#how to check your blood pressure without a machine

[healthmonastery]

How to Check Blood Pressure Manually at Home?

Hypertension or high blood pressure pose a significant global health burden. In the present era it’s no more a disease of elderly population and has spread its feet widely across our young and productive age group. In this blog you will know “How to check blood pressure manually at home” correctly. Blood Pressure Definition Hypertension is a measure of the amount of resistance heart has to face…

[violetrainbow412-blog]

Day 7: hoodie weather

Masterlist flufftober 🎃

Reblog if you liked it!

Autumn was, without a doubt, a clear prelude to the approaching winter. It was raining outside, and your boyfriend was sleeping on your apartment couch, forced to take a break by his unit chief after he fainted at the office from exhaustion. He had, of course, refused, but after Aaron warned him that he could suspend him for longer, Spencer had no choice but to comply.

When he called to tell you, you suggested that he spend the day at your place. You often scolded him for neglecting his health, and you tried hard to help him develop healthier habits. But it seemed Spencer often forgot, and this situation was clear proof of that.

Every so often, you touched his forehead to check that he didn’t have a fever, and due to the cold, you had covered him with one of your quilt to prevent him from catching a cold. He looked so peaceful and comfortable that you felt touched, even if the reasons for his rest weren’t to your liking.

Your laptop lay abandoned on the coffee table, and you thought it was a good time to take care of some pending tasks, although honestly, the weather just made you want to sleep all afternoon. While waiting for the machine to turn on, you decided to head to the kitchen to make yourself some coffee, returning quickly and settling comfortably in the armchair in your living room, ready to work.

You lost track of time after the first hour and probably your third cup of coffee when, suddenly, you saw your boyfriend stir in his spot. You thought he was just readjusting to sleep better, but that idea vanished when he sat up on the couch and looked at you with sleepy eyes.

“Hey,” you murmured with a smile, taking off your earbuds.

“Hi.”

“How was your beauty sleep?” you joked, and behind his hand rubbing his eye, you saw a smile.

“I feel more tired than when I lay down.”

“That happens when you have so much accumulated exhaustion,” you replied disapprovingly.

You put your laptop aside and decided, now that there was space, to sit next to Reid. Gently and kindly, you extended your hand to fix some of his messy hair. You looked at his eyes, still closed, like when you want to stop sleeping, but your body refuses, as if trying to prolong the satisfaction of resting.

“Thanks for the quilt,” he murmured, snuggling more into it and leaning against your body.

Everything about him radiated warmth, which was perfect for you, suffering from the cold that seeped in from the outside. His head nestled into your neck, and his arms wrapped around your waist, practically curling up next to you. You felt him plant a couple of soft kisses on your neck and jaw, making your heart race and drawing a sigh from you.

“Do you want me to make you something? You haven’t eaten anything today,” you observed in a soft voice, feeling him shake his head against your skin.

“I just want to be with you,” he sighed. You felt him inhale softly near you, and then he continued, “You smell like coffee. Have you been drinking coffee?”

“Mhm.”

“I want a cup.”

“No. You’ll have it once you’ve eaten something.”

“I can drink it now.”

“Doctor Reid, would you care to remind me what the consequences of drinking coffee on an empty stomach are?”

“It increases the production of stomach acid, which can damage the stomach lining and cause heartburn, indigestion, nausea, and reflux. This excess acid can also lead to irritable bowel syndrome, temporarily raise blood pressure, and in people sensitive or intolerant to caffeine, it can cause anxiety or nervousness.”

“Thank you,” you murmured calmly, as he recited it almost like a prayer. “Once you’ve eaten something, I’ll make you a cup.”

You both fell silent for a moment, enjoying the sound of the rain hitting the windows outside and the calm of your embrace. Spencer didn’t know if you realized just how much you meant to him and the peace he felt whenever he was in a position like this with you. Nothing compared to the sensation of your skin, breathing in your scent, feeling you stroke his hair… simply knowing he was loved and cared for by you made him feel like there was no more perfect place in the world.

After a few minutes, you thought he had fallen back asleep, but that idea disappeared when you heard him speak again.

“I feel a bit guilty for not going to work. I wish I knew how the case was going, but Aaron warned me I couldn’t even call them.”

“You shouldn’t push yourself so hard, love,” you murmured softly into his ear, which was at the level of your mouth. “Sometimes it’s necessary to rest. And I hope this serves as a warning, your own body is demanding that you stop for a moment. I wouldn’t like them to call me from the hospital one of these days because something happened to you. Do you understand?”

Although your voice sounded like a scolding, it was really masked concern. You didn’t know how to help him, and Spencer left out the part where he couldn’t rest due to recurring nightmares.

But now he didn’t want to talk about that. Everyone asked him about it and looked at him as if he were some sort of misfortunate soul… he didn’t want that pity, least of all from you.

“It’s cold,” he noted, wanting to change the subject.

“Yes, it’s cold. But it’s nice weather, isn’t it?”

“I like it. It’s peaceful, and it gives me an excuse to cuddle you.”

He felt your chest vibrate with laughter, and then, finally, he came out of his hiding spot to look at you. His furrowed brow had softened into a silly smile, one that reflected his complete love for you.

“Reid, you can always cuddle me, you don’t need an excuse for that.”

“But I like having one. That way, I make sure you’re warm.”

With your own smile, you stretched slightly to join your lips in a kiss you intended to be short, a plan your boyfriend denied. He maneuvered to lay you down on the couch and continued kissing you, as if it were a task of utmost importance. Though you didn’t know where this sudden enthusiasm came from, it didn’t occur to you to complain.

“Did you know...” your boyfriend began to whisper, “... that kisses can have a relaxing effect? The body releases oxytocin, dopamine, and endorphins” with each word, he punctuated it with a kiss. “Plus, cortisol levels… decrease.”

“So, you’re kissing me in the name of science?”

“For my health,” he corrected, utterly amused.

He had positioned himself between your legs, and you instinctively wrapped them around his hips, eager to keep the distance between you as minimal as possible.

“Let’s go get you something to eat,” you suggested in a whisper, trying to persuade him with a short kiss “Then you can continue with your medicinal therapy.”

Spencer didn’t need to hear it twice, and as you had promised, after a hearty meal, you both dove back into another session of caresses. All for weather and health-related reasons… of course.

[nightlyrequiem]

Challenger Deep

You're a marine biologist sent down to a newly build base in the Marianna's Trench. You and a few other selected scientists have the opportunity to be the first to study the creatures up close. However, something malevolent stalks the open abyss around you, watching. Waiting.

Masterlist AO3

A/N- I'm sorry if this feels rushed. Some stuff happened and I didn't have much time to give this as much attention as I wanted to. I also didn't proofread this...

Tags/Warnings: Deep Sea Monster Valeria, Blood and Gore, Inaccurate Marine Biology, Kidnapping, Death, WLW

You struggled to get work after completing your bachelor's. No one was hiring. Or rather, no one was hiring you it felt like. You jealously followed the progress of the completion of a new marine base in the Mariana's Trench. A deep-rooted desperation and need to be among the team of scientists sent down to the deep blue. It should be you. It was your discovery of the Mariana's Trench that sparked your curiosity and love of life in the sea. While other kids liked wolves and cats, your favourite animal was the Mariana Snailfish. It's devastating that after investing all that time and money into your education, that you can't even find work.

