#finished with clinical rotations for a couple months | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

intubatedangel · 3 years ago

Text

Cold Snap : Chapter 9

So... It’s been a while. Sorry for that. Things got in the way, and the last couple of months were considerably worse, but i’m still here. I won’t make any promises in regard to updates, they’ll happen when they happen. Still, i hope you enjoy.

Story Index

***

Anna stood to one side, watching the continuing attempts to resuscitate their patient. The young woman on the table was still in full asystolic cardiac arrest. It was hardly surprising. A glance at the monitor told Anna that Shona's core temperature was still only 21c. Barely out of the realm of profound hypothermia and a far cry from the normal human body temperature of 37. Anna knew that the hypothermia was buying them time, but looking at the clock she couldn't help but feel a reflexive twinge of despair. Shona's heart hadn't so much as twitched on its own for 45 minutes. Just two days ago that had been the point at which they had regretfully ceased their attempts to resuscitate Amelia. Anna's mind lingered on her for just a moment, she still didn't know if Amelia had been her sister, disconnected by Anna's own adoption, or if their similarities were purely coincidental.

Anna shook her head, clearing away the thoughts. The clinical part of her mind reasserted itself. 45 minutes was well within the limits when it came to hypothermia. 2 hours could pass and still result in a favourable outcome. It would be tougher without a full ECMO machine. A dialysis machine could warm Shona's blood, but it couldn't oxygenate or circulate that blood. Once they got her up to 32, they would have to hope she responded to their efforts.

As if responding to her thoughts, the doors burst open. Anna looked up to see a technician wheeling in a trolley with the dialysis machine. It sparked a fresh burst of activity as Carl organised the team. "Good, thanks for coming so quick Jerry. Right then people. Anna, I want you back on her chest. Trish take over the bag and Kirstie, I want you assisting me." Once he finished the team counted to 3 in their heads before they moved as one, almost like a dance, rotating around Shona's body, slipping into their positions with barely a single pause. Anna mounted the step, her hands coming together, fingers weaving together and landing in the centre of Shona's chest in a single smooth motion. She started to press down, once again feeling the chill of Shona's bare skin, even through the foam of the AED pad. Once she settled into the rhythm, her eyes wandered.

Shona's head gently rocked as the force of Anna's compressions translated through her body. Trish's regular squeezes of the ambu bag forced warm air though the ET tube that was held in Shona's mouth by the strips of tape. Even through that tape Anna could see Shona's lips were icy blue. The hair that framed her head had already dried out.

Turning her head the other way, Anna looked down the rest of Shona's body. Wrapped in the temperature blanket her arms barely moved, but the slight bobbing of her shoulders caused the plastic of the blanket to squeak. Her abdomen bulged each time Anna's hands compressed her chest, the movement travelling down to her legs. The splinted leg swayed gently, but the other was held firm by Kirstie’s hands. Her thigh had been unwrapped to give Carl access. In his hand was a wide bore IV catheter, which he lined up with the large vein, and gently inserted. Altering position slightly he inserted a twin, one line out, one line in.

Anna looked away, eyes back to the monitor, and the perfectly flat line of her heart’s rhythm. A line beneath it bounced each time Shona's heart was squeezed between her sternum and spine, the pulse of blood reflected by the monitor, a sign that Anna's compressions were providing the required circulation. That Anna was doing her job. As was the rest of the team. Anna just hoped it would be enough.

* * *

Carl quickly finished hooking up the lines of the dialysis machine. He glanced at the machine to confirm it was set up for the situation. Jerry had done as expected, taking the filters out of the loop, leaving just the warming unit. Within a minute blood was running into the machine, through the heater, then back into Shona's body. Jerry confirmed that everything was working fine, then retreated to the corner in case there was a problem.

Carl looked at the monitors, assessing the information. Shona was still asystolic. Her temperature was now at 22. Neither was a great reading, but there were some positives. Her blood pressure was well supported by Anna's compressions and the warmed fluids they were pushing into her body. Her o2 saturation was also pretty good, holding at 96, could be better, could be worse. Her ETCo2 was in a similar position. Carl suspected there may still be some traces of water lingering in her lungs. Better to deal with it sooner rather than later.

"Ok, let's suction her lungs out again, Kirstie, get the LUCAS ready and prepare the ventilator Trish" Carl ordered as he moved around to Shona's head. Trish slipped out of his way, plucking the ambu bag off the end of the tube, dropping it on the bed before moving to the ventilator in the corner. Carl slid the suction catheter down the tube, pushing it down deep. A few small traces of water were pulled through the thin tube. Once it seemed to run dry Carl withdrew the suction tube halfway, wiggling it a little, hoping it would descend into Shona's other lung. He was rewarded by another small trickle of water.

Meanwhile Kirstie had unpacked the LUCAS, handing the large body off to Roger, while she took the yellow backboard and lining it up, ready for Anna to pause her compressions. Carl pulled the suction tube out of Shona's endotracheal tube, satisfied her lungs were now clear. He reconnected the bag, squeezing in two breaths, before disconnecting it once more. By this point Trish had the ventilator in position and ready to go. Carl attached the hose to the end of the ET tube and as soon as Trish hit the button it let out a woosh as it pushed warmed air into Shona's lungs, inflating her chest.

"Grab me a tube holder." Carl ordered as he tore the tape from Shona's ghostly pale cheeks, gently removing it from the tube, careful not to pull on it. By the time he was done Trish had already unwrapped the blue Thomas tube holder. Carl spun the screw far enough to allow it to slip around the tube, then lowered it, putting gently pressure on Shona's chin to open her mouth and allow the integrated bite block to go between her teeth. He threaded the strap beneath her head, trapping her hair as he fixed it the other side of the blue plastic.

As he tightened the screw, securing the tube in place, he checked the progress of the others. Everyone was ready to switch over to the LUCAS, they were just waiting on Carl's order and for Anna to finish compressions. Carl handed Trish the unneeded ambu bag, stepping around opposite Kirstie. "Ready when you are Anna." In preparation Carl slid his arm beneath Shona's neck, his hand worming under the large rubbery vest, ready to lift her enough for the backboard to slide under.

* * *

"28...29...30!" Anna stressed the last word, her intention clear. She pulled her arms back and a fraction of a second later Carl levered Shona's limp body upwards, her head hanging, neck extended. As soon as there was enough space beneath the vest Kirstie pushed the backboard through. She quickly aligned it, then stepped out of the way allowing Roger to move in with the main body of the LUCAS. Anna reached out, grabbing one of the legs, guiding it into position and clicking it into position on the backboard. Roger, having done the same, pushed the plunger down firmly onto Shona's sternum, right in the centre of her chest over the front defibrillator pad. He started the LUCAS, the plunger immediately slamming down with a click, pressing Shona's sternum down two inches.

Her body flexed under the mechanical compressions. Anna could feel the force translating through Shona's body as she lifted the young woman's arm and strapped her wrist to the machine. With a moment to stop and breath, Anna felt the burning in her arms, the pins and needles in her fingers. She shook her arms out, dropping of the step. Out the corner of her eye she noticed Carl's slight movement towards, ready to catch her if she stumbled. For just a moment she flirted with the idea of falling into his arms, but settled for stepping in close leaving just a few millimetres of space between them.

"Doing okay?" He murmured. She nodded her head ever so slightly in reply, keeping her eye on the table. On Shona's body as it continued to be battered by the aggressive resuscitation efforts. With the ventilator providing breaths and the LUCAS's mechanical compressions giving consistent circulation, there wasn't much more for the team to do. "It's a waiting game now." Carl said, as if reading her thoughts.

Anna looked around the room at the other members of the team. Kirstie stood next to the bed, in reach of the LUCAS and the defibrillator that sat upon the crash cart. The small monitor on the unit showed a barely moving line, mirroring the larger monitor near the end of the bed. Trish was keeping a close eye on the ventilator, making sure the settings were adequate. Roger busied himself with the chest tubes, dialysis lines and IV's, checking that everything was flowing and switching out some of the empty saline bags for fresh warm ones. Jerry and Dave stood in a corner, quietly discussing the clinically dead girl on the bed in the middle of the room. Just outside the doors stood the other paramedic, Lucy, watching the fully automatic processes trying to preserve Shona's life.

"Where are we on time?" Carl asked absently. With everyone else occupied, Anna stepped over to the chart, wincing slightly as she read it.

"Just over an hour." She reported clearly for the team, as she began to fill in the details. Heart rate 0. Rhythm, asystole. BP and O2 holding steady. Perhaps the most important reading at the moment was Shona's core temperature. It was now up to 25. She was getting warmer, at a faster rate, but there was still quite a way to go before she would be warm enough to try and bring her back. Anna hoped all the effort, all the chest tubes, dialysis and warm saline being pumped into her wouldn't be for nothing.

44 notes · View notes

galwaygremlin · 2 years ago

Text

since i’m not going straight through paramedic level (pausing at aemt), i should have time after my clinical rotations are finished and i get a solid schedule at my new job to volunteer, and i would love to do animal rescue/vet clinics/shelter work. however i super cannot take care of an animal myself. couple months back my roommate rescued a puppy from his friends who adopted one and promptly tried to abandon it after realizing puppies do not like. come pre-trained. roommate got attached to the dog, but is realizing A LITTLE LATE he cannot take care of an animal right now either. so i’m trying to find a shelter for this dog, and eeeeeeeeverywhere is either at capacity or doesn’t take pit bull mixes. good grief.

but this process has made me realize how many volunteer opportunities i have because everywhere i looked for placement for the dog had openings for help.

#houston we have a problem #roommate's got a big heart but zero patience and tends to like. take on a bunch of projects and then get frustrated #which i GET but oh my god if he'd have let me do this months ago when i offered the dog could've had a home by now #instead of staying with us when we can't give her what she needs in terms of space or play time

2 notes · View notes

la-li-lu-le-lol · 3 years ago

Note

Im absolutely desperate for more of red collar job!! Is there anything you want to say about it? Did you originally have different plans? Do you have any details you had to cut that you're still attached to? Anything else?

