January 30th, 1891 - Hogsmeade Hospital
Gideon Ollivander

Fortunately for Mr. Ollivander, Mr. MacRae had responded quite promptly with the information she had needed and Tabitha had spent most of the rest of her shift working through the potions lists and ingredients from the wand shop to see if she could puzzle out whatever it was that was causing Mr. Ollivander's sight loss.

She had, admittedly, stayed well past the end of her shift trying to work through it and by the time her bleary eyes had made her give up, she rather thought she had a plan of attack for how to heal Mr. Ollivander.

What she hadn't had time to do was completely brew the potion, but it was steeping in her office and she had a couple of salves to try first. "Good morning, Mr. Ollivander." She said as she swept into the room the following day, a little tray of treatments ready to go. With her hair pulled up and out of her face and her sleeves pushed up, she was in business mode, not that he knew that.

"I've been looking at your potions recipes and I think I might have some options to try." That had to be good news right?

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absolute beauty by MJ

Today was a good morning, and the first one that he'd had since entering the hospital several days before. At least, Gideon was in an excellent mood, owing to the box that he'd received from Billie that morning. The slightly perplexed intern had opened it for him that morning, after confirming from the handwriting on the outside that it was from a young girl. There was a letter with it, too, though Gideon hadn't asked the intern to read it for him. Now that Billie knew he was alive and in good hands, the sense of urgency to see what she'd written was significantly less, and he didn't mean to put anyone else in an uncomfortable position by asking them to read his mail aloud. Even without the letter, though, he could understand the box of food. Food was Billie's comfort, and she was trying her best — entirely unnecessarily — to take care of him, even from the confines of Hogwarts.

He hadn't eaten any of it, nor did he think he would, but the fact that it was there at all delighted him. And, yes, it was all muddled together in a way that was probably quite unappealing, but it did smell nice, and it wasn't as though he could see it, anyway.

"Fantastic," he said warmly, pulling his legs up to sit cross-legged in the bed. It wasn't very dignified, but neither was being in the hospital in the first place, and he had begun feeling a little silly over the past few days lying around like an invalid. He felt fine, except for his vision, and while he wasn't confident enough in the rest of his senses to want to get up and wander about, it didn't make much sense to just lie around all day either. "I don't suppose I could interest you in... whatever it is they served for dinner at Hogwarts last night?" he joked, with a vague gesture towards the side table where his letters were collecting. "Although you've probably already had your breakfast."

  

Pleased to see Mr. Ollivander in better spirits this morning, Tabi had been about to launch into her usual list of questions about his current condition, when his comment about dinner at Hogwarts had her pausing.

"You must have gotten a reply from Miss Billie," She laughed out the response as she looked at the squished meal that had been packaged and sent along. "How very kind of her." Tabitha then noticed two letters with it, point for Mr. Ollivander and one for her. Interesting.

"As much as I loved Hogwarts meals, I'm all set, I would hate to deprive you of such a thoughtful gift." Tabi chuckled quietly.

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absolute beauty by MJ

Of course, Gideon hadn't expected her to take him up on the offer; he wasn't even planning on eating any of it, himself, given that it had all been muddled together in a box. Even so, he kept his smile in place.

"I think we both did," he pointed out. "Unless Mr. [Intern] was mistaken." The young man had nearly taken the letter when he'd seen Miss Chevalier's name on it, but Gideon had insisted he leave it. Nothing against the intern, but Gideon didn't want anything that Billie had spent time and effort on wandering off and getting lost before it found its way into the proper hands. He wasn't sure what Billie had to say to his healer, but if she'd thought it important enough to write it down and bundle up with the box and his own correspondence, the least he could do was see that it made it to the right person.

Besides, he wasn't so blinded by his affection for Billie that he realized how irregular this situation was. He'd already encroached on Miss Chevalier's generosity once before, in asking her to go through his letters and read one to him, and to draft a response. The last thing he wanted was to repay her kindness by embarrassing her in front of the whole rest of the hospital staff, in case Billie had put anything embarrassing in the letter.

  

"It does appear that way, shall I read them?" Tabi set the tray down that she had with the salves on it aside for the moment. It was nice to see Mr. Ollivander looking a little more cheerful today and so the rest could wait a moment.

She started first with the one addressed to her, chuckling to herself as she read. "It seems you have quite the fan, very worried about you " Tabi wasn't sure how much to tell Mr. Ollivander about it, she supposed it depended on what his letter said.

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absolute beauty by MJ

Gideon chuckled at her comment about Billie being a fan. The truth was more complicated, of course, but it did warm his heart to think she cared so deeply about him. Now that he knew she wasn't just sitting around worrying her head off, at least — or now that he hoped so, anyway. At the very least, she would know he wasn't dead or comatose, since he'd managed to sign the last letter to her.

The offer to read to him again surprised him; he'd assumed it had been uncomfortable to her to do that last time, since it was such an intimate thing. "Only if you want to," he said, with a slight frown. "It's not so urgent now that she knows I'm alright. But — but if you don't mind," he added, a little hopefully, "I would like that, yes."

  

"I don't mind if you don't." She reassured him, taking the second letter in hand. She read him the contents, trying to keep her tone even, but the smile on her lips was probably evident in her voice. "Your daughter seems to be very fond of you, my letter requests what is actually wrong with you, if it is permanent and how long you will be here. She also directs that your meals not all come from a "Quin" in particular. Which must explain the food."

"I only have answers for a few of those, but I can guarantee you will need more than sweets for your recovery." As there were no sweets yet, at least that was taken care of. "On that note, I do have a couple things I would like to try, if you are feeling up to it." The drops she had prepared should help, especially when coupled with the potion she had brewing.

