kitkat27

[kitkat27]

[kitkat27]

I didn't know how much I needed to see Joshua Jackson as an ex boxer Italian pizzeria owning girl dad until I watched Karate Kid: Legends! That was a void in my soul that needed to be filled lol 💖

[kitkat27]

Just seen the new Karate Kid: Legends and Doctor Odyssey gang I would Fedro recommend !

Half of the movie is Joshua Jackson learning to fight in a tank top with rather nice arm muscles 👀💪🏼

It’s what I imagine if Max got depressed, left the ship, opened a pizza restaurant and learnt karate/kung fu

[kitkat27]

[kitkat27]

I don't feel so good- Ch.2

Whumptober prompt no.30-2020

Chapter 2

Summary:

Avery is not having a great start to the day. She's tired, grumpy and the main annoyance to her day- the excruciating pain in her side... She just wants to make it through the day without either Max or Tristan knowing. Can she make it to bedtime with them unaware, or will hiding this pain lead to her fighting for her life and giving Max another grey hair?

(note: this is roughly based on episode 1x4- wellness week but the plot is altered for this story. Medical inaccuracies but it’s Doctor Odyssey where reality is thrown out the window. Also please ignore formatting whilst I get used to posting on tumble )

----------------------------------------------------------------------

 11 pm. He'd normally stay up for another couple of hours in his office, usually catching up on new research studies, but he wanted no more wellness debates from cruisers debating the efficiency of ‘big pharma’, and his room was a safe zone. 

They could only extract him from it if there was an emergency. First aiders were on hand overnight for minor bumps and scrapes that could wait to be seen till morning. 

He had planned to have a long, slow, relaxing bath, trying his new soap from their latest port stop, but his mind couldn't settle. Something was telling him that something wasn't right with Avery. The niggle had been growing throughout the day, not quite believing each reason that Avery gave, defending that she was fine and dandy, and it was just her period. 

The relaxing bath would have to wait, he needed to see Avery. Even if it meant just giving her things back and topping up her painkillers. He couldn't sleep knowing that he hadn't done anything. 

The way she had stormed off and had remained in radio silence since the Captain's dinner wasn't like her. Sure, Avery had a short temper some days, but she would often just retaliate with sarcasm, and the trio would carry on as normal. 

Yet tonight, the squabble about the food was not met with the usual sarcasm. The normal Spitfire of a nurse was deflated and didn't seem to have her usual energy to fight back. She had just left without a word of goodbye, mindlessly leaving the ballroom, not even realising she had left her jacket and bag. Which he had brought with him as an excuse to check in on her. 

Knock. Knock. 

‘Avery?’

….

‘Avery? I have your jacket and bag, you left them earlier’

…

‘Avery, are you ok? Can I come in?’

No response to any of his previous questions led him to immediately walk into the silent room. The lights were on, the bed unmade with her heels from the night at the bottom. But no Avery to be seen. 

Even though they'd slept together, he still felt like he was intruding, but he was no longer a concerned friend, instead turning into a doctor getting incredibly worried about his potential patient. The emptiness of the room led him to follow the hum of the bathroom light, working on overtime, and the sight that greets him threatens to force bile up his throat. 

Avery was lying on the floor of the bathroom on her side, with her head between the toilet and sink, with an alarming red smudge on the sink and a trickle flowing from the side of her head.

The slight pallor he had seen earlier was nothing to now; her skin was almost resembling glass, and even from afar, her breathing was dangerously slow.

Grabbing towels as he raced to her side, he immediately placed pressure on her head, trying to stem the flow of blood and checked her pulse with his other hand. A very weak but steady strum did not ease any of his increasing worry. 

It wasn't a check-up anymore.

Shit

He hadn't brought anything with him bar Avery’s things. The medical watch could only alert them to emergencies if they didn't have their phones on them, and his was still on his bedside table awaiting his return after the supposed quick trip. 

Avery's phone had to be somewhere in her room, but he needed to wait until the bleeding slowed before he could leave Avery alone to get help. Why didn't he call for help the second he saw her? It's one of the first things any medical person is trained to do. 

Changing to a fresh towel, mentally apologising to Corey, he ran through a quick differential diagnosis. Aside from the obvious head wound, she was running a high fever; the vomit still in the toilet confirmed her earlier comment of feeling nauseous at lunch. 

A gentle feel of her abdomen raised the possible diagnosis of appendicitis due to the subtle pained body language gave in reaction, with all her other symptoms matching. 

Shit 

He never swore this much day to day or when dealing with cases. But if he was right and this was appendicitis, this could have started last night when Avery had stayed up all night, and her discomfort throughout the day meant the infection could have been brewing for at least 24 hours. 

Avery hadn't roused since he'd gotten there, testing his ability to keep his doctor hat on and ignoring the fear telling him to scoop her up and run as fast as he could to the infirmary. 

The head wound bleeding had slowed; it was only a small cut, but most wounds in the head area always bled a lot, and could be dealt with later in the infirmary.

 He scrambled around her room desperately loading for either her radio or phone. Not thinking clearly, he checked any spot that may have held either device. He didn't even think to check her bag first. 

‘Aves, it's late, are you ok? Was your phone not in your bag? I thought Max had your b-..’

Max had to stop him, using the tone he used when they worked in emergencies,

‘Tristan, it's me. Avery is critically unwell. I think she might have appendicitis that may be close to rupturing. I need you to grab the medical bag and a stretcher asap. She's unconscious in her bathroom, so it'll take both of us to get her out’

He could hear Tristan already running through the halls, no doubt his own medical brain switched on, ‘ on it, Doc.’

There was nothing he could do until Tristan arrived. 

The Captain's voice could suddenly be heard from over the corridor tannoy, ‘Ladies and gentlemen, sorry to wake you, but I've been made aware that the storm we encountered earlier has grown into a hurricane and has come back into our path. We are currently entering the eye of the storm and will be experiencing another period of stillness before we exit the storm. I need you all to remain in your rooms and to lock any of your loose belongings until further notice’

He needed to alert the Captain about Avery, he knew of their close bond and how the older man would be cross if he didnt know what was going on till later. Using Avery's phone was going to be quicker than finding her radio, ‘Infirmary to bridge. Captain, are you there ?’

‘I've got you, Max, everything ok down there?’

