A couple months ago (at least I think it was, but time is weird for me), I purchased an African Violet. This is a plant that's been in my life since early childhood. I had one until my husband killed it during one of our moves; he put it in full sun on a hot day. These plants burn. Just an hour in direct sun is enough to do serious damage. I was at our new place, directing where things go, and six hours later he arrived with a completely cooked plant. No, I was no okay, and more than ten years later I'm still very fucking upset. He's well aware of this.
Which is why he didn't argue when I said I'm getting an African Violet. They were $6 and poorly cared for at the local gardening place. On the container, it says "keep out of direct sunlight" and "water from the bottom." They had them in barely filtered light and were water from above. Yes, I fucking corrected them. The guy threw a fit and called the gardening manager over, who asked if I wanted to work there and sent the other guy to put the plants in a different area.
They had no self-water pots, nor African Violet food. Those are the kind African Violets need. So I've had mine in its original container until today. It started showing signs of dying a week ago, and was getting way too large for the container it came in. I'm using general potting soil because that always worked fine for my previous plant. I had to repot that thing four times! African Violet food will need to be acquired soon-ish.
My husband came home with a self-watering pot today. He went to four different places to find one! A couple days ago I was have a Very Bad Day, and seeing my plant rapidly failing was what set the dam of tears flowing. It was Bad. He was my hero today, didn't even tell me he was getting a pot. The plant has since been re-potted. I soaked the soil before adding the plant and dry soil, something my mom taught me (she has around half a dozen African Violets). If it does well, I'll see about acquiring more in the future. I have a spot on my PC desk set aside for an African Violet. The one I have is on my cutting table, the corner nearest the window.
I now have six pothos plants (all cuttings from the same one), one spider plant that may soon become two, and an African Violet. Next week, I may be filling some containers with soil and wildflower seeds from the front yard. There's too many weeds and general crap in the front yard for anything but more weeds and general crap to grow, so we're more or less destroying it, then adding layers of organic matter (six inches or more of fallen leaves and other similar stuff), and leaving it alone for a year or two while I add more containers. I intend to acquire tires of various sizes, a bathtub, and some other similar items, to decorate the yard and serve as containers. Because it amuses me, we own the house, and I fucking can. Even told the neighbors, and they found it hilarious. When the soil is ready, I'll add native wildflowers, some milkweed (monarch butterflies navigate through here), and other native plants that self-seed and will require minimal effort. The backyard will be treated much the same, but with raised beds for food and herbs, and walkable paths.
For now, my current plants will have to do. I'm just hoping my African Violet survives the transfer and thrives in the significantly larger and more appropriate pot. The other held maybe two cuts of wet soil. This? A gallon, possibly more.
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5. Preventative Measures (Not Taken)
How many times had his Dads told him not to forget his epi pen? Alfie lost track. It had been never ending since he’d been a little kid. He was sixteen now, and he was good at looking after himself. He had to be, really. He always took his epi pen with him wherever he went, always carried safe snacks (mostly for Kieran’s benefit, but his too). There was nothing worse than being starving and there being nothing he could eat. He struggled to remember the epi pen when he’d been younger, but his parents had always been around, and it was easy to keep it in his bag at school.
He had not long finished his GCSEs, and was looking forward to enjoying the long summer. It felt like it would last forever, sixth form and A Levels a distant thought. He’d gone out with Eden that day, into central London to shop and enjoy themselves. He could’ve sworn he’d packed everything he needed. But as they’d sat down to eat, he’d reached into his bag for his water, and hadn’t seen the familiar case. They’d decided to bring a picnic, so Alfie didn’t have to worry about food, and they could find a nice spot to enjoy it. They’d settled in Hyde Park by the water, spread out a blanket, and had settled, enjoying the warm July sunshine.
They were enjoying themselves when Alfie started coughing, frowning to himself. Eden looked over at him, concerned.
“You okay?”
“Mm, probably hayfever.” He mumbled, but it quickly got worse, his throat getting tighter and tighter, the wheeze in his chest audible from where Eden was sat. It was harder and harder to breathe, and he couldn’t help the panic that was building. That was when the dizziness hit him, coupled with everything else, and the fear rose.
He knelt. "Where's your epi? In your bag? Let me see."
He just nodded, trying to breathe the best he could whilst everything felt like it was crashing down around him.
