Emotional Connection

company

Ashley was nearing the end of her shift when her dad was brought in, being carried by two other trainers, barely conscious but still breathing, though how Ash couldn't say. It looked as though his entire ribcage had just caved in, along with his foot being completely crushed. "Oh Merlin, what's he done this time?" She hurried them to a bed, looking over his injuries, checking his eyes and neurological function before moving to his crushed bones.

"Saved all of us from being trampled." One of them sat in a chair. "Should you be treating him? He is your dad."

She glared, shutting him up, casting healing spell after healing spell over him, injecting a few potions into him, watching as a few of his ribs were already healing as she watched, though others would take a few days to be healed fully, at least it was working.

"Ashley, what- oh." Pete stood at the foot of the bed, a grim look on his face. "Come on guys, let's get out of here. He's in good hands." He ushered everyone else out, closing the curtains around them both.

She sat there, occasionally muttering another slew of healing spells at his body, praying for him to wake up, trying not to let emotion get the better of her. She'd seen him injured before, even seen him like this before, but back then she was all alone and knew that if she didn't keep it together he would die. Now that she had a solid place to work in, had coworkers and others who were just as talented if not more so than her, it was difficult to keep everything in check.

The cold set in, and Pete stopped by at the end of their shift with blankets, saying he'd be back with dinner for her. She nodded, making sure her dad was warm enough before wrapping herself in a blanket, tucking her knees up to her chest. She knew she wasn't doing him any good there, but she couldn't bring herself to go home without him. Besides, if he woke up she wanted to be able to yell at him first.

Pete stopped in and handed her a plate of pasta bolognese, asking if she was ok.

Ashley nodded, trying to smile. "He's come through worse. He'll come through this. I just want to be the first person to yell at him when he wakes up."

He grinned, trying to encourage her to eat, before leaving. She could hear him talking to Laura and James, probably telling them to keep an eye on her for the night, and she remembered that these people didn't know her that well, not really.
Staring down at him, she wondered what on earth he was thinking of, jumping in the path of a dragon. She chewed slowly, her mind racing, wondering if he was going to be like this until he died, then wondered if this was what would get him killed eventually; she fully believed her dad wasn't ever going to die until he decided to.

The night seemed to crawl by, though she was determined to stay awake for him, just in case he woke up and needed something.

"Want some company?" Charlie gently opened the curtain, and she could already hear footsteps. Probably James or Laura telling him to leave.

Ashley looked up at him. He looked genuinely concerned, even though he was struggling to stand with his weight. "Sit down, you're going to hurt yourself." She accio'd a chair from the next bed over, and he sat down gratefully, closing the curtain.

"I heard what he did. Possibly saved half the camp from the raging dragon."

Sighing, Ashley shook her head. "It's always something, always someone in danger that he has to save. If it's not me, it's a civilian, or a muggle town, or an endangered crop of something we found deep in a forest. It's always something, never himself."

Charlie frowned, "surely it's good, him saving all those people?"

"It is!" She spoke too loudly out of frustration, apologising immediately. "I'm sorry. It's just... great, he saves all those people. But it's always him, never anyone else. If he hadn't got in the way of that dragon today, I don't know, but maybe someone else would have done it instead. It wouldn't be any better, them lying here instead, that's not what I'm saying. But he constantly puts himself in the way of danger, and even though logically it's the right thing to do, there are always other ways to solve things, ways that don't end up in me treating him for fifty broken bones and a concussion."

Charlie didn't look surprised at her frustration, or even at anything she was telling him.

"I travel around with him because when I was eleven I spent my entire summer between Hogwarts and St Mungo's while he was being treated for similar injuries to this. I graduated early from Hogwarts to go to medical school early, attended that remotely through owl service and documenting all of my treatment methods for my dad, before graduating at nineteen. I've given him my life so that he can do what he likes with his, sometimes it feels like he doesn't get that, like he has no regard for his own life."

"Been sitting on that a long time?"

Ashley nodded, bowing her head. "Sorry, I had no right to release my frustrations onto you. I'm sorry."

Shaking his head, he smiled sympathetically. "I asked if you wanted company. I had a feeling you were here for more than just to see if your dad was ok. Plus, I saw how pissed you looked when he was brought in." they sat in silence for a couple of minutes before Charlie broke it, asking, "don't you have anyone you can talk to about it all? Seems as though you should probably have someone to hare your frustrations with other than yourself, considering you don't tell him, I'm assuming."

"Ah," she smiled, "it's not easy keeping in contact with anyone when you travel as frequently as we do, especially now, with You-Know-Who back. Besides, graduating Hogwarts early meant I didn't have a lot of time to socialise with people my own age."

"I think I remember something about someone graduating early... assuming that's you, of course, my younger brother wouldn't stop talking about it, even applied to do it himself and then wouldn't shut up about his application for it being rejected. Had to come all the way to Romania to escape it."

Ashley grinned, "Percy Weasley? He would constantly ask me how I'd managed to convince them to let me skip a year. He might explode if I tell him I had nothing to do with it and it was all McGonagall. Plus, being in Ravenclaw and living in the library all summer my first year, teaching myself second-year helped my case."

Charlie laughed, "oh I definitely want to be there when you tell him that. Though he's been practically cut off from the family because of his attitude to mum and dad. He's a puppet for the Ministry now."

Ashley rolled her eyes, "he always was a stickler for the rules."