Checking up on you -- Early Summer 1997

I had heard about what happened from Lucy.  Not from my brother... but from Lucy.  Sometimes I swear that his daughter keeps me more up to date about things than my own brother.  But he probably didn't want me to worry or to come all the way to England or something.  He was my older brother, of course I was going to be coming to visit him!  I found his ward and walked in.  He looked like he was sleeping... he was so pale, but from what Lucy told me this was a lot better than what he was.  I walked over to the side of his bed and sat down, trying to be careful not to wake him up.

I was just starting to doze -- I didn't understand why they could not leave me alone during the night so I could sleep like a normal person -- when I heard someone walk in.  I knew I needed rest, but I also needed to ensure htem that I would be well enough to go home now.  I was getting restless... and it wasn't like Chloe wouldn't make me behave at home.  I opened my eyes and saw my sister sitting there.  "Des?" I said, moving the bed to sit up a little bit more.  It hurt to move, but I tried to not let it show.  I was going to be walking out of here before teh next full moon whether the Healers liked it or not.  Even with the potion, I was not going to risk being at the hospital and changing.  "What are you doing back in England?" I asked her.

I looked over at my brother and smiled.  I could not help but roll my eyes.  "What do you mean why am I in England?  When my niece tells me that you almost died what do you think I'd do?  Twiddle my thumbs in Romania?" I said to him, shaking my head.  I gave him a kiss on the cheek and added, "Glad to see you're better than what Lucy was describing anyways."  I leaned back in the chair a little bit and looked at him.  "I want details of what happened, though.  Lucy wouldn't tell me a lot there... just about you."

I sighed.  "I didn't almost die," I said, even though that was deifnitely the case.  I just didn't need them to be overly worried about me.  "And Lucy over exaggerates sometimes... and there's really not much to tell."  I moved a little bit to get more comfortable and grimaced slightly.  This was definitely going to be horrible when I changed.  "Lucy is dating Greyback's son.  I was just protecting them.  He was not going to hurt his own son and there was no way he was going to lay another hand on my baby girl."  That was just the end of discussion.  There was nothing else to say really.  I was just a father protecting his child...

Why was he being so stubborn about this?  Lucy told me exactly what happened... and that was not the way it sounded.  But there was no point in arguing with him about it.  I was actually proud of my brother... I liked the fact that he was protecting Ayden -- oh yes, I knew all about him -- as much as he was protecting his own flesh and blood.  That's what set Remus apart from any other man I knew... he would protect an enemy's family so long as they weren't working with the enemy.  And I definitely knew Ayden wasn't; he was just a kid after all.  "Whoa, slow down... what are you doing?" I asked, when Remus started to move to stand up.

I was testing my luck I knew... but I had to prove that I was well enough to get out of here.  The full moon right after my surgery nearly made them have to redo everything that they had done to ensure that I lived... that's why I was still here.  But I was not going to spend any more time in St. Mungo's.  I needed out.  I needed to be able to be home with my wife.  I looked at Des and just winked at her.  "I am going to make sure that I will be allowed to leave soon," I explained, sitting completely upright wiht my bare feet on the cool floor.  It hurt to be sitting like that, but I had already missed the last few weeks of school... I wanted to be there for finals -- that didn't happen.  I didn't want people to get confused with a different teacher, so I hoped the students did fine.  I looked at Desi and smiled.  "They said they wanted to see that I was able to get around with as little pain as possible.  So I'm going to show them that I'm fine," I said to her.  I would hide the pain like I've done.  They coulnd' tdo anything for this pain anyways -- it was the venom.  My body was fightin against the new introduction again... Boris didn't like having an invading venom right now.

I crossed my arms and went to stand in front of him.  "Remus, this is not a good idea to be doing," I told him.  I was not going to let him stand up and walk around on my watch... not when he was in pain and stuff.  I was not going to be getting in trouble by the healers -- or worse, by Chloe.

I grinned at Des.  "Oh shut it," I told her, waving her concerns off.  "Just stay close so if I can't handle it, you  will be able to be there if I need you."  I didn't foresee needing her, but when I stood up it felt like I had a ton of bricks weighing down on my shoudlers compressing my lungs and chest.  I must have had a pained expression on my face because Desi made me sit back down.  "I'm alright..." I tried to convince her even though my breathing was rather heavy.

I shook my head.  "You are not.  Now lay your ass back in bed and stay put," I demanded, helping him lay back down.  To be honest, I was surprised he listened to me.  "I know you're restless... but don't force it.  It won't help if you do... just let yourself heal naturally."