TW blood

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The fluorescent lights of St. Mungo's are blinding in my current state of exhaustion.

I sit in the waiting room of St. Mungo's, completely ignoring everything that is going on around me. There are Healers rushing by with patients on stretchers, and someone is crying, but none of it registers.

I stare at my bloodstained hands. There is blood all over my clothes and in my hair, but the blood on my hands is the most daunting.

"Alex?" Someone says, sitting down next to me. "Alex," They say again when I don't respond.

I look up to see Daphne. Her eyes are red and puffy, but she looks at me with nothing but concern and sympathy. "Do you want something to eat? Something to drink?"

I shake my head.

"Are you sure?" She asks.

"I don't want to miss the Healer," I say. "I want to be here."

Daphne nods, "I know, I can go get something for you," She suggests.

"Yeah, sure," I agree just to get her to leave me alone. I love Daphne, so so much, but I don't want to talk to anyone right now. I just want to know if Theo is alive or not.

Daphne squeezes my hand and gets up.

I look at everyone in the waiting room.

Blaise is pacing in the middle of the room. Pansy is asleep in one of the chairs, her head propped up on her hand. Matthew and Sawyer were here briefly but Daphne took them home to be with my mum.

I turn my attention to the clock on the wall. It's almost five in the morning. There has been no word on Theo since we got to St. Mungo's almost four hours ago.

After Theo lost consciousness, Pansy came back with Madam Pomfrey in tow. She did everything she could to stabilize him enough to apparate but she said he was in a very bad state.

I don't know how much time passes but Daphne comes back with water and a toastie.

I take a few sips of the water but don't eat anything. I still feel like I'm going to throw up.

Eventually, a Healer steps out into the waiting room. I stand up, Daphne wakes Pansy up, and all of us wait for the Healer to speak.

"Hello, I'm Healer Carmen," She addresses us. "I'm assuming that you're the ones who brought in Mister Nott?"

"Yes, that was us," Blaise answers.

Healer Carmen nods. "Mister Nott was in critical condition when you brought him in, but whatever was done to help him before his arrival was a help to us," She glances down at the chart in her hands. "Mister Nott's heart stopped beating for two minutes, but we were able to revive him."

My heart drops.

"He died?" I ask.

"Briefly, but yes, he did die for two minutes," Healer Carmen answers. "We were able to stop the spread of the curse and are slowly minimizing it. Mister Nott will have to stay in the hospital for at least a week to monitor his wound, but we expect him to make a full recovery."

I feel like I can finally breathe again. I didn't even realize that I had been holding my breath until now. My eyes brim with tears, happy ones.

Theo's going to be okay.

"Oh, thank Merlin," Daphne mutters.

"He should be waking up soon," Healer Carmen informs us. "We try to keep it to one visitor for the first couple of hours, but one of you can go see him.

Pansy nudges me forward. "Alex, you go see him first," She says.

Daphne and Blaise are quick to agree and soon enough I'm following Healer Carmen through a set of double doors and down a hallway.

"So I take it you're his girlfriend?" She asks kindly.

I nod, "Yes, I am."

"Mister Nott kept going in and out of consciousness upon his arrival and he kept asking for you," Healer Carmen says.

"He did?" I ask.

"Several times," She answers.

We reach a door on the left side of the hallway and Healer Carmen opens it and gestures for me to step inside.

Once I'm inside the room, she closes the door and leaves me alone with Theo.

He's laying in the hospital bed, the bright white blankets pulled up to his lower abdomen. Theo is shirtless and there's a large bandage wrapping across his abdomen. There are a lot of machines surrounding the bed that are continuing to monitor him.

I let out a quiet sob at the sight of him and go to sit in the chair beside his bed.

I gently grab his hand and kiss his knuckles.

I sit by his bedside and hold his hand as he slowly starts to wake up. Theo shifts slightly in the bed and squeezes my hand. I squeeze his hand back and watch him carefully.

Theo opens his eyes and immediately looks confused before he looks at me. His face softens and he squeezes my hand again.

"Hi," I say quietly.

"Hi," Theo replies.

"How are you feeling?" I ask.

Theo moves to sit up and sucks in a harsh breath. He stops moving and looks down at his covered wound. "I've had better days," He says.

"Here, don't hurt yourself," I say. I push the button to raise the head of his bed so Theo doesn't cause himself any more pain.

"Alex, what happened?" Theo asks. "I remember my dad stabbing me, and you were crying, and then nothing."

I take a deep breath and rest my chin on our adjoined hands. "You died, Theo," I tell him.

"What?" He asks.

"The Healer said that your heart stopped for two minutes," I explain. "But they were able to get you back. I'll let them explain everything when they come back in, but they said that you should make a full recovery."

Theo looks away from me and stares straight ahead.

"I died," He mumbles.

"You did," I affirm.

"My father tried to kill me," Theo says. "My own father."

I don't say anything. I am so angry. I'm angry at the world, I'm angry at Tiberius Nott. That man has always been an awful father to Theo but what kind of father attempts to kill their own son?

I hold Theo's hand tightly as he processes everything.

"What do we do now?" Theo asks, turning to look at me.

I shake my head. "I don't know," I say. "I think we try to move on."