Chapter Text
Ho ho ho Merry christmas everyone!
There were red and green ornaments hung from the ceiling, wreaths and fake mistletoe strung about the room in some sort of attempt to make the bright white hospital walls a little less bleak, ya know give it the christmas spirit and all that shit.
To bring in some life to overwhelm the stench of death, or something along those lines.
…It didn't work, it most definitely did not work
The little kids hooked up to oxygen tanks and i.v bags crowding around some fat ass old guy that reeked of booze dressed in a Santa costume kind of made it look more depressing than it already was, and it was already pretty depressing. It was sad really, spending Christmas eve in a hospital, sick and alone when you should be out there with your family sitting around with presents under the tree, trying to wait patiently for the next morning when you could finally open them.
Sirius hated going on holiday with his parents and brother, absolutely despised it, but something about being stuck with doctors and people dying 24/7 actually made him want to be around his mother and father(it was a shocking realization for Sirius too, don't worry).
Luckily he wasn't the only person sulking around in the cafeteria, there were a few other kids that weren't that into the Christmas spirit. Maybe they were in too much pain to care, or maybe they knew they wouldn't even be around for the next christmas, he wondered if he himself would be around for next christmas, which was a rather morbid thought.
“Could you move please?” Sirius turned around, and of course he wasn't surprised who that nasally exasperated voice belonged to. He had only been a semi-permanent patient of the hospital for a few weeks, treatment wearing him out so much and keeping him feeling so sick that leaving just meant coming back the very next day.
But in his short time here, he had already made an enemy, a greasy haired big nosed boy named Severus Snape. He was in the same wing as him so although they didn't like each other they were seeing quite a bit of one another.
Everything about the other boy just irked him, he still remembers the way his ankle ached after he wacked it with his crutch for the first time, apparently he was ‘obstructing the walk way’ which if you ever asked sirius he absolutely wasn't, at least not on purpose the first time. But by now? He enjoyed standing in the way simply out of spite, most things Sirius did were out of spite.
“Sorry Snivellus no can do”
“You are blocking my way, and i will crush your foot if you don't move”
“I quite enjoy my spot”
“In the middle of the damn doorway!?”
“...yes”
“I swear to god if you-”
Sirens wailing and screeching assaulted their ears interrupting their very important conversation, ambulances always sounded like personified panic. Alarm was visible on the nurses faces, and even drunk Santa was showing concern for whatever poor soul is being rushed in here.
“Both of you need to move out of the way!” one of the nurses yelled while sidestepping around severus and (quite rudely) pushing Sirius out of the way.
When Sirius was done grumbling under his breath, he made an attempt to peek his head around the nurses at the door, wanting to see exactly what was happening
. All he could make out was the flock of nurses and doctors pushing a hospital bed through the hall. He couldn’t even make out what the guy looked like besides the flash of a brown sweater maybe? It looked like something his grandfather would wear honestly. Whoever the guy was, Sirius wished him luck.
.
.
.
His head was spinning, and nausea had built up in his gut
Bright flashy lights burned through his eyelids and into his corneas. God he couldn't bear it, his chest was full of an angry fire that only got stronger the more he tried to breath, burning his throat with every inhale and every exhale.
.
.
.
His eyes shot open, a short middle aged woman with wild blond hair and the sweetest doe eyes sitting right by his side, holding his hand in a death grip that he couldn't get out of even if he tried.
His head was foggy and throat dry, the last thing he could remember was trying to go out to the car……. They were going to his grandmother's to celebrate, tomorrow was christmas.
He could barely muster up the energy to turn his head and look at her.
“Ma-”
“He’s awake!..Lyall he’s awake!” she quickly cut him off, her grip tightening on his hand, he could have sworn all the bones in his wrist were crushed at this point, for such a small woman she had some mighty strength.
When he tried to sit up almost immediately he was assaulted with the feeling of pins and needles jabbing at his lungs, causing him to let out a gasp of pain that did nothing but torture his mother and fathers ears.
The gruff voice of his dad chimed in “I’ll umm…I’ll go get one of the nurses or something…let ‘em know he’s awake”
His mother nodded before looking back at remus. “How are you feeling honey? Do you need anything?”
“No…no i'm good” his voice was strained as he stared up at the ceiling blankly “it’s been a while…”
“Yeah…it has, but it's flu season ya know, almost unavoidable”
Remus didn't say anything while staring up at the familiar hospital ceiling with a blank expression on his face. Sighing with what felt like defeat, he closed his eyes hoping he would wake up somewhere else, maybe at home in his bed, or at the park that never had any kids at it by his house. It was always peaceful there.
