'A month' Anna thought to herself as she stepped into the elevator, or as it was called here, the lift. 'It's been exactly a month since I moved to London and started my job here.' She could hardly believe it. It felt like it was just a few days ago that she was unpacking her stuff and getting settled in her flat. Where had the time gone? Gabe would be finishing up his 6th year at Red Rocks right now, and then he'd be headed back to Vancouver. She really needed to write him a letter and find out how he was.

The elevator came to a halt and Anna stepped out onto the Fourth Floor, noticing that at least for the moment everything was quite calm. It was frustrating as a healer to not have more work, but Anna could only assume that this meant things were improving for the Aurors and others like them. After wishing Vivienne a good morning, Anna went about her usual routine, thoughts of home going round in her head.

Apollo woke with a start, and glanced around the room. It took him a moment before he remembered he was in his own personal room in St. Mungos. Last nights arrest had not exactly gone as planned, not that any of the arrests ever seemed too. he cringed as he attempted to adjust himself, his broken leg and hastily patched up side screaming in agony.

It all honesty it went better than Apollo had expected. The man he was assigned to bring in was supposedly extremely dangerous; liked to throw big curses around. And Apollo figured that was true, after all he was missing a chunk of he abdomen from a Blasting Curse that landed on him.

Somehow, Apollo had managed to not only survive, but to wrap a makeshift tourniquet around his stomach, and then to hobble back to the Hospital. He left a note saying that he would be in his room, and then promptly fell asleep in it. It seemed that no one had come to check on him yet, as he was still clothed in exactly what he had been wearing the previous night.

He gave a small sigh, and adjusted himself. It was morning now, so someone should be along soon enough.

Anna heard a noise from the room down the hall, glancing up sharply. There wasn't anyone registered in the room, so what- Anna flipped through the papers on the desk and down fell a note in scribbled hand writing. The paper also had a splatter of blood on it and Anna swore under her breath, tossing it aside and racing down the hall. She flung open the door and bit back a gasp at the sight before her.

On the bed was a well built man that looked to be in his late 20s, early 30s. He had bright blond hair, and shockingly yellow eyes, that had Anna paralyzed for a moment. Then she saw his leg, and all thoughts of his eyes went out her mind.
"Merlin, what happened?" She asked, swiftly flicking her wand and gently propping Apollo up in bed. Anna carefully placed a hand on his arm. "My name is Anna Jenkins. I am so sorry there was no one on night shift last night. Things have been slow and...Sorry, I'm babbling. Accio Blood-Replenishing Potion. Accio Wound Cleaning potion."
Two bottle of different shapes and sizes flew into the room and Anna caught them in her hands.
"I'll heal your leg in a moment, but your stomach is what we have to take care of first...what happened?" She asked, more softly.

Apollo had never seen this healer before. She was young, likely in her early twenties, and she had what he recognized from his cousins as an American accent. Apollo waved a dismissive hand as she apologized for the lack of staff. "It happens," he replied without much emotion. "At least I'm not dead." He winced slightly as Miss Jenkins propped him up, but held his normal, semi-bored face otherwise. "Apollo Ackerzonne," he responded holding out his hand for her to shake. "Hit Wizard for the Ministry." Apollo offered a slight smile.

"This came about with work," he nodded at his stomach. "Was called to apprehend a fugitive last night. Decided to try and blow me up." Apollo faked a light laugh. "Well he succeeded in a way. Guess it's lucky he was rather weak when it came to blasting curses."

Apollo shrugged. "I'm used to it by now," he said in the same emotionless voice. "It seems like I spend more time in my private room here, than in my actual apartment."

" A Hit Wizard?" Anna repeated, blinking for a moment and then taking his hand, shaking it firmly. She might not have been the most confident of people, but she had always made sure she had a firm grip when she shook someone's hand. She uncorked the first potion, the Blood Replenishing Potion and offered it to him, helping him swallow it as best she could. It was obvious that Apollo didn't enjoy needing someone helping him. But there wasn't much of a choice, what with his stomach literally falling out.

"I'm going to remove the tourniquet. You did an amazing job with it, you could have died otherwise. I suppose in your line of work this is a normal occurrence. I'll do what I can for the pain, but it will still hurt." Anna warned him. She murmured a few charms under her breath before slowly removing the tourniquet, trying to not mind the blood that flowed out of the large wound. She quickly uncorked the second bottle and poured it over the wound, relieved to see the blood flow slow and a few patches of skin begin to heal.

