wide awake {dominique}

[grace]

Grace couldn't sleep, insomnia had frequently plagued her ever since December, the date of the attack on the school, when Caleb had raped her, thus creating the life he had destroyed only a month ago. Physically, she was completely healed, not even her ribs or her pelvis which had been broken ached anymore. But mentally and emotionally, she was falling apart. Each day became more and more of a struggle just to get out of bed, make it through the day without crying. But nighttime, that was always the worst, when everyone else was quietly asleep, when only the ghosts roamed the halls, but even then they seemed oddly lethargic, simply floating about without doing much of anything.

With her prefect status to protect her from detention, Grace had taken to wandering the school when she was wide awake in the middle of the night, just as she had wandered Hogsmeade back in winter whilst the school was being rebuilt. The night all the way back then when Marvel had comforted her seemed like forever ago, and in all honesty, Grace was craving being back in his arms, especially after the loss of her baby, she was distraught, and he made her feel safe, he was so gentle, so caring... Grace bit her lip, flinching when she rounded a corner and saw a shadow, but then mentally scolding herself as it belonged to a statue.

Truthfully, Grace was afraid she might run into Caleb, she had been avoiding him at all costs of late, and she knew how he could get if he felt like he was being ignored... But she was terrified to end things with him, the beating that had resulted in her miscarriage nearly killed her, he was more than capable of putting her in peril. And she knew things wouldn't end until he wanted them to, otherwise she risked her safety again. Suddenly tired, Grace sank onto a windowsill, tears biting at her eyes. As she was alone, she allowed them to fall. Why did it have to be so hard? She pressed her forehead to the window, wondering if she were to jump from this window if it would be high enough to kill her... Grace flinched at the sound of footsteps, hurriedly wiping her tears as someone came around the corner...

[dominiqueweasley]

Dominique was tired, and her shift had ran over thanks to some troublesome fifth years who'd landed themselves in the hospital wing for the week. Leaving them to the night nurse though she finally allowed herself to smile and pack up for home. Since her little meltdown in the middle of the babies nursery she'd been feeling better, about a lot of things in general. The fear of becoming a Mother was still there but with Hayden being as incredibly supporting as he was she knew she had nothing to fear, everything else would fall into place when the time was right. Domi wasn't even allowing herself the time to linger on thoughts of her family, she'd tried to reconnect with them so she figured they'd come to her whenever they were ready.

That's not to say she didn't care, she did, a great deal. However now having a baby inside her, the prospect of becoming a Mother. She found she had no more room inside of her to worry about making her parents happy. It was time to concentrate on her family, her family being Hayden and Archer. They were all that mattered right now and she was going to make damn sure they were her main focus. Shrugging on her coat she left the hospital wing and began a slow trek down the corridor. At one time she'd simply use the floo network in Persephone's office but with the headmistress still missing it felt almost wrong to go in there uninvited so she'd opted for Apparating, which meant heading out to the front gates.

As she rounded the corner, a hand resting on her protruding stomach, Domi found her eyes immediately locking onto a small figure pressed up close to the window. On instinct she hesitated, her steps faltering but continuing her slow pace she finally realized who it was. Grace Forest, Hufflepuff, a girl she'd treated only weeks ago. As the memory hit her she frowned, the girl had been in a horrendous state, suffered a horrendous fate and still refused to talk about how she had ended up in such away. Since her release from the hospital wing, Dominique hadn't seen her, but now she had she was sure as hell going to find out if she was okay. "Grace...sweetheart what are you doing out here so late?" she asked, nearing the window. The corridor was dimly lit but there was no denying Grace had been crying, and Dominique felt her maternal side flare to life. "Are you okay?" she asked softly, coming to a stop beside where Grace sat.

[grace]

Grace traced over the latch on the window with a forefinger, wondering how wrong it was of her to want to flick it open and jump out. It wasn't the physical pain anymore, it was what was inside her head. Feeling worthless to do anything, she had been unable to protect her baby, had failed something so tiny and defenseless, she felt like the most awful person in the world. Grace had just let Caleb do it, let him break her body, kill their baby... Grace almost didn't want to turn the person who had come down the corridor, in vain hopes she might be ignored.

