He took the little kangaroo and placed it on the arm of the chair looking over at Arik, he felt it was his little contribution to making her safer, protecting her.
Nothing prepared him for what he heard next…
Suddenly there was a slight beep and Theo's head snapped up from the book. He watched as all of the healers let out a defeated sigh and turned to step away. He sprang up from the chair and grabbed the nearest healer.
"What happened?" he growled, "Why are you all leaving?"
Patting Theo on the arm the healer looked up at him with a hint of tears in her eyes. "I'm sorry son, we tried everything."
Theo let his grip loosen as he turned back to look at Arik. She looked so peaceful, almost like she was asleep. He still cringed when he saw the dark shadows and sunken cheeks on her face. Going over to her Theo put his hand on her face and gently caressed it.
"Arik, sweetie, you have to wake up. I know this will sound selfish, but you need to wake up, for me. Please I can't do this without you. I know it's just a class, but I need your help with it. What if they still want me to continue on with it? I know I won't be able to do it. I'm not the strong one, you are." Tears were rolling down Theo's face as he continued. "I know that I wasn't all for this at the beginning, but something changed. You changed me; you opened me up to something I hadn't known before. You made me see that I could be with someone that made me happy. I need you Arik. I love you, please, wake up. Baby, please?" At that, Theo broke, he laid himself over Arik's swollen tummy and cried.
Poppy slowly approached the man. "Theo, I know this might not be the best time, but I think I can do something." She placed her hand on his shoulder as he slowly turned his head to look at the kind healer.
"What?" He asked his voice deep with emotion.
"Well, there is a potion that I keep in the back of the stores. I brew it only for emergencies. But I think it might work."
"Well, why haven't you tried it? Why haven't you done something that might save her?" Theo asked as he slowly stood up and turned to her.
"They wouldn't let me near her while they were trying to figure what happened to her." She said, "But there is one good thing about that."
Theo looked confused as he asked, "What could possibly have been good about not treating her?"
"Well," the witch started, "They figured out what happened. It turns out that since she was pregnant, the babies had been slowly compromising her immune system and that made it easier for her to get sick. They figured out that she had gotten the flu and since her immune system was well below 100% it almost killed her. Right now she's been put into a magically induced coma, but all of the healers don't expect her to wake up."
Theo shook when Poppy said the last sentence, "She will wake up!" He growled, "I think we should try your potion out. I think it will work."
Poppy nodded her head and headed into her office. Coming out a minute later she held up a small vial.
"Mr. Nott, I want you to know that it won't work instantly. First it has to get into her system then, hopefully she'll be well enough to get the coma lifted." The healer said as she gently opened Arik's mouth and tipped the contents of the vial into her mouth.
Theo sat in the chair beside the bed and watched for any sign that she might be getting better already. After watching for a few minutes, he picked the nursery book and started looking at more options hoping to narrow the choices down so Arik wouldn't be overwhelmed when she woke up.
While Theo read he kept looking up to check the progress of Arik. He could swear that he cheeks looked a little less sunken. About an hour later Theo's head snapped up as he heard the sound of movement. Looking at Arik he saw that everything looked normal again.
Jumping up Theo ran into Poppy's office, "Madam Pomfry! You need to see this!" And with that he ran back out to Arik's bed with Poppy right behind him.
"Oh, goodness! She looks much better. The potion must have really worked, I didn't expect for anything to happen for a few hours now. She should be able to be taken out of the coma now."
Poppy rushed out of the room to send for the healers to take Arik out of her coma. Minutes later two healers appeared and evaluated Arik before talking to each other with hushed voices. After a short while they turned back to Arik and raised their wands muttering an incantation.
Theo watched as a yellow light radiated off of Arik's body then vanished. Holding his breath Theo, watched as Arik slowly opened her eyes and looked around frantically.
"Theo?" Arik asked, her voice small and fragile. "Theo where are you?"
Rushing to her side Theo gently grabbed her hand, "I'm right here sweetie, I'm here." He said with a smile on his face.
"What happened? Is everything ok? The last thing I remember was feeling sick and you picked me up and asked me I if wanted you to take me somewhere." Arik said sounding confused.
"Well you got really sick, so I carried you down here and Poppy did some tests on you and… well, we weren't sure if you were going to get better. But Poppy had this miracle potion and it made you all better." Theo explained, leaving out the part about him pouring his heart out and crying, begging her to wake up.
"Is everything ok now? Are the babies ok?" Arik asked running a hand over her swollen belly.
"Everything is fine Ms. Williams. I checked personally." Poppy said smiling at her.
Theo watched as Arik's face broke into a smile and tears ran out of the corner of her eyes.
"Thank you, so much." Arik said as she looked at Theo. "I love you."
Theo beamed at her, "I love you too." It was the first time he had been able to say that to her while Arik was awake and actually able to hear him. And Theo made a promise to himself that he would make sure Arik would be able to hear him say for many years to come.