A Birth day

Angus went back in, and Anise immediately clutched onto his hand again with an iron grip was a lot like a vice on a woodbench. Angus never flinched. Angus understood Anise's tendency to hold tight to him. She was glad that both Ruby and Angus were there, but she didn't want to hurt Ruby. She knew Angus was as solid as a rock, and she trusted him to be able to take whatever she dished out. Angus purposely stood back behind Ruby a bit so that Anise could focus on Ruby.

They were sitting there for about ten minutes and then Robert came in, dressed in surgical scrubs. She had never seen him dressed like that before. It made her wide eyed for a moment.

"Calm," Angus told her softly. "It's just temporary to make sure there is no chance of infection."

"He's right," Robert said to her. "So, let me explain. I'm going to cast a sleep spell, and when you wake up, you'll be right back here, and it will be all over."

"I can't go without Dad and..."

"I'm going with you," Marcus said. "Remember? I'll have to put on a pair of these blue pajamas like Robert has on, and then I'll be right with you every minute." Anise looked at Ruby and Angus, and Angus nodded to reassure her. An orderly came in to wheel the gurney out of the room.

"You'll be fine," Angus told her. "We'll wait right here for you." He kissed her forehead, and the orderly took the gurney out of the room with Robert and Marcus going with her. Angus sat down to wait, hoping with all he had that Sam wasn't going to go rogue and come here and cause all kinds of hell. "I swear to Merlin, Ruby, if Sam shows up, I'm going to petrificus him into next week," he told her.

Ruby heard Anise as she saw Robert in his scrubs and smiled down at her " Angus is right we'll walk with you then Marcus will be at your side" she said softly. When they started to move she walked with her holding her hand gently . once they stopped she let Angus kiss Anises forehead and then she hugged her and gently kissed her head too " see you when you wake" she said letting go of Anise and stepping back as they wheeled her away.

Turning to Angus she looked at him " I agree, if he does come here , I want first crack." she said to him as she moved and held him in a hug to calm herself from worrying.

"If he shows up, you absolutely get first crack," Angus replied, "It will be better for him if I do not have first crack. And it's even better that Edward isn't here. he wanted to turn him into a Bertie Bott's vomit flavored bean. He said that if Sam wanted to dish out a lot of vomit, then that's what he deserved to be turned into. So, it's probably good that Edward isn't here."

Marcus stayed right with Anise every moment, and the surgery did not take nearly as long as Robert thought it might. She was gone only for an hour, and then the nursing staff brought her back, iwht Marcus right with her. She was asleep.

"She did very well," Marcus told them. "Robert had her awake after the procedure for a moment, but her pain spell is making her very sleepy. He has tended the damage and done some significant repair work. I think he thought there would be more damage than there was. I think he thought it was several llgaments, but it was one big ligament and a large bit of cartilage, but I think he thinks that if she does only what he tells her to do, she might well still be able to compete. I think right now she just wants to get home. Robert will be in shortly, I'm sure."

Ruby looked at Angus and smiled then chuckled as he spoke of turning Sam to a Bertie bott's bean, vomit flavour " might teach him to shout his mouth off" she said " but i'm glad Jack has him in hand" She stood with Angus and watched the O.R door, she was glad an hour later when it opened and they wheeled Anise out, smiling she took hold of the sleeping girls hand smiling gently as she brushed her cheek while listening to Marcus.

" that's good right?" she said and looked to Angus " I'm guessing once Robert says shes cleared to go home , we take her right back to her room or the couch?" she asked " I can get Aria to put your bed down there the one that raises for her so she can sit up by herself."

