The Healer II- The Patient (Draco Malfoy Fanfiction)

Chapter 7- Medical History

I never slept in the guest bed that was provided for me, no matter how tired I was. And tired was an understatement. I was used to working myself to the bone at the hospital, but having to take the portkey to France every night after working a full shift just to study Astoria's medical history meant I spent a lot of late nights reading in the guest room trying to stay awake.

Because I was spending more time at the Chateau, I became gradually acquainted with the House Elves. Draco and Astoria had three: Paisley, Gingham, and Argyle. Gingham was the one with the strange accent, and acted as a butler around the house doing things like serving tea and changing linens. Argyle was the smallest and worked in the kitchen, so I went to them if I got hungry late in the night. Paisley was in charge of the child rearing while Astoria was recovering, so I didn't see much of her, or the baby, whatever his name was.

As promised, Draco did not intrude when I was in the guest room. Our paths only crossed when I visited Astoria's room at dawn. He would stand quietly by the door while I checked Astoria's vitals. I still despised him, but I discovered it wasn't difficult to put on a veil of politeness during the brief interactions we did have. So being at the Chateau was not totally horrible. Actually, there were instances where I considered giving in to my tiredness and sleeping on the guest bed instead of taking the portkey back to America.

When I was at my home in New York, which was for no more than 6 consecutive hours at a time these days, Len and I always ended up fighting. The only thing that calmed him down was assuring him the job in France was only temporary. I had no intention of attending to Astoria longer than was absolutely necessary; so the harder I worked, the sooner I would be able to pass Astoria's case to another Healer in my department. My mediwitch trainee, Cora, definitely needed the money the Malfoys could provide. But for the time being, it was my responsibility to find the way to bring her out of her coma.

After nearly two weeks of diligent reading, planning, and research, I was finally ready to present my plan to Draco. I met him in his study at 7 in the morning France time; 1 AM New York time. I was running on fumes, so my feet were dragging on the carpet, so tired I felt like a worn down eraser. Draco, however, looked worse. I wondered to myself if he was even sleeping at all.

"From what I gathered of Astoria's extensive records and family tree-" I paused, realizing that a house elf was offering me tea, "oh, no thank you, Gingham- Astoria's blood curse came from an ancestor of hers. There are many different types of blood curses- like a Maledictus, for example, which makes the cursebearer involuntarily morph into an animal. The Greengrass blood curse works like a recessive gene. In Astoria's case, it was purely by chance that it happened to present in her genetic makeup. The blood curse works by attacking the cursebearer's vascular system. This means her blood supply, as well as all of her organs, are weak and susceptible to disease."

My tone grew more serious when I moved onto the next topic. "I consulted with other Dark Magic specialists in New York, and they all said it was ill advised for someone with a blood curse to have children." I swallowed nervously, unsure how to proceed with this information. "There's a... there's a note in Astoria's records from one of her previous Healers recommending that she get a hysterectomy. There was strong evidence to suggest that her uterus was the epicenter of the blood curse. Having it removed wouldn't cure her, but it could lengthen her life expectancy."

Draco listened to me talk with hard, calculating eyes, like this was all new information to him.

I paused. "Did she not tell you about this?" I asked gently.

Bitterly, Draco replied, "I was not even aware of the blood curse until Astoria was already far along in the pregnancy. She became extremely weak, and would not leave bed, so I called in one of the best Healers in France. The Healer told us there was no possible treatment for her illness, and that she would likely die in childbirth."