#then they better have gotten ani to the surgeon quick quick quick or the boy is gonna blow

[ahsoka-in-a-hood]

I think we all know, in our heart of hearts, that had Qui-Gon not already hit the problem of Watto being mind-trick resistant he WOULD have simply stolen Anakin and Shmi.

[cherrycocaineee]

19. Sam Winchester - Hospital Visit

It was extra busy today at the hospital, there were three patients in need of major surgeries along with a line of people either waiting at the clinic or waiting for their minor surgeries to take place. I had been running around all morning wherever I was needed, and since I was the lead surgeon that was pretty much everywhere. Every time I got the chance, I glanced up at the ticking clock that was mute amongst all the loud chatting and alarms going off. I needed to hang on til three, and then another head surgeon would be here to help. I wiped the forming beads of sweat off of my forehead as I headed to the bathroom, wanting to escape from all the chaos that was hitting. Of course I loved being a doctor but I wasn’t made for such large groupings like this. It sent anxiety through my body causing me to sweat. So I just needed a small break to calm my nerves.

   Pressing my back against the cool wall felt almost painful against my hot, sweaty skin. I was just praying silently that I was wearing my doctor’s coat over a turtleneck sweater, stopping most of the chilling pain. Finally catching my breath after fifteen minutes, I pushed myself off of the wall, the cold no longer bothering me, and headed back into the jungle that awaited outside. Not much time passed before my Nurse, Lacy, ran up to me.

  “Doctor,” she said, her voice frantic and filled with worry, “come quick, there’s two new patients in need of medical treatment.”

   Nodding curtly, I followed after her quickly to wherever the patients were. There weren’t many rooms open, so when we did eventually find them, they were in the last two rooms. I went inside the first room, the room that was closer to us, and peered inside at the man lying on the hospital bed. My eyes widened at the sight of John Winchester, an old family friend from way back then. He was covered in slash marks, fresh blood that still needed to be cleaned off of his unconscious body. He was also covered in sweat, glass, and dirt.

   Lacy looked up at me.

 “Bring me a rag,” I muttered, “and some warm, soapy water.” 

  Nodding, she turned on her heel and walked out of the room. I took another glance at John Winchester then headed out of the room, silently praying that the other person in the second room wasn’t one of his sons.

  But I wasn’t lucky. Lying in the next hospital bed was his older son, Dean. I frowned, my forehead creasing slightly. Like his father, Dean was covered in blood, sweat, glass, and dirt. He would need to be cleaned up as well.

  “Doctor.”

  Looking up, I spotted my nurse standing at the door with the bucket of water and a rag hanging over it.

  “Thank you. Please, get another one for this patient.”

 “Of course.”

I took the bowl from Lacy and headed back into the room where John was waiting. Sitting beside his bed was Sam, also covered in blood but not as much as his dad and brother. His eyes met mine, widening as he saw my face.

  “Noel?” He questioned, his voice soft and surprised.

  “Hey Sam,” I replied, placing the bowl down.

  His eyes shifted to the ground. The last time I saw the Winchester’s was when I was twelve years old. I was a year younger than Sam. Out of the two Winchester boys, Sam and I had become close. I knew all about their hunting and everything they did.

  “You gonna tell me what happened?” I asked, grabbing the cloth and beginning to clean John up.

  The blood wiped away easily, revealing his tanned up, scarred skin.

  “I’m not so sure that’s a great idea,” he admitted.

 “Maybe not, but I still think you should tell me.”

  He was quiet for a moment, contemplating inside his head whether telling me would put me in danger. It probably would but I could handle myself. Finally, he told me what happened. They had gotten into a fight with a demon, one who called herself Meg, and these shadow things came out of nowhere attacking them. They were practically defenseless, their only saving grace was light. That’s how they were able to escape, along with throwing Meg out a tall window. By the time he finished telling me what happened, I had finished cleaning his dad up.

   Placing the cloth inside the now bloody water, I faced Sam.

  “Is she dead?” I inquired.

  “We think so,” he huffed, his hair shifting with the breeze escaping his lips, “but we’ve never dealt with a demon before so we’re unsure.”

  Nodding quietly, I started stitching up the large gashes displayed on John’s body. Lacy was right, he did need quick medical attention but not so much that he needed to be placed in the operating room. Not while there were people who needed surgeries on their brains waiting, or even their stomach. This was an easy fix.

  I could feel Sam’s eyes watching me while I sutured up his dad. Clipping the final set of stitches, I got rid of all the leftovers, then washed my hands.

  “I’m going to Dean’s room,” I muttered, “he needs more care than your father, so I’ll need more time to deal with him. Wait here.”

   Sam didn’t argue, he just nodded his head.

Taking care of Dean’s injuries were much harder than I had realized. He was losing lots of blood, and no matter how much of it I tried to wipe away, there would always be another rush of it pouring from the wound. So I had to deal with the large, several gashes that covered his body. Fixing him up took me almost three hours. When I was finished with him, it didn’t seem to matter, he was in a coma from the amount of blood he lost. I wasn’t sure he was going to make it and that was going to be hard to tell Sam and John.

   Lacy informed me that John Winchester was now awake, so now I was heading to his room to give them the bad news. Some doctors would call it semi-bad news but that didn’t really make any sense to me considering. I walked into John’s room, seeing him speaking to Sam, neither of them looking happy about whatever was being discussed. Sam was first to spot me.

  “Dad,” he said.

  John turned to face me, and at first I wasn’t sure he’d recognize me but when his eyes widened, I knew he did.

  “Noel,” he said, “it’s been a long time.”

  “It sure has,” I replied, smiling, “it seems you guys got yourself into a pickle.”

 “Seems that way.”

 I walked completely inside the room, my hands folded together.

  “How’s Dean doing?” Sam inquired.

  My heart felt like it was hammering against my chest but I tried to remain professional.

  “I’ve stitched him up, and cleaned up his body. However, he’s lost a lot of blood and is now in a coma,” I informed, sadness lurking in my voice, “right now, it isn’t looking so good. If he doesn’t pull through soon, then I would start preparing for the worst.”

  “Noel,” Sam said standing up, “he has to come back.”

  “There isn’t anymore that I can do, Sam. Had he’d been brought in earlier, maybe, but he’s lost way too much blood. We’re replacing it, he’s getting round the clock treatment and blood is being added to his body through an IV, but that’s all we’re able to do.”

   He looked away from me, his eyes noticeably filling with tears, then grabbed his jacket and walked out of the room. A soft breeze brushing against me as he passed me. John didn’t say anything to Sam as he left. I sighed and walked over to John, removing a small flashlight from my pocket.

  “Let me have a look at your pupils,” I muttered, “how are you feeling?”

 The bright light danced across his now dilated pupils.

  “Much better,” he replied.

It was quiet for a moment before John spoke again, asking about Dean.

  “He was in really bad shape, huh?” He asked.

  “Yes,” I muttered, removing the light from his eyes, “I wish there could be more done but right now, all we can do is wait and see.”

  John’s eyes looked away from me, staring down at his covered legs. I could tell he was feeling bad about what he did to Sam and Dean, specifically Dean since he was in a coma now. I stuffed the flashlight into my doctor coat, taking another look at the oldest Winchester. All three of these boys were tough as nails but everything seemed to be shattering right before their very own eyes.

  “I know this is hard, Mr. Winchester,” I replied, “but I promise you, I’ll do what I can to help Dean get better. For now, it’s best if you pray for his healing.”

  He didn’t say anything, didn’t even nod. Something seemed to be brewing around in his head, so I left after giving his shoulder a small squeeze. After leaving John’s room, I went to go look for Sam, taking a final look at Dean in his room. A small pang in my chest rippled through me before I headed off to find the youngest Winchester.

I found him sitting outside on the hospital steps. The breeze was starting to pick up, ruffling Sam’s hair along with my own. I walked over to him, my white shoes slapping quietly against the concrete. Sitting down next to Sam, I watched him look over at me. I folded my arms around my stomach and looked away, watching the hundreds of people walking around. Either lost in their own world or talking with someone who was with them. I didn’t want to say anything that would anger him or cause him to get up and leave.

  “It’s all my fault,” Sam whispered.

 My head snapped towards him, shocked completely at his sudden admission to guilt.

  “How so?” I inquired.

 “If I hadn’t gotten mad at Dean, if I hadn’t ran into Meg, then we would have never been tricked into this situation.”

  I clicked my tongue, shaking my head. My long, jet black hair waved in the wind.

 “Sam, you couldn’t possibly know that Meg was a demon. Like you said before, you guys have never dealt with one before so how are you supposed to know the difference between one of them and a girl. I mean look around you.”

  Our eyes scanned the area around us, watching the people who caught our eyes do what was normal: eating ice cream, talking, laughing, walking, etc.

  “Anyone here could be a demon but how could we know?”

  A soft sigh escaped from his lips.

  “All I’m saying is, there’s no need for you to worry too much. Dean is a fighter, I’m sure he’ll pull through. However, if he isn’t, then you can’t walk around blaming yourself. It’s not what your dad would want and it’s definitely not what Dean would want.”

   I touched his shoulder and smiled sweetly at him. Sam smiled back before nodding.

 “You’re right,” he said.

 “Of course I am. I’ve never been wrong.”

 A laugh left his mouth, colliding with the wind that was picking up more and more. I couldn’t help but giggle along with him. Soon Sam and I were discussing how life had been after we departed so long ago. I learned that Sam had previously gotten out of the whole family business, hunting things to attend college at Stanford to become a lawyer. He had only joined back up with his family because his girlfriend, Jessica, was killed by the same demon that killed his mom. Yellow eyes. It had its ups and down, constantly worrying about one another and the consistent fighting back and forth. Dean was ultimately too childish and took any opportunity to pull a silly prank on Sam. But, according to him, it wasn’t all too bad since he missed his brother a lot. And now that he and his dad were together again, he remembered that he loved him too while disagreeing with him like he had when he was younger.

   Once he was finished catching me up on how his life had been going, I told him about mine. How my mother passed away a year after they had left, inspiring me to go to medical school. I had also been engaged for a little while before finding out that my fiancé was cheating on me behind my back. The rest of my life wasn’t much to gossip about, considering most of it was just me going to school and being cheating on.

   “Despite everything though,” I replied, “I enjoy what I do and hope that I’m making a big difference every single day.”

  I ran my fingers through my hair, feeling my pager buzz beside my hip. Pulling it from beside me, I saw that Lacy was paging me, letting me know that another lead surgeon had arrived and that I could go for lunch. Standing up, I held out my hand to Sam.

“Wanna get some coffee with me?” I inquired, “It’ll help clear your thoughts. Maybe you can figure out a way to help Dean behind bringing him to the doctor.”

 I hoped that he caught on to what I had to say. By the smile that appeared on his face, I knew that he did. Taking a hold of my hand, I pulled him to his feet and headed across the street to the small coffee shop where I normally went when I was able to have a small break. On the way over, the two of us talked with one another and laughed at stories about each other's life. It was nice to reconnect with a friend from so long ago. Sam and I had always been close to one another when we were young. And on the way to the coffee shop, I hoped that this wouldn’t be the last time I saw Sam. And hopefully under much better circumstances than the one that brought us together today.

[iamtrebleclefstories]

that same kind of joy

98 - “You scared the shit out of me.” 

Now, I wasn’t really sure how I felt about this fic when I first started writing it and I had no idea where it was gonna go, but I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out. It’s not exactly what you might’ve had in mind, but I hope you enjoy! @andreagraham​

this takes place in a wonderful world where 16x16 never happened :)

She remembers a bang. It was loud and deafening to the point that when she comes to, there’s an incessant ringing in her ears. She wants to just lay there and sleep, but that’s probably just the mild concussion talking. Instead, she painstakingly cracks her eyes open just enough to get a good view of her surroundings.

Metal. Bright. Debris. Blood.

Blood.

It’s not her own. At least, Jo doesn’t think it belongs to her. It is a trail of blood that extends in front of her, leading in front of a woman with a swollen abdomen who is crying out in distress. Jo picks herself up from the ground long enough to realize what just happened.

She remembers getting on the train back to Seattle after a weekend medical conference in San Francisco with Carina Deluca. It had been a spur of the moment decision, something Alex had surprised her with when he presented her with a train ticket, booked hotel room, and a weekend off. She had been thrilled at the prospect of hearing Addison Montgomery speak as she considered a career switch to OB. It had been the perfect getaway, until about ten minutes ago.

Now, Jo stands in the remains of one of the train cars she’d been traveling in and looks around in horror to see multiple individuals in varying states of trauma. She quickly canvasses the area to determine who seemed okay and who looked as though they were in immediate need of assistance. After getting help from a nursing student, dental PA, and off-duty officer that happened to be riding in the same train car, Jo leaves the other passengers and makes her way over to the pregnant woman who was clearly in labor.

“Hey,” Jo crouches down in front of the woman. “My name is Jo Karev. I’m a surgeon at Grey Sloan Memorial in Seattle. I see that you’re having some contractions. Is it okay if I examine you?” Jo waits until the woman nods her consent before gently pressing her hands on the woman’s bump to determine position. “What’s your name?”

“Alyssa,” the young woman breathes out heavily. “My name is Alyssa Belmont.”

“Nice to meet you Alyssa. Can you tell me how far along you are?” Jo looks down at her watch to monitor the length and interval of the contractions.

“I'm only 35 weeks,” Alyssa’s voice betrays her anxiety. “It’s too early.”

“It’s okay, the ambulance is going to be here soon and we will be able to get you and your baby to a hospital safely where some really nice pediatrician will make sure that they’re just fine,” Jo takes the hand sanitizer from her purse and uses it to disinfect her hands and ruffles through her first aid kit to find a single pair of gloves. “Do you know what you’re having?”

“A boy,” Alyssa nods. “My fiancé is stationed overseas but is supposed to come home in two weeks. He was supposed to be here for the delivery. I’m not supposed to be doing this alone.”

“Hey, Alyssa. Listen to me. You are not alone. I’m right here with you and I promise I won’t leave your side until you are holding a healthy baby in your arms,” Jo locks eyes with the young woman in front of her. “I need to know some things if I’m going to better care for you. Did you get hurt when the train derailed? Did you feel a tearing or a sharp pain in your abdomen?”

“No,” Alyssa shakes her head. “Just the contractions. But I had already been feeling some sporadic contractions throughout the day and the past week if I’m being honest. That’s normal though, right? Like Braxton hicks?”

“Yes, it's completely normal to feel a couple contractions here and there once you’re nearing the end of your pregnancy. It’s your body trying to prepare itself for birth,” Jo takes off her jacket and drapes it over Alyssa’s lower abdomen and pelvis to maintain some semblance of modesty. “Okay Alyssa, I’m going to push up your dress and remove your leggings and underwear so that I can get a look at how much you’ve progressed.”

Prior to the surprise delivery she was pulled into a couple weeks ago where all she had to do was catch the baby, it had been a long time since Jo had delivered a baby that wasn’t a c-section. It had been years since she had to check for dilation and effacement and in that moment she found herself really wishing that Carina - who had opted to stay in San Francisco for a few days more with a friend - had been on this train instead of her.

“Okay, Alyssa. It looks like you're about eight centimeters dilated and I'd say somewhere around eighty to ninety percent effaced,” Jo informs.

“What does that mean?” Alyssa brushes her hair out of her face and winces as another contraction comes over her.

“That means that pretty soon it’ll be time to push,” Jo looks around to the surrounding passengers. “Does anyone have a clean towel or blankets in their bag? And water. I need an unopened water bottle.”

A few of the lesser injured passengers step forward after ruffling through their bags to present Jo with the items she requested, “Here are two bottles of water, one clean towel, and three blankets.”

Jo does her best to keep Alyssa comfortable and wait until the paramedics arrive. But within minutes, Alyssa is fully dilated, effaced, and ready to push. Jo looks down at Alyssa and keeps her face as calm as possible so as not to alert the young woman to the anxiety currently building up inside of her.

“Alright, Alyssa, once you feel your next contraction I need you to push. You’re going to push for ten seconds and then take a break. Do you understand?”

Alyssa grunts in response, “Yup.”

After what seems like an eternity, the train car fills with a sharp, loud cry. Jo feels some tears prickle at her eyes as she’s the first person to hold this little one as it enters the world, “Hey there, little man. You’ve got a set of lungs on you. That’s good. I was worried about your little lungs. Let’s get you cleaned up so your mama can hold you.” Jo uses the surrounding materials to clean and warm up the infant before placing him on Alyssa’s chest.

“Oh God,” Alyssa chokes out a quiet sob. “You’re here. Hi baby. I’m so sorry your daddy isn’t here but I know that he’ll be so happy to meet you.”

Jo wipes a straying tear from her eye on her arm, “I hate to intrude on the moment but we do have to cut the cord and deliver the placenta.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Alyssa shakes her head. “Can I just hold him for one more second?”

“I don’t see why not,” Jo barely has time to get those words out of her mouth when paramedics come rushing through the train car. She breathes out a sigh of relief and flags one of them down. “Hi, I’m a surgeon at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital in Seattle. This woman just gave birth to a premature infant at thirty five weeks. She and the baby need to go to the hospital immediately.”

The paramedic quickly calls her partner to assist her as they make quick work of getting Alyssa out of the train and into an ambulance. Just as Jo is about to turn around and head back inside to help in any way she can, Alyssa puts her hand on Jo’s arm, “Can you come with us? Please. You said you’d be there and I really don’t want to be alone.”

Looking up at the paramedic to make sure that it’s okay to ride along, Jo squeezes Alyssa’s hand gently, “Of course.”

+++

Jo shouldn’t have been all that surprised when she feels a familiar set of arms tighten around her, bringing her close to his chest. She sighs contently as she allows her husband to hold her tenderly. She whimpers in protest when Alex pulls away to get a good look at her.

“Jo,” he breathes out in relief. “You scared the shit out of me.” Alex presses a light kiss to her forehead. “When I saw the crash on the news I almost had a heart attack. I tried calling you and the hospitals but no one was saying anything. No one knew what was going on. All we knew was that the train derailed in the middle of nowhere Oregon and some of the cars detached and got flipped on their sides. What the hell happened?”

“I delivered a baby today,” Jo huffs a laugh. “After the crash knocked me out for a few minutes, I got up and there was a woman in premature labor. Her name is Alyssa. I-I delivered her baby. I was the first person in this entire world that got to hold him. The world was literally crashing down around us, but I got to deliver this beautiful baby boy with a surprisingly well developed set of lungs for how early he was born. I’ve been with her ever since it happened. They’re moving her up to a room right now. I’m supposed to meet her up there.”

