."
Draco Malfoy walked into the conference room in a crisp muggle suit and extended his hand, but as his eyes hit Hermione, he was clearly as shocked to see her as she was to see him.
"Hermione?"
"Draco?" they asked at the same time.
"Oh! How wonderful! You two know each other then?" asked the cheerful director.
"Oh, um, yes – our children are friends at school. And I went to school with Hermione's husband many years ago. But I don't think we knew much about each other's current work."
Hermione tried to smile, but now the cramp in her left side was even worse and she could feel it piercing like a knife stabbing into the tip of her left shoulder. The pain was quite severe and Hermione instinctively grabbed at her left side as she grimaced in pain and held her breath.
"Hermione, are you alright?" Draco asked in a concerned voice. "Uh, Stephanie do you mind giving us a minute?"
"Of course," she said as she left the office.
Draco turned back to her and was frightened at the sight. "Hermione? Hermione?"
Hermione could hear her name being called, but it suddenly felt as if she was in the bottom of a dark well and couldn't make out where the sound was coming from. Her vision went from seeing a large conference room to only seeing a pinpoint of light. In only a millisecond, she had gone from worrying about trying to look professional to being shocked to see Draco to becoming completely overtaken in anguish. The pain was quite overwhelming, and she could feel herself being overcome by the agony of it. And then suddenly, everything was black.
"Hermione? Hermione?" Draco called as he rushed over to her. "Shite!"
Seeing Hermione passed out and slumped over the table, Draco was instantly alarmed. After assuring she had a pulse and was breathing, he decided he had to get her to St Mungo's immediately before any of his well-meaning staff called for a muggle ambulance.
"Fuck," he said. Sticking his head out the door he yelled to the secretary that she had collapsed and he was going to take her in his car to the nearby hospital as it would be faster than calling an ambulance. Asking the secretary to call the elevator, he scooped up the unconscious Hermione Granger-Weasley and carried her out to the elevator lobby. Someone ran after him a moment later carrying her purse and throwing it around Draco's neck and shoulder. He continued to jostle Hermione trying to get her to wake up. After what seemed like an eternity, the elevator came. As soon as the doors were shut and they were out of view, Draco turned on the spot and disapparted to St. Mungo's Emergency Department.
"Help!" yelped Draco as they landed. "She's unconscious." Soon nurses had taken her to a room while another started questioning Draco.
"Her name is Hermione Granger-Weasley. She was in a meeting and suddenly collapsed, and is still unconscious."
"Are you her husband?"
"What? No! I was in the office where she collapsed. Her husband is Ron Weasley."
"Ron Weasley? THE Ron Weasley? And who are you, Harry Potter?" the nurse scoffed.
"What? Merlin, this isn't a joke woman! Her husband needs to know she is here! Will you contact him?"
"No, sir. I will need you to do that. We can't contact family members until the patient confirms her identity. We don't just pester famous heroes every time someone mentions their names."
"But I grabbed her purse as we left so her identification and everything should be in there."
"We'll wait, sir. But you are free to contact him."
"Right. Um – is she going to be alright?"
"I'm not sure. Too soon to tell. Thank you for bringing her in. Good day, sir." With that she turned on her heel and marched off.
Draco stood there flabbergasted at the events of the past fifteen minutes. One minute he was in the muggle offices of his foundation when out of nowhere he discovers Hermione is in the meeting room, and then she is unconscious. He was initially scared she had fainted at seeing him, but realizing that she was really terribly ill made it even worse. Not knowing what to do next he stumbled back to the waiting room and found himself in a chair trying to make heads or tails of the situation.
It took him a moment, but he realized he was still holding Hermione's purse and still needed to contact Ron. He opened Hermione's purse hoping to find a way to contact him, and saw that she had a cell phone. Turning it on he was grateful to find it wasn't locked with a passcode. Quickly scrolling her contacts, he found "Ron" and called them number.