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   Gideon Ollivander

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absolute beauty by MJ

Gideon bit his lower lip through his smile while she read him the letter. He was already thinking what to write back to her, although he wouldn't be able to send the sort of letter he wanted if he was still using Miss Chevalier as an intermediary. Cartoonish little doodles at the ends of letters were one of his trademarks when writing to her, but he could hardly ask the healer to imitate something so silly. Could you draw a picture of me with no arms and two dog paws instead? Not to mention that she might not think it was quite as funny as he might to make light of the situation. Honestly, though, it would have fit so well. He could have told Billie that was the reason Miss Chevalier was writing his letters for him, because he'd lost both hands and was still learning how to hold a quill in his new dog paws.

Then she finished the letter and said your daughter. For half a second it didn't even really sink in, but by the time she'd finished detailing what was in her own letter, Gideon's mirth had faded. Should he correct her? He had to, he thought, because it wasn't the sort of slip that someone would let go uncorrected. Lying to her, however, didn't seem right either. He was essentially lying about Billie all the time, to everyone he met, but mostly they were lies of omission. He didn't make a habit of actively denying his connection to Billie, and the idea of doing so didn't sit right in his stomach.

She'd moved on. He supposed he could just say nothing. It would hurt nothing to let it go; he'd never met Miss Chevalier before this and would likely not see her after his sight was restored, so it was unlikely to cause any issues down the line. Since he didn't know how long his treatment here was going to take, however, it might create some awkward situations in the meantime. He should say something — but what? He didn't even know if Miss Chevalier's assumption had been only an assumption. Had there been something in Billie's letters, perhaps, that indicated more than she'd let on? True, Billie had never signed her letters with your daughter or anything before, but if she'd decided to start now he didn't want to put his foot in his mouth trying to backtrack.

"Of course," he said, in response to her suggestion. Then, after wrestling with it a second longer, he added, "Miss — about Billie — I don't want you to get the wrong idea."

More like he didn't want her to get the right idea.

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   Cassius Lestrange

Oh, she'd stuck her foot in her mouth, said something wrong, of course she had. She'd gotten too comfortable in this case because he couldn't see her and she didn't have to keep track of her distance or anything else that could be traced back.

"My apologies, Mr. Ollivander," Tabi's first response was always to apologize. "It was impolite of me to assume, I'm very sorry." Fortunately for her, he couldn't see the red tint coloring her cheeks or the visible change in her demeanor.

All business then. "I have some drops for your eyes. They'll need to be administered three times each day. Hopefully by week's end I'll have a potion to go with it. Please make sure you report any irritation or discomfort to the staff on the floor at any time." She had written detailed instructions on his chart. "If you would lay back and relax," She could put the drops in for him and avoid his room for the rest of the day.

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   Gideon Ollivander

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absolute beauty by MJ

He may not have been able to see her, but the shift in her tone was obvious. Gideon regretted having said anything, but he still didn't have any ideas on how he might have handled it better. Poor Miss Chevalier was feeling self-conscious now, though, and it certainly wasn't her fault that the situation with Billie was so complicated. It wasn't her fault that she'd assumed, either, when he'd given her no reason to believe anything else. He wasn't used to having to explain his relationship with Billie to anyone — most people who knew him well enough to know Billie at all also knew very well he wasn't married, and whether they thought she was just a street urchin he'd taken in on a whim or suspected there might be more to the connection, they kept their opinions on the matter to themselves. And, of course, most people never had cause to know anything about Billie at all. Miss Chevalier was in a rather unique situation, here — she knew too much about his relationship with Billie and still next to nothing about any other aspect of his life, so of course she had jumped to the only logical conclusion. This was probably why it was inadvisable to have strangers reading and writing one's mail, under usual circumstances.

"I probably ought to have told you before," he reflected, leaning back as she'd directed. "When I asked you to look for her letter. I'm sorry — you weren't being impolite at all. Please don't feel — I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable," he said, with a frown. "Particularly not after you've been so terribly kind."

  

Tabitha flinched. He needn't explain himself. She simply shouldn't have said anything. All she needed to do was read the letters without comment, shouldn't have been hard. It was her fault for letting herself get comfortable. As selfish as it sounded, with Mr. Ollivander's inability to see her, Tabi felt like she was able to be a little more relaxed, like she was with female patients. Poor choice on her part.

"No need to explain, it isn't any of my business after all, I shouldn't have said anything." Her tone softened a little, but she wouldn't let herself go any further than that. "These will be cold, I apologize, open your eyes as wide as you can, just as couple quick drops in each. Blink them through." She would keep it professional from here on out. Simple treatment-related information only, lesson learned.

"Another round shortly after lunch, then again before turning in for the night. We'll check again in the morning for any changes. Again, please let any staff know about any changes or irritation." Tabi corked the drops and started to gather her things, including her letter from young Billie. "Anything else I can do for you at the moment, Mr. Ollivander?" Hopefully he would have some mercy and that would be the end of the embarrassment for the day.

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absolute beauty by MJ

Gideon bit the inside of his lower lip. It didn't seem there was anything he could say to make her feel less awkward about this whole situation, unfortunately. He regretted the way he'd handled it very much, but it wasn't as though he could go back and change things now. What a shame — he'd been in such a good mood this morning, and he'd been ready to pass it right along to her for all of her help through this delicate process, and instead they had ended up here.

He opened his eyes wide, then blinked when he was told.

"No, thank you, Miss," he said with an apologetic smile. "You've done more than enough already."