Night and the Infirmary

[spooky-shrink.livejournal.com]

Malcolm comes back to the infirmary a few hours later to check on Draco. The kid is still out, which doesn't surprise the doctor. He doubts the boy has had much sleep for quite a while.


(ooc: slowtiming for guppy-mun, mainly, but other tags welcome too)

Comments

[witchy-rebel.livejournal.com]

A certain someone, with too-dreamy grey eyes and long black hair, sticks her head around the door. Her eyes scan the room for a moment, and then they fall on Draco.

"Oh. Is he still not well?" She asks the room in her soft voice.

[spooky-shrink.livejournal.com]

"Hello, Morgan," Malcolm replies. He smiles, but his voice is hushed.

"No, I'm afraid not. In fact--." Malcolm stops, and looks at Morgan, his eyes heavy with meaning. "He's been hearing voices. From his father and other people. And they haven't been saying good things."

You might be just the person I should talk to about him. Maybe you might understand where others wouldn't.

[witchy-rebel.livejournal.com]

She straightens, and then slips into the room, shutting the door behind her and leaning against it for a moment. Her eyes flicker from Malcolm to the sleeping Draco and then back again.

Simply,

"They rarely do. Trick of the mind, playing and fighting on itself - take a guilt, take a sin, twist it and scream it until you scream yourself. That's what they do."

[spooky-shrink.livejournal.com]

Simple, perhaps, but insightful. Malcolm nods, thinking hard:

"Could the voices could be tricked somehow? I wonder--."

"I wonder if there might be a way to introduce a new voice into the mix. A positive one, a helper. Maybe even a voice to help counter the others."

"Or is that a trap? Am I talking here about a way back to daylight? Or would trying to add another voice, no matter what it says, just end up pushing him even deeper into the dark?"

[witchy-rebel.livejournal.com]

"Metaphors need work." She comments with a little cheeky smile. "Very traditional. But, aside from that, it's..."

Another step into the room, and another - graceful, despite her pregnancy.

"Voices as loud as people talk. Not like we are, not a whisper, but normal. Another voice, a shouting match, perhaps. I don't, he's asleep, and so is his mind."

[inquisitivehero]

A Doctor Hank McCoy, smiling, stops by.

"Evening."

(ooc: slowtime is love)

[spooky-shrink.livejournal.com]

Malcolm smiles back, and in a hushed voice, replies, "Hello."

"I don't think we've met, but... you're Hank McCoy, right?"

He offers a hand. "Malcolm Crowe. Pleased to meet you."

[inquisitivehero]

"Indeed. I have heard a lot about you, Doctor. And I am pleased to meet you as well. From what I have heard you have been doing a lot of good around here."

Hank shakes the man's hand.

[spooky-shrink.livejournal.com]

"Trying to, at least. And you've been doing quite a lot of that yourself. I'm glad we're on the same side."

Malcolm looks over at the huddled form of Draco. "Especially with some of the recent threats. Maybe it's just me, but it seems like the stakes have been rising lately."

[inquisitivehero]

"We have had our hands full of doom, almost as if some group somewhere were looking on and plotting our dooms. A strange feeling sometimes, but... I am sure we will find a way to set things right."

[mark-of-samael.livejournal.com]

"are you his daddy?" asks a curtained bed.

There's a sliver of face peering out.

[spooky-shrink.livejournal.com]

Malcolm looks up and smiles, though he keeps his voice low so he doesn't wake Draco.

"No, not exactly. I'm his doctor. If he'll let me, anyway."

"I'm Malcolm. What's your name?"

(Reply to this

[mark-of-samael.livejournal.com]

There's a pause. "alessa." She looks the boy over. "he has bad dreams. i wanted to help."

[spooky-shrink.livejournal.com]

"Nice to meet you, Alessa."

Malcolm follows her gaze, and nods slowly at Draco.

"Yes, he does. I'm hoping I can help him too."

"But sometimes we have to be patient. Helping people can take a long time."

"And they have to want to be helped. Even if they want it just a little bit, that can be enough. But sometimes you have to wait for them to decide they're ready."

[mark-of-samael.livejournal.com]

"some people don't want help? why not?"

[dragonofgrey.livejournal.com]

In fact, Draco had been sleeping since the session, peaceful and dreamless too. The hypnosis worked even better than the Dreamless Sleep potions, and his face was smooth, no lines of worry or fear there now. It seemed like he would be out for some time, obviously long overdue on serious rest. The grey tinge to his pale skin had faded some, and the dark circles under his eyes were perhaps not quite as prominent. Just calm, slow and steady breathing of someone deeply asleep.

[witchy-rebel.livejournal.com]

Sometime after the talk with Malcolm, Morgan drifts over to Draco's bed. She studies him for a moment, a slightly frown on her pretty face.

"Poor thing," she murmurs softly, brushing some hair aside. For all she's barely older then him, the gesture is oddly maternal.

[dragonofgrey.livejournal.com]

Draco stirred a little at the contact, and there's a muzzled reply of, "...Mum?" His eyelids fluttered a little, and he slowly became more conscious.

"Who... Morgana?"

[witchy-rebel.livejournal.com]

"Mmm, yes, that's right." A little smile, and she takes a seat next to the bed, drawing her legs up and crossing them like she's a little girl on the first day of school.

"Saw you before, was worried, you see. Lost track of time, though."

[dragonofgrey.livejournal.com]

Draco just gave a sleepy nod at that. His mind was currently quiet, but he didn't know how long that would last.

"Been a while, I think?" He quietly replied.

[guppy_sandhu]

By Guppy's body clock, it is very early in the morning, which may explain why Guppy is in his pyjamas when he enters the infirmary. Without appearing to see Malcolm, he gets an antiseptic wipe and scrubs it over his hands, frantically, even though they are prefectly clean.

Trying to wash of his father's blood

He is very pale and panicky, breathing fast.

[spooky-shrink.livejournal.com]

And Malcolm is nearby, not so close as to startle him, but close enough to see what he's doing.

Then, in a voice quiet enough not to wake Draco, he asks:

"Doctor Sandhu? Guppy?'

"Can I help you?"

[guppy_sandhu]

He jumps and looks around. Anything would have startled him right now. His eyes are wide with the fear and adrenaline, but also red and swollen, his cheeks moist with tears.

"I really hope so." he says quietly. He looks down at his hands.

"I can make it go away if I concentrate really hard but it's back every time I wake up from a nightmare and it's scaring the hell out of me because I know it shouldn't be there and it isn't but it feels like it is."

[spooky-shrink.livejournal.com]

Malcolm listens quietly, then says:

"I did get the news about your father. I was very sorry to hear about it. Still am. And this, with your hands, it's about that, isn't it?"

Malcolm looks around the dark infirmary. "Look, it's quiet here now. Would you like to grab a couple of chairs and sit and talk about it a little? Maybe you could fill in details for me. Or if you'd rather not talk about it, we could talk about anything else you'd like."

"And in the meantime--." Malcolm glances at a nearby tray and grabs a full roll of gauze bandage and tosses it to Guppy. "--Here, try holding on to thiss. In fact, squeeze the hell out of it if you have to. It'll give your hands something else to do, while we talk."

[guppy_sandhu]

Guppy nods, gripping onto the bandages. He is starting to calm down from the nightmare, less panicky but still pale. He goes to the door of the infirmary office.

"Can we talk in here?" he asks, not really wanting to discuss it in front of the patients, even if they do appear to be asleep.

As the image of blood fades, he sits down weakly on the sofa and puts his head in his hands.