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kenzieam · 7 years ago

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Phoenix Rising - Chapter 6 (Eric X OC)

Rating: M (violence/swearing/smut :p)

Genre: General/Drama/Angst

Thanks everyone for the re-blogs and support!!! IT IS SO AWESOME!!!

@emmysrandomthoughts @beautifulramblingbrains @iammarylastar @tigpooh67 @bookwarm85 @frecklefaceb @mom2reesie @elaacreditava @badassbaker @captstefanbrandt @jaihardy @treeleaf @pathybo @beltz2016 @lilu46

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The monitor began to alarm again and Fox shuddered. It continued and Fox's fear grew as a nurse hurried into the room. She leaned over Eric and pried his eyelids open again, shining the light into his eyes.

"Mr. Coulter?...Mr. Coulter?" The nurses voice took on an edge and she pressed between his collarbones, shaking him slightly.

"His name is Eric," Fox whispered, her heart in her throat, is this the end, is Eric leaving me?

"Eric!" The nurse said sharply, her hand jerking against Eric's chest. She turned her head and called over her shoulder; a second nurse hurried in, and, at the first's instruction, injected a syringe into Eric's IV line. Fox waited, not daring to move as the nurses watched both Eric and the monitor carefully. All three women exhaled in relief when the alarm finally stopped. The second nurse left and the first bent over Eric, listening to his chest with a stethoscope. After a long moment she stood straight again. She gave Fox a small, sympathetic smile.

"Your husband is a very strong man, he won't stop fighting."

Fox rubbed her swollen belly and her voice was threadbare when she spoke. "We need him."

The nurse nodded once then said lowly, "call if you need anything," before leaving the room, leaving Fox alone with Eric's motionless body.

Hours passed, dragging by; Fox stayed in the chair, holding Eric's hand. A nurse had brought in a cot for Fox to sleep on, but she wasn't ready to move away from Eric's side yet. The doctor had come in a few minutes ago with some positive news. Eric was stabilizing; and if he remained so overnight, they would repair his leg in the morning.

Fox exhaled shakily, she was so tired, so scared.

"Fox?"

Fox turned, her lips pulling up into a tired smile. Four stepped into the room; he'd been forced to leave earlier to help Tris, had promised to return with an overnight bag for Fox.

"How is he?" Four asked quietly, setting the bag onto the cot and pulling a chair up beside Fox.

"If Eric stays stable overnight, they'll operate tomorrow. Then....we can start the healing serum." Fox gazed down at her hand, clasped with Eric's; his skin was grey and cool, the latent strength she always felt in his grip missing.

Four pulled her against his shoulder into a hug and Fox finally let herself cry. Four murmured soothingly and stroked her hair until Fox sniffed and sat back up, flicking an embarrassed glance at him.

"Sorry," Fox mumbled.

"Don't be sorry, if that was Tris in that bed I'd be a wreck, I can't even imagine," he broke off and looked away before continuing, "I made sure Princess has enough food and water, I'll check up on her again tomorrow."

Fox nodded. "Thanks Four, Eric loves that cat."

"Tris sends her love, she wanted to come with me, but Maddie's fussy."

Fox shook her head, "it's alright, thank you for coming...and bringing me clothes."

Four smiled. "Tris helped me pack." He sighed regretfully. "I can't stay long." He pulled a phone from his pocket. "You left your phone at home, call me or Max if you need anything, okay?"

"Thanks, Four."

Four patted her shoulder and stood. He moved closer to Eric's bedside and gazed down at his friend for a long moment before leaning over. He whispered something quietly to Eric, but Fox caught the word 'don't' before he straightened again and left.

Fox slept fitfully, although the monitor alarms came less frequently, Fox was uncomfortable in the chair. Finally, she gave in and moved to the cot, waking every few minutes to look over at Eric and study the monitors, watch his chest carefully until she saw it move with his next breath. Nurses came in often to check on him, studying the monitor, checking under bandages and shining a light into his eyes again, giving Fox small smiles if she was awake to watch them.

