Feeling horrid on Crotalus Commons

Valerie Lennox

October 07, 2011 2:34 AM

Feeling horrid by Valerie Lennox

Valerie burrowed underneath her blankets, shivering. She was lying on a couch in the common room and had been ever since she'd gotten back here after class. The Crotalus knew she should go up to her room or possibly to the Hospital Wing again but Valerie...honesty could not move right now. She had tried but she felt so weak that she couldn't move her head off the pillow. Which was considerably worse than she had felt when she'd first lied down.

She sort of wished she had taken Ryan up on his offer to take her to see the medic when he'd happened by before going to class. Valerie didn't want him to be late though, for some reason, her second cousin always seemed worried about something. Afraid. It hadn't taken much for Valerie to convince him to just go, that she would be all right. Ryan had still looked worried but got her a blanket and went off to where he was supposed to be.

Now, though, Valerie felt even worse. She was so achey and weak that she couldn't move and her lungs felt like they were burning. And she was so cold, completely freezing, like she was encased in ice and just couldn't get warm no matter what. Valerie knew she had a fever, probably quite a high one by now and that she needed medical treatment but she couldn't get up. Her head felt like it was weighted down with rocks.

The tiny first year coughed and shivered violently. She knew from experience that she desperately needed to get to the Hospital Wing, that something was really wrong so Valerie tried once again to lift up her head and get off the couch but to no avail.

Just the effort from doing so seemed to make things worse too. The common room seemed fuzzy and things seemed to be swirling around. She was feeling more ill by the second it seemed and Valerie couldn't remember a time when she'd felt more awful. Of course, she probably had, but at the moment, the Crotalus wasn't thinking too clearly.

She clutched at the blanket, feeling as if she were falling. The walls of the common room seemed to be alternating between receding and closing in on her. The couch felt like it was moving too like Valerie was on a boat-and not on calm waters either.

Her shivering increased, as did the burning feeling in her lungs, and she felt even colder, as she thrashed around on the couch. Valerie felt like she was going to die right then and there. There was no part of her that felt good. A tear trickled down her cheek. She just wanted it to stop.

And then, mercifully, Valerie passed out.

11 Valerie Lennox Feeling horrid 204 Valerie Lennox 1 5

Crotalus HOH Amelia Pierce

October 08, 2011 2:25 PM

Something wicked this way comes by Crotalus HOH Amelia Pierce

Amelia spent most of her days out by the pitch. She had first year lessons in the morning two days a week, and the rest of the time she was just generally overseeing the Pitch to make sure nobody was doing anything that would get themselves or others hurt.

Plus, it was a quieter and more relaxing place than her Crotalus office to get through the paperwork that came with being a Head of House, a Deputy Head, and the delegated work that Sadi or David had given her to take care of. Plus it felt like a more personal place for her to write home to handle Matriarch stuff or - more often - reply to Derry's reports of how little Ben was doing since her last visit.

Still, even from the Pitch, she kept tabs on the Crotalus rooms. The ward on her office door would tell her if anyone knocked and wanted to see her, and the ward on the commons themselves would let her know if there was any trouble. Most days, neither ward went off. When one did, it was almost exclusively the door knocker ward.

There had been only one other time the Trouble ward had gone of during her tenure, and that had been because an owl got stuck trying to squeeze through a mostly closed window. That might not sound like a serious enough event to set off an alarm that meant students were in danger, but it had been Druscella Pierce's ancient and angry owl, Jezzi Belle, who was not misnamed. Amelia had only barely gotten there before someone lost a finger.

Amelia didn't run the whole way from the Pitch to the Crotalus Commons, but she definitely hustled. When she got there, she looked around in alarm, wand at the ready, trying to find the demon-owl from last time or an escaped Magical Creature on a rampage or open warfare between Renee Errant and Eliza Bennett's Army, but all she saw was Valerie Lennox asleep on a couch.

For a moment, she thought the danger had passed, but the ward was still buzzing alarmingly in her ear.

Lacking other options, and remembering that Valerie was prone to illness, Amelia bent down and placed the back of her hand lightly against the girl's forehead. She was burning up.

With a quiet curse, she called for her own owl, and Boomer came readily. She scrawled out a quick note and sent him to the hospital wing, telling the medic to get over to Crotalus, right now.

Derry and Bel had been largely healthy children. She was at a loss as to what to do from here until the nurse arrived, but she thought a glass of water and a cool wet cloth would probably be a good start. So she hurried to the bathroom and got them, then came back. Unsure if she should wake the girl or let her rest, Amelia just knelt beside the couch at her head and kept vigil.

The girl looked pale, and Amelia thought she spotted a tear track, but she was breathing, if uneasily. After a moment to make sure the girl wasn't about to die on the spot, Amelia carefully laid the cool cloth over the fevered girl's forehead, trying not to wake her, but a wet cloth was a hard thing to ignore if one was a light sleeper.

