Chapter 3
A/N: Hello again, everyone. Sorry it took so long to update the last chapter, but my computer went awry. Here is chapter 3. I'm sure many of you know what is wrong with Matthew, but read on anyways to make sure you're correct. The chapters preceding this were merely background chapters, this is where it all begins.
Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns the characters and my precious Matthew owns the events.
Chapter 3:
Harry hated doctor's waiting rooms. Something about them just gave him the willies. Maybe it was the sterile smell, the coughing patients, or the old magazines, he didn't know. All he knew was that he hated them, but he was willingly sitting in one early that rainy summer morning. He looked over to Matthew, sitting on his right in a little plastic chair, and realized that he wasn't the only one who hated the doctor's office: Matthew was very pale and unnaturally still. To Harry's right sat Hermione, tapping her foot nervously and glancing at her watch every two minutes. Clearly, none of the Potters wished to be there in the children's ward of St. Mungo's.
When the big hand on Hermione's watch struck ten o' clock, the large metal door to the examination rooms swung open. Out stepped a beautiful young mediwitch with long blond hair and a botox smile. She held the clipboard in front of her, and in a high pitched voice, called for Matthew Potter. Harry took Hermione's hand and smiled at Matthew, taking his small hand in his free one. Matthew gave him a nervous little look before going along with his parents.
The mediwitch led the Potters down the hallway, painted a cheerful yellow and green. She patted Matthew gently on his black mess of hair. "Okay, hon. Just step up here on the scale and I'm gonna weigh you, alright?" Matthew just looked at her and nodded. She set the balance and wrote the weight on his papers and records. A baffled frown broke forth from her face. Harry swallowed nervously.
"Ma'am, what's wrong?"
The mediwitch shook her head. "Oh, nothing. He just seems to have lost quite a bit of weight since we last saw him."
Hermione whimpered. "That's not good."
The mediwitch once again put on her botox smile. "No, it's not, but," she leaned down and put her hand on Matthew's shoulder. "We'll take care of you, won't we, little man! Let's go into the examination room!" She led the little family to a room that was decorated with a moving mural of children playing Quidditch. The mediwitch checked Matthew's temperature, blood pressure, and pulse. She wrote everything down carefully before questioning Matthew.
"Okay, hon. Can you tell me how you feel?"
Matthew shrugged. "I don't feel good today. My hands and knees hurt real bad."
"I see. And have they hurt before?"
"Yeah." Matthew averted his attention from the mediwitch to the Quidditch kids on the wall. "Do you like Quidditch?"
The mediwitch smiled. "Yes, I do. I love watching it, but I'm afraid of heights."
Matthew nodded. "Oh. I'm not afraid. I flew the day before yesterday."
"Really!" the botox smile grew wider. "You must be a really brave boy!" Matthew nodded.
The mediwitch asked him some more questions before leaving. The silence in the room was deafening. Matthew sat still, watching the wall mural. Harry and Hermione sat in little chairs by the table, gripping each other's hands in nervousness. After what seemed like an eternity, the doctor came in. He was an older wizard with a large white moustache and twinkling blue eyes. He came across the room and shook Harry and Hermione's hands.
"Hello! I'm Dr. Shobert! It's nice to finally meet you, Mr. Potter!"
Harry smiled. "Likewise."
Dr. Shobert moved towards Matthew. "And this must be Matthew!" He extended his hand and Matthew shook it uneasily. "We're gonna take care of you, little guy, but I'm going to need to perform a simple little spell. Will you please sit still as a statue?"
"Statues move a lot when you drive by them."
Dr. Shobert laughed. "You're right, they do, I'm sorry. Sit as still as a statue in a muggle park, will you?"
Matthew nodded and sat up erectly. Dr. Shobert pulled a long wand out of his coat and gave it a flick. "Revelarius!" A faint glow of black light seeped from his wand and wound its way around Matthew's body. It twisted and turned before forming a strange symbol over Matthew's head. The small, dwarf-like doctor jumped back in surprise, his glasses flying off of his nose. "GOODNESS GRACIOUS!"
Harry jumped up and looked the doctor in the eye. "Dr. Shobert, what is wrong with my son?"
