Genes. The basic fundamental unit of hereditary composed of DNA that is transferred from parent to child. That striking combination of strawberry blond hair and piercing blue eyes all derives from your select set of genes.
"Are you watching that again?" Hermione asked incredulously as she bustled about their flat to fill her mug with coffee. "If you watch it one more time, we're going to have to resuscitate the restart button."
"Shh!" Aaron said his eyes trained on the screen as he waved her off. "We're getting to the part."
Hermione rolled her eyes as Aaron stared intently at the screen for the umpteenth time.
A booming voice radiated from the screen, "And can you let us in on your steamy sneaky hospital romance?" the host of the talkshow asked leaning forward eagerly, as a picture of Aaron and Thomas popped up on the projector behind them. The very picture taken the other day as they were bombarded by paparazzi while leaving the hospital.
Thomas chuckled crossing his legs and placing his hands on his knees. "I would hardly call it sneaky Longihan. Steamy yes, sneaky? No." he grinned charmingly as the crowd erupted with laughter.
"Tell us Thomas, who is this dashing man who's stolen our favourite surgeon's heart?" Longihan pressed his eyes gleaming visibly through the screen.
"That love muffin over there? That's my boyfriend Dr. Aaron Mathews a third year resident at Hogsmeade General." Recording Thomas and Hermione said this last bit together making Aaron cringe as he tore his glasses off to bang his head on the counter.
Hermione's laughter echoed as she whacked him lightly on the back with her hand. "Hurry up Dr. Love Muffin you're going to be late for rounds."
Your physical appearance isn't the only thing inherited through genes. Whether genetics are a blessing and a curse, I've yet to decide.
"Dr. Love Muffin do you think you could get me an autograph?" Draco asked snickering as he pulled off his civilian clothes. Aaron stalked past him to his locker annoyance evident in his stiff posture.
"Don't be a prat." Hermione admonished propping her shoe on the bench lacing it up quickly. Leila and Alec arrived, announcing their presence with their very audible arguing.
"I'm so bloody tired Leila just drop the damn subject." Alec hissed angrily as he shoved his way to his locker. Draco's locker was sandwiched in between Alec and Aaron's which made for a rather uncomfortable silence.
"Rough night in the sack?" Draco quipped pulling on his scrub shirt. Alec turned to glare at him darkly but chose to ignore the question.
Hermione watched almost amusedly as Leila angrily changed her clothes whipping her hair into an alarmingly high and tight bun.
Elizabeth Putton the cardio attending entered warily sipping her coffee and eyeing them all with disdain. Elizabeth had been their resident when they had first been interns.
"Since day 1 the lot of you have been a bickering babbling band of baboons." she said watching with her lips pursed as Aaron slammed his locker shut only accomplishing to crush his pinky finger.
"That's not the first time I've heard something like that." Hermione said wrapping the stethoscope around her neck.
"That Dr. Granger, is concerning." Elizabeth said idly already turning her attention to her clipboard. "Stanforth and Granger you're working with Dr. Reynolds today. Kravic you're with the Mallucci's and the rest of you can retire to the pit."
"That's hardly fair!" Leila exclaimed as she tugged on her healer's coat.
"I've been in the pit this whole week." Draco complained wrinkling his nose with disgust. "I haven't been in an OR in ages."
"Do I look like a customer service line you can express your complaints to? Suck it up buttercup." Elizabeth called already down the hall.
"Trade with me." Aaron said leaping over the bench to reach Hermione. "Please, I need something good to distract me."
"Awh Dr. Love Muffin needs a distraction? Your hotshot boyfriend isn't enough?" Draco called dryly as he and Leila grumpily made their way down to the pit.
Hermione sighed as she waved her wand and Aaron grunted with pain as his broken pinky righted itself. "You can credit your talented boyfriend for that spell instead of downing a cup of skele-gro."
"Yeah I can credit him for a lot of things." Aaron mumbled.
"I just can't believe you!" Scott thundered as they made their way down the winding corridors of the hospital.
"It was one drink and nothing happened." Margaret repeated for the 10th time, her constant assurances doing nothing to assuage his worries.
"After everything, the pain and the grief he's caused both of us I struggle to understand your train of thought. And how are you so ready to forgive him? I can hardly look at him at staff meetings let alone sit next to him at a bar." Scott raved causing several healers to glance their way in curiosity.