‘Honestly, I need a miracle. It's Avery?’

‘What's happened?  Is she ok? She seemed off today”

‘I've just checked up on her since she left the dinner early. She's unconscious in her bathroom, I'm awaiting Tristan to help transport her. I suspect she has severe appendicitis that has been festering for over 24 hours. We may be taking her into surgery asap, what will the waters be like as if her appendix has ruptured, it's going to be a tricky surgery.’

‘I don't think we’ll get a lot of calm. My best guess is that we’ll have about 20 minutes before we exit the eye. Let me know what your next move is and if surgery is needed. She's in the best hands’

‘Thanks, Cap, understood, ’ a thundering noise along the corridor signalled Tristan's arrival. He was thankful it was a fancy ship, as the corridors were wide enough, even in the staff corridors, to help swing the stretcher straight into the room. 

Tritan looked towards Max for the next steps. He knew what should be done, but after seeing the love of their lives on the floor almost dead, you could forgive him for overthinking any of the simple steps in fear of endangering her further. 

‘It's safe to say she didn't fall from standing, so I'm confident that she hasn't got any spinal or neck injuries. I don't want to waste time loading her onto a spinal board. But as a precaution, I want  you to keep her head stable as I scoop her up’

Neither of the men talked as they ran through the halls with Avery upon the stretcher (screw disturbing the guests). The silence was only broken by Max beginning to list the treatments and tests needed as they got closer to the infirmary.

They had to peel the amazing gold dress off her, which had both men nearly needing a cold shower at the dinner earlier. The thin material was coaxed in a thick layer of sweat, making the task of trying not to resort to cutting it off her difficult for both men, knowing they would be murdered if she found out it had been destroyed.

Somehow, she still looked like the supermodel of the ship once she was sporting the medical gown. The thought was one Tristan was using to stop his hands from shaking as he began to administer an IV as Max was gathering the needed drugs to begin the anaesthesia once in the OR. 

Beginning to scrub in, Max rang the Captain, trying to ignore the increasing sway of the ship, signalling the impending hurricane. It would be Avery to need emergency surgery amid a tropical hurricane. 

‘Infirmary to bridge. Captain…’, a table could be heard rolling across the treatment room, sending tools everywhere, and he could argue there was a tiny ‘buggar’ following the crash, ‘Are you there?’

‘Got you, Max. We have approximately five minutes before we enter the hurricane. What is the update on Avery?’

‘Not gonna lie to you, it's bad. I have to do surgery, I think her appendix has ruptured. Ideally, I would love calm seas, but I'm gonna guess that's wishful thinking’

He couldn't stand waiting for a response; the longer the delay, the higher the risk to Avery, letting Tristan in at the sink whilst he headed for the OR, beginning the anasthesia process. ‘I'm afraid not, Max. What I am gonna do is break a few nautical laws, but it's for one of our own…..’

----------------------------------------------------------------------

It was no doubt the craziest surgery that either of them had performed. The Captain had managed to get them increments of calm, but his trick had led them scrambling multiple times to stop the equipment and Avery from rolling away.

Intubating Avery had been the easiest part of the whole thing. Once Max had opened her up, he and Tristan had realised the scale of what they were about to undertake. 

The contents of the infected appendix had coated her abdominal cavity. Cleaning it all out took both of them working in tandem, with the rough waves leading Max at one point to do a handstand halfway up the wall and Tristan rushing to stop the Doc's scalpel from puncturing Avery's intestines. 

The boy's trust was tested further when Avery began crashing, her BP dropping as a bleed from the burst appendix, which had been knocked from Max’s earlier gymnastics. Max worked blindly to stop the bleeding, accepting tools that were slid to him as Tristan rushed to begin a new bag of fluids and blood. Both only momentarily pausing to place the defib pads on her upper and side of her chest, ready if she threatened to leave them again. 

Removing the actual appendix should have been a breeze, with bleeding and leaking pus minimal, compared to the cleaning, but the stress Avery's body had been through the last 24 hrs took its toll with her vitals crashing again, with this time her heart stopping. 

Both men thanked the stars for the preplaced defib, allowing the machine to do its job to restore her heart from pvt*. Avery wasn't going down with a fight, only needing one shock before the reassuring beep of the cardiac monitor began its safe pattern. 

Nor Max or Tristan hid the tears that threatened to escape as they could safely begin to close their girl up, knowing that this night would haunt them for nights to come, the steady beep of the monitors keeping both safe in the knowledge that they had made it to the other side and Avery would be awake soon.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

They just needed her to wake up now. There was nothing else they could do. Tristan had taken over finishing her post op care, being the only nurse of the team, the small jobs were normally left to him after surgery. 

He slipped away from the recovery room, heading for the safety of his office. It was quiet, clean and pristine, something that had always provided the sanctuary he needed since beginning his medical career. Past ‘friends’ had mocked his need for quiet and cleanliness, saying he had no personality or life outside of work, and he must be a bore to live with. 

The irony of it. Here he was sitting on a couch that he and his nurse practitioner had a quickie on last week, only moments after a heartfelt conversation about the losses they had suffered that week. He doubted that it was dull. 

Though thinking about those few moments he had spent between her legs was a nice moment, it was fleeting, as the horrors of digging through her abdomen looking for any remaining infection were all he could think about. 

His mind was threatening to pull him in deeper, his surroundings fading away as his senses started disappearing. He was about to give in to the demons until a warmth surrounded him, attaching him to it. 

The weight of warmth wrapped around his chest and engulfed his face. The scent of a warm, earthy aftershave and the contrasting tropical scent of sunscreen attacked his nose. A light whisper of raspy Spanish travelled through his ears, battling the demons in his mind. 

‘Te tengo, está bien, regresa conmigo. Ella está a salvo. Te amo, necesito recuperar a mi Max’*

The words somehow worked in slowing his racing heart, bringing him back to his office and away from his mind. The hands holding his face brushed their thumbs along his cheekbones, his brow and jawline, eventually landing on either side of his lips. Brown eyes met his own, 

‘That's it, mi amor. Thought I almost lost you, too. The world would go awry if I were the only sane one left. Tough, that's debatable’.

