All This Hurt Can Finally Fade

please don’t leave me

Vera was on edge.

She hadn’t been able to shake it. By now the entire school was aware of the posters if they hadn’t seen them themselves. Professor Mortelle’s kid was off somewhere being told everything was okay, but what about Rhett? Who was telling him it was okay? Vera wasn’t sure how many people had actually seen Rhett’s likeness on the poster. She had, and he had, but who else? Had anyone that known, that cared, other than herself seen it or just the cruel people who enjoyed watching others suffer?

Her heart hurt for him. Her stomach was in knots. She wanted to reassure him that it was okay. That it would pass and no one would notice. They could just keep moving on as they were, or he could own it and finally come out and tell Kam how he felt and fuck the rest. Vera had already offered that he stay with her to avoid his family on multiple occasions. He’d always smiled and thanked her, though there was strain in the pull of his lips. She never saw his smile meet his eyes…

She checked her phone for a text again. Goddamnit. Where was he?

She stood still against the tide; arms crossed closely to her chest as she searched desperately for Rhett’s face. He said he’d meet her…

Her feet took off before her mind could make itself up. It was too long. The next set of classes were set to begin, and Rhett wasn’t here. She ground her teeth as she charged down the halls toward Rhett’s dorms. She’d nearly ran Malachai over and hadn’t even noticed until she was bouncing off of him. Her eyes had met his, but there wasn’t a flicker of surprise or hurt or anything in them as she found her balance. Just worry. She didn’t stop long enough for her to grab a hold of her or ask her what was wrong. Her heart was beginning to crawl out of her throat. She had to see Rhett. She had to make sure he was okay.

Reaching the Equuleus entrance, Vera hesitated at the portrait for just a breath, looking up at it’s massive size as she weighed going in without Rhett or not. Fuck it. She had to just see him. Make sure he wasn’t alone after this morning. She’d skip the entire day’s worth of classes if she needed to. She never should have gone to her first one.

Speaking the password, she stepped in as soon as the portrait swung open. As much as Rhett and Vera spent time together, she wasn’t in the Equuleus house often enough for her being there to not to raise any eyebrows. Especially as she bee lined for the boy’s dorm and raced up two steps at a time.

”Rhett?” She called as she opened the door to his room and looked inside. Empty. Frowning, she stepped back and turned, unsure of where to go next when she saw Kameron’s door open. Maybe he would have a better idea? God, Rhett would kill her if she said anything but she needed to know if the boy had seen him.

”Hey, Kameron?” Vera’s voice came softly from her lips, moving to the door and knocking on the frame even as she stepped into view. ”I can’t find-”

Rhett.

Pale. Lifeless on Kam’s bed. Vera’s eyes fell down to the bottle of vodka on its side, empty, next to the bottle of pills. Vera heard someone screaming, but it sounded distant. As though she were underwater. Her body acted on it’s own accord - getting her to Rhett’s side before her mind could process what she was seeing. Everything she did was automatic. Her hands searched for his pulse, using her leverage against the ground to roll him onto his side. His body fell off the bed with a lifeless smack to the floor. She kicked the bottles away; rolling him onto his stomach and then pushing down with all of her weight to try and force his body to regurgitate the poison.

”RHETT!”

She realize belatedly that it was her screaming. That she was calling for him to wake up. To stay with her. She was begging him not to leave her.

”Rhett please! Please! Don’t leave me!”

Everything she was trying wasn’t working. She had to force him to throw up. Force his body to do what it needed in order to survive. Perhaps a spell would have worked but in Vera’s panic she couldn’t think of one. She didn’t even think to use a spell. Her focus was on the physical. The tangible. What was dying right in front of her. Rhett may not have truly been her boyfriend, not a romantic love, but he was one of the greatest loves of her life. She felt like her soul was being torn out from her as her lungs burned with the sound of his name.

”RHETT! WAKE UP!”

Her fingers shoved into his mouth; uncaring of the soreness he would feel later if she succeeded. All that mattered was getting him to breathe. To fight back. To come back to her.

She watched his stomach heave; his body doing what she needed. She pulled her fingers out from his throat; uncaring that the bile covered her lap as she coaxed more. Hospital. Nurse. Someone. She needed someone to save him.

He was too heavy for her to lift on her own. Her brain forced its way back; the stiffness of her wand in her pocket seemingly burning into her thigh. She scrambled back and pulled it out; her whole heart and focus into saving Rhett’s life.

”Wingardium Leviosa!”

The sight of his body limply hovering in front of Vera would haunt her always. No longer was she screaming his name. Now she was screaming for help. The confusing shouts from the boy’s dorm becoming painfully clear for those bodies down in the common room as Rhett’s body came floating down the stairs with Vera stumbling after him; her wand up and her focus on her dying best friend unfaltering.

”HELP ME! SOMEBODY HELP!”

Going over assignments as she killed time before her first class, Rhianna sipped her coffee. The empty Charms classroom was quiet and it was a time she enjoyed. Especially considering the fiasco with the posters. She ended up not having to do much there after Mihaela took care of covering the rest.

Letting out a sigh, she turned to the next assignment when she heard the yelling.

No....that's screaming.

Instantly her wand was in hand and she was out the door, following the screams for help. Ahead of her she saw Erebos moving into the Equuleus common room and she followed. The few students in there were already moving out as she could hear the Ophiuchus Prefect ordering them all out.  As she finally made it up the stairs and took in the scene, her heart instantly dropped.

