The ICU Ward

It had been hours. Well, it seemed like hours to Draco. The Muggle clock on the wall has to be slow or it isn't working. An hourglass would be far more accurate at keeping the time... or even candle marks.

A Doctor Chen from The Accident and Emergency Department came and told him that Brianna had bilateral lower leg fractures that had been splinted and her ribs had been fractured laterally. Draco wasn't sure, but he figured that lateral meant across and that a fracture wasn't as bad as a broken bone, so that was a relief. Doctor Chen also said that the CT scan showed a skull fracture and an indirect visual of an intercranial hematoma and that the MRI confirmed this. He said that Brianna might be permanently blinded in her right eye. Stupid Muggle doctor – what does he know? A simple regeneration potion and a healing charm, and her eye would be fine – unless they'd removed it or her eye had popped? Eyesight is easily restored.

A short Muggle in blue draw-string pajamas and a short sleeve top covered in a paper wrap and paper coverings on his shoes came over and told him that they used a neurological echogram for direct visual direction during the procedure on Brianna. He explained that it was some kind of noninvasive ultrasound device that allowed better visualization of the hematoma. He also told Draco that an ICP monitor was applied to Brianna's frontal lobe to monitor her intercranial pressure inside her head, and that a bore, or small hole, had been performed to release the pressure in the occipital area of her brain. When Draco protested, he explained that this procedure was quite commonly done and was very necessary. Draco's head swam with confusion, but he concentrated on every word spoken.

Little made any sense. He thought that the doctor said Brianna was going to be placed in a chemically induced coma and gradually brought back. But Draco wasn't told where she would be brought back from. He was also told that his wife would be taken to the ICU as soon as she was released from neuro-surge recovery and that nephrology, neurology and orthopaedics would follow his wife by a consult. Obviously not by his consult because the doctor didn't ask him for it, just informed him it would be done. But where neurosurgery was or why, if she was going to recover, would she need to be taken to ICU eluded him.

A nurse came and told him that Brianna was recovering nicely, which should have made Draco happy, but it filled him with dread because that meant that his wife would be taken to ICU, and no one mentioned just how far ICU was or how he was to get there to see his wife.

He had yet to actually see his wife. For all he knew these Muggles were sending her all over the place without really knowing what they were doing; although, everyone who did speak to him seemed to be fully confident about what they did say.

Nurse Grantham returned and walked over to Draco as he paced like a caged quintaped in a zoo. "Mr. Malfoy, you really should eat something. The cafeteria is just down the hall..."

"I don't have any Muggle money. Brianna had it all," he snapped.

"Oh, I see," she said, regarding him. "I could get you a meal voucher if you like."

He regarded her, his frustration and anger evident in his stare. "What I want are answers."

She paled and laid her hand on his arm. "I can try, but you really should speak to a doctor..."

Draco resisted the urge to jerk his arm away. "Where is my wife right now?"

Nurse Grantham smiled and her eyes softened. "She is in the neurosurgery recovery room now. She will be transported to the intensive care unit on the third floor in a while."

"I thought that she was going to be placed in a coma and then brought back?" he asked, deciding to tolerate this woman if she was going to actually tell him something useful. "Where will that be?"

She looked at Draco with concern in her eyes, studying him with open sincerity. "Yes, the anesthesiologist will induce the coma postoperatively and ensure that she is stable in neuro-surge recovery. Then she will be closely monitored in ICU."

"So Brianna will still be here, just on a different floor?" he asked, feeling relieved. At least I'll be able to find her – maybe.

"Yes, sir." She regarded him thoughtfully. "Let me get you a meal voucher. I'll be right back." Draco simply nodded. He was hungry, but he didn't want to leave this facility without his wife. Nurse Grantham returned, handing Draco several slips of flimsy light blue paper. "Here you go," she said. "I'm headed to the cafeteria to get some coffee. Why don't I show you the way?"

