Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them...Continued.

21: Healing and Hello's

NEWT
When Newt woke, he expected to still be on the floor. He did not at all expect to be rebandaged, in a bed, his body warm under many blankets, with a wet rag draped across his forehead. Cool air drifted in through the open window, disturbing the curtains. The clock on the windowsill said 10:27; when he entered the room, it read 9:54. He was about to sit up, when he thought against it. It was plenty warm and comfortable under these blankets. He had fed the creatures before he disembarked the ship, and he was already where he needed to be; there was nothing left to do but rest. His mind was still too tired to wonder how he ended up in the bed...Tina must have done it, no doubt.
Suddenly he felt embarrasssed, vulnerable. Tina had bandaged his shirtless body, put him in bed, and tucked him in while he was unconscious. What had she thought of the burns? Was she mad at him for telling her that they weren't that bad? Would she be mad when she found out he was okay? Why did he care so much about what Tina thought?
Newt didn't have much time to reflect on these questions, because Tina came in, carrying a tray with a bowl of sugar and a mug of some steaming beverage. He closed his eyes on impulse when she came in, pretending to be asleep, which wasn't hard, considering he had woken up only seconds ago. She set the tray down on the nightstand quietly, and, much to his surprise, ran her hand through his hair. All she did was run her fingers gently through his scalp, combing back and forth. Newt had to admit to himself that it felt good, and though he wondered why she did it, soon he was lulled back into a doze.
It must have only been seconds before he woke up, because Tina jerked her hand out of his hair quickly as the front door creaked open from the other room. He blinked sleep frlm his eyes, as she walked swiftly and purposefully from the room.
"Newt's here," he could hear her saying.
"Really?!" Came Queenie's excited voice. Then she calmed down. "Oh, he has a fever. Oh, those burns are terrible. I'll leave you to it, then. They taught you some useful stuff in Auror training."
"Queenie! Stop reading my mind," Tina said firmly. "Where were you?"
"I spent the night at Jacob's," Queenie said. "Oh, stop worrying. He only had a twin bed, and he wouldn't have been comfortable if we'd shared, so I conjured another small bed and slept there."
"Oh. Well, all right,: Tina said tiredly. "I'm going back in here. Stop reading my mind!"
Queenie only laughed. Tina came in, and saw that Newt was awake. Her face hardened.
"You lied," she said quietly. "You said that the burns weren't that bad."
"Well, I-" Newt could only think of one weak excuse. "I didn't want to worry you."
"It really worried me when you screamed and passed out earlier. I came in and you were lying on the floor, bleeding," Tina said, losing her angry composure. She sat and took the rag from his forehead as he sat up, wincing.
"Bleeding?" Newt asked.
"Yes. The burns...they were bleeding in places," Tina said. "You have an infection, no doubt. I cleaned it, though. With alcohol."
Newt shivered from cold and embarrassment. "Thank you," he said sincerely.
"Don't mention it," Tina said. "I brought you some tea."
Newt nodded in silent thanks and took the mug, which warmed his hands. As he drank the warm, minty tea, he began to sweat.
"Your fever broke," Tina noted, giving him a clean rag to wipe his face with.
"That's good," He said, downing the rest of the tea. "When do you think I should change my bandages again?"
"Probably tonight. I'll have to clean them again with alcohol, though," Tina said, her face sympathetic. "It'll burn. Like crazy. You're lucky you were unconscious."
"Mm," Was all Newt could think to say. Then another thought occured to him. "When's the gala at your work?"
Tina smiled, an actual, full smile. She wasn't embarrassed as she had been earlier, or sympathetic. She was just happy, and the thought that she was happy to be going to the gala with Newt made him warmer than usual, which was saying a lot, since his fever had just broken.
"It's next Saturday evening," Tina said. "Do you have a suit?"
"No, actually," Newt said. "Truth be told, I couldn't afford an actual suit until now."
"Because of your book?" Tina guessed. Newt nodded. "How much did you make before you published it?" She asked.
"Two sickles a week when I worked at the Ministry," Newt said. "I'd say...four dragots, maybe."
"Only four dragots a week?!" Tina was agast. "Well, at least you make enough to live comfortably now."
"I lived comfortably before. But I could only support myself," Newt said. "Barely. Now...I'd say I could support a family, if I had one." Damn it, Newt. He thought. You're always dragging yourself into awkward situations, you idiot.
Tina, however, didn't dwell. "You'll have a family one day, don't worry. You're a good guy." Newt could've swore she was blushing.
"Well...do you know where I could buy a suit?" Newt asked, trying to change the subject.
"Yes," Tina said. "You know the store that the occamy was in? Macy's. They have some nice suits and ties."
"Thank you," Newt said.
Tina laughed gently. "Stop saying that."
"What? Thank you?"
"Yeah," she said. "I know you're grateful...just...you're welcome, okay?"
"Thanks. I mean-" Newt looked at the wall."Nevermind."