Dr. Shobert touched his forehead, as if thinking hard. "I-I'm not sure. The spell that I just used informed me that Matthew has some disease, but I've never seen any form of a disease in the magical world!" He stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Yes, this is peculiar!"
Harry's face grew pale and rigid. Hermione's hand seemed to be frozen to her mouth. "So what can you do?"
Dr. Shobert laughed. "Do? Dear boy, I can't do anything. I'm sorry."
Hermione could not take that answer. She jumped up and stood over the little doctor, her face turning crimson as she spoke quietly but angrily. "That's it? You can identify the problem, but you can't do anything? You're just going to let him go on living with-whatever's wrong with him? YOU ARE A FREAKING WIZARD AND A HEALER! DO SOMETHING TO FIGURE OUT WHAT"S WRONG WITH MY SON!!!"
To Hermione's dismay, Dr. Shobert shook his head. "Mrs. Potter, we are not equipped to do anything of this sort. To my knowledge, there has never been a disease like this in the magical world. Every other time that that spell has been used, it shows the brain, the heart, the stomach…Never that sign. I'm not even quite sure what is wrong. I'm sorry, but we can do nothing here at St. Mungo's." Hermione sat down, defeated, as tears filled her eyes. Dr. Shobert's moustache twitched. "There is one solution to Matthew's illness, but I don't know if you would be willing to do something that drastic…"
Harry clenched his large hand around the chair's arm. "We are willing to do whatever is necessary to get Matthew well. Please, tell us."
"You could take him to a muggle hospital. They would be able to diagnose the problem and help him, but you'd have to depend on science, a thing much trickier than magic. It will be more dangerous and inconvenient, but it will hopefully help."
Hermione's face had grown pale. She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. Harry spoke for her, although his voice was shaky. "Dr., could you tell us of a muggle hospital that would be able to help?"
"So you'll do it?"
"I'd do anything to help my son."
Dr. Shobert nodded sadly. "Very well. I would advise you to go to the London Integris Hospital Center. It is a very nice facility with enough technology to figure out anything there is in the world that could be wrong with a person, wizard or muggle. It's also one of the only establishments with the head of the hospital in contact with the wizarding world, for special cases, such as stitches or certain medicines."
"So what do we tell them?"
"I'll write you a note that explains everything to them. Here's the address." He scribbled some names and numbers on a piece of parchment and handed it to Harry. He outstretched his hand and took the soft parchment between his fingers. Harry helped Hermione up, gathered Matthew in his arms, and led his family outside.
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The Potters were silent as they drove to London Integris in their yellow muggle SUV. Hermione stared out the window listlessly and Harry focused on the rain falling on the road. After some time, Matthew spoke up from the back seat.
"Mommy, am I going to die like Crookshanks?" Crookshanks had died less than a year earlier, much to the family's sorrow. Hermione gasped at Matthew's question as tears filled her eyes.
"Sweetie," she said softly. "You can't die. I'll make sure that you'll be okay."
"Okay." Silence ensued for another full minute before Matthew spoke again. "Mommy?"
"Yes, baby?"
"Why is Dr. Shobert sending me to a muggle hop-sital?"
Hermione sighed. "I'm not sure, baby. We'll find out soon enough."
A few minutes later, the little SUV made its way into the parking lot of the children's research center. Harry found a parking spot and the family walked through the rain towards the building. Once inside, they shook the rain off of their clothes. Hermione bent down and tried to smooth Matthew's hair a bit as Harry went to the receptionist's desk. She looked at Harry from behind the perch of her large hornbill glasses. "Yes? Can I help you sir?"
Harry smiled. "Ah, yes. I need to see Dr. Powers, please."
"Well, I'm afraid you can't see him. He's busy."
Harry put his hands outspread on the counter. "No, I…You don't understand! My son, Matthew! He's sick and Dr. Shobert told me to come to Dr. Powers! I have a note here, see? It's really important. Please, just look…" The receptionist looked at him and sighed before snatching the note from him. She read it quickly and her eyes widened. She folded it back up carefully and motioned for Harry to lean down.
"Why didn't you tell me you were a wizard?"
Harry was dumbfounded. "Well, I-I mean, well, I didn't know…"
The receptionist laughed. "It's okay. You can find Dr. Powers on the fifth floor, room 544. Go on up."