It was the longest night of Fox's life; and she'd had some long nights before.

The doctor arrived early, looking like he'd managed to snag a few good hours of sleep and Fox was relieved, she didn't want him half asleep during the surgery. He fixed Fox with a cautious smile.

"We're going to try surgery."

"Try?"

The doctor exhaled. "Eric is still critical, but we need to align his broken bones before they start to cause trouble."

"Are you saying what I think you're saying?"

The doctor nodded soberly. "Eric has lasted the night, but, I'm sorry Mrs. Coulter. I know you want the truth, so here it is, Eric is still in danger, he could go at any time. I'd very much like to repair his leg so we can start the healing serum; even if it can't fix his spine, the serum will still pull him out of this critical state. If we tried the serum first, his leg would heal permanently into the twisted shape it is in now, we need the bones aligned and pinned into place."

Fox nodded, looking up as three nurses entered the room. They meant now. Fox stood and leaned over Eric, stroking his hair back from his smooth forehead.

"I'll be here when you get back, baby." Fox murmured, pressing a kiss to his cool skin. She fought a shiver as she stood up straight and stepped back, watching the nurses push Eric's bed out of the room. The door closed behind them.

Then she was alone.

Fox waited nervously, her leg jack-hammering the floor restlessly. Eric had been in surgery for over five hours now, with no word on his condition. Fox tried not to think too much about what could be going on; that was an easy way to drive herself insane. The maybes. Maybe Eric was crashing right now, maybe Eric had already died on the table and the doctor was on his way to tell her, maybe Eric would survive the surgery only to be failed by the serum and linger in pain until he died, maybe, maybe.

Fox had no delusions as to what would happen to her if Eric died; Fox was irreparably tied to Eric now, their souls were intertwined, if Eric died, Fox would follow. Not only because they were connected, but Fox did not want to live without him. For someone who'd spent almost half her life purposefully isolating herself from others, Fox had bonded to Eric irrevocably, tied herself to him with unbreakable knots. The agony of waiting rubbed Fox's nerves raw.

Finally, Fox noticed she was no longer alone in the room. Her head snapped up, her neck muscles popping painfully. The doctor waited quietly, a sober look on his face.

"How is he?" Fox murmured, not entirely sure she was ready to hear the answer.

The doctor exhaled. "Eric is in recovery, the nurses will be bringing him back soon. The surgery went well; his leg has been successfully realigned. I have to, however, discuss the healing serum procedure with you before we proceed."

Fox nodded, relief flooding her like warm water; she swallowed hard as the doctor sat across from her, waiting to hear what he had to tell her.

The doctor took a deep breath, curling his fingers on his pants legs. "The procedure will be difficult, very much so; on both you and Eric. He will be sedated, heavily, as we transfuse the serum; so deeply in fact Eric will considered comatose and will require a machine to breathe for him. Everyday, however, we will need to reverse the sedation and bring Eric back to consciousness. During that time, Eric will be extraordinary pain and unable to move; partially due to the spinal injury, partially because we will probably need to restrain him. The incomplete ability to move that I expect him to retain due to the location of his spinal injury will only cause further damage. His movements will be jerky and uncontrolled, and will risk injuring him further, hence the restraints."

"I don't understand, why do you need to wake him up if it will cause him pain?"

The doctor sighed heavily. "The tests we need to perform to determine if the serum is having any sort of effect can only be done while he is conscious. The scans, the nervous system sensitivity, all of it. We will try to limit the amount of time we keep him awake, but it will never be shorter than twenty minutes."

Fox shuddered, then said. "We can explain that to him, give him at least a heads-up."

The doctor shook his head sadly. "No, the sedation we put him under will prevent him from remembering. Every time will be new for him, all we will be able to do is comfort him until we can sedate him again."

"Will he ever remember any of it?"

"Yes, others who have undergone this do eventually remember, usually in the form of nightmares."