Though in the reflection of the window she saw a pretty blonde woman who was heavily pregnant, Mrs. Christou, the nurse, and the only person who knew she had had a miscarriage. The sight of her baby bump made Grace's throat tighten and more tears come to her eyes. Had she not been so helpless she'd still have her own baby... Granted, with a host of other problems, but it was breaking her not having him or her, having it taken so cruelly from her. Blinking back this new wave of tears, Grace turned to face the nurse, not bothering to even attempt to hide the pain in her eyes, it was too difficult a task.

Grace didn't respond to the first question, it wasn't a yes or no thing that could be answered without resorting to scrap parchment and a quill. And while Mrs. Christou was very kind, Grace still didn't know if she wanted to speak around her yet, or if she could even allow herself. Though at her second question, the young blonde shook her head. No, she was not all right, and there was no use lying, not even to herself. Grace wiped her cheeks again, getting rid of any straggling tears.

[dominiqueweasley]

Domi felt a sharp pain in her heart as she looked at Grace and all thoughts of returning home to her husband to relax for the night, banished from her mind. Her hand rested lightly against her chest, feeling strangely emotional when she saw the pain in Grace's eyes. There was no way she could even begin to imagine the pain she was feeling, the thought was terrifying. Since learning she was pregnant there was no way she wanted to think she could lose Archer, the mere thought of it was crippling. Shaking her head she resisted the urge to touch her stomach, not wanting to appear insensitive to what Grace was going through.

Grace wiped at her cheeks but unable to resist due to the maternal instincts now raging to life, Domi reached out and gently wiped at Grace's cheeks with the back of her finger before sitting down beside the young girl on the window sill and sighing softly. "I guess that was a daft question...I'm sorry sweetie. I can't even begin to imagine what it is your going through, but there's something I want you to know..." she said softly, not holding back and reaching out to smooth Grace's hair away from her face, tucking it behind her ear in very much the same manner as a Mother would do for her child.

"I want you to know that you can talk to me...any time you need to. I may not understand but I can listen, support you." she said softly, trying to offer her a warm smile, her eyes full of sincerity and empathy. She doubted Grace would ever open up enough to tell her what or who had hurt her that way but she could hope, a girl this young didn't deserve to go through any of this alone, she had to know there were people who wanted to help, to be there as someone to lean on.

[grace]

Grace bit her trembling lip, wishing that she could turn off her tears now like she had learned to do during the day. But nighttime was an entirely different thing, the stillness and the quiet made it harder to go on as if nothing were wrong. Her heart had long since been broken, and holding the pieces together was more difficult at night. Though out of all gestures, Grace hadn't expected that Mrs. Christou would sit down beside her on the windowsill and reach out to gently wipe away her tears. She had needed to work hard at not flinching, it was a natural reaction given the experiences she had had, both with her father and with her boyfriend.

Her voice was soft and soothing, her entire person was very reassuring to Grace, comforting. Almost like... a mother. She found herself genuinely touched as the nurse began smoothing her hair, brushing it away from her face, and tucking it behind her ears. She hadn't ever had anything like that, at least not that she could remember. Her mother had run off when she was a toddler, leaving her with an abusive father. And while things were great with the Forests, she hadn't ever had that maternal influence, instead having to provide it for her siblings.

Grace swallowed forcefully as Mrs. Christou went on to say that she could go to her any time, talk to her if she needed to. Already overemotional, the kind words made a new wave of tears spring forth from her eyes. Grace could only nod, she probably wouldn't be able to talk even if she wanted to, she was much too choked up. Uncharacteristically for her standards, Grace leaned into the healer, burying her eyes in the woman's shoulder and allowing herself to cry softly.

[dominiqueweasley]

Domi opened her mouth again to say something, she hadn't expected or wanted her words to make Grace cry but that is exactly what they did. Though she knew Grace was probably emotional as it was, and who could blame her, she'd suffered a loss no woman ever should and through no fault of her own. It was horrifying, heartbreaking and something Domi wouldn't wish on her worst enemy. The thought of ever losing Archer sent a searing pain through her heart, it was unthinkable, something she couldn't imagine. How did someone come back from that? She had Hayden but...who did Grace have supporting her? The young girl was alone as far as Domi could see.

