One Heart

Michael knew she was terrified. This really had all been a bit much. Taking her to a gun battle with no training? Especially when Kate had had such a strong premonition that Angus was most likely going to be lost? Bloody bad planning, Michael thought. Michael knew Robert had a reasoning for everything. He knew Robert had not made this decision hastily, but Michael certainly didn't understand the man's reasoning at the moment.

"I'm sorry, honey," He said, putting an arm around her. She looked like she just needed to be held for awhile. He didn't know how receptive he was going to be to the offer, so he just put his arm around her shoulder instead. "Damned terrifying, wasn't it? Look, there's nothing we can do in the hallway. Come with me. Let's go sit down and let us get a look at your wounds."

He motioned to her to indicate which room was the lounge room they could use. It had 2 comfortable sofas, 4 soft club chairs, a small kitchenette, magazines, books, an aquarium with quite a collection of bright and colorful tropical fish, pleasant plants and artwork, a wizard radio and none of that ridiculous fluorescent lighting that Michael hated so much. This had lovely lamps that gave a friendly welcoming glow.  It was designed to help people relax and de-stress.  

"I sent word to Edward," Kate told Bella softly. "He will want to be here, I'm certain.". She put a cup of tea on the coffee table for each of them--Bella, Michael and herself and then sat down.

"Come sit," Michael said. "I know you already probably know this, but sometimes when we're frightened, we need to hear things again. There isn't a better hospital in all the wizarding world than St. Mungos. That's pretty accepted knowledge worldwide.  And, when Khaat took the directorship, the first thing she did was to hire her father as Chief of Staff. The reason she did that was because he was the best healer she knew. He's very, very good at what he does. I believe Angus is in the best care he can get on the planet. If anyone can do this, its Robert and Brian. They' ve handled far worse, and Angus is healthy and strong.

"Okay, no, I didn't see all your work, but what I did see was that you were in control of a situation that could easily have resulted in everyone in the area being killed--the lobby staff, the kitchen staff, Angus, you, that child....You had the damage minimized. You kept Angus covered, tended to him the best you had at the moment, and kept things from ending up a whole lot worse. You called for backup when you needed it, and you didn't freeze up. You were still able to follow Brian's orders, even if it meant leaving Angus to do it. That's precisely what you needed to do. You certainly have some great natural abilities to stay calm in a crisis and to think logically. If you want more training, I'd certainly support you in that, and I am quite sure Robert and Brian would support you as well.  Its an excellent thought."

"When you heal," Kate corrected. "That has to come first." She opened the patch kit, but as she did, she heard voices speaking in Italian out in the hallway.  She heard someone say Angus's name. It wasn't Robert's voice or Brian's. One of them was a new voice. "Stay here," she said, getting up and going to the door. "I'm sure its nothing but I'm going to be nosy enough to go find out."

In the hallway was Edward's tall, lanky almost 7' figure, and he and Daniella were greeting each other with an embrace and a kiss on the cheek. Daniella had been offering him condolences on Angus's injuries.  He saw Kate and turned, and Kate saw Edward had brought a duffel bag with him.

"Where are they?" Edward asked. "How bad is it?" Kate went over and quietly told him that Robert had Angus in emergency surgery and that Bella had a couple of grazes that still needed treating.  

Edward went into the lounge while Kate decided to send for a fourth cup of tea so that Edward could join them.  Edward saw how upset Bella was, and his heart ached for her.

He went over and kissed her forehead. "I'm here," he said reassuringly. "It'll be alright. Angus is going to be fine. You wait and see. We'll get through it together, alright? I'm not leaving you. When Kate sent for me, I just naturally packed fresh clothes for you and Angus in case you needed it. I think you should let us take care of you now, okay? When Angus wakes up, he's going to want to see you first, so lets take care of the bleeding and get you into some fresh clothes. Let's do first things first, alright?"

She gave him a small smile when he said that he was sorry. She felt better when he put his arm around her shoulder, she calmed slightly. "Yeah it was but it wasn't when the firing began. It was after." She nodded when he said that there was nothing they could do in the hallway.

She went into the room where the lounge was. She picked one of the sofa's and sat down but didn't realize how much her leg was throbbing until she was sitting. She looked down at her leg but to her it didn't look bad but of course it was difficult to see when really looked tried to look at it. She looked about the room seeing the plants and fish thinking that the fish looked pretty.

