27th April, 1894; after this — Hogsmeade Hospital Waiting Room

He didn’t remember much about his last duel. He had been hit by two spells at once, he thought – Miss Sykes’ stunning spell and the conjunctivitis curse he’d sent at her (Theo felt like someone – Cash, maybe? – had explained this to the mediwizard on duty in his earshot); but he’d been unusually groggy coming out of being stunned, and, more worryingly, he still couldn’t see.

He remembered being led out of the assembly rooms and into what he thought must be the general waiting room at the hospital, at which point the person who’d brought him here had hurried off and apparently left him here. Theo wasn’t sure if he’d missed some vital instruction in the remains of the stupor, or if the command had just been to sit and wait, but – as he gripped the arm of the waiting room chair to anchor himself somewhere and kept trying to open his eyes and see normally, to no avail – there was nothing, only faint shadows behind his eyelids – he felt panic rising.

He had tried to block out everything else and just focus on his breaths – a slow inhale, hold it in his chest, quietly exhale – but he was still listening, with increasing restlessness, for any sound of footsteps approaching above the indistinct bustle of the room. Someone said his name, he thought – or maybe he had misheard, and they hadn’t been talking to him at all? – but Theo’s head had already turned uncertainly towards the voice as he half-rose out of the chair, one hand held out awkwardly in front of him to try and gauge where he was without bumping into anything. “Sorry?”

This was ridiculous. He never should have signed up for duelling.

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Sage was thankfully not on duty for the duels today. She didn't think she would be very good at ensuring that she was paying close attention with so much going on. She was good in a crisis, but she needed to focus on one thing at a time and with so much going on at the duels, and things getting pretty creative, she thought she was better suited to being on call instead.

She'd just dealt with a case of accidental magic and had to to do some paperwork for the ministry so had headed back to the hospital itself to find a quiet space until somebody called her out again. The balance of the two was fairly easy, but Sage had never been the kind to try and sit idly for any length of time. The need to keep busy probably stemmed from never having any time as child to do anything other than look after siblings or find other errands to run and make a few extra coins.

As she crossed the waiting room, long legs eating up the tile floor, Sage caught sight of a gentleman sitting in the waiting room, looking a little worse for wear and not a soul around. Hesitating for a moment, she pressed her lips together. She wouldn't be able to stop thinking about it until she checked in to make sure he was alright. She sighed at changed course, coming up beside him. Upon closer inspection, she realized something was definitely off. "Hey there," she said softly, trying not to startle him. "Has someone checked you out?"

Then he was starting to stand up and swaying a little, leaving Sage less than thrilled about that choice. She took the hand out before him with her own and put her other lightly on his back. "Let's sit back down." She suggested gently, wondering just what he was doing here all by himself.

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He startled at the voice; it was not the mediwizard from before. Softer, a little higher; a woman’s voice. Unfamiliar. She had taken his hand; there was a gentle touch at his back. He could tell she was trying to be soothing, to keep him calm, but – Theo’s ability to keep calm had been leaking out the whole time he’d been sitting here, stranded, blind and helpless. So he was too tense to sit back down, and he resisted her encouragement to do so by pressing her hand back in protest.

Did she work here? He thought so, if she were trying to help him, and judging by her demeanour. Thank Merlin for that. “I – I don’t know what’s happening,” Theo tried to explain, fighting his inner agitation as best he could – but he didn’t like feeling this lost. “Someone brought me over from the duels,” he said. He knew that much. He was more certain than before this was, at least, the hospital. “But they couldn’t – fix whatever happened, and I don’t know where they went. I – still can’t see anything.” he said, frustrated. He didn’t want to sound desperate – he knew there were probably other patients in worse situations first – but all the same, he really hoped she would help him.

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So much for avoiding the duels altogether then. A flash of recognition crossed her face as the man spoke again and Sage was pretty sure she knew him from school, but it felt like so long ago she couldn't be certain. His hesitation to follow her guidance had her frowning, but she wasn't entirely sure he could see it. That thought was confirmed just a moment later.

"Alright, I'm also mediwitch for the hospital." Sage explained in a soothing voice. A loss of eyesight was beyond her level of training, but she was pretty good at keeping people calm. "I'm sorry my colleague left you alone, they shouldn't have done that." Cardinal rule number one, especially when the poor guy was blind. The least she could do was stay with him until someone from spell damage came around.

Without much to go on, Sage's best tactic was distraction. "I'm sure someone from spell damage will be along shortly. It's been a busy day with the duels. I'll keep you company until then." She assured him, hoping it would at least provide a little comfort. "Take a seat." She pressed again, still holding onto his hand gently. "Name's Sage, what's yours?"

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Without being able to take note of his surroundings by sight, Theo found himself clinging to every crumb she gave verbally, as if it would give him some new footing. She was a mediwitch – so perhaps she could not help him herself, but at least it didn’t sound like she was going to leave? – and they were busy with the duels. She wanted him to sit.

