I don't understand why I haven't been writing more since being quarantined. I wish I was. I apologize for this long delay! I hope you enjoy this update!

Chapter Fourteen

The Firewhiskey bottle felt light as Adair poured another tumbler over the edge of her bathtub where she sat soaking and sweating. "Damn," she muttered, setting it back down with an empty clank.

She rested her head on the lip of the tub, closing her eyes.

They snapped open just as quickly though. Ever since Oliver's wedding, she couldn't stop thinking of Charlie. It had been bad before seeing him, but she had been able to work on it and put it behind her, but that wasn't the case any longer.

Every time she closed her eyes or slowed down for a second, she felt his hands on her, saw the desperation in his eyes. Her heart would begin to pound just as hard as it had in that moment in the hotel corridor.

She hadn't been sleeping very much. He came to her in her dreams, touching her in just the way she wanted and needed to be touched. She would wake panting and aroused, aching for him.

Adair had been making excuses not to see Colt as often as she had been. It had lost its spark after the wedding and she couldn't stop comparing the two.

Of course, she had never imagined that she and Colt were in an actual relationship. He was never seen publicly with anyone else, but there was no doubt that he was sleeping with other people. That had always been his way. It had been their downfall when they were both playing in Texas. Because of that, Adair had had to become a little more worldly and open-minded and it was clearly to her own detriment.

But they were having fun together. Adair didn't let herself get caught up in the specifics. She also understood that Colt was using the name she had built for herself in the Quidditch world to advance his own position and increase his fanbase.

Something had changed though and in the few times they had seen one another after the wedding, she would be smiling and laughing or enjoying herself in bed, when all of the sudden she would have a flashback to Charlie's cabin in Romania, the bungalow in Argentina, or the way he had been there for her before the World Cup.

Through the bathroom door, Adair could see her bed. It was dominated by her suitcase and Quidditch bag. She had spent the entire day, after a morning practice, packing for a playing tour in North America. The team would be gone for over a month; playing in South and Central America, the United States, and Canada.

Adair was dreading it. It wouldn't be nearly as easy to avoid Colt when she would be so close.

That train of thought led her to think about how eager Charlie said he was to travel and watch her play and it made her long for him even more. But then she would begin to think about everything that had happened right after the World Cup and anger would take over.

She was good and lost in her thoughts when she heard a pounding at her door. Adair sat straight up in the bath, listening close.

"Adair! Adair!"

She couldn't place the voice.

"Let me in! It's an emergency!"

She stood from the tub and grabbed a towel, wrapping it around herself as she hurried down the corridor to the front door, dripping everywhere as she went.

Nervously, afraid it might be some deranged fan, she tiptoed towards the door and put her eye to the peephole.

"George!" she exclaimed, pulling the door open. "What are you doing here?"

"It's Charlie," he said, trying to catch his breath and wiping at his eyes at the same time. It was clear he had been crying.

"Tell me now, George," Adair urged him, grabbing his upper arms, not caring at all that she was only in a towel and still dripping on the floor.

"There was an incident at the sanctuary," he gasped, looking up into her eyes finally. "He's at St. Mungo's and they're not sure he's going to make it."

"What?" Adair asked quietly, shaking her head.

"You have to come. The only word they've been able to understand out of him since he got there was 'Adair.' He needs you right now."

She covered her face with her hands.

"Adair."

She nodded and looked at George. "Go back. I'll be right behind you."

"First floor. Room 184."

When George had closed the door, she went flying back through her flat. She rifled through her closet, but her hands were shaking so badly that she couldn't even pull down a pair of jeans and a jumper. With a shuddering breath, she crouched down, putting her head to her knees, and took a deep, steadying breath.

She hadn't hesitated. There was no question in her mind. She had to get to Charlie.

Standing up, she was a little bit more calm, all things considered.

Adair dressed as quickly as she could, throwing on a ball cap when she was ready and then she hurried out of her apartment to where she could Apparate to St. Mungo's.

The sun was setting and the Muggle streets were packed with people on their way home from work or to meet friends for a drink. She was jostled round terribly as she wasn't paying a bit of attention to the people around her.

She kept her head tucked, until she was outside of what looked like a rundown store with a sign that said "Store Closed for Refurbishment." The dummy in outdated clothes in the window turned to her and asked who she was there to see.

