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last online May 3, 2024 8:52:24 GMT -7
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Feb 25, 2017 8:30:04 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Feb 25, 2017 8:30:04 GMT -7
Andy was still in the hospital, and Natalia was still breathing. The two things weren't related, but Nat felt like they were, for some reason, like it was important that she was breathing in spite of her sister's pain. It was strange, to be in St. Mungo's so much without lifting a finger. If things weren't so dire, Nat probably would have forgotten why she was there and started working. Except for things were so dire, and Nat was still working on how exactly she ought to hide how much she was hurting from the rest of the world. She didn't like being vulnerable. It was the opposite of what she ought to be, especially right now. Andy deserved a chance to be vulnerable for once, which meant that Nat needed to be strong. Like she had been when they were kids, before she had learned how to feel. What it came down to, though, was that Natalia couldn't spend much time with her sister without breaking down in one way or another. She always had to give up her doorway vigil after a half an hour, and find a different part of the hospital to tuck herself away in. Her favorite spot to decompress in was the corner of the cafeteria, and that was where she was now, just...waiting.
@antonia
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last online May 3, 2024 8:52:24 GMT -7
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Feb 25, 2017 18:50:26 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Feb 25, 2017 18:50:26 GMT -7
Antonia knew that something serious had gone down with the Lestranges over New Years, and that Andromeda was in St. Mungo's. It was all quite hush-hush and rumours, of course, Healer-patient confidentiality and all, but news still spread if you were on the right grapevine.
So when she saw Natalia in the corner of the cafeteria, she hesitated. Of course she was curious, but the other woman did not entirely look in the mood for company. But she didn't look alright either, and alone wasn't a particularly healthy coping mechanism. But they were hardly close either.
She went off and came back a couple of minutes later with a packet of biscuits. "I won't ask if you're alright," she said simply. It was matter-of-fact but soft, not far from her bedside manner voice. "I have some custard creams, and I thought you might like one." She offered the opened packet, and sat down acrosss from her.
@natalia
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last online May 3, 2024 8:52:24 GMT -7
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Feb 28, 2017 7:25:55 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Feb 28, 2017 7:25:55 GMT -7
Natalia looked up when she heard a familiar voice, and found herself looking into the eyes of Antonia Rookwood, who was saying that she wouldn’t ask if Natalia was alright. That was for the better, because Natalia really didn’t want to lie to the older woman, but she also didn’t want to admit just how frazzled she was by the entire situation. Antonia offered her a packet of biscuits, and Natalia took one without hesitation. That was what a normal person would do, right? “Thank you.” Nat said, not forgetting her manners despite the circumstances. The easiest way to divert attention from herself was to get the other woman talking, so Natalia asked a rather open-ended question. “What have you been doing recently?” After the question was asked, Nat began to nibble on the custard cream to give herself an excuse not to speak.
@antonia
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last online May 3, 2024 8:52:24 GMT -7
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Mar 3, 2017 9:54:18 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Mar 3, 2017 9:54:18 GMT -7
Natalia accepted a biscuit, and Antonia thought to herself with a certain amount of relief that manners and actually accepting a biscuit meant that she wasn't self-destucting, no matter how not okay she might be. As long as that was true, she didn't need to use her Healer voice.
Instead, she took Natalia's conversation starter. "We had someone who fell of a flying horse the other day," she said. "I did that when I was young. Part of why I wanted to be a Healer, because of how they handled it. It was a bit surreal treating it, although I'm almost surprised that I haven't had more cases than that. Flying horses are quite dangerous, really."
@natalia
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last online May 3, 2024 8:52:24 GMT -7
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Mar 3, 2017 14:22:35 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Mar 3, 2017 14:22:35 GMT -7
Natalia was relieved that Antonia was happy to dive into the details of what she had just been doing, rather than pushing for what Nat had just been doing – which was sitting outside of a hospital room. Sitting was markedly less interesting than healing, and Nat tried to focus her brain on that, instead of letting it wander back to where Andy was. “I don’t think I would ever bring myself to get on a flying horse.” Natalia said with a laugh. She had enough trouble convincing herself to get on a broom, and at least she could convince herself of that. “Do you get a lot of broom incidents?” Nat asked, deciding to follow her train of thought instead of making Antonia relive her childhood injury.
