#Abscess Open Up

[yuribait]

not looking good for my infection healing w/o draining it btw

[ms-demeanor]

If you're new to me yelling about this: my neighbors feed a feral cat colony but provide no other care to the colony like neuter/spay or vaccination. They free feed the cats, which attracts skunks, and they have (at the moment) about 20 cats in the colony, which attracts coyotes.

My dog has been skunked twice, she can't be outside in our yard unsupervised for even a minute because otherwise she'll try to eat cat shit because there's cat shit everywhere in my yard because the neighbors also haven't provided litterboxes or a sandbox for their ferals (their entire yard is paved) and if she has to go outside at night I need to clear the yard for coyotes before I let her out even in the small fenced area by our bedroom.

Also there are fleas fucking *everywhere* and even though my dog is on medication to prevent fleas I need to de-flea her twice a week in the summer; this is the case for every dog owner on the street.

The street I live on has a speed limit of 25mph but I hear cats getting hit frequently, so frequently that we have a resident group of crows who hang out and wait for them to become roadkill.

I have a collection of photos on my phone that show kittens with broken legs, kittens with missing eyes, kittens with horrible ear mite infections, and I have a dedicated shovel that I use for moving cat corpses that show up on my property. The cats that die on my property die from abscessed wounds from fights with other cats, respiratory infections, renal failure, and injuries from being hit by cars.

My spouse is immune compromised, and while toxoplasmosis is not a serious risk for most people, it IS a serious risk for people who are immune compromised (as are all the other infections that cats can potentially carry), which means that it's unsafe for me to grow vegetables in my yard for us to eat and it's unsafe for him to work in the yard.

I'd love to maybe open my windows at night and keep down the electricity costs of using the AC, but I can't because the entire side of my house that faces my neighbor's yard reeks of cat shit and piss year round.

Those are my next door neighbors.

Last week I was walking my dog as a neighbor around the corner was pulling out of her garage; she paused and rolled down her window and pointed at the cats on her lawn and said "Head's up, my cats are weirdly aggressive about small dogs and they just got let out so they're full of energy right now" and I nodded and crossed the street and didn't yell at my neighbor but *the temptation was there* because A) why are you letting your aggressive animals roam and B) Why are you letting your cats shit all over the neighborhood and C) Why are you exposing your owned cats to the risks of the large and territorial feral colony that is a literal stone's throw away from your house?

Anyway, and as always, Keep Your Fucking Cats Indoors.

[magics-neptunes-things]

Love Heals Everything

Hi guys!

I feel like I haven't post for ages, and it's probably not only an impression. I had several things to deal with and I don't know how many of you are still here but... Here's my new story. It's coming from the Serie of Lia and the Firefighter.

Please enjoy ♥

You can find the other story of the serie here :)

1 | 2 | 3 | 4

Your leg nervously bounces up and down while watching your girlfriend evolving on the pitch. You feel the same proudness as every time, Lia is beyond amazing. She plays with everything she’s got, but you can’t help but feel nervous.

“Stop this, you make me nervous!”

You glance at Katie who hit you on your leg. The Irish girl is sitting next to you in the stand, keeping you company without her consent, her red card preventing her from going on the bench with her teammates.

You sigh and take a big breath, trying to steady yourself. You can’t help but be stupidly and excessively concerned about Lia. Katie knows this since she met you, just like everyone else finally. You always have been overprotective with your girlfriend since you met her.

You open the door of her car, the door of almost every room she wants to get in, you cook for her and put everyday healthy snacks in her bag in case she’s hungry between meals. When you are coming home later than her or working during the night, you leave her notes in your house for her to find and prepare her meal for the night, so she just has to put it in the microwave and enjoy her evening.

You act like her personal bodyguard when you are in a crowd, not wanting anyone to even put their finger on her. When she asked you if you wanted to be involved in any way in the preparations of the Euros with her you said yes, to have more time with her but to have a look about people surrounding her too.

In your mind, every single person can take her away from you.

Lia is clever, fun, kind, attentive, mindful, skilled and amazingly beautiful.

What you weren’t expecting, though, it’s that you almost lost her because of something you can’t control.

The first time you felt that weird spot on her body, you just asked her if she hurt herself during training. Lia just shrugged and told you she doesn’t know; it happens to everyone to have bruises without knowing where they come from.

But then that thing grew, and you forced Lia to talk about it to Arsenal’s team. You were beyond nervous when they sent her to take exams in London’s hospital. But then Lia asked to go to Switzerland to be treated and of course you followed her.

You love Switzerland, the peace and quiet of this country and their beautiful landscapes, but you must admit that you were everything but peaceful. You were a wreck of stress, unable to sleep even with Lia peacefully asleep in your arms. You took the habits to have her sleeping on you and when she isn’t, you put your head on her chest.

Just to be able to hear her heart beating.

You don’t understand a lot of German, only the sentences Lia told you and some basics, but it hasn’t helped at all during Lia’s stay in the hospital. Thanks God, Lia’s sister was here too, translating things when Lia was too concentrated with her medical team to do it.

Finally, you had the answer you were looking for. Unlike what was feared, it wasn’t a tumour, “only” an abscess. She still needed surgery for it, but at least she wasn’t in mortal danger.

Well, of course the operation could have gone wrong. You waited for five hours in Lia’s room, not wanting to leave for a single second, too scared to miss Lia’s return.

The nurses seem to take pity on you, bringing you tea and a food tray at some point of the day. You couldn’t eat anything, which might be a first in your life. Only when Lia came back in her room, still half asleep, did you feel like you were able to breathe again correctly.

You stayed with Lia the three nights of her stay in hospital, sleeping in a chair at first and then on a camp bed given by the nurses once again. When Lia is finally able to leave the hospital, you brought them a big chocolate box.

Lia wasn’t authorized to take the plane for several days after, so you stayed with her at her parents’ house. You distract yourself by taking care of your girlfriend (of course), but by helping your in-laws with cooking or even going grocery shopping. Lia took advantage of it to buy some things to take with you when you will go back to London.

Your girlfriend seems to get better very quickly, for general relief. She received a lot of calls from her teammates during her recovery and Leah and her girlfriend offered to come take you at the airport.

After that, Lia had a recovery at home at first, before starting to train with her teammates again.

Even at that time, you took her to every appointment needed, switching your shift with your co-workers. And, thanks to your knowledge with all that medical stuff, you took every morning and every night her pressure, just to be sure that everything is alright.

You insisted that she take another blood test, just to be sure once again. Everything was alright, every time.

But you can’t make the fear of losing her go away.

It’s still here, sometimes waking you up in the middle of the night. It’s a thing to fear losing her because she might fall out of love with you, but it’s something else to lose her if death comes meddle in the middle of your life.

Today is the first time Lia is playing again, and you are more nervous than if she was climbing the Himalaya alone. Your leg isn’t moving anymore but you will probably die of a heart attack soon.

Lia seems happy to be back on the pitch, running quickly to find her spot on the pitch. But you wince every time someone comes closer to her, jumping on your feet when she finds herself on the ground after a challenge from a player of the other team.

“For fuck’s sake sit down” Katie groans, grabbing you by your sleeve. “She’s fine, look. Running like a goat”

You groan and sit down again, looking at the clock. It’s only the 63 minutes. The next half-hour will be a long one.

********

After the game, you are waiting for your girlfriend in the VIP lodge with the other families. Leah’s mother tried to talk to you, but you can’t really repeat what you talked about. You were only concentrating on the door, waiting for Lia to pass it.

Katie never left your side though, talking for you to Leah’s mom and explaining discreetly why you were so strange. Katie puts a glass of champagne in your hands to help you relax.

It doesn’t really work to be honest. You were sitting on a stool, your leg jumping on and on. Katie gave up making you stop it, scrolling on her phone but staying loyally next to you.

She almost falls off her stool when you jump on your feet, Lia finally appearing by the door with Steph and Beth. In three big steps, you are in front of her, feeling a big relief when she passes her arms around you to hug you.

“How are you?” you ask, your face in her hair.

“I’m fine” you can hear the smile in her voice “Did you enjoy the game?”

You hum absently, looking attentively at her to see if you can see any discomfort or anything that should worry you. She’s wearing her Arsenal suit obviously so you can’t really look at all the parts of her body, but you will do it later at home.

“Next time give her a tranquilizer Wally. I never seen someone so nervous in my life”

You roll your eyes at Katie’s comment, passing next to you after she spots her own girlfriend. Lia gives you a curious look and you just shrug, passing an arm around her waist. Feeling her against you gives you peace and your heart might need some peace right now.

You are saved from Lia’s questions by Amanda coming to show you her daughter, Lia cooing lovingly in front of that baby. Who is cute, you have to admit. You smile and talk to her when she’s in Lia’s arms, picking her ribs to make her laugh. The giggle of the baby and Amanda talking about her progress help you to think about something else for a little bit. Which you appreciate.

At some point the baby goes back into her mother's arms and you take Lia in yours, hugging her from behind while she’s talking with some of her teammates.

“Do you mind if we go home?” Lia whispers to you at some point, tilting her head to have a look at you.

“Of course not. Are you tired?”

“A little bit” your girlfriend admits, and you don’t need more.

You grab her things with one hand, your girlfriend’s hand with another and take her to the parking lot. You kind have forgotten that there will be some fans asking for a signature there. Lia, like the sweet cutie pie she is, takes the time she needs to sign all the jerseys and pictures presented to her. You let her do it for several minutes, taking time to put her bag in the car before going back next to her for a moment, before finally stepping in.

“Cookie, it’s cold and your hair isn't dry… Maybe it’s time to go before getting sick?” you say softly, putting your hand on her back.

Lia turns to you and nod softly, excusing herself to the girls she was talking to. You kind of feel bad for her fans, but everyone got their picture or signatures, and you have to take care of Lia anyway. And you know they won’t hold it against you, since several months now your relationship has appeared on the social media and fans only gush over how protective and caring you are with your girlfriend.

You drive both of you to your house, proposing to Lia different dishes you can cook for her tonight.

“What about we just order in? You deserve to take a break too, Baby” Lia proposes softly.

“But we have to be sure that you have all the good nutrients needed for you to recover! The nurses said you need vitam… –“

“Y/N”

You look at your girlfriend with wide eyes, momentarily forgetting about the red light in front of you. Lia never calls you by your name, or only when you did something that you shouldn’t. Your surprise must be funny, because Lia can’t hide the smile creeping on her face.