“Baby, that’s incredible. But have you gotten checked out?” Alex asks quietly. “I need to know that you’re okay.”

“I’m okay, Alex,” Jo assures him. “I have a mild concussion and a couple of bruised ribs. Nothing that some ibuprofen and rest won’t fix.” Alex scowled unconvinced, causing Jo to laugh. “I’m fine. Really. Now do you want to come with me to see them?”

“Okay, fine.”

They make their way up to Alyssa’s room and Jo introduces Alex and Alyssa to each other. They spoke softly for a few moments until Alyssa’s doctor showed up outside the room.

“Sorry to interrupt,” the doctor smiles sheepishly at the group. “But you can go ahead and see your baby Miss Belmont. I can get one of the nurses to take you up to the NICU.”

“That’s okay, we can take her,” Jo and Alex help Alyssa out of the bed and into a wheelchair, carefully bringing her to stop beside her son’s warmer. “There he is.”

Alex looks up at the monitors as he listens to a resident list off the results of the studies they’d been conducting over the past few hours, “His SATs and his APGAR look great, all things considered. He’ll probably spend a week or two here before he’s sent home. He’s a strong and resilient little guy.” Alyssa and the resident both look at him in question. “I’m a peds surgeon.”

The hours go by quickly and before anyone knows it, night has fallen. Alex nudges Jo slightly, “Hey, I think we should get going. You need some rest. I got us a hotel room for the night.”

Jo nods in agreement and goes to move when Alyssa places a hand on her shoulder, “Wait. You can’t leave without knowing what the baby’s name is. I finally decided on a name.”

“What is it?” Jo asks expectantly.

“His name is Joseph Benjamin Harold. Joey for short,” Alyssa reveals. “It’s only fitting that he be named after the person who helped bring him into this world.”

“Are you serious?” Jo’s face breaks out into a wide grin. “I-I feel honored.”

“Thank you, Jo. For everything. I couldn’t have done it without you.”

Those words stick with Jo all the way back to the hotel. As they’re getting into bed that night, Jo cuddles up to Alex and sighs dreamily.

“What was that for?” Alex’s face turns up into a half smile as he glances down at his wife.

“I’m just so happy right now,” Jo shakes her head. “I know I shouldn’t be. Today was a horrible day for a lot of people. There was a tragic accident. But in the midst of all of that, I helped bring a baby into the world and I feel so much joy because of it.”

“There’s nothing wrong with that,” Alex pulls her closer. “A big part of why I love peds is because of the joy you feel every time you’re able to save a kid and give them hope for a future. And I’ve assisted on quite a few deliveries and it’s pretty incredible.”

“I think I wanna switch. I wanna make the switch to OB,” Jo exhales. “I love surgery, don’t get me wrong. And maybe one day I’ll venture into maternal-fetal surgery, but I want to be an OB, Alex. I want to deliver babies and feel that same kind of joy every single day.”

“Okay. So as soon as we get back to the hospital, we’re going to talk to Bailey and see about getting a letter of recommendation to the OB program so that you can switch specialties without repeating an intern year,” Alex rubs circles on Jo’s back.

“Are you sure? I know this is a big decision. I’ll be a resident again. I’ll have longer hours and be making resident money again,” Jo eyes widen at Alex’s simple response to her desire to make the change.

“Jo, I make plenty of money for the both of us. We’re married, we have a joint bank account. You don’t need to worry about the money. We dated throughout your entire surgical residency and everything was just fine. I want to support you however I can, and if what you want is to be a part of the vagina squad then I’m going to support you in that. I’m going to be there for you every step of the way,” Alex’s lips curve into a smirk. “Besides, I think you’ll look really hot in pink scrubs.”

“Shut up,” Jo laughs and shoves him lightly.

“What? It’s the truth. But then again, I think you look hot in everything.”

“You’re so good to me,” Jo’s eyes shine with happiness. “I love you.”

“I love you more.”

[drariellevalentine]

This Is Me Trying- pt.2

Hey everyone! Hope you’re having a beautiful day! Sorry this took so long, I have exams going on currently. Here’s part 2 and here’s to hoping y’all won’t kill me for this.

If you haven’t read part 1, click here for the link!

Pairing:- Ethan Ramsey x Arielle Valentine

Characters:- Ethan Ramsey, Arielle Valentine, Harper Emery, Sienna Trinh, Elijah Greene, Naveen Banerji, Jackie Varma and Bryce Lahela

Warnings:- Angst, Swearing

Inspiration:- This Is Me Trying and the rest of the Folklore album by Taylor Swift

Harper’s PoV:-

Thirty minutes later, you stand in Naveen’s office, his face completely torn and yours betraying the slightest of sadness.

“Naveen?” He turns to look at you. You shoot him a look.

“I thought they would be fine, and now look how it’s turned out. They both have been arguing every single time and now Arielle’s…”

“She hasn’t transferred her residency yet, at least officially. I’m sure Ethan would have talked her out of it.” Naveen looks at you.

“Yes?”

“Nothing…” You raise an eyebrow. “Well, I mean you dated him…”, he trails off. You laugh.

“I wouldn’t call it dating, we would occasionally have dinner and sleep together, that’s it. Have you seen the way he looks at her?” You chuckle. “He’s like a completely different version of himself, a better version.”

Naveen smiles. “Well I’m happy to hear that, I was about to head out for a quick

coffee, join me?”

“Of course, I’d like to.” You both head out and have a coffee and a quick bite of pastry.

“That pastry was quite good.”

“You should try Dr. Trinh’s treats! Her and Sunshine stop by every now and then with a box of them, they’re quite delicious!”

“Oh, I’ve heard of them alright. Dr. Lahela raves about them during many surgeries.” Just then your pager beeps. “Speaking of surgeries…” You see it’s a page from Bryce. “Where are you?! You needed to be here five minutes ago!”

Naveen sees the page. “This sounds important, let’s go.” You nod and rush back to the hospital.

Bryce’s PoV:-

You’re just coming out from an OR when you spot him.

“Dr. Ramsey!” He looks around and winces as he spots you.

“Yes? Make it quick, I have urgent matters to attend to.”

“You mean Elle. She just sent me a text saying I’m transferring my residency back to New York. I was about to look for her but an emergency lobectomy came in and Dr. Emery was on break.”

“Well um yes, we sort of had a argument which got a bit out of hand.”

“ Go talk to her. Oh! And apologise! I’m sure everything’s alright, besides we all know she makes impulsive desicions sometimes.”, you say.

“...it wasn’t an impulsive desicion, Arielle’s signed all the damn paperwork.” Your eyes widen as you spot a head with the familiar balayage heading towards the atrium.

“There she is! Go, fast!” Ethan doesn’t give you a second glance as he runs after her. You shake your head with a slight smirk. “She’s got him wrapped around her finger.”

“Bryce! Did she tell you?!” You turn to see the whole gang in tow.

“By text. Turns out the old couple had an argument, the old man told me himself. He’s gone to make things right.”

“Oh he better apologise, he’s been treating her like some random person and if he doesn’t I will-“

“Woah, woah, woah. Cool your jets, Jackie.”

“I don’t know, Bryce. Jackie’s right. I’m worried that she’ll go back to New York, I saw her looking at the website a few days ago but I didn’t think it meant anything.”

“Did you see where they went?”, Elijah asks.

“Yeah, they were heading towards the atrium but”- Suddenly you hear a deafening crash sound.

“Oh my god, that sounded like”-

“It came from the atrium.”, Jackie finishes Sienna’s sentence. You all rush towards the atrium to find smoke pouring out of the central elevator, a huge crowd gathered by it.

You notice Raf and a few other paramedics assessing the damage and other staff ask questions. You quickly go and inquire Rafael about the situation.

“Dude, what happened?”

“Not sure, Bryce. It looks like a chain snapped, the elevator crashed down and a few nurses are saying that they saw Dr. Ramsey go inside but they’re not sure if he got off. They’re checking the security footage right now.”

Your eyes widen as you realise if Ethan was inside, then Arielle could be inside too. “What’s the matter?”

“If he was there, that means she was inside too! Oh god…”

“Bryce, calm down first. Who are you talking about?”

“...Arielle. They had a fight and he was going after her.”

“Oh my god! Guys, what do we do?”, you find Sienna and everyone else.

His eyes widen. “We’ll go check the security camera ourselves. Authorities are on their way already, it’s the only thing we can do.” You all rush to the security office.

Spotting Bobby combing though the footage, you head towards him.

“Bobby, any luck?”, Raf asks.

“Not yet, I’ve checked the footage but so far nothing.”

“Oh god, what if she was in there? You guys saw the elevator…”, Elijah rambles as

Sienna’s face pales.

“Guys, don’t panic. It won’t help us until we know what exactly happened.”, Jackie says but you can see the fear evident in her eyes.

A familiar face on the screen catches your eye. “Bobby stop! Scroll a bit back. There!” You point to Ethan’s face on the monitor entering the elevator, Elle’s half clearly visible.

“This was at 3:28. Check all the other elevator entrances around that time to see if they got out.”

“9th floor! She’s getting out!”, Sienna shrieks. But the relief doesn’t last long as she steps back inside.

“That was at 3:40. The time the elevator crashed.” Everyone is shocked, not knowing what to do as Bobby announces the victims on his walkie-talkie.

You pull out your pager and page Dr. Emery. You run your hand through your hair, trying and failing miserably to calm yourself.

Harper’s PoV:-

As you enter Edenbrook, you sense something is amiss. Naveen turns to look at you, understanding. You both enter to see a huge crowd gathered near the left side of the atrium, smoke billowing from the elevator. You spot Dr. Lahela amongst the crowd and call him. He and the other residents run towards you both.

“Thank god you guys are here!”

“Dr. Lahela, tell us exactly what happened.”, Naveen says.

“We’re not exactly sure ourselves, the authorities haven’t arrived yet. But the elevator crashed down from 9 floors above...and both Dr. Ramsey and Dr. Valentine were inside.”

“...they both were inside?”, Naveen asks as pain flits across his face. Bryce nods somberly.

“I have to go. Contacting the authorities is all we can do.” Naveen walks away sadly.

“Lahela, go with him.” Bryce nods and follows him.

“Dr. Emery, does Dr. Ramsey carry his phone with him? We could try calling them to see that they’re…”, Sienna stops not being able to finish the sentence. You nod and quickly pull out your phone. The ring continues as you place it on speaker, once...twice...thrice...you’re about to end the call when the familiar baritone tone greets you.

“Hello?” Relief washes over everyone’s features

“Oh thank god, Ethan! We were so worried. How many people are inside? Is anyone hurt?”, you ask.

“No, it’s just me and Ari-“ Suddenly, Ethan’s voice cuts off.

“Ethan? Ethan?! Ethan, can you hear me?!” You hear him shouting her name. Tears form in the corners of everyone’s eyes.

“Ethan, talk to me! What happened?”

Ethan’s PoV:-

You check Arielle’s pulse and other vitals. “Damnit!”

You hear Harper and the other residents shouting. “She’s unconscious. Her pulse is low, and she’s suffered major blood loss. Her injuries are...extensive. It’s impossible for me to determine how bad they are considering the conditions.”

“Naveen’s working on it. What about you? Are you alright?”

“I’m perfectly fine. Just work on getting us out of here, we need a CT and MRI and multiple drugs to stop further bleeding as soon as possible.”, you respond with the only thought on your mind being her, it always was and always will be.

“Got it. Does your phone have enough battery?” You check it and curse.

“Only around 20%.”

“Check if Arielle has her’s.” You carefully slide your hand into her back pocket, and pull out her phone covered in blood. “It has almost 90%.”

“Okay, I’ll call you when I have an update. Call me if anything happens.” Harper ends the call, leaving you alone.

You look at her as worry and fear takes over your mind.

“Hang on there, okay? You’re going to be just fine.”, you say, unsure if you’re promising her...or assuring yourself.

You spend the next 30 minutes checking her vitals again and again and try to assess her injuries to distract yourself, not wanting to think about what-if’s.

Harper’s PoV:-

“What the hell is going on here?! It’s been 30 minutes and there's still no action taken!”, you shout as you come back from Naveen’s office. You offered to take over as Chief, knowing that both of them mean a great deal.

“We’re trying, but the elevator is wedged sideways and stuck between the first and ground floor.” You sigh.

“Have you tried prying open the doors?”, you ask.

“That’s what we’re about to do. If this works, then get everything you need and assemble on the ground floor.” You nod.

“Dr. Emery! Any progress?” You turn to the young paramedic.

“Not yet, but we’re about to.” He nods. You quickly arrange for all specialists to be on stand-by and the other surgeons who can.

Naveen comes back from his office. You lead him to the site, filling him in.

“Everything’s prepped, Dr. Emery. Can we start?”

“I’ve got most doctors on stand-by and two ICU beds prepped. Let me call them first, it’ll be better with a communication source.” He nods.

Ethan’s PoV:-

A tune cuts through the eerie silence. You accept the call.

“Any progress, Harper?”

“It’s me, my boy.” Your eyes sweat as you hear your mentor’s cracking voice.

“Naveen?”

“Yes, don’t worry, we’ve almost gotten past the securit for the elevator. Now we’ll just need to pry open the doors. You both might be slightly jerked so be careful.”

“Alright. Do it fast. She’s going to need an oxygen mask any minute.” You hold Arielle’s body closer to yours as the elevator slightly jerks. The doors are finally starting to open, the heads of Naveen, Harper and Arielle’s friends clearly visible. They gasp as their eyes spot the blood.

“Thank god. Just a little bit more, we should be able to pull them out.” Just then, you feel a hand hit your chest. Your eyes widen as it dawns on you.

“She’s having a seizure… but why?...” You quickly check her for symptoms of an ruptured blood vessel, it matches.

“Damnit! She’s having a seizure! Get me an IV injection with Activase!” You pull her even closer, holding her body. A nurse climbs up on a ladder and hands you the syringe. You swiftly inject it into her arm, your own pulse finally normalises as her petite body stops jerking, The paramedics step up and help Arielle out of the lift. She’s placed on a bed, quickly wheeled away with Harper, Bryce and more specialists in tow. Rafael helps you slide out of the small space when you realise you’ve hurt your shoulder. He notices you wincing.

“Dr. Varma, do a full checkup on Dr. Ramsey.”

“I’m fine, which OR is Arielle in? I’m scrubbing in.”, you say not bothering to use her title. You quickly get up when Naveen stops you.

“That’s the last thing you’ll be doing. Dr. Varma and Dr. Trinh will be examining you, and then you will wait like everyone else.”

“But-“

“Nothing.”, Naveen cuts you off as you wince once again. You slump in defeat as the two doctors wheel you away.

They help you sit up on an examination bed, and remove your bloodied shirt. You can see them wincing as they see the amount of blood stained. The pair doesn’t say anything as they quietly check your vitals, examine you and dress your shoulder.

“I’m assuming both of you are quite angry.”, you say not knowing what to do.

“Quite angry?! Let me tell you we’re fucking furious”-

“Jackie!”

“What?! Because of him, she almost died, Sienna! Died, do you hear me?!” You wince. “She almost died because of you! Don’t you understand?!”, she shouts jabbing a finger in your chest. “Because of your damn ethics and morals, she ALMOST DIED.” Tears glisten in her eyes.

“Do you even know how hard it was for her? Every. Single. Time when you pushed her away? Do you know how much she cried, sobbed when you ran away like a damn coward?! She was heart-broken, barely ate or slept peacefully and turned into someone else. We would all find her crying in supply closets, on-call rooms, you name it! God, she loved you so much and you, YOU”-

“Jackie, stop! That’s enough!”, the petite resident shouts, pain etched on her face.

“Do you even love her? Because she’s irrevocably in love with you and she says that you might too someday. If not, then she'll be an idiot. But do one thing, tell her fucking EXACTLY what you feel. Don’t say some half-assed sentences then go back to your stone cold self again. Tell her what she means to you, even if it was just a fucking casual hookup.”

“She was never-“

“Save it for her.” Jackie storms off.

You both stand there in silence, knowing that every word the fiery resident said was undeniably true.

“...I really fucked up, didn’t I?” The look on her face says it all. “Lord...I never meant for this to happen-“

“We all know you didn’t, Jackie’s mad, that’s all. But even if what she said was harsh, it’s true. You know how badly she’s been suffering, and I can’t watch anymore. You need to make a decision.” You watch the resident fight back a tidal wave of emotions as she replies coldly, completely unlike herself.

“I’ve dressed the wound, get someone to change it after a few hours and don’t do it yourself.” She turns around to leave, not able to look at you.

“Sienna.” Her breath hitches as she turns around. Her wall collapses, the wave of bottled-up emotions finally being freed.

“She- She almost d-died. It’s- not fair. She doesn’t deserve this, she doesn’t deserve any of this! It’s not fair, nothing’s fair! She can’t just come into our lives and just completely leave us like that! It’s not fair, it’s just not fair!”

You put a hand on her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her, knowing it’s the least you can do. But what you don’t expect is for her to throw her arms around you. You return the favor, both of you stay there in utter silence, not daring to speak.

Harper’s PoV:-

“Go take a break, Bryce. You’ve been on-call from last night.” You enter to see Bryce with one eye open, multiple textbooks propped up.

“I will, once I-“

“Once I nothing. You’re taking a break or else I’ll have you excluded from surgeries the whole week. We’ll update you if there’s any change in Arielle’s condition.”

He sighs, running a hand over his face. You can sense the worry.

“Bryce, Arielle went through brain surgery. You very well know all the possibilities that can take place. No matter what you do, nothing can change the outcome.”

He’s even more dejected now. “What do you think?”, he asks you. You look at him.

“I mean do you think she’ll be alright?”

“Well as a doctor, I already told you, not to mention you already know. As someone who knows her personally….I think she’s going to be alright. She’s a strong woman and she’ll pull through.”, you respond. He looks up meeting your eyes, his own eyes betraying the slightest amount of hope. He nods in an act of thanks before leaving the room. You follow him in pursuit to find Ethan. After inquiring about them to a few staff members, you find him and Dr. Trinh in the residents’ lounge.

“Ethan.” They whip around hearing your voice. Ethan opens his mouth to speak but he’s too slow.

“Dr. Emery! Is everything alright?! Did something happen? Why did she have a seizure?! Dr. Ramsey said that-“ The young resident rushes forward bombarding you with question after question.

“Sienna, calm down. Let her speak.” She finally notices she’s been rambling and smiles sheepishly.

“Oh, um... sorry Dr. Emery.”

