Another shift in the Emergency Department.

It was a slower afternoon, with Samuel reviewing his flash-cards in the break room while snacking. He was going over the anatomy of skin, and preparing himself for a master class on stitching werewolf wounds-up on the first floor. Muggles had developed multiple strategies to address wound care, and working with and around scar tissue, and he was hoping that Athena Marrowbone or Robin Louvelle would allow for observation of the procedure in the operating theater on the first floor. A future lesson for his specialization.[1]

"Samuel. Samuel!" The mediwix snapped her fingers in front of his cards to get his attention. "It's your turn to go up. Patient is pop-idol Allura Bythesea"

He put his flash cards back into his book bag, and scrambled out of the break room to the triage center. The Allura Bythesea...no way. No Way!" There were some benefits to working at St. Mungos! He thought about asking for her autograph after the appointment. He was a fan.

Weaving through the emergency clinic portion of the hospital, he glanced at her chief complaint and reviewed the symptoms she disclosed.

Due to her celebrity status, she had been escorted to a triage room. "Allura Bythesea? I'll be helping you today, Healer Chávez. Or Samuel if that's easier for you." He paused, wanting to pinch himself because he couldn't believe she was here. He'd known her at Hogwarts, but they weren't exactly friends, "What can we help you with today?"

1.	He just needed to ask to schedule it!

Allura had already been here a few days, though she was originally held due to everything else that was wrong with her, she was extremely grateful for being able to get away from her management, and was slowly starting to recover, there was a long road and they had stressed that, some colour had returned to her body and she wasn't so malnourished as she was before, but she wasn't anywhere near where she should be still.

Even though she was still being held at St Mungo's, she'd made her way to try making an appointment and seek out further help from the hospital, she knew what was done to her but...she didn't know what it really did to her.

She was sat on the bed as the Healer entered, she'd kept herself curled up, she'd been allowed her own clothing and so had a large hoodie and jogging trousers on with a pair of converse style flats, her knees tucked into her chest and head tucked into her legs as she waited, and upon hearing him she trembled.

She poked her head up a little to look with her eyes towards the Healer, this was a bad idea...it was nothing she was fine right? This wasn't worth it she should just go but...

"I..." Her voice was cracked and dry, she'd barely spoken since arriving, her eyes looked down from him. "I need a check up...for spell damage..." She said quietly, barely above a whisper.

Coming into the room, he noticed Allura curled up on the medical examinator's bed. He went through her chart to give her a few minutes before he introduced himself, noticing that she was trembling. From his training, he knew to soften his voice and he provided space between them. Only approaching if she gave permission.

Her body language told him that it wouldn't have been a good idea to ask for an autograph here.

"Spell damage?" Sam asked, inquisitively. He brought out his English Oak wand and waved it in front of Allura so she wouldn't be alarmed before approaching. "I've reviewed your chart and just need to check a few things. You were a little dehydrated when you came in, so I want to see if I need to order another hydration potion. They're harmless charms." He waved the wand over himself and light blue sparks twisted around different parts of his body. A quill aside him wrote notes on an empty piece of parchment. "See?"

"Now tell me, what makes you suspect you've experienced some spell damage?" He would have to bring her up to the 4th floor after getting through the initial tests.

A little dehydrated was underselling it, but she knew he was trying to make her feel better, she'd put herself protectively back into her little ball, she'd give a small nod however as she did as a sign to show she was willing for one.

"Y-yeah if okay..." She said quietly enough it would be hard to hear through her body, it couldn't hurt right? If he thought she needed it, he was the Healer after all.

He questioned why she needed checking for spells and...could she even tell him? This was a bad idea wasn't it...how could she tell him about it? If she did then they'd try to take action against her manager, then she'd be near him and he would get her again, she'd be trapped once more but...it'd be even worse as he'd punish her for escaping...this was all a mistake but...

"I...was under spells that...played with my mind so...if I can be checked for them?" She asked as her eyes looked towards him once more. Her voice a bit louder, but mainly from her lifting her head up slightly to face him once more.

Thankfully he had magic, because it would have been a more awkward situation with Allura curled up in a ball on the examination table. "I'm just going to be tapping your body parts with the end of the wand." The instructions came out softly. He was trained to verbalize each step before proceeding with the charm. This step was more important when the patient appeared to have gone through something traumatic. It wasn't his place to guess what she'd experienced, though.