The cafeteria was all white with fake plants and flowers to try and make it cheerful. They failed, Draco thought to himself. Nurse Grantham handed him an odd-looking pink tray and ushered him to the counter where food was displayed in large metal pans. At least the food looks edible. He mindlessly selected items as the woman behind the counter asked him which he preferred. Nurse Grantham showed him where he could help himself to drinks and that he could simply request another cup if he wanted another drink. How else would I get another drink, Muggle? he thought, but refrained from saying it out loud, lest she refuse to give him any more answers. He sat down at a table farthest from anyone else and ate slowly.

Back in the waiting room, he paced apprehensively before sitting in the chairs he'd occupied before. Feeling tired, he tried to move the attached row of chairs closer to the corner of the room so that he could rest his head on the wall. They didn't budge. Looking over his shoulder to check that the Muggles were not paying attention to him, he concentrated his anger and frustration on shifting them and finally relocated them magically. It took a lot of effort, but the act did make him feel better. He sat down sideways, his legs lying over the armrest and his feet on the next chair, leaning his back on the wall. If the Ministry gets mad because I used magic here – so be it. I'm not leaving without Brianna, and I'm at least going to be as comfortable as I can until I can get to her.

It must have been hours later because he was awoken by the sound of his name. A girl in a blue and white checked dress with the name 'Tammorah' on a badge gently shook his shoulder. "Are you Mr. Malfoy?"

"Yes," he said, looking at her warily.

"I was asked to inform you that your wife has been taken up to ICU and you may come and see her if you like," she said, taken back by his sharp reply.

Draco jumped up, startling the girl. "Yes, I like," he sneered. "Where is she? I want to see her."

The girl simply said, "Follow me, sir," and led the way through the automatic swinging doors, down a corridor and up a lift. At the ward, she touched a panel with her identification badge, and the doors opened for her. "She is in bed twelve. Her nurse and Doctor Snape are with her now. They are expecting you."

Small black plaques with white numbers indicated the bed numbers. There were six beds on each side of the room, divided by a desk area. Various machines and gadgets surrounded each bed in the room, with tubes and cords attaching each patient on the beds to the machines. Each bed had drapes that were drawn back, and the occupants' beds faced him, so Draco could see each patient as he passed. The light in the room was soft, and little beeps and bleeps from each machine mixed with the soft conversations in the room between the staff. Doctor Snape was standing next to a nurse holding a cream-colored folder of some kind, marking notes on the pages. Beside them, Brianna lay on a beige bed with handrails and white linen sheets.

A pole stood by the bed with four bags of clear fluids, possibly water, with long tubes, which ran through a strange device with four screens. The thin tubes then were connected together into one tube that was connected at something attached to Brianna's arm. Another cord attached a clip with a red light on her middle finger to a connection on a machine on the wall. A large, blue machine with two screens, lots of buttons, dials and tubes, stood at the head of her bed. The screens showed moving wavy lines, flashing numbers, and circles in different shades of red. Another device hung on the wall over the opposite side of her bed with a screen displaying more wavy lines, numbers and a flashing heart.

Brianna herself looked like she was sleeping, lying in the bed under nothing but a thick sheet and light blanket; yet she was pale. There was a blue and white tube that ran from where it was taped to her head to a connection on one of the machines – long, thin, clear tubes from each forearm. Round patches on her skin had colored clamps attached to them with long cords that attached to a device that had the screen with the flashing heart and wavy lines. There was a hard, white shell on her left wrist.

Doctor Snape handed the cream-colored folder held onto a grey board with a large clip she called a 'chart' to the nurse, giving her directions that Draco couldn't understand. "Mr. Malfoy," she said in a rich smooth voice, pulling Draco's attention away from the horror he was looking at to her. "The procedure was a success; I'm pleased to inform you. The frontal pressure seems to be responding nicely to the ICP, so we are keeping a close monitor on that."