Tina laughed. "How are you feeling now that your fever's broken?"
"Much better," Newt caught himself before he said 'Thank you.'
"Do you wanna go somewhere?" Tina asked. "We could go for a walk and visit Jacob's bakery."
"Good idea," Newt said. He felt like fresh air might help him.
"Great, I'll get Queenie. You can get ready," Tina said, standing. Newt quickly took her hand as she stood. She blushed and looked at him questioningly.
"It's good to see you again," Newt said sincerely, meeting her eyes for as long as he could. Somehow, it felt a lot more sincere than any sort of 'thank you'. "I really appreciate you letting me stay here, cooking me food, and cleaning up my burns. I would have hugged you back earlier if they weren't so bad."
"That's...you're welcome," Tina smiled shyly, flustered. She squeezed his fingers and released them, finally breaking eye contact as she walked away, closing the door.
A few minutes later, he came out of the room to find Queenie and Tina at the kitchen table, both smiling.
"Ready to go?" Tina asked.
"Newt!" Queenie got up and made her way toward him.
"No-no-don't!" He was going to say 'don't hug me', but Queenie only patted his face fondly.
"Feeling better, sweetie?" She asked. Newt nodded sheepishly.
"Thanks to Tina. She says I have an infection," Newt commented.
"She's right," Queenie said. "But one or two more hits with some acohol won't hurt. And you might want to pour some on the burns too." Tina and Queenie laughed, and Newt smiled.
"We're going to Jacob's bakery on fifth street," Tina said, standing and leading the way to the door.
"I'll follow you, then," Newt said weakly. "I'm sure it wouldn't be so terribly confusing if I lived here, but I can't understand the streets."
"Yeah, you get used to them after a while," Queenie said nonchalantly as they left.
They strolled down the sidewalks in the crisp January sunlight, chatting here and there about jobs and Newt's injuries. When they reached the bakery, Newt suddenly felt very hungry. His bacon and eggs wore off and his mouth started watering at the scent of fresh baked bread, sweet baking fruit pies, and cinnamon. He followed Tina in, the ring of the bell on the front door catching a short, portly man's attention. He beamed at the sight of them all, especially Newt.
"Fantastic job on your bakery, Jacob," Newt smiled at him.
"I owe it all to you, buddy!" Jacob laughed cheerfully, patting him hard on the back. Tina and Queenie gasped as Newt grabbed the counter, white-knuckled and holding his breath. Jacob obviously knew he hurt him. "Sorry! Sorry, what happened?" He turned to the girls for an explaination.
"He's got some bad burns on his back," Tina explained while Newt caught his breath. "A dragon."
"A dragon?" Jacob's face blanched. "Dang...that sounds bad. I'm sorry, Newt. Here, have a seat."
"No, thank you," Newt managed. "I'm fine. Feels good to stretch my legs."
"Oh...well, I've got something for you!" Jacob said. He hurried to the back and heaved back out with a case, slamming it onto the counter. "I paid back the loan already. Can you believe it? Bakery's a huge hit. Anyway, now that I've got the loans paid off, you should take your eggshells back."
"Thank you," Newt said. "But I'd settle for a pastry, to be honest. Are those modeled after my creatures?"
"They sure are! Hey, take anything you like," Jacob said. "But you ain't leaving here without this case."
"They're beautifully accurate,"Newt observed, ignoring the other comment. He picked up a cinnamon roll occamy.
"Thank you, thank you," Jacob said proudly. Tina picked up a cheese bun and subtlely slipped a coin onto the counter, presumably because she knew Jacob would make her take it back. Cheese stretched out of it satisfyingly as she took a bite, and Newt found his mouth watering even more. He sunk his teeth into the cinnamon roll occamy.
"It's delicious," Newt said as he ate.
"Yeah, well...my grandma's recipe," Jacob blushed.
"Oh, I brought something for you," Neet remembered. Reaching into his coat, he pulled out a copy of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.
"Woah," Jacob said after reading the description. "Thanks, Newt! I feel like everything will make a bit more sense if I know what's going on in your world; what with all the beasts and the spells and the potions an stuff..."
"You're welcome," Newt said, swallowing his roll. He was feeling very tired suddenly, but tried not to show it. These efforts were futile when you were standing next to a Legillimens.
"All right," Queenie said. "Ready to go home?"
"You only just got here," Jacob said, closing the book amd sounding disappointed.
"Yeah, well, Newt's still got a lot of healing to do," Queenie said. "You could always come with us...?" She added hopefully. Jacob thought for a moment.
"Sure," he said finally. "It's Sunday, after all; the church crowds have all gone home by now."
A while later, they all sat in the Goldstein's apartment living room, talking about the presentation, how they thought it went, and Queenie's reaction when she found out the law had been passed.
"You faked an injury just to see me?" Jacob laughed, flattered.
"I sure did," Queenie said. "Maybe the most important thing I've ever faked an injury for."