You greet your coworker Rob as you enter the little coffee shop you work at.

"Hey," He says. "Do you think you could cover my shift next week?" 

You check over the machines to make sure they're on the correct settings. "Sure, what for?"

"It's my mom's birthday and she wants to take the family to Italy." Rob grins. You try to push down the resentment. It must nice be wealthy enough to take trips out of the country. To be able to afford vacation time. Rob isn't here because he needs to be, he just wants some extra pocket money.

"That sounds fun." You force a smile, not wanting to rain on his parade. Everyone just seems to be having a better time then you. You struggled through school, struggled with money, can't find work, and your girlfriend had recently dumped you for a man. Realising a year and a half into your relationship that she actually didn't like women. You are a dead horse and life won't stop beating you.

The bell above the door rings as a customer walks in. You put on your customer service face and turn to face the man.

"Good morning, what can I-"

"Black coffee and a croissant."

You type in his order and tell him his total. Tempted to charge him an extra dollar. Once done, he grabs his coffee and croissant from your hands without much gratitude and hurries out. Having better places to be then some lowly coffee shop.

You spend your shift daydreaming. Thinking about how nice it would be to study whales on a base by the ocean. tagging and tracking fish. Spending three months seven miles below sea level. How unlucky you are to be around when technology strong enough to withstand the crushing pressures of the Mariana's Trench exists when you may never get the chance to experience it. Your shift can't go by fast enough. It feels like the hours are just crawling by. Luckily for you, you get to leave a few hours before closing. The sun is beginning to set. Las Almas is alight with a golden glow. Not even the sun's glory is enough to cheer you, for you are determined to remain bitter over the opportunities you feel you were cheated out of.

You reach your home and tiredly unlock the door. Taking off your shoes and dropping them somewhere nearby. You shut the door behind you and move through your apartment. It's a shitty, cramped space but it's cheap enough. Posters of marine life clutter the walls. Past symbols of your hopeful future now turned into just that: posters. You think about taking them down at least three times a week. You're not sure you're ever going to be a marine biologist. The heavy dread that you'll be stuck behind a counter for the rest of your life threatens to break you and you shove those thoughts away. Better to not think of them.

You set your keys down and look over the mail you picked up this morning. Phone bill, gas bill, rent, student loans. How encouraging. Your hands still as they reach a different envelope. Challenger Deep Project. Your heart pounds. That's the company behind the construction and scientific team of the new deep-sea lab in the Mariana's Trench. You make quick work in tearing open the envelope and pulling out the letter. Skimming over the name and address details.

'We hope this letter has reached you. The minds behind the Challenger Deep Project have come together and have laid down the path for the next steps in science. Never before has humanity been able to properly or extensively study the astounding depths of the Mariana's Trench. Our team of physicists have come up with technology strong enough to withstand the crushing pressures of Challenger Deep. Construction of Lab-07887 has been completed after thirteen years.

We are recruiting only the most qualified scientists to be the first to step foot down in Lab-07887. We were wary to consider you for this position as you have had zero previous experience as a marine biologist but after careful consideration and review of your university transcripts, we have decided to proceed. If you wish to join the team of scientists to be sent down to Lab-07887, contact us at our email to begin the preparation process. The team is to be sent down to Lab-07887 by October 31st, 2024. You will be accompanied by biologists in the marine and microbiology field, as well as two technicians, one nurse, and three soldiers.

challengerdeepgmail.com

-Mathew Connigin, Challenger Deep Project'

You read the letter. Then re-read it to make sure you're not misunderstanding. You squeal. Clapping your hands with glee. You've been selected as one of the most qualified scientists to join the expedition down to the Mariana's Trench. You knew all those grueling hours you put into your studies would pay off.

The month couldn't go by any slower. You had contacted the email and got all of the details set. Your bags have already been packed. Waiting beside your front door. Even your coworkers have noticed your exceptionally joyful mood. October 31st finally rolled around, and you set off for the airport at 4PM on the dot. Arriving thirty minutes earlier then you needed to be. What an opportunity this is. Not only will you get to study the Mariana's Trench, but this is surely going to kickstart your career.

You've never been inside of a submarine before. You always imagined what it would be like but it's not as fun as you thought. It's claustrophobic and dark. The bright white light in the ceiling seems to be swallowed by the jet-black abyss outside. It took two hours to fly to the meetup point and seven to make it to Lab-07887. You're feeling exhausted and drained. Ready to settle down into your quarters for the night. Your exhaustion is momentarily forgotten once you finally enter the lab. The walls are light blue with yellow strips running along the top. White linoleum floors shining beneath bright fluorescent lights. The real show stealer is the observation room. A room jutting out from the lab made of heavy-duty, fortified glass. spotlights strong enough to pierce through the darkness shine into the empty waters. Polychaete worms wriggle by.

"Amazing, isn't it?" Heath, an American microbiologist murmurs, Coming up beside you.

"It's incredible. I can't believe we're really several thousand feet down below sea level." You reply. In awe. The black expanse is infinite.  Hiding all sorts of mysteries. 

"I know. And we're the first to uncover it's secrets." He smiles. You smile back before catching sight of something on the glass. 

"Is that a handprint?" You ask, furrowing your brows. Heath follows your gaze.

"Looks like it, probably one of the others." He shrugs.

"It looks like it's on the other side." You frown. Walking up to the glass. You peer at the marking. "It looks webbed." You swipe your fingers over it. A little alarmed to find the print is on the other side of the glass.

"It was probably one of the people who built it." Heath dismisses. Leaning down to inspect it. "Did you see our diving suits? They have webbed gloves."

"Oh." You say. Feeling foolish. That makes sense. You need to get a grip, you're here to learn and discover, not spook yourself with childish fears.

The intelligent endeavors are put off for the rest of the night. Right now, everyone is focused and getting familiar with the various passageways and equipment and settling in. Everyone is sat at a round table in the commons. Sharing meals and small tidbits about themselves. The three soldiers brought along have decided to go into a self-imposed exile. Sitting themselves down at a different table and not joining in with the chattering. One of the only other girls, Brie, turns to you.

"Why do we even need soldiers here?" She asks you quietly. Thin brows pulled down into a soft frown.

"Not sure." You shrug. You had wondered that yourself. "Maybe to fight off the deep-sea monsters lurking just out of sight." You grin. "I found a handprint on the other side of the glass in the observation room."

That hooks Brie's attention. She leans towards you with wide, excited eyes. "Really?"

You nod. "Yeah, it looked like the fingers were webbed, but it was probably from the people building this place." You say. "Our dive suits have webbed fingers."

Brie nods, looking disappointed at the logical explanation.

On the examination table lies a very large, very dead fish. You and the other biologists stare at it with confusion and excitement. It's something that has never been discovered before. It's got a similar body and internal system as an angler fish, but it's fins are elongated and jointed. The only thing you feel... weird about, is the fact that it has fingers. Well, apendages that look very close to fingers. Five thick thin bones sprout out from the ends. Slightly webbed and even growing nails. If you look closely enough it even looks like it has knuckles.

