#have barely needed the stronger painkillers

[asleepinawell]

I don't know what it is with all the post-surgery drugs they put me on but for two days now I've been consistently having dreams that I'm playing ffxiv and every single button on my bar has been moved one spot to the left and whenever I hit one it's like surprise! it was actually a different button and the icon changes. it's mildly infuriating but mostly hilarious

[anticapitalistclown]

Clownie can I request lookism boys helping their s/o on their period. Like their s/o is having heavy flow and keeps ruining pants and underwear (samuel, gun, Jake, and any other characters you would like the add) tysm 😊

omg sure!

Samuel, Gun and Jake helping reader on their period, scenarios

Samuel

You were feeling terrible, your legs were numb, your head was giving you a stabbing pain, your ovaries were absolutely killing you and on top of that, you had the heaviest flow, all of that made you feel like you could die.

With all your efforts, you walked through your apartment in order to throw your stained pants inside the washing machine. A stabbing pain made you crouch down on the floor, just in time for your boyfriend to come in.

Samuel was fast, and he caught you with his arm, you grabbed at him and gave him an apologetic look "today I'm not feeling really well to go out, got my period, sorry" you never knew when or how your emotionally unavailable boyfriend would surprise you "I know" Samuel gave you a plastic bag, inside there were different chocolates and candies also a lot of sanitary products "I don't really know which ones you use, so I bought the ones with best reviews".

Your eyes became teary, you couldn't hide your emotions "Samueel" you sobbed "I love you a lot" Samuel sighted and smiled "what would be of you without me?" and there it was, his lil shit side of him, even though this time you couldn't deny that this detail was actually so helpful "thank you a lot" he denied "it's nothing".

You threw your pants into the washing machine, Samuel giving you some advice about how to remove blood stains, and then you both cuddled on the sofa, watching some TV and you enjoying your candies, maybe this man is the chosen one?

Gun

You are one of the few lucky ones that can visit his place, you are dating after all, and even though you both barely have been dating two months, the previous friendship and connection made him trust completely in you. So when Gun asked you to come over his place, you always appreciated that trust and went, even if your period is killing you inside.

You were talking to him while he was making dinner, in a moment a stabbing pain made you crouch down, your wince of pain alerted him, Gun rushed next to you helping you to stand up he was confused until he saw your hands traveling on your lower stomach, knowing the source of your pain made him feel more relieved "do you need some painkillers?" you nodded "sorry" you tried your best to not ruin your date, yet your body was betraying you, Gun rushed to the shelf where he keeps the medicine "if you don't mind I'll go to the bathroom" Gun nodded "sure".

You went to the bathroom, yet your period gave you another obstruction to make your date go well, you looked frustrated at your stained pants and underwear "shit" Gun knocked on the door "are you alright? I have a glass of water and the meds" he opened the door, but you stopped him "wait, things got messy" Gun sighted and opened the door, you forgot your boyfriend is stronger.

Gun arched an eyebrow, "this little stain is the mess?" you nodded to him with a pout, your cheeks red from the embarrassment. Gun gave you the glass of water and the painkiller "give me your clothes, I'll wash them, and I'll give you something from my closet" you gave him your clothes "if you're uncomfortable I can clean it myself" too late, Gun already took your clothes "do I look like some blood will gross me out?" you lowered your head "get in the shower I'll join you in a few minutes" you lifted your head your eyes sparkling, making him smile, Gun gave a peck to your forehead "I love you" you mumbled, he kissed your lips "get comfortable, I'm your boyfriend, ok?"

Jake

Jake's love language is acts of service, knowing that a little detail can just make your life easier, make you happy, motivates him to keep caring for you. So when you texted him, "I'm on my period :(" it just took minutes for him to appear at your place with all the supplies you needed: chocolates, painkillers, sanitary products...

You welcomed him with a big hug, his arms lifting you and taking you to the living room, I love yous falling from both your mouths "I love you, I love you a lot" Jake laughed and hugged you tightly "I love you a lot too" you gave tiny pecks to all his face, your man just felt so proud of himself for making you happy.

You ordered him to sit at the sofa, and you started to arrange the products he just bought "but I want to help" you scolded him "you helped enough, don't make me angry" Jake sighted "alright" he looked at how you arranged everything and then he spotted a little stain "babe" you kept organizing "hm?" "don't get upset, but you have a stain on your pants" you froze, your cheeks were burning and you just looked so upset "again?" you cried "this is the third I ruined today" oh poor baby, Jake's heart broke at your expression he quickly got up from the sofa and reached you, his hands caressing your cheeks "It's okay love, Sinu taught me how to clean blood properly, I'll wash it, fine?" you nodded "fine" he smiled "then we can cuddle" you hugged him "I need your hugs".

[oleander-nin]

Horrortober day 2- Accident(Yandere ROTTMNT Mikey x Reader)

A/N, not important: Any criticism is welcome, constructive or not. This is supposed to be a gender neutral reader, so if I screwed up somewhere, please tell me.

-Ollie

CW: Burns, accidental hurt, burn injuries, victim blaming, dark themes

Words: 775

Summary: Mikey is finally fed up with your attitude

You shouldn’t have kept pushing him. The anger in his eyes, the fury rolling off his body in waves, it was all showing signs of you being completely and utterly screwed. The youngest Hamato may be small, but he was not weak. Gosh, you never should have pushed him like this. The argument was so simple, you were only making a mountain out a mole hill in the grand scheme of things. You could tell instantly this time was different, Mikey’s cold eyes covering the forgiving look he’d usually give you when you try to fight with him. Sure, he'll usually tighten your chains and withhold your food for a while, but those were merely comforts. Never once since he kidnapped you three months ago had he gotten truly angry with you. It was terrifying to see.

“I told you to shut up.” Mikey hisses, his face a dark green from the anger bubbling beneath his skin. It was hard to look at him, his usually cheery but stern attitude wiped away and replaced with something a million times worse. “I told you! I told you, but you never listen! Why don’t you listen to me?!”

You take a step back from the angry mutant, your eyes widening at his erratic movements and twitching hands and mouth gaping as all words leave you. The short but powerful terrapin was showing you just how terrifying he could be. You worry he would strike you if you weren’t careful, his pupils mere dots while he stares you down. His eyes narrow when you step back, his face pinching in disgust.

“Oh, so now you’re quiet.” He goads, taking a step towards you as he marks and eyes start to glow a vibrant yellow as a chain starts to materialize and move to his will.. His voice takes a falsely sweet pretense, his head tilting to the side as he talks. “You were so eager to talk earlier, I assumed you had forgotten how to stop.”

He takes another step towards you, and the chain attacks, wrapping tightly around you as if it had a mind of its own. You scream when the metal hits the skin of your arm, the feeling of the metal melting away at your flesh and burning your blood before it can escape its containment being more agonizing than anything you’ve previously felt. Your screams seem to startle Mikey, his eyes widening as the glow of his marks dim. He looks hesitant, scared, the sweet smell of burning flesh filling the air and making him nauseous.

The tightness of the chains drop, loosening their hold and pulling your skin off in thick, bloody clumps. You continue to scream in agony, the places where your skin still clung to the meat of your arms bubbled and weeping. Mikey rushes forwards to grab you, panic set in his eyes as the chain disappears with a wave of his hand. He takes the underside of your arm where your skin had been spared, looking over the bleeding and burned skin. He tries to shush you, but his empty words do nothing to ease your pain.

“Shh, it’s okay. I’m sorry baby, I didn’t mean it.” He murmurs, his eyes darting rapidly across the room as he tries to think of a solution. “C’mon, we need to go to the med bay. Leo has some stuff that’ll help, I swear.”

You barely register when he grabs you, the burning of your arms taking over everything. He situates you in his arms so he wasn’t touching any of your burns, rushing towards the med bay. Your mind is a foggy haze as he  applies ointment to your arms and wraps them up in bandages, his face smoothed from the worried frown to a determined stare. Your cries are quiet after he gives you painkillers, ones stronger than you would assume he would have. They make your mind loopy and your eyes heavy, and you find yourself barely able to keep your eyes open.

“You know,” Mikey says softly, finishing off the long roll of bandages that are now set on your arm. “This was your own fault. You shouldn’t have made me mad.”

You don’t respond, your brain is too foggy to care. You could hear him, but stringing words to form a sentence was too big a task for you. He looks into your eyes, seeing the cloudy look you have and sighs. He pushes your head into the crook of his shoulder, kissing the crown of your head. “Go to sleep. We’ll talk later.”

And so you drift off, into a world of drugs and numbness.

[thedarlingdearestdead]

Fixing each other up:

Summary: Bandaging each other up after various missions, talking about your days.

Warnings: Quite fluffy <3

Word count: Short one! 950 words

“It’s not all my fault!” You say laughing as he lifts up your top and winces at your bruises. Both you and Anakin had finally snuck away from your various post-mission debriefs. Only now, in these moments of privacy were the two of you ever yourselves. Only now could you reveal your injuries to each other, and patch each other up.

You only did it for the minor stuff, well… the non-life-threatening stuff. Both of you had a habit of getting quite beat up when you were out and about in battle and rarely did you have the patience or the desire to visit the medical wing. So it had become a ritual. Once everything official had been taken care of, you would come back to one of your quarters and give each other the care and attention you needed. It wasn't just the physical closeness of patching each other up after missions, but the emotional closeness that came with it which made it so essential for the two of you to remain close and connected.

Tonight you thought perhaps you ought to have seen the doctors, judging by the look on Anakin’s face as he bared your bruised abdomen. It was pained and shocked. Though, by the way he had been limping on the trip over you assumed he had been a bit too reckless as well.

“Whose fault was it?” His voice was a low growl, not angry at you, but whoever had hurt you.