Margaret sighed feeling incredibly drained as she pulled her dear husband into an empty storage closet, shutting the door firmly. He crossed his arms haughtily and watched her expectantly.
"I understand why you're upset. But listen to me properly when I tell you that nothing happened. We had one drink and a little tense conversation." Margaret said speaking slowly, as if somehow this would help her stubborn husband to hear her.
Scott suddenly snatched her forearm and she felt her heart stop as he roughly pulled up her sleeve, revealing two deep twisted scars that spiraled from just above her wrist to her elbow. His grip was tight on her wrist and his eyes pleading as she glared up at him.
"What that bastard did to you I will never forget. I will never forgive him and I make no plans to. Ever. He is not the same person we knew in med school and I will not sit back and watch you get reeled in and hurt again." he said firmly. His deep green eyes shone determinedly down at her as his grip loosened. More gently this time he traced his thumb over her scars, making Margaret shiver involuntarily.
Margaret never let anyone see her scars if she could help it. Scott was the only one who was had ever even touched her scars. She hastily pushed his hand out of the way and pulled her sleeve down.
"I can take care of myself." she said gruffly pulling her healer's coat more firmly around her.
Scott sighed loudly in exasperation. "Merlin Marge, you think I don't know that - "
Before he had a chance to finish his sentence, Brittany Kravic opened the door and awkwardly peered in.
"Erm, sorry, Dr. Mallucci I mean Margaret or, Dr. Margaret Mallucci I'm on your service today." she said her body still outside the door.
"Kravic is right, we have more important things to attend to." Margaret said curtly following her out the door.
"Dr. Granger, if you please?" Xander Reynolds of General said motioning for Hermione to present. She smiled kindly towards the patient and stepped forward to speak.
"Sahanna Muthu, 69 has breast cancer, a malignant tumour that's been operated on by Dr. Reynolds a month ago. A lumpectomy was performed combined with several radiation treatments both of which have proved unsuccessful. The next part of the treatment plan is to approach with a complete mastectomy."
"See ahma, this healer looks beautiful, has a good height and she's smart. I bet she doesn't have death trailing her with a menu of options to slowly die." a young girl who looked fresh out of Hogwarts said bitterly as she flipped carelessly through her magazine of Witch Weekly.
Hermione felt an instant pang of similarity between her and Lavender Brown or Parvati Patil, whom also shared the same sense of airheadedness.
"Trust me, death has trailed me quite persistently." Hermione said tersely placing the chart back in it's holder.
"Daya don't be rude to our healers. And I've told you," Sahanna broke off with a hacking cough as she pulled her covers higher. "You have a long life ahead of you. There's no need to live with the constant fear of death."
"It's not a mere fear ahma! I am predisposed, destined if you will, to have breast cancer, diabetes and early grays! I already know what my future holds. Just look at Auntie Trish she died when she was 48 from breast cancer! I am fated to die of breast cancer or diabetes whichever gets to me first!" Daya said angrily as she threw her magazine on the sofa before stalking out of the room.
Hermione raised her eyebrow at this and had the distinct impression this was not the first time they had argued on this matter.
"Excuse my Daya, she can be rather sensitive. And this kind of stress I burden her with does not bode well with her temper." Sahanna said tiredly.
"Understandably Mrs. Muthu." Reynolds said not unkindly. "Dr. Stanforth would you kindly explain the procedure?"
"We'll start by marking the incision site on your breasts, then we'll separate the breast tissue from overlying skin and finally remove all the breast tissue." Alec explained neatly his hands clasped behind his back.
"Thank you Dr. Stanforth. Should you have any additional questions or concerns I leave you these 3rd year residents at your service. I'll see you in a bit." Reynolds said before leading the pair outside the patient's room.
"That daughter is an absolute brat." Alec said as they closed the door to the patient's room. "I would never even consider blaming my mother for having breast cancer."
"Oh I'm sure you were momma's little boy." Hermione scoffed turning to face Dr. Reynolds.
"Now, I don't know if you recall that meeting Dr. Wellington and I held last week. We mentioned we would be observing you and your fellow residents in our quest to find two suitable residents for our upcoming clinical trial. Now you'll find two cadavers waiting for you in the skills lab upstairs. Whichever one of you performs the better separation between the breast tissue and the overlying skin as well as the chest wall muscle below will earn my attention and have the opportunity to perform it during Mrs. Muthu's surgery." Reynolds said clearly enjoying the eagerness the two residents exhibited.