There was no judgment or shame in the Brit's eyes, only patience as he waited for a response, ‘lo siento, I've never had to …’*

‘To operate on one of your own? Max, it’s normal not to feel ok after operating on one of your lovers. Even the most socially detached doctor in the world would still struggle. All we can focus on is getting Avery back to full health whilst not neglecting our health in the process. She'll be awake very soon, and I think we should move over there, sit by her side, play some of her musical playlist for her to wake up to and deal with the next steps together’ 

God, could he fall in love with his boy any more than he was? 

‘I’d like that’.  ----------------------------------------------------------------------

The album of Camelot was playing in the background of the recovery room. Avery had forced the two of them to watch a recent Broadway recording of it on a streaming service one date night, impressing both men as she sang along quietly under her breath. 

They had debated the next morning, when she wasn't around, on how much Avery looked and sounded like the actress playing Guinevere and how much she would hate them if they volunteered her to sing on a Captain's dinner night. 

Neither Max nor Tristan felt like it, but both of them quickly devoured chips and water that Max kept as an emergency stash in his office since neither of them had stopped for 24 hrs and wanted to be strong enough to look after their girl. 

It wasn’t a surprise that Avery was taking her time to awaken. Surgery ended up taking a couple of hours instead of the usual one for an appendectomy, and her body had taken a beating during the surgery. 

During a particular upbeat tune playing out of the speakers, it was the only thing keeping the boys awake, the cardiac monitor began to increase in its rhythm, leading Max and Tristan to perk up with knowledge that Avery was to awake any minute. 

They each wheeled their stools as close as they could get to her, knowing how awful it was to come out of anaesthesia and how hard it was to fight the drugs still present in your system. Tristan spoke, knowing Max would want to ask her medical questions, ‘Hey Aves, you back with us?’

A very quiet groan was given, yet she remained asleep, the stronghold of the anaesthesia not making it easy for the NP to awake. He couldn't tell if her frown was confusion of how out of it you are when you first wake up or pain; he hoped it wasn't the latter, but it wasn't surprising considering they'd been digging around in her stomach . 

‘Aves, baby, you can do it. Can you open those lovely eyes for us?’

Her brown eyes finally met his own, glazed and unfocused, but they were open as she attempted to smile at both of them. Both men didn't hide their sighs of relief, their emotions had been all over the place since they had found her on the floor the previous night. 

A raspy whisper came from her, ‘What happened? Where am I? Did I have surgery ?’

Max had to stop himself from rolling his eyes as he answered, watching out of the corner of his eye as Tristan did. 

‘Yes, my wonderful Avery. The day's worth of excuses that you thought you were just getting your period turned out to be a ruptured appendix. The appendicitis looked like it had brewed for some time, and I think you had your suspicions and didn't want to admit you were ill. Tristan tells me you make a terrible patient.

The aforementioned nurse had brought over a cup of water and was guiding the straw into her mouth, as she avoided Max's gaze, her face answering for him instead. He could sense Tristan letting him know he'd not phrased the question correctly. 

Once she had finished drinking, he got her attention, he sent a hopefully reassuring smile that he was aware of his wrongdoing, ‘ I'm sorry that was harsh. You just got us very worried; that was the scariest surgery I've ever done. We nearly lost you, Avery. I don't think we'd cope if we had. Why didn't you just tell us during morning greetings how much pain you were in ?’

Tristan spoke before Avery could respond, knowing what she was thinking,‘ I know in the past you've not wanted to seem weak or not capable of your job as the only woman on the team. Alongside that, your family never looked after you when you were sick, but you don't need to put up the wall of independence now. Let us look after you. I don't want to ever have to bring a gurney to your room again. ‘

He could see Max filing his questions about Avery's home life for later, his medical hat coming on, ‘Avery, taking in what Tristan has just said, how's your pain?’

There was a flicker on Avery's face of her old facade threatening to rise before she seemed to loosen up, ‘I feel like you stabbed me through my stomach with a spear, hit my head with a hammer and dropped an anvil on my chest. I'm tempted to say I don't want anything, but I'd really like some of that gooooood’

Max had taken her momentary distraction to administer her next dose of morphine before she could put on her brave act, and she needed the rest, too. 

The drugs affect was almost instant  ‘....goood good stuff, Dr Max Bankman’. The smile reaching past her eyes, the lucidity of the woman before them decreasing. ‘I can see why that wellness lady was all over you…. I'd be too if I could get up. 

Tristan snickered as Avery attempted to look the Doc up and down seductively, attempting to focus on his groin, seemingly forgetting she was in a relationship with the two of them. Though the drug's stronghold was getting stronger, leading her to focus on her own feet instead of the intended anatomy. 

‘How about we discuss that when you’re rested. Get some sleep, babes, we’re docking and shall be back when done and can try to cuddle on this b….’. Avery had fallen asleep before he could finish, having grabbed both men's hands during her lower lucidity and wasn't letting go.

 The Captain would understand if they were a few minutes late. Everyone loved Avery.

-------------------------------------------

Notes/ Translation

*pulseless ventricular tachycardia

*‘I've got you, it's ok, come back to me. She's safe. I love you, I need my Max back.

*Im sorry

The full fic can be found on Ao3 alongside my other works- my username is Kit_Kat_27

[kitkat27]

just kiss already

[kitkat27]

I don't feel so good- Ch.2

Whumptober prompt no.30-2020

Chapter 2

Summary:

Avery is not having a great start to the day. She's tired, grumpy and the main annoyance to her day- the excruciating pain in her side... She just wants to make it through the day without either Max or Tristan knowing. Can she make it to bedtime with them unaware, or will hiding this pain lead to her fighting for her life and giving Max another grey hair?

(note: this is roughly based on episode 1x4- wellness week but the plot is altered for this story. Medical inaccuracies but it’s Doctor Odyssey where reality is thrown out the window. Also please ignore formatting whilst I get used to posting on tumble )

----------------------------------------------------------------------

 11 pm. He'd normally stay up for another couple of hours in his office, usually catching up on new research studies, but he wanted no more wellness debates from cruisers debating the efficiency of ‘big pharma’, and his room was a safe zone. 

They could only extract him from it if there was an emergency. First aiders were on hand overnight for minor bumps and scrapes that could wait to be seen till morning. 

He had planned to have a long, slow, relaxing bath, trying his new soap from their latest port stop, but his mind couldn't settle. Something was telling him that something wasn't right with Avery. The niggle had been growing throughout the day, not quite believing each reason that Avery gave, defending that she was fine and dandy, and it was just her period. 