"Hey, Love. Did it go ok? Are you feeling any better?" Ron said into his phone, the cacophony of the happy noises of the joke shop in the background.
"Um, I am so sorry," stuttered Draco. "This isn't Hermione. I had to use her phone as she took ill at the meeting and is at St. Mungo's. I think you should come quickly."
"Who is this? Let me speak to Hermione!" Ron said gruffly.
"It's Draco Malfoy. I-"
"MALFOY?" Ron bellowed. "What's going on? Where's Hermione? If you've hurt her so help me I'll, I'll…"
"She was in a meeting at my foundation. Neither of us knew the other would be there. But just after I came in the room she collapsed in what appeared to be severe pain in her side. I brought her to St. Mungo's straight away, but she is still unconscious. You need to come straight away. I am really so sorry."
"What?" Ron cried, his voice breaking.
"Come. Come now. She needs you here," Draco said. And then he heard the phone click off.
Fuck, Draco said to himself. Weasley might actually kill me if he thinks I had anything to do with this. I need someone to manage him so he can help her. He gulped heavily. Potter.
Looking again at Hermione's phone, he scrolled the contacts and found the number. Pressing the icon, he prayed for him to answer, and was relieved to hear that old familiar voice of his childhood enemy on the other end of the phone answer "Hermione?"
He quickly explained what had happened, and Harry promised he was on his way, but no sooner had Draco hung up than he saw the trademark Weasley red hair run into the room in a panic wearing the obnoxious orange robes of the Wheezes shop.
Draco took a deep breath and stood up to greet him. "Weasley, here. Here's her purse. She is in the back, but they will only give family the details so I don't know anything else. I am so sorry. I, well, I really hope she is alright. I called Potter too. I thought - I thought you could use a friend right now. I hope that was alright."
Ron looked at him with an expression that seemed to be a mix of rage, terror and gratitude, but simply took her purse from Draco and turned to find a nurse with no more than a nod.
Looking back on it later, Ron couldn't actually recall how he got to Hermione's hospital room from the store after Draco had called. But he knew he would never be able to rid himself of the memory of walking into her room off the emergency area to find her unconscious, shaking and paler than the sheets surrounded by frantic healers and nurses. He backed up slowly in a daze until he felt his back hit the wall of the room. Standing there gripping her purse, he just stood shaking his head in disbelief. Finally one of the healers noticed him.
"Are you her husband?"
"Y-yes," he stammered. "I'm Ron Weasley. What's happening? Is she going to be alright?"
"Well, I am afraid to say it is too early to know. We are preparing her for surgery now."
"Surgery? But it was just food poisoning. Hugo and I recovered so quickly. Why would she need surgery for food poisoning?"
"Oh, I am sorry sir, I thought someone had told you. Well, there is no easy way to say this. She experienced an ectopic rupture. The baby attached to her fallopian tube instead of the womb. And as it grew, it got too big and now has ruptured your wife's organs. She is bleeding into her own abdomen and we have to operate immediately to save her life. The injury is too great to do it with only magic at this point."
"What baby?"
"Oh, I am so sorry. I assumed you knew. Your wife was 6 weeks pregnant."
"She's pregnant?" he stammered in shock. "But she didn't…"
"She was pregnant, sir. I am sorry, but the baby did not survive. It's called an ectopic pregnancy, and she ruptured. Pregnancies outside of the womb are never viable. I am so sorry. But right now we are going to take your wife to the operating theatre and we will be doing anything and everything we can to save your wife's life."
"But-"
"I am sorry sir. Time is of the essence. She is continuing to bleed into her abdomen and can't afford to lose much more blood. You'll need to wait in the family area, and we will notify you as soon as there is any news."
Ron stumbled over to Hermione's bed as the nurses readied her for surgery. He felt the sob in his chest, but instead leaned over to kiss her and touch her cold cheek. "Come back to me, Hermione. You have to come back to me. I love you so much," he whispered.