"Charlie Weasley," she replied quietly.

The dummy nodded and said, "Creature Induced Injuries Ward."

Adair made sure no one was looking before she walked straight through the window.

There was a grand staircase in the center of the ground floor and Adair went sprinting through the reception area, visitors and Healers alike leaping out of her way.

The crush of people made her want to scream. She tried to keep her head lowered and her face out of sight, but someone recognized her and then the entire entryway was buzzing with the fact that Adair Wood was among the people.

"I'm sorry, I don't have time," she said over and over again as people tried to catch her arm and get her to sign autographs and take pictures. "I'm very sorry, but I have to get to someone." It felt as though she was being dragged under by a strong tide.

Finally, she broke free and was able to approach the staircase.

She took the stairs two at a time, frantically looking both ways when she reached the corridor, scanning the plaques with room numbers, before she took a hard left.

She arrived in the doorway out of breath, not even realizing that a good deal of the Weasley family and their partners were sitting outside the door, staring at her. None of them said anything to her.

Mrs. Weasley was the first to look up. It was her and Arthur, Bill, Ginny and George sitting around the bed. Adair couldn't get a good look at Charlie through their bodies.

"What is she doing here?" Mrs. Weasley demanded.

Everyone turned to stare at Adair and she found she couldn't speak.

"I went and fetched her," George said, looking at his mother evenly.

"I would send her back from wherever you fetched her," Mrs. Weasley replied icily.

Bill and Ginny didn't say a word.

"You heard what they said," George replied quickly. "The only thing they got out of him was her name."

"Well he was out of his mind with pain. Perhaps it was a reminder of her. She can't be here right now. Absolutely not. She broke his heart."

Adair would have been surprised, but of course Charlie's mother would assume that no wrong-doing had been done by him.

"Mum," Ginny said gently.

Adair glanced at her best friend. Things had been strange between them, but Adair still loved her and she could tell the other woman had been crying; that all of the Weasley's gathered around Charlie had been.

Her heart continued to pound, afraid of what she might see if they moved.

"Just give her a few minutes," George said, standing.

Mrs. Weasley actually glared at her son. "Five. That's it and then I'm coming back."

Adair averted her gaze when they filed past her, George coming last and squeezing her hand as he passed.

She took a deep breath and stepped into the room. When she opened her eyes, she gasped in horror.

Charlie laid immobile in the bed, eyes closed. His skin that was normally ruddy from the sun and the nature of his job was so pale that he nearly blended into the sheets.

The entire right side of his face was bandaged, but blood was seeping through so much that most of the white bandages were a ruby red. His eyes, or what Adair could see of them, were bruised and his bottom lip was split.

Stomach turning, she sat down in the chair that Bill had occupied next to his brother's bed.

She scanned the rest of his body and realized that there was an odd lump under the blanket. Gingerly, she pulled it back, but what she saw almost made her sick to her stomach.

There was a protective, clear bubble over his stomach. Underneath the bubble, Adair could clearly see Charlie's destroyed flesh and muscles. She wasn't positive, but she thought she could see an organ or two. The bubble seemed to be doing healing work on Charlie, but she knew from their time together that injuries sustained from dragons and many other creatures could not be cured with a quick potion or a flick of a wand. Charlie had been burned once before when they were together and it had taken several months to heal all the way and the scar still ran up one arm all the way to his neck.

She quickly covered him back up, not wanting to look anymore. Tears were running freely down her cheeks as Adair took his large, rough hand in hers.

"Charlie," she whispered, bringing the back of his hand to her cheek. "This can't be our last interaction."

She gazed down at him and brushed a stray lock of his red hair away from his face.

"Time's up," Mrs. Weasley said, looming behind Adair.

Adair closed her eyes briefly and then she laid Charlie's hand gently back on the bed.

Without a word and without looking at Mrs. Weasley, she left the room. Adair did not have the mental capacity at that point for another row with the matriarch of the Weasley family.

"Adair!" Ginny caught up to her friend as she was trying to get as far away from the Weasley's as she could.

"I didn't mean to upset anyone," Adair said. "I'm going."

"She's a mess right now, that's all," Ginny said. "And I'm sorry for what she said. None of us, except Bill I presume, know what happened between you so she shouldn't comment on that or put the fault on you."

