A/N: Hey, thanks for reading! This is about Sirius as he's on the run. Unable to visit any Wizarding public places for fear of being recognized, he can't find food. And as a result...
If You Dare Challenge - #69 (Death's doorstep)
Conversation Starter Prompt Challenge - #15 (Use the prompts 'grateful,' 'altercation,' and 'copper')
Build A Zoo Challenge - Lions (Sirius Black)
Are You Crazy Enough To Do It Challenge - #124 (Sirius Black)
Board Game Challenge - #64 (write a fic using either the colors red, orange, and yellow OR using the colors purple, blue, and green)
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Sirius Black's body ached as though he'd been clobbered repeatedly by a Beater's bat. His stomach churned with nausea and stabbed him repeatedly with hunger, this time so intense that he doubled over. He nearly stumbled into a woman and her child, who immediately drew her son closer as he tripped.
As he staggered into the nearest pub, he remembered that he was no longer an Animagus. He had made the amateur mistake of turning back when he was nearly passing out from hunger. While in his dog form, he could survive nearly seven weeks without food, but now that he was in his human form, the hunger was taking its toll. He could barely move, much less ask the bartender for a bit of food. Instead of acting like the rational person he was, he slumped into the bar, reaching for the man behind it with desperation. He tried to say, "Food," but all that came out was a slur of unintelligible syllables. Someone grabbed him by the scruff of his shirt, thinking him some drunken wizard, but then he got an unfortunate look at his face and immediately let go. "It's Sirius Black!" he heard, a cry that pierced the entire pub and sent everyone into immediate silence.
"Sirius Black," someone whispered, and he spun on his heels because he could've sworn it sounded like Lily.
"Sirius Black," hissed another, and the gravelly, scholarly undertones in his voice matched Remus's. Sirius, Sirius, Sirius... Black, the mass murderer... The voices were everywhere, swallowing him and surrounding him until he was unable to take it anymore. He raised his weak, bony arms in surrender. As they rushed forward to grab him, he closed his eyes, ready to collapse, and Apparated instead.
As soon as Sirius landed on his back, he knew something was wrong. He tried to remember what his professor had told him about Apparating, but he was so hungry and in so much pain that he couldn't seem to think a single thing. Pain was circling him like a ravenous predator, never letting him out of its razor-sharp claws, and he eventually gave up on trying to give up. He was so, so tired...
"Sir? Are you—" He wished that voice would shut up. He was trying to sleep, after all. Couldn't he get one moment of peace before he— Nausea bubbled up in his throat, and then he was on his side, dry heaving, as he had nothing in his stomach to bring back up. After the fifth time, blackness started to swirl before his eyes, and before he knew it, everything was sideways and all he knew was that a pair of bright red high-tops was saying help was on the way.
Sirius Black didn't think he'd ever find himself in a Muggle hospital. The whole place reeked of chemicals and soap, and there were needles and sharp instruments everywhere. One of the needles was imbedded in the crook of his arm, and he examined it, shocked. They had stabbed him. They had stabbed him with some Muggle instrument. He didn't know what it was or what it did, so he tore it from his skin with strength he hadn't in him when he'd passed out. He unstrapped something thick and black from around his arm and swung his legs over the edge of the bed so that he could stand. He needed to get out of here...fast. If he stayed for too long, he would surely be found and arrested again. He couldn't... Sirius shook his head, trying to ignore how cold he was. He couldn't bear going back to Azkaban. "I wouldn't do that if I were you," a female voice told him as he moved to press his bare feet against the ground.
"Why not?" he snapped, and he was immediately surprised by how strong his voice sounded. He hadn't sounded this healthy in a long time.
The woman in front of him was beautiful; she had kinky hair that was dyed a brilliant orange and dark brown eyes. Her skin was a rich copper, and her arms were folded as she approached him in her scrubs and bright red high-tops."Because you just took out your IV" —she gestured to his arm, where a small bead of blood was slowly beginning to rise against his pale, scarred skin— "so you'll be on the floor in a couple seconds if you stand up."