He nodded. "Thank you." Harry joined Hermione and Matthew and walked them to the elevator. Matthew tried to drum along to the elevator music, and was disappointed when the elevator stopped. Harry ruffled Matthew's hair up to the dismay of Hermione, who had just spent time pushing it down. They walked down a long, blandly colored hallway to Dr. Powers's office. Harry knocked firmly on the door. Moments later, it sprung open to reveal a short middle-aged doctor with short brown hair and chocolate colored eyes. He looked at the knockers questioningly.
"Yes?"
"Dr. Powers?"
The doctor extended his hand and shook Harry's and Hermione's. "That's me. Come on in!" They followed him into the comfortable little office filled with all sorts of amazing sculptures and anatomical figures. Harry and Hermione sat in front of Dr. Powers's desk, waiting to speak.
The doctor leaned back in his chair. "You three must be the Potters. Dr. Shobert called me and told me you would be coming." His eyes traveled to Matthew, who was staring at a model of the human heart. "You must be Matthew!" Matthew nodded. "It's nice to meet you!" He opened a form that was lying on his desk. "This is Matthew's file. I've been studying it while I waited for your arrival."
Harry leaned forward. "Do you know what is wrong?"
He shook his head. "I'm not positive, but I would like to get a blood sample from him. I can possibly determine the problem from a blood sample. Is that okay with you two?"
Hermione nodded. "Whatever means necessary."
The doctor clapped his large hands. "Alright, then! Take Matthew down to the Laboratory on the second floor. Fill out your forms, they'll get a blood sample, and instruct them to analyze it as soon as possible."
Harry tilted his head slightly, "Thank you so much, Dr. Powers."
"Anytime."
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Matthew did not like needles at all. He cried like a baby when the smiling nurse came in with the big shiny needle. Hermione had sat beside him, stroking his back gently, trying to console him as he sobbed in anguish. Finally the needed amount of blood had been taken, and Matthew's tears were reduced to small hiccups. The nurse took the blood into another room and returned with a big lollipop for Matthew. As he licked, his hiccups were diminished, and he was no longer breathing heavily.
"Needles are scary," he said as he ate. "I don't like a lady I don't know poking something in my arm."
Harry smiled. "I completely agree. I'm terrified of needles."
Hermione nodded her head in agreement. "When your father and I had to do a blood test before we got married, I had to practically sit on top of him to hold him down long enough to inject him."
Matthew giggled and Harry grinned. "Good times, good times."
The family sat in the laboratory waiting room for half an hour or more before the nurse returned with the results. Matthew sat up rigidly, not daring to move less he be pricked again. The nurse handed Hermione a file folder.
"Here's the test results. There are a few white blood cells more than necessary, but everything else appears to be perfectly normal. I'm not quite sure what's wrong, but Dr. Powers will know what to do. Take this report to him ASAP." Hermione shook the nurse's hand.
"Thank you so much."
"No problem. I hope Matthew gets better soon!"
When they got back to Dr. Powers's office, he looked at the files carefully. All was silent momentarily until Dr. Powers closed the folder with a snap.
"Matthew, would you please go into the play area right outside? I need to talk to your parents privately about grown-up matters."
Matthew nodded and walked slowly out the door. Hermione grabbed Harry's hand quietly. Dr. Powers pulled off his reading glasses and looked at the Potter parents.
"I think I know what's wrong with Matthew, but I'm not 100% sure. If I treat him immediately for what I believe is wrong and it's not the problem, he will be sicker than he already is. I can do a test to ensure what is wrong, if it is what I think it is, but it will be painful for Matthew. However, we could do the test today, and get results within an hour. The choice will be up to you two."
Harry frowned. "What exactly would you have to do during the test?"
"We would take him into a room, give him a little hospital gown, and make him lie on his stomach. We will clean a spot directly on his hipbone and numb it the best we can. Then we'll have to take a large needle and insert it into his bone to extract some bone marrow for a biopsy. We'll analyze the sample and be able to tell for certain what is wrong." He looked at the pale-faced Hermione. "Will you agree to the procedure?"
Hermione whimpered but slowly nodded. "May we be with him while they do it?"