“Some nameless droid Ani, don’t worry.” He shakes his head and looks in your kit for some cream and bandages to pack over your bruises. 

Anakin's fingers traced lightly over your bruised abdomen, a gesture filled with love and concern. "I hate seeing you hurt, Y/N."

"I hate seeing you hurt too, Ani," you replied, mirroring his sentiment. "But it's all part of the job."

He nodded, but there was a shadow in his eyes, a constant reminder of the internal struggle he faced as a Jedi. The fear of losing loved ones, and the pressures of the Jedi Code weighed heavily on his shoulders. It was moments like these that allowed him to find respite from his inner turmoil.

“What did they do? Throw you into a wall?”

“… Essentially.” 

He groaned and that made you laugh, though that latest barely a second before you were flinching from the pain. “Easy, it’s ok.” He moved his hand from your stomach to steady your shoulder. He pressed a kiss to your cheek as you calmed down. “I’ll grab you some painkillers.” 

As Anakin headed to the cabinet to retrieve the medication, you examined his own injuries. His face was bruised and his gait was wonky. Concern flooded your mind as you watched him. You wanted to tend to his wounds, but he was always so stubborn about receiving help. And he wouldn’t dream of you even mentioning his wounds while yours were yet unseen to. 

As he returned with the painkillers, you caught his eye and gestured towards his leg. "Let me take a look at those, Ani," you said softly. He hesitated for a moment, handing you your pills and a glass of water, making sure you swallowed them. 

“Alright” He said. You gently guided him to sit beside you on the bed and started tending to his wounds. 

"It's not as bad as it looks," Anakin assured you, but you knew better than to believe him. He always played down his injuries.

You found the necessary supplies and began to clean the wound. Anakin winced at the sting but stayed still, allowing you to work. As you bandaged his arm, he reached out and cupped your cheek, pulling you in for a gentle kiss.

You had been through so much together, and the bond between you had only grown stronger over time. As the two of you continued to tend to each other's injuries, you shared stories of the mission. Anakin told you about the droid battalion they had encountered, and you recounted your daring escape from a collapsing building. Your laughter and shared experiences made the pain more bearable.

“It was ridiculous, honestly. Obi Wan always bullies R2 but this was a simple elevator mishap, he was far too smug.”

You giggle, “Did he make another loose wire joke?”

“No but you could read it in his eyes.”

“Speaking of readings. Master Windu assigned me about a dozen files to read for our mission. Of course I read them all-“

“Of course.” He said amused.

“But none of it mattered because we were reassigned this morning.”

He sighs. “Let me guess, Windu called it a ‘valuable learning opportunity’”

“Well, there’s no such thing as useless information!”

“Ah yes, the ‘atmospheric density of Hoth’ will really come in handy one of these days.”

“It might!”

Anakin leaned into your touch, his lips forming a soft smile. "I don't know what I'd do without you, Y/N.”

You gazed at his beautiful face in the dim lights, his blue eyes shone. “You’d be much better acquainted with Master Che.”

“I don’t want to be better acquainted with Che.” His hand squeezes yours. 

The two of you finished tending to his injuries, and you helped him back on his feet. The painkillers you had given him were starting to take effect, and he walked with less of a limp.

"Come on, Ani, let's get some rest," you suggested, guiding him toward the bed. "We've earned it."

He followed you willingly, lying down beside you. As you settled in, he wrapped his arm around you, holding you close. The weight of the galaxy's conflicts was momentarily forgotten, replaced by the comforting presence of each other.

[lale-txt]

♡ taking care of them when they have a fever ➳ w/ Kid, Mihawk & Rayleigh

a/n: i… i fought Tumblr text editor so long and hard for this and it‘s still a mess oh my god. anyway enjoy those silly little headcanons, i love putting those lads into ✨situations✨

Kid

simply the worst patient you can ever imagine <3

when falling sick, he goes through the five stages of grief several times a day

denial: „i am not sick, what the fuck are you talking about“, he asks with a runny nose and face almost as bright red as his hair, beads of sweat running down his temples, barely able to stand up straight

Killer and you just exchange a look and brace yourself for what‘s coming next

anger: ever saw a tulip explode? now you will

don‘t mind the claw marks on the ground when Killer drags Kid by one leg to bed while the captain combusts and grunts out curses you‘ve never heard before

lots of shouting and yelling and middle fingers being raised with the last bit of energy he has left before you watch Killer pull out some wrestling moves to get the tulip into bed. it‘s like watching two grizzlies fight

feel free to join but be prepared to get bitten in the ass

bargaining: so Kid is in bed, blanket pulled up to his nose, breathing heavily

it‘s when it all sinks in. the realization that maybe he should have covered up those honkers when visiting that winter island. Kid was a South Blue child after all, not used to the cold

don‘t disturb him during that phase, just enjoy the silence while he ponders on every life choice he made that led him here

depression: that‘s when he will call you and the other crew members into his cabin one by one despite you telling him he‘ll just spread his germs that way, but Kid doesn‘t care. he feels like he‘s dying from that common cold and he needs to tell everyone his last words

don‘t flinch when he clutches his metal fist around your hand and rattles something about how he doesn‘t mind when you fall in love again after he dies, but preferably with Killer because then he‘ll know from heaven (or hell) that you‘re in good hands (followed by an hour long monologue on why Killer is the greatest man ever existing)

acceptance: so Kid realized he might not die today but his throat is still sore and all the yelling probably didn‘t make it any better

bring him some tea, tuck him in and kiss his forehead, he‘ll pass out in a minute and the whole thing will repeat a few more times on his way to recovery

Kid is gonna act like none of this has happened once he is back to his old self but he‘ll still make sure to pull you into a hug and mumble a Thank You against your skin, followed by making up for all the kisses he couldn‘t give you during that time

Mihawk

have you ever tried giving your pet any kind of medicine? it was bad, wasn‘t it? then good luck with this man because he is worse

it‘s hard to imagine that someone as perfect as Mihawk could fall sick with a fever, but here you are, standing with a glass of water and painkillers in your hands next to him while he‘s passed out on the couch

„get those away from me“, he mumbles like a dying peasant who is confronted with his own mortality in the face of a common cold 

even with his strength being robbed he is still much stronger than you, using this fact to his advantage (by rolling over flat on his stomach, face down, so you can‘t hold the glass of water against his lips)

give him five minutes for some frustrated groaning until he admits his defeat and finally reaches for the things in your hands

brace yourself for a silent staring duel when he asks for a glass of red wine to wash down the painkillers

he‘s lucky that you‘re in love so madly and deeply with him and have all the patience in the world to bear with him, knowing well he would pamper you too if you ever fell sick (you remembered how he pulled out a whole first aid kit as if he was ready to perform emergency surgery when you cut your finger slightly once while cooking together)

Mihawk would hate the fact that you see him in such a weak state but deep down he is still happy to have you by his side during his darkest hours

he‘ll have a few fever dreams and will be startled, probably panting something about his crops and how he gotta look after them

just gently push him back down by his shoulders and calm him down by telling him that you watered the garden and that the tomatoes are looking plump and ripe and ready for harvesting once he‘s back to full health

he‘ll ask you to read him from his favorite romance novels before he drifts back to sleep

Mihawk will cook you the fanciest dinner to show you his gratitude for nursing him back to health, including the most expensive bottle of red wine and kitchen dances together

Rayleigh

„you‘re burning up, Ray.“

you look at him worried, hands on his cheek and forehead to feel his temperature

Rayleigh just sighs, pushes his glasses up his hair, pinches the bridge of his nose and accepts his defeat

the Dark King knows that there‘s a limit on how much you can push a sick body and that the only cure is rest

after all, he had watched Roger struggle during his illness when no one else was watching; it made him realize that every action has its toll and us humans are fragile little things

he will do his best to not make you worry, after everything he‘s been through at his age a simple cold won‘t take him out

sure, he will try to send you home so he doesn‘t pass on the fever to you, but you insist on staying by his side — after all it was „in sickness and in health“ what you vowed to

a fact that earns you a lot of forehead kisses and the inevitable fate that you‘ll be down with a fever as well a few days later (where Rayleigh will take care of you as well, of course)

he is an easy patient on his best behaviour, drinking up the tea you brewed for him and staying in bed with the newspaper and some card games (since he can‘t go gambling)

Rayleigh will hum and lean deep into your touch when you run him a bath and wash his hair, your fingers massaging every bit of tension out of him

knowing you can‘t resist his charm he‘ll ask you to join him in the bath tub. just do it. the old man is needy and a little cold won‘t stop him from using his hands to return a little favor…

Rayleigh is a restless man, never one for settling down completely or staying in one place for too long, but those days in bed together are surprisingly nice and help him to recover quickly, thanks to your committed care

countless kisses on your skin show you his gratitude and blur the line between heat and fever…

[harryyskiwii]

Summary: You end up in hospital with suspected endometriosis and Harry is the doctor on hand to help you.

Pairing: Doctor!Harry x Reader

Word count: 2,988

A/N: this was a request from a follower who suffers with endometriosis, from researching this topic I've released what a horrible condition this is and I hope I've done it justice! Hope you enjoy. As always, feel free to send in any requests!

Ever since you were 14 years old, you had suffered terribly with your periods. It would start with pain in your lower back, then the sickness would hit, then the intense cramping and your periods would be so heavy you had to change tampons every 30-60 minutes.

Despite multiple visit to the doctors, everyone assured you it was normal. You knew it wasn't normal, your friends never suffered as badly on their periods, they never had to cancel pains because of pain and they weren't sick because of stomach cramping.

It wasn't just when you were on your period you would have these symptoms. The back ache, the cramps were part of your daily life for most days of the month. Taking painkillers twice a day had become normal for you.