“I am healed. My scar has healed well too, thanks to your care. Stop worrying like this, you’re going to develop an ulcer”

You roll your eyes and start your car again, driving for the last hundred meters until you are home. Lia’s hand found her way to yours during this time, silence coming inside the car again, only broken when Lia hums the song coming from the radio.

At home, you make Lia sit on the couch and start the laundry before going back to her to choose what to eat. She finally makes her choice for Nando’s and you let Lia choose what you will eat, just happy to be able to have some cuddle with her.

The end of the day between you was great, to be honest. You ate well, watched something you both liked and had a lot of cuddles and laughs together. You then went to bed and after some sweet words and more cuddles, you fell asleep easily.

But now, you are suddenly awake from your sleep, your heart pounding, your hands shaking and some sweat rolling on your neck.

You just have to turn your head to see that Lia is peacefully asleep, lying across the bed. Her breast goes up and down slowly every time she’s breathing and she’s alright. Not like in the dream you just had.

It’s not the first nightmare you have since Lia’s surgery, but you can’t get used to it. You carefully remove Lia’s legs on yours to sit on the border of the bed, pressing the palms of your hands against your eyes.

You try to concentrate yourself on the strange patterns coming from this gesture, but the pictures of your nightmare are too strong, and you aren’t able to fight against them. But you don’t want to wake Lia, so you stand up and silently go out of your bedroom. You don’t know what you could do, honestly. You feel tense, the only thing helping you when you are like this is a hot shower. But once again, you don’t want to wake your girlfriend up.

So you end up in front of the TV, munching blankly some of Lia’s favourite crisps. Your plan is to wait a decent hour to start breakfast and surprise your girlfriend in bed. But you have several hours to wait.

You are surprised in your plans though, a sleepy Lia appearing in the living room before the sun starts to rise.

“What are you doing?” she asks with a raspy voice.

You weren’t expecting your girlfriend to wake up. You jump out of your skin, making some crisps flying from your lap. While you stand, you can see Lia’s eyes going from the crisps, to you, to the wildlife reporting on TV and then to you again.

“I’ll buy you another” you mumble, kneeling to collect the crisps on the ground.

“Since when are you interested in pink flamingos?” Lia asks you, looking at the screen.

You frown and look above your shoulder to see the screen. You weren’t at all looking at it, lost in your thoughts once again. You shrug before standing up.

“Television programs are not particularly interesting at this time”

You cross Lia’s gaze, looking at each other for several seconds. You wonder what she’s thinking about, but you don’t have time to ask. She reaches for you, and you don’t hesitate to take her hand in yours.

“Come back to bed?”

You nod and Lia’s squeak can tell you that she wasn’t expecting you to put your hands around her waist and lift her off the floor and carry her up to your room. She giggles when you put her down on the bed, covering her before you lay down on her completely.

You know you won’t be able to fall asleep again, but you plan to give Lia some more sleep.

Her heart beating against your ear is comforting, just like the strokes in your hair. Like this, you feel good. You could almost fall asleep again to be fair, but you want to be sure that Lia is asleep before you. She’s the one needing recovery, not you.

But when you look up, Lia’s eyes aren’t closed. In fact, she was looking at you.

“What?” you raise an eyebrow.

Lia's green gaze is intense, and you have trouble continuing to look at her. You know what she’s doing, she’s trying to read or find something in your eyes.

“Stop that” you groan, hiding your face in her neck.

She lets you do it, but you know before she starts talking again that you won’t escape her like this.

“Would you tell me if something wasn’t right?” Lia finally asks you.

Her voice is soft, but she doesn’t really give you the choice to answer. You never talked to her about your nightmares or even how terrified you are at the simple idea of something happening to her. It goes way beyond what you ever felt before seeing her in that Swiss hospital. It was very different from the surgery for her knee.

So, you just hum softly for any answer. You don’t want to worry her.

“That is not an acceptable answer”

You know it. But you stay silent.

“Y/N” she tries again.

You don’t move at first, only squirming when she starts to poke at your ribs.

“Babe, stop” you whine “I’m comfy”

“Answer, and you will be able to enjoy this for as long as you want”

You sigh softly, knowing perfectly that you won’t have the last word here. Lia is the sweetest but she’s very stubborn too. An iron hand in a velvet glove.

“I don’t know how to explain it” you admit softly, sitting on the bed.

And you don’t know if it’s a good thing to explain the way you are thinking to Lia. You never hide anything from her and maybe your anxiety is harder to deal with because of that.

“I know you. I can see that something is bothering you, but if you don’t talk to me about it I can’t help you Pookie” Lia says softly.

“That is the point” you sigh again “You just had all those surgeries and medical stuff. You shouldn’t be the one helping, all you are supposed to do is recover and take care of yourself.”

“Actually, you are taking such good care of me that I don’t need to do anything” she smiles.

You could die for that smile, even if you are biting your bottom lips right now, not really sure about what she just said. She seems lost by your reaction, and you hate seeing her so destabilized. So, you take a big breath before answering. You don’t know what you will say but you know that you need to say something.

“I’m just scared” you finally say.

“I need more context”

Lia’s voice is patient, but you find yourself playing with a piece of the bed sheet covering your girlfriend. You turn the sentences in your head several times before actually talking again.

“I always tried my best to take care of you and protect you as much as possible. I can do it if someone annoys you, I can take care of you if you are tired or I can even take you out of a Café on fire. I can look for you if you are injured or uncomfortable, or tired after a training session, but… This time it wasn’t something I can protect you against. And that scared the shit out of me.”

Your eyes were focused on the bed while you were talking, but after some seconds of silence you hesitantly raise your gaze on your girlfriend. Lia is looking at you, of course she is, with so much softness that you feel your heart beating faster, for something good this time. Nothing to compare how you felt during her game. And definitely nothing to compare with how you felt during her journey in hospital.

“You won’t like to hear that, but you can’t protect me against everything in the world, Pookie”

Lia smiles when you pout, but cups softly your cheek with her hand.

“But you were there every second of it and I couldn’t ask for more than this. You were perfect. You always have been with me, since the beginning”

“I just don’t want to lose you” you whisper.

“You won’t. And you need to stop worrying like this for me. I’m fine, you know it. You came with me at all my appointments. You are going to make you sick.”

You bite your bottom lip, a little ashamed to have been caught. It was maybe a little stupid of you to hope that she won’t see anything. And you are pretty sure that it was way before Katie made that comment at the end of the game.

“Okay” you sigh “But you have to swear to talk to me if anything is happening to you”

“I swear I will” she answers easily, taking you again in her arms.

You let it happen, lying down again against your girlfriend. Once again you put your ear on her heart, passing your arm around her waist. The warmth of her body and the cover is great, and you finally can relax. Talking about it to Lia makes you feel lighter than you expected. You even feel your eyes becoming heavy.

You take a look at Lia to be sure that she will fall asleep again, before closing your eyes.

“I love you” you whisper, burying your face in her shirt.

“I love you too” she whispers back.

Two minutes later, you wear out of the world, sleeping peacefully for the first time since Lia’s health difficulty. And you have to admit that it felt good.

[certifiedsexed]

You know what genital condition hurts worse than anything else I've ever experienced, and I'd never encountered at all before I developed one?

A Bartholin abscess. I feel like it's important for people to know about them; they're painful, debilitating, misunderstood, and often dismissed by non-specialist doctors as 'going away by themselves'. The gynecologist I saw with my most recent one said she treats 20+ of them a week, but nobody talks about them. There certainly weren't any clinic posters talking about them. Plenty about STIs and pap smears, but no Bartholin awareness.

I would encourage anyone who's factory plumbing came with a vagina, or who cares about someone with that plumbing, to put Safesearch or the search engine equivalent on (because the images that pop up are the worst case scenario, and also NSFW if you're at school/in the office) and look into Bartholin cysts and the abscesses that come from them. The wiki page is a good starting point.

If you notice a lump near the opening of your vagina, get medical help. Don't wait and see if it goes away. My first one I was so depressed that I just pretended it wasn't there, and it went from the size of a grain of rice to the size of a peach in under a week. Imagine something the size of a peach under the skin of your inner labia.

These abscesses do eventually rupture and drain, which stops them hurting somewhat though they still have to heal, but until then the sheer size and painfulness impedes walking, sitting, using the toilet, cleaning after using the toilet, and just about everything else. The pain I had was extraordinary and entirely debilitating, I can't understate that. It's an area with a lot of nerve endings and very good blood flow, you know?

The second one I had I started treatment with Flucloxacillin on day two and it didn't get anywhere near as big or as painful. It still hurt a little, got to about the size of a grape, and still popped after about ten days, but I was able to continue working and mostly get along as normal.

I've been told that once you've had one they're likely to come back unless you get medical intervention so it really is key to not ignore them.

Sorry to be hijacking, I know this isn't entirely about sex ed as such, but like... I went to a school in a liberal area with fairly comprehensive sex ed which included frank and open discussions around health and diseases, and I've been around on the internet for a decade since as well, and had never heard of these until I developed one. I'm still recovering from the most recent episode, and really do not want anyone else to sprout one of these and have no idea what's happening or be dismissed by a doctor and not have the knowledge to advocate for themselves.

I don't think this is hijacking at all. I think this' great information to share, thank you! [This is an article about Bartholin cysts/abscesses, for anyone interested.]