“It’s alright. But to answer your questions, Arielle had a blood vessel rupture in her brain like Ethan said, which was most likely caused by hitting her head. That caused her brain to be deprived of blood, and the seizure. That caused an acute subdural hematoma. Luckily, the blood vessel only burst just before we got her into surgery so there wasn’t any permanent brain damage. The blood vessel was also repaired perfectly, courtesy of Dr. Lahela. The seizure was caused due to the pressure in her brain.” They nod solemnly.

“She was in a lot of pain, barely able to speak.”, Ethan responds, wincing as he relieves the memory.

“Her body was exhausted from the trauma, also most of her ribs are bruised. We did more scans to rule out other diagnoses, so far she’s clear.”

“Thank you, Harper.”

You nod. “Now both of you take some rest and meet me later. I have Dr. Varma and Dr. Greene strictly monitoring her, not to mention Naveen hovering over her.”

“I’ll just check on her and then I’ll go rest.” You sigh, knowing that you’ll lose this battle.

“Fine, Ethan. Only five minutes, then you’re going back to bed. Or else I’ll have you on bed rest for the whole week. Dr. Trinh, make sure he actually goes back to bed will you?” She smiles lightly, nodding.

Sienna’s PoV:

You stand at the entrance of Arielle’s room, as Ethan hesitates to go in. You lead him inside, both of you softly gasping at the sight. Multiple IV’s hooked up to her, her body wrapped in several casts, not to mention her head. Her usually glowing skin now lightly pale.

“Ethan!” Naveen spots him and wraps him in a tight hug, carefully of his shoulder. Jackie and Elijah are nowhere to be found.

“Ah, Dr. Trinh. How are you doing?” He unexpectedly wraps you up in one too. ”I’m...okay I guess.” He nods understandably.

“I sent Dr. Greene and Dr. Varma on a break. They looked tired and then they told me that they both were on the night shift.”

“I’ll catch up with them later. How’s she doing?” Naveen looks back, looking at her now completely unrecognisable body.

“Considering what she’s gone through, she’s doing alright. Only time will tell.” Ethan only stands there, still as a statue, staring at her. Naveen follows your gaze.

“Ethan, do you want some privacy?” He doesn’t look at him, only shakes his head.

“Alright then.”

“Dr. Ramsey, let’s go back. You need to rest.” You lead him back to his room, worries about both of them filling your mind to the brim.

Ethan’s PoV:-

Sometime later, you’re lying in bed unable to fall asleep. You decide to pay a visit to Arielle, and slowly walk to her room making sure no one sees you.

Entering her room, you see that the bed’s empty. Your mind races for an explanation when you spot her in the corner of the room. You rush over to her, pulling her in for a hug.

“Oh, I’m so glad you’re alright…. Do you know how worried I was?” You pull back when you don’t hear a response. But you only see a sheepish smile on her face.

“Oh...well I didn’t know that doctors cared this much about the well-being of their patients. I must have gave you quite a scare if you’re this happy I’m okay”, she responds with a laugh.

“Don’t joke around, Arielle. You’re acting like you barely know me.”, you respond.

”Well that’s the case!”, she laughs. You look at her sternly.

“Oh, I’m extremely sorry but I really don’t remember meeting you. Was it at one of the medical conventions perhaps? My brain is foggy, and I don’t remember much of how I even got here.” Your eyes widen at her words.

“This can’t be true right? She’s obviously just deflecting about what happened before.”, your mind says. “Arielle, this isn’t the time to be joking around. Hours ago, you told me you love me and now you’re acting like you don’t know me.” With that she erupts into laughter.

“I’m sorry doctor, but I think you’ve hit your head. Besides, how can I even say that to someone I don’t even know.”, she says with a clueless smile.

“That can’t be true….this can’t be true. There’s no way...” But deep inside, you know that one of the factors is memory loss.

“No, no, no! Stop lying to me!”, you shout.

“Okay, now you’re freaking me out. Hello?! Is someone else here?”, she calls out.

“Arielle, stop. Don’t do this to me, I know I’ve hurt you innumerable times and I’m sorry but this isn’t fair.” She ignores you and keeps calling for someone else.

“Arielle, listen! You need to stop. Think! Try to remember!”, you shout.

“Let go of my hand! I’m sorry but I don’t know what to say. I’ve never met you in my entire life and you just can’t expect me to believe you!”, she shouts back. Her words are impossible to digest.

“What’s going on here?!”, Harper enters the room with a few more doctors in tow, shouting.

“Oh finally! This doctor here claims that he knows me when I haven’t even met him!” Her head whips around meeting your eyes.

“Ethan, we’ll talk later.” Just then, Arielle starts seizing again.

“Damnit! Nurse, administer another IV with tBa.”

The doctors crowd over her, attempting to stop her seizures as you stay there.

You stand there as your life crumbles before your eyes. The only person who’s out ever gave a damn about, the only person who truly understood you, got to know you, cared about you… now doesn’t even know your name.

And you know that it’s all your fault.

=======================================

Author’s Note:- Okay, I know y’all are probably livid and extremely angry at me but I’m sorry?! Part 3 will be out sometime soon... Bye for now!

Ethan x MC taglist:- @tsrookie | @starrystarrytrouble | @mysticaurathings | @caseyvalentineramsey | @alina-yol-ramsey | @openheartthot | @gryffindordaughterofathena | @binny1985 | @jasminedayz

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Love,

@drariellevalentine

[punksarahreese]

Coming Out | Sarah Reese

Prompt #1 from Nova’s pride 2021 list

Word count: 2224

***

Sarah always felt like maybe she just wasn’t right. There must be something wrong because she never seemed to fit in. With her absent mother and her father who left as soon as he had the chance, she somehow felt alienated in her own home. Back in public school she never had many friends and always spent her free time with her nose in a book. Popular girls turned their nose up at her comfy clothes and unruly curls, claiming she didn’t put enough effort into her look. As she grew up, her social skills never really felt like they improved, instead Sarah would just mirror the actions of those around her in hopes that they would accept it. Yet she still went through high school being called a freak and being called out for “copying” everyone. It never made sense to Sarah, how people could make friends and converse so easily. She felt like she would sound so cliche whenever she thought about it, stating that she never fit in with the other girls, but it was true.

Sarah knew about her bisexuality from a young age, that was no secret to her. She read the term in a mental health book of all places, while she was hidden in a nook of the middle school library. It was common sense to her, of course she liked more than one gender; who didn’t? She would come to learn that sexuality was a bit more complex than that, though it would take a bit more research. It felt so black and white in Sarah’s mind but a lot of people didn’t agree with it, so she let her sexuality remain a secret for a while.

Still, she had her fair share of crushes on girls and boys in almost every stage of her life. One casual girlfriend in her undergraduate program was still the only real experience Sarah had though; until Joey at least. Neither relationship went very far, either due to Sarah’s confusion with all things social or the lack of spark there. She was so busy with school and work, and her partners in both situations just didn’t feel a connection after some time. Joey was an odd one in particular and Sarah wasn’t sure if it had been more of a him thing or her inexperience that ended it. It was weird and the end didn’t hurt as much as it maybe should have.

Her autism diagnosis was not a shock to her, though it had been to her mom. The week of her 16th birthday, Sarah had made a doctor's appointment and asked to be screened. It was the first time she could make medical decisions on her own and she wanted to know already, even though deep down she had a logical hunch. Years of research and even self-screening through countless medical journals had told Sarah she was probably autistic, so she wasn’t too surprised when she got an official diagnosis less than two years later. It was sensical to her really, the way she thought and felt and acted was so different to everyone else, and an actual label made her feel so seen. This was part of why she didn’t fit in, it wasn’t her fault it was the inaccessibility of normal life that made things so much harder. Her mother didn’t agree, she hated the idea of having a neurodivergent daughter; though she would never say it. Instead any mention of autism was ignored and Sarah’s needs were not accommodated until the day she moved out. It was how life at home had always been, as unfortunate as it happened to be.

There was something else Sarah should have seen coming, with her knowledge that she wasn’t the same as everyone else. Autism often came with a disconnect between the definition of gender and one’s identity and Sarah was no exception, since social constructs almost always went over Sarah’s head. She never felt right calling herself a girl and her brain always had a half second protest whenever she ticked the “female” box on any form. Still, she tried not to think about it too much. She didn’t feel like a boy either, she knew that for certain, so that was that.

It was, in fact, not that. As she got older and the internet queer community expanded, Sarah was exposed to more research and experiences of others in her shoes. Genders outside the binary existed, it was made clear to her, and pronouns were not restricted to those assigned at birth. It was a whole new realm of possibility and it scared Sarah more than she was happy to admit. She wasn’t a girl and she knew it, yet she also wasn’t not a girl. It was so confusing, which is why the thought was almost always pushed to the back of the mind, hidden away to worry about another day.

Curiosity got the better of her one day, though, after reading a forum about neopronouns. Someone was talking about their experience using she/they pronouns, stating that it helped them relate to her identity way more than birth assigned pronouns ever had alone. The poster had noted that they always felt detached from femininity and it was almost as if they were culturally female yet mentally out of the binary. It was that comparison that clicked with Sarah and she couldn’t stop herself from testing the theory.

“Sarah uses she/they pronouns,” she stated tentatively, “Their name is Sarah and she uses she/they pronouns…”

The instant gratification shocked her a bit, unsure of why it felt so right to say such a sentence. A few minutes passed as she sat in silence in front of the laptop, mulling it over. Something about the dual pronouns felt freeing, the idea of not being bound to just the ones she was so used to using. Maybe it would be okay to try them out for a while… just to see if it stuck and still felt as validating as it did alone in her living room.

Telling someone was the next step, though, to see if they were actually comfortable with these pronouns being used about her. Sarah was apprehensive, it would be scary to ask someone to use something different, especially after all these years at Med. Still, she had no reason to fear her friends and colleagues, they should be able to accept Sarah’s wishes.

It took a couple weeks before they were ready to bring it up, after a lot more self reflection and some serious deliberation. She thought this felt right, using new pronouns like this. They weren’t too sure if non-binary was the right label for her, but it didn’t matter in that moment. One step at a time was enough and really there was all the time in the world. So one day while a group of them were at April’s apartment for dinner, Sarah decided to speak up during a lull in conversation.

“Um… Can I ask you all something?”

Eyes were on them in a second, with a chorus of nods and agreement following almost immediately. She trusted everyone there, it was only April, Noah, Natalie, and Connor. Connor had brought Doctor Bekker too but Ava had always been nice enough to Sarah so she wasn’t worried. Besides, the rumour was that Ava wasn’t straight, if Sarah chose to listen to gossip, so she of all people should understand.

“What’s up, Sarah?”

Smiling shyly at Noah, who had looked at her curiously when he spoke, they nodded slowly before starting, “Uh… well I have done a lot of thinking lately… I want to try using she/they pronouns. So I want to ask you all to use both sets of pronouns for me.”

The silence scared her at first, instant regret setting in. Sarah wasn’t sure if that was bad or not, especially with the confusion on Nat’s face. Surprisingly enough it was Ava who broke the silence and Sarah caught the sharp nudge to Connor’s ribs that the surgeon gave before speaking.

“Okay, will do. Thank you for trusting us with that, Sarah, especially me since I know we don’t speak often.”

It was the nonchalant words from the blonde that helped them relax a bit, looking at Ava in silent thanks. She glanced at the rest of them shyly, hoping the worry knitting her brow together wasn’t too apparent.

“Um,” Natalie’s interjection was the most feared, though Sarah hated to admit it. It’s not that Nat couldn’t be trusted, she was just a little new to things out of the cisgendered-heteronormative binary and it made Sarah worried she wouldn’t be immediately accepting.

“What exactly does that mean?”

Sarah stifled a sigh of relief, an explanation was understandable and not the worst answer, “So basically I am comfortable with both she/her pronouns like you use but also they/them pronouns in the singular sense. With me you can use them interchangeably, I just like both as opposed to just she/her. I don’t... completely identify as female, I guess you could say.”

“Oh!” Noah nodded, “Like ‘Sarah said she was going to the lab, they will be back soon’?”

Sarah smiled at his excitement to understand, “Exactly like that.”

“It might be hard to adjust at first…”

“But we will still try,” April added to Natalie’s words with a pointed look, “Thank you for telling us, Sarah. We will do whatever you need to feel comfortable.”

“Reese?” When Sarah looked across the table at Connor he continued, “These two sets of pronouns, do you want us to use both at the hospital or just the ones everyone knows you as?”

“Oh yeah,” Ava agreed, “Don’t want to out the resident before they’re comfortable.”

Hearing someone else use “they” while referring to Sarah made them inexplicably happy, unable to stop the little happy hand flap she often tried to mask as she looked at Ava again. The surgeon seemed to notice the grateful glance and she nodded, a charming smile on her lips. Somehow it helped that Ava wasn’t close to her, maybe because her quick acceptance made the whole situation feel safer.

“Um, maybe just keep it between all of us at first,” Sarah answered slowly, “I’m gonna tell Maggie and Doctor Charles eventually, Ethan and Will too, but I want to give it some time before everyone else knows.”

“Got it,” Connor agreed and raised the glass of whatever alcohol he had brought with him, “Cheers to Reese’s self discovery, then.”

That made quite a few of them laugh, especially Sarah, because it eased the tension. It was still a bit weird for them, she knew that it would be an adjustment, yet no one had stormed out or gotten upset so it was a win in their book. It might take some more explanation for some time and some gentle correction, from what she knew, but it was a good start. When the conversation drifted back to lighter matters, talk of work and jokes about other things, it felt like a weight had been lifted off Sarah’s shoulders. It wasn’t perfect but they felt accepted for the most part, which helped.

When April hugged them before everyone left for home, Sarah just thanked her quietly. It went without saying that arguably her closest work friend accepted them wholeheartedly and they would probably talk about it again one on one. April just hugged Sarah a bit tighter, a reassuring murmur that things would be just fine reaching Sarah’s ears.

It was a clear night when they stepped out of the apartment complex, stopping to admire the stars for a moment before heading to her car. A call of her name had Sarah turning, though, and a familiar blonde was hurrying to catch up with her.

“Sarah, hey,” Ava’s friendly smile was visible thanks to the street lights, “I just wanted to tell you I’m proud of you for doing that. I don’t know if anyone has said it to you but I know how hard coming out can be, even as an adult. If you ever need to talk to anyone, I’m around, okay?”

“I-” Sarah felt her cheeks redden a little and they were grateful for the dim lighting that may have hid it a bit, “Thank you, doctor Bekker, that means a lot.”

“Please, call me Ava,” she laughed a little before glancing behind them, “I need to drive Connor home before he tries to walk, I’ll see you at work maybe?”

Sarah pursed their lips, stifling a laugh herself as she watched the other surgeon, clearly more than tipsy, hovering behind them looking lost, “See you then.”

“We can maybe get coffee some day,” Ava added nonchalantly as she turned to walk away, “Bye, Sarah.”

Sarah was left hovering by her car, the blush having returned to settle on her face. Once again their social skills evaded them, wondering if that was an allusion to a date or if Ava was simply being friendly. Either way, the immediate acceptance and friendly gesture from the supposedly cold and competitive surgeon was enough to make her giddy, shocked with how easily things went over. Not only did Sarah successfully come out to half her friends, but they may have made a new one in the process. It wouldn’t always be easy, she knew that, yet this was a situation that they decided to count as a good experience; all things considered.

It made her feel like maybe there had never been anything wrong with them at all. They were Sarah, that’s all, and in that moment maybe she was more than enough for the right people.

[shineonyoucrazyyandere]

Hi! I been reading your Tumblr for a bit and was wondering if I can get more of Secco? He's a good boy and deserves all the sugar cubes.

Hope you don’t mind  random headcanons a situation where he “moves” on after losing Cioccolata.

Yandere! Secco clinging onto a doctor

Although Secco made it seem like he could care less about Cioccolata after his demise in an outburst, reality is his death left a gaping emptiness, and he’d have to fill it again.

He aimlessly wanders maybe taking some of his pent up frustration out on innocent people. Sinking the ground and watching them sink was briefly amusing, but not nearly as exciting as it were when filming it by his former partner’s request. 

Something just didn’t feel right even with the misery occurring right in front of him. He needed and wanted someone else with him, especially for sugar cubes. Which was another activity that was particularly dull without someone else to “toss” them to him.

Eventually he starts wandering around stalking anyone who even slightly piques his interests. Every so often he just ends up injuring whoever he stalked as they weren’t quite up to his standards for some odd reason.

Though perhaps he ends up stumbling upon you (especially if you happen to be a surgeon/doctor). There’s a moment he decides to make up his mind and lure you in. Acting like he’s some poor lost soul (in a hellish way he is perhaps)

If you happen to offer him help, his eyes lock on you like a target. He completely soaks in the positive attention, it’s a bit different from what he’s used to. However it’s better than nothing in his head.

He acts oddly perfect, doing every little thing you asked like an obedient pet. Which might seem a little bit strange from your perspective, but he does his best to make you shrug his little “quirk” off. 

You might not go around torturing and killing people like Cioccolata did but naturally Secco gravitates towards you. Shortly he’ll start actively stalking you wherever you go. Making sure to stay out of your line of vision as best as possible.

He starts getting rather jealous of any time you spend with anyone else that’s not himself. His sadistic side really comes out when he gets someone to injure themselves by his doing. Watching for the slightest sign of blood coming from their newly acquired injuries. And if you happen to treat them, Secco will happily watch or even film secretly if he got his hands on a camcorder.

He becomes noticeably more clingier to you as the time passes, even showing up in front of you seemingly out of nowhere. Asking you if you need any help with anything in an unusual tone. Most of all he becomes very interested in your job at whichever hospital you work at.

There’s a time or two he’s managed to sneak in and somehow watch you operate on a person or two. It’s miraculous he didn’t get caught, but he absolutely enjoyed you performing an incision into a person’s skin. 

At any point you try and get away from Secco, he’s quick to trap you and certainly prepared to keep you to himself. And he’ll certainly make sure you are taken somewhere that you won’t be found. 

It’s only downhill from there as he had successfully retrieved the tapes of Cioccolata performing “surgery” successfully. He definitely considers it some sort of pastime as he forcefully clings onto you, explaining happily when a certain event happen. He’ll even show you the video’s he took of you without you knowing.

Without failure he goes through everyone of those moments and gives details about the favorite parts with you in it. Even any blood that might have gotten on your hands seems to mesmerize him. Even if this all makes you sick to your stomach as Secco indulges into his sadistic pleasures.

He claims he’ll work under you, of course there’s no real option to decline as he keeps you restrained in chairs, the occasional operating table and even the ground with the work of Oasis.

