RP: Volunteer Work

[shh_su]

Date: 16 December 2005
Characters: Mandy Brocklehurst, Su Li, Parvati Patil
Location: the shelter, the hospital
Status: Private
Summary: Su's new volunteer work is much more exciting than she'd anticipated
Completion: Incomplete

Comments

[shh_parvati]

Parvati was pulling on her coat, trying to decide if she would walk back to Hammerside or take the Floo. The snow was tempting, but she knew that her thin Asian blood would make it uncomfortable sooner rather than later. Snow was much better when you were watching it through the window, curled up by the fire with some hot tea. And a warm, gorgeous, naked man.

She considered going straight to the fitness center to see if she might persuade Dean to spend the afternoon that way with her when she noticed a woman panicking at the reception desk. She strode forward to see if she could help.

"Mandy, isn't it? What seems to be the problem?"

[shh_mandy]

She really could have cried at the sight of a familiar face. Better yet, a familiar face of someone who could help. Padma's sister, who'd been to the shelter to adopt a cat. It was months ago, but Mandy still remembered her wearing the lime green Healer's robes.

She nodded in affirmation of her name. "Yeah ...hi, Parvati. I need help. Please, can you help me?" Her voice was terribly wobbly so she took a moment and a shaky breath to steady herself before continuing. "A friend of mine took a fall on the ice, right near the shelter. She hit her head and passed out. She's unconscious ... I had to leave her, she's still lying..." Mandy swallowed, pointing towards the doors without any real sense of direction. "Out there."

[shh_parvati]

Parvati reached out to touch Mandy's shoulder, trying to reassure her while thinking about the implications of someone lying on the cold ground with a possible concussion. "Can you Apparate us there, or do we need to walk?" she asked.

At some point, she was going to need to move the patient, and she considered going back inside to fetch a portable stretcher and some blankets. Ascertaining the damage seemed the most urgent thing, though, so she decided to skip it for now. All she really needed for now was her wand.

[shh_mandy]

"I'll Apparate us," Mandy said, feeling the panic recede a notch now that she had the reassurance of help at hand. "I Floo'd here because I was right by the shelter and needed to get the dogs inside anyway, but Apparating is faster."

She took hold of Parvati's arm with one hand and grabbed her wand with the other, and apparated them both right outside the fence around the shelter grounds. Su was still lying terribly quiet on the snowy pavement, a few meters away. The Alsatian lay curled up to Su the way Mandy had left them, nuzzling protectively against her head, but raised its head when they arrived.

"I made Rosie ... the dog, lie down there to keep her warm. It's only been ... three, four minutes maybe, since it happened. I should have put my coat over her too," Mandy said, distressed as they hurried over to Su. "Why didn't I think of that?"

[shh_parvati]

Well, that was a good idea," she said, and speaking to the dog, she added, "And aren't you a lovely girl to take care of her?"

Recognizing the girl from the woman's group, Parvati knelt down on the cold ground, casting a diagnostic charm over her head, then her body. It did

[shh_mandy]

Mandy looked on anxiously, kneeling and taking Su's closest hand in hers as Parvati checked her condition. She breathed out in relief when Parvati spoke. While a concussion was unpleasant enough, there were so much worse things that could've happened.

"Sure," she said, giving Su's small hand a squeeze before letting go and getting on her feet. "I'll go ahead and get it ready."

It was a relief to have something practical to do. She apparated inside the shelter, but went back to the entrance doors and made sure they were open for Parvati when she arrived with Su. Zipping up her parka and shrugging it off her shoulders as she walked, she headed for the nearest examination room. She tossed her parka on the chair in the corner and then scrubbed her hands at the sink and put the examination cot in order, before walking down the hall to meet Parvati.

[shh_parvati]

As Parvati made her way slowly to the clinic, she looked around curiously. She'd heard that Greg Goyle was a vet and the idea seemed ludicrous.

Mandy led her toward a cot, and she turned her to the side carefully as she st her down, brushing her air aside to look at the wound. As she hoped, it was fairly superficial, and she cleansed it with a spell, then knit the skin back together as neatly as possible.