Aw, anon! ;w; you're making me blush, here. Thank you. There will be more soon, I promise! Within 4ish weeks but still.

I do have some stuff I wanna say about it! It is under the cut.

There was a LOT of content that was written but left on the cutting-room floor. I was originally going to have not-Snake take the form of multiple people Hal knew - Huey, Julie, Emma, etc. I was originally going to have Hal *successfully* shoot not-snake in the first chapter and become shell-shocked by how nasty and realistic a point-blank rifle shot to the head is. In fact this was where Huey was going to first show up - after not-snake 'died' Hal was going to feel a hand on his arm from behind. the hand was gonna have a wedding ring, and moving sunlight patterns of water reflections on it, and he was going to hear huey's voice saying "I'm so proud of you." Then he wakes up. Bunch of ideas like that one! The dream sequences are always the hardest to write. I decided to delay that moment and then thought it through a little more wrt character, and it got ironed out into what it is now.

This story was originally going to be absent the paranormal/psych-horror B-plot entirely. I already had chapters 1-4 mostly written without them before I had a lightbulb moment and added them in. Listening to your self-indulgent thoughts is a good thing, actually.

What Not-Snake is, or even whether it/he exists or not is (generally...) meant to be ambiguous and up to reader interpretation. My word isn't law, but while penning out its/his mythology, I leaned a little on concepts like the unseelie fey and the irish fetch. Chapter 8 also has a lot of satanic symbolism with varying levels of subtlety lol but that was just for fun.

Many of the horror elements, like the concept of "somebody" familiar and beloved to you behaving in threatening and frightening ways that don't match with their image that you trust, are heavily inspired by the Higurashi visual novel. This scene in particular should look familiar. Skip to 1:53:49.

(Or, if you would rather not read and see the short version in the anime.)

As a final and more personal note, I have a lot of very strong feelings and investment about the fic's subject matter. I am writing this fic as somebody with a pretty severe aversion to medical procedures (Needles are a problem to say the least) and gore, but I also have a deep interest in those things at the same time, because feelings are complicated. I went to a high school with a medical magnet program where we took super specialized classes, basically like pre-pre-med. I loved that shit and did well, but in my Junior year, we did "internships" (we didnt do anything like actual medical interns are supposed to, we were just observers) at hospitals and clinics around town. I saw some pretty intense stuff without having been truly prepared for it. There were a couple incidents with me walking out or leaving the bus and hiding somewhere so I wouldn't have to show up. After a couple months, I requested to be taken out of the rotations program and I never finished that course. All of Hal's anxiety and disgust is very real and written from that experience. This fic has given me massive amounts of catharsis in writing somebody learning how to do something I never could.

Thank you for your curiosity. ❤️

#asks

15 notes · View notes

prettywordsyouleft · 4 years ago

Text

MonX Hospital | Shownu

Pairing: Son Hyunwoo x reader

Genre: physiotherapist – hospital au / strangers to lovers

Warnings: medical terms, injury and recovery, a water scene, basically you will fall madly in love with Shownu by the end of this >_>

Word count: 4296

You didn’t know why your neighbour was acting over the top like this. Sure, you had taken a nasty fall from your front step four hours ago, tripping on the welcome mat outside your door, of all things, before tumbling off into your garden. You had assured Cassidy then that you were fine and some rest would help. However, she had watched the whole thing, even heard the crack when your ankle had twisted during your accident.

She wasn’t about to let you rest up in bed with just an ice pack and ibuprofen.

However, you had walked into the emergency department and surely that meant nothing was broken, right? There was a little swelling and that was to be expected with a nasty sprain. You had told Cassidy you’d go to your general practitioner in the morning if it was any worse. That would be much better than sitting in the ER department’s waiting room for hours as you had thus far.

“You’ll thank me for this one day,” she told you after your umpteenth sigh and you turned to the woman, shooting her an imploring gaze. She patted your lower arm gently. “You’re too young to be messed up from an injury.”

“You’re not that much older than me, Cass,” you pointed out and she shrugged. “Don’t act like you’re wiser than me over this.”

“Take it from a professional klutz, you’ll ache from morning to night if you don’t get things checked out.”

“It’s probably just a sprained ankle.”

“Do you have a medical degree?” the woman shot back and you slumped into your chair, defeated. Cassidy grinned smugly. “Precisely why you and I are going to wait until some hot doctor comes and-”

“Miss L/N?” an older, balding doctor called from the doors and you gave Cassidy another look.

She helped you up to your feet. “Okay, so he’s not hot but there are always the technicians and other doctors you’ll be seeing today to brighten your mood.”

As you expected, the long hours of waiting around the hospital hadn’t confirmed a break in any of your bones. It wasn’t all good news either. “I’ve done what?”

“You’ve torn a ligament in your ankle called the anterior talofibular ligament. When you rotated your ankle like this,” the doctor picked up a foot model and re-enacted a similar movement as to what you believed had happened before continuing. “It caused the ligament to tear. There’s good and bad news in this. The good is that you came in immediately after the incident occurred so we can begin treatment right away. The bad news is that ligaments vary in recovery rate. Normally they heal within six weeks, and with a solid physiotherapy plan, your motion and strength should return to normal or as best as a normal can be within two to three months. However, as I said, they have a tendency to take their own pace so what we like to see in recovery might not be the actual prognosis time you face.”

“Aren’t you glad I brought you in now?” Cassidy breathed from the chair beside you and you nodded slowly, deciphering all the information given by the doctor. He proceeded in filling in a few pieces of paperwork, one for medication, another for a referral to the hospital physiotherapy clinic, and two more for work and your usual doctor. He then placed your now considerably swollen ankle into a support bandage and issued you some crutches for the next few days.

“It would be best to head up to physiotherapy now and book in an appointment. They get pretty busy by mid-week and so you’ve caught the start of their week well by being injured now,” the doctor mentioned with a wry smile and gestured for the door. “Good luck with your recovery, Y/N.”

“You sure you can hobble up there?” Cassidy asked as you struggled to get a hang of the crutches once out of the orthopaedic department. She smiled gently. “I can dash up and book the appointment if you like.”

“That’d be good and I’ll go fill my prescription while you do that,” you proposed, meeting back up after attending to your different tasks. You frowned at the dazed expression upon your neighbour’s face. “Did it go well?”

“I don’t know if I’ve just sealed your fate or not,” Cassidy breathed out and you cocked your head to the side, waiting for more information. “The therapists up there are something else. And your one, Hyunwoo is his name. I don’t know if you’ll survive your first meeting with him.”

“Of course I will,” you replied, hobbling towards the exit. “Stop dreaming of me meeting someone special within these hospital walls, Cass. I’m coming in for treatment, not anything else.”

You were kind of grateful that Cassidy had work when your appointment in the physiotherapy clinic came around three days later. Because you really didn’t want to hear her tell you, “I told you so”.

Boy, was Hyunwoo something else, indeed.

It wasn’t even just the fact that he was physically attractive. He was too comfortable to be around, joking with you not even five minutes into the first meeting.

“So did you throw out your welcome mat?” he mused, reading over the notes and you chuckled softly.

“Not yet.”

“I figured it might not be as welcomed in front of your home after your nasty fall the other day,” he continued and then looked up at you with a smile. “How’s it been feeling?”

“Pretty sore and stiff,” you admitted and Hyunwoo nodded, ticking a couple of boxes. The initial part of your appointment continued with him asking you questions about your injury and general health and you answering them as best as you can, smiling and laughing along the way. By the end of the questions, you had almost forgotten why you were even here, just enjoying your time with the man.

And then Hyunwoo stood up. “I’m afraid the fun part of today is now over. I have to be a little mean to you now.”

“Mean?”

“I need to examine the amount of movement you have but I promise I’ll end it with a soothing massage afterwards,” he expressed, reaching forward for the crutches you had walked in on and tucked them under his arm. He then held out his other arm. “Here, allow me to help you over to the cubicle we’ll use today.”

Your eyes nearly popped out of your head once attached to his arm for support. It was as strong as it appeared, helping you maintain your balance as you hobbled with him to the space for your treatment.

Hyunwoo was watching you avidly, or at least, how your leg moved, murmuring encouragingly until he had you seated on the bed. He smiled warmly at you. “That was pretty rough, huh?”

“I haven’t walked without the crutches yet.”

“That’s okay, I won’t take them away from you just yet, I promise. But they will be leaving you later next week with all things going well, so let’s help you get to that point, shall we?”

Even though Hyunwoo’s examination hurt, and brought you close to tears twice, he was so gentle and soothing throughout that you remained rather relaxed.

“You okay?” he asked when he was done and you nodded softly, which made him smile yet again. You wondered if you would need any painkillers after this session or if his smiles would continue to remove the pain from your awareness. He patted you on the leg gently and then hopped up. “I’m just going to get the ultrasound machine. Don’t go running off anywhere, will you?”

You laughed at his sentence and once he returned with the machine, Hyunwoo pulled the back of the bed up and helped you sit up before moving to the end of the bed, lifting your leg so he could sit down, placing your ankle on his lap. You were so focused on his actions that you failed to feel the cold squirt of the gel he put on your leg but you did feel the warmth of his hand supporting your leg, and of course the machine, as the wand began to move in slow, circular movements.

“Ohh,” you hummed appreciatively and Hyunwoo chuckled.

“Told you, I’ll make you feel good, Y/N.”

“Well you’re good at it,” you replied mindlessly, your cheeks reddening when you realised what you said. Hyunwoo sheepishly chuckled.

“Good to know my years at school training are paying off.”

“Right, of course,” you agreed awkwardly, fanning the flames licking at your cheeks.

“I’ll let you in on a little secret though,” Hyunwoo mentioned, leaning in towards you a little. He grinned. “It’s the machine doing all the work right now.”

That deflated the tension, both of you laughing together. It beeped three times to let you know it had finished after several more minutes of treatment and Hyunwoo wiped away the excess gel, handing you a sheet with three gentle exercises to try at home and your crutches too.

“I’ll see you on Monday, Y/N.”

“You will.”