No doctor had ever taken you seriously, always claiming “it’s not uncommon for women to have cramps on their period” which enraged you more and more each time a doctor told you this.

You weren’t stupid, of course women suffered from cramps with their periods but your cramps were unlike anything you had read was normal. Your periods were more than just heavy, you would pass out on the first day you were on because of the amount of blood loss.

Despite previously advocating for yourself and asking for further tests as you'd always suspected it was endometriosis but your doctor refused as there 'wasn't enough evidence of the disease', funnily enough, your doctor was an old man in his 60's.

Tonight was one of those nights where you were having a severe flareup. You were doubled over in bed with pain, you had thrown up 3 times and your flow was the heaviest its been in a long time. You had already taken 4 ibuprofen over the course of 4 hours and it wasn't touching the pain.

You moved into the bathroom where you were you were sick another 2 times and you started to feel dizzy and lightheaded. This usually never ended well when you felt like this. You knew this wasn't good so you called your friend, Sophie to ask her to grab you some anti-sickness tablets from the shops and to come over to help you.

When she arrived, she only had to look at you to realise it was serious this time. "Y/N, we need to get you to the hospital"

"No Sophie I'll be fine I promise" you let out a scream in pain but you were not going to the hospital for another doctor to tell you it was "just period pains again".

"Y/N you can barely look at me or stand up without screaming in pain"

"Sophie please" you winced in pain as another shooting pain went up your abdomen. It felt like it was on fire.

"I'm really worried about you, if you won't go for you, go for me. I'll drive you. What if it's something serious?"

Another wave of nausea and intense pain made you give in and nod to her in agreement. She helped you get up and changed into leggings and a sports bra and into the car.

The sickness had stopped thankfully but the pain felt like it was intensifying with every minute that passed, so much so you were now in tears as Sophie drove to the hospital.

When you arrived, it was an agonising 2 hour wait in A&E until a nurse called your name. She asked questions about your symptoms and you explained you suspected you had endometriosis. She did some basic tests, gave you some more pain medication and left to get the doctor.

When the doctor came, he repeated the same questions, did an examination and ultrasound of your stomach and ordered you some stronger medication. "Your stomach feels completely normal, your blood pressure is high but that's most likely due to the pain and your temperature is raised slightly as is your heart rate. I'll give you some morphine through an IV which should help reduce the pain and some paracetamol for the high temperature. I've ruled out appendicitis, gallstones and a stomach ulcer so I'm going to ask the Consultant Gynaecologist to come and examine you further as it does sound like you're experiencing symptoms of endometriosis"

Finally someone who understood, but apparently it was a busy Thursday night in Gynaecology as it was 3 hours before anyone from that department came to see you.

"Hi, I'm Harry Styles I'm the consultant Gynaecologist this evening, Y/n isn't it?" a doctor in navy blue scrubs with tattoos down his right arm said to you, as he walked through the door with a clipboard.

The first thing you noticed about him was how attractive he was, and his hair. It was dark brown and was clipped back with a black claw clip, he had a slight moustache but you could tell it had recently been trimmed as it looked almost too neat but it made him even hotter. This was not the time or the place to be looking for your next boyfriend, the pain in your abdomen reminded you why you were here in the first place.

"oh hi, yeah I'm y/n. Nice to meet you Dr Styles"

He grabbed a seat and brought it next to you and sat down on it, well, more like straddled on it which made you feel some kind of way. "Please, call me Harry. Nice to meet you y/n, I hear you're not doing too well. What's been going on?"

You told him all your symptoms and how long they had been going on for, to which he wrote some things down. He looked concerned as you went through them, raising an eyebrow at the more worrying signs like the fainting spells and extreme heavy periods.

"Why haven't they sent you for further tests? "he asked once you had finished giving him your history. He looked concerned which gave you hope that he might actually be willing to help you.

"My doctor says it's normal, I've tried to push for more tests but he says all women get cramps on their period"

He rolled his eyes before realising you had seen him do it "Sorry that's unprofessional of me, it’s just frustrating when healthcare professional dismiss issues like this, but don't worry Y/N, we'll get to the bottom of it for you" he smiled reassuringly at you.

He seemed genuine, kind and empathetic, something while previous doctors haven't been to you.

"Do you mind if I do a quick exam? I know you're in pain right now so I'll be as gentle as I can" he asked and you nodded. He got up and sanitised his hands before asking you to lift up your top to reveal your stomach.

You felt a little anxious as he rubbed his hands together to spread the sanitiser on his hands "Sorry my hands might be cold" he smiled warmly to you which revealed his perfect white teeth that made you blush a little.

��I’m just going to lightly press on a few areas, let me know if anywhere is worse than others”

You winced in pain a few times as he was doing the exam, him apologising each time.

After the exam, he sat back down "I'd like to do a laparoscopy as soon as we can, it's small operation to look inside your tummy to determine what's going on. It's keyhole surgery so you wont have a a large scare. An ultrasound doesn't always pick up endometriosis as it can develop behind organs so in order for me to give you an accurate diagnosis, this would be the best way. Does that sound okay?"

"Y-yes, I guess so. Do you think it is?"

"It could be, it would explain your symptoms but as I say, I can't know for sure without having a look internally. Don't worry it won’t take long, maybe 30-45 minutes. I’ll have a good look and then depending on what I find, we can discuss the outcome once you come round. Does that sound okay?”

“Yeah that’s fine” you replied, you didn’t have much else to say, you were too overwhelmed with the whole situation.

"Good, I'll go and speak to the team and get you up to theatre within the hour. Someone will be in to talk you through everything. I know things are moving fast but I want to get to the bottom of this for you tonight" he put a hand on yours to reassure you and smiled.

He stood up to leave the room. “Do you have any questions for me?”

“What if I do have it? What happens then?” You asked.

“So as I mentioned we’ll do what’s called an exploratory laparoscopy first which is just to see what’s going on. This doesn’t involve the removal of cells or anything, however if we confirm it is endo you have, then we’ll make a plan on the best way to move forward. That might involve surgery, it might not. It just depends on what I find” he smiled at you reassuringly.

“Okay, thanks. That’s all I think” you told him.

“No problem y/n, I’ll let the team know to get you prepped and I’ll see you in a bit” Harry told you as he stepped out the room.

Sophie was holding your hand for support. You were so nervous. You had never been put under before and you weren’t sure what to expect.

“What if something happens Soph, like what if there’s a complication or something?” You turned to her, immediately panicking about going under general anaesthesia.

“you’ll be fine y/n, they’ll look after you really well and I’ll be here when you wake up. The doctor said it wouldn’t take long. It’ll just be like taking a nap” she said trying to convince you that everything would be alright. Which it would be, you trusted Dr Styles, you were just overthinking everything.

Over the next hour, various nurses came in to help you get prepped for surgery. With every passing moment, your heart rate was increasing with anxiety and before you knew it, it was time for the surgery. You said goodbye to Sophie and she wished you luck.

You were wheeled through to the theatre where you just about shit yourself with all the medical staff and equipment.

“Hey y/n, how you doing?” You heard the familiar doctors voice from before behind you.

You looked round to see Dr Styles now with a scrub cap and gown on, but still looking attractive.

“I-I’m okay” was all you managed to get out due to nerves.

“I know it’s scary being in here with everything going on but we’ll take good care of you, I promise” he smiled to you and you believed him. Just being in his presence made you feel safe.

You nodded your head and he smiled “Dr Styles you’re needed over here” a nurse called on him.

He looked back at you “I’ll let the nurses look after you now, I’ll see you when you’re awake okay? Trust me, you’ll be absolutely fine”

He smiled reassuringly to you and dashed off to wherever he needed to go and you were left feeling anxious again. The nurses helped get you ready for surgery and before you knew it, you were being put to sleep.

*A few hours later*

“Hey sweetie, you’re all done. How are you feeling?” A nurse asked you as you were coming round from the anaesthesia.

In all honesty you felt like you had been hit by a bus. You felt exhausted, nauseous and you were in pain again, which you were sure was from the surgery.

“Let me get you some water” she said, noticing your pale complexion.

You looked over and seen your friend Sophie sitting by your bedside holding your hand, she smiled at you. “You okay?” She asked and you nodded in response.

The nurse who had introduced herself as Annie handed you some water and you took a sip of it, mainly to satisfy her. You just wanted to sleep.

“Everything went well, are you in any pain and I can give you some more painkillers?”

You nodded and she gave you more medication through your IV to help.

You sat up in bed, with the help of Annie and Sophie and you felt a little better.

“D-do I have it?” You asked the nurse sheepishly.

“I’ll let the surgeon know you’re awake and he can come talk to you” was all she said with a smile before leaving the room.

You turned to Sophie “What do you think that means? Have they told you anything?”

“No they haven’t said anything to me, she probably just wants you to hear it from the doctor himself”

A few minutes later, you heard a knock on the door and seen Dr Styles popping his head in.

“Hey, can I come in?” He asked and you nodded.

“How are you feeling?” He asked closing the door for privacy behind him. He grabbed a chair and sat beside your bed with some paperwork in his hands.

“I’m okay, a little sore and tired” you told him.

“Have you had anything to help with the pain and nausea?” He asked, sounding concerned as he picked up your chart and started flicking through it.

“Yeah they’ve given me medication” his face softened into a small smile.

“Good, it should kick in soon. It’s good that you’re awake now, see I told you you would be okay!” he joked and you laughed slightly.

“I’ll get straight to it as I know you’ll be eager to hear how things went. So overall it went very smoothly, as I mentioned it was exploratory keyhole surgery just for us to have a look and see what’s going on.

When I first went in, everything looked absolutely normal which I thought might be the case because your ultra sound was clear. However, when I went a little deeper it was apparent that the cells that cause endometriosis were present behind your bladder” he paused to let you take the information in.