"Well go on, those cadavers aren't going to perform mastectomies on themselves." Elizabeth said appearing beside Reynolds. Without another word Hermione and Alec had whipped around and were racing towards the stairs with obvious determination on their faces. Elizabeth watched them warily as Hermione shoved Alec into the healer's station speeding quickly on ahead. She and Reynolds watched in amusement as Alec easily caught up and promptly lifted her out of the elevator, Hermione yelping in surprise, before closing the doors on her.
"You and Wellington are pitting my residents against each other. You've just turned the hungry dogs into ravenous wolves." Elizabeth said as Hermione cursed loudly before sprinting up the staircase.
"Enjoy the show Liza, enjoy the show."
Draco felt it was completely unfair to be dismissed to the pit so often. He was a good healer, why wasn't he given any interesting cases? As he pondered what he should eat for lunch, he leant against the healer station surveying the patients coming in and out through the double doors. A sudden sharp pain came from the back of his head as a chart came flying at him.
"Bloody hell, what's your problem woman?" he bellowed wheeling around to find Leila absentmindedly jotting something down in a different chart book.
"That's the chart for bed 4." Leila said without glancing up from her work.
"Okay and what the hell am I supposed to do with it?" Draco asked snidely as he rubbed the back of his head angrily.
Leila looked up and shot him a nasty glare. "You may think you're too good for the pit Malfoy, but you are still going to help us get through these patients."
Draco scowled and read the chart onceover. "It's dragonpox? A moron could treat this. Find an intern to do it."
"The interns are at a skills lab with Dr. Wellington. If it's so easy to treat you can go treat it." Leila said shrewdly. Draco felt annoyance ripple through him as he shot her one last glare before stomping over to trauma 4.
Drawing open the curtains he said, "I'm Dr. Malfoy your healer for today. Amelia and Madison Cleavey 12 years old, twins, was admitted for dragonpox. One dose of the Dragonpox Cure was already administered at 8:35 this morning and no visible changes are present." he looked up to see two very green tinged girls leaning back to back on the hospital bed. They looked almost as unhappy to be there as he felt.
"Mother insisted we come in. Dragged us out of Hogwarts for this." one of the girls said bitterly.
"Madison dear, have you so easily forgotten your grandmother who died of dragonpox just a year ago? The healers all brushed it off as effects taking a greater toll on an old lady, but they were wrong weren't they?" a teary woman said sternly from the corner.
"Mrs. Cleavey, the cure does not act instantaneously." Draco said waving his wand to summon two vials from the drawer. "However I can prescribe one more dose of the cure to be administered in 30 minutes."
After prying himself from the teary eyed woman's hug, he stalked back to the healers station shoving the chart into Leila's hands.
"Does my writing a prescription ease your troubled mind?" he asked scornfully as he sipped his coffee.
"Much. Bed 6 could use your attention once you're finished drinking my coffee." Leila snapped snatching it out of his hands before marching off.
"What's got her so wound up?" Draco asked sourly reluctantly reaching for the chart she left for him. Aaron was typing quickly on the computer, his glasses sliding down his nose so they rested near the edge.
"Alec I suppose." Aaron said twirling in the chair so he could face Draco. "You're not the only one who has boring cases. Bed 3 has a man with boils on his feet. I had to rub a salve for him because he was too disgusted by his own feet to touch them!"
A loud retching sound came from one of the beds to Draco's left making both him and Aaron wince.
"That one's yours mate." Aaron said cheerily before darting out of his chair and down the corridor, leaving Draco to scowl after him.
"I hope the boil man's boils burst yellow pus on you!" he called.
"Ah very good Dr. Granger." Reynolds remarked as he passed her cadaver. Hermione felt hope flare in her chest as he moved on to Alec's cadaver. A strange feeling of deja vu flared in her chest. It felt just like it did when potion professors walked by to inspect the students' work.
"However I have to conclude Dr. Stanforth will perform the separation during Mrs. Muthu's surgery." Reynolds said smiling as he clapped a beaming Alec on the shoulder.
"But my technique was flawless!" Hermione protested eyeing both her and Alec's work trying to distinguish how his was better.
"Yes but Dr. Stanforth here took into account the patient's height and adjusted his approach accordingly to execute a more clean separation." Reynolds said already reaching the door of the skills lab. "Excellent work to both of you. Dr. Granger if you could handle Mrs. Muthu's pre op? And Dr. Stanforth you may join me for a consult."