At that the nurses wheeled her out the room, leaving a stunned Ron alone in the room still gripping her purse. As he was about to collapse to the floor, he felt a familiar presence holding him up.
"Come on, Ron," he heard Harry say gently as his arms surrounded him. "Come on. They will take care of her. You know how good they are here. She is in the best hands."
Still reeling in shock, Ron just shook his head. "I didn't know, I didn't know. I don't even know if she knew."
"What? What didn't you know?" Harry asked gently.
"She was pregnant. I had no idea. But, the baby is dead. And I might lose her too-" and with that his body was wracked with sobs again as Harry gripped him tightly.
"Come on, Ron. They've brought you back from the edge before. Many times actually. Hermione is going to be alright. But she is going to need you to be strong."
"I don't know how to do this, Harry," muttered Ron, shaking as he hid his face in his hands. "I'm used to being the one in the hospital bed – not the one waiting in agony for the one I love to come back."
"Hey now, you've waited for me to wake up in a hospital bed," protested Harry with a bit of a teasing smile.
Ron laughed at Harry briefly through his tears, which allowed Harry to catch his eyes.
"Alright, now, here we go," instructed Harry as he led Ron out to the private Auror waiting room. "I am, unfortunately, quite practiced at this. So, if it's alright with you, I will get Ginny, who will call out the whole Weasley clan of course."
"I don't think I can handle all of them."
"Yes, but that's the beauty of this family. You bring enough of them in, and they sort of handle each other while providing an incredible buffer at the same time. And when they all show up, food and drink seem to come with them. It's like a special Weasley family magic or something."
"Alright, but if they're too much, it's up to you to handle them."
"Sorted."
"And we need to contact Hermione's parents."
"I'll handle everything. Just leave it to me."
Three hours later Ron was numbly seated in an uncomfortable plastic chair in the waiting area. They hadn't heard anything from the healers, but his family had all arrived like the cavalry. His mum had showed up, engulfing him in a hug and filling his hands with biscuits. But she had been a blessing when Hermione's parents had arrived. As much as Ron loved Michael and Jean, he could not have handled the small talk at the moment, or been able to translate magical medicine into muggle terms. He'd called Mrs. Rupesmith and asked her to keep Hugo after school without going into any details. He was hoping Hermione would be awake before he had to tell him what happened. But most of the family had offered to keep him as long as need be.
It was odd, Ron thought, that he somehow suddenly found comfort in focusing on the absurd details like who should babysit Hugo. These finite things he could control seemed to provide calm in the midst of this storm where he was at the utter mercy of the forces around him. He suddenly understood why his mum had fussed about cleaning the house, de-gnoming the garden and cooking for an army whenever terrible situations had arisen. Glancing over at her now, he had a deeper appreciation for what she had gone through during and after the war. His eyes darted around the room, and he noticed Fleur and Angelina talking quietly in the corner while George and Bill chatted with Harry and Ginny. Harry had been right. He couldn't imagine he could have kept his sanity these past few hours without all of them. If nothing else, the distraction alone was helpful. He was on the edge of losing it as it was. But every time he felt as if he was about to crumple or boil over, someone stepped in to chat with him or bring him tea.
It had been four and a quarter hours when the healer finally walked into the waiting area.
"Mr. Weasley?" he asked, and five red heads popped up in response.
"I'm her husband," Ron said quietly as he stood to talk to the healer. "Is she alright? Can I see her?"
"Yes, on both accounts I am happy to say," the healer responded. "Shall we step into the hall so we can talk more privately?"
"Yes, with her parents as well if that's alright," Ron said gesturing to Jean and Michael who smiled appreciatively and followed close behind as they walked to the hallway.