“The good news is, the cells have only regionalised in that one area so it's only affected the one area. It does mean you officially have a diagnoses of endometriosis and it now allows us to deal with it. How do you feel about that?” he asked.

“I’m- I can’t believe it” you stuttered, not quite believing that after all these years, someone had finally listened to you.

“I understand it’s overwhelming when you’ve been dealing with this for a number of years, it’s good news in a way because it means now you have some answers” Harry said to you.

“Yeah it is, I’m so pleased. Thank you so much for listening to me”

“It’s no trouble at all, I’m just doing my job, I’m happy to help” he smiled before continuing on.

“So the next step is to map out a sort of treatment plan, there is no direct cure for endometriosis as you may already know but there are things we can do that can relieve the symptoms. What I would highly recommend in your case is to have surgery in which we go in and remove the deposits of endometriosis. This would mean a few days recovery in hospital with continuous follow up appointments with myself for a few months but I’m almost certain that this would be the best chance for relieving your symptoms. Everyone is different but the surgery should stop your periods from being so heavy, help with the cramping and the general feeling of being unwell during your period. You don’t have to answer now, I’ve got some leaflets here on the surgery which you can read over and have a think about if it’s something you want to go ahead with or not”

“I want to do it. I’ve read online about the surgery and I want to have it” you said, not even having to think about it.

“I thought you might say that” he laughed “I legally need to explain the procedure, risks/benefits etc to you but after that if you’re happy to go ahead with it then so am I, I really think it’s your best chance”

“Yeah I want to go ahead” you confirmed.

“Okay, let me run through everything with you and then we can get a bit of a plan put together” Harry then spent the next 15 minutes explaining the ins and out and the procedure and making sure you understood the risks associated with it.

Once he was finished, he gave you some leaflets “have a read over these as well, mainly so that my arse doesn’t get kicked by management for not giving you them” he winked to you as he laid them on your bed.

“I’ll be back in to check on you in the morning and if everything looks good, you’ll be able to go home. If you need anything at all, press this button and the nurses will be able to help you. You look like you need a nap so I’m gonna go and leave you in peace. I’ll see you later”

You laughed at his comment “Thank you so much for your help, it truly means so much to me” you thanked him once again.

He smiled and winked at you before leaving the room. You blushed and felt butterflies in your stomach. Sophie winked at you once he was gone "only you would come into hospital and make a doctor wink at you" she joked and you laughed.

You couldn’t believe you had been diagnosed with endometriosis after years of advocating for yourself. It took just one understanding doctor like Harry to listen to you and help you get the diagnosis you needed and it helped that was really wasn't bad looking either.

[bradshawsbaby]

I know it’s so very late, but trick or treat? 🎃 wishing I’d had a Jake or Bob or even a Rhett to spend it with 🥹

Here’s a little something for you! 👻

Your head pounded slightly as you blinked open your eyes, your mouth feeling as dry as a cotton ball. Those Drunk Ghost cocktails Penny had been serving at The Hard Deck last night were stronger than you had originally thought. At the time, the coconut rum had gone down smoothly, but now you were starting to see why you had hardly any memory of getting home last night.

The one memory you did have was of your boyfriend lifting you over his shoulder at the end of the night, carrying you to his car and tenderly buckling you into the passenger seat before driving the two of you home.

Your sweet Bobby. Even though he didn’t drink himself, he always wanted you to have a good time when you went out to a party, and he always made sure you were safe.

Stretching your arms over your head, you tried not to move too much to avoid waking him up. He was still slumbering peacefully beside you, his soft lips parted slightly as his chest rose and fell with every quiet breath. You couldn’t help but smile as you looked at him. He was the love of your life and your favorite person in the whole world. You always savored these moments when you awoke before him and got to lay and watch him sleep, all his cares momentarily laid to rest as he dreamed. Considering his usual early morning schedule, these moments were so few and far between.

Glancing downward, you noticed that Bob had managed to get you out of your Halloween costume and into one of his cozy T-shirts before he’d put you to bed last night. Brushing your fingers against your cheek, you realized he had even taken your make-up off for you. He was too good to you. What had you ever done to deserve him?

A large bottle of water in your peripheral vision caught your attention and you turned your head sharply, regretting it as soon as the pounding in your skull intensified. Closing your eyes and taking a deep breath, you opened them again slowly and found that there were also two painkillers and a small note next to the water bottle.

Good morning, sweetheart. You fell asleep before you could take these last night, but I think you might need them this morning. Make sure to stay hydrated today. I love you. Bob.

You couldn’t help but smile as you reached for the mini hangover cure your boyfriend had left out for you. He was too cute. What had you done before he’d come into your life?

Sitting up carefully, you opened the water bottle and tossed the painkillers into your mouth, swallowing them down with a large swig of water. At that moment, Bob started to stir beside you.

“Mmm, mornin’,” he mumbled sleepily, his voice raspy and thick. It sent a pleasant shiver down your spine.

“Morning,” you whispered in return, wriggling back under the covers and curling up beside him, pressing a kiss to his cheek. “Thank you for taking care of me last night.”

“Of course, honey,” he yawned, a lazy smile spreading across his face as you peppered his bare shoulder with kisses. “You feeling alright?”

“Better now,” you nodded, running your fingers through his hair.

“Can I get you anything?” he asked, already pushing the blankets back and getting ready to rise out of bed.

You shook your head immediately, wrapping your arms around him and holding on tight. “Just you,” you told him, brushing your lips against his. “Can we spend the whole day right here?”

Bob grinned and nodded, one hand sliding underneath your shirt to rest on your bare hip. “Whatever you want, sweetheart.”

[ellen-reincarnated1967]

You shuffled down the bunker hallway, in search of painkillers, a pot of strong ass coffee, and something fried and greasy, to fend off the wicked hangover you acquired the night before with Sam.

Sam, whom you had left in your bed, precariously strewn across your mussed up sheets, you might add, as you smirked to yourself, “The bigger they are, the stronger the tequila,” and no, nothing happened between the two of you, he was ever the gentle giant.

Wrapping an elastic band around your slept in curls, you continued to shuffle towards the promising kitchen, when you saw what looked like drops of blood leading from the garage door to the war room. Forgotten was the hangover as you went into hunter mode, pulling what you could down from the wall to your immediate left, took one look at the Samurai blade in your hands, and grumbled, “who decorated this place?”

Slowly, you inched your way, stealthily following the trail of droplets.

You were about to turn the corner, when you saw the worn leather and scuffed up boots attached to the bowlegs of Dean, nursing himself with a tumbler of whiskey from the smell of it.

Your eyes crept slowly up his exhausted form propped up against the wall, the bloodied and broken knuckles, resting atop his knee.

“Dean, what in the ever loving frak,” you gently maneuvered his injured hand into your own, examining the rest of him for any other signs of injuries.

Dean chuckled breathlessly, “Should see the other guy, YN,” then having seconds thoughts, reigned himself in, “actually, uh, best you don’t go looking into the other guy for awhile.”

“Dean, you didn’t?”

You don’t know why you bothered asking, “of course you did.”

“He had it coming Sweetheart,” he took another swig from his glass, “said so yourself.”

Fragments of the night before started to stitch themselves into place; Dean getting a mysterious phone call, just as you were knocking back shots, the side eye from Sam, the barely there nod of Dean’s head, the excuse that ‘Jody needed help’, Sam sweeping you up in his arms bridal style, oh God, you propositioning Sam!

“I think I might’ve hit on Sam last night,” you knocked your head back into the wall.

Dean proffered his glass to you, “I think you need this more than me,” he snorted and you finished off the amber liquid

“You broke a few speed limits making it there and back in a night,” you groaned.

“Broke more than a few speed limits, Princess,” Dean hoisted himself up and extended his hand to pull you up with him, “don’t think anyone will be swiping right on his profile pic for awhile.”

You let out a wheezing laugh, “thanks, Dean, for uh, everything,” you felt the liquor warming up your cheeks and it countered with the roiling of your empty stomach. Your face went from sallow to green and Dean swiftly sat you in one of the kitchen chairs.

“Fried eggs and bacon, coming up,” he smacked the back of the chair twice, “so you can keep whatever is left in that bottomless pit of yours down.”

“Ass.” You mumbled as you cradled your head in your arms on the cool table top.

“Ever the charmer, YN,” Dean began to prep for breakfast, “so eloquent.”

“Bite me, Winchester,” you shot back.

“Save the foreplay for Sammy,” he teased as he cracked a few eggs into a bowl, “he likes it rough.”

Shuffling footsteps sounded at the doorway and a disheveled Sam, running his hand through his hair, looked at his brother and YN quizzically, “who likes it rough?”

[faeratil]

Hello.

I don’t like to do this, and I’m not even sure how to do this.

I need help.

I was recently switched to a stronger medication for my chronic migraines, but even with insurance, it’s incredibly expensive and I can’t afford it on my own. I’ve been trying so hard to find some way to pay for it without going further into debt than I already am (also for medical reasons), but I have had no luck.

I’ve even kept my commissions open here, on Facebook, and on IG, but my inboxes remain barren and even people irl are not commissioning me anymore. I’ve gone almost two weeks now without any kind of painkiller aside from Tylenol and ibuprofen which are honestly just making things worse with rebound headaches, and it’s to the point where I can barely function and am a hindrance at work.

If anyone can help me, please do.

My pain medication costs $400 just for one month’s supply, and that’s after insurance. Including my other medications that I am unfortunately due to refill this month as well, it’s around $600 with insurance. That’s the same as my share of rent.

I will also do any commissions you’d like for whatever amount you’re willing to help.

I really don’t like to do this, but I really need help.