Draco nodded, although her encouraging words didn't quite match what he saw in Brianna's condition lying on the bed. "How long will she be like this?" he asked softly.

"She is responding well, and if she continues to improve as expected, we expect that she will be here three, maybe five days at the most before we move her to the Dawson Ward, our High Dependency Ward in the Dixon Annex," Doctor Snape replied confidently. "Pardon me a moment," she said as a man walked up, asking her a question quietly. When she turned back to him, her smile was warm and encouraging. "I have every reason to expect a good outcome, Mr. Malfoy. The orthopaedic's team came to see your wife in order to replace her splints and indicated that your wife had clean breaks. Her legs will heal nicely. Doctor Hale has been here to do her work-up, and he will follow Brianna's treatment. So far your wife's prognosis is favorable."

Draco turned his head to look at his wife lying amongst all the tubes, cords and machines, wishing he could believe her. "Can she hear me if I talk to her? Does she know what is happening?" he asked, deeply concerned.

"You may visit with her for a while, Mr. Malfoy, but visitation is limited to fifteen minutes. She is still sedated for now, so she isn't likely to be very responsive," Doctor Snape answered.

"But you just said that she is responding well and that she's doing all right?" he asked confused.

Doctor Snape looked at Draco contemplatively. "Your wife is responding to treatment, her vital signs are good and her ICP, ECG and EKG are within normal ranges. We are monitoring Mrs. Malfoy closely, and her vitals signs show that she is stable and her prognosis is good, Mr. Malfoy. However, she is basically asleep, due to her medications, so she will not necessarily respond to you." A sound like a musical scale sounded from Doctor Snape's pocket. She pulled out a small black rectangle object, scrutinizing it briefly. "Please, understand that we are taking very good care of your wife, Mr. Malfoy. I'm sorry, but I have to take this." She walked away to the counter full of various charts, bags of clear liquid, papers, and picked up the handset of a Muggle telephone.

Draco stood by Brianna's bed, simply holding her hand, watching her sleep, trying to ignore the various 'monitors' that continued to show the indications of his wife's condition in a manner he could not decipher. After several long minutes, a nurse tried to ask him to go, first kindly, then rather firmly. A dark-skinned woman named Marcella finally came to lead Draco to the waiting room just outside the ward.

Draco literally felt torn away from Brianna, helpless to do anything but trust these Muggles and hope for the best. Several times he walked over to the door, but without a badge or a wand, it would not open for him. On the occasions when he followed someone into the ward, Marcella ushered him out. His third time she allowed him another fifteen minute visit so he could hold Brianna's hand before escorting him back to the waiting room.

Later as the clock on the wall said thirty minutes past three, Draco followed a man and woman in the typical dark blue nursing outfits back into the ward, standing once again at Brianna's bedside. "Leah, he must really love her," a woman said to his wife's nurse, standing at the counter with several other people.

"He hasn't left the hospital since they brought her in," a red-haired woman stated.

"I wish I had someone that cared for me like that," Marcella said wistfully. Draco tried to shut out their voices, gently caressing Brianna's hand with his.

For three days Draco practically lived in the waiting room on the third floor. He managed to gain access to Brianna on many occasions, several times being allowed in by a nurse or a healthcare assistant to stand by her bedside and hold Brianna's hand for brief visits. He only owned two Muggle outfits, the expensive tailored suit he wore the day of the accident or a pair of trousers and jumper. The evening of the second day, after checking on Brianna twice, Draco decided to Apparate home to change his clothes, deciding that the jumper and trousers would be more comfortable.

He ordered the house-elf to clean his suit and sent an owl to Brianna's family, trying to explain the situation, then sent an owl to Pansy asking her to please acquire him a second Muggle jumper. He then Apparated to Diagon Alley, going first to the reopened Ollivander's to purchase a new wand and then to Gringotts to get some Muggle money, although he had no idea if five hundred pounds would be enough to last him until he could get Brianna to St Mungo's. He returned to the Muggle hospital, Disapparating into the large stall of the men's loo near the waiting room.