[batmanisagatewaydrug]

hi sex batman this might be really tmi so feel free to ignore 💀 but uh. it would comfort me greatly lowkey 😭 so like its DEFINITELY not possible to give myself genital herpes via masturbate right. even if i didnt wash my hands first? because i keep getting like. i dont even fucking know like zits but not zits. abscesses? maybe? on (in?) my vulva. like not in my vagina but in my bits. like idk what they are i cant see them and ive tried like mirrors or taking pictures and for the life of me i cant get a good look but theyre round and soreish and theres usually only one at a time! which i think is NOT how genital herpes works? but also my entire sex ed was like. scarleteen dot com + catholic school christian vocations class w a teacher who gave us like 60% genuinely good info/40% scare tactics + fuckin uh theology of the body in middle school. so like maybe genital herpes are hashtag not that bad and u can have only one? but also i have literally never had sex with another person and my parents r catholics of the waiting for marriage sort so like literally where would i have gotten it. idk. it just would be reassuring to have someone knowledgeable tell me the thing im pretty sure is right is in fact right 💀

anyway thanks & sorry to bother you or if this was like grossly tmi 😭

hi anon,

people cannot give themselves sexually transmitted infections, no.

with herpes, what can and frequently does happen is a very early transmission of herpes to children from their adult caregivers, usually by utterly ordinary activities such as the adult kissing the child or the child touching the adult's face when they happen to have open cold sores. although less common, herpes can also be transmitted from parent to child during birth. some estimates hold that up to 20% of children have herpes by the time they're 5! people spread herpes without sex all the time; it's a very adaptable and persistent virus.

which isn't to say that you're guaranteed to have genital herpes; I don't know what you have, given that I'm not your healthcare provider. but there are plenty of reasons why someone might get a bump on their genitals, most of them utterly harmless:

[leupagus]

All blame goes to cursedhat and mohan_abbot on twitter as well as notadilemma here on tumblr. This is, I cannot emphasize it enough, not my fault.

So last night I saw this delightful post and was laughing along with it until I got to this one:

Which immediately embedded into my brain and incepted me into writing about 3K and counting of...whatever this ends up as:

-

They do the rest of the handoff while they wait for the elevator — a contusion that’s been left to fester for a few days so now has an abscess, two broken fingers (two patients, one finger each), and the comatose unhoused man they still haven’t been able to ID. “Also, Myrna’s back,” he warns.

Samira makes a face. “Last time she was in here, she asked if I’d ever considered having an Onlyfans account. Said I’d make, and I quote, ‘the big bucks’.”

“Hey, she’s made that same suggestion to me,” he says, grinning.

She laughs, though the image is… not something she should think about too much right at the beginning of her shift. “Anyway, did she have another seizure?”

“Naturally,” Dr. Abbot confirms. “She’s next in line for a head CT, but she did try to lick Santos so we put the cuffs on her again.”

“Sounds like a good call,” Samira says, as her phone buzzes. It’s Collins: Ready for rounds, sidekick! :) She smiles at the message and puts her phone back in her pocket. It's going to be a good day. “Anything else?”

“Yeah, Gloria’s going to be stopping by sometime today to talk metrics with Collins, I would not recommend being around for that.”

“Okay.”

“Also I’ve been flirting with you,” Dr. Abbot concludes, as the elevator finally arrives. The doors squeak slowly open with a tired ding! revealing a puzzled OR nurse wheeling a guy in a gurney with his arm in a cast.

Samira blinks. “Wait, what?”

Beside her, Dr. Abbot shifts awkwardly. “Gloria’s going to be—”

“The last part is what I meant,” she hisses. “You’ve been flirting?”

“Yeah. With you. Seems like it might’ve been more at you than with you? Sorry,” he adds, though she can’t tell if he’s apologizing to her or the people in the elevator.

“Oh, it’s fine,” says the nurse. He gives them a kindly, reassuring, trust-me-I’m-a-professional smile. “You want us to hold the doors, or—"

“No thanks,” Samira blurts. “We’re good.”

“It’s not a problem for me,” the patient offers helpfully. “If you guys want to work out the flirting thing.”

“Thank you, no,” she says, and hauls Dr. Abbot bodily over to the lee of the stairwell and out of sight, at least, of the elevator. After a minute she hears the doors ding! again with an audible groan of dismay from the nurse. “Oh, God, there’s probably a pool about this,” she realizes.

“I mean, there’s one about Shen and his girlfriend, so—"

“Shut up,” Samira says, which is not the best thing to say to an attending even if he’s not your attending, but when she looks at Dr. Abbot he seems more abashed than anything. “Since when?”

“Uhh, about a year,” he says, brows furrowed like he’s taking the oral exam.

“What? No, you haven’t.”

“Yes, I have,” he confirms sort of sadly. “Apparently I was pretty obvious.”

[followthebluebell]

My ragdoll recently went for a bath (parents are really anal about cleanliness so taking the cat for a bath every 4 months was the compromise) and the groomer said that her anal glands were really blocked up and that we should be doing it regularly. That's fine, but we can hardly see the glands with all the fur and the little vixen won't let us hold her for more than 2 minutes (this isn't even for doing care stuff. That's just for funsies). We've tried using the purrito method but she absolutely despises it and nearly clawed at my face, despite having a very tight grip on her.

Do you have any tips for 1) managing the fur around there so at least we can locate the glands and 2) tips for making it less uncomfortable for her?

ok, first absolutely contact a vet to see if her glands ARE blocked up. Anal gland issues generally come with some pretty distinct symptoms that you would notice: butt scooting, a foul odor (it smells like rotten fish), cat licking its behind WAY more than necessary, difficulty pooping, etc, etc.

These glands are located INSIDE the body. They're normally not visible on cats. The most you can typically see is the little openings on the rectum. When everything is working properly, the glands fill up with a thick liquid that's squeezed out when the cat poops.

Impacted glands happen when this fluid isn't squeezed out, like if it gets thickened, an abscess develops, or something similar. Sometimes some very sensitive cats get impacted glands if their food is changed because their poop isn't solid enough to squeeze the glands. So typically, the first solution isn't to jump straight to squeezing the glands (these glands are very small and require sticking your fingers up the cat's butt so... uhh... yeah, you can see why we'd all like to avoid this). Often times, the first measure is to just change the cat's diet.

anyway, that's a lot of words to say 'please contact your vet first and follow their advice'.

[thewildernesschooses]

shaunaxreader oneshot

hiiiii, first yellowjackets one shot. haven’t posted on tumblr like this so excuse me if the formatting is weird. pls enjoy/interact and maybe leave a request if you’d like :)

People have started to notice the weird thing Shauna has for you.

Sure, Shauna has always had a staring problem, even before the crash, but it was getting blatant. Ever since the loss of her child, she had withdrawn. She doesn’t care enough to try to fit in or act acceptably anymore. Everyone dies, she’s going to get a good look at you before that happens.

Staring isn’t the only thing she does to you, though. She listens. She cares about you being happy for some unknown reason.

In her deepest rage, your voice is the only one that can reach her. You were the thing that stopped her from killing Lottie when she let all her anger out, you kept her from becoming a butcher completely.

That’s why she lost it when you got sick.

Winter was thawing, and the plants and animals were returning. You had made it through winter and could enjoy the reprieve of spring. You were supposed to be safe. You didn’t have a cabin but sleeping outside was starting to not be unpleasant. Sleeping outside also meant bugs.

You woke up one day with a spider bite on your arm, two days later the bite was infected. You came down with a fever and your arm had gotten gnarly and swollen.

Shauna, who had all but retreated into her own mind, was suddenly very present. She was swapping out your forehead rags and cleaning your sick. She had prayed to every saint she could remember from her catholic phase. She was the only one who had it in her to drain the abscess. Cutting things was easy for Shauna, fascinating even. She didn’t relish cutting you at all.

You got better after the infected fluid left your body. You had lost enough weight and water that you were out of commission for a couple of days after your fever had broken but the spring gave you the sustenance to recover.

Shauna, however, had not recovered.

She had gotten used to not caring about things. It was easier when you didn’t meet people's expectations if you didn’t care about their opinion in the first place. She didn’t realize how much you mattered to her until she was looking down the barrel at losing the person that was most important to her a third time. She was in such a limbo between not giving a fuck about anything and being willing to lose everything to keep you. She even prayed to the wilderness about it…

She didn’t give lottie the satisfaction of doing it out loud but she asked for it to all be enough. The two sacrifices she’s given already, her having to cut you open felt like enough. She got you back. Shauna didn’t know how to feel about the wilderness listening.

Now you felt better, maybe not as strong as you were before your plane fell out of the sky, but not any worse than you felt during the winter when you were starving.

Shauna wasn’t any better. She didn’t get sick but she didn’t recover from almost losing you either.

She… hovered. More than she did already anyway. She took the kindling from your hands, got your serving of food for you, and made sure your arm was closing upright. It was.

She listened to you more now too. You thought it wasn’t a waste of valuable energy for Akilah to try to grow unnecessary flowers, whatever, you deserved pretty flowers. You thought Vans story time was entertaining? Shauna thought she was getting hilarious after the months of practice she’s had.

The other girls notice it too. Exchanging glances about the scariest girl out here having an obvious soft spot. They didn't think of how they could use it until Shauna was being a bitch to Mari, like usual. You just walked right up to Shauna like she wasn’t terrorizing someone and asked if she would help you bring back some berries you had found. You liked the mulberries that grew on trees and she knew that. Shauna liked it when you asked if she could help you reach. Shauna walked away with you mid-insult. Whatever, Mari wasn’t worth losing any time with you.

The group left waited for you both to get deep enough into the forest before they really unpacked the looks they’d been giving each other about you two. When they couldn’t hear your footsteps anymore, Van said “I think she has Shauna on a leash or something.” The younger girls giggled.

Taissa nudged Van, not wanting them to be too hard on either of you. Shauna was still important to her, even if they disagreed now more than ever. “They just find comfort in each other. I’m sure you’d latch onto someone else like that if you’d lost me.”

The group doesn’t expand on the implication Taissa is making. It’s the closest any of them have gotten to acknowledging the blurred lines between Shauna and Jackie’s friendship or her… fixation on you.

Mari, never the most graceful with forgiveness said, “I don’t care how many homo-erotic friendships she sends out to die in the cold, she’s a sociopath who has a hate hard-on for me in particular.” Gen frowns and pats Mari on the shoulder. They shared a look that made Mari making fun of Shauna’s obvious girl crushes ironic.

“Yeah, but you’ve gotta think about what this can do for us. We know the code now. If she agrees with it or it makes her happy, Shauna likes it. We can work with that,” Taissa explained.

The idea of having one over on Shauna was intoxicating. She was unpredictable and content with violence which made her extremely dangerous to take on. An understanding would level the playing field.

Akilah seemed nervous. She didn’t like the idea of meddling in a relationship, especially when Shauna could turn on anyone on a dime. “Are we sure we should mess with any of that? What if Shauna realizes and doesn’t want to be vulnerable like that again?” Akilah was starting to feel bad. “I mean, I don’t really like the girl but she’s been through the worst out of all of us and I don’t know if I want to use the one good thing she’s got left against her.” The girls felt a little guilty but peace was too attractive.

