Anything For Some Shut-Eye PV Kelsey Brumby Finished

Another quiet day, the kind that was mostly filled with paperwork and looking out the windows at all the outside he wasn't enjoying. The hospital wing really needed, like, a balcony or something so he could go outside and get some sunshine. Just like plants, people needed that kind of light for energy. His energy was certainly pretty low. Caffeine and responsibilities could only keep him awake for so long. This was the kind of day that required a nap in the sun. With some sunscreen, of course.

Instead, being a few sheets deep into what was collected on his clipboard, Kels caught sight of another zombie shuffling up to his desk. Her approach was quiet and cautious. It wasn't really a surprise that most of these kids felt really out of their element coming to a nurse. Most of them didn't even know the first thing about the healing arts, diseases, or anatomy, but they knew something was wrong. Kels would wait for her to speak up first, he knew he was an exuberant personality, and he was guilty of accidentally making a few kids cry by being too loud and obnoxious. Best to let kids come to him on their own terms.

"Hiya!" He said smiling, patient, his head resting on his hand. "What's up, squeaker?"

@Kelsey Brumby

Elzabeth took his hand, giving him what she hoped was a nice smile. "Hi. I'm Elzabeth." She introduced herself.

This would be the first time she would ever ask for help from the school nurse, she had come very close to it last year with the masquerade ball incident (She still had the scars from her dress catching fire) but managed to help herself on her own. In hindsight that was probably why she still had the scars.

Elzabeth knew she was a difficult person when it came to asking for help. "Um, sorry if this sounds like a lame problem." She ran a hand through her hair, tossing it out of her face. "But I can't sleep."

She had issues with Insomnia since she was little, back then her parents would be the ones to give her a glass of warm milk or talk to her for a few minutes until she managed to lull off to sleep. It wasn't until she had hit double digits when it go seriously bad. Elzabeth would go full nights with no sleep, her parent's attempts at wearing her down went in vain.

Several doctor trips later they had chalked it up to Chronic Insomnia. Apparently, she had primary insomnia which basically just meant she would have nights of no sleep and the doctors couldn't really tell her why. They recommended so many different medications but her parents were tight on money so she elected to just wait it out.

That was before she started to get so sleep-deprived she would sometimes forget what room she was in. Elzabeth folded her arms, gently running her fingers over the fabric of her cloak sleeve.

Kels nodded along, listening to her complaints. Not being able to sleep was something he was steadily getting more experience treating, with how common it was as a problem for students. It was a tricky one, since it really was fairly different from person-to-person, and a lot of the best treatments were cognitive behavioral therapy. He was starting to think this position needed to start requiring some training in muggle psychology. These kids were away from their parents for most of the year and had no idea how to take care of themselves. Too bad he hadn't been paying any attention at all to Leo's lecture about insomnia, or he might have learned something useful.

"Hiya Elza!" Kels said, smiling broadly. He wasn't exactly happy that she wasn't feeling well, but at least she was looking for help. "D'ya mean lately, or d'ya mean ever?"

There was a huge difference between someone who didn't understand stress of the end of the year could make it hard to get good rest, and someone biologically challenged when it came to the natural sleep process. There were some people that never had a problem sleeping, and others for whom it was a lifelong struggle. His fear, of course, was that he would have no idea how to help. For as important as sleeping was to someone's health, there weren't that many reliable ways to treat insomnia.

"An' d'ya eat or drink anythin' before bed?" Another useful thing to know. "Big dinner? Sugar, caffeine?"

@Kelsey Brumby

Elzabeth shook her head. "I don't eat anything after dinner, or drink." She denied. At least, not on a regular basis. Sometimes she would take a piece of bread or sweets up with her but she hadn't done anything like that in a long time.

She bit her lip, forcing the next bit of information out before she could convince herself not to. "I have Chronic Insomnia. I can usually handle it on my own but lately, it's been getting worse."

Admitting her problem was the hard part, those words had barely left her mouth since she was diagnosed, a part of her trying to hold onto the false belief that nothing was wrong with her.

"I haven't slept in three days." Elzabeth brought her hands to her face, rubbing her eyes. Her body was starting to hurt at this point and she was afraid the lack of sleep was going to give away to other issues and sicknesses.

It was the worst feeling in the world, lying in bed wanting nothing more but to close your eyes and drift away but your body not allowing it. It had to have been some kind of torcher, the mental strain alone tipping her to dangerous levels.

Ah, there is was. After she caught wind of what kind of questions he was asking, she explained that she had 'chronic insomnia'. Big words for such a little kid, no doubt because she heard it from her parents or a doctor. Of course, he couldn't really verify with her whether that was an official diagnosis or not. Kids lied all the time, even about insignificant things. Or at least he did when he was a kid. Either way, it was good practice to be doubtful while still respectful, he would treat it as the truth until the point at which she gave him reason to doubt her.

"Gotcha..." Kels said, nodding as she explained. When she said three days though, he reeled, "Three days?!"

It was not the kind of thing he could check just by looking at her-- whether that was an exaggeration or not. Lots of kids looked like they needed more sleep, but if she was telling the truth, that was pretty serious. As much as some people liked to act like sleeping was optional, it was actually one of the single healthiest things one could do for their mind and body. Being deprived of it for so long could take a devastating toll on them.

"Go sit down on'a bed, I'll be right over." Kels instructed, pointing to the one closest to the desk.

