Fred pulled my arm wildly, trying to pull me out of the middle of the road. I was having none of it. That car was going to stop, or it was going to hit me. Either way, I wasn't moving.
It pulled to a screeching stop in front of me. The window already down and the muggle sticking her head out before the car had even pulled to a full stop.
"What happened? Are you all alright?"
"No!" I cried, staggering forward and letting all the pain I'd been feeling show on my face. "We need help, we've been attacked!"
"Do you need a ride?" She asked, unlocking her vehicle. I was shocked by her willingness to help us. If I'd have been driving down this road at night I wouldn't have stopped for someone who looked like me.
"Yes!" Fred gasped, limping forward beside me. The woman looked at him with wide, worried eyes.
"Come on in, hurry!" She yelped, looking shocked. I opened the car door quickly, letting Fred climb in before I followed him. She hit the gas before I had the door shut. Fred fell into me, yelping in pain as his arm collided against mine. I slammed the door and leaned over him, grabbing his hand and examining his arm. It was broken in one spot, and his shoulder had gotten dislocated.
"Gideon," I gasped out, still trying to regain my breath. His eyes widened at the use of his middle name, but he went with it. "This is going to hurt but it has to be done." I handed him a bunched up strip of my robe and he bit down on it as I grabbed his upper arm. "One. Two. Three!" I jerked on three and he let out a screech of pain as I wrenched his arm back into its socket. His already sweaty brow bunched up and his eyes welled with tears as he closed them. I felt awful for causing him pain, but there was nothing I could do about it.
I fell back against my seat, trying to catch my breath. My side was throbbing and I felt like I couldn't get any air, like I was suffocating. I didn't know how bad my ribs were, but we both needed to see a doctor. I closed my eyes and took another breath, forcing myself to even out my breathing. I became aware of music playing faintly in the background, I didn't know the song but the simple normalness of music shocked me and brought tears to my eyes. How long had we been locked up? It felt like forever, I couldn't remember the last time I had listened to music.
"Where do you need to go?" The muggle asked. I snapped my eyes opened and rubbed the back of my hand against them, ridding myself of the tears.
"Just keep driving please, we need to get as far away from here as possible." She nodded her head, staring at us in the mirror.
"That was brilliant, Jean." Fred whispered, his head leaning against the back of the seat and his eyes closed tight.
"You were brilliant." I whispered back, tears filling my eyes as the enormity of what had just happened fully occurred to me. I had been so worried about him, so scared he would be hurt. When he had reappeared, injured and beaten, I'd nearly gone mad with anger. I could have killed that wizard if I hadn't been so concerned about getting him out of there. I didn't know what I would have done if he hadn't woken up, if he had been hurt worse or hadn't come back at all.
"How about a hospital? You two look pretty beat up." The muggle said. The song stopped playing and some announcer came on. I started to answer her but she held up her hand to silence me and turned up the radio.
…Brown bushy hair and brown eyes. She's five foot five and has a bandaged arm. She has scars on the back of her left hand that read 'I must not defy orders'. The male is red head with shoulder length hair. He has blue eyes and is five foot nine, or six. He has a scar on his neck and on the back of his left hand as well. They read 'I must not cause trouble,' and 'I must not defy orders.' The announcer droned on, but I wasn't listening anymore, it'd turned my head towards Fred, horror filling me as I realized the muggle police was describing us.
…The perpetrators are extremely dangerous and should not be approached… the muggle hit her breaks, stopping the car and sending Fred and me forward. We hit the back of her chair and let out a pained cry.
"GET OUT OF MY CAR!" She screamed. I opened my eyes at the same time I heard an all too familiar metallic noise. She had a gun, and was aiming it at Fred and myself. I gripped his arm, already kicking the door open. Fred wouldn't know what a gun was, he wouldn't realize how dangerous it was. I pulled him out of the car, ignoring his protest as I headed towards the woods. We were at the edge of them, they ended in about fifty meters, and a house stood at the end of them.
The car raced away, her tires squealing as she hit the gas. I watched her go frozen in my spot. What had just happened? Why were the muggle police after us?
Where were we even at?
Fred moaned beside me and swayed on his feet. That shook me out of my reverie. I stepped forward and wrapped my arm around his chest, helping support his weight. I walked us towards the house slowly, deciding we'd check there in hopes that the muggles didn't hear that we were apparently wanted. Fred didn't say anything as we neared the house, using his energy for breathing instead. I wonder what that wizard had done to him, how bad he'd really been hurt. He'd down play it, I knew he would, so I'd just have to examine him as soon as I got the chance.
We reached the house and walked up to its front door. I took a deep breath and knocked on the door, praying that someone would answer. A moment later the door swung open, revealing a warmly lit living room, and a tall willowy woman.
"Can I hel-good god!" She gasped, seeing Fred and myself. I staggered under Fred's weight, holding him up as he started to lose consciousness. My hand around his waist was growing wet, and I realized it was blood with sinking horror.
"My name is Jean, and this is my husband, Greg Gideon. Please," I gasped, tears falling down my face. "Do you have a first aid kit and bathroom I can borrow?" she nodded her head, stepping back and letting me in the house. I stumbled up the steps, almost falling from Fred's weight. She directed me towards a back room, letting me into what was a very spacious bathroom. I laid Fred down against the tub, lowering myself onto the toilet. There was a hairbow sitting on the sink and I snatched it eagerly, pulling my crazy hair back in a sloppy bun.