She looked up at Kate's words, "Thank you. I didn't even think of talking to them." She said softly. "Yeah." She picked up the cup of tea and took a sip of it allowing it to calm her.

"I know Robert is the best for this, he patched up Angus the day he was injured in Diagon Alley. He did a good job patching him up then. I know he's the best person for this and the best to help Angus get through this." She said putting the cup back down and wrapped her arms around herself once more. She knew that she wouldn't be able to completely calm until she knew that Angus was better and that he was doing fine.

"I had to be, it was either be in control or a lot of people including ourselves would be killed like you said. I kinda ended up I think shooting two really old looking mirrors." She said laughing softly. She listened to everything that he was saying and knew what he was saying. "Well I knew that he needed me to be calm because he didn't need me to start freaking out. It wouldn't have helped either of us if I did so, I'm keeping calm because he needs me to. I need more training so that if I have to help him again so I'm a much better partner for him." She said softly.

"Of course." She said in response to Kate's words. She watched as she opened the patch hit but turned her head when she head someone talking in the hallway. She nodded when Kate said to stay where she was.

She looked up when the door to the lounge came in. "Hello Edward." She said with a small smile.

"I'm sorry I didn't have the chance to get a hold of you. I'm glad that Kate thought of it," She said accepting his kiss on her forehead. "Thank you Edward. That will be helpful to get rid of these ones, I'm just going to throw these out. Okay. He's going to end up worrying over me when he wakes up. Okay, that would work great to get cleaned up." She looked at all of them and felt safe. "Thank you, all of you." She said softly.

Edward took a look at Kate's patch kit. It was all pretty standard stuff. He took the scissors and clipped her jeans to see what the wound was. It was a graze, as he thought it would be, but that didn't necessarily mean it wasn't going to be painful for her.

"I'm not a healer, but I did learn one or two little things," he said. "Necessity in our family." He laid his hand on the wound and slowed the bleeding significantly. After cleaning it gently, he put a healing potion on a dressing and taped it on the wound. "Looks like a clean wound. Might not scar. If it does, I doubt it will be a large scar at any rate. Scar are not a bad thing actually. They're, in their own way, badges of honor that you've honestly been there, done that, and you've survived."

He finished with her leg wound and addressed the second wound with the same sort of care and attention. "There," he said. "That should hold until Robert double checks my work. Speak up, though, if it decides its going to bleed through, won't you?"

"Michael," Edward suggested, "see if you still have any weight here and see if you can muster up some place and some thing for her to clean up with, would you?"

"Certainly. Daniella won't be far, I'm sure," Michael said. He excused himself and went to see what the clinic would supply them. While he was gone, Edward opened the duffel and drew out a complete change of clothes for her that also included a pair of Bella's jeans, a shirt, shoes, and one of Khaat's long, soft duster sweaters. Edward knew that sometimes something warm and comforting to wrap around oneself could soothe some ruffled nerves.

Michael returned and said, "They've given us also the use of the room on right next door. Standard hospital room, but its got a nice bath. And they're setting out plenty of soap and towels and such for as long as we need it. I mentioned you thought you might ditch those clothes, and there's a clothesbasket in the room you can put those clothes in. They'll get rid of them for you if you like. If there's anything else you need, just ask. They're happy to help us."

"You'll be alright, then, freshening up?" Kate asked. She didn't want to intrude if Bella needed a moment for herself, but she also knew what it was like to sometimes just not want to be alone either. And that was perfectly fine with Kate too.

Bella watched him cut her jeans to take a look at the wound but she turned her head just in case. She knew however that it wasn't something that would cause her any trouble in the long run.

"Yeah I know a few things as well." She said with a small smile. She looked away when he placed his hand on her wound. She looked at it after he cleaned it and saw it wasn't too bad after it wasn't oozing blood. "Yeah it just nicked me. That's fine if it scars. I don't think it would be a big scar, I'll probably barely notice it there. These ones will most likely say came really close." She thought about when she got hit both times and knew she was definitely lucky they didn't hit further in.

She held still as he cleaned and dressed the wound on her upper arm. "I'm sure that you did fine with healing it. I will though I'm hoping it won't." She said looking at both dressings on her arm and leg.

She rubbed her hands together softly feeling slightly cold because the adrenaline was slowing down.

