Touch and Go [Kameren Family/Rowena]

[Max Kameren]

“He threatened the girls.” His voice was a labored rasp, his airway still healing under his set ribs. “Have they been checked on? At Hogwarts?”

"Eden is there."

That was not comforting to hear. Great, then all his sisters were together in the same place, where the man could get to them together. Not that he didn’t believe Eden capable under normal circumstances, but he didn’t want her trying to defend the Kameren sisters and winding up like him. Here, handless.

The Potions Master glanced down at his hands again, unable to believe the swollen appendages were his. Potioneering would be out of the question for some time, but how was he even to cast spells with these? The Skelegrow couldn’t come quickly enough.

“SO Max, are you going to take your medicine like a Kameren or like an adult?”

As if his musing summoned her Elle Callahan was at his side with a try of potions. His green eyes darted to Alex, then back to Elle, then to Alex again. His brow furrowed as he inspected the vials, looking back up at her skeptically. Max hadn’t brewed these, and at the moment he only trusted his own work. “I’ll take my medicine, but this isn’t my medicine. I have localized numbing potions in my personal reserves in my office. These won’t numb everything.” Regular numbing potions usually left Max with a strange sort of vertigo, where his body and senses were numbed but his Empathy remained. He had a special reserve of his own invention that numbed him properly. There were only two bottles left if he remembered correctly, but once his left hand was back he could brew more from his hospital bed if he needed to…

“Where’s the Skelegrow?” Max rasped, holding up his left hand as evidence for his need of it. Amelia and Arianna both found a seat at the tone of Max’s voice: they were in for an argument, they both could tell.

Milton stepped forward to mediate: “We’re starting with your chest injuries, Max, and healing in order of urgency.” Skelegrow was a painful process, and Milton didn’t want to burden Max with more pain than he’d already been through. Why have the pain of the hand piled on top of his labored breathing when he could just alternate?

Max did not agree with that treatment plan, evidently. He shook his head as Milton spoke, subconsciously slowing his breathing to try to take out the wheeze that was concerning his superior. “I’d call a functioning hand more urgent.”

“Max, you can barely breathe. You have four broken ribs and a cracked sternum.” Amelia winced in the corner at the mention of his injuries but Max’s glare stayed sharp. “I’ll see what I can do.” Milton gave Rowena a pointed look as he turned to leave the room, silently nudging her to convince Max to stick with the proper treatment.

[Rowena Jones]

"Urm, why are you bleeding?" Really, why was he? He’d looked fine when he’d entered the room, and now there was blood blossoming on his shirt. A fresh cut.

“Hold still,” Milton pulled out his wand from his robes and mended Alex’s wound even as the Auror carried on complaining.

"You should have called me. They're dangerous." Alex sighed before finally, or at least somewhat answering her question. "I cut Max." Rowena blinked in confusion, looking back at the bandages on Max’s chest and back at Alex. That made no sense whatsoever. There was definitely more to that story so she filed away that information for another time when her boyfriend wasn’t unconscious on a hospital bed.

And then he stirred and Rowena forgot all about the mysterious cuts as her heart flip flopped all over the place. She bit her lip as he tried to take her hand before realizing that it was impossible in the circumstances, shaking her head emphatically at his words. “Don’t you dare be sorry for this Max,” she said quietly back, “I’m fine. I just need you better too.”

And then their tiny bubble burst as the others in the room became aware of Max’s consciousness. Milton turned from healing Alex’s chest to his patient on the bed, sighing sadly but smiling with reassurance. “Welcome back, Max. Stay put, we’ll have pain potions on the way."

She should have known his first thought would have been for everyone else. It was one of the main things she liked about him. And also one of the things that drove her crazy. He’d almost died. There was no point pretending otherwise. The blood loss had been immense and the stress his body had been under during whatever had happened was enough to have pushed anyone else over the edge. But here he was, seconds after waking up, making sure everyone else was ok.

Rowena stayed silent as the Kamerens spoke, amber gaze fixed on her boyfriend, watching for any sign that he needed help. Not that he’d probably show that. Now he was awake, she was sure it wouldn’t take long for his usual stubbornness to kick in. And then Elle entered the room and Rowena sent a quick grateful smile to the other woman, thankful to see the potions Max needed.