"Alfie, it's not there. Where is it?" Eden couldn't help his own panic, though he was trying his best to hold it together.
“Bag.” He wheezed. “Always.”
Eden's eyes were wide. "It's not."
Even confused and dizzy, Alfie realised he was right. He hadn’t seen it, but he’d assumed it had just been tucked out of sight. Maybe not. Shakily he reached for his phone, the panic building and making it even harder to breathe.
"Here, give it, I'll call. You just breathe, just relax. I'm here, you’re gonna be okay." He moved to sit behind Alfie, holding him upright as he dialled for an ambulance. With his own phone, he rang Tai, his number the most recently contacted.
He leaned gratefully against Eden, struggling desperately for breath. Everything was blurry and he couldn’t focus on it, the dizziness clouding everything. Every breath seemed harder than the one before, every second dragging by.
"You're okay, you're okay." Eden promised, rubbing his shoulder to try keep him awake as he frantically answered the operator's questions, in the middle of trying to tell Tai what was happening.
Eden was far too loud, and Alfie groaned. He hated feeling so shit, having to work so hard to catch his breath, and he knew not having his epi was bad. He always had it, why wasn’t it there?
"Alfie? Alfie, please, keep your eyes open."
He was doing his best, but it was so hard. Even the fear wasn’t keeping him going, blackness tinging his vision.
"C'mon, Alfie, please." He begged, sirens starting to sound in the distance. "Don't do this."
Alfie whimpered, pressing into him the best he could, trying to fight the dizziness as it threatened to take him.
Eden wasn't even sure what he'd been triggered by, the pair both so careful with their foods. He supposed even just being outside and exposed to the public's picnics must have done it, but it didn't fix it, didn't make it better. He could see Alfie fading in front of him, his lips turning blue as he watched. The worst was his breathing, each breath desperate and a fight. He was begging to a god he didn't believe in, praying he'd just hold on a little longer.
Eden had done a good job of explaining exactly where they were, and it thankfully didn’t take long for the crews to reach him. Alfie was still really struggling, enough to have them really rather worried as they saw him.
As they neared them, Eden glanced at them. "He's not got his epi, I don't know why, I don’t know where it is. I've called his dads too, but they're busy. You've gotta help him."
“You’ve done the right thing. We’ll help him now, okay? What’s his name?”
"It's Alfie, Alfie Cunningham-Cole. He's 16."
“Great, thank you. Things are probably going to get really busy for a bit, and it’ll move fast, but me and my colleagues are going to look after him, okay?”
"Just help him."
His colleagues were already working, and he nodded, turning away to help them. It was obvious this was critical, with much more of a wait having potentially been too long.
Eden moved away to let them work, thought stretched a hand out to hold Alfie's. He wasn't sure who he was comforting, but he wasn't letting go.
The paramedics were working hard, IVs in and adrenaline given. It had started to make a difference, but Alfie was still very ill, there was no doubt about that. He needed hospital, and quickly.
As the second crew returned with the stretcher, Eden hesitated. The last time it had happened had been at home, with Tai and Harrison, and they'd gone with him. Tai had driven the kids up after the ambulance, Harrison in charge of the medical side. But now, there was no responsible adult, there was just the two of them.
"I don't know much, but can I come with him? I don’t want to leave him."
“Of course you can. We’re not about to leave you here in the middle of London all by yourself, and I’m sure he’ll appreciate having you.”
He nodded, trying to be braver than he felt. "Thank you."
“Did you manage to get a hold of his parents?”
"His dad's at work, he's the big doctor at St Georges, in the A&E. And Tai said he'd meet us there, but he was working too."
“Okay, we’re a bit of a way away from St George’s right now, he needs to be seen sooner than that, so we’re going to take him to St Mary’s. They’ll be able to meet us there when they can, and of course you’ll be able to stay with him.”
"But his dads are there. He always goes there."
“I know that’s scary, but they’ll look after him.”
"Will you take him to St George’s when he's better?"
“That’s for the hospital to decide I’m afraid.”
"O-okay." He nodded. "That's okay."
“We’re going to get him off to hospital now, come and grab a seat.”
"Is he gonna be okay?"
“We’re going to look after him, and they’ll be good in hospital too.”
Eden nodded, no longer trusting himself to speak. As they settled Alfie in the ambulance, he stuck a shaking hand out to hold his, their fingers interlaced as if they could hold each other together.
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