A Fiery Love ~ Dramione (Sequel to Stay By My Side)

28. Torn

It happened so fast.

I didn't have the opportunity to get a strong grip on him so I ended up falling flat on my back with the weight of Draco's much larger frame on top of me. The impact of the fall sent only what I could describe as shock waves all up my spine and I winced in pain. Somewhere in between all of this my wrist sort of twisted and it felt incredibly stiff.

But my well-being was the least of my concern.

Very quickly I placed my hands on Draco's shoulders and used all the strength I could possess to push him off me. It took a lot of effort on my part and I was too busy panicking to even think about the pain coming from my wrist. When I finally pushed Draco's body off mine I kneeled down next to him and frantically patted his chest with urgency. I failed to catch my breath.

"Draco," I said loudly, my voice wobbling. "Draco. Can you hear me?"

He didn't even flinch. Droplets of sweat rolled down his forehead and his discoloured lips parted slightly. He reminded me of almost every patient in a particular ward in the hospital where the really sick go, the kind with life threathning diseases. He certainly looked the part and my anxiety increased.

"Draco please open your eyes." I said with ten times more urgency than I did before. I used my hand to push his damp hair away from his eyes and while doing so I realized that his skin was hot. I pounded on his shoulder again and tears pooled my vision. "Draco please. Can you hear me? Draco!"

When he didn't respond I checked his pulse which was still intact. I breathed a sigh of relief. I needed to act quickly and figure out what happened here, hoping that all my recent medical knowledge would come in useful. Without further hesitation I grabbed the nearest item of clothing I could find, which happened to be a jacket of mine hanging from the back of a chair, and I folded it up and put it underneath his head. He was burning up quickly so I knew I needed to do something about the heavy clothes he was wearing, when someone collapses it is usually a good idea to loosen their attire anyway. I undone the first few buttons on his shift, which was practically choking him anyway.

Suddenly I felt guilty, knowing that I left him behind when I knew he hasn't been eating properly or sleeping for days. There was a very high chance that this has contributed to Draco suddenly fainting. I should have stayed behind. I should have demanded that he properly looked after himself. Why wasn't I thinking straight?

"No. Don't do that." I suddenly felt a strong grip on my good wrist and I snapped my gaze to Draco, whose eyes were now wide open and alert. I was just halfway through rolling up his sleeve when this happened. He looked slightly dazed, it was clear he didn't know what was going on and he didn't want me touching him for whatever reason. My earlier feelings of panic now faded but my strong urge to help didn't.

"Draco." I said softly. "You passed out, okay? You need to relax and let me help you."

I tried to tug his sleeve up his arm again but his hand gripped me tighter which prompted me to give him a quizzical look. He lifted his head slightly but he ended up falling back down onto the jacket again.

"You are burning up and I need to loosen your clothes to try get your body at a normal temperature. Just bear with me." I pleaded.

"Just leave it. I feel okay." Draco told me in a quivering voice. He squeezed his eyes shut and pressed his lips into a hard line. "My fucking head..."

"I'll get you something for that." I nodded quickly. I glanced down to where his hand was still on my wrist, but it was more loose this time. "But first you need to let me get on with this. I know what I am doing Draco."