Somehow he’ll get you to cooperate into giving him treats, and sweet nothings by blackmailing you through potentially eliminating family and friends. Or simply scaring you by sinking you down into the earth. 

[valdemart]

A New Experiment (NSFW ValdemarxReader)

I made a nasty Valdemar fic because I’m 🎵Human Garbage🎵

It’s Valdemar so warnings for medical kink, mentions of gore (I don’t think its that intense), dead bodies, some swearing, and everything else that goes with everybody’s favorite Quaestor.

((I know hysterical paroxysm probably wasn’t actually a treatment or whatever, and time line wise it doesn’t really fit, but for the sake of this story I do not give a fuck. Do I want to romance the horrible demon doctor? Yes? Am I foolish enough to think it’s possible? Absolutely not. This is as good as it gets, fuckos, not being murdered maybe.))

To make it an entire year as a student doctor under Doctor Valdemar was previously unheard of. If the student didn’t vanish mysteriously never to be heard from again, they fled to another country and refused to talk about it. You, however, had done it and it hadn’t even been hard. As head doctor of the palace, Valdemar had no time for anything not related to science. All you had to do was focus on work while you were working and do everything they said immediately and correctly.

You had even managed to get a few compliments from them. They were not the type to hand out praise, but you had gotten ‘adequate work’ several times and even one ‘well done’.

There were a few ‘eccentricities’ to deal with, but what genius wasn’t a little bizarre? Another year or so working under them and no doubt you’d leave to become a brilliant surgeon.

After an entire year of hard work and dedication, you wouldn’t have thought that you’d undo it all with one little mistake, but isn’t that always how it happened?

The city morgue had apparently gotten a new delivery man; specifically, a tall, brown eyed delivery man with a roguishly handsome smile. You hadn’t had a lot of time for dating while attending medical school and, well, you were only human. You had to flirt with him a little bit. Despite him hauling around unclaimed corpses, he was in the mood to flirt a little too. Doctor Valdemar was engrossed in a project so you made small talk with the man while you counted the bodies and signed his delivery ledger. He told an unfunny joke and you giggled. It was harmless and didn’t interrupt your work at all. As soon as he left, you were back to work, categorizing the corpses based on possible causes of death to be examined further.

But, later, white cleaning various beakers and test tubes, your mind began to wander. You couldn’t help the big, stupid grin plastered to your face as you thought of the delivery man. He’d be by next week and maybe by then you would have the nerve to ask him to dinner. Or maybe he would ask you, wouldn’t that be something.

Valdemar called your name loudly and impatiently and you jumped. Had they said your name already without you hearing it? They did not like having to repeat themselves. In jumping, you had managed to knock two test tubes off the table. They broke with two quiet ‘tinks’ against the floor. You stared at them wide eyed for a moment before looking up. Doctor Valdemar was less than a foot away from you and frowning.

Shit…

You hadn’t ever broken anything before. The last person to break something had been an assistant and Doctor Valdemar had stepped on their hand while they were picking up the shards, driving the glass into their skin. That had made you conscientious about maintaining a firm grip on everything in the dungeon.

After a horrible, silent moment of staring, Valdemar smiled.

“Distracted today, are we? It wouldn’t have anything to do with that handsome man that was here earlier, would it?”

They weren’t yelling, but they often didn’t so there was no telling how mad Valdemar was right now.

“I’m so sorry, Doctor Valdemar. I’ll clean it up and get right back to work.”

“Leave it for now.”

This kind of thing didn’t happen to you. You were a professional, dammit. You had never gotten in trouble before and now Valdemar was going to make you eat those broken test tubes.

Valdemar turned to the only two other staff currently on and waved their hand at them.

“Leave us.”

They exchanged glances with one another and then shot you two helpless, sympathetic looks before climbing the stairs to the palace.

“Come join me at my desk for a moment, wont you?”

Your feet felt like lead as you dragged yourself to the desk in the middle of the dungeon. Valdemar sat down, but you waited for them to nod at you before you dared to take a seat. There was another endless moment of silence as they watched you over their steepled fingers.

“Was I right? We’re you thinking of that delivery boy?”

“Yes, Doctor.”

Of all the stupid things to get in trouble for.

“Seems even the good little humans lose their heads in the spring.”

This would be funny if it wasn’t so terrifying.

“Mating season and all.”

Maybe you’ll be the first student to be forgiven?

“When was the last time you had sex?”

Valdemar didn’t waste time mincing words. A forthright question like this was embarrassing but not uncommon.

“Oh, um, two years ago I believe, Doctor.”

“Hmm, I see. Do you masturbate often?”

Despite your fear, you couldn’t help your blush at that question.

“Um, not very, I don’t think, Doctor.”

“Quantify it.”

“Um, once or twice a month.”

“I see.”

This next span of silence really does go on forever. It’s almost as though Valdemar has no intention of speaking. Their unblinking gaze is too much to bear and you speak first.

“I’m so sorry, Doctor. I promise, it won’t happen again.”

“How?”

“P-Pardon?”

“How are you going to keep it from happening again?”

Well, you hadn’t expected that question. Usually, when you apologized to someone, they just accepted that you would do better.

“I, um, I’ll just-“

Valdemar stared at you while you stuttered, their passive face making it very clear that they could wait all day for an answer.

“I don’t want to disappoint you, Doctor. I’ll do better. I won’t get distracted anymore.”

“And how can you guarantee that? The human drive to mate is so primal. It’s so deeply embedded in your brain that it will almost certainly always win over logic. I don’t blame you for what you are, but I don’t trust you to be able to resolve it on your own. After all, you aren’t even a doctor yet, are you?”

Well, at least they weren’t angry. You weren’t sure what they had planned, but it wouldn’t be like that time they broke another assistant’s arm for preparing the wrong slice of a cadaver’s brain.

“I’ll do whatever you think I need to do, Doctor.”

They rose suddenly and silently, making you flinch slightly.

“I’m glad to hear you say that. It’s refreshing for someone to take responsibility instead of blubbering excuses. Although, I would expect nothing less from you.”

You watched Valdemar walk over to one of the metal exam tables and reach underneath to pull out the gynecological stirrups. A feeling of dread washed over you, but all you could think was how well you had oiled the stirrups, as they no longer squeaked when they were moved.

“It will be a simple treatment. Not invasive at all and so little blood,” Valdemar explained, steepling their fingers together again. “Now, please undress from the waist down and lie on the table.”

You didn’t move. You couldn’t. What the hell was Valdemar planning on doing to you? Cut you? Sew you up? Because you were distracted one time?! No! Please no! This couldn’t be happening! Not this!

“D-Doctor Valdemar, please, whatever you’re planning… I’m sorry! I’ll work twice as long just-“

You could try to run, but how far would you get? Valdemar was almost supernaturally graceful and quick and if they caught you, there would be Hell to pay.

Valdemar frowned but didn’t otherwise move. They were studying your face as though they were trying to read your thoughts and figure out why you weren’t obeying them.

“Are you afraid I’m going to mutilate your genitals? Really, now. Horny is one problem I can fix, but I can’t help you if you’ve gone stupid as well. If I carve you up, I lose my only capable assistant for days while you recover.”

Valdemar sounded annoyed, but there was the slightest bit of amusement in their tone. And while you desperately did not want to stall further and really anger them, the fear of the unknown medical procedure planned for you kept you frozen in place.

“Please tell me what you’re going to do.”

Your plea was raspy as you fought and failed to hold back tears, but to your great relief, Valdemar didn’t seem any more annoyed with your sniveling. It was the same impassive face they wore when a patient pleaded to save a limb from amputation. Just a minor irritation.

“Hysterical paroxysm.”

“What?!”

Then, to your great perplexity, Valdemar grinned. Not the sharped tooth grin that accompanied the arrive of more corpses for autopsy but a closed lipped grin like…they were trying to comfort you? What was happening?

“Hysteria. A most amusing theory, but further proof that the human mind is incapable of truly grasping medical science. However, in this case? This might be the cure we need. Now then,” Valdemar said, patting the exam table. “Up you go.”

What choice did you have? You could run. If that didn’t change Valdemar’s mind about cutting you up then you’d still lose your residency. You’d never be a doctor then.

And…

This was quite possibly the nicest Valdemar had ever been to anyone. They were the smartest and most capable doctor you knew. You had been chasing their approval since day one and never once had you seen them attempt any sort of bedside manner before. But now they were endeavoring it specifically for you. Squaring your trembling shoulders the best you could, you reached up and under your coat and pulled your pants and panties down with one smooth tug. You shivered as the cool air of the dungeon hit your legs and Valdemar merely watched patiently as you worked off your shoes and folded your pants.

“There’s a good girl,” Valdemar cooed as you laid down on the table. The praise had to have been meant to mock you, but as they almost gently assisted you with putting your legs in the stirrups, you weren’t sure of anything anymore. Valdemar had cracked ribs and dislocated ankles while strapping patients into restraints before. Was this really happening?

Valdemar opened a few buttons on the bottom of your lab coat and flipped each side outward, exposing you completely. The doctor never was one to waste time with a privacy blanket.

“No wonder I’m having problems with you,” they said as they ghosted a single digit down your slit, making you shiver. “Your little cunt is so engorged that there’s no blood left for your brain.”

They spoke with an almost bored air of professionalism, like they were examining a mole and not about to finger fuck you to orgasm. As horribly embarrassed as you were, prone in front of your boss like this, you risked a quick glace downwards. You only saw the crisp white dressing wrapped around the doctor’s head as they gave you a thorough visual examination, staring intently at your vulva as they softly spread and stretched you lips.  You bit back a whine. How were you supposed to work for them after this? You’d never be able to look them in the eye again.

“Now then,” the doctor said, standing to their full height. “Let’s commence treatment.”

Two long, hard fingers that felt more like a medical instrument than a part of someone’s hand entered you swiftly. The cold rubber of the glove made you gasp and your nipples hardened under you clothing.

Valdemar didn’t move like you had expected them to and instead called your name. Reluctantly and with a great deal of mortification, you met their gaze while you were being penetrated. They stared at you, unblinking, their razor blade smile finally back on their face.

“Do feel free to make noise. It will help me speed the treatment along.”

Your head fell back as they began, their cool fingers almost scrapping at your walls as their thumb made a perfunctory back and forth motion against your clitoris. It was as sterile and unerotic as something like this was possibly capable of being. But, somehow, it was doing the trick. You could feel yourself heating up against the cool air. Despite your humiliation, your boss was actually going to make you cum.

Despite? Or because of?

Valdemar was deathly silent now and, even with your eyes being snapped shut, you could feel their gaze on your face with needle like focus. Their movements didn’t change in the slightest, almost like they were using a machine.

And yet…

You were beginning to squirm and twitch under their ministrations. You balled your fists against the cold metal of the exam table and let the first of several heady moans escape you lips. You were really going to cum on your weird boss’s fingers on a table you were going to have to see every day you worked.

That thought was your undoing.

As you bit back a squeal and your back arched off the table, Valdemar continued moving their fingers until your contractions stopped and you tried to pull away from them. Then their touch was gone completely. You allowed yourself a moment to catch your breath. Despite the horribly bizarre nature of it all, it had been a good orgasm. However, the light, warm feeling fled you faster than it usually did. Most likely it was from the stirrups and exam table and lack of a soft, warm bed or the loving caress of a partner. Your high extinguished, you wanted nothing more than to get dressed, but you didn’t have the doctor’s permission. You propped yourself up enough to see Valdemar, who was now standing a few feet to your right next to a torch. Holding their fingers up to the light, they were scissoring their two fingers back and forth, studying your cervical mucus as it stretched. A hot wave of embarrassment sent you back down.

“D-Doctor? May I get dressed now?”

You looked when they didn’t answer right away and you watched with shame as they scraped your discharge off their fingers and into a vial.

“Yes. The treatment is over now.”

Your legs cramped slightly as you removed them and stood up and your toes tingled as blood finally reached them again. That discomfort was nothing compared to the aching empty that had suddenly taken over your chest. No, you hadn’t exactly had a long-term partner before and your lovers were few and far between since most people didn’t understand the long hours of a medical student, but you hadn’t been into casual encounters either. There had been cuddling and pillow talk with them and now, as you pulled your pants up in silence, you felt ashamed and used. Obviously, Valdemar wasn’t interested in romantic entanglements, that much you’d bet any amount of money on, but had this just been some weird power trip? Or an experiment? You were grateful it hadn’t involved the removal of any of your organs like most of the doctor’s experiments, but it did nothing to stop the sob that rose in your throat.

You froze. There was no way Valdemar hadn’t heard you. They had been incredibly accommodating with you this entire time, but no doubt your crying would anger them finally. Your luck had to run out eventually. You didn’t look up as they moved towards you, their heels clicking on the stone floor.

“I’m sorr-“

Your apology was cute off when their hand grabbed your chin, forcing you to look at them. Their grip wasn’t painful, but the indifference in their eyes as they studied your face knocked the wind out of you like a fist.

“I’m so sorr-“

“Oxytocin.”

“What?”

“Oxytocin. Dreadful little chemical. But it’s always so fascinating how humans are such slaves to their hormones. In the end, what are humans but machines powered by chemicals and electrical currents?”

You shivered at their voice. That odd, detached way they spoke about humans as though they themselves were not one was also so unsettling, even if you were usually able to ignore it.

What happened next, however, was the weirdest thing to happen in all your time working under the doctor. Stiffly, and with no affection, Valdemar leaned forward and pressed their lips to your forehead. They did not pucker and they made no effort to actually kiss you, but their thin, cool lips against you was probably the closest they had ever gotten to it. It was the equivalent of pressing a lizard’s face against you for a few seconds, but it stopped your tears immediately.

“That will be sufficient comfort for you, I hope?”

“Yes, Doctor,” you replied, your voice soft with incredulousness. There was no way that had actually happened. All of this was some incredibly messed up dream. Clearly, you had been working too hard and were stressed.

“Good. Now, take your lunch hour and collect yourself. Be back here on time and set up the diaphanization chemicals. Don’t make me wait.”

“Yes, Doctor.”

Unsure of how to carry yourself, you half bowed, half curtsied before turning to ascend the stairs. Hopefully an hour would be enough time to process the last ten or so minutes. It probably wouldn’t be, but at least you were being given any time at all.

Before your foot had even hit the first step, you felt those long, thin fingers wrap tightly around your hips. You froze and your breath hitched in your throat.

“One last thing before you go,” Valdemar said softly, their breath tickling your ear as they spoke. “Do be sure to let me know if you start feeling distracted again. I need to take care of my favorite subject.”

[utterlyinevitable]

I’m bored and you’re headcanons are honestly so quality omfg but anyways write a headcanon of ethan and MC having a high school, slow burn love/not love (angsty ✨✨✨ kinda like us with our muses 💀 I’m not sure if Ethan ends up coming out as gay at the end tho-honestly if he did I’m living for it) love you lots! 💖 your tumblr niece

AHAHAHAHHAAHHAHAH no no nope Ethan will not come out as gay 🤣 But I am going to take full on creative liberty with this and you’re just gonna have to deal 😘

Ethan and Becca Meet in High School 

Ethan Ramsey was 26 years old and a TA for the school’s science department. He took the part time role on a year’s contract to help pay off some of his student loans before he started residency. 

At 17 years old, Becca was a senior at a small-town high school. 

Becca was an interesting student - very quiet but intelligent. She surrounded herself with the strangest group boys. Those boys were her lab bench mates, and were incredibly subpar. 

More than once Ethan caught the three boys playing games on their laptops and scrolling their feeds instead of paying attention. 

He watched her carry them all on her back through the course. And ask for nothing in return. 

It made his blood boil - they were clearly taking advantage of their friend. 

The next week Ethan persuaded Ms. Cook changed up the seating arrangements. 

Ethan took great pleasure in marking the boys Cs instead of the B+ they were used to getting with Becca’s help. 

Second Semester, AP Bio was kicking Becca’s ass. She needed help preparing to get the 5 she needed on the exam in order to rank Top 15 in her class before graduation.

So she attended Ms. Cook’s after school sessions. 

It seemed half the class needed extra help, so they were split up into groups. Half with Cook and half with Ramsey. Becca was assigned to Ramsey. 

As the days and weeks progressed, the after school group dwindled. 

After a choose-your-partner lab that day, Becca ended up with the same group of useless individuals. 

At study group that afternoon, Ethan confronted her about it: “I don’t know why you let them take credit for your work. Be proud of your accomplishments.” “Being proud gets you enemies.” “You’d rather have friends and compromise your integrity, than showing everyone what you’re capable of?”

That made her think. 

“I’d rather come out of high school unscathed.” “You can’t make everyone love you. The sooner you learn that, the sooner you’ll come into your own.”  “And who are you, Dr. Ramsey?”  “Someone who took every opportunity I could. I advise you do the same.” 

Over the next few weeks they got to know one another better. Ethan becoming her somewhat mentor and encouraging her to speak up more and assert herself. 

She took all his words to heart. 

He was proud and a little taken aback when she found a fallacy in one of their labs and called Ms. Cook out on it. It resulted in it being postponed to fix the errors.  

Being a high school senior meant having to choose what college to go to. 

She was getting acceptance letters left and right but she had absolutely no clue what she wanted to to with her life. 

“Did you always want to be a doctor?” she asked one afternoon.  “No. But it’s what I’m good at.”  “How did you know it’s what you wanted to pursue?”  “As much as I regret saying this, it felt like a calling.”  “Hmph. Okay.”  “You don’t agree with the notion?”  “I don’t know what I want to do. I’ve applied to so many schools and different programs. How do I know which one’s right?” 

They talked about what she’s passionate about and what makes her happiest and what careers she thinks she could pursue.  

That got her to think. Think long and hard and over a few days. 

She had a new outlook on life - she was on a new quest to find her eternal happiness. 

May came around and she took her AP exam. She got a perfect score.  _

Becca has eyes. She notices how attractive Dr. Ramsey is. Tbh everyone notices - he’s the thirst of the school district. Her girl friends even ask her about him multiple times a week. All she does is roll her eyes and say he’s too old for them.    

Becca had been all but dating Bryce Lahela for the last year and a half. 

They were friends. 

Friends who kissed and touched and spent almost every Friday and Saturday night together with the gang. 

It wasn’t a secret that Bryce was completely enamored by her. 

He wanted her. Officially. And he was tried of waiting. 

One day after school, Bryce was waiting outside Ms. Cook’s classroom for her. 

He nodded at and dodged every student that passed him as he waited. She was the last one to leave. 

“Hey,” he gave his megawatt smile.  “Hey, what’re you doing here? Don’t you have practice?”  “Ended early.” 