When they were alone, the healer said, "As you know, we discovered that your wife ruptured from an ectopic pregnancy and had been bleeding into her abdomen for quite some time. She lost a tremendous amount of blood before losing consciousness. We think she could have been bleeding internally for several hours before she collapsed. If she had gotten here any later than she had, well, it's just good she got here when she did. She would not have made it much longer. But, as an aside – your wife is as tough as nails. None of us can comprehend how she managed to remain conscious all that time, let alone function at work. All that said, she is still unconscious. And, we don't expect her to regain consciousness for some time. She was already quite dehydrated from the food poisoning you mentioned earlier, and then to lose so much blood on top of that, it was too much for her system. Also, I am sorry to say, we were unable to save all of her reproductive organs. Due to where the rupture was, we had to remove the left ovary and fallopian tube. Additionally, due to the location of the rupture and the blood loss, there may be more damage to the uterus than is apparent at this time. I am hopeful that with extended rest and the right potion regimen we can heal that and preserve her fertility. But it is far too soon to tell. She still has her right ovary and fallopian tube, so there is still a chance of getting pregnant in the future if that is something you and she are hoping for. But, she is certainly at an increased risk of another ectopic pregnancy."
Ron and Michael nodded blankly while Jean asked questions apparently only women knew to ask.
"With the remaining ovary she should still ovulate and menstruate? She won't go into early menopause will she?" Jean asked.
"No, she shouldn't suddenly enter menopause as she will still ovulate and menstruate. Though, it will probably be at least 6 weeks before she has a cycle. For now, the only focus is to build her fluids up, replenish her blood and help her gain her strength so that she will regain consciousness. Don't be surprised if she does not wake tonight. Her tiny body has been through horrific trauma."
Jean asked the healer a few more questions about things Ron couldn't really comprehend, and then they all muttered their thanks to the healer.
"Right," the healer said, "well you can visit her shortly, though we will need to limit it to only two or three at a time. The nurse will come by in a moment and will show you to her room."
As Ron watched the healer walk away he heard his mother in law ask quietly, "Ron, how far along was the pregnancy?"
"I, I didn't know she was pregnant until I got here this afternoon. Earlier they said maybe 6 weeks or so, but they weren't sure. I don't even know if she knew," he said, his eyes brimming with tears threatening to fall.
"Was she tired? Ill in the morning?" Jean asked.
Ron cringed, "Well, yeah. She's been really tired, but she kept saying it was from work. And then we all got food poisoning Saturday night. It certainly hit her harder than Hugo and me. I tried to talk her out of going to that meeting today, but she was adamant. We had a bit of a row about it, to be honest."
"Well thank heaven she went," said Jean.
"What do you mean?" Ron asked.
"Ron, if she had been alone when this happened, we would have lost her. At least this way someone saw her collapse and was able to get help because Lord knows Hermione would never ask for help herself. Apparently not even when her own insides were being literally torn apart," Jean said as tears choked her.
Michael closed his eyes cringing, but Ron just leaned in to hug her. "We're going to love some sense into her yet," he mumbled as she nodded back.
"And I'm so sorry about the baby," Jean said, sniffing away her tears.
He nodded, tears brimming out of his eyes, but didn't trust his voice to speak. Michael placed his hand on his shoulder and patted Ron's back affectionately. Ron nodded again before wiping his tears from his face. After a cleansing breath he popped in to tell his family the update, and then soon he and her parents were ushered towards Hermione's room.
Stopping them outside the door, the nurse said, "She will look a little ragged, but her color will return as she continues the blood replenishing potions. And while she isn't awake, we often find that our patients do better when their loved ones are with them. So don't hold back talking to her or holding her hand. It can't hurt and can only help. We're monitoring all of her vital signs from down the hall, but don't be afraid to ask us if you are concerned about anything."
As they walked into the room, Ron felt frozen again. The sight of Hermione lying frozen on the bed seemed to suck the breath from his lungs. He watched as Jean walked to the bed immediately, hugging her and kissing her cheek. He felt Michael's steady hand on his shoulder pushing him gently forward towards the bed, and before he knew it, he was sitting on the edge of his bed holding Hermione's hand in his. She felt cold and lifeless, but he could watch her chest rise and fall with each breath, which helped remind him to breathe as well.
