Dancing with Darkness

S

Samuel Sykes

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He couldn't breath. He couldn't think, he couldn't see.
There was only burning, then a terrible cold.

Sephora!​
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"Sephora..."
It hurts.​
 
Sephora sat beside Sam in the Hospital wing.
This was the second time she was in the hospital wing in weeks - turns out it was vice versa this time.

She held Sam's hand gently in her hands and stroked his hands with her thumb;
"Your going to be okay darling..." She whispered her reply to him as she watched him lay lifeless on the hospital bed.

"This sucks. Being here sucks and now my *boyfriend* is in the hospital wing moments after he asked me out. Some day this is." She thought angrily.
 
It's too dark ... thought Sam, terror creeping into his thoughts. In fact, the room wasn't black. It was grey. The fear drenched him down to his toes and he was numb, paralysed with it. The claustrophobia was threatening at the edges of his mind. It's not real! Just a hallucination! he begged.

Physically, he began to shake, although he did not know it.

All at once, his eyes were open, and the room was not grey anymore. It was white. Yet he was still shaking, thoguht someone was holding his hand so tenderly. "Cr*p," said Sam softly. He had never sworn in front of Sephora before. In fact, never before today.
 
Sephora jumped in her seat when she saw Sam shaking violently;
"Sam?...Sam!...Nurse!" Her voice rising to a panic.

She heard him swear softly and gave a shaky sigh.
"Please Sam, you can fight through this...whatever it is your going through." She whispered softly as she looked around.

"I wonder where is Professor Merrythought and the nurse is..." She muttered as she gazed around the room.
 
Through heavily squinted eyes, Sam peered up at Sephora. He opened his mouth to speak, trying to beg her to help him, but nothing came out. Not a whisper remained of his breath anymore. The grey began to seep into his vision and he clutched her hand till it ached, although to her he wasn't holding very hard. Sam tried to scream. He tried. In a soft whisper, he coughed out, "Please!"

Yet at the same time, he knew that he was causing her grief with his illness. He would no longer call out, for fear of upsetting Sephora any more.

"Sam?...Sam!...Nurse!"
Don't ... he begged internally.
"Please Sam, you can fight through this...whatever it is your going through."
No I can't.
"I wonder where is Professor Merrythought and the nurse is..."
It doesn't matter!

He forced himself to stop shaking, and to open his eyes to look at her, to show her that he was alright. It wasn't convincing, but at least he was awake. Speak ... speak, damn you! Sam couldn't.
 
Sephora eyed Sam;
"Please?....What do you want?"

Sephora bit her lip and slumped back into her chair - after minutes of calling out for help, she wasn't sure what to do anymore.

"Just hang in there...for me." She gave Sam a sad smile as she softly stroked his hair.
 
Sam forced his eyes to stay open as they sought out Sephora once more. Unseeingly, he reached out with soft hands to find hers, desperate for contact.

"Please," he repeated desperately with unfocused eyes. "I can't go back,"

Eventually his voice trailed off, unable to speak any more. The tightness in his chest was all-constricting, and the pain it gave him to speak had exhausted him utterly. Instead he cried, silent sobs that were only air and no noise. Even through the haze of fever he felt the shame of tears, and he struggled to turn his face away from her.

He wanted to tell her not to worry, but there was nothing he could do anymore.
 
((Sam said I could pop in..))

Siobhan shookher head, confused. Why is he even in the hospital wing? She felt sort of obligated to go and visit Sam when she hadn't seen him in weeks, but even more so because he was hurt. It was the best thing to do being his friend, anyone's friend. The corridors were filled with students as she pushed her way through quietly and reached the hospital wing door. Hesistant, she grabbed the handle and slid into the room, anoyomously.

She noticed two people near one of the beds and tip-toed forward, slowly, trying to get a closer look but not wanting to make anymore noise. The girl near Sam seemed very distraught.
 
"Y-you'll be fine.." Her voice trailing off.

She felt her lip quivering as she saw Sam weep.
"You gotta be strong, don't cry. Just be strong for Sam. Just. Don't. Cry." She told her self sternly.

