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Post by Angelique St. Clare on Jun 20, 2009 17:11:08 GMT -5
The medical crew led the way with Arthur Weasley on a floating stretcher. Behind them was a second crew, leading the stretcher carrying Geoffrey Montgomery. Ted and Hayden led Riley, holding onto the girl. Angelique, walking behind everyone as a sort of rear guard, couldn't quite imagine how Riley was managing to stand on her own two feet. She seemed to be on autopilot, moving almost without conscious thought. She seemed to have shut down completely.
Angelique ached for the girl, and was strongly considering the idea of giving Riley a forced leave of absence. First her partner died in front of her, and now she was nearly murdered by her own best friend while under the Imperius Curse. It was all too much. Even the strongest person would have to be cracking under that kind of pressure.
The medical crew took them all to the Apparation area, where they were able to do a sort of group apparation, taking all of the victims with them in a single spell. Angelique alone was left, and she took a deep breath and followed behind them with a POP.
Inside St. Mungo's, Arthur was whisked to an examining room, and Ted and Hayden followed suit with Riley. Geoffrey was taken to a curse-breaking room by the second crew. Angelique stayed behind to give what information she had to the receptionist.
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Post by Adrienne Kelly on Jun 20, 2009 17:58:05 GMT -5
Adrienne happened to be on shift when the group came in. She was there when Veronica sent the call for mediwizards, and wondered quietly what had happened at the Ministry. Accidents there were usually never something really minor.
She took down all of the relavant information from Angelique, and then allowed the woman to follow after Arthur as she paged different mediwzards to each room.
Geoffrey Montgomery's case was the hardest. Grace had been the one to remove curses and the like, but she was gone now. Tim could do it, but he was off at the moment, and it was just sort of habit to think of her brother as the guy who would save the day. She sent Chase after Montgomery, and then Lydia to see Riley.
Lastly, she sent Danielle after Arthur.
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Post by Arthur Weasley on Jun 20, 2009 22:21:30 GMT -5
"I'm telling you, I'm fine," Arthur said, struggling to get up from the bed. He was still a little weak, though, and he kept falling back on the pillow. "I wasn't even hurt, it was just a little Stunning Spell. It's Geoffrey you have to see to, he was acting odd, I tell you. All weird and spacey. He could be really hurt. Will someone tell me just what the hell is going on?"
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Post by Ted Tonks on Jun 20, 2009 22:49:17 GMT -5
Riley, meanwhile, was taken down the hall to a quiet little room. The medi-nurse tried getting her to sit on the examining table, but she refused to let go of Ted. He could hardly blame her... he was the one who pulled her out of they way of the curse, and she had barely let go of him since. In his mind, he figured that made him safe to Riley. And now that her best friend tried to kill her, he rather thought that no one would be safe to her. Not in her mind.
He wished Andromeda was here. Would Riley start pushing everyone away even more now? She couldn't keep doing this alone.
"It's fine," he told the nurse. "We'll just wait for the doctor." He sighed, glancing at Hayden for what felt like the millionth time.
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Post by Danielle Thomas on Jun 20, 2009 22:52:06 GMT -5
"Mr. Weasely, please just lay down for a moment," Danielle said. She hated patients like this. He could have hit his head when he fell, or any number of things, and she just needed to check.
"I can't tell you what's going on because I don't fully know, but there is a mediwizard with Mr. Montgomery and another with Ms. Neves as we speak, all right? Now lay back."
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Post by Arthur Weasley on Jun 20, 2009 23:04:25 GMT -5
"Riley?" Arthur said, trying to sit up again. "What happened to Riley? Is everyone OK?"
He fell back on his pillow again and sighed. He knew it was the woman's job to make sure he wasn't hurt. And while he didn't know exactly what was going on, he did know that he'd been Stunned. That was the last thing he remembered. He knew Geoffrey had done it, but he'd also gotten the closest look at Geoffrey's eyes. They'd been vacant and blank, and it had scared him.
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Post by Chase Kelly on Jun 20, 2009 23:09:44 GMT -5
Chase went straight to the room with Geoffrey, wondering what had gone on. At the moment, Geoffrey Montgomery was considered a hostile case, and what from the little bit he had been filled in on, the guy was hell bent on killing another patient that had just been admitted.
He checked Geoffrey's eyes first, seeing the same blankness that everyone else had. Imperius curses were nasty things to lift, especially if the person who casted the curse was really good. The better cast the spell, the harder it was to lift.
He quickly assessed that the man was indeed under the spell. He sent everyone else out of the room and had the door sealed, just in case, and set to work.
Whoever cast this particular curse knew what they were doing.
A few moments later, however, when he was fairly certain the curse was removed, he then removed the body binding spell Angelique cast.