Given that she went on ahead, he'd start grabbing a few key things out of his multitudinous large cabinets, not having any hesitation in the few items he picked. It wasn't like sleeping problems were uncommon, though normally he just coached people on how to have better habits. It at least seemed like this kid had already tried better habits, in which case, there were a few magical treatments that would work. In the short-term, at least.

Walking over to the bed he prescribed (whether she was in it or not), he'd set down a few glass bottles at the bedside and pull up a chair of his own. He liked sitting, so much better than standing.

"Hey, so... has yer parents given ya any potions or meds before? Have ya gone t'therapy fer it, or tried any uhhh..." He couldn't think of the word to describe it, cognitive therapy was not his area of profession, though he felt like at this point he deserved an honorary degree, "Stimulus control, paradoxical intention?"

Even bigger words, but at least she would get that he was trying to see what she had tried already.

@Kelsey Brumby

Elzabeth took a seat on the bed, her feet no longer touching the floor. His questions came in a blur, it was a struggle to try and keep up with them.

"Uh, well for a while we tried a bunch of stuff. The doctors recommended a lot of different pills but they either didn't work or the side effects made it not worth the money." Elzabeth folded her legs under her, trying to come up with a specific name to no avail.

"And . . . you know all of those doctor visits and medicine was expensive, so eventually my parents just stopped trying to find a solution and we just managed it on our own." She shrugged, running her fingers along the edge of her skirt.

She was starting to worry that her parents sounded bad, so she tried to remedy that as best as she could. "But, back then it wasn't so bad! The worst it got was one night with no sleep!" She stopped fidgeting. "When school started it got worse, last year I managed it on my own, we just thought it was the stress of starting a new school."

Her shoulders slumped as her eyes focused on the floor. "I don't know. I guess it is the stress?" She mumbled.

As she spoke, Kels nodded along, occasionally scratching his chin. It sounded pretty legit, at least as though she had really been put through the ringer as far as trying to fix it before. He'd let out a short 'aww' when she mentioned that her family had pretty much given up due to expenses. Now she was here, worn out and frayed to the limit. Poor kid. Even she was finishing the picture for herself-- at home, she was generally on 'vacation'. Not having to wake up at a specific time, not having to worry about whether you'll get good grades or if your friends are all doing well. School could sap the sleep out of anyone, let alone someone with a history of not being able to.

Once she finished, Kels picked up one of the several bottles he had placed off to the side. It was a deep purple, viscous fluid that smelled like lavender when he uncorked the lid. She was too tired for a real investigation. Even 24 hours of being awake was too much, let alone what she purported to be suffering under. He swished it around in the bottle a bit to make sure it was properly mixed, looking at it through the light to check the opacity. Never knew when a potion might be tampered with, best to check every time.

"Mmk, so at the very least, y'know this iddit a permanent solution. Y'can't just come here and get a potion every day." He said, pulling his attention back to the exhausted little girl. He poured a measured amount into a portion cup, handing it to her. The Sleeping Draught would work nearly instantaneously, bringing her to a deep sleep within a minute. "We'll talk about stress when y'feel better, alrighty? This here will make y'feel better, fer now."

@Kelsey Brumby

Elzabeth looked at the potion with apprehension. Her father had mentioned her taking sleeping potions but as Nurse Brumby had previously stated, her taking them wouldn't work in the long run.

She was disappointed that there wasn't some other magical solution to her problem but relieved that she was finally going to get some shut-eye.

"How long will it last?" She didn't want to miss any of her classes tomorrow but she desperately needed sleep. She knew that if her mother found out her grades were slipping because of her insomnia there was a good chance she would be pulled from Hogwarts completely.

Even if her father swore to his grave that Hogwarts was a school that would secure her a bright future, her mother would still be wary about it. Through her mother's logic, if she wasn't doing good at 'magic' school, then she would have a better chance at a muggle school.

A lot of her stress came from that worry that she would slip up and lose this side of her life forever. That type of stress should never be put on anyone's shoulders, especially not someone as young as Elzabeth.

Elzabeth took the potion, looking at the deep purple liquid as it sloshed inside. Just the slight smell of the lavender was starting to make her want to crawl under the sanitary white sheets of the cots.

She seemed nervous, but it was just about the most harmless potion ever, it didn't even taste bad like a lot of them did. Well... okay, it didn't taste amazing either. That wasn't important, this was practically an emergency situation.

"Don't worry about it, you'll be well rested is what matters." He replied, holding out the cup for her to take. "Y'know, if yer havin' trouble you can ask fer help. Yer classmates, the professors, anybody. No shame in it."

She finally took it, looking at it quietly rather than drinking it right away. He wasn't about to make her drink it, and instead stood up and pat her on the head twice.

"Like I said, it acts quick, so get snug, bug." He would emphasize this, but it was mostly a calm nudge in the right direction.

If she didn't manage to get completely covered, he'd certainly come back over and tuck her in, or make sure her head was on the pillow properly. He felt partly that kids didn't like adults hovering over them either though, so he figured he'd let her have whatever privacy she could have in a room with a bunch of other people in it. From the lower compartment of the side table, he pulled out a heavier blanket and whipped it out to cover the end of the bed. It still probably wasn't as cozy as a dorm bed, but he couldn't just let her take the potion out of the wing either. He at least felt responsible for her not wandering around the castle in such a state.

"Nighty night."