Until the Muggles at the hospital removed the cords and tubes from her, he was uncertain if he could Apparate with her. His gut told him that he shouldn't, not without causing Brianna harm or possibly killing her. Every time he asked if he could take her to St. Mungo's, Leah looked at him confused and said Brianna shouldn't be moved just yet with deep concern in her voice.

The fourth day, Draco decided to ask how much longer the tubes were going to be in his wife. "Mr. Malfoy, the doctors will discharge the monitors when your wife no longer needs them," the man, whose name badge read, Hooman Karimi S.R.N., stated as he adjusted the drip on his wife's ivy.

Draco was trying his best to suppress his anger and frustration, so that Nurse Karimi would not ask him to leave again. "So how mush longer will she need them?"

"I'm unable to determine that, Mr. Malfoy. You would have to ask the doctor on call," Mr. Karimi answered, facing Draco briefly before turning back to the chart and writing something in the pages.

Mr. Karimi wasn't Draco's favorite of Brianna's nurses. He liked Leah, Brianna's day nurse, or Marcella, the healthcare assistant, or Michaela, a nurse that came on at night, much better. "So how would I find Doctor Snape to ask her?"

"Doctor Hale and Doctor Myers were here early this morning. I don't expect her back until tomorrow. However, your wife is scheduled to be transferred to Dawson Ward tomorrow," Mr. Karimi said with a forced patience.

Draco slowly exhaled counting to ten. "So what does that mean? Her tubes will come out then?" he asked, frustrated.

Mr. Karimi looked quickly at the clock on the wall, although Draco knew that he would be allowed his full fifteen minutes before he was told to leave. "Her doctor hasn't written a discharge order or indicated when the ICP will be removed. Please excuse me, Mr. Malfoy. I need to change the IV, and adjust the EKG lead."

Draco looked away from the man so that he would not see the seething annoyance on his face. Brianna, I should have just risked Apparation. If I had known – had I known I... But I couldn't – I just couldn't. Please forgive me... Please wake up... My beautiful Brianna, I need you to wake up.

The morning of the fifth day was chaos. Brianna wasn't in her room. Apparently she had opened her eyes and was cognizant. Draco was furious that Brianna had been taken away until Leah explained that Brianna had been taken to the theater to have her ICP removed. Draco was once again confused, and she had to explain what a theater was.

He wanted to hug the woman. The monitors were all blank with thin straight lines, and nothing was flashing. Leah directed Draco to the waiting area to wait until Brianna would be transferred to her new room on the Dawson Ward in the Dixon Annex.

He couldn't sit. Draco paced the waiting room like a quintaped stalking humans trapped in a store-shed. After what seemed like hours, Draco saw Leah, the male healthcare assistant, and a man in the lighter blue short-sleeved top and matching pajamas rolling Brianna's bed down the hall. Leah paused long enough to signal Draco to follow.

Brianna was barely awake with only the thin, clear ivy tube in her arm and the round patches attached by the cords with the colored clips. She looked pale, tired and weak. In the elevator Draco held her hand, gently caressing the back of it with his thumb. Brianna looked at him once before closing her eyes again, but Draco could have sworn that he felt the tiniest squeeze of his hand. Draco stroked his wife's face lovingly.

Once in the ward on the second floor, Leah moved around Brianna's bed, talking to the woman in a long blue tunic top and navy trousers. Draco waited patiently. The screens on the machines sprung to life, and once again wavy lines, numbers and a flashing heart indicated Brianna's condition. If they can move her, can I take her to St. Mungo's now, Draco wondered.