But then then his dad walked back in, bringing a nurse with him.
“Hello Remus, how are you feeling?” Her voice was sweet, but her words were shaky. She was new here, he could tell.
“My chest it um..it hurts” Remus croaked out.
She nodded her head, scribbling something down on her little clipboard.
“Well don't worry, the doctor will be in to see you shortly. That's quite the gash on your head, Are you feeling light headed or experiencing headaches?
“huh?”
The nurse pointed up at his head, to which he lifted his hand to feel where gauze and bandages packed onto it. But still, a small amount of blood soaked through and touched his fingers.
“Don't worry, i’ll change that out for you dear”
She wheeled a cart over, full of small medical tools and wrappings. When she attempted to move the gauze he winced. “I know it hurts hun, it’ll be over quick though”
He was glad when she was finally done and disposing of the bloody bandages. He was so disoriented and focused on the tightness in his chest, he didn’t even notice the large cut on his head.
She sighed, pulling off her gloves and disposing of them in the trash can. “Alright, Dr. Pomfrey should be in here any moment. But remember to press the emergency button if needed”
“Thanks..” Remus said, nodding his head, which was a bad idea, it made him a little bit dizzy.
The room was filled with an eerie silence once the nurse left.
No one seemed to have anything to say until his mother shot up. “I should probably phone gran…she’s gonna wonder why we aren’t over yet”
“They got a pay phone?” his father cut in
“Yeah its down stairs”
Hope left the room as the doctor walked in. An older woman, with a sweet look on her face. She had been Remus’s doctor for most of his visits. She was one of the few who actually had some information on his condition and tried her best to help instead of just saying ‘I’m sorry but there’s nothing else we can do for you’
But as much as Remus thought doctor Pomfrey was a lovely woman, he dreaded seeing her, it always meant there was something wrong with him. His last hospital visit was almost two years ago…they thought he was doing better now, that the treatment has actually helped.
“Hello Mr. Lupin, hello Remus. A bit shocking to see you here today” Dr. Pomfrey's voice had this comfort to it, you couldn't help but calm down when she spoke.
Lyall stood from his seat, shaking Dr. Pomfrey’s hand “Yeah, he passed out on the front porch while we were trying to leave for his grans…ended up hitting his head during the fall”
“Is that so?” she turned to Remus “had you been feeling light headed before then?”
“Well…breathing has been a little difficult lately” Remus spoke slowly. “And I've been coughing up a lot the past few weeks.”
“Have you been feeling tired? Any full body aches?” she reached for a thermometer quickly shoving it into Remus's mouth “if so, it could be pneumonia” after the beep, she pulled it out. “Hmm, 37.8…let me run some tests and then get back to you alright. If it's pneumonia we won't know for a few days. So we will keep you here for the time being for observations.”
She swabbed his mouth, and drew his blood, the normal routine, before eventually leaving the room.
Lyall smoothed his hands over his face, tapping his foot against the tile, he got jittery when he was nervous, he also got real quiet when he was upset, and the man wasn’t uttering a word.
“I know I should have told you guys I wasn’t feeling well but-“ before Remus was finished speaking his mom walked back in.
“Did I miss the doctor?” She asked surprised, as if she didn’t do it intentionally, she hated the doctors almost more than Remus did. “What did they say?”
“It might be pneumonia, and apparently he has been feeling the symptoms for over a week!” His father grumbled, finally breaking his silence.
“Remus,Why didn’t you say anything?”
“The boy could be dying and he still wouldn’t tell us a damn thing!”
“I…” Remus struggled to get the words to come out.
“I just didn’t want you guys to worry…I really didn’t think it was that bad, I just thought it was a little bug or something”
“Remus there’s no such thing as just a little bug with you! You could die from a cold for christs sake” lyall’s voice slowly rose
“You don’t think I know that?!”
“Okay both of you calm down!” Hope's soft voice was uncharacteristically loud, and that managed to make them both shut up. She took a deep breath, and spoke again, going back to her usual softness “Remus…baby, you know you can’t keep these things from us..ever”
“Yeah well I shouldn’t have to report back to you every time I have so much as a little sniffle”
“Well this isn’t a little sniffle now is it? It could be serious…”
“I'm probably fine, okay! I bet it’s not even that bad!”