"So.....we will put him through absolute hell, torture him daily, basically......and there is still no guarantee of recovery?"

"My most successful patient regained 90% function."

"90% isn't good enough for Dauntless, it won't be good enough for Eric."

"Eric has one thing going for him," the doctor said, hesitantly. "His spinal cord has not been fully severed, that already improves his chances of a more complete recovery. I understand your hesitation, but, Eric was in peak physical condition when the accident occurred, that, coupled with the nature of his injury, gives me hope."

Fox chewed her lip. "He is still unconscious? Can you wake him so I can ask what he wants?"

The doctor sighed. "We've been trying to rouse Eric since he was brought in, but he remains unresponsive; if we decide to go ahead, it has to be soon, before the body's natural healing process gets in the way."

Fox dropped her head. Torture Eric for a chance at recovery? Leave him be? He'd be paralyzed but not put through any cruelty. If Eric remained as he was, he would be either kicked out of Dauntless or would beg for death. He would not want what he would consider a half-life. He was too Dauntless for that. He was too Dauntless to not try.

"Let's try the serum."

The doctor nodded briskly and stood. "I will prepare the first round, the nurses should be in soon with him and we can get started right away." He hurried out.

Fox stood again and started to pace. What had she just agreed to? If the situation were reversed, would Eric choose the same thing for her?

Her voice shaking, Fox whispered, "I'm sorry baby. Whatever happens, please forgive me for what we're about to do to you."

#eric #jai courtney #eric coulter #divergent #eric divergent fanfiction #fanfiction #eric and fox #fire fox #embers and ash #phoenix rising

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crystalglassca · 6 years ago

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Protect Your Glass Windows in Extreme Temperatures

Living in Canada, we have more or less adjusted to the extreme temperatures we regularly see here. With temperatures dropping to as low as a record setting -49.8°C in January 2018 in some parts of Canada, Canadians have had to brave some frigid winters throughout their lives. On the other hand, in 2017, temperatures in some parts of Canada reached a thermometer reading of 41°C in the summer months.

Even in our hometown of Alberta, early 2018 saw a number of record breaking winter temperatures with mercury levels dipping to -39.4°C in Brooks, causing a number of cities and towns to administer an extreme cold warning in multiple regions.

Extreme temperatures can not only pose serious threats to the human body—as it is not designed to survive in freezing cold temperatures—but also wreaks havoc on inanimate objects.

When faced with extreme cold, the human body starts to shiver to generate heat within the body in order to warm it from the inside. The focus of the body is on the internal organs, and so it centers all the heat within the body to the inner regions, leaving the extremities like fingers and toes cold. This is why these extremities are most susceptible to frostbite—caused by lack of blood supply due to which tissues can freeze and rupture.

Temperatures as low as these can not only have a hazardous affect on the human body but can also create problems with things we consider basic needs. For example, almost all materials contract upon freezing—with the exception of water and a few other substances—and this can cause power lines to burst, cutting off water and electricity.

Lubricants like oil and diesel have relatively low freezing points, -40°C for oil and -10°C for diesel. This means that in places with temperatures dropping to below -30°C, gas and oil becomes hard to come by too.

On the other hand, in extremely hot temperatures the human body experiences symptoms such as dizziness, nausea, heat exhaustion and in extreme cases, heat strokes which can be fatal. It can cause some materials to expand and explode, resulting in broken pipelines and electricity outages. In extremely high temperatures, such as those recorded in British Columbia, plastics can end up melting due to the heat!

Believe it or not, extreme temperatures can have a massive affect on the windows of your house as well as your automobile glass. If you live in an area that experiences extreme temperature shifts from one day to the other, the glass used in your houses and cars could be weakening over time without your notice.

But what is it that actually happens to the glass in high and low temperatures? Read on to find out!

How do Extreme Temperatures Affect Glass?

Extreme Cold Weather:

Condensation:

Condensation may not seem like a very serious problem at first but it can cause mildew and mold to form on glass surfaces.