“Have a good weekend, and make sure to get rid of the mat until you’re better. I don’t want you hurt any more than you are.”

Did he want you to swoon any harder instead? Nodding in reply, you fare-welled the man before hobbling out of the department, sucking in a deep breath.

You hoped come Monday you would be in better condition to squish down your rising affection for your physiotherapist.

Monday came and went, with much of the same banter and comfortable company from Hyunwoo. As your sessions continued, you grew closer to Hyunwoo. He would ask what you were doing outside of work or plans you had and share tidbits about himself. He was always joking around with you and his touch was just as warm as it had been the first time you met him.

Perhaps he had healing powers within those hands of his. Your leg over the past five weeks had healed a great deal.

“Yes, that’s it Y/N!” Hyunwoo praised as you managed to handle the gym activities today. You were exhausted but felt good to notice the strength returning to your ankle. He gave you a high five that lingered a little before handing you your water bottle. “I’m proud of your recovery so far.”

“Those exercises at home you gave at the last session helped me.”

“Well I’m going to give you a new instruction this time around,” he enthused with a bright smile. “How’s your Thursday looking?”

“Thursday I’m pretty flexible for time, why?”

“I’ll book in the pool.”

“I’m sorry, the what?” you shot back immediately, your eyes rounding as saucers.

Hyunwoo examined your expression for a moment before smiling again. “Are you afraid of water?”

“No,” you replied, your eyes darting away from his torso. Surely he wouldn’t insist on getting in the pool with you, right?

“Good, hydrotherapy is a great form of exercise and strength building-”

“I mean I’m not scared of water but I can’t exactly swim either.”

“That’s fine our pool is designed to be able to reach the floor at all times. It’s not really used for swimming, it’s a series of exercises done in the water to take the weight-bearing aspect out of the equation. I think you could benefit from this. Besides, I’ll be right beside you the whole time. You don’t have to worry about anything.”

This knowledge didn’t ease you any. Not only was Hyunwoo going to see you in a swimsuit, you would potentially be seeing him in his. Your heart began to race with the anxiety building and Hyunwoo noticed, rubbing your shoulders gently. “Hey, have I ever done anything to make our sessions unsafe? I promise you it’ll be fine. Okay?”

“Oh-kay.”

“That’s my girl!” he enthused and nodded happily. “Let’s go book in the appointment now, shall we?”

And despite trying to slow down the clock, Thursday arrived and you were seated in the lobby of the therapy clinic, waiting for Hyunwoo to call you in. Fiddling with the strap to your beach bag you had brought along to carry the extra things you needed for today’s session, you gulped when you heard your name called.

Hyunwoo normally wore a polo shirt and sports track pants so when you noticed his uniform was that of black swimming jammers and an equally form-hugging black sports shirt, you actually needed a moment to find the strength to return to your legs.

Today wasn’t a good idea.

“Shall we go? The pool is all ready,” he called and you nodded faintly, hauling yourself up onto shaky legs. Hyunwoo came to your aid, assuming it was sheer nerves.

Which it was, just not about the actual pool.

Once helped into the room, Hyunwoo walked down the ramp with ease into the water. He looked so natural within the pool and you assumed that some of those toned muscles must come from being a swimmer. He then gestured to you to join him. “There’s a changing room off to the side there but it looks like you have your suit on underneath?”

You blushed at his observation, nodding numbly. “Yeah, I could just take it off here.”

“Allow me to give you the privacy to do so then,” he replied, turning around so you could take off your outer layers.

You had opted for your favourite one-piece suit, deciding anything else would be not very appropriate for today’s session. You were here to exercise, nothing more! And that’s what you told yourself repeatedly as you approached the ramp. Hyunwoo turned then, coming up to meet you half way and took your hand. “Ready?”

“I guess.”

“We’ll start easy with just walking up and down the pool, okay?” Hyunwoo instructed and you nodded, soon feeling comfortable to walk without his guiding hand. He was still at your side just in case you needed him.

You didn’t dare look in his direction.

“Alright, let’s try some stretches,” he announced, coming over to the side of the pool and demonstrating a leg lift. You executed them with relative ease, and the next four exercises also. Hyunwoo then went to get a weird looking hollow dumbbell and returned, laughing at your confusion. “It doesn’t look like much but this bad boy can actually be really hard to push through the water. Have a go.”

You gasped when you pushed it under the water, your gaze snapping back up to his in surprise. “Wow, it’s really heavy now!”

“Clever isn’t it. Try walking up and down whilst pushing it through the water as you walk. It’s going to take a bit more out of you so remember, slow and steady. Ready?”

“Sure!” you replied, heading off down the pool. It was definitely work and when you reached the end you were puffing. Hyunwoo left your side, walking backwards so there was some distance between you. He then encouraged you to return to his side, watching you intently.

You don’t know what came over you then. Walking back to him felt as if you were making your way towards someone you craved. You walked with purpose, pushing the weight through the water with more ease this time. You were determined to get back to his side, your gaze never faltering from his. You gasped softly when he held out his arms as you near him, seemingly as permission for this moment to exist between you both.

And just as you almost reached your goal, you lost your footing somehow, your leg slipping out from beneath you, the weight you were holding tipping you further forward. Before you could save yourself, Hyunwoo was there, fully wrapped around you, holding you flush to his body.

For a moment, all you could hear was each of your heavy breathing from the incident. And then he swallowed, his mouth near your ear. “Are you okay, Y/N?”

“Y-yeah.”

“Sure?”

“Mm.”

“Are you scared?”

“Only of you,” you admitted slowly, despite clinging onto him firmly. Hyunwoo tentatively pulled back so he could look you in the eyes.

“The feeling’s mutual.”

“It is?”

He nodded honestly. “I could get fired for the thoughts I have in my head right now.”

“There’s no security cameras in here, right?”

“No, but why wo-”

Your lips on his cut the sentence short, the tension snapping between you passionately. You hadn’t realised just how long it had been building, how long you had craved a moment like this with Hyunwoo. You had blurred the lines between therapist and patient long before this moment though.

And it wasn’t just you.

Hyunwoo was kissing you back with just as much need, his hunger overwhelming you. Backing you up slowly into the side of the pool, he finally pulled away, reaching to grip onto the bar gently pressing into your back to steady himself.

“That shouldn’t have happened.”

“I know,” you replied dazedly, watching Hyunwoo attempt to rein in his evident desire. You smiled weakly. “We’re coming to the end of my sessions soon, right? So I guess it’s not as if you have to feel-”

It was him cutting you off now with a kiss, groaning into as he caressed your lips. Sliding your hands up his chest, you joined them behind his neck, leaning away from the bar and into him completely.

You knew this was breaking several medical practices, for sure. Yet you couldn’t pull back, wanting to taste more of Hyunwoo the longer his lips were on yours.

Reality called you both back from the heady embrace when his stopwatch beeped to let him know the new hour had arrived. Jerking away from you, Hyunwoo instantly ran a hand through his hair. “Wow uh, we need to wrap up here.”

“You must have other clients to work on,” you mentioned and caught his startled look. Shaking your head and hands you laughed awkwardly. “Not like this, I mean, I hope not but-”

“No, only you. I’ve never done anything like this before.”

You disliked how easily that made your heart leap about with delight to hear. Still, Hyunwoo looked panicked and you could tell he was overthinking the moment the longer he stood in the pool.

Heading towards the ramp, he stopped and then backtracked to your side. “Here, let me help you out.”

“I can hold the bar.”

“Right, you should hold the bar.” You both made it out of the pool and Hyunwoo made a beeline for his towel. “I’ll get you to make an appointment for next week. We’ll give the pool a skip, okay?”

“Of course.”

“See you then,” he said as he walked through the door quickly.

You sat down slowly, looking back at the pool before you. It wasn’t the heated water that had caused your mind to run away with you.

You didn’t quite know how you would face him next time.

Deciding not to cancel your appointment as you had convinced yourself all weekend long to do, you turned up on Monday to the hospital clinic, waiting for Hyunwoo to call you in for your session. Instead, a young woman called out your name and you felt your hopes crash immediately. Had he really avoided you like this?

After asking about Hyunwoo, the woman who introduced herself as Beth shook her head. “Hyunwoo’s off sick. He never gets unwell, so it’s a first. He sounded awful on the phone earlier.”

“Really?” you replied, worry etched within your eyes. “I hope he’s going to be okay.”

“He should be, he’s a healthy guy usually! Anyway, shall we start our session?”

You worried about Hyunwoo for the next two days in between your sessions, hoping that today you would see him back in the clinic.

He was there, though he still looked pale. As soon as he ushered you into a cubicle, you went to reach out to feel his forehead, stopping midway. What were you thinking?! You had told yourself you wouldn’t make him any further awkward in your presence than you had a week ago.

He chuckled weakly. “I’m okay, honest.”

“You look awful.”

“I didn’t want you to worry about me any further than you no doubt were,” he admitted quietly and you merely stared back at him. Hyunwoo sighed and looked at your chart. “This is your last week of physiotherapy here. I still think you need some extra sessions so I’ll give you a leaflet at the end of today’s session with approved private clinics who will take you on as a patient with a surcharge. It’s not too much and you’d only need weekly sessions. But let’s talk about that later.”

“You came in to say goodbye,” you concluded, dropping your head. What did you expect? The other day was a slip up between a professional and his patient. Even you knew the logistics behind it.

“Shall we start on our training today?” Hyunwoo asked, clapping his hands together to try and energise you both. It didn’t work, and by the end of the time together you were equally distracted and quiet.

You didn’t know how to thank him for his time and generosity. Even if you had kissed him and given into your feelings for him, you could still recognise he was great at his profession.

And now, your time with him had come to an end.

“Thank you, Hyunwoo,” you managed to say, looking down at his sneakers, knowing you’d cry if you looked up. “I’m grateful for your help with my injury. I’ll ensure to continue with therapy until it’s back to normal.”

“Glad to hear it.”

“Is our session up?”

“We have five minutes left,” he replied and you nodded, reaching down for your bag.

“I think we can end it here. Thank you again.”

