"We will be putting a numbing substance on the area in which we will be performing surgery. You will feel pressure but no pain. Ready?" The nurse asks. Elise can only nod as she lays on a table, already numb from emotions. She hated this, hated everything. All Elise wanted to do was curl into a ball and cry, alone. She wanted to then uncurl herself from the ball and be in a different life where everything was falling apart.

They begin the surgery right away as if time was of the essence and Elise guessed it probably was. She felt the pressure they talked about, she saw lights and heard blurred noises, faces came and went from in front of her eyes but they were blurry as well. She was in a daze, her body was there but her mind had drifted away in thought, in pain, and other things she couldn't put words to, suddenly she thought she felt someone take hold of her hand, a nurse she guessed, helping her stay calm, she was very grateful for the gesture and squeezed the hand, the hand squeezed back.

An hour later pain brought Elise back to her reality. She screamed in pain as the numbing faded away, she tried to cover the screams by clenching her teeth together, but she wasn't successful.

Then a voice came. "Your babies are safe and healthy Mrs.Malfoy. They are asleep in the next room over with their father who has a agreed to take care of them while they are recovering, you may go home in the next three days, after we know for sure you can take care of yourself and your new family." Elise nodded along, her eyes wide with fright though.

"B-babies?" Her hands and her lips shook.  She didn't want more than one child at a time, great, a dream come true.

"Yes." the nurse answers with a sweet smile. "You had twins. A son and a daughter, 25 seconds apart from each other."

"N-n-no." She shook her head. This isn't real, this isn't real, it's not true, snap out of it Elise, snap out of it! She screamed at herself. Tears began to stream down the sides of her face. But she remembered she knew this from the ultrasound and punished herself for being so stupid.

"I'll give you some time to rest. The more you rest the faster you may go home to your family." the nurse smiled again but sadly this time and she was gone.

~2 weeks later~

"Elise. It's been weeks, I'm afraid you cannot stay here any longer. You have healed up wonderfully with the expression of soreness of course, but, we need this bed for other patients and you need to go home to your family. Help raise your children." Lilian, a nurse Elise had become good friends with over her time in the hospital wing.

"I could help you around here, I would even sleep on the floor, I don't mind really," Elise said in a panic.

"You are a sweet one," Lilian said with a shake of her head. "But, you must go home Elise. Though your children have lasted this long doesn't mean Mr. Malfoy can last without you. Those babies need a mother and a father, not just one or the other. It is not their fault their parents cannot get along, don't take it out on them, that is not fair." Lilian says sternly, and by the look of Elise's face, she knew she had convinced Elise.

"Fine," Elise answers with a nod as well and begins gathering the things she asked nurses to gather for her from her flat, and it is packed in minutes. "Thank you for everything you've done for me. And my- babies." the word felt wrong on her tongue.

"We will contact your friend and tell him you are released from the hospital." Lilian says and Elise nods, as Lilian holds the door open as Elise walks out. Right then and there she decided, she will give her new family a chance and try to keep it together for them.