Saving Luna
Mike paced back and forth in front of Nick and Terry asking questions that neither could answer. “Well I mean what did they say, Boot? It’s been twenty minutes now.”
Terry didn’t lift his face from his hands this time to respond. “I told you, for the hundredth time, they didn’t tell me anything!,” he mumbled. He wished Mike would sit down. He was making everything tenser than it already was. He finally jumped up. “Sit down already! You’re making me crazy!” Terry’s nerves were fried.
Mike just looked towards the room again and shook his head. “Goddamn muggles. I’m going outside for some air.”
Nick ran his hands through his hair again, looking up as a nurse came through the doors. “What’s he talking about....muggles?” he asked, looking over at Terry, trying to think about anything but what was going on behind the doors. Trying to make Terry think about anything but what was behind the doors.
“What?” Terry looked at him. He started pacing himself. He had to remember where he was - a muggle hospital. With Nick. He waved him off. “I-I-I don’t know. He’s an idiot.”
Outside, Mike regained the pacing. His hair was still wet and it was cold. He wondered if he’d ever be dry again. He wished he had company. Terry was nutso right now and Nick was simply impossible to carry on a conversation with. He fingered his cell phone in his pocket. Lisa should know about this, he thought to himself. She and Luna were good friends after all. So why did he suddenly feel weird about calling her?
Lisa was lying in her bed, buried under her comforter and hugging a pillow to her body, wiped out from the activities from earlier in the day. She had fallen asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow and now her subconscious was somewhere in dreamland.
She heard a faint, distant sound, and knew that it was her ringtone, the one that she assigned to Mike. The sound kept ringing and it was getting harder for her to ignore. A hand came up out from under the covers and grabbed the mobile phone on her nightstand, fingers groping for the answer button as she brought it next to her ear. “You just woke me up from a decent dream.”
Normally Mike would have asked if it was about him, but jokes were for those without mates in the ER. “Come to the hospital,” he said, “Royal London.”
“Whhhyy?” She whined, just a reflex response from having woken up not thirty seconds ago. Lisa didn’t really register the fact that Mike said ‘hospital’.
Lisa’s response brought them right back to the old relationship. He scowled. “Get your ass out of bed, Turpin. Luna’s been hit by a car.”
She sat upright immediately at the sound of Mike’s tone, “What? How do you know?” She pushed her comforter out of her way and got off the bed, picking up her discarded clothes to put on regardless of Luna’s location. “Where are you?”
Mike repeated their location. “I’m here with Boot and that guy Nick. We don’t really know what happened. Just come down here. Please?” Just hearing Lisa’s voice made him feel better even if she was being a diva.
“Why isn’t she at St. Mungo’s? Why is she at a muggle hos-- nevermind, I’ll be there soon.” She had so many questions to ask but they would have to wait. She pressed the ‘end’ button and tossed her phone on the bed, quickly putting her foot through the leg of her jeans, getting dressed in record time. She pocketed her phone and grabbed her wand from her dresser, apparating straight out of her flat to the hospital.
Nick stood as well, then sat again, and then stood once more. “I’m going for some coffee. You want some?” He glanced over as the door opened again, revealing a doctor. “Finally! What’s going on?”
The Doctor eyed him warily, pulling off his gloves. “Are you next of kin?”
Nick scowled. “No, but I’m her friend. You’re working on Luna, right?”
“We were indeed working on Miss Lovegood. Is there next of kin here?”
Terry moved past Nick. “I am,” he lied. “What’s- how is she?”
The doctor shook his head and looked at Terry a bit sadly. “I’m afraid that we’ve done about all we can for her, but it doesn’t look good.”
Terry stepped closer, putting a hand on the doctor’s shoulder. “No. There’s other stuff you can do. I’m sure there is.” The news didn’t even stun him, there was always something the doctors could do right? He was a doctor and he never gave up. But this was a human life. And this was really happening.
The door opened and with it a gust of cold wind. Mike saw Terry and Nick standing with the doctor and ran over. “She awake?!” he asked, his heart frozen in his chest.
The doctor shook his head again. “Sir, I’m sorry, the damage was just too extensive. There are limits to what medicine can do. You can go in and see her if you’d like. Do you know if she had a living will?”
Nick backed up a bit, he didn’t really want to see her with all those tubes and stuff. He wasn’t even that close to her and he didn’t want to see it. “I’m going for coffee. I’ll get you blokes some.”