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Post by Danielle Thomas on Jun 20, 2009 23:14:24 GMT -5
Danny sighed. "Ms. Neves is uninjured," she said, her voice firm. She wished she had known that he wasn't away of the entire situation, and she wouldn't have mentioned anyone else. "In fact, no one is injured, except maybe you. So please relax for a moment."
When he was laying back, she did a very quick check of him, knowing he wouldn't stay still for long, and then gave him an energizing potion so that he wouldn't feel quite so weak.
"Looks like you'll survive," she told him wryly, making sure he swallowed the potion.
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Post by Geoffrey Montgomery on Jun 20, 2009 23:25:38 GMT -5
From the moment Hayden had hit him with the Stunning Spell until shortly after being brought into St. Mungo's, Geoffrey had remained unconscious. This was both a blessing and a curse. With the body-binding spell in place, he would have been conscious and unable to move. And the Imperius Curse would have been in control of him, so he would have been straining to get free in order to accomplish the ghoulish mission he'd been forced to complete.
But in his unconscious state, he was Geoffrey again. Sweet, warm, caring Geoffrey. And in his mind, he was in hell. Tormented by horrendous dreams that he knew would not go away long after this incident had long since passed, Geoffrey was suffering terribly. A part of his subconscious had been there in the back of his mind the whole time, trying to get free. He knew everything that had happened, but in the dreams that haunted him, it had gone much further. In his dreams, he'd succeeded in killing Riley, but not before torturing her brutally and making her scream. The bloodcurdling screams echoed through his mind until he was no longer certain what was real and what was in his mind.
When he regained consciousness, before the healer removed the curse, there was a terrifying couple of moments where the power of the curse was battling against the real Geoffrey, and neither one of them could move. It was a terrible internal battle, and Geoffrey was losing it.
Thank Merlin for the Healer. He was able to remove the curse, and Geoffrey felt, at last, as if he had full control of himself again. If only he could trust himself. He now knew the true evil of the Imperius Curse.... not only would Riley never trust him again... but he wasn't sure he'd ever trust himself. As it was, he still didn't know what was real... was Riley even still alive? Or had the hideous images in his dreams been real? If they were... he would never forgive himself. He would have rather died than hurt Riley....
At last the Body-Binding Curse was lifted, and Geoffrey was able to move. But he didn't. He squeezed his eyes shut, allowing a tear to trickle down his cheek. "Riley.... is she OK?" he whispered.
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Post by Chase Kelly on Jun 20, 2009 23:43:45 GMT -5
Chase was quiet for a moment, still checking Geoffrey over for injury. He appeared to be fine... physically, at least. He kept the room sealed for now, just to make sure. On top of that, he knew that this boy's day was far from over. He tried killing someone... even with Chase's word that he'd been under the Imperius, he was still going to be interrogated. Chase was delaying that for him.
On top of that, he'd seen several cases of this. The victim, in this case Geoffrey, was usually very tormented, especially the ones who caused real damage that they didn't want to do. He wanted to give Geoffrey a clean bill of health before releasing him into the real world.
The reason he was quiet was simply because he didn't know how Riley was. He hadn't seen her come in or talked to anyone assigned to her... he didn't even know if she was alive. But 'I don't know,' was so obviously the wrong answer here that he wasn't sure what to say.
"She's fine," he replied. If the girl was injured, or worse, it was probably better that he didn't know right away anyway. "Can you open your eyes for me?
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Post by Geoffrey Montgomery on Jun 21, 2009 0:00:50 GMT -5
After having been ordered to do something completely against his will, Geoffrey wanted to fight all requests, as if to prove that he was in full control of himself now. Whether it was to himself that he wanted to prove it, or to the healer, Geoffrey wasn't sure. Maybe both.
He kept his eyes squeezed shut for a couple of minutes. "I... I couldn't.... I didn't..." he murmured tearfully. "I wouldn't hurt her. I love her."
Finally, he opened his eyes and turned a tortured gaze to the healer. "I swore I would protect her."
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Post by Chase Kelly on Jun 21, 2009 0:10:27 GMT -5
That tortured look was more than enough for Chase. All threat of the curse was gone. Geoffrey was 100% himself again. He sincerely hoped, for this guy's sake, that whoever Riley was, she wasn't hurt.
"Is she your girlfriend?" he asked, the question sounding logical in his head. Geoffrey did just say he loved her, afterall. "She probably knows it wasn't really you, you know. Girls have a sixth sense about things like that."
He met Geoffrey's eyes and gave him a very serious look. "It wasn't you. And even if something did happen, it's not your fault."
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Post by Geoffrey Montgomery on Jun 21, 2009 0:17:41 GMT -5
Geoffrey shook his head weakly. "No, not my girlfriend. My best friend. Practically my sister." He sighed again and closed his eyes. He remembered being rude to Alison, and wondered if she would hate him now, too. And Arthur Weasley....