"It's good," Angus told Ruby. "We couldn't ask for better. I'm not sure what she's going to want to do, but if she doesn't have an opinion, I might just settle her on the couch for tonight so I can stay with her and keep an eye on her for the rest of the night. If I sleep in my chair, I'll be right beside her. We can decide in the morning what she'd rather do. I think she probably will sleep more restfully in her own bed, in her room with Ginger because that's what she's always had. And, I think that nothing ever quite feels so restful as our own beds. The quicker she gets back to her own routine, the better she might be. She might have a different opinion, but I think tonight she wants to be closer to us. If I stay with her tonight, you and Aria can tend to her tomorrow while I try to talk to Madame Maxime and the rest of all the details. If that's alright with you, that is."

It was about fifteen minutes after that when Robert arrived, changed back into his jeans and a button down and a pair of sneakers. He came in and checked her, looked at her knee and the incision and then woke her slowly.

"Am I home..." she began.

"Not yet," Robert said, "but its all finished. As soon as you feel awake enough, your parents can take you home. I'm going to send a potion home with you to reduce pain and to try to ward off any inflammation or muscle spasms. Now, listen. I do not want you on that knee until I say otherwise. I'll get you fitted with a pair of crutches. No more training until I give you permission to do it. Angus and Ruby, keep her knee elevated on pillows and keep icing it--20 minutes on and 20 minutes off--at least until bedtime tomorrow night. That'll be almost 24 hours. We'll see what it looks like them. She'll probably sleep for several hours when you get her home. I'll check in on her when I can. Any questions?"

"None on my part," Angus said.

"I trust you can help her dress, Ruby. Angus, if you sign the discharge papers, I'll send the potion and her crutches in to you, and you can take her home. She is not going to be ready to be on her feet.

"That's fine. I can manage," Angus said. Robert handed Angus the discharge papers and Angus signed them.

"Good. I'll be back or I'll send Jess in with crutches and her potion. Rest today, Anise," Robert said. He turned and left.

Ruby listened to Angus and smiled nodding her head " that's sounds fine to me" she said as she turned to see Robert enter she was relived when he said everything looked good and told them what they should do. Ruby smiled as Anise woke up " hey sleepy" she said softly as Robert spoke to Anise " I can help her get dressed" Ruby said as she watched Angus head to sign the discharge papers " okay " she said taking out the clothing they had brought, slipping on the trousers and top she took out a brush and brushed Anises hair to make her look like she had never been in a bed. " there much better." she said with a smile as she placed the brush back in the bag and threw away the paper gown.

Jess saw Angus filling out the forms and smiled " all done?" she asked him as she held a pair of crutches in her hand " Robert asked I bring these for Anise, and this" she took out a bottle of pain potion, it was flavored banana. " you know the dose, and ice, 20 minutes on and 20 minutes off" she repeated Roberts words to him. then she paused and placed her hand on his shoulder " and relax, she did well and it all went well, Jack has Sam in hand, he told me he has him now running laps." she said before she turned and headed into Anises room. " hey look what I found" she said smiling to her she walked over to Anise. " you know how to use these , go slow to start, and as Robert said rest for today , start on these.." she held up the crutches " tomorrow, there's no rush." she handed them to Anise. " good luck in your tournament." Jess said before she headed back out.

Angus handed the potion to Ruby to tuck into the bag, and he shrank the crutches temporarily and handed them to put in her bag too.

"Ready?" he asked Anise. He picked her up and she curled sleepily into his shoulder.

"What time is it?" she asked.

"Twenty minutes past two," Marcus said. "Let's go home, Everyone. Since Angus's hands are full, I'll do the driving, shall I?"

"Sure," Angus said. Marcus apparated them home, and he unlocked the door and opened it. Angus carried Anise in and laid her on the sofa. Angus took Anise's shoes from her, put a pillow under her head and put a couple pillows under her knee while Marcus got an ice pack for her knee. Angus covered her with a blanket. The whole process didn't take even two minutes but since the pain spell was so heavy in her system, she fell back into a sound sleep instantly.

"She looks good," Elwood said softly. "Her color is very good, and she looks a lot more comfortable now."

"Robert has applied a strong pain relief spell," Marcus told Elwood.