“Wait, what?” Mike asked incredulously, pushing in between Terry and Nick. “Luna can’t die. That’s not how this works.” Mike’s mind was racing. The past thirteen years blurring his head. This wasn’t happening.
Terry got pushed aside by Mike and couldn’t even react. Will? Everything started moving in slow motion. He weakly tried to grab Mike’s arm as he felt his legs give out. He ended up on his knees on the cold tile floor, a handful of Mike’s sleeve in his fingers.
The doctor frowned, he hated these conversations and they never got easier. “I am very sorry. I’ll have a nurse come by and take you in so you can see her. Decisions can wait for a bit.” He put a sympathetic hand on Mike’s shoulder before moving on to his next patient.
En route to the hospital, Lisa appeared with a crack inside a janitor’s supply closet. It was the closest, most out-of-the-way, no-one-would-be-around location she could think of. Too bad she ended up with her foot in a bucket. She opened the door and peaked her head out to make sure no one was actually around, walking out of the room setting out to find Mike.
When she got to the hallway just outside of the room where Mike said he’d be, Lisa found him slumped against the wall and and an even worse-off Terry. She ran towards them, “Okay, I’m here. How is she? What did the doctor say?”
Terry didn’t turn to look at her. He hadn’t even heard her. Mike rolled his head against the wall to face her, his eyes wet and slightly swollen. “Lis,” he breathed, “we have to get out of here.” While Terry and Mike were waiting for the nurse to come to take them to Luna’s room, Mike had heard Lisa’s words in his head again. Why isn’t she at St. Mungo’s? It was a longshot, but maybe they could help. He was having trouble devising a plan to actually get her there when the thought of Luna dying kept interfering with his brain cells. All he knew was that he needed help. And right now Terry was useless.
Stunned to see Mike and Terry like a wreck, Lisa immediately wanted to comfort them, but what could she even remotely say? She went closer to them, rubbing Mike’s arm as a sign of comfort, as dire the situation was Lisa couldn’t exactly bring herself to hug him right now. But she could hug Terry, and it was obvious he needed it more. “She’ll be fine, she’s a Ravenclaw. She’s probably trying to figure out how to make herself better unconsciously. And even if she wasn’t, she’s tough. She’s Luna Lovegood.”
Terry let himself be pulled from the wall and into a hug. He raised his arms to encircle Lisa and spoke brokenly in her ear. “Thanks.... for coming, Lisa.”
Mike watched them, happy that someone could attempt to comfort Terry. “We’re waiting for the nurse,” he told Lisa. “Said we could see her.”
Nick walked back in with a drink holder with three coffees in it. “Hey, I got some hot joe.” He eyed the girl who was new to the scene, hugging Terry. “I’m one short, though. Sorry, didn’t realize you were coming, miss.”
Just then a nurse came over with a chart. “Excuse me, which of you is the next of kin? Doctor Robinson would like me to escort you into the room.”
Terry released Lisa and stepped towards the nurse. “I-I am.” He wiped at the corner of his eye.
Mike pushed from the wall. “Hey, what about us?”
The nurse looked at Mike like he’d lost his head. “I’m sorry, the doctor only said next of kin.”
Freaked that he wouldn’t see Luna again, his eyes went a little wild. “No. No he didn’t.” He moved up to the nurse. “I’m going in there.”
“Sir, please, I’m only following orders. When the doctor comes back you can ask him.”
“The goddamn doctor’s not gonna come back!” Mike threw his hand out and accidentally hit Nick’s tray of coffees, splashing some up Nick’s white shirt.
Terry put a hand on Mike’s arm to try and calm him down. He certainly wouldn’t get in acting out the way he was.
Nick hissed as the hot coffee splashed on his shirt. “No, mate, I’m fine, don’t worry about it, thanks.” he said, wiping at his shirt. “And now we’re down two, great.”
The nurse took a deep breath to calm herself. “Sir, the doctor will be back soon, I assure you. Please, just have a seat and be patient.”
Mike scowled at her wanting to say more, but finally decided against it. He didn’t want to cause a scene and get them all thrown out. “Fine,” he growled and marched back to a seat and fell back in it. “Fucking unreal...” he muttered loud enough for the nurse to hear.
Terry, relieved that Mike gave up his fight, looked at the nurse for direction. “Can we go?” he asked impatiently.
The nurse nodded, and led him to the door of Luna’s room. She opened it and motioned for Terry to go in. “Be careful of her IVs. We’re not yet sure how extensive the brain damage is, but it’s more than likely she can hear you.”
