My Time Is Up (TW: Illness, Near Death Experience - Clarinda, Summer, Victoria & Zander)

Life had been going so well for Victoria. Her boyfriend was practically perfect in every single way. She was in love, and she was loved in return. Her best friend was possibly the best friend she had ever had, so warm and bubbly and ready for adventure. Summer had found love, too, Victoria could see that in the man from Spain who went by the name of Adrian. Jake was earning his promotions in his job, and the wedding plans for his and Veronika's wedding were deeply under way. University was going very well, and her professors had used the word 'proud' against her achievements when she'd returned to the school

Nothing could have made Victoria happier, truth be told.

Except, when life was going too quickly in the right direction, there would, eventually, come a time when things started to go wrong.

It started off with headaches whilst she worked, but Victoria dismissed them. Overworking with little sleep led to that, it wasn't something she was unaccustomed to. But, a potion she usually used was not helping her. Nor was drinking more water than she already did. Victoria kept this to herself, though, she didn't want to worry anyone over a headache.

The migraines came a week later, and Victoria had told Zander about the headaches that had led up to it. He had suggested seeing a doctor (perhaps she needed glasses?), but Victoria had waved this away. Why would you waste a doctor, or Healer's, time with a migraine. No, she kept going, battling through the ache in her head to keep up with her work at university. Perhaps, she should have rested, but Victoria was too persistent with her studies to back down.

Two days after the migraine had come in to being, Victoria had started feeling dizzy. Most especially when she stood up, or exerted herself physically. It had been Summer that had caught Victoria from falling over in the cafeteria at lunch time, and at the touch of Victoria's skin that was way above normal temperatures, the concern for her wellbeing had kicked in.

Victoria, though, had waved it off as a flu, or something, and taken a Pepper-Up potion to make herself feel better. But it felt like her skull was crushing in on her brain. By the weekend, Victoria knew something was wrong, perhaps more than a flu, but she felt unsure on what to do. She couldn't cancel on seeing her nephew, could she? No. So, Victoria had gone around to her brother's house that day, forcing a smile on her lips even though her body was running from extremely hot to icy cold every other minute. She'd just reached the door of Jake's new home, rung the bell, when the world went black around her.

***

Jake Newbury had found Victoria on the doorstep of his home two minutes later. She was out cold, and her breathing was shallow. Calling over his shoulder to his fiance, Jake had lifted his sister's weakened body and after explaining to Veronika what he would do and that she please contact their parents and get them over to England as soon as possible, he had apparated to St Mungo's.

Not knowing everything that had happened, Jake had done his best to explain how he'd found Victoria. And, as the preliminary examinations were done, he could see that the news was not good. Victoria, who had been through so much in her life, was sick. Again.

Jake had waited for the Healers to do the tests, and the truth of the situation was told an hour later in the families room of the hospital. Victoria had contracted the Illness that the papers had written about. The illness the Auror's were trying to trace a source of. Their parents had arrived a couple of hours later, both looking highly flustered, and asking questions so fast that Jake could not keep up with them.

As the Healers explained to his parents, Jake had borrowed paper, scribbling down (Jake's handwriting was not the best, but trying to work quickly and under immense stress made it much worse) a note to both Zander and Summer explaining what was going on. Perhaps he should have delivered the message in person, but Jake simply would not leave the hospital.

***

Victoria came too, briefly, her body did not feel right in that moment. Everything felt so heavy, even her eyelids, but slowly, they opened. It had been two weeks since she passed out at Jake's door, and the images before her didn't make sense. A cleansed colour of green claimed the wall opposite her, a colour that held no meaning to her. Noises filled the room that she had not heard before. Slowly, people swam in to being, but nobody stood before her that she knew.

Victoria tried to speak, but only a raspy sound left her throat. The effort made her feel light headed in that moment. Her heart pounded in her chest - panic. The not knowing was creating a panic inside of her, and Victoria didn't know how to help herself in that moment.

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Work was growing increasingly busy, with new cases coming in. The panic was real among the staff, and Clarinda had to do everything she could to ensure that they did not show how afraid they were to the public. So, she was all smiles and cheerfulness, phrases like, "We'll find out soon," passing her lips every other moment. It was only when she got home that she let out all her hidden fears and frustrations to Kam.

