-UndoubtedlyYours-

-Chapter♚♛OneHundredTwenty-

✧AN ENDURING FIGHT✧

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As night was seemingly coming to a close, a nurse had come forward and gotten a separate bed prepared for Alphard off by the window—He hardly liked the separation but supposed it was in case of an emergency.

What he hadn't prepared for was Orion's thoughtfulness in dropping off a few things for himself and Rhea, a change of nightwear that Kreacher had picked out. Not to mention her light reading had found its way to the bottom of the bag.

"Oh, love, you snuck in a few chapters...Haven't you?" He teased, holding the Tolkien copy he had thought to hide in his study—Never trust a Ravenclaw to stop reading at a designated time.

"Well, I suppose I could catch up from the beginning to where you left off?" He asked, returning to his seat with a much more positive attitude. The Healers had come in not long ago and claimed that her vitals were improving and that they would take her slowly off the dosage they were prescribing.

Meaning that she was on course to wake up soon, and damn it all, Alphard was going to certainly wait it out.

Becker had already stocked the small kitchenette with a few treats and meals if Alphard so pleased, but he had no stomach upon thinking about his wife laying in bed.

Neither Orion or Corin had spoken it out loud, but their expression were enough to worry him of another outcome—He knew that whatever transpired the other night wasn't an accident, it was a test of the greatest proportions. Wasn't it?

The Hogwarts graduating classes were coming in, and those who trained for the better half of the year were being evaluated on their ability to wreak havoc and follow through with a mission.

And it only caused him to grit his teeth further.

Restarting the novel was easy, as the story soon filled the room, and the passing nurses and Healers that came in and checked on Rhea were seemingly impressed and understanding of Alphard's method of coping.

But after hearing their advice that on some level she knew what was happening in the room around her, Alphard took that as a sign that he should continue.

And so he did, through the first and second chapters before taking a break and coming to just hold her hand and embrace her softly. There wasn't much on his mind besides the fact that he was getting the sense that she truly was looking much brighter, not as pale as when she first arrived.

While the bed behind him did look appealing, he couldn't stomach missing her waking up—He needed to explain what's happened.

As the hours drowned further, the smallest jolt of Rhea's arm had been all he could fathom that she was here.
Here and alive.

There hadn't been a time as to when Alphard found himself to be a religious man. Between so many deities to choose from, he hadn't bothered. And now he wished he did, as perhaps it would have given him some sort of comfort.

Yet the only comfort he could find, as of yet, was interlocking her hand with his—His head leaning against her chest to be able to not only hear, but to feel her heartbeat.

It wasn't until the hand on his shoulder twisted into a firmer grip that Alphard had taken his attention away, though it was partially the fact that he had fallen asleep.

"I'm just here to check on her vitals, Alphard, you're alright." The nurse offered, and the man took the moment to rise to his feet and glance around—it was hardly morning, and whatever sleep he had gotten was purely for the sake of entering exhaustion.