"When you see her start crying, just hold her and don't say a word."
Ginny ran up to the main desk of the ninth floor of St. Mungo's. On the ninth floor, one finds an array of patients who just don't fit on the other floors.
"Arthur Weasley. Where is he?" Ginny asked between pants, barely slowing down to question the secretary.
"Room 922, but -" the secretary answered. Ginny heard nothing past the room number as she took a left past the desk.
Ginny barged into the room, only to find no Arthur Weasley. Ginny turned around to find the correct location of her father when she smacked into her mother. Ginny feared the worst with one look at her mum's face.
"Mum, what happened?" Ginny asked, taking her petite mother into her arms just as Molly's legs gave out. Ginny lead her to a nearby chair and retrieved some tissues, giving her mum time to come to grips with the situation.
After nearly a whole box of tissues, Molly's sobs began to subside.
"Your father -" she choked out slowly. "We were cleaning up around the house. I heard a thud." Mrs. Weasley stopped here, trying to suppress another bout of sobbing. "I ran upstairs and he was on the floor."
Unable to stop the bubbling sobs, Mrs. Weasley once again began to cry, her shoulders moving with every heavy breath she tried to take. Ginny pulled her mum to her and Mrs. Weasley sobbed into her youngest child's robes.
**
After almost an hour of crying, Mrs. Weasley fell into a fitful sleep. Ginny used this time, along with her Healer badge, to talk with the Healers on her father's case. After that, she Flooed her brothers, taking time between each call to hide the tears streaming down her cheeks.
**
Her brothers had arrived one-by-one, dropping everything. When they had all arrived, Ginny explained to the five worried faces staring at her what the situation was.
"He had a myocardial infarction," Ginny explained with a calmness that did not belie her true feelings. "Basically, heart muscle dies. In Dad's case, he had a blockage in his heart. Mum got him here quick, though. That's good. He's undergoing treatment right now," Ginny finished.
No one had any questions. They were still too shell-shocked. Two days ago, they had all been at The Burrow for Charlie's birthday. Arthur Weasley had seemed no different that Sunday than he had any other day.
They filed into Mr. Weasley's still unoccupied room to comfort their mother. Ginny stayed outside the room, leaning against the wall for support.
"There was nothing you could have done," Ginny heard one of her brothers tell her mum.
She tilted her head against the window and closed her eyes to keep the tears in.
"It's not your fault," another said.
It felt like Ginny's legs couldn't hold up her body any longer. She slid down the wall and buried her hands in her hair when her butt hit the floor. How could this happen?
**
When her mum asked for some tea, Ginny was the first to volunteer to get it. Her father had yet to come down from his procedure and Ginny needed to move.
On her way to the cafeteria, she kept her eyes down, not daring to look at anyone. She turned a corner and ran into a very sturdy obstacle, throwing her down onto her butt. She looked up to find Draco Malfoy looking down at her, concern etched in his features.
He offered his hand. She took it, grateful for his help as he pulled her up.
"Are you okay?" he asked, searching her eyes for the answer.
She opened her mouth to answer, and then shut it and closed her eyes, breathing evenly through her nose.
When she opened her eyes again, she couldn't hold back the tears. He pulled her into his arms and they stood still, independent of the movement around them. He let her sob into his chest until she had no more tears left.
**
"Everything went fine," Healer Washbern said, looking at Mrs. Weasley. "Your husband is on his way down to the room as we speak. He'll be drowsy for some time, and I ask that you don't excite him." This time, he looked at the Weasley children behind their mother.
The Healer left the room as the orderly pushed Mr. Weasley's bed into the room. As soon as the orderly left the room, Mrs. Weasley ran to her husband's bedside, throwing her arms over him as she began to sob again.
Ginny smiled slightly at her mum's obvious adoration of her husband, hoping that one day, if she was lucky, she would find someone to share even just half of the love her parents had. After one more glance, she left the room in order to find Healer Washbern.
She didn't have to go far. He was waiting just outside the door.
"I figured you would have some questions for me, Ginny," Healer Washbern said knowingly.
Ginny nodded in response, and Healer Washbern continued.
"When your mother Apparated here with you father, he was unconscious, but breathing. It must have been a tough Apparation for her. From what she told us, he was unconscious when she found him, and she came straight here. Probably no more than five minutes from his collapse to his arrival at the hospital, whereupon he came straight upstairs. He was in V-Tach. We took him to the cardiac unit, administered a blockage cleanser. We found there was approximately seventy percent blockage. There were no complications with the procedure. He'll stay in the ICU for a few days. At home, as I'm sure you know, we'll put him on a strict regimen to make sure this doesn't happen again."
"Thank you, Healer Washbern," Ginny said, shaking his outstretched hand.
"No need, Ginny," he answered. "Now, go see your father."
"Yes, sir," she said, striding into the room.
All the eyes in the room seemed to turn to her. Her brothers moved, allowing her to analyze her father closely. He was paler than usual and he looked tired.
"Daddy," she whispered as she moved to give him a hug.
**
Ginny had taken off from work for the week to share shifts with her mum. Mrs. Weasley didn't want her father to be alone in the hospital, so there was constantly someone sitting by his bedside. On the third day of her father's hospitalization, Draco knocked at the door. Ginny glanced at her father, who was peacefully sleeping. Ginny quietly slipped out the door.
"How is he?" Draco asked, gesturing to Mr. Weasley.
"He's been better," Ginny answered.
"How are you?" he asked, cupping her face in his hand. She leaned into his touch and closed her eyes.
"I've been better," she answered.
"When is your mother getting here?"
"Midnight," she said, opening her eyes again to look at him.
"We're getting dinner. You look like you haven't eaten or slept in days, Ginny," he told her, looking worried.
She heard something in her father's room. She looked at Draco and he nodded as she pushed open the door to re-enter her father's room.
**
At twelve fifteen, Ginny bade her mum good night and closed her father's door behind her. She saw Draco off to the left. As she walked toward him, he held out her coat.
"I got it from your locker," he confessed. "It's too cold outside to go without one."
She was too tired to protest at his invasion of privacy, no matter how innocent the intentions.
They walked outside the lobby doors of St. Mungo's.
"Where are we going?" she asked.
"My flat," he told her. "Hold on tight."
He pulled her close as he Apparated them both. She snuggled into his warmth when she felt the familiar tug.
**
"It's your favorite!" he told her.
"I thought you'd never look at another slice of pizza again after you last experience," she told him, a shadow of a smile on her face.
"What can I say? You have good taste in food," he told.
"Thank you," she said, "for the compliment and the pizza."
"You're welcome," he told her, cutting a bite size piece of his slice.
"What in the world are you doing?" she asked incredulously.
"Eating my pizza, Ginny," he said innocently.
"That is not eating your pizza. That is mutilating it," she told him.
"Adaptation is sign of a genius. If eating pizza with my hands doesn't work, why would I do it again?" he questioned.
Ginny shook her head and smiled, taking another bite.
**
Ginny ate nearly half the pizza before finally passing out, slumped on the couch. Draco picked her up and carried her to his bed, pulling the covers up to her neck. He kissed her forehead before turning to go sleep on the couch.
He faintly heard her say something as he left. He turned to see her half-lidded eyes looking up at him.
"Stay, please," she pleaded quietly.
He didn't say a word. He just crawled into bed next to her and held as she snuggled into his arms and fell back asleep.
He stared at the sleeping form in his arms. He finally fell asleep, hoping that this wasn't the last time that she was the last thing he saw before he shut his eyes.
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