The Road to Recovery.
Even though it was nearing midnight, sleep was a long way off for Harry as he kept a vigil at Ginny's bedside. Molly and Arthur were dozing in chairs over the other side of Ginny's bed, but Harry couldn't sleep. Instead his mind was running over events of the day and what had led to him sitting by his girlfriend's bedside, hoping and praying she woke up soon.
Even though it had now been several hours since the accident, Harry could still feel the panic and concern bubbling inside him. Not that his anxiety had been helped any due to the antics of Ron at the hospital. Harry had genuinely thought that Ron had moved on and decided to accept Draco, but it was clear that no matter what sort of good intentions he'd had, he blown them rather spectacularly. He'd also managed to offend Fred, who once their parents were out of sight, pinned Ron to the wall and warned him if he ever spoke to Alicia in the disgusting way he had in the waiting room that there would be trouble. In the end, Ron had stalked off home, although he was still muttering and cursing under his breath and Harry knew he was far from ready to let things drop and accept that the incident had been nothing more than an unfortunate accident.
Once all the Weasleys had seen Ginny, Harry had taken a seat by her bedside and had only moved from his spot at his girlfriend's side once. Hermione had come to visit Ginny once Draco was awake, and Harry had walked back with her to the blond's room. Even though part of him was frustrated by the situation, and the fact Ginny hadn't yet woken up, he'd known it wasn't Draco's fault, so he'd taken a moment to go and visit with his friend. In the end he was pleased he'd seen Draco, as it avoided any bad feeling brewing between the pair, and it gave him hope that if Draco could recover from the accident with just a few broken bones and a bit of bruising, so could Ginny.
Unfortunately, a couple of hours later Ginny was still showing no signs of waking up. Praying that she would re-join them before morning, Harry reached out and took hold of his girlfriend's hand. Pressing her hand to his lips, he froze when he felt Ginny's fingers flexing against his mouth.
"Ginny," he whispered softly, cradling Ginny's hand in his and willing her to move it again. On cue Ginny's fingers twitched in his hand. "Ginny," he called a bit more loudly.
Even though he hadn't raised his voice too much, it was enough to wake Molly and Arthur who were only slumbering lightly. The couple were thrilled with the news that Ginny was finally responding, and while Arthur went to alert one of the medi-witches, Harry and Molly hovered over Ginny. By the time Arthur returned with a medi-witch, and Healer Ball, who'd stayed on at St Mungo's especially in case Ginny woke, it was clear that Ginny was starting to emerge from unconscious state she'd been in since her arrival.
"Ginny," Harry cried excitedly when Ginny's eyes slowly fluttered open.
"Harry?" Ginny croaked weakly. "What happened?"
"There was an accident in training," Harry replied.
"Draco," Ginny whispered softly. "Is he okay? I saw him too late. I couldn't stop in time."
"He's fine," Harry reassured his girlfriend. "Let's just worry about you. The healer wants to check you over."
"Okay," Ginny replied in a weak voice as her eyes fluttered closed again.
Even though he didn't want to leave her, Harry accompanied Molly and Arthur back to the relative's room. What followed next was the most agonising half hour of Harry's life, but finally Healer Ball appeared and informed them that he was happy with the progress Ginny was making.
"Will she make a full recovery?" Arthur asked.
"I see no reason why not," Healer Ball answered. "However, she won't just be out of hospital in a few days and back to normal."
"Why? What's wrong with her?" Molly demanded.
"She suffered severe bruising and several broken bones in the fall," Healer Ball explained. "In fact the majority of the bones in her left leg were shattered."
"I thought magic could fix bones," Harry remarked, recalling a couple of incidents at Hogwarts where Madam Pomfrey had fixed broken bones as if they were nothing more than common colds.
"It can, and all of Ginny's bones have been mended," Healer Ball answered. "However, a broken bone is still a major deal, and to have so many broken bones in one area of the body will take its toll. I would say that Ginny will need physio on her leg to help her regain her strength and mobility."
"Are you saying she won't be able to walk?" Molly gasped, clutching at Arthur as the tears started to cloud her vision.
"Nothing that serious," Healer Ball said with a reassuring smile. "I think that with a couple of months of physio, Ginny will be just fine."
"And that's it?" Harry checked. "Her leg is the only real problem?"
"There is one more thing," Healer Ball said cautiously. "Ginny is complaining of a severe headache, dizziness and blurred vision. All that is to be expected with the fall she endured, but it is something I want to keep an eye on. Tomorrow morning, I plan on sending her for every available scan. If there is a more serious problem, we will find it, and we will find a way to fix it."
"Why can't you do all that now?" Arthur questioned.
"It's late and right now Ginny needs her rest," Healer Ball answered. "I've established that she's in no danger at the moment. Who knows, by morning the headache and other symptoms might have subsided. Believe me, if I thought we were dealing with something major, I would be on it right away. For now, I believe the best thing for Ginny is to get a good night's rest. In fact, I'm sure it would do you all some good to grab some sleep."
"I'm not leaving her," Harry said stubbornly. "I want to go back and see her."
"You can go back and sit with her, but I must stress the need for her to rest," Healer Ball said.
"We won't keep her up, we just want to be with her," Molly said.