Adair ignored the part about Bill knowing what had happened between her and Charlie.

"I appreciate that." Adair chewed on her bottom lip. "I don't know why I'm telling you this or why I'm hoping you'll pass it along to anyone who doesn't think very highly of me, but I loved, no love, your brother more than I've ever loved anything or anyone in my entire life. And I don't," she choked up for a moment. "And I don't want anyone to think that I would've wished this on him. I wanted him to find what he wanted and to be happy even if it wasn't with me," she said when she regained her composure. "Just because our lifestyles weren't compatible, doesn't mean I wanted him hurt," a sob escaped her again. "Or killed."

Ginny wrapped her friend in her arms. "I know. I know."

Adair pulled away and wiped at her eyes. She readjusted her baseball cap, turned on her heel and left the ward without another word.

When she came across a Healer after rounding a corner, she stopped him.

"Bloody hell, you're Adair Wood!" he exclaimed.

Adair waved him away. "Is Katie Wood here?" she asked.

"She's on the third floor," he stammered.

Adair found elevators and took them up another two floors, asking people along the way if they had seen Katie.

One flabbergasted Healer merely pointed to a room. Adair stood outside, listening as a patient uncontrollably giggled inside.

In less than ten minutes, Adair's sister-in-law emerged looking tired after a long shift.

"Adair! What are you doing here?"

"Charlie is here. Did you know?"

"I just heard," she replied. "I've been with patients all day. Is he okay?"

"I don't know," Adair said, annoyed that she was choking up again. "I don't think so."

"I'll see what I can find out before I leave."

"Can I ask another favor?"

"Of course. Anything." Katie could see that her sister-in-law was obviously in distress.

"Can I stay here, hidden somewhere, until visiting hours are over? The Weasleys don't really want me there with them."

Katie paused. "What are you going to do?"

"Go in when they leave. I know this sounds conceited and I hate saying it, but no one is going to kick Adair Wood out after hours."

Katie found herself laughing. "You're right." She took Adair's arm. "You can stay in the Healer's station for an hour until everyone has to leave."

"Thank you. I owe you."

Adair tried not to be too restless as she waited. It felt as though an hour took an entire day before an announcement went through the hospital, telling them they had five minutes to wrap up with their loved ones before they would have to leave.

From where she sat in the Healer's station, she could see people streaming out. Adair gave it another ten minutes before she went down the two floors to Charlie's room once more. Nervously, she peeked around the corner to make sure everyone was gone and then she slipped back into Charlie's room.

She sat in complete silence just staring at him and letting the tears flow for a whole hour. She wondered if they had stayed together if he wouldn't be hurt so badly just then. He might have been preparing to go with her on her playing tour, rather than dealing with whatever dragon had nearly killed him.

Adair got lost in thoughts of what might have happened with them if she hadn't gotten pregnant in the first place, but she tried not to go down that road. She wouldn't ever be able to change that. Her being next to him in St. Mungo's didn't really change anything, she thought. Her thoughts swirled around her head until she was in a fog of confusion, unsure what she knew or felt.

There was a gentle knock at the door and Adair turned to see Katie poking her head into the room. She turned away and wiped at her eyes before facing the other woman again.

"I've told the Healers on night shift that you're here and that you're not to be bothered. I also spoke to Charlie's head Healer."

Adair nodded eagerly.

"It doesn't look good, Adair."

She closed her eyes.

"He lost so much blood on his way here. He took a blow from not only a spiked tail, but a poisonous one as well, so the internal damage is pretty bad."

Adair nodded. "Thank you for allowing me to be here. Is there anything I can do?"

"Talk to him," Katie replied. "It's not an exact science, but it's been known to help in other cases."

"Okay. I can't thank you enough, Katie. I really can't."

Katie only nodded and left.

"Katie said I'm supposed to talk to you, but after our last few conversations I'm not really sure where to start," Adair said softly. "I still love you. That's never gone away. It's actually rather annoying now that I think about it. I've missed you like crazy even though we didn't see a great deal of each other to begin with. That's annoying too. It makes it hard to focus on anything."

