Chapter 26 – Casualty
The group of witches and wizards stayed inside Romana's TARDIS for around an hour as the Time Lady filled them in on several aspects of her people. The brunette felt genuinely pleased that so many of Hermione's friends were taking to the change so easily. Perhaps she was too quick to judge them after their outburst during the Battle of Hogwarts. Romana should've known better, the pressures of battle were all too familiar to the Time Lady.
The conversation was halted by a gentle knocking at the door, "Who could that be?" Harry asked.
"Probably the Doctor dropping by", Romana shrugged, "he probably knows we've been talking about him". The Time Lady searched around to find the person nearest the door, "Tonks do me a favour and let him in".
The metamorph complied and pushed open the inner door to the time ship. There wasn't anyone outside though, instead a small black box floated into the console room, "What's that?" Tonks asked as the cube hovered passed.
"Communication device", Romana responded, "Time Lords can wrap their thoughts up into boxes like these and send them to each other". The Time Lady knew who the likely sender of the cube was, however, she still looked for a mark when it arrived in her hand. Sure enough there was a question mark on one side of the cube, "It's from the Doctor", she continued, "must be getting lazy in his old age".
Romana held the box in her open palm and allowed the Doctor's thoughts to enter her mind, "Come to the infirmary, quickly as you can".
The cube disappeared and the Time Lady allowed the words to sink in for a moment, "He wants us to come to the infirmary". The Weasley clan immediately feared the worst, it was written clearly across their face. None more so that George, the other half of the Weasley twins had been unusually quiet over the last hour. Without waiting for anyone else, the red head bolted out the TARDIS in a sprint, "George, wait", Romana called out but it was no use, he was already half way to the castle.
A sense of panic ran through the group and they too began to scramble out the time ship. Romana waited for everyone to depart before leaving herself and locking the door. She wasn't quick enough to catch up with George, however, she was definitely leading the follow up charge through the stone corridors of the castle. The convoy bumped a few people out the way but there was no time to follow apologies.
Romana burst through the infirmary door, closely followed by Ron, Ginny and Bill. They were greeted by a frantic looking Madam Pomfrey waving her wand across the body of Fred Weasley. More concerning was the actions of Martha who was performing heart compressions on the prone wizard, "Doctor what's happening?" Romana asked sharply.
"Everyone out", Madam Pomfrey barked, "this is a place of rest not a dance floor".
"Not until you tell me what's wrong with my brother", George snapped back.
"He suddenly became tachycardic and began to have a fit", Martha stated, "now we can't find a pulse-".
"Oh my baby", Mrs Weasley wailed. She rushed towards her son, however, Romana held her back, "Out of my way, right now", she cried in the Time Lady's face.
"With respect Mrs Weasley unless you're a trained professional there's nothing you can do", Romana replied firmly, "I'm sure he's in very capable hands with Doctor Jones here".
Martha looked up nervously, "Actually", she began to say she wasn't a fully qualified doctor yet but both Romana and the Doctor firmly shook their heads. She quickly adjusted her words, "If you could give me room to work that would be great".
Several agonising minutes passed as Martha and the Hogwarts matron worked frantically. The Weasley paced nervously other than George, who stood grimly over the top of his twin brother almost too scared to move. After what felt like an age the matron spoke, "I've got a heartbeat but it's fairly weak", Madam Pomfrey began grimly, "I'm going to place Mr Weasley into a magical status to prevent his condition from worsening". She raised her wand and said to Martha, "Please stand to one side Doctor Jones".
Martha did as she was instructed and cleared away from the bed. A slither of silver light washed over Fred and Romana was almost certain she saw his body relax. The Time Lady gentle grabbed hold of the Doctor's arm and lead him away from the bed, allowing the Weasley's and their circle of friends to be alone with Fred, "Be honest with me Doctor, what are his chances?"
The Time Lord stiffened slightly before reluctantly answering, "Without knowing his full medical background I can't be sure. Even then my medical knowledge isn't fantastic, we'd need to find-" he suddenly paused and looked over Romana's shoulders, "hold that thought, Martha could you come over here for a second".
Romana slowly caught onto the Doctor's train of thought as his companion slowly shuffled over, "I tried my best Doctor", she said glumly.
"I know Martha I couldn't have asked for more", he replied, "Romana and I need a medical opinion about Fred condition".
The medical student looked a little surprised at the Time Lord's request and Romana could sense her hesitancy, "It's alright we know you haven't had long to examine the patient", she tried to put the young woman at ease, "just your first thoughts and impressions will do".
Martha nodded slowly and began her diagnosis, "From what Madam Pomfrey told me, Fred suffered massive head trauma". She paused and shook her head, "I can't believe I'm doing a medical report on one of the Weasley's".
"Martha", the Doctor warned, "focus", he added kindly.
"Right, sorry", she continued, "this fit today is the first occurrence, however, the patient has been unresponsive to external stimuli". She looked back over Fred's fallen body, "Madam Pomfrey's done a few scans but if he was my patient, I would run an MRI scan". The medical student snorted loudly, "Unfortunately we're not going to find one lying around Hogwarts".
The two Time Lords looked at each other, both of them having a very similar idea, "An MRI scanner is essentially a very big magnet, right Doctor?" Romana asked.
"Exactly Romana", the Time Lord stated, "with the right tuning equipment", he wiggled his sonic screwdriver, "we could turn several ordinary magnets into a working scanner". He pulled a strange face before waving the idea off, "Nah it's not going to work, the ambient magic in the air will interfere with the polarity of the magnets".
