Coral

He knelt beside her pillow, in the dead watch of the night,

And he heard her gentle breathing, but her face was still and white,

And on her poor, wan cheek a tear told how the heart can weep,

And he said, "My love was weary--God bless her! she's asleep."

--Asleep, by William Winter







--St. Mungos--







The staff at the hospital were much more subdued and respectful this time. Since Amanda's injuries had nothing to with herbs of any sort, she was sent to a different floor, and had a different healer. This one was a very dainty woman, of perhaps Eloise's age, who was in possession of a light touch and a soothing, sympathetic voice. he name was Healer Penny.





Stella was however the only one there to hear it. Amanda was still quite unconscious, and Stella couldn't help but think that might be for the best.

A hasty set of spells performed by the new healer highlighted the injuries with green light. She then pointed her wand at each glowing area, and directed it toward the wall. This created a detailed graph, in an unreadable shorthand. Penny read over the chart, and began scribbling notes down on a clipboard.





As she worked, she spoke to Stella, telling her what she had discovered. Amanda's left leg was broken once above her knee, her right arm

twice between the elbow and wrist. Healer Penny suspected that it had become wedged between two of the stair spindles. Several bones in the right hand itself were also broken, including three fingers. The right shoulder had been severely dislocated.





These were the most minor of the injuries. More seriously, she had three broken ribs, two fractured ribs, and some lung damage. Her body was covered with contusions and abrasions, there had been stress on her spinal cord, and the impact with the newel post had lacerated her scalp, concussed her, and most likely fractured her skull. But the worst news of all was that there had been no way to prevent a miscarriage.





They had tried to stabilize her as soon as she was brought in, but so early into the pregnancy, it was nearly impossible. The stress and pain alone would have been enough to trigger it, and after examining the severe bruising along her abdomen...it was very clear that she had struck most of the steps stomach first. It wasn't the only internal bleeding she was suffering.





Stella quickly explained Amanda's recent medical history as best she could with her hoarse shaky voice. Healer Penny assured her she would do all that she could to ensure that she could still conceive after healing, and that with magical medicine, the damage could be minimized drastically.





With so many injuries,and of such a severe nature, it would take a team of four healers, two of whom were also trained as Muggle physicians.Healer Penny was one of these specialized Witches. They would begin with the important, life-threatening injuries, such as repairing the skull, and healing the brain. Then they had to stop the internal abdominal bleeding, repair the ribs, and heal the lung. After that, they would heal the minor wounds.





Just before they began, Edward finally arrived, and they were kind enough to allow him to see Amanda briefly before they began the healing session.





He rushed in, only to halt, shocked at the sight of his wife. She floated in a stabilizing charm, so broken and battered it was difficult for him to even recognize her. The healer's might see the broken bones...but he could only see the swollen bruised face, the blacked eyes, the bloody finger tips.





The ticking of a clock somewhere reminded him that he only had a few moments before they made him leave. Only a few seconds. What could he do in short of a time? What could he say? All he could do was stand and stare at her.





Perhaps the most shocking thing was her hair. Draped over the edge of the table, it hung nearly to the floor, and was matted, and stiff, the entire length saturated with blood. Dried blood was tangled in the ends, fresher blood trickled over the tangles and puddled on the floor. He realized that the steady ticking he had mistaken for a clock was the steady drip of blood onto the green tile.





Edward took a step toward her, and after a few seconds of contemplation, he touched her hand left hand, which was crossed across her chest. It seemed to be the least injured place on her body, but he still winced seeing the small bruises and torn nails. Usually so warm and soft, her hand was now cold and lifeless under his touch, and he pulled away as three healers entered the room behind him.





One of them assured him that scalp wounds always bled profusely, and not to be too alarmed by the sight of the blood. He was not comforted.





" You have to leave now." a fourth healer said. She was petite, and spoke in a calm soft voice as she pulled on her surgical robes.





A sudden fear seized him, and without thinking he blurted out;





" Will I see her again?"





The petite woman smiled gently, and escorted him to the door.





" You have my promise." she said earnestly, meeting his eye.





Behind him, he heard one of the younger Healers saying that it would be much easier to cut Amanda's hair off than to try to clean and work around it.





He opened his mouth to argue with this, but found himself suddenly in the corridor, facing a pallid Stella, who only looked pitifully at him. Without warning, he was accosted by none other than Healer Withersmith.





Withersmith, pudgier than he had been at their last meeting, came almost nose to nose with him, and began shaking his finger violently. The mans pouty lips opened and closed once or twice, as if he were searching for the exact words to use.





Before he could discover exactly what he wanted to say, a blessing in the form of Healer Thoroughgood arrived, in the company of Eloise, and followed closely by Giles Barkwater. There was a quick scuffle as Withersmith tried to stop Thoroughgood from entering the room.





Thoroughgood merely looked disdainfully at Withersmith.





" He is expected." Healer Penny said, with an equally disdainful look. " What call do you have to interfere?"





In his defense, Withersmith allowed slip a very unprofessional accusation against Edward, having apparently in the time since Amanda's last visit, shifted his target of blame. This caused an outburst of indignation from from everyone except Edward, who remained tight lipped and stony-faced, looking every inch a man who did blame himself.





Eloise and Stella had fortunately both been witnesses, and Winter was kind enough to lend her opinion as well. It was Giles who ended the argument, in the capacity of Ministry Auror, by informing Withersmith, and Thoroughgood too, if he cared to listen, that the maid had caused the accident, and was now under arrest and slated for an interrogation. Withersmith began to argue, summoning the records of Amanda's last visit, but one of the four, a man named Marvel, ordered him from the corridor.





That done, Giles insisted that Edward and Winter, who was Polly's previous employer, accompany him back to the ministry. Edward agreed, and after a long compunctious look at the door, he started to follow Giles. He turned back quite suddenly though, and addressed Stella.





"Please, don't...allow them to cut her hair."





She nodded her promise as he was led away by Giles.