He lost all sense of time, but soon he realized Jean and Michael were getting up to leave. Michael patted his shoulder again, and Jean embraced him tightly. They told him they were going to go back out in the waiting area. Ron nodded, mumbling his thanks, and then he was alone with his unconscious wife.
He stared at her, gripping her hand in his. And then he felt everything around him begin to crumble. He felt panic rise in his chest as he thought of how much better his life had been since she had walked into it. Leaning forward to kiss her and hold her face, he felt everything begin to slip.
"Hermione, Love, you have to come back to me. Nothing in my life works without you. You have to come back to me. Please, Hermione. Please come back."
He was bent over her trying to stop his flow of tears when Harry and George walked in the room. George reached him first. Patting Ron's back strongly, he helped pull him back up into a sitting position.
"You gotta give her room to breathe, Ron," George said.
"Sorry I'm such a tit," Ron cried, wiping the tears from his face. "I just, I just can't imagine living without her now. I can't lose her."
"You're not going to lose her, Ron," assured Harry. "The healer said she would be alright once she has time to recover."
"I know. I know," Ron nodded. "But I came so close today."
"If close counted, we'd all be in big trouble," laughed George. "Just between the three of us you'd have buried us twenty times at least."
"I'm not sure that's helpful, George," chuckled Harry.
"Helpful or not, it is true," touted George.
"Well, yes. That is true. But she is the one that makes our family work. She's the one who knows how to handle the kids. She's the one who makes us make sense."
"And she will keep being that, mate," assured Harry.
"I don't know if she even knew she was pregnant. I don't even know what to hope for. Do I hope she knew and kept it from me? Or that she didn't know and I have to tell her that she was but that the baby is gone?"
Harry and George remained quiet at this question, both looking down at their feet.
Finally, George said, "Look, Ron. You know damn well we are shite at talking about real matters of the heart and whatnot. But, you have to know that we are all here for you. I've never had to be in your shoes, and you've never had to be in mine. But you have stood time and again next to me and held my sorry arse up when I couldn't stand on my own – Harry too. You've followed both of us to hell without question and brought each of us back multiple times. And you have to know we will both be there to do the same for you if or when you ever need us."
Harry nodded in agreement, while Ron sniffed his thanks.
"But let's be real. If you need someone to distract you, entertain you, repair walls you blow up in anger or pull you up from the bottom of a barrel of firewhisky, we're your wizards. But if you need someone to hand you hankies or bring you biscuits, probably best if I go fetch Percy or Mum or something," George said as Ron and Harry started laughing.
"Brilliant," noted Ron. "I'll keep that in mind."
"Right. Now that we have that sorted, I'll take pity on your bad day and let you drone on about that pitiful excuse of a quidditch team you love to pretend will ever win another game."
"They will absolutely win another game," Ron insisted. "Their new keeper is really good, you know. And we all know that defense wins championships even if it doesn't sell tickets."
At this George and Harry both smirked as they let him keep rambling on about both the Cannons and the role of the keeper, but it seemed to keep him distracted which was their goal, so they kept at it. Eventually Ginny came in and kicked George out. She tried to convince Ron to go to Hogwarts to tell Rose what had happened in person and to be the one to pick up Hugo, but Ron said he could not possibly leave the room in case Hermione woke up.
So, at supper time Ginny and Jean flooed up to Hogwarts to tell Rose what was going on in person. Unsurprisingly, Rose was quite upset and insisted on coming back with them so she could see her mum. On the way they stopped and picked up Hugo from Mrs. Rupesmith's and then brought them both to St. Mungo's. It was after 9 when Ginny came in the hospital room where Ron was sitting quietly clasping Hermione's still hand.
"Ron," she said gently, "the children are outside with Jean. Do you want to go out and talk to them first or shall I bring them in?"