"Do you think this could have been what left that handprint?" You ask Heath. "Not a diver?"

"No." He shakes his head. "The fingers were slimmer and longer."

You all stare at this discovery in silence. This wasn't as magical as you thought. Sure, you knew the creatures in Challenger Deep were bound to be ugly, but you weren't expecting them to look so... human.

Heath backs up and takes off his gloves.

"I'm going to go out and see if I can find anything else." He says.

"Oh, can I come? I haven't had a chance to see the outside yet." You speak. Excited at the prospect of getting to actually explore the trench.

"Sure." He nods, standing from the table and taking his tray to the collection cart. You follow suit, setting your down on top of his and following him out into the hallway.

"Was that hand-fish the only thing you saw out there?" You ask curiously. Imaging what kind of things could be living undiscovered. Heath pauses and begins to speak but stammers a little, like he's changed his answer. 

"Not really."

The dive room is separate to the rest of the base. Closed off by mechanically sealed doors to prevent flooding. The suits are big and bulky and hard to move in. Made to withstand the pressures of the deep. The flippers are thick and webbed, the gloves are made of a thinner material but still webbed in a way that's hard to get used to. On your backs are two, full oxygen tanks. Attached to a utility belt is a special GPS and light. Heath types in a code and the lights flash before the exit slowly opens. Water rushes in, making you anxious despite the suit.

You and heath wade into the emptiness outside. Few things can survive down here.

"It would be so cool if we could see a whalefall." You say, voice lost to the sea. If it weren't for the built-in radio, nobody would be able to communicate.

"It would." Heath agrees, his words muffled and staticky. You and Heath part ways. Wandering off on your own. It's unnervingly quiet and dark. You can feel the heavy pressure pressing against your limbs and ribs. Even through the suit designed to withstand it. You come up to a large cliff face. Shining your light, you see that it must go on for miles. High enough for your light to disappear into the darkness.

You walk alongside it, hand gliding against the rocky surface when you come across an opening. You aren't supposed to enter underwater caves. Not alone and not without markers. It's easy to get turned around and the oxygen only lasts for so long. Your curiosity wins out over your rationality, and you slowly wade inside. You'll just be very cautious. You're amazed to see some kind of biofluorescent algae growing on the walls. The slim tunnel opens up into a very large cavern. Several other tunnels opening up. You gasp as something darts back into one. Disappearing into the darkness. All kinds of thinks lurk in the abyss. Getting only more predatory the deeper you get. You reassure yourself that it's probably not a threat to you if it's trying to get away. Most things won't pass up on a meal down here. Not with how scarce they are.

You still feel... weird about it. You want to follow after it but this time your fears win and you retrace your steps. Just as you're about to exit the cave, something wraps around your leg. You scream as you're dragged back into the narrow tunnel. You turn over and shine your bright light over the creature. Heart stopping at the short glimpse you get of it. It hisses and darts away but for a split second you got a good look at it. A nose with cartilage attached to a narrow, huma face. Instead of round, large bulbous eyes that are the common feature among deep sea creatures, it had smaller, almond shaped eyes. You hurry away. Paranoid that you'll be grabbed again. You make it back to the base and hate how long it takes for the doors to open.

Nobody believed you. It was dark and you were already on edge. you didn't see anything humanoid down here. Knowing what's out there, only fifty feet away, sucks any excitement out of you. That experience is all it took for you to begin reconsidering things. Maybe it's better to leave these things undiscovered. Some things aren't meant to be comprehended by the human mind. You're unable to sleep. Feeling homesick and the effects of the lack of vitamin d. You sit crisscrossed in the observation room. It's the only room inside the lab that always has it's lights off. After a few minutes you see thin, ghostly tentacles gliding along the floor. It takes you a few moments to place the name. Magnapinna. Bigfin squid. Not much passes by. A few, small slug like creatures drag themselves by. The few that rub against the tentacles getting snatched up for a quick, easy meal.

Your eyes finally grow heavy, and you get up. Walking back to your quarters and missing the other creature. The one staring in at you with interest.

The loud, frightening blaring of the alarm is what wakes you. Ominous red lights flash thorough the building. Everyone stumbles from their rooms. Confused and stressed.

"What's going on?" Brie asks. Panic lacing her tired voice. One of the technicians pushes past you. Running down the hall. Something wet touches your feet and you look down. A thin layer of water is soaking into your socks.

"Oh God." You say. "I think the lab is flooding." 

Everyone was panicking. Running around like chickens with their heads cut off. One of the soldiers rounded everyone up and got them into the diving suits.

"Stay calm." He commands. Giving everyone a look. "The glass in the observation room shattered, we're taking care of it. The building has a drain function in event of a flood. It shouldn't take longer than forty-five minutes. Forty-five minutes. "The control room is free of-" His voice is cut off by the scream echoing through the radio. Raw and primal. The sound only an animal facing it's death could make. That too is cut short. Not even the soldiers move.

"What happened?" Brie whispers. "What the fuck happened?"

Nobody responds to her. 

"...Stay here." One of the soldiers says. He gestures at the other two to follow him.

"Where are you going?" Heath asks.

"We're going to check things out. Stay here."

The scientists are left alone. In the flooded dive room, red lights still flashing.

An hour passes with no sign from the soldiers or technicities. Heath attempts to speak to them through the radio but no reply comes through. Heavy dread slowly builds within you.

"...We should go look for them." Heath says seriously.

"What?" Brie snaps. Swiveling to look at him. "He told us to stay here. We don't know what's out there." 

You find yourself agreeing. Something made that technician scream, something happened to the soldiers.

"If we don't, we'll just be stuck down here." Heath says grimly. "We need to get to the control room. They have a backup radio that connects to the surface."

The halls are completely flooded. The red lights cutting through the water are disorienting. You, Brie, and Heath slowly move through the water. It's dead silence in Lab-07887.

"What's that?" You ask, squinting and trying to see what that dark lump at the end of the hallway is. You fumble for your flashlight and shine it. It's still too far to see so you inch closer. Jerking back in surprise at what you find. "Oh fuck."

"What?"

"Fuck!" You turn back and hurry back. It's one of the soldiers with his throat ripped out.

"What did you see? Fucking tell us already!" Brie snaps, vibrating with fear.

"He's dead." You say shakily.

"Shit." Heath curses. "Hurry. We need to get to the control room now."

"What killed him?"

"Let's go." Heath br5rushes past you and turns down the hall. You and Brie follow.

"What killed him?" Brie repeats harshly.

"How the hell would I know?" You snap at her. "I was with you two."

The three of you make it to the control room door. Heath reaches out his hand to open the door when something slams into him. You and Brie are helpless to do anything but watch as something tears him apart. A long, scaled tail slams into the walls, leaving dents. The spine of the creature is sharp and protruding. Jutting out from under the skin. markings that almost look like tattoos cover it's back and shoulders. All you're able to focus on though, is the pained screaming from Heath.

Almost as fast as it began it stops. Heath goes quiet and still and the creature releases him from it's grasp. The creature tuns to face you and Brie. Those human eyes staring into yours. It blinks, the eyelids clear. It has hair. And breasts. Mammalian traits. Her eyes narrow and she swims towards you. Everything happens too quickly for you to react. A strong body collides with yours. Brie is screaming. Or maybe it's you. You expect to have your throat bitten out. To feel those sharp claws pierce through your lungs but it never comes. You're instead dragged along the ground. Carried away. You try to struggle only to accidently slam your head into the wall, knocking yourself out.