"Did you catch him? The fugitive?"

Apollo took the bottle of blood replenishment and calmly drank it. Though, much to his surprise Miss Jenkins did what she could to help him swallow it. That was fine, it was part of her job to be helpful. And it was likely she didn't expect him to be able to drink it so easily. That, actually, would have been the case if it wasn't an almost daily routine for him.

A low growl escaped his lips as Miss Jenkins poured the wound cleaning potion over his exposed midsection. "Yes, I nabbed him," he replied through gritted teeth. "Well, more accurately, Death did." Apollo cast a glance at Miss Jenkins, not overly surprised with her look of shock. "My orders entitled me to use deadly force if needed. I found it pertinent to end the encounter as efficiently as possible after this." Apollo motioned to his wounds.

"Bleeding out with a broken femur doesn't leave one with many options when fighting." He shrugged, still cringing from the pain. Apollo wasn't quite sure why he was explaining all this to the young Healer. But he figured it was polite, and there was no harm in elaborating.

Anna poured the rest of the potion onto Apollo's stomach, cringing slightly as he growled in pain, wishing she could do more to ease his pain. "Good...at least these wounds weren't for nothing. You needn't worry about shocking me." She replied. She had no doubt that she appeared rather young and inexperienced, but she didn't want her patients to censor things around her.

"Episkey  " Anna flicked her wand, fixing Apollo's broken leg. "I'm afraid that's all I can do for now. The rest will take time and some more potions in a few hours. You'll have to stay at least a couple of days. I'm sure you would rather leave, but if you want to heal fully you'll need to be here.
"How long have you been a Hit Wizard?" She asked, trying to take his mind off of the pain.

Apollo nodded solemnly as he heard how long he would be sitting here. Yes, a few days seemed about right for this kind of injury. And she was of course  right, he didn't want to stay that long. Really what kept him here is that the Department required all agents to have proof of a full recovery after grievous injuries.

He flinched as he felt his femur suddenly fix itself. That was a feeling he never got used to. In all the pain he'd felt, all the burns, lacerations, gouges, and their cures. Broken bones were still the most painful fix.

Apollo shrugged slightly at her question. "Oh, nine years or so now," he said monotonously. It wasn't something he thought about regularly.  Nine years since he first joined Level 2.  Which meant it was eleven years since Filia died. Apollo chased those thoughts out of his mind. Her memories brought about emotions he never understood, and Apollo wasn't quite sure he wanted to understand them.

"What about you, Miss Jenkins?" he asked casually, turning to face her. "How long have you been a Healer? You seem rather young."

Anna pulled a chair up beside the bed and sat down in it, crossing her legs. "Nine years. You were around my age then when you became one. My brother talks about becoming a Hit Wizard, but I after what I've seen here, I'm certainly not encouraging it." Anna noticed that something flicked in Apollo's eyes, despite his monotonous tone, but she couldn't decipher what it meant before the look faded and those yellow eyes appeared as impenetrable as ever.

 I'll be 22 in a few days." She replied to his question, flushing slightly. "I'm in training, actually. I just moved to London a month ago. I'm from the Pacific Northwest. I trained with a healer in Canada for nearly a year before coming here....Would you like me to leave?" She suddenly asked, realizing that of course he must be exhausted. "Or I can bring you a book if you'd like."

A small smile flickered across Apollo's face; a rather rare expression. Yes, he had to admit the work was rather dangerous. But still, seven hundred galleons a month was a fairly hefty salary for the work. Not to mention he spent so much time in the Hospital he rarely had to actually pay to support himself. Well, maybe that last part wasn't a good thing.

Again, he waved a dismissive hand. "No, no," Apollo replied calmly. "I don't mind if you stay. I'm not a great conversationalist, mind." He smiled at her, more out of politeness than actual joy.

"So you're from the U.S. then?" Apollo thought of his cousins. Ariel went to school in the north west of that country, if he remembered correctly. "Was it nice there? Do you miss it?" He was surprised to hear himself ask such questions. While he was interested, Apollo wouldn't exactly claim he cared.