“Y/N, wait!”

You couldn’t stop there; you knew the tears were going to spill down your cheeks any second now. You chided yourself for falling trap to them, watching as they ran down your cheeks through the mirror in the bathroom you darted into after leaving the department. Allowing yourself a few minutes to acknowledge the ache in your chest, you then gathered yourself back up, dabbing away your tear stains and stepped out of the bathroom.

Promptly into a waiting Hyunwoo. He relaxed visibly, scratching at his head as he smiled weakly. “I was right to wait here then.”

“Did you forget something?”

“Technically I could have looked in your file for it but I figured I’ve already broken enough rules that I should ask you instead.”

“Ask me about what?”

“Your number. Please.”

You merely stared at him, processing what he said. Jarringly, you reached for the phone he held out and punched in your number. Were you dreaming just now? Hyunwoo chewed on his bottom lip, trying to curb some of his satisfaction in gaining your personal information. And then he gave your shoulder a gentle squeeze.

Well, you were definitely not dreaming. Snapping your stunned gaze to his face, you watched him grin shyly. “Can I ring you tonight?”

“Really?”

“If you’re busy, then I can wait but-”

“I’ll be free after five.”

“I’ll ring you at six,” he confirmed with a giddy smile, feeling yourself mirror the expression. He waved you off with a laugh.

When six arrived, you jumped as the phone you held went off right on time. You waited a moment as not to seem as if you hadn’t just spent the last thirty minutes staring at the screen or anything.

“Hello?”

“Y/N? It’s Hyunwoo here.”

“Hyunwoo,” you called, trying not to giggle happily. “Are you sure this is appropriate? You won’t get in any trouble?”

“I closed your file today so you’re officially no longer my patient.”

“What am I then?”

“Yeah, that’s the culprit.”

“Well, I have a confession to make,” he said with a quick breath and you frowned. “I might have looked at something I shouldn’t have before I closed your file. Is this the same welcome mat that tripped you up on that fateful morning?”

Getting up with a start from your couch, you dashed to the front door and opened it, finding Hyunwoo kicking gently at the mat under his feet. He looked up at you and grinned, still holding the phone up to his ear. “Is it?”

“I hope it’s alright, but I brought a replacement one,” he mentioned as he ended the call, lifting the bag he held up and shaking it. You laughed and he grinned. “The salesperson said this one is so heavy duty that it won’t even move in a storm.”

“What about you? Will you move in a storm?”

“Only into your arms to comfort you, I hope.”

“Want to come in?”

“Are you sure you want to let your therapist in? I might find all the flaws within your home that could injure you and want to fix them all,” he admitted and you stepped aside to welcome him inside.

But before you shut the door, you leaned down and grabbed the welcome mat, throwing it down into the garden bed where you had fallen last. Smiling brightly, you then turned to Hyunwoo. “Have you eaten? I could make us some dinner.”

“I’ve been dying to try your food ever since you told me about that party you threw for your family two weeks ago.”

“You might think I’m a horrible cook, I had help then,” you pointed out and Hyunwoo followed you down the hallway, leaving the new mat by the door and expressing that you have help in him right now.

You hoped that he would keep showing up on your doorstep like this.

_________________

Next: Wonho

[MONSTA X Masterlist] | [Main Masterlist] | [Request Guidelines]

330 notes · View notes

babygirlwolverine · 3 years ago

Note

Congratulations on finishing your last exam!!! That’s so exiting!!!

Do you know what you’ll be doing first for clinical rotations? Like working with small animals or farm animals or whatever?

Thank you so so much for your sweet message!!! Still waiting on the grades but it feels so good to be done with my last exam!!

Yes, I actually do know what my first clinical rotation is! My first one is on campus and it’s an ICU/ER rotation that will be one month long! Kinda thrown into the deep end on that one, but at least my first rotation is on campus, which kinda eases so nerves because then I’ll at least know where I’m going.

Since I’m tracking small animals (with a couple mixed in exotic rotations), I won’t really be working with farm animals. Mostly because I know I don’t want to be a farm animal vet (cows, horses, sheep, goats, etc are not really my thing. Even though i love them, i dont wanna work with them). My zone that I’m focusing on is small animals and small exotics (like rabbits, ferrets, reptiles, pocket pets, birds, etc).

Although, I do have one special rotation in May that is a month long zoo rotation at the phoenix zoo and I’m SO excited about it! It’s one of the top ones I requested because the opportunity is a once in a lifetime moment to learn and get experience with some really unique and special animals!

#asked and answered #theyaremarriedandinlove #thank you for this sweet message!#It’s really exciting to talk about my clinical rotations #I can’t believe I start in a week like what the heckie how did that even happen?#time has flown by!

6 notes · View notes

mettaminerals · 3 years ago

Text

Life Healing Energy With Crystals

For quite a long time, many individuals Healing Crystals in adornments for the shear excellence of them. Gem Healing is considered by numerous a pseudo logical elective medication strategy that utilizes stones and crystals for healing yet is an antiquated practice that traces all the way back to something like 6,000 years. The Romans utilized crystals as charms to advance great wellbeing and accommodate insurance in fight. Roman and Greek specialists blended crystals in with plant removes, warmed them, and utilized restoratively. Antiquated Egyptians accepted these stones had the ability to reestablish wellbeing, and would likewise cover their dead with a quartz gem, which they accepted would direct their adored one securely to existence in the wake of death. Chinese utilized them to advance healing, edification, and fascination of wants.

Today, healers, Shamans, and clerics use crystals for their particular healing properties. I generally had an interest with stones and crystals yet that was the extent that it at any point went, until I was acquainted with crystals and their healing capacity at a Mind, Body, and Spirit Festival. Since crystals vibrate with the energy of the earth, they can assist you with adjusting your body to the Earth's energy. With these crystals, presently you as well, may vibrate at the most noteworthy energy - Earth Energy! This is the place where the healing starts. Utilizing crystals, and tuning yourself into their energy, you are then clearing blockages inside you which will upgrade your own normal healing forces. Most don't understand, yet our bodies were intended to act naturally adjusting and normally mend themselves. In any case, as life occurs, we here and there neglect to pause and deal with ourselves so frequently, that our bodies escape sync with that healing interaction, eventually making blockages in our physical and mental bodies.

Any blockages inside your life power is the thing that causes throbs, torments, and even illness to show in the actual body. It's therefore, I presently use crystals consistently for strength in a specific region in my life, for healing that is required that day, for individual reflection and clearness, or for use in my Reiki practice to incite love and light while cleaning and clearing Chakras. Reiki, as only one elective healing methodology, in it's most straightforward interpretation is Universal Life Force. It is the act of diverting the general life energy in a specific example to mend and fit the psychological and actual body and every one of our Chakras, which gets, absorbs, and communicates physical, passionate, and profound energy coursing through our bodies. There is a clearing method I use, just as an alternate explicit precious stone for each Chakra to clear any blockages around there. This makes room for life power energy to stream to you and through you to keep the psyche, body, and soul in it's heavenly condition of amazing wellbeing. In the event that we keep our brain, body, and soul vibrating on a high recurrence of affection and healing energy, we don't permit throbs, agonies, and infection to show and get comfortable the actual body.

This is only a short outline on Chakra healing with crystals. Every precious stone has its own novel healing property and a particular Chakra it reverberates with because of its tone. Our first Chakra, being the Root Chakra, manages establishing, and basically vibrates with and can be mended utilizing Red, Brown, or Black Crystals like Red Garnet, Hematite and Black Tourmaline. Our second Chakra, the Sacral Chakra, managing the mid-region and joy focuses, can mostly be fit with Orange Crystals, such Carnelian, Amber, and Orange Calcite. The Third Chakra, being the Solar Plexus Chakra, managing the Digestive System and individual force, reverberate with and can be mended with Yellow Crystals like Yellow Citrine, and Sunstone. The Fourth Chakra, the Heart Chakra, manages the Heart, Lungs, and Love. The Heart Chakra vibrates in a healing way with all Green or Pink crystals like Rose Quartz, Jade, or Green Aventurine. The fifth Chakra, the Throat Chakra, manages conveying, and reverberates with Blue Crystals like Blue Agate, Sodalite, or Sapphire. The 6th Chakra, the Third Eye Chakra, managing instinct and knowing, vibrates on a healing level with Violet Crystals like Amethyst, Lolite, and Flourite. The seventh Chakra, the Crown Chakra, managing the Central Nervous System and the Divine, resounds best with White or Purple Crystals like Selenite, Clear Quartz, or Amethyst.

I've actually been utilizing Crystals for my own healing for a lot, yet since starting the utilization of crystals for healing, I've had a couple of remarkable examples of overcoming adversity, some of which are important to me. The primary example of overcoming adversity is my better half who had rotator sleeve medical procedure. This, based on what I'm told by many individuals, is the most over the top agonizing a medical procedure you can have. This is most certainly an issue with a long healing time as he's just acquired around 3/4 of his movement back around there without torment so far over the most recent 5 months. At first, I would Reiki him while we were sitting and unwinding and the finish of every day. Then, at that point I brought a Carnelian ball into the image and what he disclosed to me while utilizing the healing ball was quite astonishing. The Carnelian ball brought him stunning warmth, practically like a hot stone wherever it contacted him assisting with unwinding and recuperate the muscles that had been cut off and controlled during a medical procedure, alleviating the aggravation actually like a hot stone back rub.

The second example of overcoming adversity is likewise precious to me as it has to do with my sister. My sister Deneen has Lupus, which is basically a provocative sickness where your body's resistant framework assaults its own tissue and organs. From what I hear and own her going, it is an extremely excruciating sickness and specialists simply toss various meds at it as an experimentation thing until they discover a medication that works. All things considered, she's as yet in a phase of her infection of not knowing what medicine works in aiding the aggravation which she bears each day. I've done Reiki healing on her various occasions in the past which has facilitated the aggravation barely enough to bring some relief, yet it wasn't until I begun Crystal Healing Therapy, that she's had supported help from the aggravation. I utilized different various Crystals to Cleanse and Clear her Chakra's, yet I additionally requested that she wear a Reiki Charged Hematite wristband for a couple of hours daily. It's been half a month and she's accounted for not having had a truly downright terrible day since.