Light blue sparks poured from the tip of his wand and twisted around her different body parts. The sensation of the spell tingled, and felt like a warm grasp. As quickly as the spell was cast, it disappeared and he went over to notepad where his quick-quill-notes animated on it's own and filled out portions of her vitals down. He reviewed the notes and saw that Allura was still dehydrated, and underweight. The initial vitals didn't indicate spell-damage, though the vitals couldn't assess for mental-damage.

"I'll be back in a moment. Just putting that potion order in, getting you some crackers, and we can head up to Spell Damages where a further assessment can be done." He frowned a little, realizing that she probably wouldn't disclose much more about who was doing this to her. Maybe if she felt more comfortable she would disclose.

Coming back into the room, Sam put the potion and crackers on the other end of the examination table. The bright blue potion caught the light and twinkled. "Here you go, Allura." Was using her first name proper? He hoped so.

She heard what he said, how it was just to let him check on her, but it didn't stop her from flinching and her attempt to move away from him as the wand touched her flesh, and while the spell spread over her and grasped at her, her eyes widened and she took short, quick breathes, just as soon as her panic rose up through her body however, the spell was quickly finished and disappeared.

She watched him with a weak nod as he went to leave, she was alone again, she was always alone, it was his job to help her but she was pretty sure he was only being this helpful was because of her Veela charm, it had to be that...

He returned with a potion and crackers, part of her longed to just grab them but, this could all be a trick to her right? Her Manager could be the other side of the door waiting to pounce on her.

"H-how do...what...are they untampered..." She asked quietly, her paranoia creeping in, it was warranted though, they were after her, she knew it, what if they had gotten to him before he had come here, or on the way back? Polyjuice potions were readily available to those with money after all.

"T-there's no one waiting for me out there?" Her hand nervously reached for her wand but it wasn't there...she hadn't had access to it in awhile, she wondered even where it was now.

"Untampered?" Samuel looked at the potion and crackers that were sitting on the edge of the examination table. "The potions are made in-house, by our third floor healers. Crackers were from the kitchen." She must have thought something fishy was going on? Normally people weren't so hesitant taking simple potions or eating food made at St. Mungos.

"No. A mediwix brought them to me." He found her paranoia as a bit abnormal, didn't realize that she could have potentially been stalked? Or maybe she was experiencing some kind of psychological break. It was too early to tell.

"What would you like me to do to prove you're safe here." He asked her. Samuel recognized that as long as she thought someone or something was going to do something to her, she wouldn't take to the interventions, including the very innocuous hydration potion and crackers.

What could he do to make her feel safe? He was trying to lower her guard and she knew it, did he think she was paranoid? She wasn't, they could get her from anywhere...but...perhaps she needed an ally, or maybe he was trying to get close to her to betray her later...she wasn't sure but, he did have the things to help her so at the very moment she could...perhaps let down her guard?

"Maybe...tell me something that only you would know?" She asked slowly, quietly as she clutched herself tighter, she wasn't sure entirely how she could ever get a trust to him but...perhaps if she knew something to prove it was him in the future incase someone replaced him?

"A...and I can tell you something about myself...incase anyone...tries to...if something happens then..." Her throat hitched and she buried herself into her ball once more.

"Something that I only know..." Samuel repeated, thinking about something silly and nonsensical about himself that he wouldn't care someone else knew. "I heard "Food for Veelas" when I was getting ready to go to the cinema to watch Star Wars: The Last Jedi." He remembered the day clearly, the song was so catchy that he repeated it over and over, and the accidental initial listen made him a long-term-stan. Pop-music was a guilty pleasure -- something Sam didn't want to admit he listened to as much as he did. A good dance-track in the background made the his notes start writing themselves, he could easily get in the zone and concentrate. 

Pushing his glasses back up, Sam's cheeks turned a tinge-pink. "I still love muggle cinema." That was probably a more helpful factoid about himself, and it wasn't something he couldn't share about himself. 

"Does that work?" He asked, lowering his tone of voice and speaking evenly. He didn't want to make her uncomfortable, "If you want to! You don't need to share anything that makes you uncomfortable." He assured Allura. Now...if she would take the hydration potion, he could get her moved up to spell damages.

