The Unbreakable Vow

Chapter 31- What happened?

"MARIA!" Theo's screams echoed in my ears.

Blinding white lights flashed before my eyelids. A mixture of voices, screams, shouts, and cries.

"HOW COULD YOU LET THEM DO THIS! THEY ARE KIDS!" a woman yelled.
"MARIA! MARIA! MARIA!" Theo's screams again but then it turned into Giselle's sobs.
"THEO!" I yelled, waking up in the hospital wing.
"MARIA!" Giselle and Valerie shrieked, knocking me out with hugs.
We all shook violently, taking huge gasps of breath.

"Theo, what happened to Theo? Is he alright? Is he safe? I-is h-h-he a-l-live?! Tell me he's alive! Please!" I sobbed.
"Calm down, it's going to be okay, it's alright, you are safe" Giselle whispered.
She stroked my hair and I relaxed into her arms.
"They are doing everything they can for Theo," I heard Valerie's voice shudder.

I couldn't see a thing because Giselle wouldn't let me go.
"You're okay" She kept whispering.

Her body was as cold as ice. In between her words, she would sob and inhale deeply.

"Is Maria awake?" I heard Daniel's voice.

Giselle let me go and the blurry bright lights against the night sky made me feel sick.
All the curtains were up so we were secluded.

"I am," I said "Are you alright?"
His face was misshapen and bandaged.
"Better than you" he chuckled with a grimace.
"Are you sure about that? You looked awful. What happened?"
He sat on the edge of my bed and sighed deeply, looking at his hands.
"It was my fault" He sniffed "I-provoked Theo, I shouldn't have. Maria, I am so sorry. I'm sorry." He sobbed.

I stared at him, overwhelmed.

"You provoked him? How?" I heard myself whisper in a croak, as if from afar.

"After we all fired a spell, Andreas and I managed to avoid ours but Theo got caught in the leg-locking jinx. I joked that we were going to kill him and Andreas joined in. I think he thought we were serious, he went completely pale. Out of nowhere, he shot stupefy at me and it hit my face, knocking me out. I don't know what happened after that, I was in and out of consciousness. All I know is that Andreas thought Theo had killed me and they began dueling. I'm sorry"
"Stop apologizing" I hissed "And get out."
He stared at me blankly then turned and left.

I felt hot water spill from my eyes like waterfalls. Giselle and Valerie hugged me again, not saying a word.

They both stayed with me the entire night.

I didn't sleep. Just strained my ears for anybody, any news, any information on what had happened with Theo.

To my surprise, I saw a shadow just outside my curtain, pacing back and forth.

"Who's there?" I commanded.
Daniel peered around, still in his clothes.

"Can we talk? I have news about Theo."
I didn't want to but I only did it for Theo. I nodded slowly.

He once again sat on the edge of my bed, careful not to wake Giselle or Valerie.

"He was transferred to Saint Mungo's Hospital, his mother went with him. I heard Professor William talking to the nurses. They say he's struggling to stay alive..."

I felt myself shaking again. My heart was leaping like a frog from lily pad to lily pad.

"I am sorry, Maria."
"I told you to stop apologizing."
"But I need to. If it wasn't for me..."
"Theo would be fine, yes! If he dies it'll be your fault and then I'll kill you!" I whisper-shouted, feeling my voice strain hoarsely.
I wanted to strangle him, to kill him now.
"Where's my wand?" I thought, looking around.
"I deserve to die, if he dies, I deserve it" He whispered.
Why did I feel guilty? If it wasn't for him...

"It's not your fault" I whispered.
He looked at me in surprise.
"But you just said-"
"I should've never entered this tournament. None of us should've. It's so stupid!"

I felt the tears return to my eyes.
"He better live" I uttered "He better win, I want him to win, to tease me, to laugh with me, hug me... hold me and tell me that he is okay"
I fell into soft sobs.

"He will" Daniel whispered "he will live. He's strong and determined...We should try and get some sleep. You won't heal otherwise."
I nodded and he left, his shadow dancing across the silk sheets that hid me.