“We’re not going to do anything wrong. We’re not even going to lie, we just know how we’re supposed to frame arguments now. It’s just like English class where you consider your audience before you decide the rhetoric you use for them.” Taissa responded. “Rhetoric isn’t lying, it’s being smart with your words. We’re being smart.”

Taissa, always the lawyer, convinced them.

Later, you both got back with the berries you found. They were fat and sweet. The lack of sugar you’ve had recently made them taste better than they were, probably.

You put your sack of berries on the table the group had constructed recently out of some preserved planks from the cabin. Girls came over and started taking handfuls. Shauna felt like they were being greedy. You both had gotten those for you to enjoy. You had wasted energy you could’ve used on healing to get these berries and they were just eating them like bears without asking.

Mari came over and grabbed a handful like the rest of the girls. She should’ve known Shauna would take special offense to that. Shauna reached across the table and slapped Mari’s hand before she could get her fill.

“ow! What the hell, Shauna?”

“you’re just going to shove them in your face without asking? They’re her favorites and she almost died.”

People stopped eating berries for a moment. There was an unspoken agreement that this would be the time to try the new strategy.

Mari held back what she felt like saying to Shauna, understanding that she would get nowhere with her. She looked at you with her charming smirk and sweetly said, “I’m sorry, I thought these were for the group. I know you usually like to share with us. If you run out, I can go get the next batch tomorrow.”

You were not used to feeling like someone important at camp but you felt like everyone was looking at you, watching to see what you would do for some reason. Shauna was always watching you so that was no different but you weren’t accustomed to her waiting for you to respond for you both. This was good though, if Shauna would let you take over her relationships with the group for a little, you might be able to calm things down.

“Um… that sounds good! I only got a couple of the lower branches so maybe you and Lottie would be able to get some different ones.” You smiled and tried not to betray the calculations you were making. Shauna bristled a little beside you until you leaned into her side and put your head on her shoulder like you did when you were tired and still recovering. She would worry you were too tired to fight and would drop it. Socially orchestrating a more harmonious group had to seem effortless. Manipulation only worked when they thought they were getting one over on you.

You knew what they were doing. You knew Shauna listened to you and you knew they were scared of her. You weren’t dumb enough to believe that Mari would all of a sudden be ok with doing more than her fair share for less of the reward. She had an ulterior motive, which was fine because you did too. Shauna deserved community. Not to be looked at like some bomb or monster. We made her the butcher but got disgusted when she had blood on her hands. If you could broker an understanding between Shauna and the group, you could maybe inspire some more empathy and forgiveness, on both sides.

Shauna regretfully accepted your wishes. “fine, take your share,” she said bitterly. You smiled softly, knowing you won. The group couldn’t show any expressions, knowing if Shauna felt manipulated, she would explode. They did notice your satisfied look when it dawned on all of them that they were letting another girl run the group just like Shauna did.

Yes, she wasn’t as overtly violent and you could appeal to her better nature-but there was an equally dark part of you. The part that was dark enough to look Shauna Shipman in her empty, grief-stricken eyes and see love.

[ramblings-in-imagination]

No Answer (Part 3)

The ICU room buzzed with quiet urgency. Machines beeped steadily, the ventilator hissed softly, and the soft glow of the monitors bathed your face in pale blue light. Eddie never left your side, his calloused hand wrapped around yours as if he could will your body to fight. Buck stood close behind him, arms crossed, every muscle tense.

Maddie and Chimney had claimed the small seating area in the corner, but neither could relax; Maddie’s leg bounced restlessly, and Chimney tapped at his phone, reading articles about sepsis and treatments. Hen and Bobby came and went, bringing coffee, snacks, and quiet reassurance, but no one felt at ease.

Dr. Ramirez entered the room, eyes serious but determined. She carried your chart, now thick with labs, notes, and scribbled differentials. She approached the small crowd, her voice calm but urgent.

“Good news and bad news,” she started, drawing everyone’s eyes. “Her lactic acid is trending down from 6.5 to 4.3—that means the antibiotics and fluids are helping. Her blood pressure is stabilizing on the norepinephrine drip, and her urine output is starting to pick up.”

Eddie squeezed your hand, tears pooling in his eyes. “That’s good,” he murmured.

Dr. Ramirez nodded. “It is. But…” She took a deep breath. “We’ve identified the likely source of her septic shock.”

Buck leaned forward. “Where?”

“We found a small but deep cut on her left lower leg,” Dr. Ramirez explained, flipping open the chart. “It’s near her Achilles tendon, looked like a scratch at first, but it’s cellulitic and inflamed. We did an ultrasound and found an abscess that probably developed into necrotizing fasciitis—a severe soft tissue infection that can rapidly progress to sepsis.”

Maddie gasped. “Oh my God—she must have gotten it on a hike or something. She didn’t even say anything.”

Dr. Ramirez nodded grimly. “We’ve started IV clindamycin in addition to the vancomycin and cefepime to cover for potential necrotizing pathogens. We’ve also called in the surgical team. They’ll likely need to perform an urgent debridement to remove any dead tissue and control the infection.”

Chimney let out a shaky breath. “She’s so strong, she didn’t even mention she’d hurt herself.”

Hen’s face was solemn. “She’s a fighter,” she said, voice soft. “But she’s going to need every ounce of that strength now.”

Eddie brushed a trembling hand across your forehead, voice low and fierce. “You hear that, baby? You’ve got a fight on your hands—but… you’re not doing it alone.”

Buck’s jaw clenched, eyes glassy. “We’re not going anywhere.”

Dr. Ramirez’s gaze was steady. “We’re prepping her for surgery now. We’ll take her down as soon as the OR is ready. The earlier we remove the infected tissue, the better her chances.”

Bobby placed a comforting hand on Eddie’s shoulder. “We’ll be here, okay? Every step of the way.”

Hours blurred as the team cycled through rounds/ checking monitors, drawing labs, hanging new antibiotics. Hen explained every beep and every test to Maddie and Buck, translating the jargon with calm precision.

“CRP’s dropping,” she murmured after one blood draw. “That means her body’s responding to treatment.”

Eddie nodded, grateful for any sign of improvement.

Chimney checked her Foley catheter, frowning at the urine output. “It’s picking up, but I’d like to see more,” he muttered. “She’s still on norepinephrine, but at least she’s holding steady at 90/60.”

Maddie hovered at the bedside, clutching a small bag of essentials: a change of clothes, a hairbrush, a sweater she’d stolen from your closet. “I’m staying,” she declared, eyes determined. “I’m not leaving until she’s awake.”

Buck cracked a small smile, even though his eyes were wet. “She’d kill me if I let you leave.”

Dr. Ramirez returned with the surgical team. “We’re ready to take her down,” she announced. “We’ll update you as soon as she’s out of the OR.”

Eddie pressed a kiss to your forehead. “You fight, baby,” he whispered, voice trembling. “I’ll be right here.”

[on-my-vigilante-sht]

Haunted

Mark Sloan x Reader

Summary: Mark Sloan finally finds where his wife had been hiding

Warnings: Angst, cheating, mild smut, Addison has poison oak, medical talk, death

Word Count: 5.7K

Masterlist

I sat in the foyer of the beautiful brownstone Mark has bought us, seething. I had arrived home after a long 30-hour shift, just wanting to relax with my husband but I had instead received a call from Derek delivering the worst news of my life.

“Y/N?”

“Hey, Derek, everything okay?” I asked, concerned at his strained voice.

“Y/N, I’m so sorry.”

My heart crawled into my throat. What could have possibly happened to warrant this much concern from him? Has Addison been hurt? Had Mark? “What? Derek, you’re scaring me.”

After a pause, he spoke again. “I just found Mark in bed with Addison.” My entire body felt like it had filled with ice. I knew Addison and Derek had been on the rocks for a while but I thought Mark and I were solid. “I’m leaving, tonight, for Seattle. I have an old friend out there who’s gonna make me the head of neurosurgery. I know it’s sudden and you’re dealing with a lot right now but I’m happy to bring you out there.”

Tears pricked in my eyes, I felt so helpless. “Derek, I’m a second year resident, I can’t just up and move to a different program.”

“Richard, the chief of surgery at Seattle Grace, will help you. You may be set back a year but what’s the alternative?”

I thought for a second. I could stay here and try to work things out with Mark but I knew I’d never be able to look at or trust him again. I could break up with him and stay here but knowing him he’d never leave me in peace. My best option would be to flee. “You’re right. I’ll meet you at the Starbucks across from JFK?”

“I’ll see you there. And Y/N? I really am sorry that this happened to you.”

“I’m sorry it happened to you too.”

I had packed only the essentials into a duffle bag that sat next to me as I waited for Mark to get back to his home. My beautiful rings sat on the coffee table between me and the door, clearly visible from the doorway.

Mark had a devastated look on his face even before he opened the door. His face dropped even further when he saw my expression along with my rings on the table. “Y/N-”

“Don’t,” I interrupted. “I want a divorce,” I asked calmly, picking up my bag to walk out.

But Mark stood his ground, continuing to stand in front of the doorway. “Can we at least talk about this?”

“Why? Nothing you could possibly say could make this better or make me not hate you. You hurt your best friend and your wife,” the tears were falling now. “You threw away our entire relationship for what? So you could hurt Derek? You just had to have Addison? You wanted to hurt me?”

“No, no,” Mark protested, his own voice cracking. “Addison wanted to hurt Derek and well… I wasn’t thinking.”

“‘I wasn’t thinking?’ That’s a pathetic excuse.” I moved to walk past him but he grabbed my arm, yanking me back in front of him, moving to further block the door.

“You promised to love me for better or worse, Y/N Sloan. Well, this is worse. You made a vow.”

“You also vowed to love and honor me,” I threw back.

His grip slackened enough for me to remove my arm from his grip so I continued towards the door. But before I could step out into the night, Mark spoke again. “At least tell me where you’re going?”

I sighed. “Derek and I are getting hotel rooms for a little while,” I lied. Not wanting him to ask me anymore, I slammed the door shut, quickly hailing a taxi.

~

I stood at the nurses’ station, filling out charts when Alex came up next to me, grabbing a chart from one of the nurses. “Your patient in 402 is demanding your presence,” I told him.

He groaned, rolling his eyes. “She’s been demanding ridiculous things all day. I’ve got a surgery I need to study for.”