"Do you think you can put a warming charm on one of those blankets?" she asked as she worked, wondering how long Su would remain unconscious. It was just a matter of waiting it out, unfortunately, and even when she did wake up, problems could still develop. "She's going to need to be watched once she wakes up," Parvati observed.

[shh_mandy]

Mandy held the doors for Parvati and was glad to see that Rosie'd had the good sense to come tagging along behind.

"I don't know what's the matter with me," she muttered, red-faced, as she made the dog lie down by the reception desk for the time being while she led Parvati to the examination room.

She watched Parvati take care of the wound at the back of Su's head, biting her lip anxiously. "Why hasn't she woken up yet? Do you think she'll be all right?" she said softly, drawing her wand and casting a warming spell on a blanket when Parvati asked her to. "We do have stretchers here and a spacious Floo -- I suppose you want her in the hospital overnight, if she needs watching?"

[shh_parvati]

"Well, the cold could have something to do with it," she said, placing her hand on Su's forehead and murmuring a spell for the pain. "I'm sure she'll wake up soon. Witches have survived greater falls than this with no lasting harm."

"The hospital would be ideal, but if you want to keep an eye on her here...just to make sure she doesn't pass out again or start vomiting, and if you keep checking her eyes. But that of course depends on if she wakes up soon. I'll give it ten more minutes and then we'll see..."

"Shiva turned out to be a lovely pet, by the way."

[shh_su]

Su slowly swam back to consciousness, and almost immediately regretted it. Merlin, she ached all over. She let her eyes flutter open, then squeezed them shut, flinching at the light. "Where am I? What happened?" She tried to sit up, but firm hands on her shoulders kept her lying down, and the few inches she had managed to rise made her realize that she didn't want to go further.

[shh_mandy]

"I could keep an eye on her here," Mandy agreed, "if you think that's as safe." She waited nervously. Her hand had seeked out Su's without her noticing, and when she became aware of it, she took off both of their gloves and gently squeezed Su's fingers in hers.

She glanced up at Parvati, smiling when she mentioned the cat she'd got from the shelter. "You seemed to take to each other well, I remember. I'm sure she's very happy to have found a human of her own. And a real home."

Both her and Parvati's attention turned to Su as her breathing seemed to change and her eyes opened for a moment. "Su?" Mandy gave her fingers another gentle squeeze, relief and concern rushing over her. "It's okay, love. You hit your head on the ice. Don't try to move yet."

[shh_su]

"How did it happen?" Su squeezed Mandy's hand, hearing the concern in her friend's voice and wondering what could have caused it. She wasn't that badly injured, was she? "Last thing I remember is setting out with the dogs. Are they all right?"

[shh_mandy]

Mandy gave Su a gentle smile. "Sure, the dogs are fine, don't worry. You skidded on the ice, just. Banged your head when you fell. You're at the shelter, I got a Healer here to look at you."

She looked over Su at Parvati, awaiting her reaction, uncertain if it was wise to encourage Su to speak much yet.

[shh_parvati]

Parvati felt much more relieved than she let on when Su came out of unconsciousness.

She seemed coherent enough, and the only memory loss seemed to be of the event itself. Or maybe not. Parvati didn't know how long after she set out with the dogs the injury occurred. She hadn't been very far from the shelter, but far enough."

Leaning forward, she illuminated the end of her wand and watched Su's pupils react normally "You don't remember falling, then?" she asked. "Or anything leading up to that?"

[shh_su]

Su opened her eyes again as a shadow crossed her lids, blocking the light. She recognized the woman leaning across her. "Parvati?"

Flinching slightly at the light, Su gently shook her head. It didn't hurt quite as much now. "No, the last thing I remember is setting out with the dogs. We were laughing about my pink rain boots--" Su paused for a moment, interrupting herself. "Is that why I fell? Stupid things. Anyway, we were talking about exploring the Arctic, and Mandy told me to hold both leashes in one hand, so I did, and I asked her about Spain. That's all."

Turning her attention back to Mandy, Su smiled as she asked, "So how was Spain?"

[shh_parvati]

Parvati looked up at Mandy. "Is she missing anything, then?"

She reached out to rub at Su's temples gently with her thumbs, murmuring an incantation under her breath. Hopefully it would calm her enough to clear her mind.

"They're adorable, by the way. The boots, I mean. I'm rather fond of pink, myself."