My third example of overcoming adversity in only a couple of brief weeks has to do with somebody that has degenerative plate sickness which is torment in the lower back or neck because of a compromised circle in the spine. While there is a marginally hereditary reason to this infection, it's fundamentally brought about by normal mileage or some kind of injury to the body. With this kind of illness, there is ordinarily a steady, generally a slight benchmark torment. It likewise includes gentle to serious scenes of back or neck torment that by and large could endure anyplace from a couple of days to a couple of months and can be weakening during that time, prior to getting the individual once again to what they think about their standard in the aggravation division. Rachael had been languishing over numerous years with degenerative circle sickness when she came to me. I assisted her with the healing energy of Reiki and a Carnelian ball, which I used to treat lower back issues. After those two things, I utilized Hematite on her which, for her purposes, resembled the Belle of the Ball. When the Hematite stones connected with the skin on her lower back, she announced a dissolving of the aggravation very quickly and remained however long the Hematite remained on her back. I then, at that point educated her to proceed with this training all alone while she was not with me and to purge the Hematite with a Selenite stone so the entirety of the cynicism and poisons the Hematite assimilated from her, would be cleared prior to returning them to her lower back once more.

So regardless of the reported healing gem utilization of a considerable lot of our progenitors, some actually ruin the utilization of these stones alongside different types of elective medication. There are very few examinations to demonstrate or even refute the force of elective types of medications, for example, gem healing, needle therapy, Reiki, or even yoga as healing for the psyche, body and soul. This doesn't imply that these healing practices aren't viable. It simply implies that cash isn't being spent on what some consider to be "New Age" healing; that equivalent healing therapy that is really healing ancient. Likewise, regardless of the absence of exploration for these kinds of healing techniques, still around 33% of Americans utilize these or different types of elective medication. It is not necessarily the case that Crystal Healing Therapy is a fix all. You should in any case look for the assistance and clinical consideration from your PCPs, yet as you can see from these three totally different issues and infections from the above cases, Crystal Healing Stones really serve to enhance all endeavors of healing; regardless of whether you have enthusiastic injuries, explicit actual ailment, or basically need to build your energy levels, you can utilize crystals to vibrate with similar frequencies of earths energy and once again initiate your body's own personal healing capacities!

https://www.mettaminerals.com/

#Healing Crystals

2 notes · View notes

nsk96 · 2 years ago

Text

This mf really waited for my mom to prepare dinner for him yesterday.

Long-story short, my dad had shoulder surgery a couple months ago and so can’t use his right arm. He has shown that he can use his other arm really well and is capable of holding things with his right hand.

As expected, my mom came back home late from her dentist appointment, and so had to make up hours, so instead of working until 5pm, she worked until 8pm. I’m in my room studying and the only things I came out for was to do my laundry (which takes forever because it was my school clothes which I put in special laundry bags to wash, and hang to dry instead of putting in the dryer) and grab a snack. I did not eat dinner

My dad literally waited until my mom finished work, for her to get him dinner…from the fridge. He’s more than capable of getting his own food from the fridge (which he has done many times already for breakfast and lunch while my mom is at work). He’d rather sit on his ass and watch tv or porn on his phone, and then pester my mom who’s had a long-ass day and is in pain from her teeth, to get him food. And my mom has to do it or he’ll complain to his family and talk shit about her (he does that anyway so idk why she cares except for in the case of a divorce)

And you should have heard how rude he got with my mom a few days ago when she asked him to help upkeep the toilet, because the toilet was in a mess. All she asked is that he pour a little bleach into the toilet bowl, once in a while. He got angry and said “how am I supposed to do that with one arm?” (When it’s literally just a small squirt bottle. My mom made this shit so easy and he still can’t even do that?). Then he said “tell [Nadi] that too”. That shit pissed me off so much because I’m the one that’s been doing it. I only didn’t get the chance to do it that week because I had exams and started my clinical rotation at the community pharmacy. Like he seriously doesn’t know how the chores are getting done and he doesn’t care as long as he’s not the one that has to do them right?

It’s f**king hilarious how much he claims he can’t do, when all this time he’s been saying he’s going to make pancakes. So you can make pancakes, an activity that takes two hands, but you can’t take out your own food from the fridge nor pour bleach into the toilet, both being one-handed activities?

His weaponized incompetence never fails to make me feel even more disgusted by him. When the time comes to leave his ass, I hope my mom is actually ready to leave…because I sure am. Sometimes I still catch her making excuses for him when I say something harsh about him, even though she’s said over and over that she’s tired of his shit…I’m sorry mom, but he’s not the man you married. He hasn’t been the man you married for the past 32 years. He’s never gonna be. Stop thinking he’ll change.

#tw dad mention #tw narcissistic parent #personal rant #tw mom mention

2 notes · View notes

fundielicious-simblr · 4 years ago

Text

Character Recap! Gen 2

After a good break to sort my life out, I decided that it would be good to do an update on everybody (yup, this is one of those posts) Why, you ask? Because I enjoy driving myself crazy by creating unnecessary amounts of work for myself - but y’all knew that already 😂 Keeping in line with that theme, one night at 4am I decided that I wanted to revamp my character pages (which ended up being my whole Tumblr theme) which would require updated pictures of everybody. I don’t know what possessed me to dredge up my old coding knowledge - if you can even call it knowledge- but I’m still in the process of finishing the character pages for gen 3 because there’s so many of them. 😅

Even though we’re on gen 3 officially, these characters are still mentioned in some parts of the story, and I also find it hard to let go of these since they’re my OG 8, the first sims born in game that I’ve ‘raised’. I’ve only just had the time to sit down and calculate peoples ages, meaning that the first 2 couples should technically still be adults, but I’m not reversing the aging process - we’re too far in 😂

I’ve updated my character’s page for gen 2 (gen 3 is almost done, but this isn’t about them 😂) I decided to add the ‘labels’ for each couples (where they fall on the fundie scale) because then it would align with what I do for gen 3′s character pages and how I label them. I tried to summarize all the ‘yikes’ bits of the relationships with the bulletpoints to truly highlight the 🥴-iness of it all you know?

Allan & Casandra

Meet Allan (54) and Casandra Collins (51) - Here’s a quick recap of their relationship:

They met at Family Bible Camp at 22 and 18 respectively, and were married 5 months later - both had their first kiss at the altar.

They continued to live as quiverfull fundamentalists after their marriage, subscribing to conservative biblical modesty standards, meaning that Casandra (and their subsequent daughters) wear skirts and dresses. They pledged to allow the Lord to decide their family size which led to 15 children - 13 living and 2 miscarriages.

Allan works as the Head Pastor at Newcrest Baptist Church along with being on the Board of Directors for the Centre For Learning and Life, whilst Casandra homeschools their children still at home and ministers to the women of the church in her duties as the Pastor’s wife. When she’s not doing that she’s visiting her grandchildren that live in town, or traveling to see the children and grandchildren that live elsewhere.

Here they are with all their children:

Back L-R: Adalynn (32), Barrett (31), Macie (31), Zoe (29), Maggie (25), Reece (24), Beckett (23)

Front L-R: Amira (22), Priscilla (20), Annette (20), Allan (54), Casandra (51), Charles (18), Parker (17), Ashton (15)

Branden & Lea

Meet Branden (52) and Lea (50) Collins - A recap of their relationship

They met when Lea’s family visited Newcrest Baptist so her father could give the sermon as the visiting pastor when he was 17 and she was 16, and they were married a year later - they saved their first kiss for their wedding day.

They had trouble having children for the first year and a half of their marriage, eventually having their twin girls Abbey and Brittany (28), their son Tanner (25) joined the family 3 years later.

Branden is now a retired Christian novelist, whose books have been bestsellers and he travels from church to church to run writing seminars for authors who are hoping to make it in the business. Lea stays at home and tends to her garden now that all their children are grown. She started the garden in their time before children and that garden has grown to be a local hit - she’s been selling the honey made by their bees and runs workshops to teach young women how to start their gardens to promote healthy eating. She travels along with Branden when he's teaching somewhere, and if she doesn’t she’s visiting her grandchildren.

Here they are with their children:

Front L-R: Abbey (28), Brittany (28), and Tanner (25)

Claire & Ryan

Meet Claire (51) and Ryan Paulson (55) - Here’s their recap:

They met when Claire travelled with a music group to perform at Ryan’s home church when she was 20 and he was 24, they were engaged 3 months later and married 3 months after that - they too had their first kiss at the altar.

They too pledged to allow the Lord to decide their family size and ended up having 10 children, like their parents they subscribe to conservative biblical modesty standards, meaning that the girls in the family wear skirts and dresses only.

Ryan runs his own IT business whilst Claire is a renowned Christian musician. Despite her immense talent, Claire’s main focus was and still is homeschooling her children and being a keeper of the home. As Ryan is his own boss, he is able to travel with Claire whenever she travels to teach of perform, she’s taught their children (who’ve seemingly inherited her talent) and the family performs at various events.

Here they are with their children:

Back L-R: Carter (30), Valentina (28), Alan (27), Celeste (26), Kristyn (24), Sabrina (24)

Front L-R: Jarrod (20), Zachary (18), Conner (15), Jarrett (15)

Danielle & Sebastian

Meet Danielle (51) and Sebastian (53) Hunt - Here’s a recap of their lives:

They met when he moved to Newcrest for his Veterinary residency and started attending their church, where during their courtship they both realised they had a shared love of nature and animals. 6 months later they were married, at the ages of 28 and 30.

They struggled to have children, and when Danielle did get pregnant 3 years into the marriage they ended up losing that pregnancy in the 3rd trimester - Danielle was pregnant with a baby girl they named Sarah. The next year they got pregnant and had their son James (19), and 4 years later they had their daughter Gabriela (15).

Sebastian runs a Vet Clinic in Brindleton Bay and Danielle stays at home to homeschool Gabriela, she does work at the clinic when she has the time and is responsible for the bookkeeping.