“Oh yeah? Tell you what, I’ll take this patient off your hands if you take my ruptured abscess.”

Alex stopped to think for a second before reaching his hand out. “Deal.” I smiled, eager to switch when suddenly a fist came out of nowhere, hitting Karev in the face. I whipped my head around, horrified to see Mark.

“What are you doing with my wife?” he yelled down at a still slightly dazed Alex.

“Mark! What the hell?” I demanded.

But before Mark could speak, Alex was up and lunging at Mark. Noticing him, I stepped between the two men, stupidly, getting myself tackled into Mark’s chest in the process. The rest of the hospital had finally realized what was going on as they pulled Alex away, Izzie trying to calm him down.

Realizing I was still in my ex-husband's arms, I pulled myself away from him. “What the fuck are you doing here? How did you find me?”

“Addison told me.”

I rolled my eyes. “You know of all the ways you could’ve found me, that is the last one I would have wanted to hear.”

“Y/N, please, just hear me out,” he begged.

I sighed, “Fine. But after I listen and make a decision, I want you out of my life forever.” Mark looked like he wanted to argue but nodded nonetheless. So I led him to an on-call room for privacy. He smiled upon entering the room. “I remember these from my residency. Or when I’d have a surgery with you at New York Presbyterian,” he flirted, stepping closer to me.

I pressed my hand against his chest, pushing him away. “Don’t. Just say what you need to say.”

He looked disappointed at my rejection but spoke anyways. “First, I want to apologize. What I did was unforgivable and it was just a moment of weakness. I love you, I always have and I always will. These past few months have been hell and everyone refused to tell me where you were.” He paused, waiting for my response but I just quirked an eyebrow at him, urging him to continue. “Look, I want you back. I’ve been wanting you back ever since… well Addison and I… anyways. Please, I can’t do this without you, come home.” He then pulled out my engagement and wedding rings and I noticed for the first time he was still wearing his ring. “You’re still my wife, Y/N Sloan.”

I took a shaky breath. “My name is L/N and the only reason we’re not legally divorced is because I didn’t want you to know where I was. But I guess that doesn’t matter now.”

“Babe, please-”

“Don’t call me babe. I have work I have to do.” I went to move past him but he grabbed my arm again, just like he did all those months ago.

“No, we’re gonna makeup,” he insisted. He pulled me in front of him again, peering down at my face. “God, you’re more beautiful than I remembered.” I remembered lines like that from early on in our relationship. They used to make me melt… I shook off any feelings from the past, trying to steel myself against my husband’s charms that would make me putty in his hand in an instant. His hand slipped under my jaw, cupping my face, fitting perfectly just like back when I thought we were made for each other. And then his lips found mine and I was gone.

I felt his other arm slip around my waist and he pulled me closer to him. Feeling my resolve slip, I brought my hands to my husband’s face and neck, kissing him back. Noticing my reciprocity, Mark lifted me slightly, bringing me to the bed. He laid me down gently, careful to not put too much weight on me. With practiced hands, he went straight for my scrub pants. Neither of us were strangers to hookups in on-call rooms. Mark and Derek had their own practice back in New York but he’d have to come to my hospital for the ORs and he’d always drag me into the on-call rooms before surgery and sometimes after.

I made no moves to undress him, a quiet voice in my mind screaming for me to stop but I ignored it. Mark didn’t seem to mind though as he pulled down his own pants and moved his lips down to my neck. It took everything in me not to moan as he hit the parts of my body that made my toes curl.

He groaned when he finally sheathed himself inside of me. “Oh my god, you’re so perfect,” he groaned, gripping the sheets next to my head. “You haven’t been with anyone else?”

“No,” I answered, fighting out pleased sounds. Truthfully I was still in love with Mark and I didn’t want to hurt him, especially the way he had hurt me. Even though I had proclaimed that we were over, sleeping with someone else would still feel like cheating. “Have you?”

“No, no of course not. It’s you, it’s always been you, it will always be you,” he professed, continuing to thrust in and out of me. He was cupping my face again and trying to look deeply into my eyes but I refused to meet his gaze. Instead just looking up at the bunk above us, focusing on making it seem like I wasn’t enjoying this. Fortunately, he gave me the decency of nuzzling his face into my neck so I wouldn’t have to avoid his gaze.

He continued pumping in and out deep, and slowly, his fingers nestled against my clit, moving in the way he knew I liked. I was gone in about two minutes, embarrassment creeping up my neck and face at being at Mark’s mercy. I could feel him smirk into my throat as he chased his own release, finishing shortly after me.

The second he did, I was pushing him off of me, hiking my pants back up around my hips. “Babe,” he protested as I headed for the door.

“I have work to do,” I explained, not even sparing him a glance. “And don’t call me babe.”

I rushed out of the on-call room, intent on finding Alex’s whiny patient but I ran into Derek first. “Y/N, I heard about Mark, are you okay?”

“Hmm? Yeah, I’m fine. Told him to fuck off,” I rushed out.

“Why’d he punch Karev?”

“I think he thought we were flirting or something. I don’t know, didn’t bother to ask.” I tried to move past him but the sound of the door I just came through opening, stopped me.

“Mark,” I heard Derek say in shock. He looked between Mark and I and the on-call room we just came out of. Mark was wearing a proud smirk and I knew it was over for my decency. So in Derek’s surprise, I took the opportunity to slip away.

~

“Y/N Sloan, to the nurses’ station. Dr. Y/N Sloan to the nurses’ station,” the intercoms rang out across the dining quad.

“Are you the Sloan they’ve been calling all day?” Cristina asked as she approached the table along with Meredith, Izzie, and George. “I didn’t even know they still used these intercoms. Why don’t they just page you?”

I groaned, looking at Izzie, who was there to witness Mark’s outburst. “Because my ex-husband is trying to humiliate me into talking to him.”

“Wait, you’re married?” George sputtered out.

“Ex,” I clarified.

“But he called you his wife?” Izzie clarified. “Who is he? What happened? Why’d he punch Alex?”

I sighed, not wanting to tell them. But I knew they’d never stop asking and soon enough my business would be all over the hospital, might as well get control of the story. “Fine. That guy? That’s my husband, Mark Sloan. We’re not legally divorced but we will be soon.”

“Wait, you’re married to Derek’s ex-best friend?” Meredith asked.

“You’re married to plastic surgery god Mark Sloan?” Cristina asked at the same time.

“Yes, and yes. Mark and I met while I was finishing up in undergrad. We got married after two years and then three years later Derek finds him in bed with Addison. So I kind of fled New York in the middle of the night with Derek. Mark is here now because Addison finally told him where I am in order to beg for me to go back. As for the punch, I don’t know, probably thought Alex and I were flirting or something. He was always a little possessive.” George scoffed a little at that.

“So you’re married to McSteamy?” Izzie mused. “I did not see that coming.”

I set down my fork. “Did you just call my cheating husband ‘McSteamy?’”

“Yeah she did,” Cristina jumped in. “Can’t say I blame her, or Addison, or you.”

I rolled my eyes at the nickname. “So I guess I’m still just as pathetic as you?” I smiled at Meredith.

“Welcome to the club of getting screwed over by attendings.”

“He’s not an attending, he’s leaving as soon as possible,” I insisted. The rest of them stared at me. “What?”

“You know that lionitis patient? Dr. Sloan offered his services. The Chief offered him head of plastics on the spot and he took it. Said he wanted to be close to his wife, which I now realize is you,” George explained.

I stared at him with wide eyes. “No, no he is not staying here,” I seethed. Standing up, I began to storm towards the surgical floor’s nurses’ station, knowing that’s where he’d be.

I stormed up to the nurses’ station, finding Mark speaking with the Chief. “Mark, stop paging me!”

“Then don’t fuck me and immediately walk away,” he countered.

My eyes widened, shocked at his words. I glanced over at Dr. Webber, blood rushing to my face, mortified. He choked a little, excusing himself. “What the hell was that?” I demanded in a whisper yell. “First you punch one of my friends and now this?”

“What? God forbid people know that a man has sex with his wife?” I shushed him again. “And I can’t defend my wife either?”

“Okay, first of all, I’m not your wife.”

“Yes you are, neither of us have signed divorce papers.”

“Okay fine, but not for long. I’m going to see a lawyer when I’m done with work so you may as well get used to not being married anymore.”

“I can’t call you my wife, or babe, or your legal name. What should I call you?”

“Nothing, leave me alone. Tell the chief you can’t stay.” I whirled around, intent to walk away when Mark called after me.

“I won’t sign them.” I stopped dead in my tracks. Turning around, I looked at him. “I won’t let one mistake end our marriage.”

“It wasn’t one mistake. Are you saying you accidentally went to the Shepherds’ house? Accidentally started taking your clothes off? Accidentally took of Addison’s? And then your only mistake was to sleep with her? No, you made a hundred choices to cheat on me. So please Mark, give me mercy and leave me with a shred of decency to sign the papers and then leave. Do you know how much you’ve humiliated me?”

“Just give me three months. Three months to win you back. If you still hate me, I’ll sign the papers and go back to New York.”

“No.”

“Come on, you wanna throw away 5 years in one night? Three months.”

I sighed. “One date.”

“Two months.”

“A week.”

“A month.”

“Fine,” I rolled my eyes. “One month.”

Mark smiled victoriously, “A month.”

~

It was about 3 am and I had just wrapped up on an emergency heart surgery. I was the last resident to leave so I had the locker room completely to myself. At least, I did until I heard the door swing open. Assuming it was just some other exhausted resident I didn’t bother to turn around until I felt familiar arms wrap around my waist. I turned my head slightly, my cheek brushing against Mark’s lips. “You were amazing in that surgery,” he murmured.

“Thanks,” I dismissed, continuing to sort through my bag.

“You really are such a gifted surgeon. You know what specialty you want yet? You’ve got the face and skill for plastics.”

“You know this is the residents’ lounge, right?” I changed the subject. “Attendings’ is down the hall.”

“I like this one better. It has you in it.” I rolled my eyes at that pickup line. “So, I was thinking you and I could get dinner together. Catch up. Get late night takeout from whatever was open like we used to.” I had to admit, I had missed those late night takeout sessions… and Mark. The worst part was that I missed my husband.

“I don’t know if that’s such a good idea,” I dismissed, twisting out of his arms.

“Y/N, our deal only works if you give me a fair shot.”