If Sam saw her cry, then that'll be the end of all things 'happy' for today.

She continued to stroke Sam's head, she hummed to herself and was already thinking of things that they could together when he got out.
"Cake. Cake is definitely on the agenda."

She let go of Sam's hand and yawned, feeling the dull cramp building up in her legs.
Standing up she Yawned again while streching until she noticed another person her presence.

"Oh!" She exclaimed and she stepped back unintentionally;
"Sorry, you gave me a fright." She gave an un-easy shuffle, turning bright red.
 
Finally Sam relaxed, sinking back into the sheets unnoticed by Sephora. She must have been here for so long, yet he had lost track of time long ago in the throes of fever. First there was heat and now the cold was coming, slowly but surely onwards and he wished for something warmer, anything! But Sam said nothing, and his eyes were only half open in the dim light as the sun began to set.

Another person had entered the room, and with a jolt he recognised Siobhan. He opened his mouth but found that he was unable to speak and, as such, unable to greet her. As he looked between Sephora and Siobhan his fear grew again irrationally. Hopefully Siobhan would introduce herself because he couldn't do it for her.

Ever polite, Sam lifted a hand and waved to her lightly, pulling the sheets up with the other trying to cover himself, needing more warmth.
 
Siobhan bit her lip and looked down. "Oh, I didn't mean to frighten you," she assured her honestly and then look behind to see Sam giving a small wave. She took a breath a smiled. She still found him attractive, even if she hadn't talked to him in forever. "What happened to Sam?" she asked worriedly, wanting to make sure her friend was okay. Siobhan walked over to the bed and looked down at him with a frown on her face, her red locks falling in front of her eyes.

A part of her was curious as to who this girl was, and a small part of her was dreading what that answer may be.
 
Sydney had heard that the boy, Sam, was in the hospital wing. Though she didn't really care for any of the younger kids apart from Shay, she felt she should go and see him. As she walked towards the wing, she thought about how he really didn't seem to fit in with the girls. He was to nice, to friendly, and they were all coniving and nasty, including herself of course.

Sydney walked into the giant room that made up the hospital wing, she ignored the nurse asking her why she was there, and walked downt the middle. As she walked she inspected the beds until she saw the familiar blonde boy lying under white sheets. She walked up to him, ignoring the other girls around him, and leant on the bad, making sure she didn't move him. "How're you doing Sam? Heard you're pretty ill." Her voice was different from when she last spoke to him, it let out the caring, motherly, side of her and let it show on her face aswell.
 
Sam was utterly exhausted by now. Two girls in the room all hovering over his bed made him want to shrink into himself and die. Yet he could not begrudge them a visit, for these two people were terribly important to him just like any of his friends who came and saw him. He reached out blindly to the side table and withdrew a wet towel that was sitting beside a clean white bowl of water. Somehow he was burning hot, and the wet towel made him feel as though he was in heaven as soon as it touched his face.

With a jolt he heard more footsteps approaching his bed, and with both a heavy and uplifted heart in the same confusing moment, Sam pulled the towel of his face and jumped as he found himself looking directly at Sydney Caine.

"Hallo, love." he mouthed to her fondly, still glad to see a friend he had not spoken to in quite a while. Forbidden to speak, Sam gave her a thumbs up to signal that he was doing fine; but for the dark shadows under his eyes, the pallor of his skin and the sheen of sweat on his forehead, perhaps Sam could have pulled it off. He mimed asking a question to her, and pointed. "How are you yourself?" he asked her silently.
 
Sydney took the towel from Sam and put it in more cold water before tapping his forehead with it. She was completely aware, by the worry she could feel emmiting from one of the girls, that one of the girls was his girlfriend. In her eyes she should really be doing this job instead of chatting with someone else that had come to give thier attension to Sam, not her, but it meant she wasn't bothered by them so she was fine with it.

Sydney shook her head and raised her eyebrows when he signaled she was okay. "You know, If I wasn't looking at you, I might believe that." She smiled a little before letting her shoulders droop slightly, thinking of how she had been. "I'm" She paused. Better than I was. My dad just died so I spent a while grieving." Her father hadn't been the best he could've but she still loved him. She re-dunked the toweland continued to coll down his forehead, checking his temerature occasionally.
 