They exchanged small talk and Bryce finally began to lay everything out in a young, round about way. He kissed her to butter her up. 

“Be my girlfriend?”  “What’s wrong with what we already have?”  “C’mon, Becks,” he pulled her in closer by her beltloop.  “No.”  “No?”  “What’s the point? We’re just going to break up before college.”  “You don’t know that.” 

She rattled off all her reasons why: they aren’t going to the same school, they’re young, she doesn’t want to resent him, she doesn’t want to fall in love with him just for it to end badly. 

Bryce went to fight for her but was interrupted by the slam of a door. The two looked up and saw Dr. Ramsey and Ms. Cook locking up for the evening.

She pulled away from him and turned on her heels. 

At the bus stop, Becca sat with her head in her hands. 

Ethan came up next to her.   “For what it’s worth, I think you made the right decision. You’re going to change immensely over the next few years.”  “I know,” she grumbled into her palms. “It just hurts.”   _

Becca went to Stony Brook and double majored in Chemistry and Biology. 

She then attended Med School at UCLA. 

Her second year, a familiar name stared back at her from her required internal medicine textbook: Dr. Ethan Ramsey. 

Becca couldn’t help the smile as she remembered him. She’d almost forgot about the TA that impacted her life more than she could ever know.

Out of curiosity she consumed all his research. And when she finished everything, she found his direct email at Edenbrook. 

She spent an entire weekend wondering if she should email him - Ask if he remembered her and that she followed his advice. She found her calling and it was helping people, just like him. She thought about throwing a joke in there but figured it had been too many years and it probably wouldn’t translate. 

When residency came, she only had applied to Edenbrook. 

And that’s when she emailed him. 

She hadn’t gotten a response for months. 

Actually, she didn’t hear anything until her decision letter came. 

That same evening she found an email from him at the top of her inbox:  Glad to see you’ve found your voice. We look forward to welcoming you to the team. 

Ethan vaguely remembered Becca. 

Honestly, he blocked the whole TA part of his life out. 

Though, once he received her email, he personally vetted her application. And he was blown away. She wasn’t some naïve teenager. 

Becca started working at Edenbrook and wanted nothing more than to learn from Ethan himself. 

But he was different - jaded and cynical and not as approachable as she remembered. 

He pushed her to reach her potential and she pushed his buttons. 

They grew closer, especially with Naveen’s case. Basically the slow burn in canon happens. 

These two get together, officially, once their jobs at the new Bloombrook Diagnostics Hospital were instated and they were definitely both staying in Boston for the foreseeable future.  _

Becca didn’t particularly want to go to her 10-year high school reunion. She went because she was being recognized for her accomplishments with a few other alum. 

She brought her boyfriend Ethan with her.  “If I have to sit through this, so do you.”  “I can honestly say I’ve never been to a reunion.”  “Well, you’re my excuse to leave early. Gotta put the old man to bed,” she winked. 

She was grateful for him playing along instead of taking another shift at work, and it would be nice to just be a couple for once. Without expectations hanging over them as the heads of their respective departments at work. 

They had been in the ballroom for less than 15 minutes before they heard the loud whispers circulating. 

Seems like Becca wasn’t the only one who remember the sexiest TA in all of high school history and of teenage dreams. 

There were a bunch of intrusive questions being thrown at them and people coming up to them for the low down. 

They tried not to be rude in their admonishments but the whole situation was awkward as fuck. Maybe it wasn’t a good idea to bring him with her.... 

But there was no going back now. 

And then Bryce sauntered over. 

They hadn’t spoken to one another since senior prom when he took her best friend as a date and then hooked up with someone else at the after party. 

“Rebecca, you look amazing,” he came in for a hug.  “Thank you, Bryce.” 

They had awkward catch ups at one side of the table as Ethan sat at the other end fending off questions from other girls and a select group of boys that remembered him. 

Bryce and Becca talked about what they’ve been up to, how he’s now a surgeon and what brought him back home. 

They lamented about how it’s strange they’re both in medicine and never spoke of that as a career path way back when. 

In their long, flowing and unawkward conversation, they settled that it was best they went their separate ways. 

They settled on the agreement that they didn’t think they’d end up at the schools they went to if they did date. They assumed love would reign and they’d choose to stay close by, and New York and California were not close by. 

With all the long awaited closure finally out of the way, Bryce motioned towards Ethan; “So, you and that guy? How’d that happen?” 

She knew what he was thinking and was quick to squash any rumors from starting.

“We work together. Didn’t mean for it to happen, it just kind of fell together.”  “You look happy.”  “I am.” 

Bryce was bold in his next assumption. Knowing Becca as the girl who always spoke about never getting married and being a free bird as her main reasons for never committing to a boy, he wanted to catch her of guard:   “Is it love?” 

He wasn’t prepared for her answer.

“Yes.” 

People change and are allowed to evolve. But it’s hard to imagine someone you once loved as anything other than who they were. And it’s even harder to see them in love with someone else. 

[kaimelia]

could you write something about Amelia and Owen being friends again? after she tells Owen about the baby? thank you !

Happier

a/n: hi! sorry for the delay in posting, it’s been a weird week. i hope this is what you were looking for, it’s more of a long-term thing rather than a one moment fic.

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“Can you see if Amelia can take Leo?” Teddy moved to grab her phone, pulling up Amelia’s contact and sending a quick text.

“She’s not going to want to, Owen. He’s probably gonna get her sick from whatever Allison has.”

“Just ask, okay?” His girlfriend set down the phone before it buzzed. “Is that her?”

“She can take Leo, do you want her to stop by and pick him up?” Owen nodded, shifting the crying baby in his arms. Allison had come down with some bug and taking care of a sick baby was proving to be more work than either of them anticipated. Sure, Leo had gotten fevers when he was young, but even at the youngest Owen had known him, Leo was only six months old. “Okay, she says she’ll be here soon, she just has to put the car seat into Link’s car.”

“Link?”

“Her boyfriend, the one we work with?”

“I know who Link is, but is he gonna be with her and Leo?”

“I mean, probably. Is that an issue? Is Link a psychopath and I’m just not aware of this?” Teddy waited for him to respond, instead just watching as he rocked back and forth with the baby. “Owen?”

“Hm?”

“You’re being weird about Amelia and Link.” He shrugged his shoulders and sat down in the nursery chair. “For the record, I think he’s good for her. She looks really happy, and I know that you two have a lot of history, but you should try to be happy for Amelia.”

“They’re having a baby, her and Link.” The blonde woman raised her eyebrows at him and crossed her arms over her chest.

“Okay, so she’s moving on. Just try to be happy for her, Owen.”

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

“He slept for most of the night. And we had Cheerios for breakfast, so he should be pretty easy for a while.”  Amelia handed over the small bag that he and Teddy had packed for Leo as Link walked up behind her.

“And here’s the little guy,” Link said excitedly, bouncing the boy on his hip. Owen took his son before smiling and rustling his hair.

“Thank you, again.” Amelia smiled.

“Of course. You guys can do it for us one day.” At her words, his eyes drifted down to look at her stomach, where her hand rested on her bump, which was more obvious than before. Silence settled between for a moment before Link wrapped his arm around Amelia’s waist.

“Well, we should probably get going, we have plans for lunch.” The couple said goodbye to Owen and headed back to their car. “That was painfully awkward,” Link commented, backing the car out of the driveway.

“He’s been weird ever since I told him about the baby. I wish that we could all just move on and be friends. I mean, he had a baby with Teddy and I was fine with that, why can’t he just be the same?” Link grabbed her hand over the console of the car.

“You weren’t so fine with it at first. Give him some time, he’ll come around.”

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

Meredith’s hearing took longer than expected. Owen could swear he’d been sitting in the lobby waiting for at least the past 7 hours. Sure, he knew that legal processes took a long time and blah blah, but they’d already finished the hearings and now they were just waiting. Amelia, Link, and Teddy had returned a few minutes ago, sharing the news that Castello had died (something he thought Amelia seemed a little too excited about) and everyone had returned back to what they were doing before that. He sighed, checking his watch, hoping to make time speed up by any rate. Owen stood up and got himself another coffee, turning back around to the couch while taking a sip and sitting back down and engulfing his attention into his phone.

“Hey,” Amelia muttered, sitting on the couch across from him. “I feel completely dead.” Owen looked up and offered her a smile.

“I know. Are you going to stay until they have news?” Amelia nodded, adjusting the pillow behind her back.

“Yeah, Meredith drove me here, anyway. I was thinking about leaving with Link, but Meredith would pester me about it for the next few months, so we’re gonna stay. How about you?”

“Staying.” The two engaged in some small talk for the next few minutes before Link walked over, sitting down next to Amelia on the couch. Owen watched as the brunette smiled up at her boyfriend, and leaned her body against his.

“You look exhausted,” the orthopedic surgeon commented, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. “Do you wanna head out? I’m sure Meredith won’t hate you.”

“No, she’ll just leave me behind whenever we carpool to work. Although, who knows if that’ll be happening any more.” Owen raised his eyebrows.

“Really?”

“I’m just being honest here.” He couldn’t help but feel awkward as Link whispered something into her ear, emitting a laugh from her as she glanced up at her boyfriend, a large grin spread across her face.

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

Link looked terrified. Frankly, Owen had just told him that parenthood was the most terrifying thing ever and he was just going to be more and more scared, which was not the response he was hoping for. Owen seemed to notice and let out a sigh. “It seems bad, but you’re going to be fine. I promise that everyone makes it sound more terrifying than it is.”

“Didn’t you just say-”

“Of course you’re going to be terrified, but once he’s born you’ll also be insanely happy. And everything will be perfect for a while.”

“I’m just worried about Amelia. She’s scared of what’ll happen and I know she’s still dealing with a lot of grief. From Christopher.” Link stopped as he handed the nurse the instrument he was using. “And with the extra stress from whatever’s happening with Richard, she’s pushing herself, and she doesn’t want any input from me, of course.” He looked up to see Owen standing still. “Sorry, I probably shouldn’t have said anything-”

“No, it’s okay. We’re all family now, right?” Link nodded.

“Right.”

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

He had settled outside of their hospital room, hoping to take his mind off of the cancellation of his wedding, and probably the end of his relationship with Teddy. Amelia and Link were laying on the hospital bed with his arm wrapped around her while both of them were completely enamored by their son who was laying in her arms. Owen smiled softly, remembering when Allison had just been born and he was just as happy. It had only been a few months since that time, but he would do anything to get that happiness back. He didn’t want to interrupt their little bubble of happiness, even as much as he wanted to go in and hold the baby and share some of their happiness. He knew if he went in the room, they’d ask why he was at the hospital instead of getting married and he would have to explain everything. There’d be a time for that in the future.

He didn’t know how much time had passed, but eventually, Link stood up from the bed to rock the baby around. Amelia looked over and saw Owen standing outside of the window and waved to him. He waved back politely, noticing the smile on her face. She had rarely smiled like that while they were together and it was a smile he had just gotten to see more recently. She looked happy. Happier than he had ever seen her, and he was truly happy for her and Link. He knew that Link was good for her, better than he could be.

And that was it. It was suddenly that simple; she was happy and he was happy for her.

[pb-nj]

(So I made a thiiiiing and this thought wouldn't leave me and this.. just happened. I've convinced myself to write a fic after 7 years? There will be a few British slang in there jsyk but its 4am and my mind can't decipher between American and British slang anymore.)

Tsundere

3 Times Nico acts out tsundere (and Levi knowing how to perfectly deal with it) and the 1 time he blurts out the truth

Tsundere: A fictional character who fits the archetype of having cold and even hostile personality towards another person before gradually showing a warm and caring side over time.

I Love You

Levi never shied away from speaking his affection and it was one of those mornings he stayed overnight at Nico's knowing they have the morning off the next day. Watching the fellow across the kitchen island wearing nothing but track pants, hair floopy and hanging over his eyes while preparing their breakfast, he can't help but blurt it out, "I love you."

Instantaneously, without even looking up, Nico's sideway smirk appears on his lips, "I know you do."

"You.. Are such an ass." Levi rolls his eyes but there was mirth in his tone as he shakes his head at Nico.

He doesn't need to hear it. He used to yearn for Nico to say it back but now..

Now he knows it's in the way Nico cuts up Levi's toast into perfect triangles, without crust, butter and then peanut butter and just a smidgen of jam on top, just the way Levi likes it.

It's in the way he grabs Levi's waist and pulls him in for a quick peck as the other was on his way to grab some milk from the fridge. Nico doesn't let go of him and Levi complains the coffee will go cold. Nico would just smile and let him go but his eyes would follow Levi's every movement.

It's in the way Nico knows just how Levi likes his coffee and would watch Levi's reaction to gauge if he's done it perfectly (and he knows when it isn't because Levi is the worst liar and Nico won't hesitate to grab the mug, pour it down the sink and make him another one until it is spot on).

It's in the way that Nico convinces Levi to just stay the rest of the morning and he can borrow his clothes so that Levi doesn't have to go home and get ready for their afternoon shift. Levi protests because the clothes would be too big but Nico would keep pulling him back, suggest to showering together even and Levi relents.

It's in the way Nico would hold Levi's hand over the console as they're driving to work and when they're at a stoplight, he'd lift the hand his holding, kiss the back of it as he looks softly over at Levi, I love you too

 Hold Me Close

Levi found him eventually, in one of their favourite on call rooms. Why he didn't think of coming here first he didn't know. He should've known better that this would be where Nico is most comfortable sulking on his own. It's the smallest on call room but the single bed can fit two people. Nico likes small spaces when he's emotional, likes knowing where all the corners of the room are and feels grounded when the walls of the room are within touching distance. 

He was currently sat on the edge of the bed, hands clasped together, staring at the blank wall. He's lost yet another patient, this one he actually got close to and got to know well. He was only 18 and was inspired to be a surgeon. Nico called him his little prodigy. Nothing went wrong this time, the boy's body just gave out and Levi was scrubbed in to this surgery with Nico and even he had a hard time calling the time of death when Nico couldn't utter a word, just stood there rooted on the spot looking down at the boy as if it was all just going to be a joke and his heart would pick up again. 

"Do you want some company? Maybe, I can hold you?"

Nico shakes his head, letting out an exasperated sigh as he finally looks up at Levi, "No Levi, I don't want to be held. Do you want to be held?"

His tone and eyes were annoyed but Levi knows him now, he just has to look at the shivering hands and he knows.

"Yes, I'd like to be held. I know he was your patient but I've grown fond of him too."

Nico's eyes changed from angered to numb before he drops his eyes and nods, patting the space next to him. Gingerly, Levi makes his way over, wraps his arms around Nico's waist and hugs him from the side. Nico wraps an arm around his shoulder, patting soothingly. 

Later on, they'd end up lying on the bed and it's Nico who has his arms wrapped around Levi's waist, face hidden on Levi's neck as he makes ragged breaths, trying to keep himself from crying. Levi pretends he doesn't know and stops himself making soothing caresses to keep up with the pretense. Nico knows how obvious he's being but he is grateful Levi is letting him keep whatever strong facade he has left. Thank you, I needed you the most.

 Stress Relief

"Just stress relief."

Levi is replaying this phrase in his head as he looks up at the fancy hotel ceiling, catching his breath. He should've known better than to agree to this but his very being is craving and yearning for Nico still. And the sex is amazing, always was.

He thought he's already gotten used to Nico's cold persona but sometimes it gets too much and he just wants to hear exactly what Nico is feeling and not play the little hidden affection game they've somehow fallen into. That led to their breakup and it was agonising. 

Nico was.. is, his first love and he can't let go that easily. Nico didn't seem to have a hard time carrying on with life after the breakup. Levi is still a mess and he isn't afraid of showing it. Although when the pandemic hit, he'd watch Nico worriedly, knowing well that the fellow is keeping it all in and pretending to be numb to everything.

He looks at the fancy clock in the room and gosh why is everything so fancy and why did Nico choose this hotel just for a few hours of romp in the sack? Truth be told, Nico invited Levi over to his apartment but it was too familiar, too soon, too.... intimate for what they only are now.

The Levi who thought he knew Nico throughout would have thought that this is Nico's way of showing he missed him, by taking him back to the place where they've shared memories. The Levi now, who wants to protect whatever sanity he has left, pushed for a hotel room and not thinking of any glimmering hope. 

Levi realises he's been looking at the clock without actually checking the time. 10pm, he can still catch the commute home. 

Just as he sat up, Nico attempted to throw an arm around his waist and it ended up connecting quite strongly against his bare chest. "Ow!"

"Shit sorry! I-.. where.. are.. are you leaving?" Nico raises one brow, sitting up and looking so adorably confused that Levi could hardly stop himself from leaning over to kiss that expression away. He doesn't. 

"Yeah it's late and I need to go home before the last commute."

"But.. Wh-.. Okay." 

Levi searches his face but Nico just turns away, scratching the back of his neck as he lies down, back facing Levi. He sighs as he moves to get up, cleans himself and put his clothes back on. 

The silence was awkward and Levi couldn't wait to get out of there. Just as he makes his way to the door, Nico bolts out of bed, naked and all, grabbing Levi's elbow. 

"You know, there's a perfectly good bath tub we-.. You didn't get to use at all and baths are good stress relief." He gives him a coy smile and Levi could only blink a few times, eyes betraying how perplexed he's feeling. 

"It's such a waste, I mean I could run you a bath and maybe I can join you too? I mean if we're relieving stress, might as well just go all out right?"

Levi stands there, silent for god knows how long. He's tempted to rebutt and say he isn't stress out anymore but he notices Nico's fidgeting fingers on his free hand. Levi knows this gesture, knows what Nico is not saying and he isn't sure if he wants to fall back into this routine again. 

But as he watches Nico close and open his free hand, notice his pleading eyes which he normally never allows to show, Levi lets go of the door knob and nods. 

He moves to put his bag back down and he doesn't see the way Nico smiles behind him before preparing the bath. 

Minutes later, they're silent in the tub, Levi's back against Nico's chest as they relax in the warmth of the water. The silence isn't awkward this time and Nico languidly places kisses on Levi's shoulder. 

And then a few more hours later, Nico watches the sleeping Levi across from him, lying on his side facing Nico. He watches his lashes flutter and makes the decision to pull him across and tuck him against his chest, head underneath his chin and wrapping his arms securely around Levi. It's then he finally feels comfortable and slowly falls asleep, will you come back to me?