When you come to, you realise you're somewhere dry. You're not wearing your suit, and you are freezing. You sit up, seeing stone and rock. The cavern is alight with more glowing algae. In the corner is the monster. Long tail curled around it's body. She stares blankly. The sight is almost enough to kill you right then and there.

"Valeria." She says.

You furrow your brows. Wondering if you really just heard it speak. "... What?"

"My name." She replies.

"Valeria?"

Valeria nods. She abruptly crawls over to you, startling you into backing up. Valeria grabs ahold of your ankle and yanks you closer with a surprising strength. Scraping your back along the stone. "You smell good." She remarks. "I'm going to be keeping you."

[lostidiot24]

💣Dog Days Are Over💥

BatFamily x Gender Neutral!Sibling!Reader

Song: Dog Days Are Over by Florence + the Machine

Summary: You were never supposed to go on this mission. It was so obvious it was a trap but the urgency to solve this case overshadowed your concern. It was too late to pay attention now…

TW: Explosion, Canon-Typical Violence, Angst/little to no comfort

/——/——/——/——/——/——/——/——/——/

Pain shot through your left leg as rubble and dust contaminated the air around you. Your hands tried to push your body off of the ground but the pressure on your leg created enough pain to render you weak. Adrenaline kept you from screaming at the injury. Ringing was the only thing your eyes could pick up as a droplet landed on your hand. Looking down, red liquid was dripping onto your hand. You brought your hand up to your ear and flinched when you felt warm blood seep from your eardrum.

What could even lead up to this…?

/——/——/——/——/——/——/——/——/——/

Not even an hour earlier were you sitting on a cot in the med bay. Dropping your legs and standing up from the cot, you walked out after getting your stitches removed from an injury last mission. You were grateful to have an important job on the team, even if it mean getting fatally injured almost every time you left the confines of the cave in your suit.

Tim was sitting at the bat computer looking at some type of security footage.

“What’s tha-“ Before you could finish your sentence, Tim jumped and quickly turned to face you.

“Oh my god [Name]! How were you so quiet?!”

“I wasn’t trying to be. How long have you been awake?” He just sent you a glare and turned back around in his chair. “This is the footage of the cameras we set up near the explosion site. You are gonna go there and check if anything was left behind that could pin point us where the Joker is.”

“Now?”

“Yes, now.” With slight hesitation, you turned around, walked to your bike, and got your helmet on. Footsteps and laughter could be heard down the hall way as the rest of the family, including Alfred, walked into the cave. Jason was laughing at something on his phone with Dick and Steph, Damian was holding Alfred the cat while Cass pet them, and Bruce was discussing something with Alfred. Not even a glance was sent your way as they crowded around the computer. With a sigh, you sped up out of the cave and turned in the direction of the site.

/——/——/——/——/——/——/——/——/——/

Metal doors screeched as your gloves hands pushed them open. You checked all around the site out couldn’t find anything. The comms were slightly bugging out so you tried to tell Tim put it seemed like it didn’t go through. Instead of going inside the small building, you took a step back and walked towards your bike.

“Check that building. I’m getting traces of electrical damage there.” You tried to say that it seemed like a trap but your voice didn’t go through. Instead of trying to protest again, you stepped into the building and turned on the flashlight in your side bag.

A loud slam echoed through the room before a beeping sound was faintly heard. Your whole body turned in surprise to see the metal doors shut. You ran towards doors and shook the door but it wouldn’t budge. The beeping got higher and faster while you took and lock pick out if your bag. With shaky hands, you picked the lock and swung open the door. Unfortunately, it was too late. The beeping stopped and your eyes widened in fear. A blast of heat and force pushed on your back, sending you tumbling forward. The sound of an explosion was loud but far enough back that you could tell it was far into the building.

Another explosion was on your right side while you picked your self up off the damaged ground. Without much thought, you ran. You ran away from the crumbling building and towards your bike. Another explosion propelled you forward with enough force to push you off your feet. Collecting yourself, you kept running and tried to ignore the ringing in your ears while explosion after explosion was felt at your sides. The site you were at was an old construction site that was take over by the Joker. It was a trap. He planted bombs along the sides of the dirt path that lead to the building. As your feet crossed the pavement that signed the start of construction, one last explosion projected you and your bike to the ground.

/——/——/——/——/——/——/——/——/——/

So that’s why I’m here…

Your eyes adjusted to your surroundings before settling on your leg that was caught under your bike. This wouldn’t be much of a problem to get out of if the bomb didn’t wreak your bike. Metal tore into your leg as you pulled you leg away from it. A scream ripped from your throat before someone’s frantic voice was heard in your ear. Not paying attention to the comms, you pushed the bike off your leg and assessed the damage.

Your eyes widened as a figure was even walking towards you from the dust. It was holding something that looked like a crowbar as it was dragged across the ground. Your body moved without thought and tried to crawl further away from the person before hands grabbed you from behind and pulled you into a car. You screamed and pushed them away before a familiar voice calmed you down. Without restraint, you closed your eyes and let the darkness take you. Your breath stayed frantic but your family could only hope that Dick got there in time.

/——/——/——/——/——/——/——/——/——/

[bellewintersroe]

Ron Speirs x ArmyNurse! OC

Margaret ‘Maggie’ Emerson, an army nurse attached to the 506th parachute infantry regiment, finds herself growing closer to her company’s captain, Ronald Speirs. With war drawing to an end, a side to the mystery that is Captain Speirs is revealed. Both Maggie and Ron have a difficult time resisting their attraction to one another.

This is the third part to this mini-series, here’s the link to part 2 where you can find the first piece also linked. This chapter is gonna be a cliche nurse has to do a physical exam of the soldier she has the hots for lmao- no warnings, just some swearing and mild sexual tension.

“More, switch lines with me.” Speirs head was tilted, looking towards the door ahead of him.

“Sorry, sir?” More frowned. Speirs held out a pack of cigarettes and More gladly accepted, swapping places with him in the line with no further questions asked. The Captain smirked to himself proudly as the door opened, revealing Sergeant Alley walking out with Maggie swiftly behind.

“Thanks, Mag’s.” Alley teased causing some of the men to jeer and tease. Maggie rolled her eyes, giving Alley a playful kick to the back of his leg before calling out a polite, “next.”

Ron stepped forwards and her lips immediately tugged up in a smile she couldn’t quite bite back. “Captain Speirs, sir, how are you?” The door closed behind them both. From the outside, Luz watched on, mouth hanging open in surprise.

“What the fuck?” He muttered to himself, stunned at the exchange. “Hey, Babe, you see that? Speirs swapping lines with More to get into Maggie’s?” George nudged at the man beside him.

“Oh yeah? Didnt think we’d see the day Captain Speirs was chasin’ a broad…” Babe snickered.

On the inside, Maggie double checked the door was shut before heading towards the check board to write down Speirs’ name and tick him off the checklist. She’s been doing physical exams all morning, blood tests, checking their skin, weight, height. Maggie thought she was growing bored until Captain Speirs walked in.

