Love and Understanding

She felt as though she were caught in the middle of a game of tug-o-war. Death and Life. Each were pulling at her and each seemed to be failing. She would have been glad to have stayed there in Limbo, though she hadn't even realized there was such an existence. She only later called it Limbo. To die and escape life as a vegetable or to live and have the brain of one.

Tough choice.

Aurora felt herself being jolted to life. Ouch, that hurt. Don't do it again. A little later and she felt another uncomfortable jolt. Her eyes opened and once more, saw darkness. Voices continued to surround her. "She's back," came a shocked voice, "though I don't know for how long."

Drawing in deep breaths, she finally began to relax against the bed, sagging from exhaustion and pain. Another groan. Please, take away the pain. She could hear people and through them, she heard one voice that was familiar through them all. "Squirt! Squirt!"

Alex had rounded the corner, just as Aurora was brought back to life. A healer blocked her path and Alex began a sidestep maneuver. The healer once more blocked her way. "You can't go in there, Miss," she claimed. Alex would hear none of it and ducked under her and made a dash down the hall, arriving at her cousin's side as she was being carted off.

"Squirt?" Alex said, fighting back the sickening feeling in her gut. She reached out to touch Aurora's dirt covered face, but didn't get very far as another healer stopped her.

"You can't come any further," he said. "Go to the waiting area." Alex regretfully let her cousin be carted off in hopes that she could be healed. She sucked in a breath of stale air and stood there, shocked. Silently, Darcie came up behind her and placed her hand on top of her shoulder.

"Come on, Alex. There's nothing you can do here," she said softly, guiding Alex away.

A fellow Auror came up to Alex and Darcie with a sad smile. "I'm sorry about Aurora," he said. "Every so often, she and I end up working on the same case together. She's a damned good Auror, if I do say so myself."

Alex really didn't want to hear this. She bit her lip, shook her head and disappeared into the waiting area where she would begin the slow process of going insane waiting for an update on Aurora's condition, which from what she saw, wasn't good.

Darcie looked at the young Auror and raised an eyebrow. "Any idea why Aurora was out in the forest by herself?" she asked casually. The young Auror had blood all over him – Aurora's blood, she mentally concluded.

"She was apparently going to place the two suspects under arrest for multiple counts of murder." Seeing Darcie look at him questioningly, he continued. "They were followers of the Dark Lord. She had evidence of it. She didn't wait for any backup. I found the file on her desk before I went after her. I couldn't tell yeh how long she was gone before I realized it."

Darcie crossed her arms and looked towards the doors that Aurora had disappeared through. "Just like her. Thanks for contacting us as quickly as you did," she commented before joining Alex in the waiting room.

Alex was already pacing the waiting room, making those poor souls in the room weary just by watching her. They, too, had a loved one fighting for their life. Darcie gently touched Alex's arm, who flinched out of her reach. “It's just me,” Darcie said, withdrawing her hands and holding them up. “Why don't you sit down?” Alex shot Darcie a filthy look and carried on with her pacing. “Okay,” Darcie drawled and sat down. “Don't then.”

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Aurora woke in a quiet room. There were no sounds, but she still could not see and she could not move for fear of causing pain. Stillness was her ally. She drew in short breaths, even short breaths that she had no control over. Something was forcing her to breath.

She felt the odd tickling sensation of her body working in hyper speed to heal itself mingling with the pain of the events of the night before – or nights before. She didn't know what day it was.

Momentary flashes crossed through her blind eyes. It was all so painful. She couldn't believe that she was allowing herself to relive the events of that night, but she was having trouble painting herself a clear picture anyway.

What had happened? She remembered running. Lots of running. There was no time to think about apparition, which would undoubtedly have spared her much pain and agony.

She recalled great amounts of pain. The dull ache she felt then was nothing compared to what she remembered, however little she remembered it. Crawling. She crawled away, silently begging for her life. To be spared. For one more shot to live.

The door creaked open and Aurora tilted her head. Someone approached her bed and she tensed. “Hello, Aurora,” a man spoke. He sounded young and familiar somehow. “I'm just going to put a few drops into your eyes now. This will be the last of your treatment.” He opened her eyes, one at a time, admiring the different colors and placed three drops in each. After each drop, Aurora cringed and tried to get away.

Blinking her watering eyes, she looked up, her eye sight returning, though still a little hazy. She glanced at the healer and tried to focus. “Harrison?” she questioned, her brain wanting to shut down.

He smiled at her as he wrote notes on his clipboard. “Yeah. It's me,” he confirmed and placed the board down on the side table. “I think you might have stepped over the line this time,” he said with an air of teasing.