“I have the pain potions you requested Sir for when he woke up,” Elle said putting the tray on the bedside table and pouring out the right dosage of meds. “So Max, are you going to take your medicine like a Kameren or like an adult?”

“I’ll take my medicine, but this isn’t my medicine. I have localized numbing potions in my personal reserves in my office. These won’t numb everything.”

And there it was. Despite the direness of the situation, Rowena couldn’t help but let out a snort of amusement, looking fondly at her boyfriend. Unconscious for eight hours, awake for less than ten minutes and Max was already correcting them. Thank goodness he’d been unconscious or he’d have probably had numerous things to say about the way they’d removed the bone from his hand, or the correct bandaging technique. And apparently the numbing potions were just the beginning of what they were doing wrong.

“Where’s the Skelegrow?” Max rasped, holding up his left hand as evidence for his need of it.

Milton stepped forward to mediate: “We’re starting with your chest injuries, Max, and healing in order of urgency.” 

Max did not agree with that treatment plan, evidently. He shook his head as Milton spoke, subconsciously slowing his breathing to try to take out the wheeze that was concerning his superior. “I’d call a functioning hand more urgent.”

“Max, you can barely breathe. You have four broken ribs and a cracked sternum.” Amelia winced in the corner at the mention of his injuries but Max’s glare stayed sharp. “I’ll see what I can do.”

Her boss’s pointed look was enough to make her groan quietly. Milton knew Max as well as she did, perhaps even better! He should know what an impossible task he’d just set her. But she agreed with Milton here so she supposed she was going to have to try either way. She coughed lightly to get his attention giving him a gentle scolding look.

“Strange, I always thought breathing was a pretty necessary thing. Odd that I’ve been a Healer for a decade and not realised that hands were more important that that little thing we call oxygen,” she said raising an eyebrow at him, daring him to start the battle of wills that would ensue if he tried to argue further. Merlin knew they were as stubborn as each other.

“And anyway, what exactly do you need a functioning hand for when you are on strict bed rest for at least a week?” Rowena quipped. She knew that there was not a chance in hell that Max would agree to a week in bed, but the point remained. He would be taking it easy for a while even if she had to withhold Skelegrow to ensure he remained compliant. There wasn’t much he could do with that hand until the bones regrew. In this case, his being her boyfriend helped immensely; she wasn’t held back by ethical constraints.

[Alecsander]

Alex knew that look, it was one he was long familiar with...on his brother's face. It was disconcerting, everytime he saw Curse in his nephew. He sighed again. "Ofcourse idin't let her go alone." he elaborated. This must have satisfied Max somewhat, or he just found a more immediate adversary because he began arguing his treatment plan. That was like Curse as well. He'd always thought he'd known best.

"People se can trust." he said, seeing Max direct his attention back at his uncle. Theo and a couple other aurors Alex had known nearly as long as he'd been in the ministry. And Cain. The only person who could rival Cain for Alex's trust had already passed beyond the veil, a place Cain refused to go.

[Max Kameren]

This didn’t seem unreasonable to him; he needed the proper potions or they wouldn’t be as affective on him. As much as Max liked Jackson, he wasn’t as nuanced in the details of tuning potions to each patient individually. Max was, especially on potions he brewed for himself. But as he looked around everyone watched on with quiet amusement at his request; for the first time in a long time he wished his Empathy was working correctly. What was he missing?

She coughed lightly to get his attention giving him a gentle scolding look. Max responded in kind with an arched skeptical brow; et tu, Rowena? Arguing with him on his would-be-could-be death bed? “Strange, I always thought breathing was a pretty necessary thing. Odd that I’ve been a Healer for a decade and not realised that hands were more important that that little thing we call oxygen,” she said raising an eyebrow at him.

“I’m breathing fine. If my chest’s at twenty percent and my hands are at zero, I’d rather wait out the breathing and re-grow my hand.” Max stood his ground in the argument, ignoring the breathy wheeze of his own voice. He could get words out, couldn’t he? He was awake and alive enough to take Skelegrow and fix his hand.

Skelegrow didn’t play nicely with pain medication and he would have to be taken off, but it was worth it to him. His meds were already wearing off right now, and he felt fine. He’d suffer another twenty-four hours if it meant his left hand was his again; his right hand would be ruined permanently, it would never be his proper hand again. His right hand was taken from him; he wanted his left one back. He wanted agency again.