Anna enjoyed the way a smile looked on Apollo's face. It was clear that the Hit Wizard didn't smile often, and she had to wonder what had prompted it.

She settled back into her seat when Apollo just waved his hand, giving her permission to stay. "That's alright. I have no where else to go and nowhere else to be right now. And since you're stuck here until I say otherwise, we might as well keep each other company. And I don't mind quiet. Sometimes it's nice to share silence, if you get what I mean."

Anna nodded at his question, brushing a loose strand of hair away from her face. "Yeah, my accent gives me away, doesn't it? I loved it in the Pacific Northwest. I'm not too fond of the East coast, but it's beautiful. And I do miss it, a lot sometimes. It's lonely here in London, not knowing anyone."

Apollo nodded empatheticaly. Though he never really felt it, he could imagine what it must feel like for one be alone. Especially in a completely different country. "Yes, the accent was part of it," he said calmly. "But I probably wouldn't know where you were from specifically if it weren't for my cousins." Apollo cast her a glance. "They're from... Arizona. It sounds about the same"

He gave a slight shrug. Hopefully she didn't expect to get to know him. If she did, Apollo wold have to decline, he wasn't overly interested in building relationships. Filia had been... Again, he banished the thought from his mind. How odd that he had thought of her twice in a few moments time.

"Well, I'm sure through your work you'll meet a lot of people," Apollo said evenly. "And if it ever gets too unbearable, you can always apparate back for a day or two."

"Oh, your cousins are American? My brother is in Arizona right now, actually. He goes to Red Rocks, he'll be a 7th year next term. Have you ever visited them? It's beautiful in Arizona. Much warmer than London. Although I suppose with your job you don't have much time off."

"I hope I will. You're the first real patient I've had." Anna stood up again, grabbed the two empty bottles and turned back to say. "I'll go get the other potions, and I have to check on a couple of other things. Don't hesitate to call me if you need anything." Anna nodded graciously to him and then left the room.

She shook her head slightly as she walked to the storage room. Apollo was an interesting man, very private, very aloof. Anna wasn't about to overstep her boundaries as a healer, but she was curious all the same.

Apollo nodded. "I went to see them once before I joined up with the Hit Wizards, but even though they live near it, neither go to Red Rocks." he flashed her a quick smile. "Actually," Apollo continued, "Ariel went to North West, and she's about your age. Just turned 20."

He gave another casual shrug. "I'm sure you'll meet plenty. I know Hit Wizards come through here like mad. I'm in more than I'd like for various things."

Apollo gave a curt nod as she left, and settled back into his bed. She was rather nice. Some Healers, like Thorpe, were practically like the bane of his existence. And he had bad luck of getting Thorpe a lot. Now that he knew Miss Jenkins was here, he may start requesting her. After all, she had proved very quickly how well she knew her trade.

Moving down the corridor, Tarelin Faust pressed himself against a wall to allow a witch in a St. Mungo's nurse uniform to pass by him. Giving her a polite nod, he turned his head as she moved past him and ducked into a room a dozen or so meters behind him. He the door shut behind her, Tarelin was just able to make out the word 'Storage' on a wooden plaque affixed to the door. With a shrug, the auror-in-training continued along the whitewashed passageway.

The young trainee had been given a lot more responsibility lately: the Auror department had been swamped by cases, and as he was due to finish his training soon, Auror Malone had seen to it that he got a lot of practice talking with victims and suspects on a one-to-one basis. Today, Tarelin had been sent to St. Mungos to talk with Apollo Ackerzonne about his involvement with the death of another wizard the night before.

The witch on the front desk had been kind enough to give Tarelin the room number where Ackerzonne was currently being cared for, most likely due to his red robes and Auror badge, and now Tarelin found himself on the hospital's Spell Damage ward. He had only been to St. Mungo's a few times while caring for his parents, though during those visits he hadn't set foot on the fourth floor.

Coming to the end of the corridor, Tarelin found himself in front of the room where Ackerzonne was being kept. Noticing that the door was open, Tarelin wondered if the nurse who had passed by him had just come out of the room. She had certainly come from the right direction. Knocking on the door without much intention to wait for a reply, Tarelin stepped inside and turned to face the man in the bed.

"Mr. Ackerzonne?" He addressed the figure, "My name is Auror Faust. I wondered if I might ask you a few questions concerning last night."