Alec shot Hermione an almost apologetic smile before hurrying after Reynolds. Hermione studied Alec's cadaver sulkily and sighed, seeing that it indeed was much neater and had cleaner margins.
As she entered Mrs. Muthu's room her daughter was back on the lumpy sofa, flipping through the same magazine. She moved to snap on a pair of gloves as she read over Sahanna's vitals quickly.
"I'm just going to mark the incision sites on both breasts so we know the margins to operate on." Hermione said drawing up a stool so she was level with the bed. "I'm just going to need you to sit up and lower your gown."
As Sahanna pulled off her hospital gown to reveal her breasts her daughter piped up from the couch.
"I suppose breast reconstruction is the only positive thing coming out of this." she said eyeing her mother's breasts with disdain. "I mean if I'm going to have both boobs chopped off, I might as well build me some better ones. Seeing as the ones I inherited are barely big enough to occupy a training bra."
Sahanna stared sternly over her shoulder at her daughter as Hermione drew carefully with her wand over her breasts. "Daya I am not having breast reconstruction and neither are you! There are far more important things to worry over other than the appearance of your breasts."
"And I'm finished." Hermione said quickly before her daughter could retort. Sahanna let out a racking cough and spit out some blood in the bin next to her. "Mrs. Muthu how long has have you had this cough?"
"A few weeks after the lumpectomy." she replied hoarsely.
"Maybe there's another deadly disease we've yet to be diagnosed with." Daya said lightly. Hermione and Sahanna chose to ignore this.
"I'll send someone to do a blood test and I'll be back after lunch and we'll get this show on the road." Hermione said kindly, pulling off her gloves and exiting the room.
"How's boiling feet?" Draco asked popping a carrot into his mouth as he leaned back in his chair in the busy cafeteria.
"The boils have become less swollen, but a strange odor is coming from them." Aaron said his eyes trained on Thomas Sharman who was talking comically with the other attendings at a distant table.
"Has any pus leaked yet?" Draco asked his eyes also fixed on Hermione as she chatted softly with Ginny Potter in the cafeteria line.
A fork clattered loudly on the table drawing his attention back to their table.
"Can we not discuss boiling feet while we're eating?" Leila asked wrinkling her nose in disgust.
"Sure thing. Why don't you ask Malfoy over here what was at bed 6?" Aaron chortled swirling his soup.
"What was at bed 6?" Ginny Potter asked as they arrived at their table carrying trays of food. "Unless it's something completely repulsive, do tell."
They all turned to look inquiringly at him, making him deeply uncomfortable. "It's really not anything interesting…"
"Slugs!" Leila chirped happily. "A man is violently vomiting slugs into a large cauldron."
The table erupted into laughter, Aaron actually snorting some soup out his nose. Heat flooded Draco's cheeks as he scowled at all of them grumpily.
"Irony in the future is much sweeter." Hermione laughed before beginning the tale of Ron Weasley and Draco Malfoy's second year skirmish.
A few tables behind them were Scott and Margaret. Scott was leaning back in his chair, ankles and arms crossed while one hand cradled his favourite coffee mug near his lips. He was watching Dan Wegener with a hawk like surveillance, completely ignoring Margaret who was ranting with quite a colorful selection of words.
" - and then he has the nerve to tell me that I inherited all my talent from my mother! 'Oh you have your mother's hands' 'Oh you really do share your mother's talent'." Margaret mimicked bitterly. "Like these are my own mother fucking hands, and my talent? It's all my own, my mother doesn't get to share any of that credit. Scott are you even listening to me? Or are you too busy stalking Dan Wegener?" she asked impatiently aiming a sharp kick at his shin.
Swearing loudly, Scott turned to face her as he leaned down to rub his bruised shin. "Yes, I mean no. Yes I'm listening, no I'm not stalking Dan Wegener."
"Any stranger would say you had a secret love for Wegener while your hot and incredibly talented wife sat opposite you." Margaret said crossly.
"Don't be ridiculous." Scott said taking a large gulp of his coffee. "Who said all of that to you anyways?"
"Thomas Sharman!" Margaret exploded, rage clouding her expression. "I said his name in nearly every sentence you git."
A few tables to the right of the arguing couple, sat another group of attendings watching the group of third year residents.
"Do you think part of him wanted to think of me? Or do you suppose it was all apart of Lestrange's plan?" Persephone Foster asked watching as Draco brooded amidst the table's laughter.