 "I can't lose you"

Levi was walking ahead of Nico, looking for something in his bag. It's been weeks of this colleagues with benefits things they have. They can't exactly be friends with benefits because they hardly ever talk when they're not having sex and sometimes they tend to get into a spat when Nico blatantly ignores some of Levi's diagnosis. Levi sometimes thinks it's probably because Nico loves riling him up and he's always known Nico finds him cute when he's all vexed and pouty, not that Nico can see that from the behind his mask. 

They're on their way to Nico's because Levi finally felt guilty for making Nico spend money on hotels whenever they have sex and Nico doesn't let him pay. But if Levi wants to be true to himself, it's because maybe, just maybe something in their dynamic may change if they go back to where they used to do things together. His heart is on the line, he knows this. He's gotten his hopes up again, he knows this. But Nico always asks him to stay afterwards and he remembers falling asleep by himself but always wakes up with him in Nico's arms and.. It has to mean something right?

"I can't lose you." Levi stops, is confused for minute before he realises the voice came from behind him. He looks back and sees a very shocked Nico who seems to also not believe that came out from his own mouth. 

"What? What do you mean?" He walks back to Nico, looking up at him. This is the closest he's been to the fellow without sex as a prerequisite.

"I..." Nico swallows thickly, avoiding Levi's gaze as he takes a shaky breath. "I've just been thinking what if it was you on that bed and not Meredith Grey. And god knows I'm glad it's not you and I know this is shitty of me because everyone needs Meredith Grey but what if you were one of those people who I can't wake up, whose life is dependent on a machine and.."

He trails off, closing his eyes before finally looking back at Levi. He reaches for Levi's hands and holds them delicately as if he would crumble at the slightest touch.

"I don't deserve you and I'm not someone who will say how I feel all the time. I show my affections differently and it's not how you want to be loved but... The thought of losing you forever, I don't think I can ever live with that." 

Half of Nico's face is obscured by his mask but his eyes show so much, so much that Levi has never seen him show before and thinks he doesn't even need to hear all those to know what Nico wants to say. 

"I love you Levi and it's stupid that it took a world pandemic to make me realise how much I do and how much I don't want to lose you. And I want to make every single second we have together count. I won't be a perfect lover but I hope you know, whatever I don't say, you will still feel how much I care about you." Nico pulls him closer, anxiously waiting for an answer and yes they're breaking the distance rule but they're both too engrossed to worry (and to Levi's excuse and relief they've both tested negative)

Levi breaks the eye contact and laughs, shaking his head, before looking back up at Nico. "With how much you've said tonight, I don't think you need to say anymore for the rest of our lives."

Nico's eyes widened before they crinkle, finally letting out a relieved chuckle. "The rest of our lives?"

"If you'll have me?" Levi shrugs shyly.

"I won't have anyone else, I'm in love with you Levi."

Levi smiles, genuinely smiles for the first time in weeks and he wants to kiss Nico badly but he'd rather save it in the comforts of their privacy. He moves to turn around and go but Nico holds him back, "You're not gonna say it back?"

Levi gives him an amused pointed look and they both know where this is headed, "I will in 2 minutes. I'd just like to see you sweat it out."

Nico laughs and just like Levi did back then, this time he's the one who hugs Levi from behind, holding him close and from now on he's never letting go.

Be mine, forever

[captainscanadian]

Star Crossed | Chris Beck x Reader (Moonshine)

My Masterlist

Series Masterlist

Summary: It’s Chris Beck’s 21st birthday and he’s drunk on moonshine. 

Word Count: 1200+

Pairing: College!Chris Beck x Reader

Warnings: Mild Swearing, Alcohol, One Dorky & Drunk 21 year old Christopher Beck 

A/N: After stalling for a whole year, I finally wrote the second instalment of this non-linear one shot series. The concept was inspired by @baezen​‘s It’s Time (seriously, go read it!). Dedicated to my darlings @nasabeck​ and @dramadreamer14​! I had to get this part out in time for his 21st birthday, which is on August 2nd, 2020. Let’s all wish one space nerd a very happy birthday! 

“I love you, Moonshine!” Chris Beck let out a giggle at his own words, which was followed by a hiccup. “Oh yeah… you’re my Moonshine.” He stressed the last word, an obvious pun that his drunken self had thought to be quite genius. 

Of course, it was genius. It had two meanings: he was drunk on moonshine, just as he was in love with his Moonshine. Only if NASA could see how smart he really was, he figured that they would indeed hire him right on the spot. 

You rolled your eyes at his words, tightening your grip around his torso as the two of you walked along the sidewalk, constantly tripping over the pavement thanks to his wobble. Why must it be so hard for him to walk in a straight line while he was drunk? 

The task of dragging your boyfriend back to his childhood home was not seeming to be a one’s man job as you had expected it would be. Who would have known that he would make such an annoying drunk? 

As it was his twenty-first birthday, you had decided to head out for drinks with some of your friends from high school. Being back in Hartford for the summer after passing your MCATs, the two of you had agreed to use the time off to recharge yourselves before your senior year of college. 

While Chris had found himself a job at the Travelers ScienceDome Planetarium, you had started volunteering at the local children’s hospital. Both of you were on the right track with your respective career paths, your dreams now a step closer to becoming a reality. You’ll become an immunologist and he’ll become a flight surgeon. That had always been your plan, ever since the two of you had first met five years ago. 

“Oh I know how much you love moonshine, Christopher.” You let out a sigh as you finally reached the Beck residence, which was just down the street from your own childhood home. But you had already informed your parents that you were spending the night with Chris, as it was his birthday after all. 

They never minded you spending so much time at his house, as the two of you had been study buddies spending the night at each other’s houses long before you had even given in to your feelings and started dating at the end of high school. 

“And now I’ve got to get you into the house without waking up your parents. I guess I better call Amy ‘cause this is not a one man’s job.” Reaching into your pocket to grab your phone, you called your boyfriend’s younger sister. 

Amy Beck was furious to have been woken up from her beauty sleep, not at you for requesting her assistance in getting Chris safely inside but at her brother for having gotten pissed drunk on his birthday. She had somehow assumed that he would be a much more responsible drunk. But that turned out to be false when she found him lying flat on his face in their front lawn.

“Oh dear God, what have you done to my brother?!” 

You looked up at her in disbelief. “He had too much moonshine.” 

“Moonshine?” She raised her eyebrow at her brother’s choice of his first legal drink. “Why am I not fucking surprised?”

“I do love one space nerd.” You declared as you walked over to grab his right arm, Amy taking his left. Lifting him off of the lawn, the two of you dragged him inside of the house and up the stairs. 

“MOONSHINE-”

“SHH!” Amy was quick to place her free hand over his mouth. “You’re going to wake up mom and dad, you idiot! If that happens, your ass is grass.” 

His mouth stayed shut until you reached his bedroom, his drunken words turning into inaudible muffles, thanks to his sister. 

“Okay, I got him from here. Thanks, Amy.” You gave her a nod of gratitude once you reached upstairs. 

“Moonshine…” Chris mumbled as the two of you entered his bedroom. 

“Hm…” 

“I love you.” He let out a giggle, his hands clutching onto your waist as he dropped onto his bed and pulled you on top of him. 

“Christopher!” You groaned. “Shut up, you’re drunk. Just let me get you out of these clothes and into the shower, okay? Let me go.” 

He shook his head. “Nope! Never...” He looked up at you with his bloodshot eyes, another giggle escaped his lips. “I’m never going to let you go, Moonshine.” 

“Stop calling me Moonshine!” You rolled your eyes as you got out of his grip, climbing out his bed and walking over to his closet to grab him a change of clothes. “I really don’t like being nicknamed after an alcoholic beverage that you seem to have had too much of.” 

“Fine… no more Moonshine.” Chris whined, his lips curling into a pout as he stared at the glow in the dark stars that his mother had covered his ceiling with when he was a young boy, going through what she had thought was a space phase until he had grown into it. Even into his adolescence, he didn’t have it in him to remove them. Falling asleep under the stars was a dream that seemed so distant. “How about… Stardust?” 

You let out a sigh of defeat as you grabbed a pair of pyjama shorts for him to change into and walked back to him. “I’m starting to think that you love space more than you love me, Beck.” You thought you were joking, but you really weren’t. At one point, you did think that he loved space more than you. You just hadn’t realized it back then. 

“Lies…” He shook his head quickly. “I love you, Moonshine.” 

“Stardust.” You corrected him, shaking your head as you laughed at just how drunk he really was. You started to find it more adorable than annoying. “Come on now, let’s get you in the shower.” 

“Fine.” He gave in, pouting once again and holding out his hand. 

You grabbed onto his hand and pulled him up, dragging him over to the bathroom. “Shower and get dressed quick, okay?” 

He gave you a nod and gave you a thumbs up. “Yes, ma’am.” Scratching the back of his head, he closed the door behind him. “I love you so much, my Moonshine!” 

Though you didn’t say it back, you couldn’t deny that you did love him back. You loved this dork more than anything in this world. You even loved him more than immunology. 

Though he was a few years older now, he was still the same Christopher Beck whom you had befriended during your junior year of high school. You had both grown up since that chance meeting four years ago now. But you were still each other’s best friends. Even though you now shared a lot more intimacy, you just hoped that the two of you would remain best friends for the rest of your lives. Life would suck otherwise. 

Life did suck otherwise, but you didn’t realize that until you found yourself getting drunk on moonshine during Chris’ birthdays while he was in space. Maybe you shouldn’t have let him go. Maybe you should have. Could things have been any different? Would the stars have been aligned differently?

Were you really his Moonshine? You didn’t know anymore. You wanted to believe that he still loved you even more than he loved the stars. But you knew that it was far from the truth. The two of you were just star crossed lovers, bound to fall apart. 

[detectivejay-chuckles-halstead]

Jay Halstead x Reader

Description:  Write a story about someone cleaning out their attic. They find an old piece of clothing, and inside of its pocket is an old keepsake.

Words: 4238

Warnings: MCD

Pairings: Jay Halstead x Reader

Sammy was at school, so you took the opportunity to do some much needed cleaning. You hadn’t touched the attic in months, not since...You didn’t like thinking about it, tried to avoid it. Most of his stuff had been shoved up in the attic with the help of his team. You’d told them you’d go through it when you were ready. It had taken a while, but you were finally ready. 

It was a slow process to even get into the attic, trying to tell yourself it wasn’t the right time. But if it wasn’t the right time now, it would never be the right time. 

There were three stacks of boxes, about nine boxes total, all labeled with his name. Jay. You couldn’t figure out how his life could be boxed into nine boxes. He had taken up so much room in your heart and in your life. There were things that weren’t in the boxes, that were around the house. Pictures. The cased flag from his funeral, his badge, his dress blues hat. His favorite clothes. His ashes in an urn on the mantle. You couldn’t help but finger his wedding ring on the chain around your neck. 

You brought the first box down from the stack, sitting cross legged in front of it, methodically going through each item. You weren’t going to get rid of anything, but you knew you had to go through it, to process everything. 

It had been six months since you’d lost him, the hardest six months of your life. There was no doubt about that. Each day was a little easier than the last, but you couldn’t help but remember those first few weeks which had been the hardest. You couldn’t help but remember the day you found out he was gone. 

-----

Six Months Ago

It was a normal day like any other, smiling as you woke up next to your amazing husband. His arms held you close to his body, perfectly molded to him. He’d always said you were his missing puzzle piece, how perfectly the two of you fit together. It was a nice calm morning, until your five year old came bounding in, joining the two of you in bed.

He was the best thing that had happened to you. For a long time, you’d thought it had been Jay, until Sammy came around. You would kill for your little boy, and would definitely die for him without a second thought. And you knew Jay felt the same way. Sammy was your miracle. For a long time, you thought a child wasn’t part of your plan. You’d suffered through two miscarriages, countless doctors appointments. There had been countless nights crying into Jay’s chest as he held you close, as you wondered why the universe thought it wasn’t meant to be. You’d been hopeful when the pregnancy test came back positive, but very reserved. Nothing scared you more than losing another baby. Jay had been the optimistic one for the two of you. And the day Sammy was born, you thought you were dreaming until you held that crying baby in your arms with Jay smiling at your side. 

“Do you have to go?” you asked Jay when his phone went off on the bedside table. He just gave you a smile and a kiss. 

“You know Chicago. Crime stops for nothing. I’ll call you when I can,” he assured you as he got up, your eyes scanning over his perfect body. You no longer counted the scars, or the bruises when he had them. You still worried, but it was something you were used to by that time. 

“Just no visiting me at work, got it?” you reminded him, getting a laugh. 

“I promise I’ll do my best.” A visit at work usually meant he’d gotten hurt. Most of the time, though, it meant a victim or criminal was the one that got hurt. 

“You better, Jay Halstead. I love you too much to lose you.”

“I love you too,” he seconded, kissing you before kissing Sammy. The little boy -- who was a spitting image of his father -- giggled, smiling as he pulled his dad in for just a second longer. “I love you, little man.” 

“Love you, daddy.” 

You’d gotten Sammy off to school without a hitch, which was a miracle in itself. Usually, there was a lot of kicking and screaming and crying. You were thankful for the easy morning, strolling into work like any other day. 

“How’s my favorite sister-in-law?” Will asked you from his locker as you hung up your jacket. 

“How many times do I have to remind you that I’m your only sister-in-law?” you countered with a smile, pulling out your phone to show him pictures of his nephew. 

“I swear, he’s looking more and more like Jay every day.” You couldn’t disagree with that.

“Yeah. Eighteen hours of horrendous labor, and he comes out a carbon copy of his dad,” you joked before heading off to start off your morning in the ED. 

There’d been no texts from Jay that day, which didn’t worry you too much, considering it happened sometimes. Especially when caught up in a case. It was a little suspicious, though, when you got a call from Voight to not expect Jay home that night. Usually, it was Jay letting you know he’d been gone for the night. Again, though, it didn’t worry you too much. 

Going to bed that night, you’d just had a gut feeling that something wasn’t right, but didn’t ask. Oh, how you wished you’d asked. 

Getting Sammy to school the next morning was harder than the previous day. You couldn’t figure out why, the boy kicking and screaming. He’d been crying for Jay all morning, and you wanted to do nothing but swing by the station to show him that Daddy was okay. But something in you stopped you. Instead, you dropped him off at school with tears still on his cheeks. 

You went to work, trying to shake off whatever feeling you had. It was difficult, not letting it affect your job, but it was doable. That was until you heard the ambulance report on the radio. You were on the trauma doctor that day, but Maggie quickly pulled you, telling Ethan to meet the crew in Baghdad. That didn’t mean you didn’t hear what the paramedics were saying.

“Forty year old male, CPD officer, shot by offender. GSW to the left chest, no exit wound. Hypotensive and bradycardic. GCS 8, blunt force trauma to head and face. Pupils are equal and reactive. Two large-bore IVs bilateral ACs with 2 litres fluid wide open. Five out.” 

You didn’t know it was Jay, but at the same time you did. In your gut, you knew. And your fears were proven correct when they wheeled him through the door. The short glimpse you got of him told you things were not looking good. 

They’d cut off his shirt, the same one he’d left the house in the previous morning. EKG stickers were stamped across his chest. A non-rebreather was strapped to his face, giving him oxygen that was much needed. Blood covered his face, matted in his hair. His eyes were closed, chest heaving with each breath. You couldn’t tear your eyes away, even as they pulled the curtain to block your view. Not until you felt a firm hand on your shoulder.

Anger grew in the pit of your stomach, quickly drowning out the worry and fear. Voight stood next to you, a look of pity on his face. You couldn’t help it, it was your instinctual reaction.

“You were supposed to keep him safe!” you yelled at the older man, but he didn’t flinch. “He is supposed to come home every night, safe! And you couldn’t do that?” 

“Y/N, let me explain,” he said, voice unwavering, as if he didn’t care. You knew that wasn’t true though, Intelligence being a family after all, which at this point you scoffed at. What family would let something like this happen?

“Explain? Explain what, Hank?” you continued, cutting him off before he had a chance to say anything further. “Explain how you couldn’t keep my husband safe! Huh? Explain that to me, because that is your job! It’s your job to make sure he comes home to his wife and to his son every night!” You felt Will grab your elbow, shaking him off quickly as you shoved your hands into Hank’s chest as you continued. “Explain to me how my husband is in that trauma room fighting for his life! Because you better have a damn good reason, because it’s your life on the line too! Because if he doesn’t make it, I’ll kill you myself.” There was anger and truth in your words, spitting them out like fire as the rage began to consume you. Because it was easier to feel rage and anger than it was to admit how terrified you actually were. 

“We were chasing a lead, weren’t expecting the deal to go south. Jay was caught in the crossfire.”

“He better pull through, Hank,” you reminded him again, before letting Will walk you to a chair at the nurse’s station, knowing you didn’t want to be far from Jay. 

It didn’t take long for him to be whisked away to emergency surgery, and for Will to take you up to the surgery waiting room, along with the Intelligence team. None of them said anything to you, or even looked your way until you mentioned something to Will.

“Sammy’s at school. Usually, Jay would pick him up,” you said softly, not knowing any of them had heard you. 

“I’ll go get him, take him back to your place,” Kim assured you, taking Adam with her. You nodded, not wanting to leave the hospital. Not until you knew Jay would be okay. 

Honestly, you didn’t know how long you’d been sitting in the waiting room, eating when Will brought you food and drinking when he brought you water. You couldn’t bring yourself to move, worried you’d miss when the surgeon would come out to tell you what was going on. 

“Dr Halstead,” Marcell said when he walked out, taking a seat next to you. A quick glance at the clock told you it was going on eight hours since ay had been brought in. “He’s out of surgery. Luckily the bullet missed a lot of the important stuff. Just a small knick on his subclavian artery, which we were able to fix fairly easily. His internal bleeding is also controlled. What we’re most worried about is the extent of his head trauma, which time will only tell. He should be waking up soon, if you want to see him,” he told you, letting out the sigh of relief you didn’t know you’d been holding in. 

Sure enough, there he was, skin pale, but chest rising and falling. You sat next to him, taking his hand in yours, waiting. Just waiting. For some sign he was really okay. Even when Will told you to rest, you couldn’t bring yourself to do it. There had been times before where you thought you might lose him, but this was different. This felt like the real deal, and you didn’t want to waste a second away from him. 

Around two in the morning was when you felt the pressure on your hand, looking up to see his eyes fluttering open. Your eyes met his, those beautiful ocean eyes. Those two seconds of looking into his eyes felt like an eternity until they closed again, a deep breath exiting his mouth, and the worst sound you could think of. 

All of your medical training went out the window, as you sat there as the wife. Not as the doctor. Because if you were the doctor you would have known that his heart was no longer beating. But you did know that, your instincts kicking in as you pressed the blue button on the wall, hands pushing hard on his chest, feeling his ribs cracking underneath your hands. The sound of his flatline piercing the silence of the room, mingling with your heavy breathing as you held back your tears. 

