Necessary Monsters

Chapter 4

"What are you doing?" asks Felix.

"Checking her vital signs," replies the healer. "Her heart rate is slowing."

She says this so matter-of-factly it takes a minute for Felix to process it isn't a good thing. His own heart begins to beat double-time.

"Surely you can fix that?"

The healer shakes her head once, iron-gray curls bouncing. She reaches for a small bottle on the bedside table and uncorks it, upending the contents onto a bit of cloth.

"Not unless we can discover what spell was used on her." The healer begins dabbing the cloth gently over the angry red cuts on Juniper's face. "Nothing we've tried has worked so far. I have my trainee researching rare curses and sleep enchantments, but-" She clicks her tongue doubtfully.

In spite of her brusque tone, Felix's notices the healer's motions are exceedingly gentle. She takes her time, massaging the cloth over each small wound on Juniper's face down to her exposed neck. Something in her tender ministrations betrays concern, and an echo of the morning's fear slithers back through Felix's veins.

"But... she's going to be alright...isn't she?"

The healer looks up at him abruptly, cloth stilling on Juniper's shoulder.

"Has no one explained to you what's happened to this girl?

"They - he said - she was attacked."

The healer regards him steadily. "She has been tortured. See her hands? That's a sign of prolonged exposure to the Cruciatus Curse. Pain like that has permanent effects on the body and the mind. It can quite literally drive a person mad. Even if we manage to wake her, I doubt very much whether she will be 'alright'."

Felix's heart beat climbs into his throat. He swallows hard, trying to wrap his mind around this new and terrifying possibility.

"There has to be something you can do," he protests weakly. The healer shakes her head again, curls bouncing.

"Not against that sort of magic." She sets her cloth back on the beside table and contemplates Juniper's lifeless form, hands on hips. "There's research being done into alleviating the effects of the Cruciatus Curse, but nothing practical has come of it so far." Her jaw tenses in the first real emotion Felix has seen from her. "There's a reason that Curse is unforgivable."

The healer bends over the bed to smooth down the sheet, tucking excess fabric in around the inert body. Satisfied with the result, she straightens and considers Felix carefully.

"So. Do you think you can manage to stay awake through the evening now you've had your kip, or should I call in a trainee to relieve you?"

There's no hiding the burning in his face this time, but Felix draws himself up in spite of it and tries to look as competent as possible.

"It won't happen again, I assure you."

She gives another curt nod and bustles around the bed.

"There's a bell on the table. Give a ring if anything changes. My trainee will hear it."

Foregoing the treacherously cosy armchair, Felix perches on the edge of the bed beside Juniper's trembling hand. Even without the healer's admonition, he would not have been able to return to sleep.

Fears for Juniper's safety have always plagued Felix. He's endured more than one restless night worrying what might be happening to her thousands of kilometres away. But everything he's imagined feeling should the worst occur - grief and pain and regret; such easy emotions have no place here. What Felix feels, he has no words for. There's only a wrenching in his gut and a scream building in his chest, threatening to erupt uncontrollably, like vomit. Dead or mad, somehow both carry the same crushing weight. The thought that who she is will be gone forever is inconceivable. It pulls at the very threads of Felix's mind, stretching it in the most horrid way.