Suddenly Sam was ravaged by guilt and shame. How on earth could he complain (though he hadn't) about being ill when poor Sydney's father had passed away? She must be feeling a hundred times worse over than he was, yet there she stood patting his forehead so kindly in a wet cloth. He furrowed his brow and looked between Siobhan and Sephora, but found himself unable to tear compassionate eyes from Sydney again. Silently he reached out to touch the hand that was checking his temperature and held it between his hands. He moved it down to rest at his side and wished so much that he could speak at this moment. Sam kept her hand in his for some moments longer before letting her free, ruing the fact that he couldn't express his sympathies.

But there was something he could do.

He reached to the opposite side table and struggled to move over to open the bottom drawer. With some effort he pulled it open and took out a small notepad and a worn down pencil. Even with shaking hands his hand writing was almost perfect and he wrote a very small amount, handing the note pad to Sydney.
The paper read, "You're not alone."

It was true. Though he could not pretend to feel the absence of his parents keenly, he knew the feeling of being fatherless. Sam was an orphan. I hope she understands ...
 
Sydney smiled at him, a real smile, not a smirk, and squeezed his hand affectionatley. After a moment she felt the need to lighten the mood, unable to stand the thought of her father any more. "So, are you dating the blonde, the ginger or both?" She wispered in his ear as not to offend the girls, while she didn't care personally if they got annoyed she felt that Sam wouldn't be amused as they were all here as his friends.

Sydney giggled a little at the thought of Sam cheating on a girl, it seemed completely insane. As was mentioned before, she thought he was too nice. She could barely picture him hurting someone out of self defence, let alone purpusly hurting girls' feelings.
 
Sam's first reaction was to blush uncontrollably at her remark. Nevertheless, he leaned forward conspiratorially and ignored the nurse's advice to whisper "Both. Plus the brunette on the second bed from the right," just to flip Sydney out. Sam was tired and sore but not without a sense of humour.

He gave a soft chuckle that soon turned into a harsh racking cough that was tearing his lungs apart. By the time he felt the first tickle in his throat he had already turned his face from her and proceeded to bury his face into the pillow on convulse slightly as he coughed. It was half a minute before he was under control again, and to his dismay there were spots of blood on the pillow. Sam blanched white, and under the pretense of fixing his pillow he turned it over, hoping the girls hadn't notice.

If he was freaked out by the blood in his mouth, the girls would simply panic. Even so, he discreetly pointed out Sephora to Syndey in answer to her question.
 
Sydney chuckled before frowning at his coughing. She watched as he changed his pillow round, only just noticing a flash of red on it. Blood. She tried to forget about it when he pointed to the blonde, it suddenly accured to her that the girl would hae no idea why he was pointing to her and had to resist the urge to mess with her head. Once again she lowered herself to his ear and whispered, so the others were unable to hear her. "Does the nurse know you're coughing blood?"
 
Oh bugger.

With a fearful look towards Sephora, Sam shook his head violently at Sydney, both answering her question and begging her not to speak of it. Hurriedly he took the notepad and paper and, trying not to offend Siobhan or Sephora, scribbled a note to Sydney. He handed it to her, and it said "Please don't tell anyone. They'll send me to St. Mungo's."

Sam remembered when Candie, his sister, found out too that he was coughing blood. Not only that, but Sam had lied to her about the state of his illness in the first place. He honestly believed that she was going to march to Hogwarts and batter down the gates by the sounds of her furious letter. Eventually he managed to convince her how important it was to him that no-one ought to know, but now that Sydney knew ... could he ignore it anymore? Sam would do anything so that Sephora wouldn't find out.
 
Sydney sighed, not only was he too nice for his own good but he seemed like he was no Ravenclaw either. She scribbled back on the paper, not risking her whispering ebing overhear even though she knew they couldn't hear. I won't tell your little girlfriend but, if you don't, I will tell the nurse. Blood in the lungs tends to be serious, occaisionally FATAL She made sure she wrote the word 'fatal' in capitals to get her point across. After she handed him the paper she returned to trying to reduce his temperature.
 