"Here." The woman said, thrusting a first aid kit into my hand. I opened it eagerly.
"Do you have a sewing kit? Needle and thread?" I asked, glancing up at her before I moved towards Fred. She flipped her long, straight, black, hair behind her and nodded her head. She turned around and fled from the room, looking pale. I gently took Fred's robe off, pushing it off his arms and checking the damage. His arm was definitely broken. His head lolled to the side and I got a better look at his neck. It was scratched, deep, and looked like someone had used a knife on it. Anger welled up in my belly and I wanted to hit something. I grabbed a towel off the counter and stuck it under his head, using it as a pillow for him. I opened the first aid kit and took out an antiseptic wipe, washing his neck off before bandaging the wound.
"Here you go." She said again. I turned and grabbed the sewing kit.
"Do you have a blanket and wood? Something like sticks?" I asked, reaching for Fred's shirt. I tugged it up gently, pulling it over his head. She was still standing behind me. I looked over my shoulder, my eyes narrowing when I realized she was ogling him. The poor man was beaten, bruised, and bleeding, and this bimbo muggle was ogling him!
That annoyed me far more than it should have. I mean, other than the fact that she was staring instead of helping, the very fact that she was staring was annoying me. If I'd have had my wand I'd have been tempted to hex her. I gave myself a mental shake and forced myself to focus. Now was not the time to be considering my feelings for Fred. I wasn't about to deny I had feelings either, I'd realized that while I was in the cell alone. I liked Fred, and that worried me. Still, now was not the time to be doing this.
"Please." I snapped, drawing her back to me. She nodded her head and left again. I turned back towards Fred, gasping when I saw his blue eyes staring up at me. I was holding a needle and thread, and I almost dropped it. He had beautiful eyes, even with his swollen face his eyes were still breathtaking.
"Are you going to sew me up?" He asked quietly, his eyes half lidded and tired looking. I nodded my head softly, forcing myself to focus and not panic.
"Okay, just asking." I wiped the area clean, shuddering as I saw how deeply he was cut. That wizard had slashed him, and he'd done it deep. I brought the needle up to his chest, my hands shaking.
"So, you sew often?" Fred asked, taking my mind off what I was about to do. I smiled softly at his attempt to calm me down.
"All the time, I'm practically a seamstress." I replied coyly, gentle pulling the thread tight. He winced a bit, but didn't cry out. I sewed him up as quickly as I could, thanking Merlin that I had taken the healing classes.
"Is this okay?" The muggle woman questioned, reappearing yet again. She handed me a towel and two pieces of wood along with a short length or rope.
"Brilliant, thanks." I said, turning back to Fred. I tied the thread off and bandaged the stitches.
"Thanks." Fred breathed out, breathing heavily as he leaned his head back against the towel.
"You're welcome ." The muggle said, smiling brilliantly. I wrapped the blanket around Fred's arm before setting the bone. He cried out, clenching his fist in a vain effort not to scream. I wrapped the blanket around it more securely and then tied it off, using the wood to secure it in place.
I leaned back and examined him. His eye was still swollen, painfully so, but I was more worried about his legs. His pants were stained with dirt, and what looked like blood. I bit my lip nervously before looking him into the eyes. He smiled at me nodding his head softly, letting me know it was okay to take his pants off.
"Umm, could we have some privacy for a moment?" I asked softly, not bothering to look at the muggle, I knew she was still there.
"Sure." She said quickly, a moment later the door shut. I scooted forward and undid Fred's pants, my hand shaking as I did so. I was terrified by what his legs may look like, but I was also scared by how intimate this was. He grabbed my hand in his own, and undid his pants for me before pushing them down his waist. He was wearing a pair of bright green boxers, which threatened to make me smile. It was so very Fred.
I pulled his pants the rest of the way off, gasping when I saw how cut up his legs were. There had to be a hundred cuts on his legs, and they all looked like knife wounds. I grabbed the antiseptic pad and wiped his legs down, cringing when he hissed in pain.
"I'm so sorry." I whispered, placing bandages on the worse ones.
"It's not your fault, and don't forget to bandage yourself." He said, lifting my chin and forcing me to look at him. My eyes were filled with tears and my hands were shaking. It was all too much, everything that had happened, everything that was happening. The kidnapping, the torture, the fact that we were wanted by the muggle police.
"I know how you take care of everyone else and forget yourself. How's your arm doing?" He asked quietly, his eyes locked on mine. I couldn't move, I was breathless and oddly fuzzy headed. My eyes shot to his lips and then back to his blue eyes as I realized I wanted to kiss him, I wanted to kiss Fred.
It wasn't really surprising either. I'd gotten to know him really well during this whole thing; he'd grown to be extremely important to me. I just didn't know how he felt, what I was to him. He'd become more than just a friend to me, and much more than he had been before. I liked him, I really, really, liked him.
His eyes shot to my lips as well, his tongue licked his lips and I felt myself suck in a deep breath. He leaned forward slightly, unable to move any more. I leaned forward as well, closing the distance between our two faces.