I sighed again, admittedly he was right. “Fine, we can get dinner, or I guess really early breakfast.”

Mark smirked victoriously again. “One of the other residents told me about this 24 hour place that has sandwiches.”

~

Mark opened the door to his hotel room, letting me step in. It was lavish, Mark having never shied away from the finer things in life. Mark stepped towards the desk, setting down the bag of sandwiches and sitting in the chair. Leaving me to take a seat, cross-legged on the bed. He handed me my sandwich that I eagerly opened, having not eaten anything in 6 hours. “So what’ve you been up to the last few months?”

“Work,” I answered bluntly. It was an honest and complete answer. I had to restart my second year of residency when I moved so I was barely above the bottom of the surgical food chain. “And all the residents in my year were already cliquey so my only friends are interns.”

“Richard told me you run with the girl Derek fell in love with.”

“Yeah, Meredith Grey. Now I’m the other girl who got screwed over by an attending,” I teased lightly.

He chuckled embarrassedly. “Yeah, well, sorry about that.”

“You know, when I first found out, I couldn’t wait to hear you grovel. But you’ve apologized to me so many times it’s like nails on a chalk board.”

“Sor-” Mark began but he pursed his lips when he saw my expression. “So that guy I punched? What’s up with him?”

“Beyond being a sometimes decent coworker? Nothing. But you should apologize to him, for me. He wants to go into plastics and I think you punching him threw a wrench into that plan. And as long as he’s not still pissed at you, I think he’d love to learn from you.”

“You’re going awfully out of your way for the guy that is ‘sometimes a decent coworker.’”

I sent Mark a tired look. “Are you actually going there right now?”

“I guess I don’t have much of a leg to stand on when it comes to this,” he said shyly, realizing his mistake.

“Ya think?” I asked sarcastically. “So what’ve you been doing?”

“Well when you first left I stopped working for a while. I poured everything into finding you… and admittedly a bottle. I was a mess, I couldn’t eat or sleep. All I really did was drink and beg for people to tell me where you were. But after like a month I finally gave up and went back to working. I did nothing but work for 4 months. Then… Addison called, said she was in Seattle with you and Derek and I was on the next flight here. I had to fly economy because there were no first class seats available,” he said with disgust.

“Oh the horror,” I laughed.

We fell into a comfortable silence and it felt almost like back when we were still happily married. The silence was first broken by my yawn since I had now been up for 20 hours. “I miss you,” Mark admitted. “I miss your smile, your laugh, your kindness. I miss how cute you are when you’re tired. How you used to come home and collapse into bed with me. I miss your cooking and how you said it was the next best thing to surgery.” He scooted his chair closer so he could grab my hands which had been sitting limply in my lap. “I miss your hands,” he kissed them, “and your legs, and your hair, and your eyes, and your nose, and your lips,” he punctuated each body part with a kiss there. But it was finally the kiss on my lips that made me snap out of Mark’s trance.

“No,” I said, pushing away. “Earlier was a moment of weakness, a mistake.”

“Ahah, so sleeping with someone is one mistake?” he beamed. “And a moment of weakness is just that, a moment.”

I scoffed, rolling my eyes. He had been so sweet and apologetic, now he was trying to get off the hook? “This afternoon wasn’t like you and Addison at all. I knew exactly what I was doing. I knew I’d regret it but I chose to anyway. And when I sleep with you I’m the only one getting hurt. I wasn’t cheating.” He looked dejected, realizing I was right and he couldn’t get out of this on a technicality. “I’m going,” I declared, moving to get off the bed.

“Y/N, you have work in two hours and we’re right across the street from the hospital. Sleep here.”

“You’re that eager to get me into your bed?” I scoffed.

“Look, I’ll sleep on the floor if that makes you feel better but I’m not letting you leave.”

“Fine,” I agreed, crawling up to the head of the bed to slip under the covers. Mark grabbed one of the many pillows from the bed, throwing it down onto the floor. As he laid down it dawned on me that he didn’t have a blanket. Feeling bad, I spoke. “Get up here.”

Mark didn’t have to be told twice as he quickly slipped under the sheets. But as soon as he did, I was turned the other way, refusing to acknowledge him further. “Goodnight,” he wished me as he turned off the lamp.

~

In the morning I woke up the same way I used to, the same way I had been missing for the past 5 months. My head was rested on Mark’s chest, his arms wrapped around me, and his lips murmuring against my ear that it was time to get up. Upon regaining my senses, I jumped out of bed, trying to find my shoes and jacket. Being back in his arms made me realize how much I had missed him but I couldn’t afford to slip back into those old habits.

“So am I just a bed warmer to you?” Mark asked from his spot in bed, watching me get ready. “I mean I’m fine with it if that’s all you’ll give me but I’d just like to know what I’m getting myself into.”

I sent him an eyeroll. “No, I just felt bad for you. Thanks for the wakeup, by the way,” I thanked, checking my watch to see I’d be right on time.

“Of course. What else are husbands for?”

I took a breath, not wanting to encourage him. “Bye.”

“I’m actually headed there myself, gonna operate on the lionitis kid. You wanna scrub in?”

“Are you actually trying to buy my love with surgeries?”

“It worked last time,” he laughed. “Well, you were still in school so more like homework answers but it still worked.”

I laughed, dismissively shaking my head, “I’ll see you later.”

~

Cristina, Alex, and I were waiting around the main nurses’ station, waiting for our assignments for the day. “How’s your face?” I asked Alex.

“Fine, I’ve taken worse,” he answered casually.

“Only reason he’s not mad is because he wants to kiss the plastics god’s ass,” Cristina teased.

“Shut up,” was all he said, offering no other defense for himself.

Fortunately for him Cristina couldn’t prod anymore because Derek was approaching. “You three, you’re assisting with Jake Burton today. Come with me,” he called, barely stopping to talk to us. We all scurried after him as we headed towards his room. Upon entering we found Mark drawing on the kid’s face.

“Dr. Sloan,” Derek interrupted him. “Don’t you think this is unnecessary?”

Mark gave him an annoyed look but before he could say anything, the parents spoke up. “We talked with Dr. Sloan and Jake, we’ve decided we’ll go ahead with the facial reconstruction.”

Derek pursed his lips, annoyed. I knew that about half a year ago Derek wouldn’t have hesitated to jump in on this joint surgery. It’s what their practice had been built on but now Derek was letting his feelings get in the way of patient care. “Fine, doctors,” he looked at the three of us and Mark, “come with me.”

We all shuffled out after him except for Mark who seemed to begrudgingly storm after Derek. “You have no right to undermine me in front of patients like that,” Mark immediately began.

“You’re a guest at this hospital, an unwelcome one at that. You have no right offering surgeries to patients— my patient.”

“Did you already forget that Webber made me Head of Plastics? You’re not the only surgeon with a fancy contract anymore,” Mark shot back.

Derek rolled his eyes. “Fine, Karev, you’re with Dr. Sloan.”

“Actually I’d like the other Dr. Sloan-” I sent him a glare, “Dr. L/N. The Chief gave me full authority to use whatever resources I need for this surgery.”

“She’s not some tool you get to use. Or something to play with whenever you feel like it. Is that what our marriages were to you? Something you could break when it suited you?”

“Dr. Shepherd!” I interrupted. “I appreciate that you’re trying to defend my honor but I don’t need you to. Besides you really want to do this here?” I gestured to all the people watching us. “Alex, you go with Dr. Sloan, I’ll go find something else to work on,” I dismissed, heading down to the pit.

As I was waiting for the elevator, I saw one of the last people I wanted to interact with. Addison stumbled towards me, looking like she had a squirrel in her pants. “Dr. L/N, I know we’re not exactly on the best of terms right now but I need a consult.” I looked at her, confused. We had worked on a few cases together perfectly civil. “I need a consult,” she clarified.

Catching her inflection and the fact that she was clearly uncomfortable, my mouth formed an O. “I see, c’mon, we’ll go to one of the private exam rooms.”

“Ah thank you,” she sighed in relief.

Upon having Addison in the stirrups and her explanation of her morning walk, I knew exactly what she was suffering from. “Yep, poison oak in probably the worst place you could have it,” I confirmed her suspicions.

She groaned, lying back on the table. “I guess this is karma.”

“You could say so,” I laughed gently. “I’ll get the calamine lotion and don’t worry, you have my discretion.” I grabbed the lotion from a storage closet, retuning to Addison.

“How come you don’t hate me?” she asked as I began to get to work. “Even my own husband, who chose to stay married to me, hates me.”

I sighed, “I don’t know. I did hate you, maybe I still do. But Derek can really hold a grudge so maybe that’s why I look so forgiving in comparison. But I have a hard time hating and turning my back on the people who were my family, even if they hurt me in the worst way possible.”

“I really am sorry. Mark and I, we regret everything.”

“I’m so sick of apologies. Do you know how many times Mark said he was sorry yesterday?”

“I heard he was here. And that he punched one of your friends, Karev.”

“Yeah, always been a bit possessive. Of course that’s painfully ironic now,” I laughed bitterly. “Alright, that’s as much as I can do for you right now. Apply more tonight.”

~

“Hey,” I heard Mark’s gruff voice gently coax me out of my thoughts. I turned, finding him in scrubs, his surgical gown open and flowing behind him. He always looked so good in scrubs.

“Hey,” I replied. “I heard about Jake. I’m so sorry.” Cristina had told me that the lionitis patient had died almost immediately after Derek had opened his head up. I felt bad for the kid, he had been so excited for a normal face.

He shrugged, taking a seat next to me. He sighed, pulling off his scrub cap. “I’m just sorry I couldn’t give him a sense of normalcy. But I talked to his parents, they said I could still do the surgery post mortem so he could be buried the way he wanted. Wanna help?”

I thought for a second. On one hand I didn’t want to continue to entertain the idea that Mark had a chance with me. On the other I needed to cut so desperately. “Sure, why not?”

He smiled. “Atta girl.”

We went down to the autopsy room in order to do the procedure and I had to admit it felt nice. I used to love performing surgery with Mark. It was always a comfortable silence while we worked together and when we did talk it was easy. Moments like this and memories of moments like this made it so hard to stop loving him. As we worked quietly I really thought for the first time since he came here. I had never really stopped loving him and even though I never wanted to see him again, a small part of me was relieved he tried so hard to find me and now he’s fighting for me.