"At Hogwarts, a Gryffindor boy used to sell sweets that made you sick so that you could miss the next class," Newt remembered. "Only problem was, you would stay sick. It wasn't worth it most the time, so they never caught on."
"Once my roommate and I brewed an illegal potion in our dorm, and no one caught us," Tina said mischieviously. "It was just polyjuice potion, so that we could sneak around the common room pretending to be eachother. We got top grades in Potions that year."
"We're just all a bunch of rule breakers," Queenie said, pretending to be horrified. They all laughed. When Newt did, he winced, and hoped no one noticed. Tina did, however, and said quietly to him,
"Should I clean them again?"
"Maybe after dinner," Newt said. "It's not that bad right now."
"All right," Tina said, adding sternly: "But after dinner! Don't let me forget."
"I won't," Newt assured her.
And he didn't. They ate a dinner of roast pork, applesauce, and peas, with dessert supplied by Jacob, who insisted he needed them to taste-test a pie he was planning on selling at the bakery. It was chocolate pecan pie, and the only negative thing anyone could think to say about it was that it disappeared too fast. Jacob beamed. Newt was feeling fine until after the meal, when the dishes were done and everything was in its place; everyone sat around the table in a contented, warm silence. But the warmness soon grew too much for Newt, his burns becoming uncomfortable under their chaffing bandages. He sat up, not leaning against the chair.
"Does anyone mind if I open a window?" He asked.
They looked at him as if he were crazy. It was the middle of January; snow flakes built up on the windowsill at that very moment.
"Are you hot?" Jacob asked.
"Of course he is," Tina said (see what I did there?). "The burns must be killing him. Should I take a look?"
Newt hesitated. The idea of consciously exposing his shirtless body to Tina was uncomfortable to say the least, but ultimately the discomfort was too much, so he gave in, agreeing with a curt nod. Queenie gave Tina knowing look, to which she responded with a pointed glare as she led Newt to his room, stopping to get a bottle of alcohol. Conjuring a rag, she motioned for him to sit.
In the warm yellow light of the lamp on the nightstand, Tina's cheeks had a rosy glow to them. Newt wondered vaguely if she was blushing as he sat, his chest facing the back of the chair so that his back was exposed. He took off his shirt with magic, and Tina used her wand to remove the bandages, which didn't hurt nearly as bad with fresh ointment on them.
Tina, who hadn't spoken up to this point, said bluntly in a quiet voice, "This will burn, okay? Very badly. Ready?"
Newt braced himself, gripping the chair. "Ready."
It was like liquid fire trickled down his back. He grit his teeth and gripped the chair tighter, cringing. Tina blotted it off immediately, extinguishing the pain, but it was still stinging by the time she was finished. Then she did another section, and another, and another.
"Done with that," she said finally. "The ointment will make it feel better, I'm sure; but you may want to let the burns air out for a little bit before you put the bandages back on. They seem sort of....soggy."
"All right," Newt said, passing the jar of ointment to her. As she gently smeared it on, a sigh of relief escaped Newt. The whole of his back and his upper left arm were feeling cooled off when she finished, and leaving the bandages off didn't seem like too bad of an idea.
"How bad is the pain?" Tina asked him. "The redness went down quite a bit."
"It doesn't hurt now," Newt said. "How long do you think I should air out?"
"Maybe thirty minutes. Are you coming in here? I'm going to go and make everyone some hot chocolate."
"I'll stay in here for a minute, thanks," Newt said. He didn't quite like the idea of walking around shirtless in someone else's house. Leaning up against the chair back, he sighed, feeling the heat radiating from his burns tone down. Newt made a quick job of feeding his creatures and making sure none were gone. After he ascended the stairs and locked his case again tightly, he bandaged himself back up and slipped a shirt on, walking into the living room.
"Are you ready to go home?" Queenie was asking Jacob as Newt rounded the corner, Jacob just finishing his hot chocolate.
"Yeah, I think so," Jacob said heartily. "I'll see you tomorrow, Newt. Rest up."
"I'll walk you home," Queenie suggested. Jacob didn't object.
"I guess it's just you and me, then," Tina said, pouring a mug of hot chocolate for Newt and offering it to him.
"Thank you for helping me with the burns," Newt said. "The ointment has really helped a lot more since you poured alcohol on me. I can touch them now, and it hardly hurts."
"Didn't you say the fourth application was supposed to be the best?" Tina said.
"Yes," Newt said, taking a drink of the hot chocolate. He gathered his courage, but finally he decided it would be best just to do it without saying anything. Tina, who was leaning against the wall and drinking her cocoa, gazed at him, studying his expression. Investigating him. Panicking, he knew if she mentioned it, he'd have to say something.
"Something you want to say?" She asked shrewdly.
"Yes, actually," Newt sat his mug down, standing up. He moved toward her, opening his arms. "I said I would have hugged you back if I could; and I wasn't lying." He wrapped his arms around her, feeling her heart beating against him, almost as fast as his own.