The sight in front of him terrified Terry. He turned towards the nurse, unsure of what to do, but she left the room, closing the door behind her. He was alone. The silence was punctuated with beeps and blips from machines by Luna’s head. He wanted to throw up. He swallowed thickly and took a few steps towards the bed. He opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out. Taking a deep, ragged breath, he tried again. “Luna. I-it’s me.” His voice sounded alien to him in this alien room. He watched her for a full minute before starting again. Moving closer tentatively, he put a shaky hand on the rail at the end of her bed. He didn’t know what to say, so he said everything. “Please... please wake up. I didn’t mean anything I said... I-I don’t even remember what I said.” Both hands now gripped the rail. “Why’d you walk out? You came all that way and I let you go. I’m sorry, Luna.” His voice broke. “It was a stupid fight... and-and Mike was there and... and I just didn’t know what to say. Or do. I was just hurt.” He sniffed. “I love you. Please come back.”
There was no reaction from the bed. He wasn’t sure if he had actually thought there would be. He forced himself to move closer, to the side of the bed, where he could better see her. Her fingers, her skin, her eyelashes and her hair, spilled out on the pillow. He reached out to delicately touch her cheek, too afraid to do much more around the tubes and devices. “I always love you,” he told her.
Nick surveyed his ruined shirt, now that his chest had stopped stinging. “I guess I’ve had my coffee. Here you two take these, I’ll go get more. And...change, I suppose.” He held the coffees out to Mike, waiting for him to take them. “I’m sure she’ll be okay. The world can’t afford to lose any more cute blondes.” He winked at Lisa before walking away.
Mike caught the wink and stupid smirk on Nick’s face as he slipped past Lisa, a little too close for comfort. A wave of possessiveness swept over him as he dumbly sat there holding two coffee cups. “Here,” he finally said lifting one of the cups slightly in Lisa’s direction.
Lisa took the coffee out of Mike's hand, sitting down next to him. Her legs felt weak and it was finally hitting her just how bad it was. Sure she knew that there was an accident, but the possibility that Luna might die was too surreal.
Her hand reached over and covered Mike's free hand, giving it a squeeze for reassurance (to herself or to Mike, she couldn't tell). "Let's get her out of here and take her to St. Mungo's. They can heal her better."
Mike’s eyes dropped to her hand, warm on his. “I know...” he told her. “I’ve been trying to think of how. The nurse’s station is right across from the room and we need to get in. If we manage that, how do we apparate her without killing her? I assume she’s hooked up to about a hundred machines.”
“What if we get someone from there over here? How did she get into an accident in the first place? What’s she doing here, wasn’t she supposed to be in the Himalayas or something?” Lisa kept asking question after question, she felt so out of the loop on everything. “Where’s your ex when we actually need her around?”
“Shit,” he had just realized something, ignoring Lisa’s endless questions. His hand gripped hers. “We’ll move the whole room.” He had attempted it back at Hogwarts when he and Ginny needed more convenient snogging space. The only thing was, that was a magical castle. Would it work in the muggle world?
“Wait what? Did I just hear you say you’re going to move the whole room?” Lisa looked at him like he was the craziest person on earth. But if what he was thinking worked, then he’d be her new favorite super hero.
He turned in his seat to look at her. “It’s the one way.” His gaze left hers as he stared beyond Lisa in thought. “I just need coordinates...,” he thought aloud to himself, “and a bloody major distraction.” His heart was starting to race as he tried to piece this puzzle together. He looked at Lisa. “You need to do it. Distract the nurses. And... we need to contact Mungo’s to let them know we’re coming,” his brow furrowed, “and where we’re coming to.” Damn, it would have been helpful if Susan were still in town.
“And how do I distract them? I’m no super spy, and that nurse is no McDreamy.” Lisa had to bite her tongue to stop herself from rambling on, this wasn’t a place for jokes. Very bad ones, at that.
“I don’t know,” Mike shrugged. “You’re a girl. Girl’s are good distractions- I mean they’re good at distracting. I don’t know!” Putting his coffee cup down on the seat next to him (as his other hand was in Lisa’s) he pulled his phone from his pocket and pulled up the GPS application. “I need to get in that room,” he muttered as the satellite picked up his location. “I knew that goddamn doctor wouldn’t be back.”
“Okay... then why don’t you go to St. Mungo’s and have them prepare a room or whatever for your Houdini act and I’ll think of something here. Maybe I’ll tell ‘em I’ve got Lupus.” She took out her phone and did the same thing as Mike, getting the GPS started. “We can use my phone as the base and link it up with your phone at St. Mungo’s. Would that work?”