PayPal

Cash App

GoFundMe

[ra1nc0at]

I am so sick of not being taken seriously when I’m talking about my medical problems. When i first went to my doctor telling her my period pain was completely immobilizing me, causing the worst pain I’ve ever felt, it took her MONTHS to prescribe birth control. That didn’t stop my period, but it lessened the pain.

I’ve forgotten to take it the past few days, and can barely type because i just got my period and I’m all over the place on painkillers. I still cannot physically speak because of the endless stabbing pain, I haven’t been able to stop crying for hours.

My doctor thinks I’m exaggerating because I’m not used to having a period (I’ve had extremely irregular, painful periods since I was ten years old), and my mother told me she wasn’t in this much pain when she was in labor. I know she wasn’t, and I know that’s why this is a problem. When I tell people that I need stronger pain meds, they reprimand me for drug seeking behaviors.

As a comparison, I’ve broken bones so badly that they’ve poked through and broken my skin and I was mainly okay. I have a high pain tolerance, and I’m not lying or exaggerating. I don’t know what I have, but I know it’s not normal period cramps, and I know that my doctor should take me seriously

[someone-elsa]

(part 4 of 5)

🔙 Chapter beginning ⬅ Part 3 • Part 5 ➡ 📝 About the story and characters

"I can't listen to his blabbering sober either," Wade chuckled dryly and shuddered. "And I can drink only so much of those fancy wines and gimmicky craft beers. I need something stronger…"   River snorted with laughter.   "Pour for me whatever you take," he said.

But River didn't pour anything.   "What's the matter?" Wade asked.   River sighed. "I can't open the bottle."

"What? What do you mean?"   "I can't open the bottle because my hands are weak and shaky."

Wade stared her, trying to process what he had heard.   "Do you mean…"   River shrugged. "I don't know, maybe. Or maybe my blood sugar's too low—"

"WHAT THE FUCK?!" Wade shrieked. It wasn't very him to raise his voice but he was drunk and this topic made him emotional. Everyone turned to look, and he lowered his voice but still sounded angry. "You have been to a doctor, right?"   "Nope."   "Can you keep it down?" Harrison asked and snorted.

"What? Well you'll have to schedule an appointment first thing tomorrow!"   "What's the point?" River muttered.   That made Wade see red. "You'll have to take this seriously or you'll end up like mom!"

Paige had walked to them. "What's going on?" She asked.   The others tried to look like they weren't eavesdropping.   "Nothing."

"Nothing my ass," Wade said. "Let me guess. You haven't told her either? River's being a fucking moron, that's what is happening. So some twenty years ago, our mom was diagnosed with Langerak's disease. She was around the same age as River now…"

He told Paige about the disease and how it made the person gradually lose ability to move. Eileen Stacks had been a talented dancer and it had been her whole life, so being diagnosed with such a disease had been hard for her.

Back then, there hadn't been much to be done, doctors could only prescribe painkillers and hope for the best. Before it had been too late, Eileen had tried to end her life on her own terms but she hadn't succeeded. However, the attempt had damaged her brain and since then she had barely communicated with other people and mostly stared into the void.

Paige was speechless. River had told Paige that she had distant relationship with her mother and nothing else.   "There isn't a cure yet and maybe never will be, but now, there are ways to slow down the illness' progression. The earlier they are started, more effective they are. And River here is being A FUCKING IDIOT and doing nothing. Tell her, Paige, maybe she listens to you better than me."

"River, you know he's right," Paige pleaded.   River groaned.

[angolicious]

What are some of your headcanons for Doc?

I’m so glad you asked~

• he has a series of medications that he is SUPPOSED to be taking but he forgets a lot because he’s a very busy man.

• people are always trying to pull him every which way because he’s the head medical supervisor in the mafia, so he has a lot on his plate. I imagine sometimes, taking care of himself is not first priority. Please god remind him to take his medicine. Force him if you have to.

• he won’t physically fight you. He knows he has to take the medicine. He’s just forgetful. It’s not that he doesn’t want to. But thank god he wouldn’t fight you because he’s stronger than he looks.

• now, he’s not nearly as strong as anyone in the rest of the flags. And he’s not even strong enough to pick you up… but he IS stronger than he looks. You once startled him and he grabbed your wrist with such a firm grip it left a little bruise. Was it hot? Absolutely. Did he apologize profusely afterwards. Absolutely as well.

• he’s cuddly. But not in a normal way. He isn’t one to wrap his arms around you often. In fact he’s not really even a big hugger. But he LOVES being in some form of contact with you. This comes in many forms, such as bumping his forehead against your shoulder and just kind of leaving it there for a minute. He also likes to come up behind you and rest his chin on your shoulder. If you’re sitting down, he’ll lean his body up against you, or perhaps lay himself down into your lap depending on his his day is going. He never says anything about it, he just does it. He likes it when you pet his hair too, but he never ASKS. He just grabs your hand and places it on his head and allows you to piece together the rest.

• he knows a lot about what foods are nutritious and good for you, and the certain vitamins and proteins in foods. Despite this… he does not really know how to cook. He’s no where near as bad as some others on the team… *cough* pianoman and albatross…. But he isn’t great. He can make himself sandwiches. But he doesn’t do that… feed him i beg of you.

• he really likes super gory horror movies and psychological horrors. Sometimes you can barely handle some of the fucked up shit he watches, but he barely blinks and eye. Just cuddle up to him on the couch and he may ACTUALLY put his arm around you if he senses that the movie is spooking you.

• he says the strangest…. Most out of pocket shit all the time. Like… he’ll just mutter shit to himself that makes you have to do a double take. Once was sitting on the couch and murmured.

“Well… obviously ketchup doesn’t come in cans… you couldn’t microwave It then…”

And you had to whip around and go, “motherfucker WHAT.” And then he just looked up at you like he hadn’t said anything at all.

• should you ever get sick or injured he’s there in an INSTANT. And he’s so sure of himself. When doc is taking care of your medical needs, you can tell he’s most in his element. His voice becomes more firm, but still gentle. He remains focused, and talks you through everything he does and why he needs to do it. His touch is feather light across your skin, and he treats your body like priceless porcelain. This makes you feel special because you’ve seen first hand that he isn’t as careful with his other patients. But with you, he acts as though any pain you’re in he can feel too. It’s precious, really.

“It looks like a moderate syndesmotic injury… just a sprained ankle. I’ll need to get you some ice to put on it, and I’ll prescribe you with some anti-inflammatory medication that should assist… let’s go ahead and get you on some mild painkillers too while we’re at it- nothing too serious.”

“I can go get myself some ice, dear. It’s okay-“

His grip is on your wrist suddenly, firm. His other hand is on your thigh, and he holds you in place on his medical table.

“I don’t recall telling you you could get up yet. I’ll get you ice. Sit. You need to be resting. I don’t want to see you getting up unless you have to for the rest of the day.”

“But doc-“

“Doctors orders.”

• he’s actually super self conscious, and sometimes doesn’t quite understand why you’re with him. He knows he’s smart, but he doesn’t really perceive himself as physically attractive or necessarily fit. He isn’t inherently open about these insecurities… but you can tell in the way he clams up and gets noticeably stiff and anxious with a more physically intimidating man starts to speak to you. For a while he would even clam up slightly of the rest of the flags talked to you. But you caught on and just attempted to be a little more intentional about letting him know how handsome you thought he was, and how much you love him. He seems a lot more comfortable now, and doesn’t seem so threatened by others anymore.

• he gets SO disgruntled if he can’t sleep with you when he’s ready to curl up and go to bed. If there’s any reason you can’t spend the night with him he’s going to be so grumpy the next day. His patients better watch out because he will be in a MOOD.

•he likes to sleep laying on his side, typically facing the edge of the bed with his back facing in towards the center. It makes it easier for him to keep his IV connected should he have to. He sometimes has trouble sleeping if he can’t feel you pressed against his back. He likes to have your body wrapped around him, but if he can’t have that, even having you slightly touching him is enough to help him sleep.

•over all 10/10 relationship but please take care of him. Not only does he need it but he deserves it. He’ll pay you back ten fold for whatever you offer him. He’s a weird boyfriend, but a really really good one.

[i--am--the--sheep]

Mine To Hold [ch 3]

read fic warnings and find other chapters here

Rei was sure he was drowning.

He was drowning in an inky black ocean that smelled faintly of iodine and Kazuki's shampoo.  

Where was he again? 

Something – someone – shifts next to him. Kazuki? He can vaguely remember getting home, being moved from the bathroom to a bed. If Kazuki was there, everything must be fine.  

His eyes feel stuck shut, and he tries hard to ignore the ache of guilt in his chest. The image of Kazuki’s face when Rei left his father’s house is glued to the backs of his eyelids. Flashes of his partner, his family, his life, float around his brain, drifting in a swirl of disorientation and pain.

Deep down in his chest, in a part of his heart that has never been truly acknowledged, Rei is glad it hurts. He’s glad it’s painful. It feels like a penance. He focuses on the searing pain radiating from his shoulder, up his neck and down his arm, and he tells himself it's what someone like him deserves.  

He put the only people he’s ever cared about in danger. He thinks he probably deserves worse.

“Rei? Are you awake?”

Rei considers not moving, keeping his eyes shut and ignoring Kazuki. He feels like being rude right now, but he decides against it. He pries his eyes open, blinking up at the dark ceiling.  

“Mm.” He knows Kazuki’s shoulders droop in relief without even having to see him. 

“Here, Kyu snagged you some stronger painkillers.” There’s a rattle of pills next to Rei’s ear, a white bottle in his peripherals. Rei shakes his head, probably harder than he needs to.

“Save ‘em.”  

Kazuki lets out an exasperated sigh. “You got fucking shot, man. Take some.” He neglects to add who shot him.