“And anyway, what exactly do you need a functioning hand for when you are on strict bed rest for at least a week?”

Max smiled and looked around, but faltered when the stony faces in the room told him she wasn’t joking. Bed rest for a week, especially without bones in his hand was out of the question. If Rowena wanted to torture him, just send him back to the Catacombs. “No.” He looked around for anyone to help speak for him and was largely met with looks of bemusement. “What?”

“You sound like Kris.” Arianna mused, smirking and sharing a glance with Alex. With facial scars and a belligerent attitude towards St. Mungo’s staff the transformation was complete.

“No I don’t.” Max denied, ignoring the involuntary chuckle from Amelia at his snap. He wasn’t being like his dad was, he was still accepting treatment. Just his way, was that so bad? “Tell you what,” He turned to Rowena and Elle with a wince as the movement disturbed his ribs, “I’ll trade you: I won’t put up a fuss over bed rest if we start with Skelegrow. Deal?” He held up his broken hands in an exaggerated shrug that turned into a shudder in pain from the movement; the pain meds really were wearing off now.

[Rowena Jones]

And anyway, what exactly do you need a functioning hand for when you are on strict bed rest for at least a week?”

Max smiled and looked around, but faltered when the stony faces in the room told him she wasn’t joking. “No.”

Rowena rolled her eyes. Well at least her boyfriend didn't beat around the bush. She listened in amusement to the other women in Max's life add their opinions on the situation, folding her arms as she waited for Max's suggestion. 

“Tell you what, I’ll trade you: I won’t put up a fuss over bed rest if we start with Skelegrow. Deal?” He held up his broken hands in an exaggerated shrug that turned into a shudder in pain from the movement and Rowena’s eyes narrowed at the movement. 

He was making it seem as if she was torturing him by making these perfectly reasonable demands. And as if he would behave on bedrest for a whole week. They may have only been dating for just under two months, but she’d known him for a whole lot longer. Max Kameren, as he was proving right now, was going to be a nightmare until he was fully healed. And then Merlin knew, he’d probably head straight back into trouble.

“24 hours.” She said finally, resolutely. “24 hours on your pain meds and as soon as that time is up I will give you the Skelegrow.” She'd really like a full 48 hours to give his ribs enough time to heal but they were dealing with Max. Rowena wasn't sure she was going to even get 24 hours. At least that time, with some extra healing spells, should be enough that his breathing wasn't compromised. It would still hurt though once he was no longer on Pain Relief. She bit her lip worriedly, her amused expression fading as she remembered him emerging from the lift. Merlin knew she'd give anything to take away all the pain from him if she could, she couldn't stand the thought of Max hurting.

"Please Max," she whispered so that only he could hear, "I need you breathing and talking back to me like the stubborn sarcastic infuriating man you are." He might think the pain would be bearable without the medication, but it wouldn't be. Not at only 8 hours after. It would be torture, every shallow breath would hurt, nerve endings would light up in agony. If it was too bad they'd sedate him again and she'd be faced with Max looking like a corpse. Was it selfish of her to want him to fix his ribs first? Rowena knew what his hands meant to him. She was the same. They were the tools of their trade. She'd feel useless without them, but they'd be fixed. She would make sure of it. 

[Max Kameren]

“24 hours.” She said finally, resolutely. “24 hours on your pain meds and as soon as that time is up I will give you the Skelegrow.”

“What time is it? Six? Until sundown.” Max countered.

"Please Max," she whispered so that only he could hear, "I need you breathing and talking back to me like the stubborn sarcastic infuriating man you are."

The sound of the fear in her voice made his breath catch and he looked at her in a way he hadn’t before, to her or anyone. He was keeping himself calm for the benefit of the room, but there was fear in his eyes, real panic like he hadn’t had since he was very young. Right now he was entirely helpless; he couldn’t make potions, he couldn’t cast a spell. He couldn’t hold a pen. He could barely breathe. After what he’d just been through he needed something, anything that gave him a modicum of control over himself.

Early in their relationship he’d told her about how he never felt like his mind was entirely his own, but there was a duality to that: his physical self was his. When he felt out of control mentally he worked, or he walked. He did something physical to occupy himself. Now, that had been taken. Nothing about Max belonged to him. He could get his left hand back; for now that was all he could do, so that was where he needed to start.