Sirius didn't want to admit it, but he was already feeling dizzy. "I'm not—"
"I've dealt with more difficult patients than you," she told him, shoving his legs back onto the bed. "I'll sedate you if I have to."
"Where" —he sat back on the bed— "am I?" He knew he should be grateful, but now he could only think about getting out of here as quickly as possible.
She explained their location relative to London and he shook his head. "How did you—how did you find me?"
"We were out on a search-and-rescue mission," she said, picking up one of the Muggle instruments and cleaning it off, "for this kid in the middle of the forest, and we heard a shot go off. Thought someone had a gun or something, so I went to the sound to see if anyone was hurt, and..." She gestured vaguely at him. "We found you. Thought you'd been shot at first, 'cause of all the blood, but instead it looked like something had nearly clawed your leg off—what happened to you out there?"
Sirius recognized the pain splitting his leg; it was very familiar. He'd been Splinched while trying to Apparate into the forest. James would've laughed at that... "Nothing," he said. "Do I—I can't pay for the treatment. I don't..." His hand dropped to his leg, which was wrapped in a thick white cast. "I have no way to pay for this."
The woman laughed. "This is a clinic, sir, not a hospital. Once you're well enough, we'll send you on your way."
Sirius winced. "Are you—can I leave now?"
"You're still under our care, sir," she said. "And you are in no condition to go anywhere." She picked up a syringe from the table in the corner, filling it with a yellow liquid.
Sirius Black had no intention of staying in this so-called 'clinic.' The longer he stayed, the more danger he was putting everyone else in. "I-I-I—" he began. "I... I can't stay. I have to...I have somewhere to be."
"Somewhere where you can get something to eat?" The woman was closer now to him than she ever had been; so close that he could count the freckles on her face.
"What?" Sirius recoiled at her question. ¨Wha—why would—"
"Sir," she said, and her rubber-gloved hands were holding his forearm and upper arm, "when we found you out there, you were nearly dead, and it was not due to your leg wound. How long was it since you'd had a proper meal?"
Sirius did not plan on explaining to this Muggle woman that he was accused of being a mass murderer and of betraying his best friends to the Dark Lord and had broken out of a magical prison by turning into a dog and had then had to live on the run. He did not mention that small fact to her as he spoke next. "A couple days," he lied, jerking his arm away as she tried to hold it down. "I'm fine, honestly. Just had an altercation with a..." Why couldn't he think of any Muggle ways to get an injury? "...er...bear. Yeah. A bear."
"I've seen bear attacks, sir," she said, "and it does not result in wounds like that." She tried to stab at his arm again, but he did not want her to stab at his skin with that needle—
"Merlin's beard, that's—" he said, jerking away. "What are you trying to kill me for?"
"Sir, I'm only trying" —she held him fast by his hospital gown— "to insert your IV. If you would just—"
"No!" Sirius cried. He was not going to die at the hands of this young woman. "No, no, don't—"
"Sir, just stay still—just a—"
"No, you're not going to stab me with that—"
"It's just a needle—won't hurt, it—"
"No, I won't—"
"Quit it—you're being difficult, just—"
"Don't bring that thing anywhere near—"
"Sir—"
"No!"
Irritated, she sits back into a visitor's chair with a huff, a couple curls having escaped from her updo. "Sir," she sighs, breathless. "This is nonnegotiable. Either you let me put your IV back in, or I will sedate you."
Sirius didn't want to tell her, but he was barely hanging onto consciousness. He could hardly focus on anything; he wasn't sure how he even managed to speak. "You said...this is a clinic. No...cost."
"Non-profit, yes."
"So I can...leave."
She rolls her eyes. "Sir, you wouldn't be able to make it through the front door."
"Watch me," he said, so he tried to stand and promptly passed out onto the clinic floor.
A/N: Thanks so much for reading! Please favorite, follow, or review if you can!