She looked at Michael as he left then back at Edward. She looked at the clothes that Edward pulled out for her and thanked her lucky stars that he thought to bring some. "Can you remind me to replace Khaat's jacket? I used it to put pressure on Angus' wound to slow the bleeding." She said to Edward as she took the clothing from him. She hadn't thought about it then but she knew that she had to replace that jacket.

She looked up when Michael came back in the room. "Thank you Michael. I don't think I'll be using the bath though. I don't want to get these wet," She said pointing the the dressings. "I'll put these clothes in there when I'm done. Okay thank you again Michael," She stood and began walking towards the hallway when she stopped.

She heard Kate's question and hesitated slightly, "Can you come with me Kate?" She asked softly not wanting to be alone at the moment. She appreciated Michael and Edward's help but she felt like she needed Kate with her for the moment.

"Forget Khaat's coat," Kate said. "We're family. Sharing is what we do." She took a sip of her tea, and when Bella took her up on her offer, she stood up. "Of course. You'll feel better when you get cleaned up." She didn't believe that Bella needed to be covered in blood, and on the chance that some of that blood had been Angus's, all the better that Bella got into clean clothes and not be tempted to look at the fear every time she saw the bloodstains on her clothes. Kate knew that from her own experience.

She went with Bella to the other room. They had laid out all sorts of things--towels, soap, lotion, shampoo, bath oil, shower gel, toothbrush, toothpaste, comb, brush, anything that anyone needed to clean up with.

"Well, they're thorough, I'll give them that," Kate trying not to laugh. She knew the overkill was most likely due to the request coming from Daniella. "You certainly aren't going to need all this. Looks like Edward was pretty thorough too. I think I see underthings and socks in that stack. Well, the man knows from experience that you're better to take it than not. And he didn't do badly in coordinating the colors of the shirt and the sweater either. Its nice when a man actually thinks about that."

"I'll take those old clothes when you're ready," she said. "You know, I know how you're feeling. I've been in similar spots with Robert. Waiting, trying not to let my imagination run wild with me, I had lots of long hours at first. For me, I had to figure out that I had to get a bit stronger if I was going to make it married to a Lupin. I did what you did--I chose to join him and learn how to fight alongside him. For me, it was the right choice. Now, whether I'm with him or not, I'm a partner with him in every way, and I've gotten accustomed to some of the run of the mill bumps and scrapes. Don't even think about them anymore. Things like this? Its always going to make your heart stop beating for a moment. That never changes. And that's why we're all in this together. Whatever he needs, we'll be sure he gets it.

She looked at Kate, "Still I would still like to replace it. It was a really nice coat," She said softly then watched as Kate stood up. "Thanks Kate." She then looked over at Michael and Edward. "Will you come get me if I'm not back when they come to update us?" She asked softly. She knew that they would but she still wanted to ask if they could just because she thought it would be polite. She hoped that getting into clean clothes and cleaning up that she would feel much better.

She saw all the things that they had laid out for her and knew she wouldn't need most of it. "Well I won't need the shampoo or bath oil. I don't want to my dressings wet or anything," She said softly. She grabbed the towels with soap, toothpaste and toothbrush, and the brush.

"Yeah they are thorough." She said with a smile. "I definitely am not gonna need all of this. Well that's good that Edward was thorough as well. I'll probably need all of those most definitely." She said then gave a small laugh when Kate said that he didn't do too bad on color coordinating. "Thank you again for coming with me." She said softly.

"Okay." She said when Kate said she'd take the clothes when she was ready. She went into the bathroom listening to Kate talking about everything. She kept the door open so that she could listen to Kate talk about how it was for her with Robert. "It's just the second he got hit I was scared that he wasn't going to make it. If I lost him I don't know what I'd do. I want to learn to more about fighting so that I can be a good partner for him when I'm needed. I'm glad we have all of you because times like this is it's good to have family around." She changed out of her old clothes and ran some water to clean off the blood on her arm and leg. Once she was cleaned up she changed into her new clothes that Edward brought. She went to the sink brushed her teeth then brushed out the tangles of her hair before putting it back up in a bun. She walked out of the bathroom with her old clothes and looking better than she did when she went in.

She had her own moments of nearly losing Robert and Khaat that were never going to leave her mind. They were fixed there, like horrific photographs that she was never going to un-see. She was certain that seeing Angus hit and seeing him fall had surely been terrifying.