"I'll be back in the morning and we can discuss what tests need to be run then," Healer Ball said as he wished the trio a goodnight and let them return to Ginny's room where they stayed for the remainder of the night with a sleeping Ginny.
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By morning the Weasleys had all arrived at the hospital, and the waiting room was full of concerned redheads and their partners. As promised Healer Ball had whisked Ginny off for numerous tests and now they were just sitting waiting for some answers.
"What's taking them so long?" Ron muttered as he paced the floor. He was still on edge and Harry could already tell that the slightest thing would set him off on another rant.
"They're just being thorough," Arthur said to his son.
"They should have done all this last night when she woke up," Ron grumbled. "What if she's seriously ill and it's worse because they left her?"
"Don't say things like that, Ron," Molly scolded. "Your sister is going to be just fine."
"She better be, or else someone is going to suffer," Ron muttered darkly.
Harry was just preparing himself for Ron to start ranting about Draco again when the door to the waiting room opened. The entire family looked up eagerly, hoping it was Healer Ball back with some news, but they found it was Hermione entering the room. Draco was behind her, and although he still looked battered and bruised and in some pain, he was up on his feet and ready to go home.
"We're going home, but we just wanted to check on Ginny," Hermione said. She'd already spoken to Harry that morning, so she knew what sort of tests the healers were carrying out on the redhead.
"We're still waiting for news," Harry replied. "How are you feeling, Draco?"
"Like I've been dropped from a very great height," Draco answered with a wince as he settled himself down beside Alicia and Angelina, both of whom were pleased to see their teammate up and about.
"You look it as well," Harry said, allowing himself a small smirk in Draco's direction.
"Nice boss you are Potter, kicking a man while he's down," Draco replied in a joking manner.
"I don't believe you lot," Ron hissed angrily. "How can you laugh and joke with him? He's the reason Ginny is undergoing tests for a brain injury."
"It was an accident," Angelina said firmly. "It wasn't Draco's fault, and it wasn't Ginny's."
"So he says," Ron spat.
"So everyone says, including Ginny," Harry said firmly. "Just drop it Ron. Ginny is what matters here, not your stupid grudges that you claimed to have dropped."
Ron opened his mouth to argue, but seeing that no-one, not even Molly, was going to back him up, he shut it again and slumped down on a seat as far away from the rest of the family as he could get. He then pointedly turned his back on the group when Hermione sat down beside Harry and the twins started quizzing Draco on his injuries.
"I take it this means you're going to miss the final game of the season," Alicia said with a sigh.
"It does," Draco replied with a regretful sigh. "You're just going to have to beat The Tornadoes without me."
"And without Ginny," Angelina added. "It's not going to be easy."
"I still have faith in you all," Draco said. "Don't let me down now. Besides, it will be a nice get well gift for Ginny and myself if The Cannons win the league."
"We'll try our best," Alicia vowed.
Harry listened to the conversation, but he couldn't bring himself to care about the fate of The Cannons. All he was thinking about was Ginny, and right now, quidditch was the last thing on his mind. Theo and the rest of the coaching staff would have to get The Cannons through their final game of the season, as all Harry's focus was going to be on Ginny, and helping her get better.
Another hour passed before Healer Ball made an appearance in the waiting room. Taking a seat, he addressed the entire family, and Draco and Hermione who had stuck around to see what the verdict was going to be.
"We've done all the available tests and we've found Ginny has a slight swelling to her brain," Healer Ball explained. "It's nothing too serious, but it is going to need treatment. There's a potion that will help with the swelling, and it takes a week to administer the full course. In that time, I want to keep Ginny at St Mungo's."
"Will she make a full recovery?" Harry asked.
"We have every faith she will," Healer Ball replied. "But even if she doesn't, the condition isn't life threatening. It will however mean she'll have regular headaches, dizzy spells and will more than likely have some problems with her co-ordination."
"In other words, it'll end her career," Draco whispered in a choked voice.
"And wouldn't that suit you just fine," Ron sneered from across the room.
"No, it wouldn't," Draco said as he unsteadily got to his feet. "I don't know what you problem is Weasley, but you need to get over it. I'm not the person you seem to think I am. What happened with Ginny was an accident, and I would give anything to trade places with her. She doesn't deserve to lose her career over a freak accident, not when she's worked so hard to get it back on track."
"I think we should go," Hermione said gently as she walked over to Draco. "Harry, let us know what happens with Ginny. We'll try and get in to see her tomorrow."
"She'll like that," Harry replied with a smile. "Take care Draco, I want you fit for next season."
"Yes boss," Draco said with a small smile before he departed the waiting room with Hermione.
"Will you start the treatment today?" Molly asked Healer Ball once Draco and Hermione had left.
"Yes, we'll do the first dose after lunch," Healer Ball replied. "Don't get too concerned, the potion works ninety percent of the time. It's very rare that Ginny's condition doesn't respond to treatment. She's a healthy young witch, so I have every confidence the treatment will work and she'll be raring to go in a few months."
Hoping that the healer was right and that the injury wasn't going to be career ending, Harry headed off to see his girlfriend. Thankfully Ginny was feeling more alert, and she shared the healer's optimism. She was determined to make a full recovery and return to play quidditch for The Cannons, where she would hopefully help them become the best team in the league.