By the time Jake’s parents came down to see him I was an emotional wreck. Seeing them grieve for their son made me burst. “I’m sorry,” I choked, stepping into a back room.

Mark was beside me in a second, closing the door for privacy. “Hey, what’s wrong?” he asked, a distressed look on his face. I just crossed my arms, looking at the floor, trying to force down my emotions. I wanted to be strong enough to not tell him how I felt but I felt his finger underneath my chin. He pulled my face up to meet his concerned eyes. “I can’t help you if you won’t tell me.”

I swallowed harshly, unwilling to tell him. “I miss you,” I relented. “I miss us. I am haunted by you. I didn’t even realize I still loved you until you showed up. But it hurts. It hurts to love and miss you because you hurt me.” I could feel the tears slipping down my face and my throat straining against the sobs. “You hurt me so bad, Mark, and now I can’t trust you. I used to say that cheating is it, I’d never be able to forgive cheating but the worst part is that I want to forgive you. And I can’t forgive you and love you and still have any self respect.”

“C’mere,” Mark sighed, pulling me into a hug. I broke down, sobbing into his chest. “Sleeping with Addison was a mistake, one I fully own up to and take responsibility for. And I’m gonna tell you this not because I want you to feel bad or I think you should have any of the blame but the reason I did it was because I wanted you to notice me. You were at the hospital all the time and I knew then, and know now, that that wasn’t your choice. I guess it was just hard for me to see you be independent because it felt like you were so dependent on me for so long and I liked that you needed me. And I’m sorry for trying to hold you back and for hurting you in order to hold you back but please, let me help you grow and succeed now. That’s all I want in the world.”

“Promise not to hurt me again,” I demanded.

“I promise. You have my full permission to cut off my testicles if I do.”

“Okay,” I laughed. “I’m in, Mark. I’m in it to make our marriage work.” I tilted my head up to look at him as I spoke.

“Thank you,” he beamed in relief. “Thank you,” he repeated in a relieved whisper.

Masterlist

[definitelynotshouting]

I wish to hear more about this sleeping beauty WIP fic pretty please

-🎧

WKFJEKFNOSJDKS VERY VALID OF YOU WHOOPS, HAPPENS TRULY TO THE BEST OF US 💥💥💥💥💥💥💥 i do remember you!!! I'd have to go hunting but i definitely remember the headphones emoji popping up before :]]

ANYWAY OHOHO THE SLEEPING BEAUTY FIC.... this one is fun, its basically one of my favorite tropes aka "character traps themself in their own mind and the only way to get them out is to go in and pull them out yourself". Or, more directly: its a post-3rd life au where Scar wakes up at spawn in S7 alongside Grian, who is unconscious and wont wake up, and no one can figure out why since they don't remember the game. That is-- until Scar falls asleep while holding Grian's hand, and relives some of his scattered memories of the games. Here's probably my favorite section ive written so far:

In the dream he is Grian, transformed and transmogrified, a weightless skim above clear water. Over empty sand. The desert scrubs him clean, scrapes away the rough, drying peel of ScarScarScar and replaces it with something newly red, a fresh wound slashed through old scabs. He is Grian, hot wind in the clipped ends of his feathers, grit and clot-dirt burrowing between their shafts. He is Grian, mounting the steps of their old home, an abscess in the craggy mountain, an open sore spilling out across calloused sky. He is Grian, claws balled into fists, the sharp sting of blood on his palms swallowed by cracks of knuckle on bone, of scarlet painting in spatters between them. He is Grian— dazed, hollow, deserted. He is Grian, stepping out over empty air. He is Gri— Scar jolts awake on a strangled gasp, the percussive crunch of a body colliding with packed sand, and with his fingers tangled hopelessly around Grian's.

I have a decent amount of this fic written already, it just fell hard by the wayside about a year back, but its something im heavily thinking of revamping and coming back to soon. There are other little tidbits in it that ive already written and also love... but i'll save those for another ask >:]

[doomsderry]

I'm getting desperate, so I'm offering to draw ponies for $20! Full body and shaded just like this! I can do poses too, and + $20 per character (depending on the size, foals like Flurry will only be $10 extra).

I can also do hybrids, or other species as long as I'm providing good references!

I'm willing to do oc x canon, ship kids, custom characters, references.

I won't do gore, nsfw, or proship.

If you have a human oc you're interested in having drawn by me, I have a different comms sheet in my pinned post!

I take cashapp, venmo, and paypal! (They're all under my old user, which I will send during payment). And for anyone that doesn't know, I'm swarming in vet bills currently and just need a little boost getting caught up 😓 I missed out on a few days of work with the snow storm that hit down here. My kitties are doing well! I had to take Pearl for an open abscess on her neck, it's beginning to heal now I hope. And I had to take Beverly for a UTI, we've got plenty of medicine and hopefully I won't have to take her back. She's not blocked or anything, which is good. I also had to take my dog Gunter a few weeks ago for a sore foot but he's all cleared up now. His was the cheapest visit.

[flourishing-fagopsis]

happy fat dragon friday the 13th! :)

i liked my app(s) for the tooth/riot piglets so much I ended up buying a dragon to make into a character that's sort of a combo edition of both... decided I really wanted to bring back godsblood since it works into Blackminster well!

From long before she began her search, Megaera knew her charge. She felt the pull of them across sands and seas, through tangled woods and open valleys. She sought him out ready to offer everything before she even knew him, forging herself into the perfect vessel, the dog to her master's gentle guidance. She prepared all the love in her twisted heart for the God she yearned for, and when at last she found them she HATED them.

Megaera is a necromancer, and a scholar as much as any plague dragon can be. raised on the battlefield, fighting for her life in the wasteland, she bears evidence of her past in the arm and leg prosthetics she wears. not something of her own design, their haphazard construction allows her to harness the GODSBLOOD she distills in The Abscess; its berserker-like and regenerative powers allow her to become ever the more terrifying fighter, capable of wielding a weapon many times the size of an ordinary sword or cleaver. A side effect of the drug fragments her teeth into an endlessly smaller repeating number of new ones, peeling out of the sides of her mouth like a twisted overgrown shark.

settled in the rotting body of a behemoth god, Megaera obeys the instructions of her charge, distilling deific blood and flesh into a viral strain and further into a drug. she will not go against him, but she despises what he's done to her dogma, dismissing her belief in him without a thought. where she feels she can get away with it, she studies what he has set her to do, determined to unlock the truth of last piece; in her mind the most important one. she long ago learned there exists somewhere in this world a possibility of GODHOOD, a power so immense that it can raise a mortal beyond their potential to something penultimate, and she has been fixated ever since.

Megaera is a listless, vicious soul inhabiting The Abscess. something haunts her, a reflection of herself that presents in dreams like funhouse mirrors, laughing at her. it makes her angrier, more vicious, more determined. she keeps puppets of old enemies and remnants of old battles, listless without the direction of a fight to keep them moving, and they unnerve those that enter her quarters or find them wandering The Abscess. her leanings are macabre; interests in taxidermy, strange non-magic medicines, and music that combines the screams of the tormented with clanging metal. her role as de-facto leader in The Abscess is never questioned, because unlike most who pass through the ribs of the great beast, she never leaves.

[nightingalesandnorco]

Our favorite dramatic medical emergency that can be fixed quickly, appendicitis? How can it go wrong and that should people expect in the hospital?

Ah, appendicitis... A classic and personal favorite of mine. Most of my poor whumpees have had to endure this one.

Acute appendicitis initially presents with generalized abdominal pain that migrates to the lower right abdomen, decreased appetite, nausea and vomiting, diarrhea, malaise, and decreased urinary output. A fever may be present. Person will likely be guarding the abdomen and putting their knees to their chest to relieve pressure. The hallmark sign of appendicitis is the McBurney sign: the person experiences a reduction in pain when someone presses on their lower right abdomen, but their pain increases when the pressure is removed (rebound tenderness).

The most common complication of appendicitis is rupture and resultant peritonitis (inflammation of the lining of the abdominal cavity [peritoneum]). Rupture can occur as early as 24 to 48 hours after the onset of symptoms, but may take longer (risk of rupture increases by 10% with each passing day). Despite how it sounds, rupture is usually not painful and may even bring temporary relief due to the release of pressure. However, fecal matter from the intestines is now leaking freely into the abdominal cavity and peritonitis can set in in 24 hours. Peritonitis presents with fever, chills, abdominal pain, diarrhea, and obstipation (inability to pass gas or stool). The hallmark sign is board-like abdominal rigidity.

Appendicitis without rupture is managed with an emergency laparoscopic appendectomy and antibiotics. Rupture with or without peritonitis is treated in the same way, though an open appendectomy may be performed if extensive contamination or abscesses are present. Peritonitis requires a longer antibiotic regimen than simple appendicitis.

Recovery after an appendectomy is pretty standard postoperative recovery. The patient will likely be in the medical-surgical unit, but peritonitis might warrant an ICU admission. This post describes postop recovery pretty comprehensively.

The patient will initially have a urinary catheter, but this will be removed as soon as the patient can safely walk to the bathroom.

The patient will be NPO (nothing by mouth) until bowel sounds are present in all four abdominal quadrants and the patient has passed gas or stool, after which they will be put on clear liquids, and then solid food if those are tolerated well.

The patient will be encourage to stand, sit in a chair, and walk with support as soon as possible. While in bed, the patient will have pneumatic compression devices on their legs that will intermittently squeeze their legs to keep the blood flowing.

The patient will be encouraged to use an incentive spirometer at least once per hour and cough and deep breath frequently.

The medications that the patient will receive include around-the-clock opioids, blood thinners, stool softeners, and antibiotics.

The patient with uncomplicated appendicitis while likely be discharged within 24 hours of surgery, but a patient with peritonitis may stay in the hospital for a few days and up to a week. Staples will be removed and replaced with Steri-strips 1 to 2 weeks after surgery, and the patient should be fully recovered in 2 (for an uncomplicated appendectomy) to 6 weeks (for an open appendectomy or peritonitis).

Happy whumping!

[tiny-cloud-dragon]

FF7: Random Bits 04 - Chapter 1

The office door opened and a nurse poked her head into the waiting room. "General Strife? He's awake and just about ready to go," she said.

Cloud paused the cat video he had been watching and stuffed the phone into his pocket. How many videos had he watched in the last forty minutes? He'd lost track after the tenth one, not that it mattered. What else was the internet for, if not for watching cat videos and looking at memes?