@antonia
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last online May 3, 2024 8:52:24 GMT -7
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Mar 8, 2017 14:01:55 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Mar 8, 2017 14:01:55 GMT -7
"Once was enough for me. I still have scars," she said, sliding her left sleeve up to show a thin white line on the side of her arm. "They say horses can smell fear, so I am never going near one again." She said it like it was meant to be a joke, but she was serious. Flying horses were her least favourite animal and if she could avoid them for the rest of her life, she would.
"Anything with brooms are artifact accidents, so they're handled downstairs. I would have thought it would be really similar treatment, but there's a creature, so that makes it our job. Super arbitrary, but I guess you have to draw a line somewhere." She shrugged. Hospital politics and policies held no interest for her. She followed the rules she needed to, worked the shifts she was told to (and sometimes more), and the rest was someone else's problem. She just liked Healing.
@natalia
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last online May 3, 2024 8:52:24 GMT -7
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Mar 14, 2017 8:45:13 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Mar 14, 2017 8:45:13 GMT -7
Natalia’s mouth rounded into an o shape when Antonia pulled up a sleeve to reveal her scars. It must have been even worse of an accident than Nat was imagining, if it left scars like that. Briefly, Nat’s mind flickered to her siblings. Would they be scarred by the events of New Year’s Eve? Natalia pulled herself back into the conversation with some bit of effort. “I think that all animals can smell fear, to a degree. Even humans.” Most of the people Nat had met were predisposed to being able to tell when she was afraid, even though she tried desperately to hide it.
For someone who work at the hospital, it seemed Nat still had a lot to learn about where different injuries went. Her Department – Plants and Poisons – was fairly straightforward. Was it a plant? Was it a (probable) poison? Those were the only two questions that she needed to ask before treating someone. She was sure that it was just as simple to Antonia, since she had been working at Mungo’s for such a long time. “Arbitrary rules are how bureaucracies function.” It was much the same way within the pureblood world; most people couldn’t pinpoint a reason for a rule other than that it was the way things had always been done.
@antonia
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last online May 3, 2024 8:52:24 GMT -7
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Apr 3, 2017 15:14:04 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Apr 3, 2017 15:14:04 GMT -7
Natalia seemed to go off for a moment, but she came back quickly enough to say that all animals could smell fear."That's probably true - hormone levels and sweat and all that." Antonia hadn't been truly afraid in quite a while, but she hated that she couldn't hide it the way she could hide so much else in her life. She wouldn't be surprised to find Natalia felt the same way.
"You might expect that in the Ministry, but in a hospital - well, I would have hoped that Healers had a better grasp of how interconnected things are." The rules were simple, and it was easy to tell what was her problem. Except that there were almost certainly patients who fell through the cracks because they were no one's problem. But then, that wasn't exactly her problem.
She held out her custard creams again - "fancy another?"
@natalia
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last online May 3, 2024 8:52:24 GMT -7
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Apr 3, 2017 15:39:45 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Apr 3, 2017 15:39:45 GMT -7
Nat nodded about the comment about hormones and sweat. Even without that, she did think there were some people who could just sense feelings, organically and inexplicably.
“I think a lot of people like to pretend they’re better than everyone else for no real reason.” Healers thought they saw the connections between things more easily than bureaucrats, bureaucrats thought that they were better than Healers because they got things done…It was pointless. “I wish that we could all see that we’re flawed, and just because everyone else’s flaws are different doesn’t mean they’re better.” Great – now she was going all preachy self-help book on Antonia.
Natalia eyed Antonia suspiciously when the woman held out the biscuits again. “Are you trying to fatten me up so you can eat me?” She deadpanned. It probably would have been a better joke if Nat had at least tried to smile at the end of it, but she wasn’t feeling quite happy enough to manage that. Nevertheless, she took another one of the custard creams, biting into it thoughtfully.
@antonia
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last online May 3, 2024 8:52:24 GMT -7
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Apr 26, 2017 22:09:53 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Apr 26, 2017 22:09:53 GMT -7
"I would have thought of it the opposite - we all have skills that others don't. If we all use the things we have, we'll all be better off." It was the same thing as Natalia said, Antonia thought, just put a bit more optimistically.
Natalia's joke fell flat, but Antonia played it off as if it hadn't, for her sake. "I'm no Rosina Leckermaul," she said with a smile, taking a biscuit for herself, and harkening back to the stories she'd once been told about the hag who fattened up her victims with gingerbread - a horror story to make little witches eat vegetables and not sweets. They'd worked for a moment, but they clearly hadn't stuck.