Condensation occurs when the cold air outside the house hits the window that has been warmed due to the warmer temperatures inside the building and causes the water in the air to condense on the surface. When the outside temperature is too cold, these water droplets can freeze upon exposure to the frigid temperatures. This can cause a layer of frost to form, which can also affect indoor temperatures. Depending on the quality of the glass installed, frost can leave windows and windshields cracked. This water can also drip into the crevices of your window’s frame, accumulating over time and causing mold to form.

Windows with wooden frames can also rot over time due to condensation that emerges as a result of cold temperatures.

Cracking

Glass expands upon heating and contracts when it cools down. However, the cracks that emerge on a glass window are rarely because of the temperature itself but mostly because of the change in temperature in one area of the glass to another. We’ll discuss this phenomenon a little further down the line.

Extreme changes in temperature—whether hot to cold or cold to hot—can cause glass to rapidly expand and contract, resulting in it cracking under the pressure of having to adjust to the temperatures outside.

In the freezing cold temperatures recorded early this year, people across Canada and USA reported their glass windows cracking due to immense cold, with one woman likening the sound to that of a gunshot. That’s sure to be a scare—especially if it happens in the middle of the night while you are asleep!

Extreme Hot Weather:

Cracks and chips

A phenomenon known as thermal shock can lead to glass splintering when the temperature of the glass is rapidly changed from hot to cold or cold to hot. This is because the sudden change in temperature can lead to stress within the glass to adjust to the new temperature.

Why does glass crack in extreme temperatures?

Contrary to popular belief, it is not the temperature itself that causes glass to crack. The cracks occur because of a phenomenon called thermal stress. Thermal stress refers to when the temperature of the glass changes rapidly from either hot to cold or cold to hot.

The particles that make up glass expand upon heating and contract upon cooling, and the fast shift in temperatures can sometimes be too much for glass to handle. This results in it cracking under the pressure.

In extremely cold temperatures, ice can form on windshields and windows. People, in order to melt said ice, often think pouring hot water on the glass is a good idea. It is anything but!

The sudden change from cold to hot can cause existent chips to expand into large cracks. These cracks are often irreparable and you’ll then need to replace your entire windshield.

On the other hand, in extremely hot temperatures, cars can heat up very quickly, especially if they’re left out in the sun. Sitting inside such a car, most people are tempted to turn on the air conditioners on full blast, hoping to get rid of the heat in seconds. When the glass is forced to adjust to the sudden change in temperature, it can weaken the structure of the glass, leading to cracks.

Thermal stress cracks also occur when one part of the glass is warmer or colder than the other, leading to a varied temperature across the surface of the glass.

A few reasons why thermal stress may occur include:

1. Shadow: A car that has been parked half in the shadows and half out in the sun is more prone to automobile glass breakage as the temperatures of the glass is not uniform across the surface.

2. Glass Type: Thinner glass is less likely to experience thermal stress as they can adjust temperatures faster than thicker versions of glass.

3. Solar Absorption: The more heat a glass substance absorbs, the more prone it will be to thermal fractures.

4. Color of Frames: Darker colors absorb more heat, and so a window glass mounted on a black frame is likely to heat up faster than one on a white frame.

5. Type of Frame: Windows mounted on insulating frames like vinyl or timber absorb less heat than those mounted on metal frames.

6. Rapid temperature change: artificial heating and cooling through air conditioners, heaters and radiators can cause glass to expand and contract at faster rates, resulting in breakage. This change can also occur as a result of windows warming up during the day time and the night seeing a sudden decrease in temperatures, causing the window to cool up faster.

Protect Your Windshields from Cracking in Extreme Temperatures

Cold Weather:

Winters in Canada can be particularly harrowing for your automobile glass, what with the constant beating it has to suffer from snow, hail and ice storms. While this can already damage and weaken your glass, what may be the cherry on top is our propensity to want instantaneous results for everything.