“Would you take your shirt off for me, real quick?” She muttered, without thinking too much. Ron sat in the chair, removing his tie and moving his hands to unbutton the shirt. “I gotta just get a few measurements from you before I do the blood test and X-ray, that alright?” Maggie turned around, digging her pen a little too hard into the paper when she saw him unbuttoning his shirt.

“Yeah.” He casually nodded, as she pursed her lips, averting her eyes, before remembering she had to take his blood pressure. Spinning around again she retreated the device, stethoscope also around her neck. Her face was flustered and she dared to look up to him when his shirt was completely discarded. Maggie had been around shirtless men all day, it didn’t discompose her until now.

Ron’s gazed followed her tensely, swallowing and tensing his jaw when she took a seat in front of him. Her hair was longer than Ron realised, blonder than the other nurses, curls that weren’t pinned back hanging loosely. He didn’t even care that she was probably breaking every uniform rule, he was too enthralled by her.

“I’ll take your blood pressure first, sir.” He held out an arm as she shuffled a little closer, wrapping the material around his bicep. His muscles were protruding, as were his veins. If Maggie felt like melting just from the sight of his arm then she was curious as to how she reacted from seeing the rest of his seemingly, very toned, body.

“Get the boring stuff out of the way.” She giggled, glancing up to him. “Taking bloods fun?!” Her head snapped up again, pausing her actions. “It is when they faint.” Shrugging, she continued wrapping the strap around his arm before pumping to tighten the machine and read his blood pressure.

“Who fainted?” He questioned, a slight smirk covering his face. “You wanna know?!” Her smile turned into a devious grin as his teeth dug into his bottom lip, nodding. “Well it’s confidential.” She borderline teased, Speirs felt his stomach tighten as he unconsciously leant a bit closer. Maggie noticed and stole another glance over his face. He was even more handsome close up…

“Secrets safe with me.” He played along, eyelids heavy as they met hers. For a second her lips were parted and straight, captivated in the way he was looking at her, the way he spoke- and that was totally unprofessional. Maggie sat up straighter before her lips stretched into a smile again, shaking off the urge to lean closer into him. Ron wondered if all her exams were like this, or if it was just for him.

“I’ll let you guess, sir.” Ron cleared his throat, pursing his lips and looking around to distract himself elsewhere. Maggie scribbled down his blood pressure, “blood pressures good.” She then commented as he quickly snapped back to her, remembering what she’d said before.

“Liebgott. Acts tough but screams at the sight of needles.” He quickly commented, resulting in her laughing a little harder now. “No not Liebgott, stand up for me, Ron.” The name slipped as he smiled to himself. Maggie pulled the stethoscope into her ears and stepped around him so she was directly ahead of him. God, he was muscular. Trim from the physical demand of war, but he was undeniably attractive. Maggie’s tongue pushed to the inside of her cheek, tilting her chin up to look up to him before she pressed the devise up to the left of his chest.

“Sorry it’s cold.” She whispered as Ron felt his breath hitch, heart rate immediately speeding. “Talbert then.”

“Didnt faint, but he nearly threw up.” Maggie muttered, listening to his heart. Ron chuckled as they shared a smile. “Your hearts going so fast.” It fell out of her mouth as he took a deep breath. “I wonder why?” His eyes gazed over her, causing her own pulse to accelerate. The tension was too much, they were so both openly showing their attraction to one another, Maggie thought she might faint if she swooned any harder.

“Take a deep breath for me, sir.” She then instructed, listening carefully. Everything sounded perfect as she listened once on his chest and again on his back- that was also incredibly muscular.

She stood on a literal stool chair in order to reach and measure his height perfectly, Ron’s head tilted up in amusement before she nudged his jaw so he was looking straight. “I’ve been doing this all day.” She reminded, scribbling some more notes down, taking his weight and then doing an x-Ray, hands adjusting his arms in the right position.

“What time do you get off later?” Ron questioned, whilst he was stood in the machine. “You have to ask me that now when I need you to be still?” She gazed up to him. “Would you rather me ask when I’m taking your blood?”

“Preferably not, no.” She smiled to herself, heading over and pushing his arms a little further back so she could get a better view of everything to send to the surgeons to check everything was okay.

“Keep your back straight, alright?” Her warm hands touched slightly the mid of his back nudging him a little more upright. “Alright.” Ron spared her another glance.

“Hold still a second.” A moment later the X-ray was taken. “4.” She then answered, Ron looked at her in a little confusion.

“You can take a seat again- and 4. You asked me what time I get off at?” Again, she felt a little shy, fumbling for the tourniquet and slowly dragging over the tray with everything laid out on. Ron smiled, feeling the words ready to spill off his lips. He knew he shouldn’t, but he so desperately wanted to completely break professionalism and ask her out. He saw how happy all those other men looked to be in her line, he could bet they’d try anything on with her now the war in Europe was over.

“Oh yeah.” Ron muttered to himself as she tightened it over his bicep. “Clench your fist for me.” She muttered, wondering what the question was for. His veins were already popping, she slapped on his skin slightly before returning to get a clear pair of gloves.

It was silent for a minute or so. Not awkward, just a little tense, the unspoken words making the two of them nervous. “Sharp scratch, you okay with needles?” She muttered. Ron gulped, tense at her presence, not the needle. “Okay.” Her whispered tone made him shiver as he watched her prick the inside of his vein, never being one to bother about injections or needles. Ron inhaled, looking up and her head snapped up, making sure he was okay.

“You okay?”

“Go out with me later.” The words on his lips were finally spoken, he blinked back to her, seeing her breath catch in her throat before she turned back to the vial and needle with a slight amusement.

“You’re asking me whilst I’m taking your blood?” She watched it fill up, looking like a freak as she smiled to herself uncontrollably. “Yeah.” His voice cracked, raspy from overuse.

“Okay.” She nodded, not really having to think twice about it. Ron had to tense his jaw to avoid smiling too much. “Great, I’ll pick you up at 8?”

“Where are we going?” She removed the needle gently, dealing with that before disposing of everything she didn’t need and scribbling down everything she needed to, trying her hardest to focus on everything but the fact Captain Speirs had just asked her out.

“There’s a bar in town- don’t ask me to pronounce it.” Now she looked back to him, a smile reaching her eyes and nodding. “8 is good, I’ll see you then.”

“Good.” He gently spoke, looking back to her with a smile. Maggie hadn’t seen Speirs smile this much before. “You can put your shirt back on now, Ron.”

“Oh, right.” God, Ron had Maggie smiling like a lovesick teenager, even when he’d left and the next person, Malarkey had come in, Maggie was grinning like a goddamn child.

“Captain Speirs got you smilin’ like that?!”

[ejzah]

A/N: What if Deeks was injured more significantly in “Free Ride”? Let’s explore that question in my Whumptober fic of the year. Ignore any medical inaccuracies.

***

Blunt Force

Kensi raced through the halls, pushing past crew in an effort to reach the man pushing the garbage bin. Sam rushed past her, tackling the guy, and the bin tipped over, Deeks spilling out in a limp heap.