Here’s their family:

Elaine & Taylor

Meet Elaine (48) and Taylor (49) Godwin - Here’s a recap of their lives so far:

They met when Taylor moved to Newcrest to be a commuter into the city for his job as an engineer, and started attending their church. They courted for a year before marrying at the ages of 24 and 25.

They had their daughter Kyra (23) a year into their marriage, followed by twins Rory and Ruby Rae (17) 6 years later, Ava Grace (15) was born 2 years after the twins, and the youngest Amelia (11) was born 4 years after Ava.

Taylor works as a mechanical engineer whilst Elaine uses her teaching degree to homeschool the children and teach at the local homeschool co-op. Elaine wanted her children to have the experience of being taught by more than one person, but wanted control of their curriculum, meaning that the co-op was the best thing for them.

Here’s their family:

Fletcher & Cara

Here’s Fletcher (45) and Cara Collins (44) - Here’s a recap of their lives:

They met at Cara’s university when Fletcher was 22 and Cara was 20 and married 3 years later at the ages of 24 and 23 respectively. They set their own standards and therefore kissed before marriage. 7 years into their marriage they had their only child, a son that names James Lee (14)

Whilst Fletcher was raised in a conservative, fundamentalist household, Cara was raised in a less strict conservative Christian home and they chose to realign with less strict rules for their lives.

Fletcher works as a Sergeant for the Newcrest Police Department and Cara works as a fundraising specialist for the local Conservative party in Newcrest.

Here’s their family:

Grayson and Keira

Meet Grayson (42) and Keira (40) Collins - Here’s a recap of their lives:

They met when Keira moved to Newcrest to work as a Nurse in the pediatrics ward at Newcrest General hospital, Grayson had begun his rotations and they were in the same orientation group. Keira also joined Newcrest Baptist, their relationship blossomed from there and married after dating for a year and a half at the ages of 26 and 24.

They were open to having as many children as the Lord saw fit to provide, and they had their son Matthew (14) 2 years into their marriage, followed by their son Archie (11) 3 years later. There were complications during Archie’s birth that lead to Keira having a partial hysterectomy to save her life, meaning that their family is complete with their 2 boys.

Grayson works as an Obstetrician/Gynaecologist at Newcrest General, and Keira worked as a Nurse until they had their children. They’ve chosen to homeschool their children until high school, after which they enroll them in a private Christian high school. Once Archie the youngest moves into high school, Keira plans to return back to work at the hospital.

Here’s their family:

Harley & Gabriel

Meet Harley (42) and Gabriel (45) Barnard - Here’s a recap of their relationship:

They met at a dinner party in San Myshuno, they became fast friends and started dating a year after they met. They dated for 2 years before getting married at the ages of 28 and 21.

Harley was the first of her female siblings to go to college, she has a 1st class degree in Fine Arts with a focus on Fashion. She’s also the first of her female siblings to work a full time job. After going to college, Harley realised she was more like her older brother Fletcher and his wife in terms of beliefs, so when she married Gabriel they both agreed that in terms of beliefs that they’d attend a conservative non-fundamentalist church in San Myshuno. They both chose not to have children, so they spend time with their nieces and nephews, as well as the children their nieces and nephews.

Gabriel works as the Head Chef of a 5 star restaurant in the city, and Harley is the Editor-in-Chief of the popular fashion magazine ‘Myshuno Madness’

Gen 2 total: 8 sims (16 if you count the spouses)

Aaaand that is the first reintroduction post! Posts will restart after this one, mostly because I need queue some things up before doing the gen 3 posts so that I don’t need to worry about spoilers 😂

#fundie sims #fundiesims #quiverfull sims #quiver full sims #homeschool sims #modest sims #collins family #collins legacy #gen 2 #Allan and Casandra #Branden and Lea #Claire and Ryan #Danielle and Sebastian #Elaine and Taylor #Fletcher and Cara #Grayson and Keira #Harley and Gabriel #post

9 notes · View notes

slapshot-to-the-heart · 4 years ago

Text

Flatbush & Atlantic: part x

part i part ii part iii part iv part v part vi part vii part viii part ix

And we’ve finally come to the end of Cass and Mat’s story! I want to thank every person who’s read this over the past few months, especially those of you who have reblogged, commented, and shared this with your friends. Your feedback means the world to me, and please tell me what you think of this final part! I’ve also got some ideas floating around for an epilogue, so don’t be surprised if that pops up in the next few weeks.

part x

May 21 (fri)

For once, it wasn’t Cass’ alarm that woke her up. Her internal clock didn’t let her sleep in past 6, but as she lay in her bed, comforter pulled up to her chin and curls up in a haphazard messy bun, a realization struck her. She didn’t have anything to do, and that was just about as far from normal for her as possible. Normally, she’d be hopping in the shower at this time, getting out and shoveling some cereal down her throat before running to catch the train, or desperately trying to finish some last-minute reading before an early lecture. Her grandparents’ flight didn’t land at JFK until 1, and she wouldn’t need to leave until an hour before that to get Mat and drive to the airport.

Padding out to the kitchen, she just caught Ryanne, who was about to leave for a clinical rotation. “What department are you in this month?” Cass asked.

“OB/GYN,” Ryanne responded. “I got to observe a birth the other day, and it was one of my favorite things I’ve gotten to do so far. Obviously I don’t know for sure yet, but I think I might want to match into it. You get to do a little bit of everything — there’s some surgery, some routine care, some deliveries. And with the Black maternal health crisis, I figure we need all the Black OBs we can get as a country.”

Cass smiled. “That’s wonderful, I’m glad to hear.” She knew that Ryanne had been a little stressed out with the prospect of trying to pick a residency; she hadn’t felt drawn to any of the other rotations she’d gone through quite like this one.

“What about you? What’s your schedule like today?” Ryanne asked as she poured coffee into her travel mug.

Cass flopped down on the couch, looking over at her. “It’s just...I have nothing to do. Nothing needs to get done. No cases to read, no essays to finish, no paperwork to file or anything. Chris gave me this week off for finals anyways, so I couldn’t even go into the office if I wanted to because there’s just nothing for me to do. Do you know how rare that is for me?”

Ryanne laughed. “Cass, I’m in med school. The last time I had a true ‘off day’ was two weeks ago, and even then I spent most of it studying.” She slung her backpack over one shoulder. “See you tonight, have a good day, babe!”

After some toast and a smoothie, Cass was back on the couch, trying desperately to think of something to do. She thrived on being busy, thrived on feeling like she was needed and contributing to something worthwhile. Pushing herself up, she walked back to her room, deciding to change and go out for a run. Cass liked to keep in shape and exercise as often as she could, even though it had been a few years since she had been on an organized sports team. She was usually able to make yoga classes at the school gym twice a week, but typically didn’t have the spare time in the mornings for a run. And by the time she got back it was almost always dark, way too late to even think about going out alone.

Lacing up her tennis shoes and grabbing her AirPods and keys, she set out, down the stairs and past the door. As she jogged down the streets, making familiar turn after familiar turn, Cass realized something remarkably profound. Every place she passed had played a part in the last three years. St. Lucy’s, where she had stumbled in with inconsolable tears after her abuelo’s stroke, lighting a candle and praying with some old Italian woman for his recovery. The bodega on the corner run by Carlos Gonzalez, one of the first people she met when she moved to the city and the only one who knew how to smoosh her sandwiches down how she likes. The Edible Arrangements where she, Stella, and Ryanne had bought Alicia a congratulatory fruit bouquet for finally asking out her coworker Juliette. They had been dating for six months. The high school she passed every morning on her way to the subway station. These were the people and places that had made her life what it was, and she owed them her thanks.

An hour and five miles later, Cass decided to call it quits, walking the last few blocks back to the apartment as a sort of cool-down. She jumped in the shower, throwing her hair up in a towel once she got out and resigning herself to watching whatever was on TV. Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives it was, apparently. Four episodes and one snack break later, it was time to get in the car to head over and pick up Mat. Cass drove down Manhattan Island, tapping her fingers in boredom as she hit yet more traffic. It was noon, why was there even traffic in the first place? She pulled into the visitor’s spot in the underground lot of Mat’s apartment complex, taking out her phone. Just got here! Mat popped out of the elevator a few minutes later, holding a bouquet of tulips. “Sorry I’m late, I was going back and forth between tulips and sunflowers for awhile, but I figured the pink was maybe a better choice? What do you think?” Cass started to laugh, and Mat looked offended. “What?”

“Babe, it’s so sweet that you want to impress my grandma, but have you thought about how the poor flowers will fare?”

His brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”

Cass adjusted her seatbelt, leaning over. “We’re going to be out for awhile. We’re not going straight back to their hotel. So…” she prompted.

“They’ll wilt.” Mat finished, his face falling.

She covered his hand with her own. “Don’t worry. It’s a sweet gesture and I’m sure she’ll appreciate them. We’re all going out for dinner after the ceremony tomorrow, why don’t you bring them then?”

He perked up. “I’ll run up and put them back in a vase, be back in a few!” Mat gave Cass a quick peck on her cheek, leaving her with just one question. Mat owned vases? He slid back into the passenger’s seat shortly after, clicking his seatbelt in and connecting his phone to the speakers.

Cass rolled her eyes. “I don’t know a single guy your age who’s not obsessed with John Mayer. It’s kind of weird, honestly.”

“You don’t like him?” Mat asked curiously. Cass was usually into more guitar-based, acoustic stuff, so he figured she’d be into at least some of his stuff.

“Some of it,” Cass responded, pulling out of the lot and onto the street. “Go ahead and play it, I don’t mind at all. Not what I’d usually put on if I’m alone, that’s all.”

Mat nodded, looking absentmindedly out the window. “So, what should I know about your grandparents?”