“I can’t, Ro. I can’t do twenty-four hours like this.” His voice was low, but his mothers caught the look on his face too and looked at each other with alarm. “Please, Ro. Twelve hours. Eighteen. I know it’s going to hurt, but I have to do it. Please.”

He glanced up to see Amelia hovering behind their conversation, her brow furrowed in worry. “Everything alright Max?”

“Yeah, mum, just figuring out the treatment plan.” He tried to smile reassuringly, forcing the fear in his eyes to fade back into the buzzing auras in his mind. He glanced between the two women for a moment before a realization hit him. “Oh, right. Mum, Ari, this is Rowena, my girlfriend. Ro, this is my mum, Amelia. Arianna’s my step-mum. And you know Alex, of course.” He sighed, meeting Rowena’s eyes apologetically. “Sorry, kind of a shit way to meet the family.”

[Rowena Jones]

“I can’t, Ro. I can’t do twenty-four hours like this.Please, Ro. Twelve hours. Eighteen. I know it’s going to hurt, but I have to do it. Please.”

Max's look made her heart break. Of course he'd been hiding it. He'd distracted them with his concern for his sisters, and then he'd been so belligerent that it had been easy to think that he was OK. Or maybe she'd just wanted to believe that he was so much that she'd let herself pretend. Of course he wasn't. How could he be after what must have happened to him. Speaking of, Rowena glanced at Alex. The way he'd spoken, he knew something. Plus he was Head Auror. If Alex Kameren had any information about the attack, if he knew who was behind it, he was going to tell her. Rowena Covington was fed up with knowing nothing. That changed today. 

And then her phone buzzed in her pocket and her heart sank further. She'd almost forgotten. Rowena glanced at Max, her mouth opening to speak but his mother had joined their conversation. She watched as he hid his true feelings, pretending once more he was fine, or as well as could be expected. It was easy to forget the fear he'd shown her when he carried on with niceties, finally realising that his girlfriend was in the presence of family she'd yet to really meet. 

“Oh, right. Mum, Ari, this is Rowena, my girlfriend. Ro, this is my mum, Amelia. Arianna’s my step-mum. And you know Alex, of course.” He sighed, meeting Rowena’s eyes apologetically. “Sorry, kind of a shit way to meet the family.” 

Rowena shook her head smiling sadly. "I mean you could have been more original about it and not done it in a hospital too," she quipped, referring to Max's meeting with her parents after her father's heart attack, "but you don't need to apologise."

Her phone buzzed impatiently again and she sighed heavily, knowing what the alarm was telling her. "Max... I have to go. It's mum's..." Rowena trailed off giving her boyfriend a sad pointed look. She wouldn't be surprised if he'd forgotten with everything that had happened, she had, but it was the only thing that could have taken her away from Max's side. It wasn't a nice feeling being so torn in two directions. She hated the idea of leaving Max, terrified about what might happen to him if she took her eyes off him, but there was no choice in this situation. She had a funeral to attend. "I'll be back this evening. If your ribs are looking better, and you haven't driven all the Healers mad, I'll get you the Skele-grow, ok? Do you need me to bring anything else?"

[Alecsander]

Alex sighed, scrubbing his fingers through his hair as Rowena began to negotiate treatment plans with his stubborn nephew. He felt a weight lift off his chest, Max would be fine. He glanced briefly at Elle, then back to Max. The long day was catching up, he'd been up past 25 hours by now.

He should check up on the girls. Make sure the aurors he'd assigned were still up for it. They had had long days too, but they had been able to grab a few hours. "Max," he said, then tapped the bloodstain on his own chest, unwilling to touch Max and cause more pain. He hoped Max would understand his message, don't worry, the runes are broken.

"I'll be back." he hoped his voice was comforting or at least fairly neutral. In reality he still felt that overwhelming sense of doom. "I'll keep the girls safe," this he directed towards Ari before he exited, unable to stop himself from looking back over his shoulder one last time at Max. Curse... He looks like you.

[Max Kameren]

“Sorry, kind of a shit way to meet the family.”

"I mean you could have been more original about it and not done it in a hospital too," she quipped, referring to Max's meeting with her parents after her father's heart attack, "but you don't need to apologise."