Dr. Powers smiled. "I wouldn't have it any other way. Now, please go get Matthew from the play area and bring him back. I'll go with you guys to the procedure room. Normally, we don't cater this much to patients, but, well, you are the savior of the wizarding world…"
Harry groaned and walked out of the office to retrieve his precious son.
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Matthew almost had heart failure when Hermione gently explained to him what would happen. After a while, he finally agreed to take off his clothes for the biopsy. His agreement came only from the fact that he was plum tuckered out from his short play. Harry helped him get undressed and Hermione put the hospital gown on him. Harry picked him up and laid him facedown on the bed, frightened by how weak he appeared.
When Matthew was comfortably situated, a nurse came in and pulled the gown away from Matthew's backside. She cleaned a circle on his skin carefully before placing a numbing patch on the cleansed area. After a few minutes, the slightly numbed area began to bother Matthew.
"Daddy, my hip feels funny." Harry came up beside him and stroked his hair.
"I know, little man, I know. Please try to be brave for me, okay? This is going to hurt a little bit."
Matthew didn't have time to respond. Dr. Powers stepped into the room, followed by an assistant with a tray of medical tools. The doctor came up to the table.
"Matthew, can you feel anything under that patch?"
"It feels funny."
Dr. Powers nodded. "It will feel funny. Now, what's your favorite thing in the whole wide world?"
Matthew thought for a moment. "Quidditch."
"Alright, then, think about Quidditch the whole time I do this. Don't stop thinking about Quidditch."
"'K."
Dr. Powers took a long, surgical needle from the tray, making Harry squirm. He advanced on Matthew and poised the needle inches away from Matthew's hip. His assistant removed the patch, and Hermione tightened her grip on Matthew's left hand. Then, slowly, Dr. Powers lowered the needle until it pierced Matthew's skin. Matthew let out a scream at the pierce. He tried to thrash around, not knowing that it would hurt him worse. Hermione and Harry struggled to keep him calm so the doctor could finish the procedure. They both held Matthew's arms firmly to the table top; their hearts breaking with each of Matthew's sobs.
Dr. Powers pushed the needle farther until it scraped against the bone. Hermione's eyes began to fill with tears. "Please, doctor, this is too much…"
"We can't stop now." He pushed the needle farther until it was inside the bone. Matthew screamed in pain but didn't have the strength to try to fight to get away. Harry's hands trembled as he watched the large needle protruding from his son's skeletal form and the doctor standing over him. It was too much, and Harry felt like an unfit father. He was supposed to protect Matthew from all pain, all the hurt in the world, but here he was, naked and screaming in pain on top of a sterile table in a sterile room.
The needle bored deeper, resulting in more screams from Matthew and more heartache from his parents. Finally, after what seemed an eternity, the marrow began to creep up into the tube until it was full. Dr. Powers extracted the needle from Matthew, now chalk white from pain. The assistant put a cotton ball over the pierce and secures it with a piece of tape. The doctor walked off and Harry grabbed Matthew in his arms and held him tightly, his tears falling onto the hair so like his own. Matthew looked up at him for a moment before fainting in his father's arms. Hermione screamed and ran to them, cradling Matthew's lolled back head between her hands. Harry fanned air into Matthew's face, trying to revive him. The assistant came over to the family and pried Matthew out of Harry's clinging arms.
"He'll be alright, he's just fainted. Please leave him be until he wakes up."
The next hour was the longest hour Harry and Hermione had ever experienced. Matthew was still out cold, and they knew that somewhere in the same building, someone was analyzing Matthew's biopsy, seeing what was wrong with the little guy. Harry hated to think of what was to come if the test was so brutal.
After they had paced Matthew's examination room until their feet ached, Dr. Powers came in, a file in his hand and a grim look on his face. Harry ran to him and put his hands on the doctor's shoulders.
"What's wrong with my son, doctor?"
Dr. Powers sighed and rubbed his temples. "Please," he gestured towards a bench, "Sit down." Harry and Hermione sat down warily.
"Doctor," Hermione said softly. "What's wrong with my baby?"
"Well the blood tests and marrow biopsy have proven that it is what I suspected but prayed was not true."
"What is it?"
Dr. Powers sighed. "Matthew has leukemia."
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