Tempest // Sebastian Sallow

Chapter 33

Sebastian linked his arms with Rosie on their walk from the floo point in London to the hospital. He wished desperately to simply hold her hand, squeeze it as they walked and show every man walking by that she was his, he'd claimed her. But, he couldn't. So having her arm draped through his would have to suffice, he supposed.

Rosie had never been to St Mungo's despite living in London her whole life. So when Sebastian led her through a building that looked like a department store, she was confused. Until they entered and Sebastian spoke to a mannequin, stating he was attending an appointment with Anne Sallow and they were granted entry to the hospital.

Sebastian briefly spoke to a welcome witch and headed up a few floors, finding Anne sitting in a chair outside a room.

She spotted Sebastian, who'd let go of Rosie's arm as they entered the hospital, and jumped up, giving her brother a warm hug.

"Thank you for coming." She mumbled against his chest, sighing as she spoke.

"Of course. Are you alright?" Sebastian asked, pulling her away from him when he noticed her tone.

Anne sighed. "No. It's Solomon. He's gone all strange. Speaking about selling the cottage. He's started getting rid of a lot of things... mostly... uh... your stuff."

"What?" Sebastian said, taking a step back, eyes darting back and forth between Anne's. "What do you mean? He can't leave. Was he just not going to tell me? Where would I go!?"

"Sebastian, please, calm down!" Anne begged, Sebastian's voice growing louder, drawing the attention of a few passing healers. "I don't know! I just wanted to tell you."

Rosie stepped forward and placed her hand on Sebastian's lower back, coaxing him into calming down, at least for a moment.

He shook his head and sighed, taking a step back for Rosie to wrap an arm around his waist.

"We'll talk about it later, okay?" Rosie said softly, gently squeezing his side.

Sebastian took a deep breath, trying to calm himself even more. He turned and nodded at Rosie, squeezing her shoulder back before Anne was called into a room.

The three of them followed the healer into the room, Anne sitting with the healer while Sebastian and Rosie took seats in the corner of the room.

"Ah, who have you brought today?" The healer asked as he pulled out Anne's paperwork and began to sift through it, licking a finger every two or so pages.

"This is my brother, Sebastian, and his uh, friend, Rosie."

The healer nodded in their direction. "Couldn't half tell that he's your brother, huh?" he chuckled.

"Yeah. We're twins, actually." Anne added.

"Really? Interesting. I never saw it on your file that you were a twin. I'll make note of it."

Rosie and Sebastian exchanged a look of confusion, unsure how Sebastian and Anne being twins had any relevance to her treatment.

Once the healer finished scribbling on a piece of paper, he went through some routine questions with Anne about how her pain was going and looking at some new potions that may help prolong her time and reduce the curses spread.

"So, Anne," the healer began, "I'll prescribe a new set of potions for you. They should help manage the symptoms and slow down the progression of the curse. However, I must stress that it's not a cure. We're doing our best to make you comfortable and extend the time you have."

Sebastian dipped his head. He knew until a cure was found, Anne's curse was going to take her. He knew time was running out for her. He knew he was going to lose her if he didn't find a cure soon and hearing with such finality today from the healer and knowing Solomon had planned to take her away without telling him fuelled him.