“‘m fine.” He feels Kazuki’s hand leave, about to toss the bottle onto the table next to him. “I’ve had worse.” He adds, mostly to himself, under his breath and barely audible.

Kazuki falters, pausing and blinking down at Rei. His voice is soft. “Doesn’t have to hurt, you know.”

But it always does.  

Rei knows that, and has known from a very young age. There’s no use in a painkiller when the ache will be back tomorrow.  

“Just one?” Rei shakes his head again. He has always been stubborn. Kazuki has always been worse.

“...half?”

Rei finally relents, knowing if he doesn't, Kazuki will hound him for the next hour.  

“Half.” He can hear the flick of Kazuki's pocket knife, the dull click of it splitting a pill against the dresser. Half of a crumbling pill is pressed into his open palm, and he swallows it without another word.  

Rei doesn't like painkillers, but here he is taking them anyway. It makes him feel weak and undeserving of the dampening of his pain. He takes them for Kazuki's sake and eventually falls back into a dreamless sleep.

[krikeymate]

Double whammy of the Sam with a 10 year age difference having a conniption cause Tara is trying to go around sleeping with random guys

Sam was NOT prepared for handling a teenager, let alone a teenager with PTSD. She's barely feels like an adult herself, and only two years after finally getting her mother out of their lives, her little sister is nearly killed, all because of her.

Tara's 14 (&3/4) when Amber and Ritchie try to kill her in this AU, so let's not try and make that too 😬... hmm, got it.

In the aftermath, she does not cope well.

Tara's always had moments where she's chafed against Sam's authority, where she's been distant, especially since she became her legal guardian, but nothing like this. Sometimes it feels like Amber had managed to kill Tara after all, and she's left trying to care for a ghost. Sam wishes she could kill her all over again... and again, and again, for the rest of eternity, for the anguish she's caused her girl.

The attack at the hospital and again at Amber's only makes her injuries worse. In the end, it takes her leg 4 months to heal, and she was confined to the bed full-time for a month, with another month of being confined mostly to her bed. Needless to say, she doesn't cope well. Tara's not a baby anymore, and she can't stand to be coddled, can't stand the reminder that she isn't like the other girls in her class. She can't stand the fact she can't even dress and undress herself in this state. Can't stand to think of Amber.

And the pain, it's constant, it's everywhere, in her body, in her heart, in her head. The only time she's somewhat happy these days is under the influence of the painkillers that leave her floating between awake and asleep, where everything is fine and good. Sam can't bear to see her sister in this state, drugged up and absent. It's the only time she sees her sister smile anymore, and it hurts. But it's the only thing that keeps her going, and Tara's constantly in pain, so she keeps refilling the prescription. Later, she'll wish she was stronger, she'll wish she had listened to the part of her that said something was off. But Sam's never listening to herself, to anyone, over her sister.

Tara takes painkillers long after she needs them, and eventually, they stop providing the void she's always searching for. So she finds other options. Tara's newly 17 and lying beneath some guy, drugged out of her mind, in the basement of someone's house. They'd been making out for what felt like hours, when she felt his hand slip down her trousers, and then her sister had stormed into the room, throwing fists. What happens after that is as foggy as what came before that.

They move to New York.

Apparently, Sam is best friends with Gale fucking Weathers these days, because Sam gets a job with her, and that job apparently comes with an apartment. Tara finishes her school career online, in the corner of a studio or in a dressing room or the back of a news van, wherever Sam or Gale go, Tara is stuck being dragged around by them. She knows why. She's not stupid. She kind of hates Sam for it. She hates herself more for thinking such a thing, for being so weak.

She still has her vices, despite it all Sam never took her privacy from her. So Tara still has seedy chats and pictures and videos to distract herself with when she's feeling empty. It feels good to be loved, adored, for a little while. She can't bear to expose the emptiness inside of her to Sam, can't bring herself to talk about what happened to the therapists, to talk about Amber. Or the things she said, the things she did.

She's nearly 18 when they're attacked again. Ethan, Sam's clumsy assistant with the sweet smile and who always had a kind word for Tara, and their neighbour, Quinn, who liked variety in her men. Some of those men had little brothers she would introduce to Tara. They're Ritchie's family, and they want revenge.

Tara begins sleeping around as a coping mechanism after that. She won't go back to the drinking, and the drugs, she doesn't want to do that to Sam again. Her sister already has so much going on, she doesn't want to add to that. It doesn't even occur to her how much this would hurt her as well.

[pigeonwhumps]

"That's gonna scar"

MD-264N masterlist

Febuwhump day 5: "that's gonna scar"

Asha sews up Morgan's gunshot wound when it refuses to close.

1.3k

CWs: self-dehumanisation, stitches, implied past non-con drugging, mentioned brainwashing, mentioned expectations of death, conditioned whumpee, living weapon

"Are you sure you don't want any stronger painkillers?" asks Asha, concerned. All Morgan's consented to taking are a couple of paracetamols, and while Asha can understand why after seeing the track marks on their arms, she's spoken to Rhian and she's not sure it's going to be enough today. She's not sure it's enough normally, honestly, but Morgan's gunshot wound isn't healing properly after the packing and now it needs stitches. Which means far more intense pain.

"No, thank you, sir. Asha."

Asha exchanges a glance with Rhian. A bit of a setback, but that's to be expected after yesterday. At least they're using her name as well.

"If you're sure. This is going to be painful, so let me know if you change your mind and need me to stop at any point, alright?"

"Yes, Asha."

"Good."

"You can squeeze my hand as much as you like," says Rhian softly, resting her hand in Morgan's. They wrap their fingers gently around it.

"Morgan, can you lift your leg so your ankle's on the pillow here? It's covered in a towel, even if we make a mess it'll be fine. I need your ankle slightly elevated and for me to be able to get to it easily." Morgan swings their leg up on the bed and turns slightly, leaning against Rhian, back to her chest. "That's it. I'm going to start now, you don't have to watch."

"Concentrate on your breathing," says Rhian, as Asha unwraps the bandage around the wound and winces. "Nice and deep and even, copy me."

Morgan does their best as Asha cleans the area around the wound before picking up her needle and thread. This is going to be the painful part. Her patient squeezes their eyes shut at the sight of the needle touching skin.

Asha pushes through the skin with only a little resistance and Morgan whimpers. They bite their lip, clutching Rhian's hand tight, letting out pained cries as Asha pulls the thread through.

Rhian starts humming.

It's a low tune, a soft lullaby that Asha recognises as one of Rhian's self-soothing techniques from when they first joined. It seems to be working wonders on Morgan too, their eyes drifting shut. After a couple of verses they join in hesitantly, the humming replacing their sounds of pain. Their breaths are still hitching, their face is white, but they're a little better.

Asha smiles slightly to herself as she stitches up the wound. They're perfect for each other. Rhian's doing much better with someone to care for, and Morgan's recovery is going better than Asha could ever have predicted.

"Alright, I'm all done with the stitching. This'll probably scar but at least it has a better chance of healing now." Morgan snaps their eyes open and watches intently as Asha wraps a bandage over the top of the stitches. "That should keep it clean and stop you catching the stitches on stuff."

"Thank you, sir. Asha."

"No problem. You were very brave. Would you like a fruit pastille?"

Morgan's eyes light up and they nod. Asha grins. Rhian was right, they really do have a sweet tooth. She holds out the jar. "Here. Take a couple."

"Thank you."

Once Morgan's chewing on a sweet, Asha says carefully, "How are you both? You look exhausted."

Morgan glances back at Rhian, who nods, squeezing their hand. "This weapon malfunctioned last night. It, I, I had a nightmare. And it disturbed Rhian and it is so sorry."

"I told you, it's fine, sweetheart," murmurs Rhian, before turning to Asha. "It was worse than they've had in over a week. We barely slept at all."

"Hey. You'll get better, Morgan. Maybe not all the way, but recovery's never linear. Rhian can tell you that."

Rhian nods. "Definitely."

"If you're okay on your own for a moment, I need to speak to Rhian quickly."

Morgan nods, and Rhian slides out from under them, following Asha across the room. Her voice is hushed.

"What is it?"

"It wasn't just Morgan's nightmare last night, was it? You look too distressed for that."

Rhian sighs and shakes their head, raking their hand through their hair. "I had a nightmare too, but that's normal. Nothing unusual about it. Been having them for years. But Morgan… they said that they didn't understand why we wanted a malfunctioning weapon. They asked why we hadn't decommissioned them yet. I mean, what do I say to that?"

Asha feels queasy. Morgan's barely grown and already they're expecting to die for being emotional and hurt.

"Reassure them we care, for as long as they need. And hopefully they'll understand our intentions eventually."

"Right. Hopefully. And maybe they'll consider themself a person eventually, too. Is that all you wanted to ask about?"

"Yeah. We can go back over now. I have their present with me too."

Rhian grins. "You finished it!"

"Of course I did."

They head back over, Rhian pulling Morgan gently against her under the window as Asha packs away her equipment. She can just hear Rhian whispering soothingly to Morgan, very obviously trying to contain her excitement. Asha pulls a lumpy package wrapped in scrap paper and string out of her bag, and hands it to Morgan. They frown down at it.

"It's a present for you. I meant to finish it a while ago but I got ill and then I was busy, but here you are."

Morgan blinks. "For me?"

"Yeah. Nothing bad, I promise. Go ahead and open it."

Morgan examines it for a full minute, Rhian almost bouncing behind them, before pulling at one end of the string, undoing the bow. The paper falls with the string, revealing a toy owl made out of scraps of fabric. It's not amazing, the wings are uneven and so are the button eyes, and the fabric's a bit of a mish-mash of anything she and Rhian could find regardless of the colour or texture, but Morgan picks it up delicately, like it's a treasure. They look a little bewildered.

"Morgan? What's wrong?"