The relaxing bath would have to wait, he needed to see Avery. Even if it meant just giving her things back and topping up her painkillers. He couldn't sleep knowing that he hadn't done anything. 

The way she had stormed off and had remained in radio silence since the Captain's dinner wasn't like her. Sure, Avery had a short temper some days, but she would often just retaliate with sarcasm, and the trio would carry on as normal. 

Yet tonight, the squabble about the food was not met with the usual sarcasm. The normal Spitfire of a nurse was deflated and didn't seem to have her usual energy to fight back. She had just left without a word of goodbye, mindlessly leaving the ballroom, not even realising she had left her jacket and bag. Which he had brought with him as an excuse to check in on her. 

Knock. Knock. 

‘Avery?’

….

‘Avery? I have your jacket and bag, you left them earlier’

…

‘Avery, are you ok? Can I come in?’

No response to any of his previous questions led him to immediately walk into the silent room. The lights were on, the bed unmade with her heels from the night at the bottom. But no Avery to be seen. 

Even though they'd slept together, he still felt like he was intruding, but he was no longer a concerned friend, instead turning into a doctor getting incredibly worried about his potential patient. The emptiness of the room led him to follow the hum of the bathroom light, working on overtime, and the sight that greets him threatens to force bile up his throat. 

Avery was lying on the floor of the bathroom on her side, with her head between the toilet and sink, with an alarming red smudge on the sink and a trickle flowing from the side of her head.

The slight pallor he had seen earlier was nothing to now; her skin was almost resembling glass, and even from afar, her breathing was dangerously slow.

Grabbing towels as he raced to her side, he immediately placed pressure on her head, trying to stem the flow of blood and checked her pulse with his other hand. A very weak but steady strum did not ease any of his increasing worry. 

It wasn't a check-up anymore.

Shit

He hadn't brought anything with him bar Avery’s things. The medical watch could only alert them to emergencies if they didn't have their phones on them, and his was still on his bedside table awaiting his return after the supposed quick trip. 

Avery's phone had to be somewhere in her room, but he needed to wait until the bleeding slowed before he could leave Avery alone to get help. Why didn't he call for help the second he saw her? It's one of the first things any medical person is trained to do. 

Changing to a fresh towel, mentally apologising to Corey, he ran through a quick differential diagnosis. Aside from the obvious head wound, she was running a high fever; the vomit still in the toilet confirmed her earlier comment of feeling nauseous at lunch. 

A gentle feel of her abdomen raised the possible diagnosis of appendicitis due to the subtle pained body language gave in reaction, with all her other symptoms matching. 

Shit 

He never swore this much day to day or when dealing with cases. But if he was right and this was appendicitis, this could have started last night when Avery had stayed up all night, and her discomfort throughout the day meant the infection could have been brewing for at least 24 hours. 

Avery hadn't roused since he'd gotten there, testing his ability to keep his doctor hat on and ignoring the fear telling him to scoop her up and run as fast as he could to the infirmary. 

The head wound bleeding had slowed; it was only a small cut, but most wounds in the head area always bled a lot, and could be dealt with later in the infirmary.

 He scrambled around her room desperately loading for either her radio or phone. Not thinking clearly, he checked any spot that may have held either device. He didn't even think to check her bag first. 

‘Aves, it's late, are you ok? Was your phone not in your bag? I thought Max had your b-..’

Max had to stop him, using the tone he used when they worked in emergencies,

‘Tristan, it's me. Avery is critically unwell. I think she might have appendicitis that may be close to rupturing. I need you to grab the medical bag and a stretcher asap. She's unconscious in her bathroom, so it'll take both of us to get her out’

He could hear Tristan already running through the halls, no doubt his own medical brain switched on, ‘ on it, Doc.’

There was nothing he could do until Tristan arrived. 

The Captain's voice could suddenly be heard from over the corridor tannoy, ‘Ladies and gentlemen, sorry to wake you, but I've been made aware that the storm we encountered earlier has grown into a hurricane and has come back into our path. We are currently entering the eye of the storm and will be experiencing another period of stillness before we exit the storm. I need you all to remain in your rooms and to lock any of your loose belongings until further notice’

He needed to alert the Captain about Avery, he knew of their close bond and how the older man would be cross if he didnt know what was going on till later. Using Avery's phone was going to be quicker than finding her radio, ‘Infirmary to bridge. Captain, are you there ?’

‘I've got you, Max, everything ok down there?’

‘Honestly, I need a miracle. It's Avery?’

‘What's happened?  Is she ok? She seemed off today”

‘I've just checked up on her since she left the dinner early. She's unconscious in her bathroom, I'm awaiting Tristan to help transport her. I suspect she has severe appendicitis that has been festering for over 24 hours. We may be taking her into surgery asap, what will the waters be like as if her appendix has ruptured, it's going to be a tricky surgery.’

‘I don't think we’ll get a lot of calm. My best guess is that we’ll have about 20 minutes before we exit the eye. Let me know what your next move is and if surgery is needed. She's in the best hands’

‘Thanks, Cap, understood, ’ a thundering noise along the corridor signalled Tristan's arrival. He was thankful it was a fancy ship, as the corridors were wide enough, even in the staff corridors, to help swing the stretcher straight into the room. 

Tritan looked towards Max for the next steps. He knew what should be done, but after seeing the love of their lives on the floor almost dead, you could forgive him for overthinking any of the simple steps in fear of endangering her further. 

‘It's safe to say she didn't fall from standing, so I'm confident that she hasn't got any spinal or neck injuries. I don't want to waste time loading her onto a spinal board. But as a precaution, I want  you to keep her head stable as I scoop her up’

Neither of the men talked as they ran through the halls with Avery upon the stretcher (screw disturbing the guests). The silence was only broken by Max beginning to list the treatments and tests needed as they got closer to the infirmary.

They had to peel the amazing gold dress off her, which had both men nearly needing a cold shower at the dinner earlier. The thin material was coaxed in a thick layer of sweat, making the task of trying not to resort to cutting it off her difficult for both men, knowing they would be murdered if she found out it had been destroyed.