"A false memory was placed on him, I don't think it was created from existing emotions. Besides, you can do so much better than Draco Malfoy." Elizabeth said digging into her trail mix for more pretzels.
"There are worse people to lust for." Kimberly Wellington said seriously. "Draco Malfoy is a serious contender for our clinical trial. You'd think he was only here because of his financial contributions. But I was in the pit for a consult this morning and a patient was coding. Malfoy had the quickest reaction and solution I'd ever seen from a resident, giving him a cricothyroidotomy within the minute."
"You'd say he had a knack for trauma." Elizabeth said nibbling on her pretzel watching as another blond figure, similar to Draco approached their table.
"How's Harry?" Hermione asked Ginny quietly while the rest of group discussed a variety of topics ranging from Dr. Love Muffin to Draco/Ron to Alec and his cadaver.
"The same. He hasn't changed a bit since he first went into the coma. James and I sit there all day and the similarity between them is uncanny. I imagine holding James is like holding a baby Harry." Ginny said her frown deepening.
"Draco may I have a word?" a terse cold voice asked from behind them. The entire group swiveled around to see Lucius Malfoy clearly uncomfortable to be standing in the cafeteria. His cold, empty eyes regarded Hermione with deepest loathing before settling on his son.
Draco looked resigned as he stood slowly before following his father out of the silent cafeteria.
"What are you doing here father?" Draco hissed closing the door to the on call room behind him. Draco hadn't seen his father since the war ended only bothering to visit him in Azkaban to get all his inheritance and Malfoy business signed over to his name.
It was a sickening feeling to watch his father watch Hermione only moments ago. His hate for his father only increased as he watched Lucius clasp his hands behind his back.
"An anonymous donor has paid for my re-trial." Lucius said simply. "Is there nowhere more...formal to have this conversation?" he asked scrutinizing the small on call room with the deepest disgust.
"An anonymous donor?" Draco said incredulously. "Who the hell would pay 500 million galleons to have you released? They'd work their whole lives to pay off that debt. It's a gamble given the court may re sentence you back to Azkaban."
"A Malfoy could have." Lucius said quietly clearly watching Draco for some sort of reaction.
"We may need to find you a room in an asylum if you think I paid that fine. And mother wouldn't either, she's actually begun living since you left for Azkaban." Draco said harshly. "This is mad. Fines are placed at impossibly expensive rates so that high security prisoners like yourself would not be freed. Never in wizarding history has a high security prisoner been released for a re trial."
"Never has a father been more disappointed in a son." Lucius sneered. Draco felt a sting more painful than he wanted to admit.
"Well I stopped seeking your approval a long time ago." Draco said keeping his face expressionless and his voice steady through the lie.
"Is that so?" Lucius asked skeptically. "Well I've come here to inspect your largest investment. Albeit the abysmal people they hire, I must say it's a clever way to get back into the good graces of the wizarding world."
"You know nothing about any of it." Draco spat. "Why are you really here?"
The corner of Lucius' lip twitched. "I'm here because the choice of staffing here is poor - "
"I'm not firing Hermione if that's what you're here for - "
"Hermione?" Lucius asked his eyes flaring. Draco thought he saw something else too. Understanding. "I didn't come here specifically for that mudblood. I came to question your choice for Chief of Surgery."
"Dr. Kapoor is a very good leader and has risen this place from the ashes. I see no reason at all why she should be fired for that." Draco said glancing at the time.
"I have a reason for you. Kendra Kapoor is a mother of 4. One of her children is autistic. If word got out that the leader of this hospital was mother to an autistic child, the hospital would look weak - "
"Unbelievable." Draco said shaking his head. "Years in Azkaban and 2 wizarding wars have done nothing to make you see sense. Kendra Kapoor is the surgeon I chose to lead this hospital and if I had wanted your counsel I would have visited you twice in Azkaban."
Never in his life had Draco ever dared to speak to his father this way. But he felt more than justified to begin. With that Draco left Lucius in the on call room, making sure the door slammed on his way out.
"Alright Malcolm are you ready?" Margaret asked smiling at a young boy sitting in the bed.
Blond with deep blue eyes and a winning smile, 9 year old Malcolm Timmins nodded at her. Margaret motioned for Kravic to wheel him up to the OR while she and Scott stayed back to have one final word with the parents.