A small grin flashed across Romana's face, "Aren't you forgetting Doctor, my dimensional portal machine is fully calibrated to function within the castle".
There was a momentary pause before the Doctor grinned broadly, "Oh Romana you are bloody brilliant", he grasped her cheeks and pressed a firm kiss to her forehead, "I don't think I've told you that enough over the years".
"No you probably haven't", Romana smirked, "now shall we get busy before everyone thinks we've lost our minds". The pair looked over and spotted that the gathered Weasley were staring with a mixture of confusion and annoyance. Sheepishly the Time Lord and Lady apologised before stepping out the room.
About ten minutes later the Doctor returned with two fairly hefty magnets just as Romana wheeled in the remains of her portal device from the Great Hall. Fortunately the clean up teams had left almost everything intact, probably fearing what would happen if they incorrectly disassembled the parts. Romana reconfigured the archway, although she reduced the size to allow it to fit closely around Fred's head. The Doctor carefully placed the magnets in the appropriate place, making sure to name drop several physicists that he had encountered over the years. Romana politely yet firmly told him to stop showing off and focus, earned a small pout of annoyance from the Time Lord.
After several minutes of frantic action the Doctor and Romana stepped back to admire their handiwork. The mixture of metal trestles, silvery coloured magnets and electrical wiring wasn't going to win any style awards, however, it was perfectly functional. At least they hoped it was, "Are you sure this is going to work?" Martha asked nervously.
"Absolutely", the Doctor replied, "well, probably", he added with less enthusiasm, "fairly likely".
"What the Doctor is trying to say", Romana shot the Time Lord a piercing glare, "is that we have every confidence in the theory".
Martha though didn't look convinced and truthfully, neither did the anyone else in the room, "I don't trust muggles with this type of thing", Mrs Weasley began hesitantly, "always coming up with barbaric solutions like stitching wounds up with thread".
"Now Molly", Mr Weasley interjected, "will this procedure hurt my son?"
"Arthur you can't be seriously considering this?" Mrs Weasley hissed.
The head of the Weasley family sighed, "At this point Molly I'm willing to try anything, it can't hurt to let the Doctor take a look". He leaned over towards the Time Lords, "This magnet thing can actually show us Fred's brain".
"At least it'll confirm that he's got one", George snorted with a dry and dark sense of humour, "I agree with Dad, if it's not a painful and invasive thing then what's the harm?"
There was a quiet murmuring from the others and seeing that she was outnumbered, Mrs Weasley offered a defeated sigh, "Fine, do what you have to do".
"Thank you Molly", the Doctor smiled warmly, "Romana could you pull that screen over, we can use it as a projection screen". The Time Lady nodded but grumbled under her breath, she wasn't willing to be reduced to the Doctor's assistant once again, "Hang on I wasn't done yet", the Time Lord said impatiently. Romana blushed slightly, realising she had been broadcasting her thoughts, "My sonic can run the scanner but we need yours to act as the projector".
"My apologies Doctor", Romana nodded slowly. As instructed she pulled the screen over and waited for the Doctor to power up the magnets. There was a gently hum as the current began to pass through the device and Romana relaxed slightly. She didn't mention it earlier but the worst case scenario was that the magnets would become overpowered and attract every piece of metal within the castle.
After receiving a small nod from the Doctor, Romana found the appropriate setting on her screwdriver and pointed it towards the sheet, "I warn you Martha the images won't be as clear as you're used to ", the Time Lady stated.
Martha didn't responded though, instead she was carefully studying the projected images. Romana wasn't an expert in human biology but even she knew something didn't look right. Glancing over at Doctor, she spotted a similar grim look which must've mirrored her own, "You see something don't you?" Ron asked, "I can see if written on your faces".
"I'm sorry but there's no easy way to say this", Martha began slowly but Fred appears to have suffered something known as a diffuse axonal brain injury". Romana's head bowed, she knew it was something serious, "The way to think about the human brain is like a jelly inside a glass jar", the junior doctor continued, "if there's a blow to the head then it can rattle around inside the skull".
"Not quite sure if that's how I'd put it", the Doctor shuffled uncomfortably on the spot.
The young doctor glared at the Time Lord before continuing, "Anyway as I was saying when this happens the entire surface of the brain suffered rapid trauma from the sudden movement".
"But you can fix it", Ginny asked hopefully.
Romana though like the Doctor and Martha knew differently, "Unfortunately no", she sighed, "ninety percent of all patients with this type of injury never recover". There were a few gentle sobs from the group as the terrible news sunk in, "I'm sorry I wish I could give you better news".
The Time Lady could feel the grief filling the room, amplified as Mrs Weasley burst into tears. Romana looked at the floor, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable, "We'll leave you alone for a few minutes", the Doctor stated and shut down the scanner with his screwdriver.
As the Doctor and Martha slowly left the infirmary, Romana followed after them. She really wished that she could do something for Fred, however, even this one seemed beyond her. Judging by the conversation just down the corridor Martha had the same idea, "The only real hope is to regenerate his brain tissue but that's impossible".
"During this time period it is", the Doctor replied, "medical technology won't advance that far for several centuries to come. Even then the science won't be perfected for millennia". Romana wouldn't realise it for a few days but these words planted a small seed inside her mind. For now though she was lost in sympathy for the Weasley's for their fallen family member who would was unlikely to ever recover from his injuries.