Somehow, she still looked like the supermodel of the ship once she was sporting the medical gown. The thought was one Tristan was using to stop his hands from shaking as he began to administer an IV as Max was gathering the needed drugs to begin the anaesthesia once in the OR. 

Beginning to scrub in, Max rang the Captain, trying to ignore the increasing sway of the ship, signalling the impending hurricane. It would be Avery to need emergency surgery amid a tropical hurricane. 

‘Infirmary to bridge. Captain…’, a table could be heard rolling across the treatment room, sending tools everywhere, and he could argue there was a tiny ‘buggar’ following the crash, ‘Are you there?’

‘Got you, Max. We have approximately five minutes before we enter the hurricane. What is the update on Avery?’

‘Not gonna lie to you, it's bad. I have to do surgery, I think her appendix has ruptured. Ideally, I would love calm seas, but I'm gonna guess that's wishful thinking’

He couldn't stand waiting for a response; the longer the delay, the higher the risk to Avery, letting Tristan in at the sink whilst he headed for the OR, beginning the anasthesia process. ‘I'm afraid not, Max. What I am gonna do is break a few nautical laws, but it's for one of our own…..’

----------------------------------------------------------------------

It was no doubt the craziest surgery that either of them had performed. The Captain had managed to get them increments of calm, but his trick had led them scrambling multiple times to stop the equipment and Avery from rolling away.

Intubating Avery had been the easiest part of the whole thing. Once Max had opened her up, he and Tristan had realised the scale of what they were about to undertake. 

The contents of the infected appendix had coated her abdominal cavity. Cleaning it all out took both of them working in tandem, with the rough waves leading Max at one point to do a handstand halfway up the wall and Tristan rushing to stop the Doc's scalpel from puncturing Avery's intestines. 

The boy's trust was tested further when Avery began crashing, her BP dropping as a bleed from the burst appendix, which had been knocked from Max’s earlier gymnastics. Max worked blindly to stop the bleeding, accepting tools that were slid to him as Tristan rushed to begin a new bag of fluids and blood. Both only momentarily pausing to place the defib pads on her upper and side of her chest, ready if she threatened to leave them again. 

Removing the actual appendix should have been a breeze, with bleeding and leaking pus minimal, compared to the cleaning, but the stress Avery's body had been through the last 24 hrs took its toll with her vitals crashing again, with this time her heart stopping. 

Both men thanked the stars for the preplaced defib, allowing the machine to do its job to restore her heart from pvt*. Avery wasn't going down with a fight, only needing one shock before the reassuring beep of the cardiac monitor began its safe pattern. 

Nor Max or Tristan hid the tears that threatened to escape as they could safely begin to close their girl up, knowing that this night would haunt them for nights to come, the steady beep of the monitors keeping both safe in the knowledge that they had made it to the other side and Avery would be awake soon.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

They just needed her to wake up now. There was nothing else they could do. Tristan had taken over finishing her post op care, being the only nurse of the team, the small jobs were normally left to him after surgery. 

He slipped away from the recovery room, heading for the safety of his office. It was quiet, clean and pristine, something that had always provided the sanctuary he needed since beginning his medical career. Past ‘friends’ had mocked his need for quiet and cleanliness, saying he had no personality or life outside of work, and he must be a bore to live with. 

The irony of it. Here he was sitting on a couch that he and his nurse practitioner had a quickie on last week, only moments after a heartfelt conversation about the losses they had suffered that week. He doubted that it was dull. 

Though thinking about those few moments he had spent between her legs was a nice moment, it was fleeting, as the horrors of digging through her abdomen looking for any remaining infection were all he could think about. 

His mind was threatening to pull him in deeper, his surroundings fading away as his senses started disappearing. He was about to give in to the demons until a warmth surrounded him, attaching him to it. 

The weight of warmth wrapped around his chest and engulfed his face. The scent of a warm, earthy aftershave and the contrasting tropical scent of sunscreen attacked his nose. A light whisper of raspy Spanish travelled through his ears, battling the demons in his mind. 

‘Te tengo, está bien, regresa conmigo. Ella está a salvo. Te amo, necesito recuperar a mi Max’*

The words somehow worked in slowing his racing heart, bringing him back to his office and away from his mind. The hands holding his face brushed their thumbs along his cheekbones, his brow and jawline, eventually landing on either side of his lips. Brown eyes met his own, 

‘That's it, mi amor. Thought I almost lost you, too. The world would go awry if I were the only sane one left. Tough, that's debatable’.

There was no judgment or shame in the Brit's eyes, only patience as he waited for a response, ‘lo siento, I've never had to …’*

‘To operate on one of your own? Max, it’s normal not to feel ok after operating on one of your lovers. Even the most socially detached doctor in the world would still struggle. All we can focus on is getting Avery back to full health whilst not neglecting our health in the process. She'll be awake very soon, and I think we should move over there, sit by her side, play some of her musical playlist for her to wake up to and deal with the next steps together’ 

God, could he fall in love with his boy any more than he was? 

‘I’d like that’.  ----------------------------------------------------------------------

The album of Camelot was playing in the background of the recovery room. Avery had forced the two of them to watch a recent Broadway recording of it on a streaming service one date night, impressing both men as she sang along quietly under her breath. 

They had debated the next morning, when she wasn't around, on how much Avery looked and sounded like the actress playing Guinevere and how much she would hate them if they volunteered her to sing on a Captain's dinner night. 

Neither Max nor Tristan felt like it, but both of them quickly devoured chips and water that Max kept as an emergency stash in his office since neither of them had stopped for 24 hrs and wanted to be strong enough to look after their girl. 

It wasn’t a surprise that Avery was taking her time to awaken. Surgery ended up taking a couple of hours instead of the usual one for an appendectomy, and her body had taken a beating during the surgery. 

During a particular upbeat tune playing out of the speakers, it was the only thing keeping the boys awake, the cardiac monitor began to increase in its rhythm, leading Max and Tristan to perk up with knowledge that Avery was to awake any minute. 

They each wheeled their stools as close as they could get to her, knowing how awful it was to come out of anaesthesia and how hard it was to fight the drugs still present in your system. Tristan spoke, knowing Max would want to ask her medical questions, ‘Hey Aves, you back with us?’