"Yeah," she said, "that moment might be with you for awhile. If its any help, it does get easier when you get to actually talk to him again. Always brings so much relief. But, for me, I usually was relieved, and then I'd get irked with him for scaring me. I think he tolerates my being irked like I tolerate that he's not going to quit doing what he does. You and Angus will find your own ways of coping with it too."

She listened to Bella say she wanted to do more training. "I think that's a really smart idea. I train with Robert a lot, actually. It reduces his fear that I might not be able to defend myself, and it reduces mine that I'd be totally rubbish if I needed to help defend him. Robert and Brian will be happy to let you train with the rest of us. They always welcome more skills and education."

Bella came out of the bathroom looking a lot better. Kate reached out for the old clothes, tossed them into the clothes basket and draped Bella's used towels over them so she wouldn't have to see them anymore.

"Oh, much better," Kate smiled. "That has to feel better. I like big cozy sweaters like that when I'm nervous. Gives me something to wrap around myself. Looks better on you than it ever did on Khaat. Let's go see if there's any word yet. I'm sure they'll soon know something."

Kate stepped out into the hallway and was heading back to the lounge when she saw the door to the procedure room open and Brian came out into the hallway. She knew his face when they'd lost someone, and this wasn't it. Nor was it necessarily all roses either.

"He's got some news," Kate said. She headed towards Brian, wanting to hear how the surgery was going.

"I figured out that it would be with me for a while. Well as soon as I talk to him I'll probably feel better, when I was keeping the little girl safe. He was concerned about me and didn't even realize he got hit. I know that Brian and Robert will heal him, that they are the best at doing that but it still concerns me." She said softly she had looked in the mirror and sighed softly. "I'm sure we will find a way of coping as well."

"I wanna be prepared if he needs me. We've talked about me training but we didn't think it should be rushed since we were living at the estate. Since this happened I wanna train as soon as I'm better because if we do this again he'll need me to be better. I'll ask them about it so that I can learn as much as I can. I'm a fast learner so they won't have to worry about." She said knowing that she needed any help she could get from them.

She watched Kate toss her old clothes into the basket then drape the towels over them. She felt better about having clean clothes on and washing the blood off.

"It does feel better having a big cozy sweater on. It also warm so I'm not cold now. Yes please let's go see if there's any word yet on him." She said feeling nervous but hopeful about knowing some good news.

She followed Kate into the hallway heading towards the lounge with her. She looked over when the procedure room opened and Brian came out. She couldn't tell anything from his face but she felt like she was holding her breath for a certain amount of time.

She followed Kate towards Brian and wanted nothing but good news about Angus. "How is he?" She asked Brian when they got close to him.

She was trying to read his face, but she also knew her own anxiety was keeping her from seeing much. He was, as always, calm and steady.

"He's still with us," Brian told them. "And he's stable. The worst of the surgery is over. Robert's gotten the bullet, and he's stopped the bleeding. The bullet did penetrate the upper part of the left lung and fragmented some of the bone in that area, but we can manage a lot of that damage if we keep a close eye on it. Robert has set some healing spells in place for the deeper tissue damage and has set the bones. He's closing the incision right now.

"Robert said you can see Angus for a moment. He's going to be very sedated, but that's to be expected. Robert will let him wake for just a moment, but then he really does have to put the sedation spell back in place.

"I think he's going to be alright, but he's going to need continued care. For awhile, we're going to stay right with him to make sure that things continue to go well. He's strong, and he's doing better than we expected. I know that's a lot to take in. Any questions?"

"I think she'd like to see him as soon as possible," Kate said.

"We can do that now, if you'd like," Brian said.

At Brian's words of Angus being still with them tears ran down her face. She was happy that he was okay as she listened to him talk about the damage that the bullet did to his lung. She wanted to see him but she heard Brian say that Robert was closing the incision. She couldn't help herself she hugged him in thanks as more tears streamed down her face. She was so happy that he was fine and was going to recover from getting shot in the lung. She let go of him, "Thank you." She said her voice soft.

She nodded when he said Robert said she could see him for a moment. "That's fine," She said softly glad that she would be able to talk to him for a moment. She didn't want to have to leave his side after that but if she needed to she would.

"Okay. Will I be able to stay with him? Or will I only be able to visit him?" She asked softly, she didn't know the rules that applied to this place. "That's good that he's doing good. No I don't have any more questions. Thank you again though Brian." She used the edge of the sweater to wipe the tears from her cheeks.

"Yes please," She said wanting to see him and not wait any longer to see her husband.