"Is Arthur OK?" he asked. "I think... I did something to him, too. I... I was conscious for some of it... it was like I was trapped behind a glass wall. I could see what was happening, but I couldn't stop it."
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Post by Chase Kelly on Jun 21, 2009 0:28:46 GMT -5
He didn't know about Arthur, either, but he felt safer admitting that somehow. "You know, I'm not sure about him. I could find out for you. But the second I leave this room, others will start coming in. My nurses will move you to an actual room, and there are always questions to be answered after something like this. So when you're ready for that, let me know, and I'll go find out about Arthur for you. Until then, it's just you and me."
He pulled up a seat next to Geoffrey's bed. "It's an Unforgivable curse for a reason," he said. "It's cruel, and from what I;ve seen, it's hard to get passed, because you do see what's happening. But no one blames you for whatever happened today."
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Post by Geoffrey Montgomery on Jun 21, 2009 0:41:56 GMT -5
There was no way Geoffrey was in any condition to talk to anyone else about what happened. He supposed that he would be interrogated by aurors, and despite what the healer said, Geoffrey did not believe that no one blamed him for what happened. He felt like, in that second, that he'd never be able to face anyone who knew him ever again. It would have been far kinder if the man who had done this to him had just killed him.
"I tried to fight it," Geoffrey whispered. "I just... I couldn't. It overwhelmed me. It was like I was on the outside watching as this... monster.... took over my body. It was horrible. I swear... I never would have done those things. Never. I just wish I knew that they were OK..."
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Post by Chase Kelly on Jun 21, 2009 0:51:00 GMT -5
"I'm certain they're fine," Chase replied. He realized that it was better if he just let Geoffrey talk. There was really nothing he could say to make this better for the guy. The best thing would be to let him see Arthur and Riley... he didn't know how to make that happen right away. Him leaving meant that Geoffrey was no longer hostile, and he certainly wouldn't allow the two people he attacked to see him if he wasn't right again.
"It's over now. I promise."
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Post by Geoffrey Montgomery on Jun 21, 2009 1:03:58 GMT -5
Geoffrey shook his head. The last few weeks--months, even--had been a steadily increasing hell, and this was just the last straw for Geoffrey. First there had been the attack at Hogsmeade, where Sam was nearly killed, and both Jamie and Cyrus had both been injured. Then Roland had been killed. And now this. Geoffrey couldn't help but think that this was all far from over. Even when this immediate crisis was over, there would be another. And another. They were at war.... the decent people, and the death eaters. The worst part was, it was only beginning.
Like Christine had before him, Geoffrey felt himself shutting down inside. It was all too much for him and he couldn't stand it. He wanted to retreat from the world, hide under a shell like a turtle. He wanted to go where it was safe, because out there.... it was just too dangerous.
"Please. Go find her. And tell her... Tell her I'm sorry." He laid back on the pillow and turned his head away from the healer, dissolving into silent tears. He knew that the questions were going to come, and he might as well do them now and get them over with. Then he would allow himself to shut down.
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Post by Chase Kelly on Jun 21, 2009 1:11:12 GMT -5
Chase nodded, feeling helpless. He wished he could do more for the guy, but he didn't know what. He just prayed the girl was alive, and that Arthur was, too.
He stayed for a couple of minutes, silent, and then left, giving two nurses explicit orders that the only people who were allowed inside that room for now were doctors and Aurors. He then stopped by Arthur's room to see that he was doing well, with Danny treating a minor head injury.
Which left the girl. He stopped by the front to ask if she had been brought in, and was told that she was now with Lydia. At least they were both alive, and that was news he would take back to Geoffrey.
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Post by Arthur Weasley on Jun 21, 2009 1:22:24 GMT -5
Danny sighed. "Ms. Neves is uninjured," she said, her voice firm. She wished she had known that he wasn't away of the entire situation, and she wouldn't have mentioned anyone else. "In fact, no one is injured, except maybe you. So please relax for a moment." When he was laying back, she did a very quick check of him, knowing he wouldn't stay still for long, and then gave him an energizing potion so that he wouldn't feel quite so weak. "Looks like you'll survive," she told him wryly, making sure he swallowed the potion. Arthur was relieved to hear that everyone was being cared for. He still wasn't entirely sure what had happened, but he trusted that the hospital staff and the auror department had the matter well in hand. Once he had been dosed with the potion and the minor injury he'd sustained when he hit the floor, he was really ready to get up and go. However, he was not yet done. |
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Post by Angelique St. Clare on Jun 21, 2009 1:46:56 GMT -5
Angelique sailed into the room where Arthur was resting. She glanced at him first, but then turned to the Mediwitch who had tended to him. "Hi, Ms. Thomas, is it? Is it OK if I ask Mr. Weasley a few questions now? I'm investigating what happened, and he's an important witness... but I don't want to push it if he's not well."
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