“Oh my god,” she murmured, dropping in front of him. He’d fallen at an awkward angle with legs twisted beneath him and his head tilted to the side. She hovered over him, hesitant to move his head or neck if he had any injuries. Thankfully, she could see his chest rose and fall shallowly, but evenly.

“Deeks. Deeks, can you open your eyes?” Kensi asked, unable to control the shaking in her voice. Carefully, she slipped her left hand under his head and probed the back of his skull, wincing when she felt a prominent bump just below his crown.

“Kensi,” Sam prompted from behind her.

“He’s not responding at all. He needs medical attention.” She smoothed his hair back with the tips of her fingers. It scared her to see him so still.

“I’ll alert the on-board medic and have Eric call in a med-evac,” Sam said, and Kensi nodded without looking at him, completely focused on Deeks.

***

Deeks woke with a pained grimace, instinctively tugging away from something tangled around his arm. Opening his eyes, he squinted against a bright flare of light, and after a few blinks, realized he was in a hospital.

Crap, he must have pissed off a defendant.

Wincing, fumbled at his nose and after a few tries, removed the nasal cannula, instantly feeling better without it scraping the inner tissue. With that out of the way, he took stock of his situation.

His head throbbed worse than the only time he got drunk in college and opening his eyes more than a slit made the pain spike and his stomach clench. He heard the door open, and lazily turned his head towards it, praying that whoever it was wouldn’t turn on a light.

Fortunately, the nurse who entered with a rolling cart of medical equipment kept the lights off and spoke in a low tone as she greeted him.

“Good to see you awake, Mr. Deeks. Let me just check your blood pressure and heart, and I’ll grab your doctor.”

As she placed the stethoscope on his skin, he noted the name tag displayed below her left shoulder.

“Tamara, what happened to me?”

She recorded his heart rate, wrapping a blood pressure cuff around his bicep. She offered him a smile. “I wish I could tell you, but you’ll have to wait for the doctor. You just rest for now.”

“You can’t even tell me how I bumped my head?” he pressed, turning up the charm as much as he could in his current state.

“Sorry, no chance, darling. I’ll come check on you in a little while. Maybe I’ll even bring you some jello.”

“Well, that is my favorite,” he commented with a wan smile. The thought of eating sounded awful right now.

Tamara left, and he leaned back, closing his eyes in a futile attempt to ignore how truly awful he felt. He let his thoughts drift to the last thing he remembered, but all that came to mind was something involving spinach.

The last case he’d worked involved a known drug dealer. No, a DV case. He rubbed his temples as his thoughts and memories ran together in a dizzying, confusing mess.

***

Kensi had been waiting for Deeks to regain consciousness for the better part of a day. He’d been through CAT scans, and MRI, and numerous other tests to ensure he didn’t have serious brain damage. So far they’d all come back with minimal signs of injury, which was a relief, but she wouldn’t breathe easily until he woke up.

She’d spent the morning pretending to read a book one of the nurses gave her—she hadn’t processed a single word of it—and staring at Deeks, silently pleading with him to wake up.

At lunchtime, the lead nurse had convinced Kensi to grab something for herself while she checked on Deeks. Kensi reluctantly agreed, running down to the vending machine rather than the cafe for a pop tart, which she ate cold before heading back to his floor.

As she stepped off the elevator, the nurse flagged her down. Kensi’s stomach sank and she thought she might be sick or faint as she rushed over to her.

“Agent Blye, Detective Deeks is awake,” she said, offering Kensi a smile.

“Oh my god,” Kensi whispered, pressing her hand over her mouth. “Is he ok? Did he say anything?”

“He’s conscious and responsive, but the doctor will need to examine him to know more,” she responded not unkindly. Kensi frowned at the vague answer and the nurse clarified, “It’s good news. Why don’t you go on in. Just remember to be gentle since he’s likely to be sensitive to light and sound.

“Of course. Thank you, Tamara.”

Kensi opened the door stepping into the dimmed room. Deeks turned his head, squinting at her through the slits of his eyes.

“Deeks,” she said, relieved to see him indeed conscious and apparently alert. “I’m so glad you’re awake. How do you feel?” She stopped at the side of his bed, resting a hand on his arm before removing it just as quickly.

He followed the movement with a confused frown. “Hi,” he said, voice throatier than usual. “I’ve been better. Have we met before? My memory’s a little shaky, but I’m pretty sure I’d, uh, remember a gorgeous brunette.”

Tilting her head, she gave him a measuring look, then folded her arms across her chest as she recalled the last time he’d been in a hospital bed. “Deeks, this isn’t funny. Stop messing around.”

“Believe me, I wish I was joking, but I don’t have any idea who you are,” he insisted.

“I’m Kensi. Kensi Blye,” she tried out of desperation. There wasn’t a hint of recognition in his eyes though. He stared back at her with a growing look of dismay, and licked his lips, lifting a hand to drag his hand through his hair before he apparently remembered it wasn’t a good idea.

“Well, this is new,” he muttered to himself. “I guess this explains why I can’t remember what I had for breakfast or my last case.”

He sounded so perfectly like her Deeks, his upper lip quirked in a half-smile as he stared up at her. He was as friendly as ever, but as he would be to a potential witness they met on the strange. Not his partner of three years.

She paced a few steps away, leaning against the nearest wall. “Ok, so what do you remember?”

Leaning his head back, he squinted as though the effort of thinking physically hurt. “Uh, my name is Martin A. Deeks. Most people call me Deeks, but some call me Marty. I am a public defender for the LA county court system and I like to surf,” he said, nodding as he said each point.

Kensi suddenly felt like her knees might give out, and she quickly grabbed onto the back of the chair next to her. Deeks hadn’t just forgotten her, but entire years of his life.

“Are you ok?” he asked, because of course even with a concussion and amnesia, he still picked up on her distress.

“Um yeah.” She awkwardly tugged on the hem of her shirt. How the hell did she break this kind of news to him. She supposed she could let his doctor handle it, but that seemed cruel. Not to mention, cowardly.

“I take it you know something I don’t. What exactly happened to me?”

Kensi inhaled deeply before she took the plunge. “Um, this is going to be difficult, but you were hit in the back of the head.”

“Yeah, I kind of figured that out from the pounding headache and ostrich egg sized bump. What else?”

Suddenly standing felt to impersonal for this conversation, so she pulled the chair up to the side of his bed, sitting on the edge with her hands folded tightly in her lap.

“Deeks, you are not a lawyer. Well, you are, but you don’t practice anymore. You’re a detective with the LAPD,” she told him.

He took the revelation remarkably well, barely showing any reaction other than a slight widening of his eyes and flaring of his nostrils.

“Wow, ok. That’s, uh, that’s unexpected,” he said on a breathy laugh. “What year is it?”

“2012.”

“Crap,” he muttered, rubbing both hands over his face.

Kensi looked away, uncomfortable with his distress. She wanted to comfort him somehow, but they didn’t do that. At least she didn’t. She dealt comfort in stilted words and pulled punches. Besides that, Deeks didn’t remember her.

“So this absolutely isn’t an elaborate scheme?” she checked one more time out of sheer desperation.

“Fraid not,” Deeks drawled, rubbing his chin with his knuckles. “Though that would be significantly more fun than laying in a hospital bed recovering from a concussion. with nothing to go on from the last 6 years.”