"I don't know, Gin. This is the kind of thing where Hermione knows what to do, not me. So, you tell me. What should I do?"
"I can't answer that for you, Ron. They're your children."
"Please, Gin," he pleaded with slightly desperate eyes. "I don't want to fuck this up and don't seem to have the ability to hold a coherent thought at the moment, so please just tell me what to do here."
She sighed, but looked softly at her brother. "You go out there and prepare them for what they will see. I will sit here with her while you do on the off chance she wakes up in the next four and a half minutes. But you need to exude confidence, alright? They are looking to you to see how scared they should be. They need to believe that you believe this is all going to end up just fine."
Ron nodded. He took a deep breath, closing his eyes as he exhaled slowly. "Ok. Then that's what I'll do. Thank you, Gin. I – well - I couldn't do this alone."
"None of us could make it alone, you prat," she teased. "Now, go hug your kids. Looks like you could use it as much as they could."
Ron made his way into the waiting room where Rose and Hugo were. He had not made it all the way through the door before Hugo and Rose launched themselves at him, clutching him tightly as they started to cry. He held them tightly for a moment and then sat on the ground so he could ease them both into his lap at once. Jean and Harry were in the room as well and smiled encouragingly at him but excused themselves to give him a private moment with his children.
Both Rose and Hugo leaned against his chest as they cried. Ron held them both tightly to him and rocked them gently.
"Hey, hey you two. It's going to be ok. The healers say your mum is going to be just fine. She will sleep for a bit, but when she wakes up she will be alright."
"But what happened? I don't really understand, Ron. Is this because we were all sick this weekend? Are you and I going to get that ill too?"
Bugger, he thought. I thought Gin had already handled this part.
"Well, today came as a surprise to all of us, little man. It turns out one of the surprises today held was that Hermione was pregnant and we didn't know. That was why she was so tired the past few weeks. And then when we all got food poisoning it just made her even more exhausted. And, unfortunately it turned out that the baby was growing in the wrong part of her tummy. And as it grew, it got too big for the place it was growing, and when it got bigger than the small space it was trying grow, she was in a lot of pain, and it tore some of her insides and she bled a lot. She actually passed out. But blessedly, she was brought in just in time and the healers were able to save her."
"What about the baby?" asked Rose hesitantly.
"The baby died," he said, his voice cracking. "The healer said that babies who grow in the wrong part of their mums never make it."
"Was it a baby brother or a baby sister?" Hugo asked in somber voice.
Ron swallowed slowly. "I don't know," he admitted as the tears began to fall.
Rose took pity on him and finally wiped his eyes with the sleeve of her Hogwarts jumper.
"Did Mum know about the baby?" Rose asked.
"That's another thing I don't know, Rose," he scoffed. "I think I need some easier questions."
Hugo giggled, and soon Rose chuckled as well.
"You two ready to go see her now?"
"Yeah," Hugo said, and Rose nodded in agreement.
Ron got off the floor and with a child in each hand, they walked down the hall to Hermione's hospital room. He held the door open, and the children walked in, hugging Ginny and then walking over to the bed where they each took one of her hands. Hugo stood quietly while Rose immediately crawled up on the bed and snuggled against her mum. Ron looked anxiously at Hugo's back and then glanced up to Ginny, who nudged her head, encouraging him to approach Hugo.
"She's going to be ok, Hugo."
"We just keep ending up here, don't we?" Hugo asked solemnly.
"I know it seems like bad luck, Hugo. But today this is actually good luck. If she had been at home alone she might not have gotten the help she needed. So, we should be celebrating how lucky we really are."
"You have a twisted idea of lucky, Dad," Hugo retorted, causing Ron, Rose and Ginny to all giggle.
"Well he does!" Hugo protested.
They visited for a bit longer, and then Ginny ushered them out to Jean who was taking them home for the night.
"Just like when you were unconscious, Dad," said Rose.