1 Crotalus HOH Amelia Pierce Something wicked this way comes 20 Crotalus HOH Amelia Pierce 0 5

Medic Rocamboli

October 18, 2011 10:41 AM

How about something medicinal? by Medic Rocamboli

With not much time left in term at Sonora, Cleo had packed most of her personal belongings. The potions in the Hospital Wing had mostly been provided by the school, but there were a few, more specialized items there that Cleo had brought just because she preferred them to the school’s potion choices. She didn’t need most of them on a regular basis, though, so they had been packed away. The posters that had hung on her walls—one of which depicted Van Gogh’s Starry Night and one of which showed a snowy landscape—were similarly gone. With her desk cleared of the books and photographs that Cleo normally kept there, the Hospital Wing looked more institutional than homey. Cleo preferred when the place was more comfortable, but in the interest of saving time, having things already packed wasn’t a bad idea. She had never been good at magical packing.

There was a diamond ring on the fourth finger of her left hand that said the divorcee was getting remarried over the summer. There was a contract in a file in her quarters that said she had been offered a position at a magical hospital in Sicily, where she and her fiancé, Roger O’Leary, would be moving. Roger had a position in a Spell Damage unit in Syracuse, and he’d managed to find a pediatric position for Cleo after he’d proposed and gotten news of his own job offer.

She would certainly be sad to leave, but the redhead was also excited to start this next part of her life. It was a pity she was moving so far away—certainly outside the bounds of her ability to Apparate—but she knew her friends and family would be able to visit, firecall, or owl her.

And speaking of owls… Cleo was more than slightly alarmed when Amelia’s owl flew into her Hospital Wing. Quidditch injuries normally were moved to the infirmary immediately, without any need for advance warning, so Boomer’s appearance certainly startled the Healer. If she was receiving a message, it probably meant that there was something wrong and Amelia didn’t want to move whoever had been hurt.

Reading the quick letter, however, told Cleo that the emergency wasn’t Quidditch-related. This didn’t do much to reassure her. Valerie was something of a frequent visitor in the Hospital Wing, since she was somewhat immunocompromised, and Cleo did worry about her. Dismissing Boomer, the Medic quickly Summoned the supplies she thought she’d need for the young Crotalus and left the infirmary at a brisk pace.

Amelia had already put a cool cloth on Valerie’s forehead, which Cleo was grateful for. “Do you know how long she’s been like this?” the Healer asked the Quidditch coach. Presumably Amelia had only been there for a few moments, but it was possible another student had seen Valerie pass out and alerted her.

Cleo drew her unicorn-hair-and-eucalyptus-wood wand. “Rennervate.” She used another spell to move Valerie into a position that elevated her feet slightly. “Valerie, are you awake?” the medic asked gently. “It’s Medic Rock; Coach Pierce found me. You fainted in the Common Room. Do you remember that?”

[OOC: Yikes! Sorry for the delay. Real life attacked me for a bit.]

0 Medic Rocamboli How about something medicinal? 0 Medic Rocamboli 0 5

Valerie

October 20, 2011 5:57 PM

Something medicinal would be great by Valerie

Valerie opened her eyes, the blacked out relief from her agony seemed to only have lasted a few seconds. She hadn't been asleep that long and the moment she woke up, she wished that she hadn't. The walls of the common room seemed to be dripping. The first year wanted to scream in terror, as the room seemed to be melting before her eyes, but her voice wouldn't allow it. Valerie was too weak.

There was something cool and soft on her forehead. She had no idea what was going on but there were these two...beings surrounding her that seemed not quite corporeal. Nothing seemed quite real and at the same time too real. Was she dreaming? Was she dead ? Were these figures ghosts welcoming her to the other side?

No, Valerie couldn't be dead. She just couldn't be! She felt too miserable yet. Death would mean not feeling anything at all right? Valerie was in way too much pain. Her body ached as never before, at least that's how it felt right at the moment. Much more than even a few seconds ago.

And she was no longer freezing. Instead Valerie was so hot, so very very hot. Like her insides were on fire, like she was burning alive from the inside out. She was in an oven, she must be. Valerie could literally feel her temperature rising by the second. Dimly she was aware that she had a very bad fever and wondered just how high it had gotten. It was probably up to at least 104 degrees, probably higher. She'd spiked a fever many times before.

If the Crotalus wasn't dead already, was she going to be soon? Was this what it felt like, she'd been expecting it as long as she could remember but that didn't mean Valerie wanted it to happen!

Melanie, she couldn't leave Melanie. Her little sister would be so sad. She had to stay around so Melanie wouldn't be upset. She wished the younger girl was here with her right now but Valerie was going to die and never see her sister again. The Crotalus would have started crying again, but she just couldn't, Valerie was too weak to even do that.

One of the figures spoke then, saying she was Medic Rocamboli and asking if Valerie remembered fainting. The young girl looked up at the medic blankly, wanting to say that no, she didn't remember that but she couldn't speak.

Then, out of nowhere, a bright red pixie flew up into her face! Only it wasn't like the ones that Valerie had seen in books, it seemed far more sinister. Like it was bringing more disease her way. And there were more of them, they were starting to swarm around her!

The Crotalus tried to scream, flail her arms to bat them away but she just couldn't move. However, Valerie managed to whisper. "Evil pixies are attacking me, please make them go away. They're going to make me sicker, they'll hurt us all." She closed her eyes, still conscious but weakened from the effort of speaking. Valerie wanted to pull the blanket over her head to protect herself from the bad pixies but that would cook her alive.

11 Valerie Something medicinal would be great 204 Valerie 0 5