Her headache was increasing as she looked around. “I ... I did?” she asked, unsure of herself and the events of the night before. Had it been a dream? She looked suddenly worried.

Harrison sat down on the edge of her bed, taking one of her limp hands in his own and gently held on to it. He was surprised to feel a shiver crawl up his spin when he touched her, but he had to admit to himself, his feelings had never quite disappeared and in fact, had grown stronger over the years. She had been to see him numerous times with injuries, sometimes in places he really didn't want to tempt himself by looking.

Her body was godly, he reflected after every visit she had to him. Over time, he had become her only healer – the one she trusted most with her health. That kind of trust from her was one in a million. He looked down on her with sad eyes, wishing he could do just a little bit more to ease her pain, but his resources had been exhausted for this particular patient, the object of his desire.

“Do you remember?” he asked her softly. The silence in the room demanded no disturbance, but his concern was overwhelming and he needed a clearer picture of what happened in order to proceed with his job.

“Forest – men – pain – unforgivable pain,” she said in a low whimper. There was another word she was supposed to use. The name of a spell. What was it? Her head was beginning to throb and concentration was beginning to slip from her a little more each minute. “I ... remember blood and fire...” she said, finally.

“Unforgivable pain?” Harrison spoke. His eyes stare intently into hers, which did not stare back. She was losing ground. Losing her self. “Stay with me, Aura.”

“Can't!” Her blurry eyes glanced at him and then nodded her head. Control. “Pain – from within. From nowhere. The whole time...” She whimpered, and began to lose the battle for consciousness. Her eyes closed and sleep fell upon her. Harrison leaned closer and placed an air-like kiss on her forehead before gathering his clipboard and exiting the room.

The door was shut with a soft click.

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Harrison came into the waiting room, hoping to find Alex, Darcie or Lian there. Aurora's cheering section that was not allowed to cheer just yet. Finding Alex sitting on a chair by the window, biting her nails in nervousness and fear, Harrison strolled over. “Alexandria?” he raised her attention. “A word?”

Alex looked up, shocked that someone was talking to her. Three days. It had been three long days and she could not see her cousin. “Yeah, sure,” she said, eager for good news.

She could tell by Harrison's hesitation to speak first was a sign of bad news. “Get on with it...” Alex said a little too forcefully.

Harrison let out a slow breath and looked at the ground as he began speaking. “Aurora has woken up,” he said and then looked up. The least he could do was look Alex in the eye as he said this. “She remembers a little of what happened a few nights ago, but I think that is only the tip of the iceberg.”

Alex crossed her arms, looking in the general direction of Aurora's door, worried. What the hell did that mean? “What did she say?” Alex was eager for any kind of information. Anything to help her understand why Aurora was even lying in that Hospital bed.

Harrison sighed. He walked right into that one. “She mentioned the forest she was found in. She spoke of men – I assume the same men now in Auror custody. She also remembered blood and fire. Which is a good sign because she had multiple lacerations all over her body and her arms did have burns.”

Alex raised a questioning eyebrow. “How is that a good sign?” she asked not particularly liking the fact that Aurora could remember such details.

“It's a good sign because she remembered feeling pain from within,” Harrison sighed. “An unforgivable pain from within that lasted – from what she said – the whole time,” he had continued as he saw a more intense questioning look on her face.

“An unforgivable curse,” Alex whispered. Tears were rising in her throat and she fought to keep her composure.

“Yeah,” Harrison let go of a defeated breath of air. “Her wounds looked as though they were inflicted over a long period of time. If she was under the Cruciatus the whole time...” Harrison didn't even want to go there.

“...she could be going out of her mind...” Alex finished, her voice down to nothing but a whisper. “Well, I...I refuse to accept that,” she spoke with finality. Where did that come from? she thought. “You can't let this happen.” Fear retook Alex's emotions and she rubbed a hand over her eye, batting away a rogue tear.

“I promise to do everything within my power,” he said, “to not let this happen. She's a good friend to me.” Alex nodded, accepting that.

She asked if she could see Aurora and Harrison nodded his head. “Don't wake her,” he warned. “She needs rest and rest will let her body heal faster.”

After Alex gave her word, she walked with haste to Aurora's room and entered. She closed the door and took not but two steps into the room and turned on the spot, reaching for the door to leave. “Oh, god,” she said, another tear escaping. She thought better of it and turned back to face Aurora and moved closer to the bed.

Under the white hospital gown, it was easily told that there were more bandages than actual skin showing. Alex fumbled for Aurora's hand, her vision blurring. She leaned down, pressing her ear to Aurora's heart, listening to the beat of life they had almost lost. She felt the rise and fall, steady through the work of magical life support.

“Squirt...” Alex sobbed.