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The following few days were the most excruciating of Lucius’ life. Sitting in from of the tiny incubator for as long as the doctor would allow, Lucius watched the tiny girl struggle to hold onto life. He found it quite amazing how something so tiny had so much fight in her. But Lucius had to remind himself that she was a Malfoy and of course she was a natural born fighter. The desperate father was thinking of countless ways to help the fragile newborn. He knew magic could only go so far and it would be useless in this situation. Even if Lucius could get the best medi-wizard in the hospital he would be able to do no more than the Muggle doctors were doing right now.
Lucius was heading back into NICU after being forced to get something to eat but the nurses. It was not easy to get the man away from his tiny daughter, but the nurses had threatened to bar him from seeing her. The tall man doubted they could really do it, but he did not even want to take the chance with there being a remote possibility that they would be able to pull something like that off. Just as the elder Malfoy was about to enter, the doctor that had been in charge of his daughter’s case pulled him aside. The ominous look on the man face signalled that the news had to be far from good.
Lucius looked square at the doctor, not letting his Malfoy arrogance fail him at a time like this. “Is this about Echo?” he asked, his lip stiffing at the possibilities that laid before him as a response. Echo was the name Lucius had chosen for his daughter. The name was rather fitting in Lucius mind. The myth of Echo and Narcissus reflected the situation in Lucius’ mind. The small girl was like a tiny echo of her mother. The small girl was like a tiny echo of her mother as they both struggled to survive.
The doctor gave Lucius a grim nod, “Yes I am afraid it is. Echo’s latest test results were not good… not good at all.” He paused before trying to make the next words out of his mouth as gentle as possible. “Echo’s heart is failing. There is nothing else we can do for her. She was just too weak from the accident.”
Lucius felt as if some had cast Crucio on him a thousand times, and his exterior poise was faltering. The aloofness of his Malfoy outer surface was crumbling even as Lucius fought to hold on to it. “There has to be something. There always has to be something you can do,” his voice was shaky with raw emotion, but yet was fighting to sound authoritative.
“No, I am sorry Mr. Malfoy. We have done all we can do for Echo. She is not strong enough to survive surgery. I’m sorry, but there is nothing else we can do.” the doctor tried to reach out to put a hand of Lucius’ shoulder, but he threw the doctor’s hand off forcefully.
The father swallowed the large lump that had formed in his throat. “How much time does she have left?” the half broken man asked, refusing to have his eyes meet those of the doctor’s.
The man’s eyes closed. “We do not know. It can be hours, a day at the most.” The reply was short and bittersweet. “If you would like, I can take you in to see Echo so you can hold her.“ Lucius did not even need to respond, a nod of his head was all the reply the doctor needed.
The short walk to the incubator seemed like an eternity, each step growing increasingly louder in his ears until no other sound could be heard. Lucius felt liked a death row inmate walking to his impending doom, only he was not the one that was going to be dying. His innocent child was. One who had never gotten to know the world outside the incubator that had helped to keep her alive all these days. Lucius was going to live. The far from innocent one. The man who had taken the lives and souls of many. The man who had never really paid for his crime (except for the two month stint in Azkaban the previous year), but now was facing the ultimate punishment. A child he had never gotten to know was about to be taken away from him with no hope of ever getting her back.
Standing in front of the incubator Lucius heart simply fell to the floor. This time was different from all the other times he had visited the small infant. This time he was here to say his final goodbye. One of the nurses pulled over a rocking chair next to the machine and asked Lucius to sit. Not usually one to take orders from people he saw as inferior, the man still sat. He watched carefully as the woman open up the incubator and very gingerly lift the child out of the place that had been her home since birth.
The father stared in awe as the tiny girl was put into his arms. Echo was almost small enough to fit into one of her father’s hands. Lucius missed the opportunity to be there for Draco’s birth, he had been too busy with Death Eater tasks to even see his son in the hospital. It was heart wrenching to know Narcissa did not have the chance to spend anytime with Echo.
Lucius could not take his eyes off the girl in his arms. Even still hooked up to the machines, she was the most beautiful sight he had ever seen.
“There is so much I wish to tell you, but I have such little time to say it. Many people would say I deserve something like this, but my Little One, no one deserves to lose such a precious little angel no matter what they have done. I have done countless things that people would consider evil; yes I have tortured people and killed them just because of their birth. They are the same people who fought so hard to help you survive, and yet they have failed you.” Lucius paused as the lump tightened in his throat. Taking the minuscule hand in his, Lucius lowered his head and gently kissed hers. “If I knew how to help you I would have, but even magic cannot heal everything.“ Again, a pause to steady emotions. It still was difficult to show such raw emotion even in a tender situation. Lucius look down at the small tuft of blonde hair from the delicate head that rested on his arm. “You know, my Little One, I did not know about you until recently. You mum and I do not get along much anymore. We used to get alone along quite well, in fact we used to be inseparable. We were very much in love a long time ago. Now, I don’t think either of us knows the meaning of the word. Some people do not blame her for not telling me she as was going to have you. I had some problems a while back. I was a very angry and bitter person.“ Lucius paused again this time to kiss the small child’s forehead. The tiny creature had this tight hold on his heart that he did not want to give up. “You see, my tiny Echo, I was in prison for a bit last year. I see now they were terrible things I did. At the time I did not think they were so horrible, I was not taught any better. I thought what I did was right since it was what I was taught as a small lad. But now seeing you I would not have wanted you to grow up like I did. You could have been my saving grace, but I am not meant to be redeemed.”
The teary-eyed Malfoy looked down at Echo. “I know you are not understanding a word I am saying, but I have no one else to tell these things,” he said with a slight chuckle. “I bet you are wondering why I gave you such an odd name like Echo. It is more than just a family tradition to do so. Your brother, his name is Draco, another odd name.” The father paused as the child began to make small gasps in her attempt to breathe. Now the realization of just how little time he had left with the little angel was hitting hard. Lucius let a few tears roll down his cheeks. “Even now you look incredibly like your mum. The connection goes much deeper than that, though. You are part of her, just as you are part of me. Created out of love. A love that is buried so deep, but a love that is still there. You both are delicate little flowers. Just like the narcissus whose fate it is to fade a way. Just as the Echo in the myth of Narcissus you to will made, but yet lives on though the words of others. That will be your legacy.” Lucius knew he contorted the myth some. It still made for a powerful statement.
Echo’s breath grew shallower as the life was beginning to drain from her body. Then a peaceful look came upon the small face. One could even interpret the look as a smile. The tiny hand reached up and grasped Lucius hair. It was at that moment life passed from the child, and the monitors gave the signal that there was nothing more that could be done.
“Goodbye, Echo Lillith Malfoy,” Lucius said in a distraught voice as he choked back a sob. His saving grace was gone now.
continued in Chapter 4 (not yet received)
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