Broken Bones

Aylee grunted as she limped towards the Hospital Wing. Her ankle was hurting her. A lot. Somehow, she had tripped and fell down the stairs. A teacher who had seen her fall ordered her to go to get some treatment. She couldn't agree more. Every time she tried to put weight on it, the pain was a bit unbearable. So there she was, looking for the way to the Hospital Wing. She had never been there before so she didn't know the way exactly.

Some time later, the Ravenclaw knocked on the door, hoping that someone would answer. Her ankle was hurting her more by the moment and she couldn't stand it. Aylee lifted the foot in the air, trying to stay balanced while holding on to the wall.

Roger heard the knock, lifted his head from reading a couple of tomes, and put down his glasses. He went over to the door and opened it full swing.

"You need not knock when injured, young lady," Roger told her. He glanced at the bent knee and elevated foot.

"Do NOT put pressure on it--here," Roger said, assisting the girl onto one of the beds. Before she could say anything, he fired a few diagnostic spells her way.

"Sprained ankle. No breaks, but it is severely strained. What were you doing?" he asked, going down on one knee and checking the injured foot for any outside bumps.

Aylee barely got the chance to speak as the Healer helped her towards a bed and examined her ankle. She was relieved to know that she didn't break it- thank goodness. When he asked her what happened, she answered.

"I tripped and fell down the stairs," Aylee replied quietly.

Roger couldn't help it. He laughed.

"That is the most uncommon explanation I've heard in my tenure here," Roger said, chuckling. "Usually a living breathing book's slammed itself on the patient's foot, or Care of Magical Creatures class has another pain-inducing creature introduced to class, or, I don't know, a spell's hit the ankle and bent it at an odd angle. But this?"

He shook his head at the absurdity.

"If you had been rolling away from a hex and managed to find the descending stairs on the way then yes, it would be a more Hogwartian way of injuring yourself. What was your name again, Miss?"

Aylee felt confused when Roger laughed. Then she smiled a little when he explained the reason. He had a point, Hogwarts has many, many ways to get injured. She shook her head and heard the Healer ask her name.

"Aylee," she answered.

"Aylee, Aylee ..." he said, going over to his student records before healing her. "Ah yes, Miss Walters. Of House Ravenclaw. A fine lady. Wit beyond measure is a man's greatest treasure, but it won't save him from the stairs, will it?"

He went over to the potions stores and got painkiller potion. Then, he went back beside her and offered her the potion.

"Drink this first, then I'll proceed with the spells to correct your ankle."

Aylee giggled at his comment about the stairs. Apparently, treasure didn't save her from the stairs. When he got a potion, she hesitantly forced it down and wondered what would happen now.

"Alright, now," Roger took the phial away from Aylee.

"If you would just keep still," Roger ordered, and then started the spell work. The first spell he used was an internal disinfectant one.

"Joints swell when you injure them because of the release of histamine," he said. He then used a spell that stops histamine release. "This histamine brings fluid to the injured site. Fluids containing white blood cells, platelets--when it's a closed injury like this, it's more of a way for the body to limit movement there. Like a natural splint."

He then used a fine-tuned cooling to freezing charm. "Cold compress should be applied, if you're without magic. But we're not Muggles, so this should feel alright."

"Now, enough with making you feel good," Roger said, chuckling. "Now we actually heal something. You've torn a tendon slightly--that's why it's swollen, so that you don't blunder and mess up while it's trying to heal itself."

Roger fired the knitting spell. In a few minutes, the cells will regenerate, reintegrate, and return to normal.

Aylee watched him cast spells and talk. She was confused with the histamine, fluids, platelets, all that stuff as she wasn't a healer. Deciding not to talk, she just watched Roger work.

"That will take a while, miss lady, so in the meantime, why don't you lie down. Or you can sit up," he said, smiling at her encouragingly.

"Now, just cast Tempus. After precisely 210 seconds from the end of this sentence, you may go." He bid his leave and went back into his office, trying to recall where he was in his healing tome.

Aylee decided to just sit up. When Roger went back to his office, she started to count to 210.

"205, 206, 207, 208, 209, 210," she finished counting rather impatiently. Then she stood up and tried to put weight on her ankle, it didn't hurt a bit. Smiling, Aylee exited the Hospital Wing and headed towards where she was going.