Besides, there wasn't a doctor's or dentist's office on the planet that had anything actually interesting to do while you waited, unless you enjoyed reading informational pamphlets on embarrassing diseases (you know which ones I mean), reading ratty, out of date magazines which always seemed to be missing pages, or had the one interesting article cut out, or watching the informational programming which always seemed to have a segment about bodily functions like 'Everybody Pees'. If you were feeling particularly bored, you could always have a go at the ever present Bead Rollercoaster, or if you were really lucky, the 6-in-1 playcube activity center (with counting gears, abacus, tic-tack-toe, and three different bead play options!)

Cloud had actually been considering giving the activity center a go, but a toddler had already laid claim to it, and had obviously not been taught that sharing is caring.

"The extraction went well," the nurse informed Cloud as she led him to one of the many exam rooms lining the hallway, "Er, after we got him sedated."

"Ah, yeah..." Cloud mumbled awkwardly.

Getting Zack to agree to have his festering molar pulled had required a great deal of convincing, which involved Cloud, Angeal, and three 1st Class ELITEs physically manhandling him from the training field all the way to the exam chair.

One of the new 3rd Class ELITEs had been attempting his first Shift, when the abscess around Zack's rotting tooth had finally ruptured. One minute Zack had been standing there normally (aside from the swollen lump on his left cheek), and the next minute he was projectile vomiting like a geyser.

The smell had been horrific. A Smell Connoisseur, had such a thing extisted, would have described the stench as a full-bodied, toohtsome malodor that had not so subtle overtones of fleshy putrefaction with smoother hints of vegetable decay and, for some reason, brimstone. The Average Joe would have described it as akin to a stew of week old corpses simmering gently over a burning trash heap.

Cloud and Angeal had each grabbed Zack by an arm and started dragging him to the Infirmary. Zack had Shifted and dug all four paws into the ground, screeching and twisting, spraying puss and rot-stink like a busted water main.

All the frantic movement had only served to stir up the smell to an intensity that caused it to physically manifest itself as a cloud of fog in the distinctive color of Baby Poop Green. It had swirled around the three struggling figures, trying to choke them with greasy, fetid tendrils that went straight for the gag reflex.

Three 2nd Class ELITEs had jumped in to help, demonstrating great constitutional fortitude and earning themselves two days of no drills. Between the five of them, they had dragged Zack along, escorted (and slightly obscured) by the sinister green cloud. Their progress was marked by the caustic effects of the The Smell. Paint had peeled, plants had withered, metal had tarnished, wood had blackened, carpets had curled, and two plastic chairs had gone runny by the time Zack had finally been deposited in the exam chair. The Smell had been banished to the waiting room, where it had lingered only briefly before meeting an untimely end at the hands of a nurse armed with a can of air freshener.

Cloud entered the room and found Zack slouching in the the exam chair, grinning widely at a point several hundred yards away. If his eyes had been anymore unfocused, they would have been looking in opposite directions.

"Hey, Zack," Cloud called, with a slow, exaggerated wave.

Glassy eyes slowly floated into positions suggesting reasonable focus, and the light of recognition flicked on.

"Heeeeeeyy...look a' this!" Zack slurred proudly as he waved his arms around over his head.

"Er, that's great, Zack,"

"Innit tha' cool?"

"Uhh, yeah. Good job. Are you feeling okay? You look a little out of it." Cloud remarked in an amused tone.

Zack just gave him a pumpkin grin in reply and blinked, which would have been completely ordinary, had both of his eyes actually blinked in unison.

Wondering just how doped up Zack was, Cloud leaned close and very deliberately said "Knob."

Zack's goofy grin faltered for a split second as a look of vague unease flitted very briefly across his features.

"Wow! You really are out of it!" Cloud chuckled with an amused smile.

Zack watched through a drug-induced haze as Cloud turned to speak with the dental surgeon. He giggled to himself as Cloud's head turned away, but his mouth stayed where it was, continuing to speak while hanging in mid-air. Every time the mouth spoke the word 'and', a tiny wooden bird on a stick sprang in and out of the mouth like a Cuckoo clock, but instead making of the classic cuckoo! sound, the melodic whistle had been replaced by the voice of Samuel L. Jackson shouting 'Cuckoo, Mother(censored)!'

Cloud had turned back to Zack, and was asking him something, but Zack wasn't really paying much attention. He was too busy watching Cloud's facial features shuffle themselves randomly around his face. Both eyebrows and one eye charged at the nose trying to invade their territory. For a moment, it looked as if the nose was going to win, but then the other eye and the mouth swooped in and drove it back to its proper place. There was a moment of peace, before the nose twitched and then everything started warping and sagging like a Salvador Dali painting.

Zack laughed as Cloud's last remaining facial feature, his left eye, slid down his face like a raindrop, gathered at his chin, then finally dripped on to his shirt front to join its brothers. The other 'facey' parts cheered and wiggled around before beginning the climb back up.

Zack completely lost it when Cloud's mouth flapped up into the air, stuck itself to the face of the exam room wall clock like a Colorform sticker (80's babies, you know what I'm talking about), and started making rude noises.

"You should probably monitor him for the next twenty four hours, since he seems to be having trouble with both the sedative and the anesthesia." the surgeon instructed while Zack whooped with laughter and went Thhpppbbbttt! at the wall clock.

"Obviously," Cloud remarked wryly as he pulled one of Zack's arms across his shoulders and heaved him out of the chair. Zack snickered, mumbling something about balloons as he was led unsteadily out the door.

Cloud sighed and shook his head. It was going to be a long afternoon.

[johaerys-writes]

Chapter 3: El Diablo En El Ojo

Read on AO3 | Read from the beginning

The western wind is hot and humid as it sweeps over the valley, drifting in through the half open windows. It brings with it the the smell of warm, freshly tilled soil, of hay and manure, the lowing of the cattle and the clop of hooves from the round corral where the horses train. Achilles heaves a great sigh, letting his gaze stretch far across the yellow-blue afternoon sky. 

“Abscesses, as our trusty compendium puts it, are a collection of pus or purulent matter among the tissues of the body, and are a result of acute inflammation; occurring in a weak or scrofulous person, they may last indefinitely, in which case… Achilles, are you listening to me?” 

Achilles reluctantly tears his eyes from the window to look at his tutor. Chiron is frowning at him over the rim of his round reading glasses, Dr. Hippocrates' thick Compendium of Maladies and Formulae open on the table before him. Achilles straightens in his chair, trying to look invested, and doubting very much that he’s doing a good job at it. 

“Of course,” he says. “I’m all ears.” 

“Oh yes, and they’re everywhere but here.” Chiron, of course, doesn’t look convinced. “Will you indulge me, then, by reminding me how to treat an acute abscess, in advance of a doctor?” 

Achilles takes a breath, trying to jog his memory. “When it forms near the surface, a poultice with flaxseed meal or bread and milk is preferred. Open and drain the abscess as soon as pus has formed, and keep clean with castille soap and water.” 

“Correct. And what if there are indications that the abscess is not near the surface? If it’s in, let’s say, the brain?” 

“Why, then, I think our fellow’s a goner, Chiron,” Achilles quips with a grin.

Chiron doesn’t seem to share his amusement in the slightest; he shakes his head and lets out a long-suffering sigh as he takes off his glasses. 

“I wish you would take your instruction seriously every once in a while, Achilles,” he tells him, setting down his now folded glasses on the lace tablecloth, and closing the big tome. “We’ve been here for the better part of the afternoon, and I doubt that even a third of that information has made it into that brain of yours.” 

Achilles stretches his arms over his head with a groan and arches his aching back. Though the chairs in his father’s old study are quite comfortable, it still doesn’t make it any more enjoyable to spend most of his day cooped up in the stuffy room, when he could be outside, working or training or riding until both his own and Xanthus’ skin are damp with sweat and glistening. The large clock on the far wall idly ticks away the time, an insistent reminder of how slowly it passes when he’s studying, and how fast it flows when he’s anywhere but here.

It's not that he doesn’t enjoy his lessons with Chiron. He does, a great deal. Chiron is a renowned teacher, with vast knowledge on pretty much every subject imaginable. There is nothing under the sun, Achilles thinks, that Chiron isn't at least a little familiar with. Every day, Chiron teaches him maths and language and science and philosophy, but his teachings don't stop there: his tutor often takes him to the stables, the pens and the fields to show him how to harvest plants, how to treat wounded and sick animals, how to read the signs in the sky, the clouds, the birds, the stars. 

There is no other tutor that could teach as much, and so effectively. Achilles is well aware of how lucky he is. But today, with the merry sounds of the ranch coming through the window taunting him, he simply can't sit still. His mind is elsewhere, miles away—or perhaps just a quick hop and skip away, where the stables are, where Patroclus is.

The mere thought of the boy makes Achilles all giddy and flushed. He's probably hard at work just now, tending to the horses or cleaning the stalls, his shirt sleeves bunched up to his elbows and the sheen of sweat on the back of his neck. There is nothing Achilles craves more after a long day of studying or working than spending the rest of it with him, and he knows Patroclus feels the same. The bright smiles he gives him whenever he sees him are evidence enough, and although Achilles gets to see them everyday now, they still feel like a rare gift. It hasn't been too long since Patroclus regarded him with wariness after all, but over the course of the summer, something has changed. Achilles feels changed just by being around him.

Achilles' heart skips and thumps in his chest. It’s been happening more often of late that simply thinking of Patroclus makes something warm and fuzzy blossom in his chest. It’s thrilling, but it’s also scary in its potency. As much as he likes spending time with his other friends, never before has he felt such a visceral need for someone else’s company. 

His father’s words, however, are never far from his mind. 

In the Great War, after men got their first kill… this is what their eyes looked like.

Perhaps it is Patroclus himself that scares him, sometimes.

“Chiron,” Achilles says after a while. “Can I ask you something?” 

Chiron, who was flipping through the pages of the medical compendium again and muttering under his breath about poultices and grain-pills of Hepor Sulphur to help hasten suppuration, blinks up at him. “Yes, of course.” 

Achilles licks his lips, swallowing hard. He doesn’t know how to ask the question without sounding odd, so he just goes for it. “If someone kills another person… does that mean they’re a bad person?”

Read the rest on AO3!