Adair sighed. "We had a lot of fun together when we were together, didn't we?" She pulled the blanket a little higher on his bare chest. "Do you remember Ron and Hermione's wedding? You made that weird. You could've had me in the orchard, but you drug that out forever." She traced the Celtic tattoo on his chest.

Adair proceeded to rehash the entirety of their romance and all of the things she had never told him. "I could've stayed in that bungalow outside of Buenos Aires forever. I had never been so happy or content in my entire life. I almost asked you if we could give it all up and live on the beach. I would've bartended or something. You could've given surf lessons and we could've disappeared. I regret not saying those things. We wouldn't be here right now if I had."

"But I know the sanctuary is where you belong," she continued. "I can't imagine you anywhere else. You'll probably go back when you recover from this, which will be lunacy and your family will fight you the entire time. I won't though. It's a part of you. Maybe the biggest part of you. I'm not sure. But I don't know who Charlie Weasley would be without the dragons."

Adair talked to him all night. She never stopped, however she did skirt around everything from the World Cup on.

Even as her body ached to sleep and be in her own bed, she remained sitting next to him and holding his hand until she could see the faintest light outside his window.

"I have to go before your family comes back," she said sadly. She hated the thought of being away from him when not even the next few hours were guaranteed to him.

Adair kept her head down as she walked through the entryway, heading back for the street.

"Adair!" she assumed it was a fan and so she kept walking, not wanting to deal with any publicity then.

"Adair! Wait a minute, please!"

When she finally looked up, Mr. Weasley was hustling toward her through the crowd of people coming to work and visiting loved ones.

She looked around quickly to determine that he was alone. "I was just leaving, Mr. Weasley. I don't want to cause any trouble," she blurted out.

Mr. Weasley shook his head. "I don't think you're causing trouble, my dear." He studied her for a moment. "You look exhausted. Have you been here all night."

Adair nodded sheepishly. "I didn't want to get in your way or make anyone angrier than they already are."

"Tensions are high. I'm sure you can understand."

Adair nodded. "I'm so sorry, Mr. Weasley. This is awful."

"It is," he agreed. "But I'm glad Charlie had you even if only for a little while. I don't think I'd ever seen him so happy."

It felt like a punch in the stomach and all Adair could do was try to smile. "I'll let you get back to him," she said, turning and leaving the hospital.

Adair thought she would collapse when she finally got back to her flat. The exhaustion was physical and emotional and she wanted to down a tumbler of Firewhiskey and sink into her bed.

When she stepped into her sitting room, she was assaulted by Oliver's presence.

"Where have you been?" he asked, whirling around from the fireplace to face him. "Actually, I already know where you've been and we don't need to get into that. You're late! The team is supposed to be in Mexico City already!"

Adair took a deep breath. She pulled her hat off and ran her fingers through her long hair. "I'm not going, Oliver."

"Excuse me? You're not going? What are you talking about?! We have an entire tour that's supposed to start today!" He threw his hands in the air.

"I'm staying here for the foreseeable future."

"Adair! Have you lost your bloody mind? You'll be in breach of your contract! You could get kicked off the team at the very least!"

"I know all of that," she said. "I've thought about it all night. I can't leave him."

"I'm sorry, what?" Oliver wanted to shake his sister. "You can't leave him? You can't leave him!?" His voice was rising with every word. "Have you forgotten that he left you when you were hurt?"

Adair shook her head. "No, I haven't."

"Then what the fuck are you doing sitting at his bedside all night?"

"It's complicated and I don't really understand it myself."

"Why don't you think about it from Mexico then? Don't make this rash choice, Adair. You'll regret it."

"I can't go. Tell the team that it was an emergency and I'm sorry."

The look on Oliver's face would have wilted anyone else.

"I can't believe you're doing this. He doesn't deserve you spending a second on him, Adair. Not one second. You could be throwing your entire career away over this idiot."

"It's more complex than that, Oliver."

Oliver groaned and covered his face. When he finally looked at his sister again his face was expressionless.

"I hope you know what you're doing," he said, walking past her and out the door.

I was going to include more in this chapter, but I decided to hold off and really think about what's going happen to next. I'd love to hear what you all have to think per usual. I can't tell you how much I love getting ideas from you all and hearing your thoughts! Always open to headcanons and anything else this fic brings to mind!

Happy reading,

Avonmora