Draco waited three days before he decided to take action. He stood quietly whispering to Brianna about the newest reportings in the Daily Prophet and read her horoscope in Witches Weekly. Brianna looked up at him, but she was so tired she could only smile at him. That didn't matter to Draco; he was just so happy to see her with her eyes open and smiling. "Brianna, I'm going to try and get you out of here today. I have a new wand and I think it's safe now," he whispered to her. Brianna simply closed her eyes and made a soft moan. This has got to work. She needs a Healer – this is our only chance. "Brianna, I love you," he said softly to her.

Okay, here goes nothing. Draco closed the curtain blocking him from the area where the nurses sat and cast a Silencing Charm. "Just hold on, my love... I'll get us there..." Quickly he severed the tubes and cords with a Slicing Spell and lifted Brianna in his arms. Immediately the alarms and loud beeps went off. Brianna groaned as if in pain, and his heart thumped heavily in his chest. Just as the alarms went off, he heard people scurrying, exclaiming excitedly, and knew that they were running to see what he had done. Without waiting, Draco Apparated Brianna to the reception of St. Mungo's and fired off the Distress Spell.

Immediately, a witch in long, lime green robes and a wizard in grey robes ran over to Draco's side. "Oh, my goodness!" the Healer exclaimed. "What happened to her?" She turned quickly to the receptionist before Draco could answer. "Send for Healer Timothy Hatley, and alert Magical Catastrophes in Artifact Accidents." The wizard conjured a stretcher and levitated Brianna onto it before gliding her to the lifts. "What is her name, and what happened?" the witch asked.

"Brianna Malfoy, my wife," Draco said quickly. "She was hit by a Muggle automobile, and Muggles took her to a Muggle Hospital... They did surgery on her, and I couldn't get her out until now..."

"What happened, Mr. Malfoy?" the man asked.

"I just told you!" Draco exclaimed, worried as another Healer approached them. Within minutes the round patches were removed, the long needle, now draining blood, was removed from Brianna's arm, and the first witch was giving Brianna some Blood-Replenishing Potion.

"Mr. Malfoy, I am Elizabeth McAllister, Healer in this ward. I realize that you said that Muggle doctors attended to your wife. Did they explain what they did to her?"

"Yes, but I can't remember it all! There were fractures, eye-cee-pee's, em-ar-eye's and they did surgery," Draco admitted, holding his temper in check, although he wanted to scream. "She had ivy and cords and tubes..."

"Mr. Malfoy, if you would let me, I am a fair Legilimens, and this would be much faster if I could see and hear what you remembered," Healer Elizabeth McAllister suggested calmly.

"Yes, yes, whatever will save Brianna!" Draco consented. "They made a bore in her, and an eye-cee-pee and cee-tea..."

"Relax, Mr. Malfoy, and let me in. Think about the times anyone spoke to you and let me find what I need," she said. Draco allowed her in, finding the memories came easily to him, even though he didn't understand everything. He recalled each medical person: from Preston, to doctors Chen and Kingston in the emergency ward, listing off Brianna's injuries and treatments, the CT and MRI, ICP and finally Doctor Snape telling him about the surgery, then later the memory from the ICU ward and all the machines and monitors. "Fine, Mr. Malfoy," Healer McAllister said, breaking off contact. "Although I may need these memories in a Pensieve later, if you wouldn't mind."

Draco felt like he had just relived the last nine days all over again. "Fine – anything... whatever it takes to heal Brianna. I'll give you anything you need."

Healer Elizabeth McAllister smiled encouragingly at Draco. "Mr. Malfoy, I will have Mrs. Malfoy's broken bones mended in a jiffy, don't you worry. And I'll be out to let you know about her head injuries as soon as I assess her. But do rest assured; none of her injuries are beyond my ability. I'll leave you now – but I'll be back."