"So what's the damage?"

"A large ligament and quite a lot of cartilage damage," Angus said. "All things that Robert has some notable expertise in. if it were anybody else at it, I might worry, but she was in good hands. Jess presumed she knew how to use crutches. She doesn't. I do, though, so when she's awake, I'll get her started on that so she knows."

"She's a smart girl. It won't take her long," Elwood said.

"I'll stay with her tonight," Angus said, "and then tomorrow you lot can look after her while I take care of tournament arrangements and talk to the school. and about a hundred other things."

"That's my cue, then to get out of everyone's hair," Elwood said, yawning.

"I'll take you upstairs, shall I?" Marcus asked.

"Please," Elwood said.

"Aria, while I take Elwood upstairs, can you do a quick double check on the windows and doors before we head home to bed and they all go to bed here?" Marcus said. "once you do that, why don't you head home, and I'll come right behind you as soon as I'm finished here."

Ruby took the potion from Angus and the shrunk crutches and placed them into her bag before she watched Angus pick up a now sleeping Anise she took his arm and held on as Marcus took them home . Stepping back she resized the crutches placing them close to the sofa along with the pain potion.

Aria chuckled as she made her final move she had lost three games to Elwood but didn't mind as she was a beginner to it. seeing Angus appear holding Anise she stood up and moved so he could place her on the couch while Marcus took Elwood back to his room for the night . She heard Marcus and nodded " of course" she said and began her checks of the doors and windows making sure they were all locked.

Ruby handed Angus the blanket to put over Anise and smiled " that's fine, we can do that" she said to his suggestion of them looking after her in the morning. Moving to the kitchen she brought a jug and glass , the jug had cool water in it " for when she wakes she might be thirsty" she said placing it on the coffee table then left to retrieve a cup of Irish coffee for Angus. "Here, this is for you" she said smiling a she placed it in his hand " your going to need it if your going to stay up watching her." she said knowing that's most likely what he would do.

Aria finished her checks of the lower rooms and headed up to the upper rooms passing Elwood's room as she went " downstairs is locked" she called out softly to Marcus as she passed by and continued her checks.

"Thanks," Angus told her when she brought him the Irish coffee. Marcus double checked the upstairs and came back down after helping Elwood to bed for the night.

"The upstairs is secure, so I think we're good," Marcus said.

"Thank you," Angus said to them. "Go get some sleep, both of you."

"We will. Oh, by the way, I think Vasil and his family are heading home in the morning, so I could be a little later than usual while I see them off," Marcus said.

"Well, technically, you're not supposed to be on duty til second shift anyway, so we'll be fine," Angus said.

"I think we'll head home then. You're in charge, Minos," Marcus said. Minos just nodded. "Goodnight," Marcus said.

"'Night," Angus said, sitting down in his chair with his coffee. Marcus apparated out to head home. Angus turned down the lights, leaving a couple dim lights on. He didn't want the lights out entirely in case Anise woke in the night. He went upstairs briefly and changed into some pajama trousers and a tee shirt and then came back downstairs and got comfortable in his chair, yawning. Anise seemed to be resting comfortably, so he sipped on his coffee as the house got quiet, and then he closed his eyes, feeling grateful that this day was finally coming to a close.

Aria finished her checks and stayed with Marcus chuckling when he asked if he could be late " okay can I be late instead so I can see Marcus family off" she asked smiling to him " not too late" she added. Ruby stayed next to Anise while Angus saw Aria and Marcus off to their own home. She saw him lower the lights and sit down with a yawn .

"its been a busy day, relax" she said kissing his cheek " I'll let you watch over her " she said softly before checking on Anise pulling the blanket up to just under her chin " sleep well " she whispered to Anise and gently kissed her forehead before looking back to Angus and smiling a she saw him drift asleep.

Now with both of them sleeping she quietly headed to her room, showered and slipped into bed to fall asleep.