Their Life

After the Accident

Newt fidgetted with the handle of his case. He stood across the street from the building in which the Goldsteins lived, trying to work up the courage to go inside. As he stared up at the Goldstein's window, the door to the building opened and a woman walked out. Newt was immediately glad he hadn't gone in as he recognized the woman to be Mrs. Esposito. She was the Goldstein's landlady and was very strict about keeping men off the premises. Newt had met her once. Thankfully, he had been several buildings away when that had happened.

Mrs. Esposito walked down the street and, when she had rounded the corner, Newt knew this was the best time to go in.

Newt stopped when he reached the door to the Goldsteins' apartment. He felt bad for not having told them he was coming, but he had wanted to surprise them. He just hoped that they would be there. It was late in the afternoon and they should be off work, but one ever knew with them. 

Newt raised his fist to knock, but before he could bring it down, the door flew open to reveal a distraught Queenie. She froze when she saw Newt. Her eyes and nose were red from crying. Tears were still streaming down her face.

"Newt!" she exclaimed when her mind registered who the man in front of her was. "What are you doing here? Right, never mind. We need to go. Come on."

Queenie pushed past Newt who stared after her in shock. He managed to catch her arm and force her to turn.

"What's going on, Queenie? Where's Tina?" he demanded.

Newt's question produced a sob from Queenie.

"She was on an assignment. She left yesterday and wasn't going to return until tomorrow so I wasn't worried, but we need to go now."

"Go? Go where?" Newt asked. "Queenie, you're not making any sense."

"We have to get to MACUSA, Newt. Stop asking questions and come."

Queenie grabbed Newt's wrist and dragged him out of the building. She pulled him into an alley across the street where they disapparated.

When they reached MACUSA, Queenie dragged Newt into an elevator. She muttered something to the goblin operating it and they shot downwards. The elevator stopped and Queenie pulled Newt down the white corridor. She pushed open a door and lead him inside.

They were greeted by a wizard in clean white robes. Worry filled Newt when he realized this man was a Healer.

"Where's Tina?" Queenie demanded.

The man gestured to a door behind him. "She's in there."

"What happened?" Newt asked, confused. As soon as he asked the question, Queenie started sobbing again.

"As far as we can tell, she was in the middle of a duel on the third floor of a building. This building has a courtyard in the middle of it and each floor had a sort of balcony over it. Miss Goldstein was unfortunate enough to get trapped between the rail and her opponent. She got hit by a spell that launched her over the rail. She fell, smashed through a pane of glass, and landed on the pavement."

"How badly hurt was she?" Queenie managed.

The Healer checked his clipboard. "Seven cracked ribs, five other broken bones, many small cuts from the glass, and three more serious cuts from bigger pieces of glass," he listed off. "However, the bones have been fixed and the cuts are being healed."

Newt glanced at Queenie. "Go on," she murmured.

"May we see her?" Newt asked tentatively. "Please?"

"I suppose. As long as you're careful."

Queenie said that she didn't want to go in so Newt went in alone. Tina lay face-down on the bed. Newt could see the right side of her face. Her eyes were closed and she looked peaceful, but the side of her face was covered in tiny cuts. Her white blouse was soaked with blood. A witch in Healer's robes hovered over her, healing the cuts on her back.