Draco sat in the waiting room, his head in his hands when Healer Elizabeth McAllister came looking for him. "I have excellent news, Mr. Malfoy. Your wife is going to be fine. That Muggle surgery, although primitive, probably saved your wife's life. We have mended her ribs, legs and wrist and removed the cast and splints. Her skull is mended, and the small hole the Muggles made is no problem and will close on its own. There was a slight kidney injury, which we corrected and will heal nicely with potions. Mrs. Malfoy has been given her potions and is resting now. I would like to keep her a few days for observation, but she can go home within the week."

Draco breathed a sigh of relief. "So Brianna is going to be okay?"

Healer Elizabeth McAllister smiled warmly and handed Draco a restorative potion. "Your wife is just fine. Now if you don't mind, I saw a few images of your injuries, Mr. Malfoy. If you would please, I'd like to check on you now."

Draco followed the Healer into the ward and sat on one of the beds. He removed the wrist support and camwalker, letting them fall on the floor and immediately his wrist and ankle began to throb in pain. Healer Elizabeth McAllister swept her wand over Draco's wrist, ankle and hip, uttering the Bone-Mending and Tendon-Ligament-Mending Charms, instantly repairing his sprains and relieving his aches. She was quite amused by the wrist support and camwalker cast, requesting if she could keep them. Draco gladly consented, happy to be rid of them. She handed him two potions and suggested he stay the night in Brianna's room. Suddenly exhausted, he accepted, changing into a hospital gown and slipping into the bed next to Brianna's. It was the closest he'd felt to her in what seemed ages.

"Good night, Brianna," he whispered to his wife as he closed his eyes, the sleeping additive to his potions taking effect. "I did what I could... really I did. I had no choice... I – I hope you forgive me... I love you, Brianna."

"I know, Draco... I know," she uttered back softly. "I love you, too. Of course I forgive you – but there's nothing to forgive, my love. Good night, and sleep well, sweetheart."

~FIN~

~o0o~

Author's notes:

Poor Draco, he's having problem with Muggle medical terminology.

Fracture is a medical term for any break in a bone. Lateral means on the outside or away from the (anatomical) mid line of the body. (i.e. A lateral cut on your left ankle would be on the left side of the ankle.) Intercranial is in the cranium or inside the head or brain tissue.

EKG and ECG record the electronic impulses of the heart and brain, respectively. Draco mistook 'ivy' for an I.V. – intravenous fluids drip.

A CT scan (cee-tea scan) is a quick non-invasive form of radiological scan. An MRI (em-ar-eye) is Magnetic Resonance Imaging. With head trauma a CT scan is generally preformed to verify the extent of skull injuries, and an MRI is used to view if any soft tissue damage has occurred.

Neurological echogram is very similar to an Echocardiogram (similar equipment), but the hand held 'wand' is designed to scan the head for intercranial use during surgical procedures. (The images on the screen looks very similar to the sonogram done for expectant mothers to see their fetus.)

An ICP (eye-cee-pee) monitor measures the intercranial pressure in the brain.

Dawson Ward, the High Dependency Ward in the Dixon Annex of the Kent and Canterbury hospital = these names for the wards are imaginary since I was unable to confirm the actual names of these wards. If any does know, I would appreciate being told so I could fix this...

I want to thank Marcella Johnson P.A., Leah Williams Neuro-surge R.N. and Hooman Karimi R.N., for their time, patience and knowledge and for putting up with my many insufferable questions. I decided to use their names, but Hooman is really a much nicer guy than I wrote him.

As always, I owe a huge debt of gratitude to my beta Phoenix and to Southern_Witch_69 for shifting through this fic, as I had to do a major rewrite right after Phoenix made her first check through this chapter after realizing that I had no clue about emergency medicine in the UK! Thanks ever so much to Phoenix for her infinite patience with me; she made my story readable. And to Southern_Witch_69 for cleaning up my mess and making it presentable!

And to several women: Heidi, Emma, Julia, Nikki and Tudorpot, who answered a plea for both Brit-picking and information on paramedics, nursing, uniforms and emergency medical response in general. Thanks all of you this story is slightly believable!