He sat, gingerly. “Sage,” he echoed, worried he would forget it if he didn’t drum it in, with the way his head ached. “Gallivan,” he returned, although he would have rather remained some anonymous idiot in these circumstances – but what was a little less dignity now? He’d had a bad enough day already. “– Theo.” He sighed, rueful. “You must hate duels.” A heap of needless work, the Spell Damage ward probably filled with idiot duellers.

(Or Theo was just amongst the unluckiest of them. That could also be true.)

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"I'd say it's nice to meet you Mr. Gallivan, Theo, but that always seems a bit contrite in such circumstances." Relieved that he followed her suggestion and sat back down, Sage had to smile at the rue dripping from his tone. "I am not a fan myself." It was a lot of quick fixes most of the time, but when people were under duress or stress, magic always seemed to respond in kind and the sorts of injuries she saw as a result were often less-than-straightforward.

Giving his hand a brief squeeze she let go, but Sage hovered and kept talking. "Do you mind if I take a look at your eyes? I'm just going to put my hands on your face, if that's alright?" The initial questions flowed easily enough, "Your first time? Do you know what spell hit you? I'm sorry if you've answered all of this already." She added as she tossed her sandy blonde hair over her shoulder and gently placed her hands on his cheeks so she could get a better look at what might be causing his blindness.

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Theo had never expected how terrifying it would feel to have to trust someone you couldn’t see. She could be readying herself to stick a knife in his chest and it would be entirely indecipherable to him. Not that she sounded like she was going to – she had squeezed his hand reassuringly, after all, and she had to be a mediwitch, talking him through precisely what she was going to do before she did it.

So he jerked his chin down in a slight nod, okay, and sucked in a breath before he felt her hands, a soft pressure on his cheeks. He could feel the faint rush of air when she spoke; he didn’t dare move, in case she was too close for comfort. Instead, he tried to stop himself from imagining what he couldn’t see, and take himself back to pre-knockout to help explain his state to her. “Uh – there was a Stunning spell coming at me,” he said, “and I – I’d cast a conjunctivitis curse, but they collided and – I think I got both. I went down, and –” Madam Sykes had sneezed. Cash had been talking to him, or about him. “I’m not sure, after that. I was – dizzy, and I –” he tried to blink to demonstrate that it made no difference to him now whether his eyes were open or closed.

“And I assume I lost the duel,” he added wryly, trying for humour to distract himself from the simmering panic.

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Sage made mental notes of all he described; it would be an interesting combination, a stunning spell and a conjunctivitis curse. Perhaps he had stunned his own sight in the process. Neither were all the difficult to treat, but she wasn't so sure the straightforward remedies would suit a case like this.

Holding her breath, she took a careful look at his eyes. What she suspected was normally a nice, handsome brown, was dulled and she could obviously tell without sight. They did not react the normal way one would when faced with such close inspection. "Unfortunately, that's most likely." She said quietly as she leaned back, removing her hands from his face, so she could jot down some notes. Sage perched herself on the arm of his chair, keeping some sort of contact with him. If this was her, she knew she would feel very adrift and panicky if she could not see, nor feel anyone next to her.

"Unfortunately, this also seems a little beyond my realm of expertise. Eyes are so delicate, I would hate to make anything worse." She sighed; Sage hated not having the answers. "But if you're comfortable with it, I will walk you to the Spell Damage ward myself and make sure you're seen right away?" It was the least she could do after he'd been abandoned by her colleague in the waiting room.

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She had drawn away – he could feel movement from her, but what she was doing he couldn’t tell – but the gentle pressure against his arm was more reassuring than anything else right now.

He grimaced slightly when she deemed a remedy beyond her – because fuck, what if he was stuck like this? He had not begun considering it, and he felt his stomach drop at once in horror – but tried to assure himself that it was better she was being cautious; better that someone unqualified tried and had things go awry. More awry.

His face relaxed into pure gratitude at her next suggestion, though, before he could even remember to try and look less worried than he was. “I’d appreciate that,” he admitted, letting out a slow breath.

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"Alright," Sage didn't know what else to do for him, but she would get him to spell damage and pester someone until he was seen right away. She could be pretty persuasive when she wanted to be. Gently she tugged on his arm to pull him from the chair and confidently looped her own through to start down the corridor at a slow pace. She laid her opposite hand on his arm for added assurance.

"Nothing else is amiss? No pain, no itching?" Sage wanted to make sure she had all of the information to translate it to the healers. Hopefully her notes and observations would help them figure it out. "I'll stay with you as long as you like," she added after a moment. "But is there someone I can get ahold of for you?" He would no doubt be more at ease with a family member or friend around. It had to be terribly disorienting to lose the one sense everyone used most often to navigate the world. He was handling it pretty well.