Cass’ face immediately burst into a smile at their mention. It was always so clear how much she loved her family, and that was one of Mat’s favorite things about her. How hard she loved. “Alright, so it’s Dolores and Roberto Cabrera. They’re wonderful people, I genuinely think you’re going to like them a lot. They’re both super fluent in English, so don’t worry about communication. They originally immigrated to Texas when they were in their teens, abuela was a housekeeper at a few hotels in San Antonio and abuelo worked in the fields for awhile before getting a job at a little hardware store in town, where he worked until they retired. My mom’s the middle of four, two older sisters and a younger brother.”Mat listened intently. “My abuelo’s a little more rough around the edges, so don’t be surprised if he gives you a little bit of a hard time, but it’s not out of malice or anything. He’s always been very protective over us, my mom and her siblings, and now us three. He might do the whole ‘nobody’s good enough for my Cassidy” thing, but he’ll get over it. He means well.”

She glanced over at Mat, who was looking decidedly nervous. “Seriously, chou, it’s going to be fine. Abuela’s totally different, they’re like polar opposites. I can almost guarantee that she’ll say something to the effect of ‘if my granddaughter loves you, I love you.’ Very much go with the flow, she’ll probably want to come over to your apartment and cook for you.” Her expression softened. “As long as you’re kind and respectful, they won’t have an issue with you, Mat. They’ll see that you treat me how I deserve to be treated and love me like I deserve to be loved.”

Cass pulled into the garage by the international arrivals terminal, cutting the gas and checking the time. “The flight was supposed to land at one, so they should be getting out of passport control by the time we get inside.” It was a little after one thirty, but if there was anything Cass knew, it was just how long customs could take at an airport as big as JFK. Even in the middle of the afternoon on a weekday, and even though her grandparents were travelling on their American passports and could use the citizen’s line, she had heard that it could take upwards of an hour or two to get through.

The concourse was pretty bare apart from a few kiosks selling “I ❤️ NY” shirts and a surprisingly busy Noah’s Bagels, so Mat and Cass made themselves comfortable on one of the rows of plastic chairs lining the room. The arrivals screen had marked their flight from Mexico City as having landed nearly an hour prior, so it was little surprise when Cass popped up from the chair, straightening her shirt and walking over to a couple that he could only assume were her grandparents. Mat quickly followed, catching up to her just as she threw her arms around her grandma. “Abuela, te extrañé,” she said, the sound muffled by Dolores’ scarf. She pulled back, kissing her grandpa on the cheek before stepping over to Mat, one hand placed reassuringly on his back. “Abuela, abuelo, this is Mat, my boyfriend.”

Mat stuck his hand out, shaking theirs. “Mr. and Mrs. Cabrera, it’s so amazing to finally meet you. Cass speaks so highly of you, and she always talks about her summers in Hermosillo.”

Dolores pulled Mat in, embracing him from the start just as Cass had expected. “Mat, it’s wonderful to finally meet you. Cassidy has told us so much about you, it’s clear she loves you a great deal.”

Mat ducked his head and blushed. “I’m not sure if she can love me more than I love her, but I’m happy to be in such good company.”

He took both of their suitcases as Cass gestured to the sliding doors. “I want to get back to the car before they charge me for another half hour,” she said.

Mat slid the bags in the trunk of the car as Dolores got in the passenger’s seat. With a gulp, Mat realized that meant he had to sit next to Roberto. He had been perfectly nice on the walk over, but as Cass had warned him, it was clear that he was a little guarded. Whether that was just his personality or whether Mat had yet to earn his trust hadn’t been determined.

Her grandparents had been to New York once or twice before, but it had almost always been just to fly in before driving up to visit Cass’ family in Connecticut; they had never really been able to see the city. Cass felt strongly that that had to change, so she had arranged for a mini-tour of Manhattan before they got dropped off at their hotel for the night. “So, Mat,” Dolores said, turning around in her chair, “Cassidy tells us you’re a hockey player? That must be so exciting, how long have you been playing?”

Mat nodded. “Yes ma’am. I play for the Islanders, so we’re right here in Brooklyn, but I live over in Manhattan. I’ve been playing the sport since I was four or so? Really little. But I just finished my fourth season on the Islanders. And it is exciting, I love being with my team and being on the ice, it’s one of the best feelings in the world.”

“That must keep you busy, though?” Roberto asked gruffly.

Mat froze. He couldn’t lie and say that he was home all the time, able to be there for Cass as often as he’d like to, because he wasn’t. But if he let on just how often he was gone, would that make him even more wary? “Oftentimes, yes,” Mat began slowly. “The team’s usually on two or so road trips a month, they’re usually about a week long. But they’re balanced out with plenty of home games, and there’s lots of guys who balance the job with a family and other responsibilities. I’m always excited to be able to be back in New York, I love it here. And to be with Cass.” Roberto nodded, not seemingly totally satisfied but content enough to not push the issue further.

“He’s really good about spending time with me, abuelo, even though we’ve both got busy schedules,” Cass added, catching Roberto’s eye in the rearview mirror. “We meet in the morning before a class to get coffee, or lunch in between studying if I’ve got time. I go to every game I’m able to when he’s playing here in the city, or over in Jersey. We spend plenty of time together, he doesn’t blow me off. You don’t have to worry.” He seemed much more at ease with his granddaughter’s response.

It was a whirlwind three hours around New York, Cass playing chauffeur as they went to the top of the Empire State Building — her pick — in St. Patrick’s Cathedral — her grandpa’s pick — and around Central Park, stopping at one of the many pretzel carts for a snack. They dropped them off at the hotel, Cass’ eyes getting misty as her grandma pulled out the serape stole from her purse. Her fingers danced over the colors, the stripes of red and blue and pink and green, and knowing that it was made by the hands of someone so important to her made it all the more beautiful. The rest of her family was driving in later that night, after Nick got out of school, so everyone wouldn’t be together until the graduation ceremony the next day.

The couple decided to get takeout on the way back to Mat’s apartment, Mat jumping out of the car to run in and pick up the order while Cass circled the block until he was out. As they sat on the couch, cuddled into each other as they broke into the boxes of Chinese food, Cass thought absentmindedly that Mat handled his chopsticks way better than she ever would have given him credit for. Her grandparents had been on her mind. More specifically, her grandparents and Mat had been on her mind. It wasn’t that she thought he had messed up in any way — she was positive he’d absolutely won over her grandma and her grandpa was slowly but surely coming around — but some lingering concerns about what they might think about their relationship. “I’m not sure that they’d actually care, but when you talk to them tomorrow maybe don’t mention how often I sleep over here? They’re wonderful people, but they’re a little old school about this stuff.”

“This stuff?” Mat asked curiously.

“Living together, sex before marriage, that kind of stuff.”

“And how do you feel about it?”

Cass raised an eyebrow at him. “Do you think you could ever get me to do something I didn’t want to do? I’m way too stubborn for that.” Mat threw his head back, laughing. “But seriously. I don’t make the decision lightly, because commitment and intimacy in that way is something really big and important to me. You already knew that I don’t do hookups, it’s just not my thing. But I can see this, us, going places. I want us to go places. And I’ve never been very good at listening to people when I don’t want to. So I’ve made my peace that my choices might not be ones everyone would be thrilled with, but it doesn’t really matter to me as long as I have you.”

Mat nodded, putting down his food to card one hand through her curls. “I get that, I do. Obviously that’s not so much the attitude with a lot of the boys, but your principles are part of what makes you who you are, and I love who you are. Every part of you.” Cass smiled against his neck, leaning down and kissing him on the shoulder. “I want us to go places too, I hope you know that.”

“Glad to hear.”

They ate without speaking for a few more minutes until Mat broke the silence. “Where do you see yourself in five years?”

“With you,” Cass answered honestly. “Here, or we could get a nice brownstone over in Brooklyn.”

“Somewhere with a yard,” Mat mused.

“Yeah, a yard would be nice,” Cass agreed. “I’d like to get a dog, I’ve always grown up with dogs and it would be nice to have someone to keep me company when you’re gone.” Her family’s two dogs, Patches and Scout, were back at the house in Connecticut, and on more than one occasion, Cass had made the two-hour drive up just to see them. She paused, glancing down at her hands. “In five years? You’d better have put a ring on my finger by then, Mat. I’ll be almost thirty. Approaching old maid status”

Mat laughed, an easy, breathy sort of laugh that somehow erased all of the tension in the room. “I think you should double-hyphen.”

Cass looked at him doubtfully. “Cabrera-Shaw-Barzal? Yeah, I’m going to have to pass on that one.”

He shrugged, the corner of his lip pulled up in a half-smile. “Just saying. It’s got a ring to it.”

“Have you given much thought to what you’d want to do with your name when you get married?” Mat asked curiously. It really didn’t matter much to him, since it would ultimately be Cass’ decision, but he didn’t want to assume anything regardless. And it didn’t escape Cass that he said when, as if it was certain, as if it was a given. The surety made her heart flutter.

Cass shook her head. “Not particularly. On one hand, I do like the idea of the whole family having the same name. It seems nice. Unified. But I don’t want to feel like I’m erasing my culture and who I am just because I’m getting married. And all due respect, chou,” Cass poked Mat’s cheek, “but Cabrera Shaw’s the name on my degrees. Cassidy Barzal didn’t go to law school.”

“Very fair,” Mat said with a chuckle.

Cass took a deep breath. If it seemed like they were having the “future talk,” she figured it was best to go all in. “Do you want kids?” she asked, tentatively, hesitantly. It was obvious that Mat was good with kids, she’d seen as much, but being good with kids and wanting children of your own were two very different things. Cass had wanted to be a mom since she knew what a mom was, and even though they probably should have brought up the topic earlier, she wasn’t sure what she’d do if he said no. Thank God, she never had to find out.

“Definitely,” Mat said, nodding. “Not now, obviously, we’re young and haven’t really settled down yet. If you got pregnant we’d make it work, but I don’t think either of us is looking to be parents right away. But in a couple years, once we’re married and have a proper house with space...Yeah, I’d like to have kids.” He looked over at Cass. “What about you?”

“Always wanted kids,” Cass responded fondly. “I loved growing up with siblings, and I know my parents were the same way. Two or three, I think. I’ve thought about adoption too, but obviously that’s way in the future.”

