Frigus . Sirius Black (Mortem BOOK 2)

chapter fifty-five

February 10th, 1980 - St. Mungo's Hospital

Lily had always known she wanted to be a healer, ever since before she found out she was a wizard. Her aunt was a surgeon, and she was fascinated by that line of employment for as long as she could remember. Of course, when she was six years of age and was playing doctor with one of her dolls, she never imagined it would involve potions and spellwork, but alas, there were a lot of things she never thought she'd witness.

When she still playing with dolls, she imagined walking towards her patient's families, informing them that she had just saved their loved ones in a death-defying surgery only she had the capability of performing. She imagined them crying out of joy, hugging, and thanking her.

The reality was much bleaker than that. The war had affected everyone, and even though Healers weren't on the front lines, not in the way Aurors were, at least, they felt it most. Staff was limited, many had quit and fled the country at the beginning of the war, most of them muggleborns, and those who remained were stretched thin, often working up to three days straight without going home. There were no recruits either, the students graduating these past few years tended to lean towards becoming Aurors, or simply fled into hiding straight away. Provisions too, were few, too few for the number of people they treated. Many potion-makers had quit, going into hiding, and supplies for the potions were hard to come by as shops and trades closed down. Adding onto that, the scores of people who were brought in, either far too injured to be treated, or already dead and simply having to be declared so, the young redhead was overwhelmed, overworked, and completely burned out.

Not to mention, for the past month or so, she had been feeling quite ill. Throwing up, cringing at the food she used to love, random spells of dizziness throughout the day were all things she had become accustomed to experiencing. She should really take care of herself better, but she hardly had time to think, let alone stop working. She had tried to hide it from James, but the brunet wizard was as attentive as ever, especially when it came to her, and had been watching her like a hawk for the past two weeks.

A loud cry from the woman sitting across from her in the small room brought her out of her mind, and only then did she remember where she was, Merlin, she needed to sleep. The middle-aged woman was sobbing, shaking her head profusely, and mumbling out professions of denial. Lily had just informed her, her daughter had been brought in dead half an hour ago. The young healer had zoned out for the majority of the speech, it wasn't the first time she had delivered it that day, and she was sure it wouldn't be the last.

Unfortunately, such announcements were routine now, and she couldn't afford the time to comfort the woman in front of her.

"I'm terribly sorry," she sighed, standing up, "Someone will be in with you shortly to help you with the next steps,"

She left the room briskly, her ears muffling the sound of the woman cursing at her, blaming it on her, as though there was anything she could've done to save her daughter. She approached the main desk, handing the file to the nurse working there, "Another one?" asked Daisy, the nurse, with a solemn expression

Lily nodded, a sudden wave of dizziness hitting her, and she shook her head to be rid of it, "Her daughter, twenty-five years old, she was in the wrong place at the wrong time," she said, rubbing her eyes to get rid of the dark spots flooding her vision, "Can you hand me the file for bed-"

She trailed off, swaying slightly in her feet as her vision turned fully black for a moment, "Everything alright, Lils?" asked Daisy

"Yes-" she tried to shrug it off, but couldn't, "No, I think I'm about to pass out,"

Indeed, Lily was an excellent Healer, for just as she had predicted, she passed out not seconds after the declaration left her lips. Thankfully, Derek Shepherd, another Healer, and member of the order was standing nearby and managed to catch her before she hit the ground, "Clear a room!" he yelled out, as people sprang to action