Surprisingly Grace didn't pull away as Domi have expected her to, instead the broken, devastated girl leaned into her, burying her face into Domi's shoulder. Instinctively, Domi's arms wrapped around her small form, holding her tightly, one hand smoothing over her hair, feeling the young girls shoulders shake with her silent cries. Domi didn't say anything, what could she say in this moment? There was nothing good enough that would take away the pain Grace felt, nothing would ever do that. So for a long few moments she simply held her, her hand softly smoothing over Grace's hair in a comforting motherly gesture, with her other arm locked around her.

"Let it out..." she said softly, her cheek resting against the top of Grace's head. All thoughts of returning home completely gone by now, she had to stay here and make sure Grace was taken care of. As far as she knew Grace didn't have any family aside from the siblings she'd met, what this girl needed was a Mother right now. Someone to hold her and promise her it'd be okay, and maybe it was down to the life growing inside her now but Domi was determined to be someone, if not her Mother, then someone who would be there to take care of her, reassure her.

[grace]

Grace didn't know what had gotten into her, turning to someone who was a relative stranger to her for physical comfort, but it was something that she had needed whether or not she was willing to admit it. It had been too long, for the past six years she had been the one to hold others when they cried, whilst she had sought solitude when she needed to cry. But now that she had encountered by far the worst days of her life, Grace couldn't shoulder it alone. Physically she was weak, though she had been emotionally strong for a long time- it seemed she had finally reached her breaking point.

Grace allowed the healer to pull her close, comforted by having the arms around her, having a shoulder to cry onto, not having to be alone. Granted, Mrs. Christou had no idea what had brought her to this state, though she seemed to understand the best that she could. Grace wasn't sure if she could ever tell the nurse what had happened, although she remained terrified of Caleb, a part of her, however small, wanted to protect him. Perhaps because she knew that doing that, in turn, would protect her from his wrath. He would still hit her anyway, just not as badly.

Grace didn't need to be told to release her tears, there probably wouldn't be much stopping until she had cried her eyes dry. Even then she would probably keep sniffling for a good long while. She allowed her tears to come until they stopped on their own, though she still stayed close to the nurse, attempting to regulate her breathing.

[dominiqueweasley]

Domi was doing the only thing she could, she held Grace as the young girl continued to cry into her shoulder. Her hand continued to move soothingly over the young girls hair, offering her as much comfort as she could. Her stomach made it a little difficult but it didn't stop Domi, her instincts to protect this young girl were out of control, in fact if she could take her home now she probably would. It almost felt wrong to leave her here in this state, alone, and with the weekend approaching chances were she wouldn't see her and again that didn't sit right with the Healer.

Grace stopped crying, she could feel that the girls shoulders no longer shook with her silent cries but that didn't mean Domi's grip lessened. As long as Grace didn't try to push her away then she'd be here, a shoulder to cry on and a comforting embrace for her. "Have you spoken to anyone since leaving the infirmary?" she asked softly, finally daring to break the silence but feeling like she already knew the answer Grace would give. She seemed to be the kind of girl who'd take care of others but keep her own problems bottled inside, and Domi didn't feel that was right. A girl shouldn't have to carry such a burden...

((OOC: Sorry for the shortness just hard to write when nothing much is being said...I'm sure the post will expand soon))

[grace]

Grace tried for a long while to collect herself, though she still felt incredibly unsteady, it was hard for her to calm down when she allowed herself to cry like that. Her eyes still stung, but she simply didn't have any more tears left, but once the supply was refreshed she'd probably resume sobbing. Words could not express her gratitude to the nurse, however, she hadn't ever had someone like that before, a person to hold her whilst she cried and smooth her hair. Sometimes she wondered if her mother might have done that had she not run off, had her father not been such a raging drunk.

She had never once even felt guilty that it had been her accidental magic to addle his brains and ship him off to the loony bin. But would she have been better off if that never happened? Then she might not be here... The silence was finally broken when Mrs. Christou asked if she had spoken to anyone since being released from the hospital. She pulled her head away from the woman's shoulder, but stayed close to her, and merely shook her head in reply. Her eyes darted up and down the corridor before looking back to the healer. "I'm scared to," Grace admitted, finally speaking to Mrs. Christou, her voice incredibly soft, as well as hoarse from crying and lack of use.

Her insides squirmed uncomfortably, as they always did the first time she spoke to anyone. Though the kindhearted blonde woman seemed trustworthy, they had spent a great deal of time together given her week long stay in the infirmary the previous month... Grace bit her lip, she shouldn't have said that...

((OOC: No worries ^_^))