He was a fan...or atleast she figured he was a fan, it pained her a little but she tried not to show it, atleast he gave a couple of things, a general thing and a bit more specific she could use incase someone disguised themselves as him...

She should give him something that would tell him its her...but she didn't know, most things were known by her manager and...there was a couple of things only her manager knew, and he wouldn't tell anyone else, the only other people would be her parents, it made it relatively safe information, she hoped so anyway.

She took the hydration potion into her hands. "Do not tell anyone else but..." She took a sigh. "I'm a virgin, and half veela." She said softly. "I have like...the veela charm always on me, its the only thing I gained and I can't even turn it off..." She said softly, she relaxed as if a massive weight was off of her. She downed the potion quickly and then hungrily ate the food, eating quickly and a little messily but she was hungry.

"You're probably only helping me because of my charm..." She said quietly as she stood herself up slowly.

"...Alright then." Sam looked down at his quill and reviewed his notes, blushing unconsciously. He didn't want to know that she was a virgin and didn't need to know that for his position as the triaging healer. "Veela charm, got it." Under his breath he repeated the fact several times until it solidified in his mind.

From her music he could have guessed she was part Veela, but he supposed it helped she verified the factoid about herself.

"Nope, I am not Ms Allura." He corrected her, "I'm a healer. It's my duty and I'm just doing my job." He didn't know her, so his sexuality wasn't something he intended on sharing to a patient. "Thank you for drinking the potion and crackers, are you feeling a little better?" He paused, "We can head down to the second floor when you're ready." Sam smiled at the singer.

Allura gave a disbelieving look at him when he mentioned he was helping as he was a healer, partly, duh, but also he wouldn't really care if it wasn't for the charm, it was the only reason anyone liked her or cared about her after all.

That was the story of her life after all, people only cared for her Veela charm, never her, even her manager kept drilling that into her, she was worthless without it...it was the only truthful thing he ever said.

"Yeah...I feel somewhat better." She said with a sigh, she still wasn't sure if she'd be able to answer questions properly to him once they were there, how could she tell him that she was put under Imperious repeatedly, that she wasn't even fully aware of what was real or fake now, he said he was a fan of her music, how could she tell him that none of it was hers, that she didn't willingly perform any of it past the first year or so?

"Lets head over then." She said softly.

"Let's be off, then." Sam lead Allura through the maze of the hospital. There were many different people drifting in and out of the hospital, too wrapped up in their own problems to care a celebrity was walking amongst them. That was what Sam loved about working the floors, the buzz of the workers kept them all wrapped up in their own bubbles.

He couldn't help but notice a few people side-eye Allura, though, and it verified to himself that she was in fact a veela.

"We're approaching the room, now. You're still Allura, right?" He asked, joking. Wincing, Samuel realized the joke probably wouldn't land. He opened the door to mental-examination room. A big comfy couch where Allura could sit. He took out a few blankets and sat them next to the couch so if she wanted to wrap herself up, they would be available. "Do you want more water?" He asked, opening a small fridge and offering it to her.

Allura followed him as they travelled through the hospital, she'd pulled her hood up so she wasn't as recognizable, she wasn't self centered enough to expect everyone to know who she was, but she was paranoid enough to expect someone to be out for her for sure.

He asked if she was still her, her skin that had been regaining colour with food and water, quickly paled once more.

Once inside the room she cautiously inspected it, before hurriedly moving to sit down. Her eyes looked up at him, some fear in them. "Is this room soundproofed? Can anyone hear in at all?" She asked, hoping he'd do a sweep for anything before she said anything else.

"It can be soundproofed if you'd like." He tapped an artifact hanging on the door and the charm activated, a rune in light blue lit up in the center and it emitted a low buzzing silencio charm. "No one can hear you now." He said, moving to the adjacent swiggly chair next to Allura on the couch.

Recognizing that wasn't enough, Sam opened the door to the hall. "I'm going to yell to show you no one will be able to hear." Looking out into the hallway, "Can you hear me?" He shouted. Someone walking by appeared confused and half-waved at him before moving forward. This was pretty commonplace.

"Does that help?" He asked, turning towards her. If she approved he could find out what she thought was going on.