"It's a pretty routine procedure," Scott explained. "Malcolm suffered second and third degree burns from the fire and a skin graft will help with the lasting damage on his face. We'll remove skin from his inner thigh and transplant it to his face and stitch it up. He should be back at school within the month."
After receiving many thanks and answering a couple of questions, Margaret and Scott left for the OR to scrub in. This was the part of surgery Margaret felt the most uncomfortable in. Nothing to shield her scarred forearms from the world, she inserted her wand into the sterilization slot and began to scrub. Naked and vulnerable she felt as she moved the soap over her forearms.
Scott was chatting away about something as he always did when they scrubbed in together. They had a pretty good routine in their system. Margaret was silent as she scrubbed doing her best to listen as Scott rambled on about nothing and absolutely everything. His mindless chatter helped distract her.
"Ready?" he asked before they entered the OR. This question was natural even apart from their routine.
"Always," she smiled even though he couldn't see behind the mask. She could tell he was smiling too by the creases at his eyes and followed him into the operating room.
"Labs for Sahanna Muthu?" Hermione asked thanking the healer before reading the paper. Feeling her heart sink she paged Reynolds and Alec to the healer's station outside the Muthu's room.
In 6-8 minutes both men were frowning over the piece of paper Hermione handed to them and finally Reynolds looked up nodding at Hermione.
"Good catch Granger. An unfortunate result but good eye." Reynolds said tucking the results into her chart. "You can present."
Once inside the Muthu's room, Hermione felt the same way she always did when delivering the troubling news that unbeknownst to the patients, would change their lives forever.
"Mrs. Muthu we received your pre-op labs back and they indicate that the cancer has spread to your lungs. It's commonly known as lung metastases. The cancer likely spread through the blood stream and has invaded the lungs." Hermione said watching as Sahanna took this calmly and in stride. Daya however was still and silent for the first time all day. "There is no cure for the lung metastases but we can give you treatments to improve your quality of life."
"No. No more treatments. My Daya and I have seen enough of the inside of the hospital and I think it's high time we part with it." Sahanna said leaning her head against the pillow.
"Ahma, you'll die without the treatment." Daya said tears spilling from her cheeks.
"No Daya. I'm finished." Sahanna said tiredly. She turned to smile at the healers. "I feel finished."
"Mrs. Muthu perhaps you can take some time to mull this over." Reynolds said logically. "If however, you choose to end all treatment for the lung metastases I highly recommend proceeding with the mastectomy as scheduled. It will buy you more time and improve your quality of life."
"I don't need any more time. If this is the course of treatment you recommend, I agree." Sahanna said. "After this surgery, I'm afraid we'll be bidding each other goodbye."
And it was as if Death slammed it's gavel down signalling the end with a powerful sense of finality. Daya's cries followed Hermione, Alec and Reynolds as they exited the room.
"Hang in there Mr. Haddock." Draco said flicking his wand to clear the cauldron of slugs. Bernie Haddock had been hit with the same hex Draco placed on Ron their second year, by his wife who had found him cheating. Draco had the misfortune of hearing the whole tale in between bouts of vomiting.
"That was quite the hex, you've been vomiting slugs for hours." Draco remarked feeling a pang of guilt for silly old Ron Weasley. "All we can do is wait for it to pass."
Draco excused himself to leave Bernie Haddock with his slugs retreating to the healer's station.
"Doctor, the patient in bed 9 needs a rectal exam." a healer said handing him the chart. His eyes sought Leila walking towards him, her arms piled with charts.
"Leila dear, Draco here." he said smiling brightly as she roughly dropped all the charts on the counter. "The patient in bed 9 needs a rectal exam."
"No no Malfoy, you don't get to hand down all your dirty work." Leila said as Draco dropped the chart on top of all her other charts.
"Sorry, slug man calls." Draco said laughing as he returned towards Bernie. "Have fun with the rectum."
Still feeling incredibly pleased with himself, he drew the curtain to Bernie Haddocks room and sure enough he was still vomiting. Bernie moaned loudly and raised his head to greet Draco. Draco's eyes narrowed as he inspected Bernie more closely. When Bernie looked up at him, Draco saw that his eyes were tinged yellow. When he moved closer he saw that his face was also tinged the same sickly yellow.
"Jaundice," Draco muttered his heart rate increasing. "Mr. Haddock are you experiencing any pain here?" he asked pressing lightly on his upper right abdomen.