“I feel like I should say touché or something.”

He gave her an odd look at that, then huffed another laugh, lowering his eyes to his lap. “I guess you do know me.” He scrutinized her for a few seconds, squinting with obvious effort before he made a pained expression. “Are you a cop too?”

“I’m a federal agent.”

“Based on the fact that you’re talking to me, I’d guess I either did some really bad, or I work with you in some capacity,” he said. Of course his mind worked just as quickly as ever.

“You’re a liaison for my agency,” Kensi told him. “And we’ve been partners for the last three years.”

“Oh.” He blinked a couple times. “That’s unexpected.”

“Why?” It came out a little more defensively than she intended.

“I tend to get on people’s nerves. They say I talk too much, or it’s my hair,” he explained, then added with a touch of bitterness. “Or I don’t know how to leave well-enough alone. I’m a trouble-maker.”

It sounded like he was quoting someone, and Kensi winced a little at the memory of how she and the rest of the team had treated him his first several months.

“Well, it was kind of a rocky start,” she admitted. “But I have a pretty strong personality too.”

“That sounds like a story waiting to be told.” He shifted uncomfortably, squinting again. He looked paler than when she’d walked in.

“Maybe for another day.”

They were both silent for a few minutes, with Deeks looking increasingly less well. Eventually, he sighed, pushing himself up on his forearms.

“Can you help me get up?” he asked.

“I think you should wait until your doctor sees you. You probably have a serious concussion.”

“I want to see what I look like.”

“Don’t you think that can wait?” she said, completely perplexed by the unexpected request.

“Right now I’m working with the Marty Deeks of 2006. A lot could have changed since then,” he explained, shifting around with the obvious intent to get up with or without her help.

Giving a perturbed sigh, Kensi held up a hand before he could try to get out of bed himself. “Let me go ask a nurse if I can borrow one. And don’t even think of leaving that bed.” She gave him a severe look that hopefully had more effect than on an unconcussed Deeks.

It took a few minutes, but with the combination of her badge and the mention of Deeks—who apparently was popular from his previous stays—Kensi returned with a small hand mirror. Fortunately, she found him still in bed when she returned.

He had a small furrow between his eyebrows, his head turned towards the wall. Kensi faltered, once again unsure how to proceed. Last time Deeks was in the hospital, they’d had catching his shooter to focus on. Now, the way forward seemed far more nebulous.

“I’ve got the mirror,” she murmured. His head jerked at her voice, and he ran a hand over his face before turning to face her. She handed him the mirror wordlessly, watching as he positioned it in front of his face.

“Huh.”

“Not what you expected?” she asked, and he shrugged, eyes shifting back and forth.

“I guess I finally ditched the baby face,” he commented wryly. “Or maybe it’s just the beard.” He touched his jaw almost absentmindedly. “That’s going to take some getting used to.”

“Somehow I can’t picture you without a beard,” Kensi admitted. He’d always had some facial hair as long as she’d known him.

“Yeah. Shoulder length hair too.” Now his hand drifted to the matted hair at his cheek. “I’ve had it pretty long most of my life, but I grew it out in college and I keep it out of principal. Or I guess kept.”

His eyes took on that distant look again and Kensi guessed the full weight of the situation had finally hit him.

“Well, you can always grow it out again. If you want.”

He shook his head slightly in response. “I’m not sure it would fit anymore,” he murmured.

“Deeks, I—”

A firm knock on the door interrupted Kensi, though she had no idea what she would have said in an attempt to reassure him.

“Mr. Deeks, I hear you’ve rejoined the waking world,” his attending doctor, Dr. Lesley said. She nodded to Kensi before focusing her attention on Deeks again.

“Yeah. It’s been a wild ride so far,” he responded dryly.

“I’ll let you have a few minutes,” Kensi told him, hurrying out. Maybe she was a coward, but she couldn’t sit through Deeks finding out the full extent of his amnesia.

She headed for a restroom, locking herself inside. In the tiny room, she sank to the ground, and quietly sobbed, mourning the loss of everything she and Deeks had shared.

***

A/N: Part 2 to follow soon.

[beastofburdenxo]

A Familiar Pain

You start your period in Emmett's bed, and he takes care of you. No smut, just a small mention of blood. First fic of the year!! 774 words. @your-nanas-house

You had woken up to familiar stomach pain and cursed yourself for not being more prepared. To make things worse, you weren’t even in your bed; you had spent the night with Emmett. You raised the covers to see the unwelcome blood all over his sheets. You wanted to cry right then and there. Would Emmett be mad? “Well good morning sweetheart.” he says, rolling over to face you and giving you a kiss. “What’s wrong?” he asks, noticing the look on your face. “I’m sorry Emmett, please don’t be mad...” He raises the cover to see what you are apologizing for. “Oh sweetie, it’s okay. Don’t apologize, I'm not mad. Let's get you cleaned up, yeah? Let me take care of it.” Emmett gets out of bed, and you hear him running a warm bath for you. “Come on, in the bath you go.” He scoops you up in his arms and takes you to the bathroom. You want to hide in shame as he helps you undress and sits you in the tub. “There you go sweetie,” he coos, “You’ll feel better once you get clean. The nice warm water should help with your pain too. My poor baby.” Your eyes fill with tears at his gentleness. “Don’t cry.” Emmett sits on the edge of the tub and washes your back for you. “I’m an adult, and I know you can’t always predict these things. I figured it would happen sooner or later. Now sit and relax, I'll take your clothes and the sheets and wash them, okay? Don’t worry about a thing I got it.”  

Emmett strips the bed and puts everything in the washing machine while you soak in the tub. He comes back with a pair of his shorts and a shirt, “Just until everything is good and dry.” You smile at his kindness towards the situation. “Thank you, you didn’t have to do all this. I should know better; I've been at this for years.” Emmett chuckles as he holds up a towel and wraps you up in it. “Being mad and throwing a fit doesn’t help a thing. I know it wasn’t on purpose. Besides, it’s what I'm here for; to take care of you and make things easier.” After fixing yourself up you go to the living room while Emmett checks on the laundry. “You look miserable sweetheart.” he tells you as you're sprawled out on the couch, “Anything I can do for my girl?” You look over at him, not wanting to be any more of a bother than you already are. “No.” you reply with hesitation. Of course, Emmett picks up on it. “Don’t give me that, you are in pain. I can see it. What do you need from me?” With a sigh you answer, “Will you come and rub my belly please? Your hands are always so warm, maybe give a little pressure?”  

Without a second thought, Emmett has you in his lap. You both are leaning back on the couch, your back to his chest. He takes his big hands and gently puts them underneath your shirt, right where you need it. Your eyes close at the warmth. His hands are like your own personal heating pads. “Like that, beautiful? Your tummy is so bloated, bless your little heart. I can’t believe you go through this every month. I'd be crying by now.” You lean over and nuzzle his arm. “Yes Emmett, thank you. You are always so good to me.” He slowly starts to rub your poor tummy, giving the slight pressure you asked for. “You deserve it sweetheart; you are so good to me as well. How about I fix the bed up and we take a little nap? I’ll even let you keep my hands.” You give a smile in response as he gently moves you off him. An unknown amount of time passes, as you almost drift off to sleep on the couch. Emmett picks you back up, “Come on, back to bed for you. We’ll take a little nap, and when we wake, I'll fix us something to eat. You’re choice.”  