Mat kissed the top of her head. “We’ve got time.”

May 22 (sat)

The graduation ceremony itself wasn’t until noon, so Cass had more than enough time to get ready after waking up at 7. Alicia barrelled into her room at exactly 7:22, throwing a shirt at her and telling her to get dressed. Cass stumbled out of the room ten minutes later, pulling on socks and grabbing her phone from the charger by her door. “What are you guys trying to pull?” she asked, yawning and trying to wipe the sleep out of her eyes.

“Uh, we’re going to the diner, duh,” Stella said with a smile, tossing Cass her purse. “Come on! You know it fills up early on weekends.” Glen’s Diner had become an apartment staple over the past few years, the restaurant having been the first place the four of them had eaten in the city when they moved, not having bought groceries yet and not wanting to pay the premium for delivery. It was cheap, open 24/7, and Cass would swear up and down that their blueberry pancakes were the best she’d ever had.

They were seated just after 8, happily slurping coffee and stealing bites of each other’s breakfast twenty minutes later. It was a nice day and hadn’t gotten too hot yet, so they decided to walk back after finishing the meal. In reality, “going back” meant Alicia stopping to buy a new necklace, listening to a busker for a few minutes, and petting no fewer than five dogs on the one-mile walk. There was still plenty of time before they had to leave for the ceremony, but after Cass did her makeup and tamed her curls, there was just enough time to watch an episode of Parks & Rec before having to actually get her stuff together. Not as flexible as she once had been, Ryanne helped zip up the back of her dress, a white lace bodycon from her sorority days that she had definitely worn to at least two semiformals. Hey, Cass thought as she straightened her hemline, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

She had ironed her robe and put it into a dress bag the night before, and gently folded her school stole and the serape from her abuela into her purse. Mat’s necklace hadn’t left its place since Valentine’s. Her dad’s parents had given her a beautiful pair of pearl studs for her undergraduate graduation, and it felt only right to wear them for her next step. She fastened the ankle straps on her heels, and popped her head out to the living room. “Everyone ready?” She was met with a chorus of “yeses,” and grabbed her keys from their dish by the front door.

“Let’s go get our girl graduated!” Alicia hollered into the street.

The girls had originally objected to Cass driving herself to her own graduation, but relented as soon as Cass reminded them that she was the only one who knew where to find the free parking, and the rest of them only drove sedans. “Cheryl has way more room. Y’all want to be cramped on purpose?”

“Fair point,” Stella had said begrudgingly.

Exactly twenty-six minutes later, Cass pulled into a spot about two blocks away from the arena where she would be graduating in an hour’s time, hugging each of her friends as Ryanne handed her the dress bag. “You’re going to kill it in there,” she said, rubbing her back.

Cass laughed. “Ry, all I’ve got to do is walk across a stage without tripping.”

She shrugged. “It’s a fine art that few have mastered.”

Cass entered through the side, flashing her ID to the security guard standing by the door. Half an hour later, everyone had been ushered into their seats, carefully arranged in alphabetical order. For the most part, Cass was friendly with everyone in her class; if they weren’t outwardly hostile to her, she saw no reason why they deserved anything other than kindness, but was relieved to see Robin sitting next to her. “You excited?” Robin asked, brushing a piece of her auburn hair behind her ear. The lobby doors must have opened, because as she asked, crowds started to mill into the seats, waving at anyone who would catch their eye.

Cass bounced her head. “I am, but it’s kind of surreal, you know? I knew we’d get to this point, obviously. It’s what we’ve been working towards for seven years, really. But the idea that it all essentially comes down to this…”

“An hour, a few handshakes, and a piece of paper,” Robin helpfully supplied.

She nodded. “Yeah. It’s almost anticlimactic in a way? Like sure, we’ve got our JDs after this, but knowing we’ve still got to pass the bar. We’re not over the finish line yet.”

“Columbia has a 97% pass rate, and you’re one of the smartest people I’ve ever met, Cass. And I’ve spent three years surrounded by the smartest people I’ve ever met.”

“Fair,” Cass said, “it’s just kind of a weird feeling, you know?” Robin nodded. “And plus, for most of us, we’ve pretty much spent our whole lives in school. Aside from positions as summer associates, or part-time jobs and internships, we don’t really know how to do anything other than school. It’s just a little bit of a daunting thought to suddenly feel like we’re being thrown out to the wolves without really knowing what to expect.” Cass’ phone, which she wasn’t technically supposed to have but had snuck in anyways, chose that moment to buzz with a text notification. It was from Mat.

Met up with the crew! Can’t wait to see you walk across that stage, Cass. I love you and we’re all so proud of you. Mat had attached a photo of everyone she had brought with her — both sets of grandparents, her parents and siblings, and roommates.

“Your boyfriend is nauseatingly cute,” Robin observed, looking over her shoulder at the message.

Cass laughed. “That’s true, but I knew what I was getting myself into.” The music started ten minutes later, and the ceremony began. If Cass was being honest, she didn’t really remember much of anything from the first half of the ceremony, before the conferral of diplomas. She was so excited and nervous and unbelievably ready all at the same time that all she recalled from the dean’s speech and the student speeches were vague comments about their “awesome responsibility” and “duty to pursue truth and justice” and “commitment to fight for what is right over what is easy.”

As soon as she realized it, her row was being ushered into line to receive their diplomas. “Cassidy María Cabrera Shaw.” She heard her name, but really had no clue who had spoken it. The dean? One of her professors? As Cass walked up the steps and across the stage, the only thing she could think was don’t trip don’t trip don’t trip. Then she was handed a diploma, flashed a brilliant smile for the photographer, and shook hand after hand after hand before walking off the other side of the stage. She was pretty sure she could hear Mat and Noah yelling their congratulations from her seat on the floor.

Having a name towards the front of the alphabet meant that Cass was almost always called on quickly in class, or on roll call, or at graduation, as the case was. But that meant that she had to sit, quietly and politely, for the other four hundred names to be called. And it took awhile. After Robin Cahill came Wesley Coleman, then Samuel Cogswell, then Fiona Chan. Cass didn’t mind having to sit through the whole thing, especially when Fiona, Les, Samaira, and her other friends crossed the stage — she cheered as much as anybody — but it was a long time to be sitting in a folding chair and the thousands of people packed into a small space didn’t help her temperature regulation.

There was the benediction and congratulations, and then the recessional of the graduates. Graduates, Cass thought. She was a graduate. She had finished, she was done, she had accomplished the one thing she wanted most to do since she was a little girl watching Legally Blonde for the first time, looking at Elle Woods and thinking I can do that. And she had. Her feet carried her to the back room of their own accord, where she picked up her bag and was engulfed in a flurry of hugs, congratulations, and kisses on the cheek from her friends, the people who she had spent countless late nights in the library with, bar hopping to celebrate the end of finals, and afternoons on each other’s apartment couches, yelling fact patterns at each other and trying to come up with an analysis before the timer went off.

Following the stream of sky blue graduation gowns, Cass walked outside, waving at her family when she spotted Eliana hanging off of a lamppost in the courtyard to get a better view. Her sister nearly tackled her as she made her way to the group. “Cass. I already knew you were brilliant, and I still think you’re the smartest out of any of us,” she gestured between the two of them and Noah, “but now you’ve got the degree to prove it. I’m so proud of you.”

Noah was next. “You worked hard, and I know how badly you wanted this. You’re a really good sister.” He wasn’t usually a big talker, and Cass’ eyes definitely got a little misty as he spoke. He had verbally committed to Minnesota State the week before, and Mat might have been more excited than even Cass when he heard the news. It was an incredible program that had a serious track record of sending players to the NHL, and she was so proud to see her little brother doing what he loved. Her mom and both grandmas were crying, as expected, and Grandpa Joe wrapped her up in a hug as soon as he got the chance.

Mat had been hanging towards the back of the crowd, not wanting to feel like he was intruding on family time, until her dad nudged him forward. “Go say hi to your girl, Mat,” Patrick said.

“Will do,” Mat said, squeezing Cass’ hand and pressing a quick kiss to the top of her head. “Sometimes it blows my mind how incredible you are,” he said. “Everyone’s already said how smart you are, and every bit of that is true. But you’re so much more than that, you know?” His thumb rubbed over her hand. “You’re beautiful, and curious, and you always keep me on my toes. You’re so passionate about your work, and you’ve got the biggest heart out of anyone I know. You’ve never met a person you didn’t want to help. And I promise I’m not biased just because I’m in love with you.”

Cass gave a watery laugh, blinking and thanking God she had the foresight to wear waterproof mascara. “God, I love you, Mat.”

Her dad had always been the picture type, insisting on documenting every waking moment. He was the living embodiment of “pics or it didn’t happen,” for better or worse. He took a few of her with her law school friends, then Alicia snapped one with just her immediate family, then there was one with everyone. Cass also got a picture with Mat, where he was bending down to kiss her, the tassel on her mortarboard just barely brushing his nose. Then she was in one with all of the seniors on the law review, and a friend pulled her away for a few with the Latinx Student Association. By the time they finally managed to tear Patrick away from his camera, it was time to head back to the hotel and get ready for dinner.

Mat got Patrick to send him the photo of him and Cass, and was about to post it on Instagram when he hesitated. “Hey, is it cool if I post this?” Mat said, showing Cass his phone. Most people knew who she was, and he had posted pictures of her before, but they had never been this obvious, this clear, this real.

“Go for it.”

Mat pressed post. So, so proud of my incredible girlfriend @casscshaw for graduating law school. You’re one of the smartest, most empathetic people I know, and you’re going to make an amazing lawyer.

Cass grinned, a big, genuine smile as she was surrounded by her family, the people who meant the most to her — whether they were related or not. She looked up at Mat, who was smiling softly down at her as he reached one hand up to fix her tassel. “What’s next?”

#hockey imagine #hockey smut #nhl imagine #nhl smut #mat barzal #hockey #hockey imagines #hockey writing #nhl #nhl imagines #nhl writing #mat barzal imagine #disney prince mat barzal #New York Islanders

55 notes · View notes