They swallow, looking up at her. "What's the purpose of this gift? If it should be obvious this weapon apologises, but it does not understand."

"It's just a present, sweetheart," says Rhian. "It doesn't have a purpose. Though I guess if you need one, we can say it's to help you recover. You can cuddle it and it'll hopefully make you feel better. And the different textures are a great sensory thing. I have a similar one, you've seen it."

"It is only a weapon, it is not worthy of such a present. But it is very grateful."

Asha smiles, noticing that Morgan's already clutching the owl close to their chest. "Do you want to name it?"

"Archimedes," they say after a pause. "If that's acceptable."

"Archimedes," repeats Rhian thoughtfully. "Good name."

As Morgan sinks further into Rhian, eyes full of badly-hidden relief, Asha wonders if they ever watched The Sword in the Stone before they were brainwashed by the government. Maybe it was their favourite film. Maybe it was a sibling's favourite. Did they watch it over and over again? Did they learn the songs, did they annoy their family with them? Did they get annoyed by them?

Asha doesn't know. None of them do.

Until now, it hadn't occurred to her just how much they don't know about the newest member of their family. They don't know how old Morgan was when they were taken, where they lived, who they loved and were loved by in return (because surely, surely someone cared). They don't even know what their name was. Blue's working on hacking the retrieved memory card that may well have helped Morgan escape, but until then…

Just who do they have in their care?

[goldenavenger02]

Chapter 3: Recovery Is a Violent Beast

Lloyd woke up the next afternoon.

No one had been expecting it; if they had, they would have waited with baited breath as the small monitor proudly displayed how many times his heart beat instead of going to The Crossroads to stock up on food, supplies and whatever happened to catch one of the new trainees' eye.

Instead, when his bright green eyes slowly opened with a mild, pained groan, the only person who heard it was Kai.

Kai, who was sitting alone in the medbay while Zane continued his research, with one hand around Lloyd’s left hand and the other scrolling through Chirp until he nearly dropped his phone when he heard the groan escape Lloyd’s lips.

“Hey, bud,” He let out a breath of relief, pocketing his phone before wrapping his other hand around Lloyd’s, “how’re you feeling?”

Kai wasn’t sure what he was expecting to happen, but it wasn’t Lloyd’s eyes filling with tears while he brought in a long, sniffly inhale.

“Whoa, whoa, kiddo, it’s okay,” He stood up to get closer, using one of his hands to run through Lloyd’s thin strands of hair while keeping the other firmly grasped around his hand, “don’t try and talk if it hurts, we’ve got you.”

“I-I’m sorry,” Lloyd finally choked out, his voice shuddering as he spoke, “I’m s-so sorry.”

“Sorry about-” Kai started to ask, only for him to remember the mild disagreement that had upset him the day before, but had been completely forgotten after his and Nya’s conversation in the bathroom, “oh, Lloyd…I’m not mad about that anymore.”

“But-”

“I’m so glad you’re okay,” Kai cut him off, bringing his hand down from his hair to wipe the tears off of his face, “you being okay is so much more important to me than any sort of argument, you got that?”

Lloyd nodded, his eyes already starting to flutter shut again.

“Go back to sleep. We can talk more in a bit, promise.”

The pain medication that was flowing through the IV in his other hand meant that he had very little pushback or protest from Lloyd, who let his eyes close and stayed close.

Kai, on the other hand, gently pulled his hand out from under Lloyd’s head, because he knew that drooling was inevitable and it was the last thing he wanted on his bare hand.

…

He woke up in small increments at first, never really staying awake for more then ten minutes at a time.

Then it was fifteen, then twenty, and soon enough, a few hours.

On one hand, Kai knew that was good. Lloyd was getting stronger, he was pulling through and the pain was lessening. On the other hand, with the slow return of his strength was the rapid return of his insistence that he was completely fine.

“I can smell it from here,” Lloyd sighed while pulling apart the plain toast that had been brought down to him, “and it smells really, really good.”

The smell of dinner was filling the entire monastery to the point where Kai’s stomach was growling, but Zane had insisted that Lloyd needed to eat gently between the painkillers and just how close the dagger had gotten to his stomach.

“Well, pretend that your toast is the same food.” Kai suggested, trying not to look at Lloyd’s sad, puppy dog eyes that had always been his downfall.

“Toast isn’t the same thing as Zane’s teriyaki beef and you know it.”

“That’s why I said pretend, you little snot.”

“Oh, that’s just so much better than you calling me “boogers”.” Lloyd grumbled as he continued to pull the crust off of his toast before asking, “can I have a popsicle?”

“You really shouldn’t.”

“Oh, come on! It’s frozen juice. Please?”

Kai looked up from his phone to get met with the “someone kicked my puppy” eyes that Lloyd had been famous for long before he had become the green ninja and groaned, “fine, but you better eat all of that toast and it better stay down.”

…

“Stop yanking!” Wyldfyre shouted from where she was sitting on the floor outside of the medbay while Kai slowly ran the comb through her tangled ends.

“I’m not yanking,” Kai tried to keep his voice steady as he gently worked the comb through the large tangle in the middle of her hair, “but you have a lot of tangles and it’s only gonna take one too many people noticing before we have to deal with Ninjago Social Services, so just let me do this.”

“Fine,” Wyldfyre scowled but continued to sit still even when Kai picked up the detangler and sprayed it on her ends, adding even more to the strong scent of coconut in the air before switching to the hairbrush, “have you ever done this before? Because you are still pulling my hair.”

Kai had to refrain from saying “you should have seen when Lloyd let me take a brush to his hair for the first time because if you think this is bad, brushing a tangled bowl cut is ten times worse” and settled on, “that’s just what the brush feels like. But I’ve almost got all the knots out.”

“Finally! I hate sitting still.”

“Do you want me to style it?” Kai asked as he brought the brush through the sections he had separated, relieved when he felt zero knots snag on the brush.

“Style it?” Wyldfyre repeated slowly, a familiar signal that the words were unfamiliar in her mouth.

“Yeah, put it up so it doesn’t get tangled so easily. Like Nya’s and Sora’s ponytails.”

“I do not want my hair to look like theirs.” She shook her head, merging all of the sections of her hair into one.

“Nah, I’ll give you the hairstyle of a warrior.” Kai insisted, which got her to stop moving so he could work his fingers through it before deciding on simply pulling back her overgrown bangs into a hair tie, letting the rest of her hair stay loose.

“Are you almost done? I’ve been here forever.” Wyldfyre whined but stayed still as Kai finished tightening the hair tie so it wouldn’t fall out before turning on his phone camera and handing it to her.

“Why don’t you take a look?”

He watched as she held the camera up to her face before turning her head so she could see the side of her hair, but stayed silent the whole time she examined the bright red strands only to get the air knocked out of him as she hugged him tightly.

“I love it!”

“I’m glad you do, kid.”

“Kai?” Nya’s voice floated towards his ears, which made him look up from the tight hug he was still engulfed in, “I love the new look, Wyldfyre.”

“Thanks!” She said, bouncing to her feet and leaving Kai to push himself up from the floor, only for his cheeks to flush red as she added, “Kai styled it for me!”

“He did a great job,” She nodded, waiting until Wyldfyre left to go show the others before offering her hand out to Kai, which he gratefully took to pull himself off of the floor, “I need you to do me a favor.”

“Do you want me to do your hair too?” He smiled, ruffling a hand over her head where her ponytail was coming loose, making her laugh as she pulled away, “I can give you bangs again.”

“Absolutely not! You know Cole used to call it my “wack-ass bob”, right?”

“How did you ever think you and him were meant to be together?”

“Like you’ve made better dating decisions,” she retorted with a smile, her hand going to her pocket where everyone knew she kept her yang medallion, “anyway, Lloyd’s hair is bad.”

“Like the gremlin’s hair I just brushed bad,” Kai asked, already gathering up the hair care products he had just used on Wyldfyre, “or tangled bowl cut bad?”

“Bad enough that he’s trying to brush it, and considering he’s not even supposed to be sitting up without assistance-”

“Yeah, I’m on it,” Kai assured her before he made his way inside of the automatic doors just as another failed attempt of Lloyd trying to lift his arms above his head resulted in a loud hiss of pain, “don’t you know that I’m the resident hairdresser around here?”

“Nya told you?”

“Oh please, I felt those tangles days ago,” Kai lied through his teeth as he adjusted the pillows behind Lloyd’s back that allowed him to sit up, “now, let go of that brush and let me deal with this.”

“Alright, alright, just don’t yank.”

“I just brushed through Wyldfyre’s hair-,” Kai started as he spritzed some of the coconut scented detangler on Lloyd’s head, only to get cut off.

“How on earth did you manage that?”

“Because I’m her favorite, remember?” Kai retorted, slowly bringing the comb down through Lloyd’s hair and gently working it through the snags, “my point is, this is a piece of cake compared to the knots that were in her hair.”

“I can believe it.” Lloyd’s laugh sounded a bit forced to Kai which is how he found himself asking.

“How’re you holding up?”

“Ready to get back on my feet.”

“Baby steps, Lloyd,” Kai clicked his tongue as he worked the comb through a particularly bad tangle that made Lloyd pull in a sharp breath, “how about we start with lifting your arms above your head?”

The annoyed huff of breath that escaped him was the same one he had let out all those years ago when he still wore a black hoodie with badly painted bones on it.

…

“Did you know that The Crossroads has continued with our merch sales?” Zane questioned as he walked into Lloyd’s bedroom.

For everyone’s sanity, Lloyd had finally been moved to his own room after days of insistence that bordered on whining, even though Kai nearly got smacked in the head for insinuating it.

“Not surprising, given just how awesome we are,” Kai responded as he looked up from his phone, “we do transcend generations, after all.”