But this case, this current case, was what the head healer was focusing her time on. Glancing down at her file, Clarinda closed her eyes momentarily, having had a long night at work. Victoria Newbury. Not their youngest patient, but not the oldest, either, and a cause for hope, for it was a different strain.

The symptoms had been the same, but when the tests had been run, it was proven to have been mutated, somehow, giving the young University student a fighting chance. Sure, it was still possibly deadly, but there was a larger chance of survival. Did this young witch hold the possible cure to the virus, or was this just a mishap that meant nothing? Clarinda had too many questions and not enough answers, but that was why she had taken a personal interest in this case; Victoria could be holding the cure without even realising it.

"She's waking up."

A voice interrupted her thoughts, and Clarinda immediately got to her feet, nodding her acknowledgement of the statement. Grabbing her wand from the table beside her, she made her way towards the room Victoria was placed in. Walking quickly but not so fast that people thought there was an emergency, Clarinda arrived in the room in time, shooing away the healers that had gathered in the room with a stern glare. Nobody ever woke up; this was a very positive sign, and she knew that the curiosity shown by those under her was mostly due to them wanting to have hope. But, the girl would be no doubt confused, and so now was not the time to deal with the virus. No, now was the time to comfort and answer questions and look at Victoria as a scared girl, and not a possible solution.

"Hello," Clarinda said, tone soft, moving to sit at the side of the bed. "My name is Clarinda. I'm the healer in charge of you. You are in St. Mungo's. Do you know your name?" she spoke calmly and gently, making sure that her voice was no louder than a whisper.

The sound of scuffling filled the room for a moment, the people that Victoria didn't know, left. Only a single person remained, and as the woman moved to her bed, Victoria's eyes followed slowly. Lethargically, that was the word that her mind provided as she tried to work out what was going on around her and with her.

As the woman sat down, Victoria's mind contributed the uniform of the people who had just left. Healers. But the woman who sat down wasn't wearing that. Denoting she was high up in this ward. Even as Victoria thought this, the woman, Clarinda, explained who she was, and where they were. Worry touched the younger witch's features, she didn't remember how she had gotten here...

"Do you know your name?"

Victoria gave a very small nod of her head, barely visible to most. "V... Victoria." She responded, her voice quite hoarse in that moment. "Newbury." She added, realising she probably needed her full name. Those two words were tiring, and Victoria's eyes closed momentarily, taking a few shallow breaths, before opening her eyes again, looking at the older woman.

"Why?" Victoria asked, the worry clear through the forced word she had spoken. There were a lot of questions she wanted to ask, but talking was very, very tiring. Her family would be here, she knew, so she didn't have to ask. No, energy needed to be conserved, even if her heart was racing with the worry of what was happening.

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She waited, patiently. There had been a reason in her every interaction, including why she had not greeted the female by name as she usually did, and Clarinda subconsciously held her breath as the young witch began to speak. At the mention of the full name, Clare smile, slowly letting out the breath in a manner that she knew would not attract attention.

"Well, Victoria, it seems you're one very lucky witch," she told her, still in the same gentle tone. It was relieving that there had been no mental damage despite the fever and the headaches; they had worked around the clock to keep her temperature down, using potions and spells and even muggle ways like cold water. It had finally worked, but with high fevers there was always a chance of brain damage.

The question showed that the witch was capable of thought, at the very least, and combined with the confusion (if she wasn't confused it wouldn't have been a good sign) Clarinda was confident that things would go well. Signalling to the other healer in the room to allow the people waiting outside to enter - namely, Victoria's brother, boyfriend, and friend - she smiled.

"I needed to make sure you were functioning well," she explained. From what she had heard about this witch, she was a bright one, and Clare was not one to mollycoddle, explaining things blatantly to those she knew could handle it. Victoria's reports from school and whatnot proved that she probably could. "You were out for two weeks. Nobody else has ever woken up before, and so we had concerns that your mental capacities wouldn't be fully there."

Reaching out to gently put her hand over Victoria's, Clarinda smile. "But you'll be fine. Now, I believe there are people who want to see you," she concluded, turning to glance at the door.

» Zander's Graduation (Victoria & Zander)
» Better in Time (Clarinda)
» Making Friends in Unlikely Circumstances (Zander & Victoria)
» Meet the (Growing) Family (Zander, Jake & Victoria)
» Long time no see (Summer) Flashback!