@natalia
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last online May 3, 2024 8:52:24 GMT -7
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May 8, 2017 15:38:59 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on May 8, 2017 15:38:59 GMT -7
Natalia blinked when Antonia flipped what she had just said on its head, talking about how everyone had their own skills that could be used to make the most amount of positive change in the world. “Optimism isn’t very easy for me at the moment, I’m afraid.” Natalia said, half as an apology and half as an explanation for why she hadn’t put it that way herself. She didn’t think Antonia would be particularly surprised that the younger Healer wasn’t in an optimistic mindset, but it was still good to excuse herself, out of politeness or whatever.
“I’m glad to hear it.” Nat said, relieved that Antonia had responded to her joke despite the Ravenclaw’s poor delivery of it. “It’s funny how unhealthy the hospital’s food can be.” Natalia mused. For something that often tasted like cardboard, the cafeteria’s food had excessive amounts of sugar and sodium, and the irony of unhealthy food being in a hospital wasn’t lost on Natalia.
@antonia
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last online May 3, 2024 8:52:24 GMT -7
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Jul 7, 2017 20:58:39 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Jul 7, 2017 20:58:39 GMT -7
"That's hardly a surprise," she said sympathetically. "It was difficult for me to be optimistic when my father died." From what she gathered, Natalia hadn't been close with her parents for the past several years, so her pessimism was likely more tightly coupled to her sibling's health. And Antonia had been responsible for her father's death, which made for rather a different situation. Still, even if you weren't close - even if you hated them - family was family, and being without someone made a difference to your point of view.
"It's hardly conducive to proper healing to have it be so... processed," Antonia agreed. She couldn't stand how much salt was in the hospital's food. She tried to eat it as little as possible, but exhausted healers have to eat something lest they end up in hospital themselves. Of course, Antonia was eating packaged biscuits right now, but the point remained. And the biscuits tasted better than the actual food.
@natalia
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last online May 3, 2024 8:52:24 GMT -7
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Jul 8, 2017 16:22:02 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Jul 8, 2017 16:22:02 GMT -7
Natalia’s lips thinned into a straight line when Antonia said that it was difficult for her to be optimistic when her own father had died. Natalia didn’t even know if she was upset that her parents are dead. She was more upset that her siblings had risked their own lives to do it, even if she had a hard time saying as much. There was so much anger she had, towards both of them, but both of them were also injured, so it wasn’t like she could yell at them the way she wanted to. “It’s only uphill from here.” Nat said, figuring that allowed her to dodge commenting on her parents’ deaths while also speaking the truth. She didn’t see how things could get worse after the events of New Year’s Eve.
“I think that most things in hospitals aren’t conducive to healing.” Nat said with a dry laugh. Not being allowed to see your loved ones whenever you wanted was one of them. Natalia knew there were reasons she was being kept from Andy, but she couldn’t help but think that her sister would be better if she was there with her.
@antonia
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last online May 3, 2024 8:52:24 GMT -7
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Jul 9, 2017 12:57:16 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Jul 9, 2017 12:57:16 GMT -7
Natalia's face didn't fall exactly, but it was clear that it was a sore point, and Antonia took that as confirmation that she understood the situation. But Natalia offered up some optimism that it was only uphill from there, so Antonia offered her a smile. "So it is," she agreed.
It was a sad state of affairs that Antonia agreed with Natalia that hospitals didn't always best reflect how to serve healing. And there were reasons - safety, sanity, staffing - but it was a bit disappointing for Healers who had declared their purpose to saving lives. "Unfortunately so," she agreed, and glanced down at the watch on her wrist. "And that's my break almost over," she said, sighing regretfully. She stood, leaving the packet of biscuits on the table.
@natalia
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last online May 3, 2024 8:52:24 GMT -7
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Jul 9, 2017 18:48:36 GMT -7
Post by Deleted on Jul 9, 2017 18:48:36 GMT -7
Antonia seemed to agree with what she said about hospitals and healing not necessarily being synonymous. It was a shame that two Healers could think such a thing, when they were supposedly devoted to healing (as the name implied) but were also employed by a hospital. Natalia blinked twice when Antonia said that her break was almost over, since it took her more than a couple moments for the words to register. She nodded a bit belatedly, and raised her hand in farewell to Antonia, grabbing for the package of biscuits and popping another into her mouth as if she could somehow eat away her sorrows.
@antonia (le end)
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