"You heard him. Out, now. Study Hall, the lot of you." Her tone left no discussion as she all but shoved the rest of the students out. As they left her phone was already in her hand, fingers already moving over the buttons even as Erebos voiced what she was already doing.

"St Mungos? Yes. We need a team sent for an immediate move. Student cardiac arrest..." she pauses slightly to listen to Erebos on the phone. "Overdose on a bottle of Ativan and fifth of vodka. I'll let the Headmaster know to drop the shield. Two minutes."

Hanging out she dialed Kasch on speakerphone even as she motioned Vera to sit on the couch. The adrenaline running through her  making it impossible for her to sit at the moment as she listened to the ringing.

"Answer...answer...answer..."

"Hello?"

"Kasch, I need you to drop the anti Apparation shield right now." She looked down at her watch, seconds seeming to pass either too quickly or too slowly.

"Can I ask why?"

She had to repress the urge to snap at him. it was a fair question and she knew he would already be in the process of pulling it down. He'd know she wouldn't just ask for no reason. 

"Rhett Miller overdosed in Equuleus. We need a team from St Mungos to get in now."

The door to the common room swung open and Rhianna looked up to see Mihaela running in, carrying what she could only assume was what Erebos had asked for. As the Vulpecula girl slid down next to him, she handed him the items while taking over what he had been doing so he could administer them. They switched off effortlessly, any of their personal qualms set aside as their focus was taken on keeping Rhett breathing until St Mungos could take him.

"Done"

She let out a breath as she looked at her watch. "Thirty seconds. Perfect. Thank you Kasch."

"Be safe."

" I...okay? I'll bring Miss Weatherford into your office later. i'm sure they'll have questions for her first"

"I will be here."

The Charms teacher hung up the phone and moved over to Vera who looked still in quite a bit of shock. Forcing herself to sit down next to the young girl, she pulled her into a hug before shifting so she wasn't looking at Erebos and Mihaela work on Rhett.

"St Mungos will be here any second. The Headmaster dropped the shield so that they can Apparate directly here. I know you'll want to go with Mr. Miller, and I'll let your professors know. Is there anything you can tell me about what happened here?" Her voice was kind as she spoke to the girl.  

As soon as Mihaela had seen the posters earlier, she should have known that the day would only get worse before it got better. If it would even get better. At Erebos' phone call, she had barely hung up before she was running full speed through the corridors to get what he needed. With the medication on hand, she ran full force into Malachai O'Collins. As the medicine went flying she managed to save it all with a quick flick of her wrist and wordless spell. Grabbing it midair she didn't even pause, continuing on her sprint to Equuleus.

As soon as she got in the door she took over for the Ophiuchus boy as he administered the medicine. Her own eyes were on her watch as she worked on keeping an airflow going, pausing inbetween injections. She moved easily with Erebos, the way they worked together lied about their chemistry or friendship away from the medical field. They both understood though that their differences couldn't affect them when working, especially in a life or death situation.

Which this clearly was.

As the St. Mungos team came in and began to take over, she sat back on her heels.  Her adrenaline and work mode was still running, and as she looked at Rhett's lifeless looking body it didn't affect her on a personal sort of level. She knew him, he had dated one of her Housemates, her mind registered he was a good musician and she had treated him for insomnia, but at the moment she detached herself from feelings so she could get a job done.

"Not a problem, Avery. I got it covered." Erebos put in the final needle, his fingers carefully pressing the syringe in. The boy's body was starting show the subtle signs of coming back. As her partner went to hold his head, she shifted slightly to gently but firmly hold his arms down as well until he registered the world around him.

At the sharp intake of air Mihaela couldn't help the slight smile as she let out a breath. Miller's fight wasn't completely over yet, but that he was back and more-or-less lucid was a winning first battle. Letting the St. Mungos team take over, she got up and moved to where Professor Berkley was talking to a girl. Or more comforting the girl who was sobbing on her shoulder. It took her a moment to put a name to the face...Vera Weatherford. Corvus.

"Hey," she kneeled down, her usual sarcasm gone as she quickly assessed the situation. This was the girlfriend if she remembered, and judging by how she looked, the one who found him. "You're...Vera right? Rhett is more-or-less stable now. Semi lucid at least after a milligram of Flumazenil and a manuel stomach pump. This is something to help with drug overdoses, but they are going to take him now to finish flushing out his system and put him under a suicide watch.  Depending on how his body reacts and his own mental health, he may be there for a week...maybe two and Erebos is going to be going with him to make sure the initial transport goes okay"

She rubbed Vera's back softly in a soothing manner. "I have something for shock I would like to give you...it's just a simple charm. I also need to know everything you saw or heard..not just today, but leading up to today." The thing was...Mihaela was the one who gave Rhett the Ativan in the first place. Guilt was beginning to eat at her, but she was still in Healer Mode. Still, she wasn't sure how she could have missed the underlying mental health problem. it gave her a headache. "We can talk later if you would like. I'm sure you're going to want to follow him to London. But it is important we talk so I can figure out what to do in the future for him, okay?" 

A quick glance back told her that they were about to move Rhett. "Would you like me to put a notice that your classes are study hall today, Professor, so you can bring Miss Weatherford to London and back when he's okay?" At Rhianna's nod, she nodded as well.

Please for the love of God let this day not get any worse. It wasn't even lunchtime yet.