Hands were on your arms, pulling you away. Vaguely you heard someone say your name, but the sound of the blood rushing in your ears was too loud to hear what they were saying. Not as you saw them keep pushing on his chest, shove a tube down his throat, push multiple medicines to try and get the electricity flowing through his heart again. 

“Time of death, two fourty eight,” Marcell said to the team, to you. Whoever had pulled you away was the entire reason you were still standing as your legs gave out from underneath you. The love of your life was gone, and you weren’t sure what that would mean for the rest of your life.

-----

Remembering that day was difficult, it would be for anybody. But for you, it hit a little harder every time. The fact that there was nothing you could do. They had later told you it was a blood clot. One blood clot took away the love of your life. 

As you continued through the boxes, you couldn’t help but remember some of the better moments between the two of you, flooding back with some of the items you’d pull out. Like a tie. Who knew one tie could remind you of one of the best days of your life.

-----

Six Years Ago

Your mom had tears in her eyes as you stood in front of her, white dress hugging your body tightly. Your hair was in a loose updo, makeup done up. The last thing you needed to do was begin crying as well, considering how long it had taken for the makeup artist to do your makeup. 

“You look so beautiful, honey,” she told you, taking your hands in hers. You couldn’t help but smile at her. “I wish your dad was here to see you. He would have loved Jay.”

“I know he would have, Mom. But at least I have you.” You hugged her before pulling away again, glad you had the photographer capturing these seemingly small moments. 

“Let’s go show Jay how beautiful you look.” 

The two of you walked out, waiting for the bridal music to begin before beginning your walk down the aisle. As soon as your eyes met Jay’s, a smile was on your face, and you could see the tears welling in his eyes. You weren’t expecting him to cry when he saw you, but it was a nice surprise. As soon as you reached him, he took your hand in his, wiping away tears with his free hand. 

“You look absolutely, stunningly beautiful,” Jay told you softly, squeezing your hand before you had the urge to straighten his tie, which apparently Will hadn’t done for him. Then, the priest started talking. You didn’t pay much attention, too focused on looking at Jay. That was, until it was time to speak your vows. 

“Y/N Y/L/N,” Jay started, clearing his throat with a smile when you heard it crack. “When I met you, I never thought we would get to this point. Mainly, because I thought you would have the common sense to run far, far away from being with a cop. But you didn’t, and you have given me the best three years of my life. And I cannot wait to spend the rest of our lives together, and creating as many memories as possible. No matter how good or how bad it gets. Because I love you, and that’s what love is about,” he told you. Afterall, the vows weren’t for the guests, they were truly between you. 

“There was a split second when the reality of your job came crashing down, where I had the instinct to run far, far away, but I couldn’t. Because I realized how much I love you. There was no describing it. I knew that I had to be with you until I died, because we work. We work perfectly, even when everyone thought that we wouldn’t. A part of me knew that it was meant to be the second I saw you, as if our souls were already connected, even before you asked me when your suspect was going to wake up, no hello to begin. And here we are, three years later, Jay Halstead. I sure didn’t think we’d get here either, but I wouldn’t want to be here with anybody else. Because I love you, more than anything else,” you told him. 

The priest finished, the two of you sliding rings on each other’s fingers before sharing a kiss that conveyed more emotion than you thought possible. But it was official. You were Jay Halstead’s wife. 

-----

You knew he’d kept his suit from the wedding, but coming across that tie reminded you of that moment more than a picture ever did, if you were being honest. You couldn’t help as the tears welled up in your eyes. There wasn’t anything you wouldn’t do to have Jay back with you. 

More memories came back as you went through the boxes methodically, gently handling each item as if it were treasure. Because it was to you. These were the things you had left of Jay. You’d take no boxes, no possessions at all, if it meant he was alive. 

There were things you’d kept downstairs in your bedroom, things that were too hard to pack away. So, when you came across his favorite black hoodie, you were a little surprised, thinking it was downstairs in your closet. There were a lot of memories associated with this hoodie. Slipping it on, it felt like he was holding you again, and if you closed your eyes, you could imagine it for a little while longer. That was, until you felt something in the pocket. 

With a shaking hand, you pulled it out. It was a note and a small box. The note you recognized, it was one you’d written years ago. 

-----

Eight Years Ago

“Detective Halstead!” you called from across the ED.

It got some head turns, but the only one you cared about was Jay’s. Which as soon as you saw him, you smiled. It didn’t take long for him to recognize you, getting a smile in return. You were holding a small piece of paper in your hand, not letting him see it as he walked over. 

“Doctor Y/L/N,” he said as he approached. “I came to see Will. Have you seen him?”

“Yeah, he took a patient upstairs to the ICU. He should be back soon. Do you maybe want to go get a cup of coffee while you wait?” you asked, hopeful. 

“Sure, but please tell me it’s the kind you pay for and not the free watered down shit in the waiting rooms?”

You couldn’t help but laugh and nod in agreement, shoving the paper in your pocket for the time being. The two of you walked in silence out the coffee cart in front of the hospital, thankful for the warm weather. This wasn’t the first time or second time you’d ran into Jay, having enough of a working relationship to randomly ask him for coffee, but this wasn’t a random thing. This was something you’d been wanting to do for a few weeks now. 

“So, Jay,” you said. “You seeing anybody?” You weren’t expecting him to choke on his coffee when you asked, but couldn’t help but chuckle when he did.

“Can’t say that I am. Why do you ask?”

“I’m not usually this straightforward,” you answered. “But, here’s my number. You should give me a call sometime soon, go get dinner.” You handed him the note. It was more than just your number, but that’s what you played it off as. He unfolded the paper, a blush flushing across his cheeks when he read it, clearing his throat again. 

“I’ll give you a call,” he assured you, tucking the note away in his pocket. “Thanks for the coffee.” You nodded, watching him walk away. 

Three days later, you were sitting in your living room at home, a rare day off. It was nice, to just lounge around, not worried about anything. No life or death or decisions needing to be made, nobody calling for a doctor. You had a glass of wine, and a stupid reality show playing on the TV. You weren’t really paying attention to the TV though, more focused on a phone call that you weren’t sure was coming. Or maybe he was just busy, you weren’t sure. You were pulled out of your thoughts by a knock on the door. 

You didn’t even look through the peep-hole, not worried. There stood Jay, holding up the note in his hand. 

“Bold move putting your address and your next day off on here,” he told you as you stepped aside, letting him in. 

“Do you want something to drink? I just opened a nice bottle of red, or I have beer?” you offered, ignoring what he’d just said. You knew it was true, but you figured you needed to be bold to get his attention. 

“I’ll have a glass of whatever you’re having.” You nodded, going to the kitchen to grab another glass. You brought it back, pouring him a glass as the two of you sat on the couch. Jay looked at you hesitantly before kicking off his shoes and making himself comfortable. “This isn’t something I normally do,” he told you.

“And you think I give every cute cop I come across my phone number and address?” you countered with a smile as you handed off the glass. 

“I don’t know what to think, Y/N. I mean, it’s very straightforward.” That definitely wasn’t a lie. 

“Well, it seemed like you were never going to make a move, so I did it for you. Plus, if you weren’t interested, you wouldn’t be here,” you reminded him. 

“When a pretty doctor lady invites you over, you don’t just turn that down,” he added, taking a swig from the glass. 

“You always have a choice, Jay.” He just smirked and shook his head. You had a feeling it was more than that, that he actually wanted to be there with you. 

The night was full of good wine and laughing. A few hours later, you looked over at the clock to see that it was nearly midnight. The two of you had naturally gravitated towards each other, your head resting on his chest with his arm around you. It was natural. 

“You should stay the night, Jay,” you told him, knowing he probably shouldn’t drive. He’d graduated from a couple glasses of wine to a couple of beers. 

“I can call a taxi,” he assured you. “I don’t want to impose.”

“What if I told you I wanted you to stay?” you asked with a sly smile. You really did want him to stay. The night was still young, plus, you were really enjoying his company. You’d learned more about Jay that night than you had in the weeks of knowing him. 

“I’d ask if you were absolutely sure, because me staying the night means everything is going to change between us.” 

There wasn’t a second thought when it came to what you wanted. Your mind had been made up, kissing him softly. It seemed to take him by surprise, but he seemed to go with it pretty fast. He was a really good kisser, better than you had originally imagined. 

“Jay,” you said against his lips before repositioning, straddling his lap with hands in his hair. 

“I’m kind of glad I took you up on this offer,” he told you before kissing you again, hands on your waist as he pulled you flush against him. This was definitely your best idea yet.

-----

You wouldn’t have believed anybody if they told you you’d end up married to the man. But you were. You eventually brought yourself to open the box that had been residing in the pocket of the hoodie for at least the past six months. 

“What?” you asked softly, carefully opening the small box to reveal a locket. Quickly popping open the locket to look inside. 

“Jay…” You saw a picture of the two of you on your wedding day. On the other side was a picture of Jay and Sammy right after Sammy was born. The smile on Jay’s face was as bright as the sun. He loved every second of being a father. You figured he’d gotten it for your anniversary since it had been coming up right after he died. There really was no other choice than to wear it.

When you looked at your watch, you saw it was getting to the mid-afternoon, and Sammy would be home soon. Carefully, you packed the boxes up again, still wearing his hoodie. It still smelled like him, comforting. As you began your descent down the attic ladder, you could have sworn you heard his laugh, saw him out of the corner of your eye. You were a firm believer he was still there with you, and all of this -- the memories, the locket, the memory of his laugh -- just solidified that even more.  

[mysticgalaxie]

After Dr. Randolph Bell broke it off with Quovadis, and he assumed that all would be fine, after the dust settled. He couldn't have been more wrong.

Chapter 3

Word count:1,380

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Back at the bar, the cops got a statement from all four of the doctors. Everybody was on edge and wasn't in their best frame of mind but they knew that they needed to get through the questioning, and before they knew it the cops were dismissing them to go home or to the hospital.

As the group stepped outside, they proceeded to check on each other before getting in their cars. Nic still looked considerably stressed and Mina was worried about her driving back to the hospital.

"Nic, are you alright?" Mina asked, her tone laced with worry. This night hadn't been easy on anybody, but the boys seemed to be dealing with it okay compared to Nic.

Nic looked over at Mina, as she shook her head. "I can't get the images out of my head, much less the feeling that we could have stopped what happened to him..." She spoke, shakily exhaling.

Mina shook her head. "Nic. Don't let that take over your mind. Your brain can be used for better things right now. I'll drive you to the hospital, and we can pick up your car later, okay?"

Reluctantly, Nic agreed. She knew Mina didn't want her alone right now and she didn't want to upset Mina. Devon and Aj spoke before parting ways and going to their own cars.

Nic then went to step away from the door but then remembered something. She looked at Mina then. "I forgot something in there. Go ahead to your car, I'll be right there." Nic spoke, and Mina nodded before walking to her car.

Nic entered the bar. Seeing the blood sent shivers up her spine as she walked into the bathroom. She grabbed Conrad's jacket from the floor, seeing all the blood nearly made her sick so she left as quickly as she had entered, clutching Conrad's jacket close. She wasn't squeamish, but knowing who's blood it was was upsetting more than the actual blood itself.

She rushed outside and into Mina's car, sighing deeply as tears were forming in her eyes. Mina touched her hand as she started the car and began driving to the hospital. They were all hoping for the best right now, but as a doctor they knew that there were harsh realities that needed to be faced.

Back at the hospital, Conrad had gotten cleaned up and changed into some scrubs instead of his bloody clothes. Kit had since left him alone as he had requested he have some time alone to try to process everything that had happened. He didn't know what was going to happen with Randolph, much less the hospital. There was a lot happening all at once, and even as he tried to understand it he felt himself getting even more stressed and confused.

When he stepped out of the break room, he saw the doctors wheeling Randolph towards the elevator. Conrad moved closer and one of the doctors seemed to read his mind, answering the question that was at the tip of his tongue.

"We have to take him into surgery. There was damage to the liver. We need to drain it of blood and attempt to fix the damage." They answered, as they got Randolph into the elevator. Conrad went to follow but the doctor stopped him. "I think its best you wait down here." They spoke. The elevator door then slowly shut in Conrad's face, he just sighed.

He felt his face heat up in frustration, his lip quivering just slightly. He was sure Randolph would be okay. He had to be, right? He looked up at the T.v, which was playing news. The news station was already all over what had happened at the bar, it felt like only a few short minutes but in reality it had been almost an hour since it all happened. He took the stairs, taking his time until he reached the O.R floor. He wanted to watch the surgery.

By the time he had gotten up into the gallery to watch the surgery, the surgeon had just started entering the O.R. Conrad was nervous, as he paced back and forth. Within minutes the surgery commenced and Conrad paced the entire time. There were some complications, the bleeding was worse than they had anticipated upon entering surgery. Conrad was pacing still, after about an hour. Nic, Devon, Mina, and A.j soon entered the gallery to support Conrad. They managed to convince him to sit down and try to breathe.

Nic sat beside him, touching his arm. Nobody knew how to help Conrad, so they chose to stay there with him in silence. Aj and Devon sat a bit away, while Mina stood and watched through the glass. This had been a bit of a traumatic experience for every one of them, and they were each handling it in their own ways.  Conrad was handling this the worst out of all of them, While Mina, Devon and Aj had closed off. Nic had tried to ignore her stress in order to help Conrad, which concerned Mina.

After about 2 and a half hours total, the surgery had finally come to a close. Randolph had gotten stitched up, although he wasn't doing well even after the surgery had attempted to repair the damage done by the stab wound, all the blood loss had weakened his body, The doctors weren't sure if he would make it through the night.

Once the surgery was over Conrad and his friends went down to recovery to speak with the doctors. Nic urged Conrad to stay behind with the others and to let her speak to the surgeon, and reluctantly Conrad agreed. Nic then walked over to the surgeon, sighing as she glanced back to Conrad one last time before speaking.

"Hey... How's Randolph doing?" She asked, knowing that the surgeon would be honest with her.

The surgeon only sighed, looking towards Nic. "He's in critical condition. He's lost a lot of blood and the trauma he sustained weakened him, He likely won't make it through the night. But there's always a chance, even if it's slim." They answered.

Nic rubbed her temples, a feeling of dread creeping up. Now she had to tell Conrad and she knew it would only hurt him worse. She managed to mumble a quick thank you to the surgeon and she went back to her friends yet again.

Conrad looked over at her. He had calmed down to a near-numb state by this point, after crying and struggling to deal with everything it was like his emotions just suddenly shut off.  Nic sighed softly, looking at Devon. Devon already knew that it was nothing good.

Conrad crossed his arms as he slowly sat down. "Tell me the truth, Nic. Please." Conrad asked, and Devon stepped back as Nic sat beside Conrad.  

"Conrad... He's in critical condition... They don't know if he'll make it through the night..." She answered, gently touching his arm. She just wanted to try and help him any way she could.

Conrad just stayed completely silent. He felt his numbness taking the forefront. He just nodded. "I need a minute." was all he said as he got up and walked to the elevator, going down so he could get some fresh air.

Nic sighed weakly, and before she could stop it she had started crying, There wasn't anything she could do and she felt helpless. She was a fixer by nature, she always wanted to fix other people but she had no idea how to fix herself in the midst of all of it.

Mina took Conrad's seat and hugged Nic. She didn't know what to say still, so she stayed silent and just tried her best to relax her friend. Devon and Aj then walked to the cafeteria, figuring that Mina had everything under control for right now.

Conrad ended up outside, rain was pouring down and all Conrad could think was that it was fitting. This reflected how he was feeling. He just stepped out into it, letting the cold rain soak his body and shock his system into thinking and behaving more clearly. He needed this time, knowing that the next few hours were going to be hell on him and his friends.

[gloriafc]

Paul imprinting on Bella's older cousin

You were reluctant to follow your younger cousin, but you promised your uncle you'd watch over her when she went into her depressive state.

Of course he trusted you with her clumsy self since you're a surgeon and can fix up any of her bumps and bruises.

"Bella I get he's your best friend but do you think this is the best idea?" "You don't get it Y/N. You wouldn't understand. He's all I have left."

You start to worry when you see a buff guy carrying your cousin into the Emergency room.

"Y/N you don't have to worry, Jacob was there. I'm fine." "Does this look fine to you Bella. You show up in the ER with a cut half the size of your forehead. You have your dad worried everyday, and we can all tell something is going on with you. And now you're crashing motorcycles. Yeah that looks perfectly fine to me."

Of course Bella constantly shows up at your house to ensure you won't tell her dad about the bikes. She goes as far as dragging you with her and her now different looking best friend on your day off. They both drag you to a small house where a couple of boys start teasing Jake. A female catches your eye, she moves to hug Bella before turning to you, making you notice everyone staring especially one guy.

“Hi, I’m Emily.” “Y/N” “Bella’s cousin right? Jake told us about you.”

Emily quickly pulls you in, becoming quick friends.  You find yourself heading over to gossip often, Bella going with you to see Jake. Sam becoming comfortable enough having you around all the time because it makes Emily happy.

Of course since you’re around all the time you’ve gotten to know everyone else well enough. You’ve had dinner with them enough times to think of them as friends.

With time everyone tells you about the pack and about the imprint, one of the main reasons is because the Cullens are back and they worry something could happen to you.

“Wait how is that possible?” “Y/N I know it the whole imprint process can be confusing.” “No not that. I spent years studying anatomy and you just told me your bones move and shift on their own and you turn into giant dogs. How is that possible?”

Of course you take the time to talk about the imprint. At first you find it weird that Paul is only 19 and you’re 24. But eventually you get over it. And start a relationship with him.

The entire pack actually find it interesting when they find out new things about you. In turn they let you study their wolves where you slowly become their in-home nurse. Re-breaking and setting any bones they break when they fight each other.

“Wait so you’re like a genius?” “...” “Stop looking at the medical magazine and answer me!” “Jared. I will break all of your ribs and let them set wrong. Yes I’m a genius, I graduated medical school at 17. I’m twenty-four and Chief of Trauma with a photographic memory. Any more questions about how smart I am?” “Can you help me with my science homework?” 

Eventually you learn about the Cullens being vampires, and you quickly grow past it knowing Carlisle as your mentor before he left.

Paul finds himself at your house often, not wanting to go home. He loves watching how calm you look while studying or talking about surgery in general. You know he doesn’t fully understand but you appreciate the fact that he listens more than any boyfriend you’ve had before.

Your relationship is filled with constant teasing.