All while hurling, Bernie yelped at the pressure, answering Draco's question. Draco saw with horror that Bernie was not only throwing up slugs but actual vomit. He turned to bellow at the healers station as he cleared Bernie's cauldron again.
"Page Trauma and General!" he said urgently sticking his stethoscope in to take hear his breathing pattern.
"Where am I?" Haddock asked swaying slightly, missing his cauldron and effectively spraying Draco's scrubs with some vomit and slug residue.
"Trauma is here," Persephone said striding in. "Talk Malfoy."
"Bernie Haddock was admitted for the Slug Vomiting Charm and recently started actually throwing up, has pain on the upper right side of his abdomen, confusion and jaundice." Draco recited as the monitor began flat lining. He stepped onto the lower step of the stretcher and began compressions as Foster motioned for the other healers to get them moving to an OR.
"Your diagnosis?" she asked running along beside them.
"Acute liver failure. Can occur suddenly or over the course of a few days." Draco panted as the lift opened to admit the hustling group.
"Nice work Malfoy." Persephone said almost reluctantly. As they reached the OR, Draco moved so they could transfer him to the operating table. He and Foster were quickly gowned and gloved, Persephone already reaching for a scalpel.
"There's no salvaging this liver." Persephone said once deep inside Bernie's body. Shaking her head as she reached for more lap pads. "He won't last long without one. Let's call BWUOD (British Wizarding Union for Organ Donors) and get him on the transplant list."
Draco flicked his wand to provide more suction as he removed and replaced the ever growing pile of lap pads.
"It's a good thing you were monitoring your patient." the Chief of Surgery, Kendra Kapoor said marching in to join them. "If he was vomiting slugs many healers wouldn't have noticed that vomit was mixed in with it before it was too late."
Draco nodded sending up a silent cry of thanks to Leila. After all, he only retreated to the Slug Man's room because he had handed her the rectal exam.
"Good now carefully separate the breast tissue." Reynolds instructed watching Alec carefully move his wand. "Wonderful work."
"I can't believe she's going to just stop treatment." Alec said as he finished his incantation.
"She's spent the last 6 years coming back and forth for treatment. The cancer just keeps coming back, and now it's invaded the lungs. You heard what she said, she feels finished and we are to respect her wishes." Reynolds said across from Hermione.
"Maybe her daughter will get a spoon full of regret after discovering her mother's latest diagnosis." Alec said sourly.
"Nobody deserves to watch someone they love die slowly and painfully like this." Hermione said her eyes trained on her work.
"Daya lives with so much fear and acceptance. She's already accepted she's going to die of breast cancer. And as she told you she is predisposed for many other diseases too. But her problem is she's living like she's going to die, and that's not really living at all is it?" Reynolds asked.
The rest of the surgery was finished in silence Reynolds powerful words sinking in.
Margaret watched as Malcolm's parents hugged and kissed him, whispering words of comfort until he fell asleep before she found her feet taking her where it always took her after a trying day. Margaret found herself once again in front of the hospital nursery watching the newborns sleeping blissfully in their cribs. She caught the eye of the head of neonatal and close friend, Lucille Armstrong. She was inside talking to some interns, likely leaving them with final instructions before she left for the night.
Margaret felt a hand rest on her shoulder and another snake it's way to rest on hers. Without turning around she knew these hands belonged to her husband. She'd know them anywhere.
"You really shouldn't keep coming up here." Scott murmured resting his cheek against her head.
"I can't help it." she replied smiling at the little boy that had just opened his eyes in the front row. "There is a unique pain that comes from preparing a place in your heart for a child that never comes. This helps soothe that pain."
Scott was silent as the newborn boy smiled blearily up at them, raising it's little clenched fists before closing its eyes once more.
"We've already agreed there's other options. Besides, you know who you can blame for that." he said his voice steady but strained, echoed by the cry of a newborn in the nursery.
Now it was Margaret's turn to be silent. She felt her muscles go slightly slack as she leaned back on him, closing her eyes. "I don't want to talk about Dan. It hurts too much."
He lightly pressed a kiss to her forehead before taking her hand. "Then let's go home."
Together they walked down the corridor and away from the nursery.
Draco made his way towards the Chief of Surgery's office and sure enough his father was perched on a chair outside, staring coldly at anyone who passed by. Some seemed to recognize him and after looks of shock, gave him nasty glares and a wide berth. Draco felt he could not blame them.