"Alright. Well, you two are old hat at this routine then. Head off for a slumber party and your mum and me will see you tomorrow. Be good for Jean and Michael, ok? Out with all of you," teased Ron.
By 10 that evening, it was only Harry left with him, and he was picking up his jacket to leave. "You're sure you'll be alright here, then?"
"Oh yes, I can assure you that I am quite qualified to spend the night at St. Mungo's."
"No doubt. But this time you don't have the comfy bed."
"Well – I am still quite good with an expansion charm, so maybe I can share with Hermione."
"Probably a good idea for the both of you," said Harry. "Alright. I'm headed home. But call or send a patronus, and I'll be back here right away."
"Good- oh, hey Harry – do you know if anyone let Malfoy know she's going to be ok? I might not have been in my right mind with him this afternoon. I will thank him eventually of course, but could you let him know for me? While I hate to admit it, I really owe him for today."
"Yeah. I called him this afternoon after she was out of surgery. But I know he will be grateful to hear you appreciate his help. I'll call him in the morning."
"Thanks for doing that, mate."
"Sure thing. So bizarre that she was with him of all people when this happened."
"That's an absolute understatement," Ron agreed.
With that Harry left, and Ron found himself again in the silent room with Hermione.
While he was emotionally exhausted, he was also still amped and jittery from the adrenaline of the day's events. He pulled a chair up to the side of the bed, holding her right hand in his left hand while his right hand found its way over her abdomen. He looked at his large bony fingers across her tiny frame, and for the first time that day he allowed himself to think of the tiny life that had lived in her until a few hours prior. He was perplexed on how to feel about everything. There had been a miniscule soul that was a mix of him and Hermione, but now he would never know what that little person could have looked like. Would it have been a brilliant little girl with copper curls? A lanky, freckled bloke who was more comfortable in the library than on a broom? He couldn't get his mind around how to think about it. Should he be mourning and grieving? Should he feel guilty that he was relieved that if only one of the mother baby duo could survive that he was grateful Hermione had lived and the tiny soul he hadn't known about was gone? How would she feel? Had she known? He didn't think she would have kept something that huge from him, but he had to acknowledge that there was a tiny crack of doubt, which made him feel guilty on top of everything else.
He turned his attention back to her still face. She had been eerily still this whole time with not even a twitch on her face. He gently stroked his thumb across her cheek as he watched her chest rise and fall slowly with each breath.
"Oh, Hermione. Come back. I'm utter shit at this type of thing, and you know it. Come back to me. I don't even understand my own feelings about things when you aren't here to help me."
He continued to watch her, and eventually fell asleep bent over on the bed, still holding her hand.
It was just before dawn when he felt a tickle against his cheek. He sat up, momentarily disoriented by his surroundings and the stiff neck from the odd position he had slept in. But then he realized Hermione was twitching her fingers ever so slightly. Hopeful, he stroked her cheek with his free hand.
"Hermione? Are you waking up, love?"
She didn't answer, but he did see her face muscles respond with some slight movement so he tried again.
"Hermione? It's Ron. You are safe, love. You can wake up now, I'm right here. But if you need to sleep more, that's fine. Whatever you need is what I want. I love you so much, Hermione. So, so much."
At that Hermione looked like she went to roll over in her sleep, but the movement caused some real pain, which woke her up with a moan, her face crunched up in pain.
"Arrgh -owww, what? Where am – what happened? Ron? God, it hurts. It hurts so much."
"Hey," he said, breaking into a concerned smile. "Don't try to move, love. Just stay still. You're in St. Mungo's, and I am so glad you're waking up. Let me get the nurses so we can get you something for pain, alright?"
"No, wait, don't leave me. What happened? I'm so confused. Please tell me why I'm here. Why does it hurt so much?"
"Would you drink some water first? Here…" he said, moving the straw into her mouth and smiling as she swallowed a few sips. "What is the last thing you remember?" he asked gently.
