Eeman

Recovery

When Harry next woke, he felt as if he were floating. "This is nice," he murmured softly.

"Do you think you could try a sip of juice?" A voice whispered in his ear. He nodded, and a straw was placed near his lips. He sipped a very small amount, swallowing slowly. It was cool and sweet. He wanted more. "Just two more sips now," the voice said. He licked his lips. The juice seemed to wake him up somewhat.

"Glasses?" Harry asked. The voice put his glasses on for him. "Thanks," he said. Even thought he was still floating, he wanted to see. He looked up to the ceiling, surprised by the bright lights he found there.

"You're in recovery after surgery," the voice said. It was a nice calm voice. He rather liked it. "We will be moving you to the Paediatric ward soon." If Harry had been a bit less floaty, he would have wondered about the surgery more. He couldn't exactly remember everything just now. He felt like drifting off to sleep again. The floating and the juice were so nice.

LLLLLLLLL

"Harry. Harry? I need you to wake up. I am Nurse Beth," the nurse said, "and I will be one of your nurses after we move you to your room. Come, Harry, open your eyes." Harry nodded, opened his eyes again, and wanted to giggle for no good reason. Maybe it was the floating. So relaxing.

The next time he awake, he found himself in a different room. The walls were yellow, he could see, but he needed his glasses again. He was very thirsty. "Hello?" he called out hoarsely. Nurse Beth (he was happy to have remembered her name) came around the corner from the nearby desk.

"It's nice to see you awake, Harry," she said, giving him his glasses again. She reached out to take his pulse, and then listened to his chest with her stethoscope. He was still lying down nearly flat on his back, but no longer floaty. She said his breathing sounded fine right now. She took his temperature next.

"Is it high?" Harry asked casually, though his tongue was sticky with dryness.

"You still have a fever, young man, but it is much lower than it was earlier. I am very happy about that," Beth said. "This means the antibiotics are working."

"Antibiotics were an important discovery in modern medicine," Harry commented. He had read many novels in which the lack of antibiotics caused a lot of heartache for the characters. Harry wasn't floating anymore, but he still felt different, and wondered why that sentence had popped out of his mouth. He normally held such thoughts inside, unless he was speaking with his Librarian. The Dursleys did not care to hear such things. He wondered vaguely if his aunt wouldn't mind so much now. She had been suddenly so kind to him in some ways. "Where's Aunt Petunia?" he asked. "And what time is it?"

"It is the morning after your surgery, young man, and it is half six. I assume your aunt is at home. If you are feeling up to it, you may have a very small, soft breakfast. How about some more juice, and a bit of toast? A few visitors are coming to talk to you soon," Nurse Beth said quietly. Harry looked to the side to see if anyone was in the room with him. It was just an empty bed, and he was surprised to feel relieved.

"Who?" he asked.

"First, your surgeon, Ms. Shayani, and Dr. Jones, who was covering A&E yesterday, will be here shortly take a look at you while they are on their rounds, and then the social worker will come later in the morning." Beth brought a tray table over the bed, where there sat a tray with apple juice (something Harry never got to drink at the Dursleys), a cup of water, toast, and a dish of strawberry jelly. She showed him how to move his bed up a bit, and then gave him the apple juice that was in a covered cup with a straw. "I thought, since you're still recovering from yesterday, that this would be easier for you to handle," Beth said. "You will also need to start drinking more water."