In fact, Sam knew perfectly well how serious blood in the lungs was. He really couldn't understand how the lung infection had gotten to this point, but whatever the case he'd suffer through it all if his love did not have to. He made to reach over to the notebook but flopped back again as he allowed his face to be wiped. He didn't enjoy being waited on in any shape or form, but the cool towel was bliss on his feverish skin.

Eventually he found he will to reach over and take the notebook again, writing a short reply. Inwardly Sam gulped. 'Really, don't tell the nurse please. I will have to hex you.' said the paper he handed back to Sydney. Frankly, Sam hadn't bothered to learn any hexes that he thought he wouldn't end up using. Now where is my wand ... he thought nervously. Just in case. Being threatening wasn't his forte, and it didn't help that he was as weak as a day old kitten. I can't go to St. Mungo's, I just can't...
 
Sydney couldn't help but laugh outloud when she was threatened by the younger, much weaker, hufflepuff boy. She stood up, dropping the towel on his face, and spoke in a voice the girls could hear for the first time. "I dare you to." She paused, waiting for him to try, before walking in the direction of the nurses office.

In view of everyone over there she spoke to the nurse. Unknown to all of them, she actually asked what medicines he was on and what kind of progress he was making. After spending a minute talking to the nurse she thanked the lady and walked back to her friend. "There." She spoke simply, before returning to her towel duty.
 
Siobhan had been watching the new blond girl and Sam carefully. What kind of guy was he? Three girls coming to visit him, yet none of his guy friends? This is so weird. Turning away from who he was assuming one of his girlfriends, she walked toward his bed as the older girl walked away. "Sam, long time no see," she said, gently, looking him up and down. "You poor thing. What's wrong?" Before she could say anything else, she saw the older girl point toward them and say "There". Her eyebrows narrowed as she asked Sam, "What's going on?"
 
Before Sam could protest (in flailing sign language and frantic mouthing) Sydney had moved off into the office. "Stop her!" he mimed desperately to Siobhan and and Sephora, but it was too late. Half a minute later Sydney returned with a smug look on her face to show that she had indeed informed the nurse of his worsening illness. He was both aggrieved and irate. With laboured breaths, Sam made to scramble out of bed furiously and to remove his wand from the bottom drawer of the side cabinet. It wouldn't have made much of a difference because a) Sydney had already told the nurse and b) he couldn't had spoken a spell anyway.

"What's going on?" said Siobhan, and Sam decided to return to that question later. But even through the drowsiness of medication and sickness, there came a spark of enlightenment. Where's the nurse, then, if Sydney told on me? He couldn't believe that she had been cruel enough to speak about it, and her smug look may have been a sign that it was all done in good fun. Sam was half out of bed by now and on impulse, did the rudest thing he had ever done in his entire life.

He flipped Sydney off.

But then again, there was a touch of amusement in his eyes that Sydney would pick up on, so she wouldn't be too angry. However it was a mean trick to play, and Sam collapsed back into the bed exhausted from the sudden strain. With an apologetic look to both Siobhan and Sephora, he patted both of their hands (where it lingered for a bit longer on Sephora's) and quickly scribbled down an explanation to Siobhan about his sickness. To Sydney he gave a half chiding, half amused look.
 
((I'm back for a little while, so incredibly sorry for absence and non-activity >.<))

Sephora watched as another person walked into the room.
Pulling up a seat beside the bed she felt relieved that someone else was there to look after Sam for a while.

She watched as they chatted amongst themselves. She layed her head amongst her hands, trying hard not to fall asleep.

For a while, she stayed quiet and listened to the quiet mumblings from the other girls.
All of a sudden, Sam was flailing towards a girl named Sydney and Sephora was getting confused at his signs.

Staring at Sydney's direction she raised her eyebrow and gave her a puzzled look before looking at Sam to Sydney to Siobhan and back to Sam;
"Am...I missing something here?" She bit her lip in confusion.
 
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