She closed her eyes for a moment trying to remember. "Um, I don't know. My head seems so fuzzy. I remember, well - we were all sick over the weekend after that wretched curry, but I know I was better enough to go to my appointment at the foundation Monday. As the morning went on I had some cramps, and then they got a lot worse. I thought I would leave right after lunch but then they – wait – was Draco Malfoy there? That can't be right. But I - I don't know. And then - well – no, the last thing I can remember is trying to make it through lunch, and then it's just black."
"Right. Well, yes, Draco was there."
"What? Really? Why?"
"Apparently his muggle medicine company is the money behind the foundation you were visiting. And, as fate would have it, he came in and saw you, and then you collapsed in pain a minute or two later. He brought you to St. Mungo's and called me on your phone to let me know. And then you had to have surgery and a lot of blood replenishing potions, but you are finally coming back around now."
"Oh," she said in a confused and groggy tone as she tried to process everything. "Wait. What? Why would I need surgery for food poisoning. That doesn't make any sense. I remember the pain getting bad, but it was on the left so it couldn't have been my appendix."
"Correct as usual. Wasn't your appendix. Well, I…." Ron's voice cut off as he realized he had no idea how to say this to her.
"What? What happened, Ron? You're frightening me."
"No, no. Don't be scared. It's just…. Well, the healers said that your fallopian tube ruptured."
"That doesn't make sense. That would only happen in a car accident or an ectopic pregnancy or something. I don't understand. Something doesn't add up."
Ron sighed. "You are aggravatingly brilliant, you know?" He brushed the curls away from her confused face. "What apparently neither of us knew is that you were pregnant."
"What? We're pregnant?"
He pursed his lips together. "Apparently we were 6 weeks along, but Hermione," he paused and gently cupped his hand over her cheek. "The baby didn't survive."
She just stared at him in confusion.
"I'm so sorry, Hermione. I can't imagine waking up and hearing this like you're having to do."
Hermione closed her eyes, tears leaking out from beneath her lids. One of her hands was still clinging to Ron's while the other seemed to move of its own accord to spread out over her lower abdomen.
Watching her, Ron felt the tears come to his own eyes and begin to burn down the side of his cheeks. It was mourning the loss of the child, but also grief for not being able to protect the woman he loved from such pain. He moved his hand down to her abdomen as well, fingers linking with hers, and then leaned to kiss her forehead.
After a few moments she took a deep breath and opened her eyes again.
"I'm so sorry, Ron. I couldn't keep our child safe."
"No, Hermione. Absolutely not. This is no one's fault at all. Don't you dare try to blame yourself - or anyone for that matter. The healer said that babies who never make it to the womb never survive. It never had a chance. And it was gone before we ever knew it existed."
"It? God, we don't even know if it was a boy or a girl," she said, crying harder.
"No. We don't," he said, with his tears coming harder now too. "But that doesn't mean we don't love this baby. He or she was a part of our family and we didn't know it. But that doesn't mean we don't love this little soul that never got to be born."
She sniffed and tried to nod, but continued to cry.
"I almost lost you," he said through a sob. "If Draco hadn't brought you here as fast as he did, Hermione – you would have died. I just couldn't….God, please don't ever leave me, Hermione," he cried, his face burying into the curls on her pillow.
"Shh, shh," she said as she tried to run her hand through his hair. She turned her head to kiss his forehead. "Ron – Ron, I'm right here, Ron. I'm ok. I'm not going anywhere. Shhh."
"Sorry," he said, sitting back up, wiping his face with his sleeve. "Merlin I am such a bad husband. Here you are in the hospital bed and I am the one sobbing. I'm sorry."
"No, Ron. No – you are perfect. I remember how terrified I was when you were the one who almost died. But we're both ok now. We're both here."
"I love you so much, Hermione. So, so much," he said kissing her gently.
"I love you, too," she whispered, cheeks still wet with tears.
"We're going to make it through this. Together."