A very quiet groan was given, yet she remained asleep, the stronghold of the anaesthesia not making it easy for the NP to awake. He couldn't tell if her frown was confusion of how out of it you are when you first wake up or pain; he hoped it wasn't the latter, but it wasn't surprising considering they'd been digging around in her stomach . 

‘Aves, baby, you can do it. Can you open those lovely eyes for us?’

Her brown eyes finally met his own, glazed and unfocused, but they were open as she attempted to smile at both of them. Both men didn't hide their sighs of relief, their emotions had been all over the place since they had found her on the floor the previous night. 

A raspy whisper came from her, ‘What happened? Where am I? Did I have surgery ?’

Max had to stop himself from rolling his eyes as he answered, watching out of the corner of his eye as Tristan did. 

‘Yes, my wonderful Avery. The day's worth of excuses that you thought you were just getting your period turned out to be a ruptured appendix. The appendicitis looked like it had brewed for some time, and I think you had your suspicions and didn't want to admit you were ill. Tristan tells me you make a terrible patient.

The aforementioned nurse had brought over a cup of water and was guiding the straw into her mouth, as she avoided Max's gaze, her face answering for him instead. He could sense Tristan letting him know he'd not phrased the question correctly. 

Once she had finished drinking, he got her attention, he sent a hopefully reassuring smile that he was aware of his wrongdoing, ‘ I'm sorry that was harsh. You just got us very worried; that was the scariest surgery I've ever done. We nearly lost you, Avery. I don't think we'd cope if we had. Why didn't you just tell us during morning greetings how much pain you were in ?’

Tristan spoke before Avery could respond, knowing what she was thinking,‘ I know in the past you've not wanted to seem weak or not capable of your job as the only woman on the team. Alongside that, your family never looked after you when you were sick, but you don't need to put up the wall of independence now. Let us look after you. I don't want to ever have to bring a gurney to your room again. ‘

He could see Max filing his questions about Avery's home life for later, his medical hat coming on, ‘Avery, taking in what Tristan has just said, how's your pain?’

There was a flicker on Avery's face of her old facade threatening to rise before she seemed to loosen up, ‘I feel like you stabbed me through my stomach with a spear, hit my head with a hammer and dropped an anvil on my chest. I'm tempted to say I don't want anything, but I'd really like some of that gooooood’

Max had taken her momentary distraction to administer her next dose of morphine before she could put on her brave act, and she needed the rest, too. 

The drugs affect was almost instant  ‘....goood good stuff, Dr Max Bankman’. The smile reaching past her eyes, the lucidity of the woman before them decreasing. ‘I can see why that wellness lady was all over you…. I'd be too if I could get up. 

Tristan snickered as Avery attempted to look the Doc up and down seductively, attempting to focus on his groin, seemingly forgetting she was in a relationship with the two of them. Though the drug's stronghold was getting stronger, leading her to focus on her own feet instead of the intended anatomy. 

‘How about we discuss that when you’re rested. Get some sleep, babes, we’re docking and shall be back when done and can try to cuddle on this b….’. Avery had fallen asleep before he could finish, having grabbed both men's hands during her lower lucidity and wasn't letting go.

 The Captain would understand if they were a few minutes late. Everyone loved Avery.

-------------------------------------------

Notes/ Translation

*pulseless ventricular tachycardia

*‘I've got you, it's ok, come back to me. She's safe. I love you, I need my Max back.

*Im sorry

The full fic can be found on Ao3 alongside my other works- my username is Kit_Kat_27

[kitkat27]

Joshua Jackson for Numéro Netherlands

[kitkat27]

How adorable is this pic that I found of a bts from 1x18 (think posted by the midwife actor)

Paired with the giggle about teasing her in the one word finale teaser social media vid. I think Josh definitely enjoys working with Phillipa (who wouldn’t ) 🥺🥺😍😍

(If it wasn’t for the guy in the neon green tshirt with papers I would have said it’s them filming the dance scene )

[kitkat27]

The Facebook Doctor odyssey changed their cover photo for some reason (unaware if picture has changed)

And the insta page deleted the video of the despacito dance scene sneak peak they posted

Praying it means good news is coming because they wouldn’t be interacting this much social media wise if it was finished

(Also ‘don Johnson ‘ liked my comment about renewal on one of their finale sneak peeks. My delusional mind likes to think it’s him but I doubt the guy knows how to work social media 🤣)

[kitkat27]

Am I thinking too highly but imagine a proper crossover between the rookie, doctor odyssey and 911 (or a rookie/ odyssey crossover as I watch them)

Like the ship is getting fixed so Ody3 is in La and end up helping the rookie and 911 gang out. As the ody3 gang would all find similar personalities etc in other characters (Lucy/celina and Avery, Max and Nolan)

[kitkat27]

Doctor Odyssey isn’t on the ABC fall lineup. WHICH IS FINE. Sort of. I’d prefer they put us out of our misery and just tell us what’s going on instead of leaving us in limbo, but they’ve also said it’s not cancelled.

Assuming it stays not cancelled, there’s a few different options ABC could take.

1. Move it to a different night. Thursday’s kinda booked now so it would have to anyway.

2. Mid-Season premiere. Shortened season (season one maybe should have stayed shortened given all the episode rearranging and filler episodes we got in 1b anyway…) and it would premiere in the winter/spring whenever everyone comes back from break.

3. Make it a summer show. If ABC decided to go back to summer programming they could air it out of season with everything else and air it over the summer. (Please don’t do this, ABC. I’m busy in the summer.)

4. Move it to Hulu/D+. This is the one I’m kinda hoping for. Moving it to Hulu/D+ would get rid of some of the (suspected) network interference.

Anyway, our beloved stupid boat show isn’t cancelled. The network still loves the show. Just need Murphy to officially say yes.

[kitkat27]

They’re gonna announce the renewal of Doctor Odyssey right after the season finale tonight. Just wait and see!