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Theo shook his head at her question of other symptoms, presuming – without anything to go on save the continued pressure of her arm in his – that she would actually see it. “Thanks. Um,” Theo hummed, wavering on her addition about getting hold of someone for him. Cash had seen it happen; if Veronica or Cee had been watching the duel, they would be looking for him already, and frantic about it; if they hadn’t been in the stands, then Theo expected they would hear soon enough. “I’d – rather not worry anyone. Unless you think they’ll have me here awhile –” Theo considered, imagining the wards were particularly busy, if he’d been abandoned in the waiting room. “Then I probably should.” He sighed – and Sage was one thing, because she was a professional and also a stranger, but he didn’t want anyone he knew to see him quite this vulnerable.

On the upside: maybe this was a good excuse to duck out of any birthday plans they had for him tomorrow?

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Sage guided Mr. Gallivan around a corner and came to a stop in front of the lift. Thankfully these were not as crazy as the ones she'd encountered at the ministry. "It's hard to tell. We can see what they say and go from there. We're going to step onto the lift now." She announced as the door opened and she started forward, swinging them around to face the doors as they closed.

She kept a steady hold of his arm and her opposite hand on top, thumb brushing back and forth subconsciously. Sage had always been pretty good at keeping people calm; she was also a pretty tactile person. "What is it you do for work, Mr. Gallivan?" She asked, continuing down the route of keeping him as distracted as possible until they could be seen by the spell damage healer.

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He found himself trying to blink (to no effect) as they stopped, a spike of anxiety about not knowing where they were or how far they had gone, but thankfully she explained their progress. He had to – just trust her, he reminded himself, and although his brain was having trouble implementing that, there was something soothing about the movements of her thumb against his arm. Something repetitive, mindless, to concentrate on, instead of all the things he couldn’t see.

From the angle of her voice and the comfortable grasp, he could guess she was tall. They were still in the lift – he had heard the doors close but not open. “I sponsor a quidditch team,” he said, and it sounded like an especially stupid and useless a profession today. It didn’t feel like – an actual career, like this was. He didn’t want to talk about quidditch. He was sick of talking about quidditch. “How long have you been a mediwitch?”

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It took little focus to keep steady as the lift swung into action; she had always been thankful that the lifts at the hospital were not as bad as the ones at the ministry. "I tend to a lot of quidditch practice accidents," she chuckled only because thankfully, they were mostly superficial and not too serious. Game accidents usually had someone on hand to deal with any injuries incurred during a match.

"Oh, going on seven years or so," Sage had to think about that answer, leaving out the break she took for a year after birthing her daughter and her short recovery afterward. "I like it, it keeps me on my toes." The lift came to a stop and Sage waited for the doors to open. "Careful stepping out, there's a little lip." She warned gently, leading him slowly. "It's hard work and the tragedies are awful, but generally, it feels worthwhile. And I'm pretty good at it." Sage couldn't complain about the pay or the consistency; she would always have work as long as she could handle it. "But my family owns a printing shop, so I help out there sometimes too." She wasn't great at it, but she was good at proofreading and the business side; generally she left the physical printing to Declan.

Taking the last turn toward Spell Damage, Sage opened the door and went right up to the desk, keeping ahold of Mr. Gallivan. "He needs to be seen now." She demanded, not unkindly, but without much room to argue with her tone.

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If she had been mediwitch-on-duty at quidditch games before, then maybe Theo had seen her before, at least from a distance. He tried to sift through his memories, to see if he could eke out any sketched details about her – Sage – to fill in the blankness before him. He didn’t know if this was just to keep himself distracted or if it would help.

Listening to her talk about her work helped, too, in the same way her physical leading was soothing. “You are pretty good at it,” he agreed, once she had confronted the (presumed) healers in the ward for him, and someone else was taking him by the arm and giving him new instructions to come with them. “I –” Theo said, because he wanted to get his sight back desperately, but he had only just gotten comfortable with Sage’s presence, and now it was back to blind disorientation and the fuzz of dread in his head. “Thanks for your help,” he said, glancing in the direction he guessed she might be and shooting her a tight smile. “I’ll – see you later, maybe, if you come around this way?” (Theo didn’t think that was really in her purview, as a mediwitch, and she was almost certainly too busy for this, but he still hoped foolishly that she might come up to visit when he could – hopefully see again. And then he would thank her more profusely, if he could.)

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Satisfied that Mr. Gallivan was going to receive immediately, Sage reluctantly let him go. He'd seemed to calm down a little while she was around and she would hate to leave him now, but she needed to be available for her next call when needed.

Sage smiled warmly at him, even though he couldn't see. "I'll check back in a little while if I don't get called back out while I'm doing my paperwork." She promised. It wouldn't take her too long, and she could run back up to see if the healers had made progress. If she had everything with her that she needed, she likely would have just seated herself in his room to do the paperwork there, but couldn't skip out on the necessary (and worst) part of her job.

"If not, I'll follow up soon. Good luck!"

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