"Babe you need to grow. The whole bed on the floor thing is not working for me." "Then go sleep somewhere else." "Why do you hate me?!" "You're a pain in my ass." "In my defense it's a nice ass."

Sometimes you forget he’s five years younger than you. You often find yourself asking him to stay the night knowing he doesn’t want to go home anyways. The two of you will stay up talking about his problems at home, the way he talks makes him seem so much older with everything his dad has made him deal with.

You slowly find yourself falling in love with everything about him, even his short temper.

You're the first one to say I love you. Shortly after Paul admits he's wanted to say it for a while but never knew how you felt since you have a different mentality about relationships, being older and all.

"Babe I love you and everything but if you touch me with your cold doctor hands again I'll stick you in the furnace."

Jared constantly teases you about being out of Paul's league to get a rise out of him.

"Hey Y/N if your last boyfriend was a surgeon, what made you fall for this flea bag?"

Paul occasionally brings you lunch when you’ve been busier at work, reminding you to take a break so you don’t over work yourself.

Of course when the colder months start to come you’re always at work so you don’t go around as often, resulting in some of the newer pack members not knowing who you are. You end up meeting them when Emily gets into a car accident, a car sliding on the ice into hers. Since you're there to ID her the nurses quickly call Sam down resulting in the whole pack and tribal council sitting in the waiting room as you perform her surgery. When everything is done and she's stable you make your way down to the waiting room, Paul and Sam are the first ones standing. You can just see all the stress on Sam's face.

"Is she okay?" "She had multiple blows to her head from her car flipping. Broken ribs and a broken leg. She's stable right now, we put her into a medically induced coma to help her heal without extra stress, we'll wake her up in a couple days. She'll probably have a slight case of amnesia but it should wear off shortly after waking up. She'll be fine."

Sam quickly pulls you into a bone crushing hug whispering thank you into your ear. Hearing his voice crack brings tears to your eyes once you remember you just operated on one of your best friends.

You manage to pull some strings and Emily is put into a bigger room so multiple people can see her at once, knowing she enjoys being around everyone. Once you see Sam start to cry at the sight of her sleeping all bandaged up you quickly leave the room with tears in your eyes. You make it down the hallway before you have to lean against the wall, tears streaming down your face and unable to breathe. You quickly feel arms wrap around you making you turn and grip Paul's shirt as you slowly feel yourself loose control of your emotions.

"It's okay. She's okay. You saved her." "She looked so bad." "She probably did. But because of you she's alive." "She almost died on that table. She almost died and it would've been my fault if she didn't make it." "Don't think that. Don't think about her dying. And don't think about it being your fault. You were here and you did your job. You're not the person who crashed into her car. You're the one who brought her back to us."

You're the person who takes her out of her coma. Of course the entire pack is there. Her entire room filled with flowers, balloons, and cards.

When she wakes up she cries when she sees your face. At first you think she's going into shock but she just grabs you pulling you into a hug.

"I remember going in and out of consciousness. I remember seeing you. I could hear you telling the nurses to call Sam and a whole bunch of other doctor words. I saw you climb over me to perform CPR. You were covered in blood. My blood. When the other doctors were pushing the bed to the OR, you stayed over me the whole way. I could hear everything until they put the mask over my face." "You heard me say-" "That you wouldn't leave until you saved me."

You can't help the tears that start falling down your face as Emily pulls you into another hug.

When Emily gets discharged Paul finds himself just staying at your house. He can feel you constantly worrying and has to remind you that Sam's not letting Emily out of his sight any time soon.

Of course he starts to worry when you put yourself back into work but knows you're better when you start telling him about the stupid things people do that make them end up in the hospital.

When everything starts to go back to normal Paul feels himself relax when you come around more. He loves watching you talk with Emily as you cook, or sewing the boys last pairs of shorts.

"I swear this is the last time I'm sewing your shorts. I didn't go to medical school to work as your seamstress." "But you're so good at sewing." "I sew skin all day, what do you expect."

Eventually as your relationship progresses with Paul everyone finds that his anger has simmered down a ton. What no one knows is that Paul actually proposed, without a ring but it's the thought that counts. Yeah it's really early, especially for someone his age but you couldn't be happier, and you both agreed to wait for an appropriate time to get married even if that meant years.

Eventually you just flat out ask Paul to move in.

"Are you positive?" "Paul were engaged and all your stuff is practically here, except for the shirts I don't believe you actually own."

Of course you realize that having him live with you results in a ton of sex and constant naked cuddles. You honestly don't even have a need for blankets at this point, you sleep next to a space heater anyways.

Because you saved her life Emily names her and Sam's first kid after you.

"This is Monica Y/M/N Uley."

Eventually Paul saved up the money and got you the perfect ring.

"Is this why you've been working those odd jobs and weird shifts." "You know I had to get you the best, and it wouldn't be the best if I didn't do the work to get it."

Of course all of your close friends are furious you two didn't tell them you were engaged sooner.

"Did he just propose? That's so cute." "No we've been engaged for months now Emily." "And you're just telling me?! I'm skinning that boy alive next time I see him." "Please don't. I kind of need him alive for the next eighteen years." "You're pregnant too?!"

Since Emily's the only one who knows you're pregnant she helps you plan to tell Paul. She may or may not have stolen a whole bunch of pregnancy tests from the hospital with your help.

She makes the used tests into a bouquet that you set on the kitchen table for Paul to see when he gets home from patrol.

You sit in the living room knowing the first place Paul will go is the kitchen to make a sandwich.

"I'm home!"..."What the hell? Are these all pos-"

Before you realize what's going on you're being spun around by a very happy fiance and soon to be daddy.

[amelialincoln]

Prompt: Amelia gets injured by a patient

Lost in my mind

“Hey,” A voice pulled Amelia from her train of thought. “Feeling better?” She nodded, looking up and studying Link’s concerned expression. They both had awoken to Amelia leaping out of bed and barely making it to the bathroom before throwing up. She was thankful they’d spent the night at Link’s with his en suite as she couldn’t imagine being able to make it to the bathroom down the hall at Meredith’s. She hadn’t gotten a whole lot of time to recover before she and Link we’re paged to an incoming trauma and had to leave the house in a hurry. Koracick had ended up covering it anyways which left her trying to pass time in her office. “I brought you a snack.” She wrinkled her nose at the sandwich he was holding but accepted the water bottle he passed her. “Have you had breakfast?”

“I’m not that hungry,” she responded with a shrug.

“Well you probably should try and have something anyway,” he pressed.

“I’ll go see if Bailey has any leftover bagels from the conference meeting this morning,” Amelia promised.

“Okay...” he sunk into her couch. “I wish I had my own office,” he whined.

“Only took me a couple years,” she teased. “And plenty of groundbreaking surgeries including saving the woman who owns this hospital’s life.

“I have groundbreaking surgeries,” Link mumbled, crossing his arms over his chest and pouting out his lower lip.

“Babe, brain surgery is a little more high risk than operating on someone’s toe.” Link scoffed, trying to ignore how much she was clearly enjoying this conversation.

“Oh, so you’re saying that you are more valued to this hospital than me?” He faked a hurt expression as he moved to wrap his arms around her waist. “But if I wasn’t around who would be here to seduce the breathtaking chief of neurosurgery?” He asked as he placed a trail of kisses down her neck. His hands trailed down to cradle the small bump that had formed on her midsection this past week.

“Link...” Amelia sighed, “babe, not right now.”

“You’re going to tell me now that it’s inappropriate to have sex on the desk that our child was conceived on? Because you didn’t seem to have a problem with it before—”

“Link!” Amelia’s cheeks had turned a bright shade of pink. He was fiddling with the hem of her scrub top as her pager began to vibrate in her pocket. “Sorry!” She laughed. “Duty calls. Tonight?”

“Tonight,” he sighed.

Amelia entered trauma room number three with a smile on her face. It had been at least a week since she’d had a case remotely interesting to work on. She was surprised, as the sliding doors opened, to be met with two police officers and a patient in handcuffs.

“Hey, Shepherd,” Hunt greeted her, looking up briefly.

“What’s going on?”

“Uh...” Owen glanced up at the officers.

“This is Shawn Webster, we’re from Seattle State Penitentiary. Shawn got in a brawl with one of the other inmates—”

“Trauma two,” Owen interrupted. Amelia nodded.

“—he’s known to get aggressive.” The officer finished. “He hit his head pretty hard on one of the cells but it’s probably just a concussion or whatever.” Amelia frowned, Shawn was only a teenager and didn’t look like the type to “get aggressive”. She examined the bloody gash on the back of his head and shone the penlight in his eyes, which he lazily followed.

“He came in with a makeshift knife in his thigh,” Owen noted. “He’s on some pretty heavy painkillers.” Amelia nodded. “Are you okay here? I need to go check out the other guy.”

“For sure.” Her eyes fell to the handcuffs that were beginning to dig into Shawn’s wrists. The boy stared blankly back at her. “Do you think you guys could remove the handcuffs? I need to do a full exam.”

“Okay, but not for long,” one of the officers hesitated before removing the metal cuffs. The boy didn’t flinch but continued to stare emotionlessly at Amelia. She began to wonder if Owen had messed up the dosage. Suddenly, there was a loud thump and Amelia’s eyes flew to the glass wall beside her as the outline of someone being thrown against the glass appeared. Shouting followed and the two officers raced out of her trauma room and into the one beside them. As the doors opened the shouting intensified and she could hear Owen’s voice before the sound of medical instruments falling to the floor rang through the ER. She turned to Shawn, who no longer had a blank, sedated expression stretched upon his face, before her vision went blurry and then black.

“Doctor Shepherd!” She awoke to a blinding pain radiating through her body. Her vision was blurred as she tried to scan the room, ears ringing. She recognized Teddy Altman standing over her through the blurriness. “Page Doctor Lincoln,” she ordered to undoubtedly a resident or intern who seemed to be standing in the corner of the room.

“What...” Amelia croaked, bile building up in her throat. “...happened.”

“Amelia.” She heard Meredith’s voice enter the room. “What’s going on?” She ordered.

“Shepherd was with one of the inmates,” Teddy responded. “It seems like she’d got a couple of broken ribs and a pretty severe concussion. She shouldn’t have been left alone with that patient. I don’t know what they were thinking.”

“Did you page—” Meredith started before being interrupted by the sound of the sliding doors opening.

“Oh my god, Amelia!” Link’s voice rang through her ears.

“I’m okay.” She tried to sit up but the pain in her ribs caused her to heave and Teddy slid a emesis basin under her chin just in time. She felt Link race to her side, taking her hair in his hands, something he’d been doing often.

“Is the baby okay?” He asked them. Amelia’s hands went to her stomach as the two surgeons gave them a look of confusion. “She’s pregnant.”

“Page OB,” Meredith said immediately to her intern who fumbled with her pager, her eyes full of concern. Her eyes fell to Amelia’s midsection which was swollen and bruised, she bit her lip. “Oh, Amelia.”

“I’ll see if Carina is in the ER,” Teddy quickly added, leaving the room. Amelia squeezed her eyes close as another wave of pain hit her and the room spun.

“Amelia, we’re going to have you put you on some pain meds. I don’t think your ribs need surgery but we’ve got to keep you from doubling over so that you can heal,” Meredith told her.

“No,” Amelia protested. “I’ll stay still,” she added as a moan escaped her lips. She tried to push away the, all too familiar, thought of painkillers running through her body. Carina entered the room, tearing Amelia away from her thoughts. Link moved to offer Carina the chair that he was sitting in beside Amelia but she shook her head.

“I’ll stand.” She examined Amelia’s stomach carefully, biting the inside of her cheek as she worked her way down from the bruising. “Any pain here?”

“None.” Amelia gritted her teeth. “Though it’s hard to tell.” Carina noticed Link’s obvious discomfort by Amelia’s bruising and when she met his eyes, she found them full of tears.

“I’ll go get the ultrasound machine?” He offered, trying to ignore her gaze.

“Sure,” Carina answered, but Link was already out the door.

“What a softie.” Amelia tried to smile. Carina nodded and returned to prodding Amelia’s stomach, trying to hide her worry. Link returned shortly with the machine and Carina had him spread the gel cautiously over Amelia’s stomach as she turned it on.

“Link,” Amelia gasped as his fingers traced over a tender spot.

He winced as if he was in pain, “I’m sorry.” Carina guided the wand over Amelia’s uterus and the room filled with the sound of a heartbeat. Amelia breathed a sigh of relief.

“è un po 'veloce,” Carina muttered. “It is quick.”

“His heartbeat?” Link asked. Carina nodded.

“It should be okay. We just need Amelia to take her time getting better. I’m tired of recommending bedrest and no one taking it seriously,” she complained, referring to the past couple of pregnant co workers she had treated.

“Doctors make the worst patients,” Amelia shrugged.

“Not in this case. If you want your baby to be healthy please listen to my recommendations. The concussion shouldn’t take more than ten days and the ribs will heal slow but you can work around it. However, if you want to come back to work it’s going to be two weeks of bed rest.”

“But—”

“And actual bedrest. You shouldn’t be leaving your bedroom. We can work up from there. We’ll schedule a check up in two weeks and if I see you here in the next two weeks, mi farà impazzire.”

Amelia was in and out of consciousness for the next couple of hours. The baby news had seemed to spread its way quickly around the hospital and Link had been turning away visitors for what seemed like every fifteen minutes. He removed his hand from its place in her hair and kissed the spot between her eyebrows.

“God, Amelia.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I spend so much time worrying if you’re okay or if you’ve eaten or if you’d gotten in an accident on your way to work. And today I was so caught up in work and knowing that you were safe at the hospital I wasn’t even worried. And this is all just a reminder that anything can happen to you anywhere. I’m so scared of losing you, Amelia, I...” he trailed off dropping his head in his hands.

“Hey, it’s okay,” Amelia croaked softly, awoken by the absence of Link’s hand in her hair. “I’m okay, Link.” She rested a hand on his cheek before he turned away from her, rubbing his eyes.

“Yeah, I know.” He shrugged, trying to hide the tears in his eyes. “It’s fine, you’re fine.”

“Oh babe, come here,” Amelia laughed softly at his attempts to hide the fact that anything was wrong. Without hesitating Link carefully climbed into the bed beside her, wrapping his arm around her shoulder and placing a hand on her stomach.

“You scared Daddy today,” he mumbled with the grin that he can’t help from taking over his face when he talks about the baby.

“Really?” Amelia added sarcastically. “It was a pretty average day.” To which Link shook his head.

“Anything but average, my love.” He sighed, breathing in her lavender scented shampoo. “So lots of bedrest, huh? Any specific requests for those two weeks?”

“Link.” Amelia rolled her eyes, trying to suppress a smile.

[sopwithwhump]

This is Why We Don’t Do PT

Day 14- Heat Exhaustion. I have whumped Radar yet again, this time with the power of the sun!

“Henry…are you serious? Mandatory physical fitness hike?” said Hawkeye after an announcement played over the loudspeaker, calling several men to congregate for the first hiking group.

“Sorry boys, it wasn't my idea. Chain of command said you guys needed more physical training,” lamented Henry.

“More physical training? That’s absurd! We’re doctors! Plus, I get sore enough from standing at the table.”

“Hey... again, not my idea, Hawkeye. It’ll be for most of the morning. Luckily, you’re in the same hiking party as Trapper and Radar. You all are pals, right?”

“Yeah... I guess we are...” said Hawkeye, making his way over to where the hike would begin. There he met up with Trapper and Radar.

“That sun is hot, fellas,” said Father Mulchahy, who was put in charge of leading the hike for some reason. Frank initially wanted to take this group out, but Henry made him stay back because two of the surgeons were out on the hike. Well, he was nice enough anyway.

The hike began, and Trapper, Hawkeye, and Radar enjoyed talking to one another as they walked along. After an hour, Radar wasn’t looking so good. “Hey Radar,” said Hawkeye, noticing his pale complexion and abnormal level of sweat, “are you okay?”

“Actually... I think I might... I gotta sit down before I pass out,” said Radar, getting down on the ground. Trapper and Hawkeye kneeled in front of him.

“Radar... have you been drinking water?” asked Hawkeye as he took Radar’s arm to take his pulse. It felt quick and weak.

“I mean... I had a cup of coffee at breakfast...”

“That’s not enough hydration! And you’ve been wearing this jacket the whole hike too!”

“I didn’t know where to put it...” said Radar. Trapper quickly helped Radar out of the jacket. His shirt was soaked with sweat, yet his skin was cool.

“We need to get him cooled off before this gets any worse,” said Trapper. He saw that Father Mulchahy had noticed that they had gotten behind and went down to see what was up.

“Radar’s not doing so good, the sun has got to him. May we take him back, Father?” asked Trapper.

“Oh yes, right away,” said the chaplain, “it’s not like this is Boy Scout camp. Get him back.”

“Thank you, Father,” said Hawkeye. The two then proceeded to lift Radar up and carry him all the way back to the camp, trading off who was carrying or carrying together, making sure that they too would not get exhausted by the heat. By the time they got there, Radar had gotten sick on the side of the trail twice due to the nausea that was caused.

“Why are you three back so early?” asked Henry as he saw the two men walk in, Radar sitting on their arms with each arm around each man’s shoulder.

“Radar’s too hot, he needs to lie down,” said Hawkeye.

“Oh dear,” said Henry, looking at Radar again and seeing the sorry state that he was in, “it’s ok, son, we’ll get you nice and cool.”

Radar was laid in a vacant bed in post-op. Nurse Cutler quickly got some cool wet towels for Radar and helped him get his shirt off so he could get cool faster. Trapper started an IV to help Radar’s dehydration.

“Does that feel good, Radar? The cool towels?” asked Hawkeye, taking Radar’s pulse again.

“Yeah... much better...”

“Ok, good,” said Hawkeye, “just rest, ok Radar?”

It took a couple hours for Radar to recuperate. Nurse Cutler waited on him, making sure he was given new wet towels when the old ones dried. Hawkeye then came in again during the afternoon. Radar was sitting up and reading a comic book. He was wearing a shirt again but still had a wet cloth on his forehead.

“Hey Radar,” said Hawkeye, “I’m just going to take your temperature, and if it’s normal you will return to duty.

“Gosh dang it,” quipped Radar, “I thought I could be sent home.” He sat there with the thermometer in his mouth as Hawkeye stared at his watch. The mercury was sitting at 98 degrees.

“Annnnd... ta da, it’s back to work for you, Radar. Looks like you weren’t lucky this time. But hey, I’ll let you finish the comic book first, ok?”

Radar smiled and laid back. “Just a few more pages. Thanks Hawkeye.”