[kitkat27]

We all need to keep this fandom alive ! Whilst we wait, we can let it die out. I’m not loosing another fandom, I’m in too deep now (it’s keeping the anxiety and depression away atm)

[kitkat27]

The giggle 🤣, I’m betting he loves to tease her a lot by her reaction 🤣. God I hope we get bloopers if nothing else because I think they’ll have fun on set

Josh gets it 🙂‍↕️

(From Doctor Odyssey IG)

[kitkat27]

Any Uk girlies terrified to go to sleep tonight knowing when you’ll wake the finale will be out

Can’t decide whether to check Tumblr first watching people crash out and being prepared to know what’s happened

Or put myself through the emotions alone 😭😭😭

[kitkat27]

I had planned to have the second chapter done for this weekend to help drown our sorrrows after the finale but I’ve just received a interview (next week) for a first big girl job since graduating so currently panicking and unable to write and planning for it

I shall write when the panicky feeling stops

I don't feel so good

Whumptober prompt no.30-2020

Chapter 1

Summary:

Avery is not having a great start to the day. She's tired, grumpy and the main annoyance to her day- the excruciating pain in her side... She just wants to make it through the day without either Max or Tristan knowing. Can she make it to bedtime with them unaware, or will hiding this pain lead to her fighting for her life and giving Max another grey hair?

(note: this is roughly based on episode 1x4- wellness week but the plot is altered for this story. Medical inaccuracies but it’s Doctor Odyssey where reality is thrown out the window. Also please ignore formatting whilst I get used to posting on tumble )

Avery was so goddamn tired. She wondered if the pain of stitching her eyelids open would be worse than spending the day with 0 hours of sleep and the annoying stomach cramps.

She had seen every hour of the night, lying in every position, including the classic of flipping her pillow to the end of the bed, and had debated at one point how much chaos she would cause if she fell asleep on one of the poolside loungers.

The insomnia was probably down to the cramps tearing through her abdomen that had left her reaching for every remedy she had. Maybe she could ask Bethany Welles for some holistic recipes (when Max wasn't watching, of course).

Yesterday, her Flo app had reminded her that her period was due soon, but normally, her cramps weren't this bad. Whatever it was, she didn't have time to ponder it as the guests were due onboard any minute, and the captain's eye twitched anytime anyone showed up a second late to the guest greeting.

———————————————————————

It was unusual, Avery was normally at the balcony before the guys normally scolding them about punctuality as they arrived. She only had a few minutes before the captain joined him and Tristan at the ball….

‘I'm here, he he he hasn't ….noticed …me yet has he’, a very disgruntled Avery slotted in between him and Tristan, adjusting her collar as she came to a stop and smoothing out her static hair completely missing the stolen glances above her head between the boys.

‘Late at night there. Aves? Max and I were wondering whether you finally strayed to the dark side and missed the guest greeting’

Normally, the usual quick-witted mind of the NP would have shot back immediately, but a few silent beats passed … ‘Aves, hello’... still nothing as she was staring into the abyss of the balcony as Max and Tristan leaned over the balcony, caging Avery between them.

She eventually responded, but her eyes were still a little glassy and not really with them. "Oh sorry, yeah I stayed up all night finishing off ‘The Love of Theodosia’, it was such a heartbreaking romance I couldn't put it down….’

Both men knew that this wasn't true. Any of their movie nights that didn't lead to the shedding of clothing, Avery was always asleep by Midnight, though she always argued differently each time.

‘...And before I knew it, it was morning and I only managed to grab a couple of hours' sleep’

Well, that explained the massive eye bags she had, but not her pallor and discomfort. Max knew not to press at that moment, Avery was not a morning person and if you added in the lack of sleep and whatever else was going on it would be like poking a bear with a red hot poker. Something that would end with him and Tristan running for the hills.

Pushing that terrifying thought aside, Tristan continued his weekly speech, ‘Well, I hope you're ready for a week with Bethany Wells. A week full of crazy people and witches prescribing toadstools and crystals for seasickness and cardiac arrests’

‘Though I agree, Tristan’, how the Captain snuck up on them, he had no idea, ' let's not use that word ‘crazy. Now we need to go and say hello, move along’

Bethany Wells was walking towards her, the woman who consumed her night and free time from stalking and following all recipes she used, was walking directly towards her.

‘Avery, my daughter, I was told very great things about you by the Captain’

‘You know who I am? Wellness culture is my ecstasy, I've followed you on socials for years!’, Oh god, she was rambling like an obsessed pop girl fan in front of her idol, coworkers and boss.

‘Of course I do, but oh god, your aura is so green and yucky. Keep this crystal in your pocket for the rest of the day, and then come see me tonight, and I shall make you some herbal tea that should fix your unbalanced aura’, the ‘crystal’ felt more like a plastic stone, but Avery obeyed, ignoring the eye rolls from her boys.

As Bethany moved on, begging the Captain to borrow Max regarding her ‘hippie’ menu, Avery spun, forcing the boys to stand shoulder to shoulder, wanting to stop the barrage of oncoming questions. Max looked torn from running from the awaiting torture of time with B-wells to wanting to put his doctor cap on, clearly seeing through her bullshit of bedtime reading. Tristan sporting his signature smirk, ready to tease her about her love of hippie medicine and what she was doing all night.

Max was driving her insane, he'd spent the last 30 minutes pacing around the medicine storage, whilst she had tried to organise their newest delivery. Ranting about how insane the new chef was making everyone eat raw meat, to asking every 30 seconds why she had stayed up overnight, seemingly convinced she was going to drop dead from a condition he needed to diagnose.

There was no Tristan to save her, he was having a great time getting attention by overseeing the chef's menu. She had been left with the decision; either throttle max (she had nearly lost her job last week, the captain couldn't save her again) or go for a walk around the deck and hide the fact that she was thinking about committing murder.

—---------------------------------

Damn she just missed the diva dust smoothie presentation. A smoothie may have cured her anger and the slowly increasing stomach pain that had only gotten worse since the morning. She didn't want to be diagnosed with anything, she had seen mother hen Tristan and could only imagine that Max would be even worse……..

‘Ah, sorry I didn't see you there, Miss Simpkin. I sadly missed your collaboration with diva dust, but I just wanted to say I'm a big fan, and I know I'm a nurse, yet wellness culture is my agony, and I love watching you work’

Unlike Bethany Welles, Agnes did not seem to share the same joy at meeting a fan, with a disappointed look spreading across her face as she took in the nurse opposite her, ‘Um, well, it's such a shame that a girl like you is working for the enemy. Though I wouldn't say big pharma is doing much for you. Its main goal is to keep people sick to make more money, and what better target than its workers?’

