Issues

~~~ CHAPTER FOUR: ~~~

Pain.

Sheer, blinding pain.

‘Oh my god… what the hell happened…’ thought Draco, terrified of even opening his eyes for fear the pain would kill him.

His groans of pain must have awakened whoever was in the room with him because he heard a faintly familiar voice calling out to him.

Blearily opening his eyes, Draco came to the conclusion that the windows needed much darker drapes because, even closed, there was far too much light in the room for his eyes to cope with.

Eventually, after waiting for his eyes to adjust, Draco also came to the realisation of just who was in the room with him.

“Harry…?” said Draco croakily.

“Draco! You’re awake! Oh god, I was so worried! Can I get you anything? What do you need? How do you feel? Oh I am so sorry Draco...” babbled Harry

“Harry,” groaned Draco, his head throbbing, “shut the fuck up.”

Harry, who had immediately gone silent, now waited patiently for Draco to say something more but, when nothing seemed to be forthcoming he settled for sitting back down and rubbing Draco’s uninjured hand in what he hoped was a soothing manner.

They must have stayed like that for at least a couple of hours; Draco lying quietly in the bed staring up at the ceiling, and Harry rubbing his hand.

Finally, Draco slowly turned to look at Harry again.

“… What are you doing here?” he asked quietly

Harry, startled to hear Draco’s voice again, took a moment to respond.

“I… fuck… Ron showed me a newspaper clipping of what happened to you. It didn’t say your name but it said enough that I knew it was you… Fuck, Draco, I am SO sorry! God, I didn’t even think for a minute that you’d been left out there on your own… I was just so angry that night! … Fuck, I’m a terrible person aren’t I…?” began Harry, clearly prepared to go off on an apologetic tirade

“Harry,” said Draco wearily, “Don’t. Don’t apologise. Not now. I don’t have the energy to deal with this right now. Rest assured, one day I will kick your arse over this but just don’t make me face this right now… okay?”

Harry nodded and they settled back into their quiet routine.

~~~

Over the next two weeks, Harry faithfully came to Draco’s bedside after work and usually ended up staying with him till well past midnight.
Most days, they barely said anything to each other, each still wrapped up in their own thoughts. Some days though, they talked about small things. Draco still didn’t seem to want to face what had happened in any capacity and neither of them were up to evaluating what it all meant for their relationship so they began to talk of small things; of what Harry had eaten for lunch that day (Harry carefully always steering clear of mentioning anything fruit related), the newest trick their puppy had learned, things like that.

Draco would have freely admitted right then that he could use a cuddle from their fun-loving little Cavoodle. Being that the Cavoodle (Jasper as they had named him) was primarily Draco’s dog, Draco really missed him so Harry always made sure to bring him lots of photos and stories since the matron refused to let him actually bring the little dog to the hospital.

Draco had to admit that, as much as he was unsure about exactly where his relationship with Harry currently stood, Harry had been doing a fantastic job of cheering him up and doing whatever he could to make Draco feel better.

Draco, while well on the way to recovery, was still in a lot of pain and Harry was positive there were more than just a few moments of his time in hospital that his normally proud boyfriend would just love to forget.

It had been the third day since Draco had woken up and Harry, upon walking into his room, was alarmed to see tears sparkling in Draco’s eyes.

“Draco?! What happened…?”

The matron, Maggie as they had come to know her, looked up from her position beside Draco’s bed and smiled at him.
Harry had been forced to rethink his opinions of the stern woman when faced with how she treated Draco as he had apparently become one of her favourites. Maggie still didn’t much like Harry but he had come to the realisation that it was more because she was concerned for Draco than any real dislike of Harry as a person. To be fair, she had apparently been keeping Draco company during the day whenever she had a spare moment and they seemed to have become quite close.

“Here, love…” said Maggie in her faint Scottish accent, “I’ll hand yeh over to the one yeh really want right now…”

As she made her way over to where Harry was standing, she paused to whisper in his ear.

“Listen, Potter, he’s in a lot of pain right now because we’ve had to start weaning him off some of the painkillers he’s been on so he doesn’t get dependant on ‘em. Only problem is, the pain is so intense for him that he’s been sick a total of three times so far. Try to calm him down then we’ll give one last shot at gettin’ some food in him.”

As she closed the door behind her, Harry made his way over to Draco’s bed.

“Draco…” said Harry softly, “Can I get you anything…?”

Seeing Draco shake his head miserably, Harry got the urge to smother him in hugs but just barely resisted.

“Harry,” said Draco in a choked voice, looking up at him through his sweaty bangs, “… can I have a hug…?”

Harry’s heart broke at these words, knowing how much it must have cost Draco to say them. He quickly moved closer to give Draco the hug he wanted though he had to be careful not to upset any of his wounds.

It wasn’t even a minute later that Harry was startled to realise that the floodgates had been thrown wide open and Draco was sobbing desperately into Harry’s shoulder in a combination of the pain he was in and the hopelessness he felt at his current situation.

They stayed like that for a while, Harry simply holding Draco and rubbing his back while Draco sobbed into his shoulder.

Over the two weeks since Draco had woken up, the pain had, thankfully, been getting less everyday but Maggie had been suspicious as to why it had even lasted for so long.

Harry had learned that Draco had broken three ribs in addition to his right arm and left leg but Maggie had been confident that, though the ribs might have caused him some discomfort, his legs and arm really shouldn’t have been causing him that much pain while they were healing in the casts. Harry had soon come to the conclusion that, as if the beatings weren’t enough, whoever had attacked Draco has also put a curse on him which multiplied the pain he was feeling. Given that Draco had never really coped well with pain in the first place, Harry could understand his firm declarations that he was well and truly in hell now.

It had taken just over a week but Harry had finally been able to get the curse taken off him and Maggie, pleased with his healing progress had pronounced him fit enough to leave the hospital in two days.

Draco, much to his own bewilderment, was both delighted and devastated at this news; delighted because he would be able to get back to doing the things he loved and seeing his puppy again, and devastated because it meant going back home with Harry (none of them were stupid enough to suggest Draco attempt to live on his own at the moment to get some space) and attempting to face what had happened and what it meant for them as a couple. Harry had been very understanding throughout his stay in hospital but even Draco could tell that he was fit to bursting with apologies and demands for explanations about what had happened that night. For the moment though, they had agreed to just take one day at a time and Draco was looking forward to being back home again, even if he still had to keep the casts on till he healed the muggle way because Maggie would be making frequent trips to check on his progress.