“Why do you ask?” Lloyd responded, putting down the lesson book that definitely did not have a Starfarer comic resting inside of it.

‘Some things never change.’

But Zane didn’t get to respond because that was when Arin ran past him, holding a stuffed version of himself as well as Sora, Lloyd and Riyu in his arms with an excited squeal.

“Lloyd, we’re plushies! This is the best day of my life!”

“That’s awesome, Arin, but I-”

“Do you want the stuffed Riyu?” Arin cut him off, holding the plushie out to Lloyd before adding in a sing-song tone, “they’re weighted.”

Kai knew fully well that if Lloyd was somehow able to deny Arin’s starstruck eyes, a weighted plushie would be damn near impossible for him to give up on.

“Sure,” Lloyd nodded, gently taking the stuffed dragon and setting it beside him on the bed, “thank you, Arin.”

Kai was glad to know some things never changed.

…

“Are you okay, Kai?” Sora’s voice was quiet as she approached him in the courtyard.

“I’m working on it,” Kai let himself move slowly throughout his forms, the tension in his shoulders lessening as he let his stress slowly make its way out of his system, “did you need something?”

“It’s…” she started, but Kai could see her apprehension when he opened his eyes, “nothing, forget about it.”

“Why don’t you join me?” Kai suggested, only continuing when she raised her eyebrow but remained silent, “moving through forms, it helps with worry.”

Sora didn’t protest as she stood still for a moment with her eyes fixated on Kai before holding her arms out and starting to copy his movements.

“What’re you worried about?” Kai asked softly after a few minutes, seeing her muscles tense from the question, “you don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to, but from experience, talking about it can help more than moving through forms.”

Sora stayed silent.

“I’m worried about Lloyd,” Kai admitted, “I feel like I’m constantly worried about him, but this last week…it brought back some really bad memories,” He kept moving as he spoke to keep his heart from racing, “how much do you know about the prophecy?”

“What prophecy?” 

“”One ninja will rise above the others and become the green ninja. The ninja destined to defeat the dark lord”,” Kai recited from memory, “when we first started training, there were four of us. Zane, Jay, Cole and myself. Nya wasn’t a ninja and Lloyd was just a bratty kid but I accidentally took Master Wu’s bag instead of my own on a mission and that scroll was in it.”

“We all got really excited, treating it as a “who’s the best” contest and it got to everyone’s head, my head especially. But we didn’t realize that the golden weapons determined who the green ninja was, that it wasn’t in Master Wu’s hands.”

“So, if Lloyd was just a kid, how did you find out?”

“It’s a long story, Serpentine and kidnappings and Master Wu even going so far as to track down Lord Garmadon for his help,” he could tell by Sora’s face that she knew some things about the resurrected version of Lloyd’s father, more than likely from Arin rather then Lloyd, “he was different back then. But I had to make a choice. Save the fangblade to keep Pythor from unleashing The Great Devourer, or save Lloyd’s life. That’s how I found out what my destiny was, that I wasn’t supposed to become the green ninja, but that I was supposed to protect him.”

“That’s why you get so frazzled when something happens to Lloyd?”

“It’s part of it,” Kai nodded, “but after his father died, I promised him that I’d look out for him.”

“That’s nice.”

“He got possessed by a ghost the same day.”

“Damn.”

“Yeah, he’s got some really shitty luck,” Kai agreed, noticing that Sora had stopped moving through her forms at some point during his very long explanation, “what about you?”

“It’s just these stupid powers,” Sora sighed, sitting down on the stone floor, “I want to use them to protect people but they flicker out and…” she sniffled, wiping her face on her sleeve, “then I can’t do anything.”

“Your powers are not what make you powerful, Sora. Do you know how many times the others and I have lost our powers?”

“No…”

“A lot,” he stopped to sit beside her and rested his hand on her metal shoulder, “but we persevered and got through it. Sometimes by using a new technique, or going back to our weapons training rather than relying on our elemental powers. Even just knowing that true elemental power is never really lost and that it always finds its way back.”

“Can you…” she trailed off, kicking at one of the stones with her foot, “can you teach me some of that?”

“Of course,” Kai nodded, looking up to see an all too familiar set of green eyes staring at him from the now open doorway, “but if you’ll excuse me, I need to give your master a verbal ass whooping.”

Kai heard Sora laugh as he stood up, but he was just doing his best to keep himself calm so he didn’t feel like he had to move in forms for the rest of the day, all while standing in Lloyd’s bedroom to keep the young master in check.

When he got to the hallway, he wasn’t surprised to see Lloyd leaning heavily on the wall with overexertion clear on his face despite the smile.

“What the hell are you doing?”

“I just wanted to know how training was going,” Lloyd shrugged, “you’re good with them, you know.”

“I have experience when it comes to kids, especially kids who don’t do what they’re told,” Kai used as his explanation while he grabbed Lloyd’s wrist, “any particular names ring a bell?”

“I’m not a kid any more.”

“Well, then you should know how to behave.”

“Zane said I could get up today, hothead.”

“With assistance, for short periods of time. You’ve already worked through any of that pent up energy with how much you’re leaning on the wall,” Kai asserted his point as he led Lloyd down the hall towards his bedroom, “and unless you got in contact with that one elemental master-”

“Mr. Pale?”

“-then you are on a one way trip back to bedrest in the medbay,” Kai insisted, opening the door to Lloyd’s room and letting go of his wrist so he could lay down, “now stay put.”

“I’m gonna tell Nya how mean you’re being.”

“She’s gonna be on my side with this one, demon spawn,” Kai shrugged as he grabbed the green blanket off of the end of the bed and pulled it over Lloyd’s legs before looking back up at an absolutely miserable face, “Look, I hate sitting around and doing nothing just as much as the next person, but you’ll only make yourself worse if you push yourself too hard.”

“I know,” Lloyd sighed, laying back on the pillows, “I just feel like I should be doing something.”

“Tell you what,” Kai sighed as he sat on the end of Lloyd’s bed, “why don’t we do some light lesson planning? I can tell you how far Nya, Zane and I have gotten with the kids, and we can talk about what they need to work on.”

“That sounds good.”

“Good, because I didn’t have a plan b,” Kai grinned as he stood to go get the empty lesson books out of the library but stopped when he saw Lloyd frowning at his blanket, “and once you’re up to it, we can teach them about the destructive power of rumors.”

Lloyd’s laugh was so infectious that it followed Kai through the hallway.

…

“After examining the components of the blade, I first thought it was a new variation of vengestone…”

Kai knew he was supposed to be listening. Knowing what kind of arsenal that Ras’ army was carrying was going to be vital in their fight against them when they reemerged.

But, he couldn’t take his eyes off Lloyd; he was wearing the white robes again and holding Master Wu’s bo staff in his hand as he stood against the wall, a quiet observer to the team meeting around the table.

Any quick glance in his direction would be convincing that he was fully recovered, but a closer look would reveal just how much he was using the bo staff for support and the shine of sweat gathering around his temple.

“-can enhance instincts as well as natural senses- Kai?”

“Hmm?”

“Are you even paying attention?”

“Sorry, sis,” Kai apologized, getting an eye roll in response, “can we take five?”

“Fine.” Nya sighed as she ran a hand over her face, muttering something about Kai’s inability to listen to anything other than bad pop music while walking away.

But he ignored the long string of muttering and walked over to Lloyd before saying one word.

“Busted.”

“I know.”

“Come on, let’s get you sitting down,” Kai sighed as he led Lloyd to one of the chairs before reaching over and untying the green headband around his forehead, letting his hair fall loose, “when was the last time you drank something?”

“Don’t know.”

“First master, it’s like you want to go back to the med bay,” Kai pinched the bridge of his nose and pulled in a deep breath to try and calm his pounding heart, “look, stay here. Use your earpiece if you need something. I’ll go get you a water bottle.”

Lloyd’s nod followed by him squeezing his eyes shut, presumably to keep the world from spinning, was enough confirmation for Kai to use the elevator to get to the kitchen.

On his way back, however, planning some sort of lecture about Lloyd keeping water with him, that was when he heard a voice come through his ear.

“Hey, Kai?”

“What’s up, squirt?” Kai asked, hitting the down button with his elbow since he had one hand wrapped around the cold water from the fridge and the other on his communicator.

“Thank you.”

…

“You’re not gonna need stitches,” Zane determined at last after examining the cut on Arin’s cheek from his katana, “Kai, you can relax.”

“Seriously, Kai,” Arin insisted from where he sat on the exam bed, “this isn’t the worst I’ve gotten hurt by a long shot and we don’t even have to bring out the needles this time!”

‘But it could have been so, so much worse. I’ve been doing this for so long and he still got hurt under my watch.’

Riyu nuzzled against his leg to get his attention, seemingly doing his best to break through the anxious thoughts, which he could admit had ebbed away after giving the young dragon some well deserved scratches around the scales.

Only for the thoughts to come back full force when the automatic doors slid open and Lloyd rushed toward them faster than Nya could keep up behind him due to the sheer determination in his steps.

“Nya told me what happened,” Lloyd insisted as he gently held Arin’s chin in his hand and examined the wound, “are you okay? Do you need stitches? Pain scale, one to ten.”

“Lloyd-”

“Now, Arin.”

Kai always forgot just how scary Lloyd could be until he was reminded by his actions.

“It’s a two and no, Zane said I don’t need stitches,” Arin insisted, taking both of Lloyd’s hands in his own, “I’m okay, promise.”

“Thank the master.” Lloyd muttered under his breath as Nya finally grabbed his arm and forced him to sit down in one of the chairs.

He didn’t speak again until Kai looked over at him, and given how much he was panting, he knew that it had taken all of his strength for him to get down there but when he did, it was only four words.

“I get it now.”