Mike was intently looking down at his phone. “I don’t know... Muggle to magical... I don’t know if Mungo’s has a security force field.” Not that it mattered at this point. If they did, he’d get around it. He had connections, right? He stood and then looked at Lisa. “Get in that room and send me the coordinates. I’ll be in touch.”
She looked up at him and nodded, her grip tightening around her cell phone. It was then she noticed that her hand was in Mike’s, it completely escaped her attention. Lisa tugged on her hand, freeing from his grasp. “Kinda needed that back.”
Lisa stood, her brain trying to come up with ideas on how to sneak into Luna’s room. She needed to get her phone in there, and Terry would probably want to know what they’re planning. “Hey, make sure this works,” she started to say to Mike, catching him before he left her side, “I have a couple of things to yell at Luna about and I don’t wanna do it when she’s...you know.”
“It’s gonna work,” he told her, trying to convince himself as well. They stood there looking at each other for a desperate moment then Mike nodded. “Call me when you’re in.”
Mike turned and left through the double doors and hurried to an empty alleyway to apparate to St. Mungo’s.
Lisa ran a hand through her hair, scrambling to think up a proper distraction that’ll get the doctors and nurses away from Luna’s room. It wasn’t as if she had a puking pastilles from WWW handy for this exact purpose. She stepped away from outside of Luna’s room, trying to find an empty plaster room or just something with supplies she can use. Lisa hoped she wasn’t too rusty in her chemistry skills.
When she did gather the necessary materials and improvised a stink bomb to set off in the hospital, Lisa set it off far away from Luna’s room at the end of the hallway. Doctors, nurses, and even the janitorial staff were running towards the source of the stink bomb, trying to see if anyone was hurt or maybe out of curiosity to see who would dare do something like that in a hospital. On her way back to the room, she grabbed an abandoned white lab coat and a clipboard with some random person’s chart, hoping they wouldn’t be missed. She entered Luna’s room, looking around to make sure there was just Terry in there with her. “Hey, we’re going to move her to St. Mungo’s. It’s a long story, the too long; didn’t read kind. Just go with it, okay?”
Lisa took out her cell phone, the GPS application readjusting its coordinates to reflect her location change. She minimized the application and called Mike, speaking as soon as the line picked up. “I totally MacGyver’ed the hell out of this place. Ready when you are.”
Terry had stood up from the chair beside Luna when Lisa, “the nurse”, had entered the room. He recognized her right away. His questions were ignored as Lisa focused on her phone conversation.
On the other end of the phone call, a co-worker of Mike’s grinned into the phone. “Is this the lovely roommate?”
Momentarily stunned to hear a different voice over the phone, Lisa got a little defensive. Honestly, this was actually a life or death situation. “Er, depends who’s asking? Where’s Mish?”
“Agent Corner is preoccupied. I’m a friend. You have the coordinates?”
“Right, yeah.” Lisa proceeded to tell the stranger over the phone the readings from her cell phone. She avoided looking at Terry, feeling a little bad for interrupting his private time with Luna. His eyes looked bloodshot earlier, Lisa assumed he might have been crying. She spoke into the phone again, “Is that all you need?”
Terry stood by Lisa. “What’s going on?” he tried again to no avail, but his spirits were suddenly lifted.
“Yes, ma’am.” There was a pause on the other end of the line. “Hold the line a moment please.”
After a few seconds the voice came back. “Roommate? Is the coast clear?”
Lisa cracked open the door a little to look out, sticking out her head to make sure there was no one in the immediate area. “Roger. Hey does this mean I get my honorary Hit Wizard badge now?” Terry gave her a chastised look. “Nevermind. Yeah, the coast is clear... but move fast, stink bombs don’t last forever.”
“I don’t follow, ma’am,” the voice lied regarding her Hit Wizard comment. All agent work was top secret. “Now if you’ll please get on the floor, away from any sharp instruments or rolling furniture.” He gave her a few seconds and then continued. “Lights in four, three, two.” The room went black, but Luna’s machines stayed lit. “Now please hang up, and hang on. We’ll see you shortly.” The line went dead.
Lisa pocked her phone after the line cut off, “Duck and cover, Terry. We’re heading off to St. Mungo’s.” She got down on the floor, following the Hit Wizard’s instructions, bringing her knees close to her chest. Lisa gave Terry a slight smile of reassurance. “She’ll be fine now.”