The platform Avery had Agnes built upon crashed down in an instant, ‘no, no big pharma does a lot and it keeps a lot of people alive whose conditions would kill them with herbal alone…’ the acupuncturist had zoned out bringing a hand to her bluing lips, ‘Miss, Simpkin are you ok. Is everything ok?’

Before she could pull out her radio, Agnes had dropped before her, sending the blue smoothie across the deck floor, staining everything it touched. But Avery couldn't think about her shoes or her own pain, her focus had to be on the groaning woman before her.

‘10-27 on the port deck. We need a stretcher stat’

—---------------------------------------

Trying to treat Agnes was just as frustrating as dealing with Leonore's antics last week. They couldn't track her vitals with tech yet as they wheeled her into the infirmary, a phone fell out of her pocket.

They collectively suspected that she had cyanide poisoning from bitter almonds in the smoothie and began providing advanced cardiac support.

How Agnes had demanded to allow her body to ‘breathe’ mid-treatment, had Avery thinking how warm the room suddenly was. It was probably a hot flush due to her period or the fact that they were sailing through the Caribbean on a 104 ℉ day.

But she hadn't noticed the shakiness until trying to insert an IV. Being an NP meant she had done thousands of these and had never shaken like this even during her exams. God, there was no way she could hide this. She didn't know what was worse, the heat, the shakiness or the pain that felt like her abdomen was going to implode at any time she moved too quickly.

She could feel Max, Tristan, who had arrived once free of cooking duties and even Agnes, watching her with a look she couldn't decipher. By-passing the concern on Max's face, she tried to ask him to take over without letting Agnes think she wasn't qualified to treat her.

Avery managed to get through the rest of treating Agnes without any further issues, not that there was time to. The presence of spider angiomas led to a fast downward spiral of a changed diagnosis of taro root poisoning, supported by the seizures, leading them to prepare an emergency dialysis.

Dropping off the trash and sanitising themselves, once Agnes was stable, in the washroom led to a perfect time for the boys to query about the NPs' earlier stumble with Max blocking the door, stopping her from escaping.

With the older man beginning the interrogation, ‘Mind telling me what happened back there? I've not once had to do an IV for you since I've arrived, and I can guess Tristan hasn't either. Are you sure you're ok ?’

Avery had to stop herself from rolling her eyes. She knew they were just concerned, but with how she felt, she didn't want to deal with the hovering, ‘I told you earlier. I'm fine, it'll just be my period. I occasionally get hot flashes with my period in the summer, and I didn't get to eat lunch, which won't help. Now, if you guys will let me through, I am going to check on Agnes and begin the paperwork while I think of an outfit for dinner tonight’

Both men stepped aside instantly, understanding Avery was done with the conversation and any attempts at further interrogation would not go well, especially if Moody Avery was here for the week.

Watching Avery's retreating form, Tristan addressed the Doc, ‘Look, Max, I'll grab her some food and drink so that she doesn't keel over before dinner if you pop on the AC and agree that both of us won't bother her anymore. If Avery is ill, she won't want to admit it in case we try to look after her. The best we can do is indirect support and be there if she gets worse. I've dealt with sick Avery before, and it was like fighting with a grumpy toddler to take her meds and to accept an IV drip’

Max got the impression that Tristan wasn't trying to one-up him in regards to Avery, like they had done early on, but was just generally trying to help the doc from digging his own grave.

———————————————————————

For the second time that day, Avery was late. Only making her seat just before the Captain gave his opening speech. Tristan couldn’t help from taking a slightly longer look than appropriate, he'd seen Max do the same thing as Avery had come down the stairs. What could he say their girl knew how to dress up.

This week, she had gone with a shimmering gold pleated maxi dress with spaghetti straps that flattered her silhouette with grace and glamour. As stunning as the dress was, it was not helping Avery look any less pale. He'd stayed in the infirmary earlier, observing Agnes, directly watching, making sure that she consumed the food and not nibbled at it.

Yet now, if he didn't know any better, he says she still hasn't eaten. Her movements were slow and sluggish, absent-mindedly pushing the food around on her plate, not paying attention to the rest of the room. Max was doing the same, but he suspected it was his hesitation to eat the organ meat that Vivan had safely cooked.

He couldn't take it anymore, ‘you know it's perfectly safe to eat. Viv is a trained chef and not part of the wackadoo club. It'd be a shame if she leaves with Bethany, I'm quite liking her company and food’

Neither of his partners paid attention to him; the only response, a scoff. It came from across the table. Its source, Avery. ‘Did you just scoff at me?’

‘Viv. She's got a nickname now, How long has she been on the ship? Wow, you must of … God, I can't eat this’. The quickly building anger in the woman sitting opposite him seems to fizzle out just as fast as it built. It was instead replaced with unease and discomfort as the argument quickly dropped.

But he was still up a height and annoyed at the treatment of his new friend, unaware of the change in his partner opposite, ‘Yes, Avery. We got on well together as I was helping her cook. You can't ignore and get jealous of any new woman who joins the ship. Why don't you be moody, Avery, in your cabin’

Max had to roll his eyes at the petty squabble between his nurses and was waiting for Avery to blow up straight back, and hoped he could stop both of them from throttling each other without the Captain finding out.

Without a word of goodbye, Avery got up and left. No quick remark at either of the men, instead completely ignoring Tristan's hushed yells. There was no fury in her steps as she seemed to pull herself up the steps slower than most of their elderly guests.

‘Tristan, I would normally advise you to sort this out so we are not stuck with this tension again, but I would wait till the morning. She's not herself today, let's leave her be’

Towards the end of dinner, Max realized that Avery had left her bag and jacket on her chair, which was worrying as Avery was normally attached to her phone when not working. With how tired she looked towards the beginning of her dinner, he hoped she had gone to bed and didn't want to disturb her much-needed sleep.

The rest of the dinner and night was uneventful. Tristan sulked in silence and slinked off when the food was done to god knows where. Neither nurses were seen in the infirmary that night but thankfully it was just a few seasick passengers wondering why their herbal teas were not working.

Max just hoped he could bathe, read and go to bed without any more drama.

Little did he know…..

Note: Please let me know what you think !

This is my first fic for over 1.5 yrs so Im a little rusty. Any advice welcome. Second chapter coming soon...

Link to the chapter on my Ao3 below;

https://archiveofourown.org/works/65361616/chapters/168186253