Wordlessly he walked over to his father and handed him a piece of parchment. Lucius took it swifty and scanned it over.
"What is the meaning of this?" he asked standing so he was level with Draco. The paper was being crumpled in his hand as his fist closed around it like an anaconda.
"I assume you can read, but if Azkaban has somehow converted you into an illiterate I can further explain." Draco said stonily. "This is a ban from Hogsmeade General approved by the Ministry of Magic. Under the evidence that you are an ex-death eater who happens to have a grudge against many ex war heroes as well as the Chief of Surgery, the ministry has agreed that this hospital particularly is not the ideal place for you to visit. This does not mean medical care will not be given to you to the best of the healers' trained abilities. You will receive equal treatment at any other hospital in the nation. Should you be found trespassing on hospital property, you will be sentenced to lifetime in Azkaban. And re trial fees are only offered once, so if it couldn't be any clearer, I sincerely hope you do trespass."
The rage on Lucius' face was alarmingly evident, Draco wouldn't be surprised if he leaned closer and slapped him as he'd done so many times before. Instead Lucius shredded the crumpled paper and let it fall onto the floor at Draco's feet before leaning in so they were almost nose to nose.
"You may have restricted me from entering this hospital, but don't you forget it boy, I am tied to you in a thousand different ways. And you'll find each knot is a little harder to be free from." Lucius said anger radiating from his pale, hollow features before turning sharply and marching towards the exit.
Physically and mentally, although the latter can most often be denied or changed, we are mini versions of our parents. The same eyes, the same hair, the same smile. The same determination, the same temper, the same heart. Point being a child and a parent's life will always be crossed over one another and there's nothing anyone can do to change that.
"Alec and Draco are going to get in the clinical trial. Even if Draco's slug patient died, I heard Foster and Kapoor talking about his 'spectacular diagnosis'." Leila said bitterly as she pulled on her sweater. "But how am I supposed to even get a shot if I'm always being dismissed to the pit?"
"You're not the only one," Aaron grumbled peeking out of the resident's lounge from behind the curtains.
"Shut up Dr. Love Muffins you're the Chief Resident and you're dating the head of ortho, you're basically a perfect contender." Leila huffed stopping to stare at Aaron. "What the hell are you doing?"
"Trying to make sure the coast is clear before I exit the hospital. I don't want Thomas to see me." Aaron said quickly closing the curtains as Draco trooped in looking downright horrible.
"Trouble for the love muffins?" Alec asked shoving some things into his bag.
"I don't think I'm built to date a famous celebrity orthopedic surgeon. In fact, if I'd known the baggage that comes with it…" Aaron said leaning against the window.
"I don't think you're built to - " Draco began before Hermione stepped painfully on his toes, silencing him at once. Hermione watched as Draco robotically pulled on his civilian clothes and the rest of the residents bid their goodbyes leaving for the night.
She felt the strange urge to say something to him, anything. He was different in a way she didn't know how to explain after he disappeared with Lucius. His shoulders were tenser, his face wearing the stony and empty expression it wore all through 6th year. Just 4 years ago, she would have left the lounge completely oblivious to any of these small changes in mood.
Hermione felt at loss for words and turned to leave when his voice stopped her.
"Wait…" Draco said his voice terse. He seemed to be contemplating telling her something and she felt her feet carry her towards him. She clasped his rough hand in hers and held it tightly. She looked up to meet his stormy grey eyes and gave a single nod.
Draco reached for his bag and arm in arm they walked out of the hospital. Draco explained everything that had happened with his father to Hermione who listened intently, smiling slightly at the things he said to his father.
Then just like that, it felt as though it did a mere year ago. They were just two people who understood each other and what the other person needed without having to be told. They were just a boy and a girl. Not an ex-death eater and an ex-death eater's son or a war heroine and book nerd. As they left the hospital linked together, nothing Hermione had experienced had ever felt more right.
Whether genetics are a blessing or a curse, I still haven't decided. But sometimes, just sometimes, people are able to break away from the things they grew up believing so strongly in and finally find freedom.
Author's Note
Thank you very much to anyone who's stuck with the story thus far. I know my updates are irregular and inconsistent, I really do try my best. I prep the stuff for future chapters way in advance, writing it is the part that's tedious.
Quite happy with this chapter in comparison with the first 2.
Drop me a review and lemme know your thoughts.
*Don't forget to check out the Granger's Anatomy site and fill out the Google Form for Reader's Take!