Okay, maybe this had gotten a little bit out of hand.
The deal had gone south,
way south. Like all the way to where the penguins were flapping around a pole in the ice, south. People were dead. A lot of people were dead. This was why
Amaranth hated playing mediator. Most people didn't believe that the small girl overseeing the shady deal was supposed to act as a deterrent, to make sure both sides made the deal and everyone walked away alive. It had all happened so quickly; they haggled over the price, civilly at first, and then they started talking about loyalty and respect, and it all hit the fan. She didn't remember who shot first, just that the snake around her waist had dropped her on her back just as the hexes started flying.
More men poured out of the woodwork and suddenly it wasn't a black-market artifact deal, it was a miniature war. Of course she'd know both sides would bring back up and hide them somewhere, but she'd expected one or two men, not two small armies. Apparently there was bad blood between the two sides and they just decided the best solution was to just to spill it all. She was caught in the cross-fire, so she got out of there as fast as she could, letting her snake pull her in the right direction. She was gone just before the police showed up. And now someone suspicious, who could not be positively identified as her, was reported to have left the alley and was on the run.
She was a good mile away before she finally stopped and ducked into an alley to assess her wounds. She hadn't escaped the fray unharmed. Amaranth collapsed against the wall, breathing heavily, her knees threatening to give out beneath her. She was bleeding from somewhere-- everywhere-- and she could feel unconsciousness starting to creep up behind her, threatening to choke her out. This was bad. She couldn't just go to St. Mungos and ask them to sew her up, not while the law enforcement was crawling all over that blood-bath, looking for the person who had fled the scene. Anyone involved in that deal was going to be arrested, it wasn't exactly legal to sell cursed artifacts.
"H-how bad is it? Amaranth asked.
Thistle let out a low hiss is as he moved from her waist to her shoulders. It didn't seem like he had been hurt, which was good. Without a snake to be her eyes, she'd be dead on the ground with these injuries.
"Not good. You won't make it much longer if you don't sstop bleeding like thiss.". Amaranth cursed under her breath and cast a spell to staunch the bleeding just a little bit. Already her wand hand was getting shakey and her senses were starting to blur. She could feel warm liquid running down her shoulderblades and soaking into the waist of her shorts. These weren't knife wounds, they were magical attacks, meant to hurt even after they were inflicted. Every wound burned and seared like a hot iron and it took all her self control not to pass out in the alley. Amaranth needed a doctor and fast. So she did the first thing that came to mind.
She kidnapped one.
She knew she was near St. Mungos, the best wizarding hospital in the world. She hated doing this, but it was sort of an emergency. The first few people out were patients. It wasn't until she had been waiting for over fifteen minutes that the first doctor came out. It was a girl. She smelled like medicine and anti-septic and soap and rubber, like a doctor. So Amaranth stunned her and pulled her into the darkness with her.
A little later, they were on the third floor of an apartment complex a few blocks from the hospital. It was an old safe-house that one of her associates had taken her to a few months ago and she remembered it. It smelled like no one had been there since then. She carefully laid all the medical supplies out on a table and sat down in a chair on the opposite of the dusty room. The girl was on the bed, still out cold.
Thistle sat on the table with the supplies, watching. The adrenaline was wearing off and the pain was starting to set in. It hurt. It burned. She felt like her insides were curling out and her lungs were made of lead. Fear settled into her chest and she took another rattling breath. Her back. She'd been hit by a curse as she was running and she was sure that was the worst injury.
Wake up. Flooing took too much out of her and it was unlikely she would be able to go all the way to Russia in her current state. She would have to rely on the doctor. The girl stirred.
"I apologize for this," Amaranth said solemnly, really very sorry. The poor girl probably just wanted to go home and she got kidnapped. "But I'm in a bind and c-certain circumstances prevent me from going to the hospital. If you do your doctorly job and help me, I will pay you and let you go safely, no harm done." Amaranth winced, her fingers starting to feel numb. "But I'm afraid I won't take no for an answer.