People tend to switch on their car heaters as soon as they enter their cars, causing temperatures within the car to change rapidly. It may be a better idea to slowly ease into the temperature you want. If your frozen windshield is blasted with hot air, it will crack because of the sudden change in temperature.

Wait a few minutes after entering your car before switching on your heater at the lowest intensity. Adjust the temperature gradually until it has reached the temperature you want.

If your car windshield has a layer of ice frozen on it, the worst possible thing you could do for your glass is pour hot water on it to thaw it. Instead, use an ice scraper to remove the ice from the surface of the glass.

Using washer fluids is also a good idea to thaw out glass. When visibility is already low due to the bad weather, you are going to need as clean a windshield as possible. Keeping a washer fluid dispenser ready at hand is a great idea to make sure your windshield is the cleanest it can be.

Faulty wiper blades can become incapable of brushing away snow and ice, resulting in accumulation on the surface of your windshield and decreasing visibility. If you live in a particularly cold climate or experience cold temperatures more often than warm, it may be a good idea to invest in special winter wipers, designed for winter weather.

If your windshield does crack or develop chips, immediately take your car to an auto glass repair shop to get the cracks repaired before they spread. If the crack is too large to be fixed, you may need to get the entire windshield replaced.

Hot Weather:

Much of the same principles of cold weather damage apply to hot weather. Rapid heat changes from hot to cold in the summers can lead to breakages in the glass. However, there are a few extra precautionary measures you can take to reduce the risks of thermal stress cracks.

Always try to park your car in an area with uniform shade. Parking your car directly under the sun or in an area that is partially shaded can lead to the glass either overheating or having patches where the glass is colder than the rest of the glass.

When getting into your hot car, try not to urge your car’s temperature to go instantly from above 50°C to 26°C. Always start with a lower temperature, allowing your car’s air-conditioning to slowly cool your car.

Your air conditioning vents should not be angled towards the windshield, to prevent rapid cooling of the glass. Set your air conditioning temperatures to its lowest setting with the vents turned downwards when you first get into your car.

Protect Your Windows from Cracking in Extreme Temperatures

Similar to windshield glass, windows are also designed to keep debris and dust out of the house all the while letting sufficient warmth and light into it.

You want a window that will properly insulate your house against the harsh temperatures outside, but will also be strong enough to withstand said temperatures and not buckle under pressure. While there is not a lot you can do to protect your windows against exposure from the elements, you can however, take a few precautions to reduce the risk of cracking and breakages due to rapid temperature changes.

Natural temperatures rarely change fast enough to cause major damage to windows. Even the most sudden of temperature changes—such as when an uncommonly cool night follows a sweltering hot day—does not happen all of a sudden, but happens gradually. However, in the situation mentioned, it is still possible for glass windows to crack because of the change in temperature.

This usually happens when the window is mounted on a dark colored or conducting frame, when the window has not been properly installed or when the glass used for the window is of low quality.

Whenever you install windows, seek out the help of a reliable glass dealer and ensure the materials used are not of sub-standard quality. High quality glass may be more expensive at the offset but will give you more financial benefit in the long run as compared to its cheaper alternatives.

Whether you’re living in a warm climate with frequent heat waves or a frigid climate with snowstorms and the like, install a light colored, insulating frame for your window to keep sudden temperature changes at a minimum.

Install Energy Efficient windows, not only to keep your house properly insulated, but also to reduce the risk of condensation. These will also cut costs and reduce the amount of money you spend every month on temperature controlling your house.

Hire a professionalauto glass repair and window installation company in Edmonton today

Crystal Glass specializes in everything glass; from glass tabletops and showers to windshield repairs and window installations in Alberta.

With over 65 years of experience in the field, Crystal Glass prides itself on its expertise in choosing the choicest materials and providing you with quality service every time. Contact now to book an appointment and experience the best glass repair and replacement services of your life.

#auto glass replacement #auto glass repair #glassrepairca

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