“It’s nice to finally put a face to the name, Max has told me a lot about you.” Amelia smiled wryly at her son who gave her a warning look. She arched a brow in surprise when the girl pulled out a muggle phone; usually she didn’t see those with the Kameren family, unless it was Max.

"Max... I have to go. It's mum's..." Rowena trailed off giving her boyfriend a sad pointed look.

Max met her eyes questioningly for a moment until he realized exactly what day it was. He paled slightly and looked at her apologetically: could there be a worse day for him to be this way? He wanted to go with Rowena, to help her through what was going to be a very difficult day. Yet another way this attack was setting him back, as if he needed more. Max leaned over with a wince and kissed her. “Go. I’ll be here.”

"I'll be back this evening. If your ribs are looking better, and you haven't driven all the Healers mad, I'll get you the Skele-grow, ok? Do you need me to bring anything else?"

“No, I’ll be fine. Go.” His chest ached with his sigh, a bittersweet painful affection running through him in a wave as he watched her leave. She was holding up so well, going through all of this. Better than he was.

"Max," Max’s eyes followed Alex’s finger to his chest, where he arched a brow at the bloodstain. Max lifted his own injured right hand to his chest, where there was a fresh scar. He met Alex’s eyes and nodded in thanks. "I'll be back."

“Alex,” Arianna turned to Alex with a pleading look, “Check on the girls, please? Yourself?”

"I'll keep the girls safe."

Arianna’s dark eyes turned back to Max for a moment and she shuffled. Max nodded at her with a slight smile, lifting his hand and arching his brow. “Better you two go than I do.”

Arianna smiled and leaned over the bed, kissing her eldest child on the crown of his head before turning to leave with Alex and check on the Kameren sisters. It was for the best, they needed their mum. Max’s mum was already here for him, and he realized she would be much harder to convince to leave.

.. .. .. .. .. .. ..

Amelia had tended to Max for the rest of the morning into the afternoon before finally she had to return to the muggle world. Max was exhausted; he’d tried to quell his thoughts and emotions the whole time, trying to keep calm. Trying to stay sane despite all that had been done to him in the past twenty-four hours. He couldn’t let them know, they already worried about him so much. For them, he needed to be okay.

But he wasn’t.

The moment the door closed and Max was alone he fell back in the bed, using his arms to block his eyes from the sight of his ruined hands. He breathed short and shallow, trying to calm the rush of panic-fuelled adrenaline that was finally released in his solitude. Each breath was agony; he’d run low on pain potions again and he shook with the pain in his chest with each breath. Everything was pain, it engulfed every sense. Max had been consumed by it. He couldn’t find himself in it anymore, he’d lost control.

Milton stepped in a moment later to a great shock, finding Max writhing on the bed with tears streaming down his cheeks. The old healer closed the door behind him and took out a few potions of his own to soothe the Healer who’d been like a son to him. The image was eerie, in how it reminded him of Curse. These poor Kamerens. Doomed to suffer.

With a wave of his wand he restrained Max, holding him still enough to administer the pain potions he’s brought and another, more powerful sedative. That would give him relief for a few hours, at least.

[Rowena Jones]

9:15pm.

Rowena had left Max's side with a heavy heart, and returned feeling drained. The funeral had taken everything, left her empty and floating. And the only way to ensure she didn't just fall to the floor and never move again that she could think of, was to throw herself into doing everything. She'd sent Milton her resignation letter, something that she'd known she had to do even as the thought brought a whole new wave of grief. And she contacted the Birth Registration offices as well as her Adoption Agency. And tomorrow, tomorrow she was going to talk with Alex Kameren.

She walked over to his bed, looking at his hand sadly. He'd been given the Skele-grow earlier when she'd first returned to the Hospital in the early evening and hadn't planned to leave again, but then she'd got a phone call from her parent's lawyer and had to go and deal with that.

The whole day had been exhausting and for tonight, it was enough. As she approached Max, that fragility reappeared and she couldn't find the energy to fight it anymore. For one night she'd allow herself a moment more to grieve. She just needed to feel Max, alive and breathing, next to her for just a few minutes and then she'd go home. Rowena settled down on the bed next to him, careful not to wake him or brush against his injured body, and closed her eyes. Just a few minutes, she told herself as her breathing slowed.