Emmett gently places you in the bed, sheets nice and cozy warm from the dryer. “Come here, lovely, let me squeeze you some more.” You fall into his arms as his hands go back to their previous location. “I’ve got you; get some rest. I’ll be right here when you wake.” Between his lovely massage and the clean sheets, your eyes can’t help but close. The pain a faint memory as you wonder what you did to deserve a man like Emmett.  

[emptystove]

Sparrow - Ch 6

One Piece Fanfic (Drama/Romance/Suspense)

Pairings: E. Kid x Reader, Sabo x Reader, Lucci x Reader (one sided)

Rating: EXPLICIT, 18+ ONLY

Chapter Summary: It's time to meet your new doctor.

Links to AO3, Wattpad -- Fanfic Master List

Chapter 6: The Doctor

Trafalgar Law's Clinic, NWC North District

You had never been so nervous. 

Or maybe it was more so that you couldn't remember having a reason to be nervous like this before. During your time with Lucci, there were no feelings of hope or nervous excitement. The closest thing you felt to happiness was when you first woke up, not knowing the situation you were in and making ridiculous assumptions about the handsome stranger you saw next to your bed. You had been driven to get your memories back over the last year, but even then, you weren't sure if you were going to like what you found if you did. The more you were told about your life and the longer you lived it, the more hope and happiness seemed like luxuries you could never afford. 

Fleeing CP9 had given you a new exhilarating feeling alone. But ever since you found out your life hadn't always been with them, it felt like something stirred within you. A whisper of hope that you were almost afraid to acknowledge for fear that it might not be true. A hope that maybe there was something more to you than what you thought you were. And if you had been more in the past, maybe you could be something more again. Something more than Lucci's Sparrow. 

You had spent most of the ride over half-listening to Kid complain about "lanky emo bastards" while you mentally prepared to keep yourself in check until you had gotten what you came for. Having a smart mouth was helpful when you could use it to rile up or distract an enemy, but it had also gotten you into trouble with Lucci more times than you could count. Not surprisingly, basic social etiquette and 'how to make a good impression on others' were not included in your sensei's training. And you really wanted to make a good impression on who was probably the only doctor willing and able to help you. 

"Thanks again for agreeing to see me, Dr. Trafalgar." You twiddled your thumbs in your lap as you sat on the exam table.

"Please, call me Law," he replied, still looking down as his paperwork. His tone was bored, dripping with sarcasm, and you had no idea if he actually meant it.

He started with a standard head-to-toe exam. He took your height, weight, blood pressure, and asked general questions about your health. Luckily, Sabo was able to fill in a lot of blanks for him ahead of time, like your birthday and general medical history, excluding the past three years of course. 

As excited as you were to learn even that much, you were more excited at the chance to remember all of that and more on your own. The idea that you were being seen by someone who wasn't being paid by the government to lie to you, that he might find a way to actually help you remember, and so soon. You were basically bursting at the seams. 

Law definitely noticed your fidgeting, because he offered you something to "take the edge off" before you had to lay motionless while he used some big tube looking machine to scan your brain. You only took a moment to consider it before you shrugged and nodded eagerly. It definitely couldn't hurt, right?

He handed you two pills in a paper cup and a second paper cup filled with water. You threw back the pills and swallowed them easily with the water he provided. Without missing a beat, you looked up at Law and opened your mouth, sticking your tongue out and down, then lifting it up to show him underneath before snapping your jaw shut again.

"What are you doing?"

"Uh," you started. What were you doing? "I... don't know, actually."

His piercing gaze was almost too much to bear as he questioned you further. "Sabo said they never gave you regular meds when you were in the RA, and you didn't mention taking medication when you were with CP9."

"Yeah, that's true. I had some IVs when I first woke up I think, but I didn't really take anything after that." You nodded and scratched the back of your neck, letting out an uncomfortable laugh. "I don't remember ever doing that before." Your brain was running a mile a minute for any excuse for your strange behavior which seemed to irk the doctor in some way. You searched the few memories you had and stilled as you remembered seeing someone doing something similar with their mouth in video you saw after walking in on a very embarrassed Kaku. "Oh! I swear I wasn't coming on to you."

"What?" His face retracted and his frown deepened at your unexpected remark.

"Not that you aren't, um, I mean, I'm sure you are quite a catch," you backpedaled, desperate to not to make this worse and failing hard.

He pursed his lips and closed his eyes.

"People are probably lined up around the block to get you in their mouth." 

You knew you needed to stop speaking, but it felt like your mouth had teamed up with your nerves to override any coherent thought you had. 

"And I mean, I don't remember if I... I probably," you paused to motion with both hands toward his crotch, "wouldn't even know what to do with that." Despite the word vomit you were spewing, something told you that you would know exactly what to do with it.

"Please," Law's voice was strained with frustration as he opened his eyes. "Stop talking."

You took in a deep breath and let it out slowly, silently willing whatever medication you took to kill you kick in faster.

"I'm going to do us both a favor and forget that happened." After a moment, he picked up a clipboard off the desk and sat back in his rolling chair. "I've just got a few other questions to go through while we wait for that to take effect. Then we can grab those scans."

This new line of questioning was more specific to your absent memories, and you were determined to tell him as much as possible without embarrassing yourself further. 

You mentioned your scars. You had no memories but were starting to get familiar feelings with certain things. You could do stuff you don't remember learning how to do. That one seemed to pique his interest. And you never remembered your dreams but always woke up gasping for air. That one might have surprised him the most. Apparently that type of thing was common when it only happened occasionally. Having it happen every time you slept for 12 months straight was unheard of.

As the conversation continued, he remained attentive and professional, taking detailed notes and asking follow-up questions based on what you told him. You appreciated that he was true to his word and seemed to actually forget the absolute fool you made of yourself only a few minutes prior. 

You didn't know if it was because of Law or the drugs he gave you, but you were starting to relax.

He glanced at his watch, and his questions turned a bit lighter.

"How are the RA food rations these days?" 

"I haven't had that pleasure yet," you laughed easily. "Actually, I haven't been to any of their safe houses yet, not that I can remember anyways."

"I thought Iva would have made you try their spinach puffs no matter where they hid you."

"Iva, huh? I'll have to ask Sabo if I can meet them." You wondered what it might take to get Killer to make you some spinach puffs. Probably not much, you smiled to yourself.

"So, got a long drive back to where you're staying?"

You opened your mouth to answer, but something stopped you. You were feeling loose. But even feeling this good, there was something about this line of questioning that made you almost uneasy. You glanced at Law who was typing something on his computer with the screen turned away from you. In his defense, you were trained to be skeptical by an organization who lied to you at every turn. Still... was this just idle conversation he used with patients to help break the silence, or was it something else?

Before you could question it further, he informed you that the machine was ready.

It wasn't nearly as bad as you thought, although that could definitely be those pills talking. And when it was over, Law informed you that it would take a little time to process the images. You smiled contently as he opened the door to let you wait in the next room with Sabo and Kid. It wouldn't be long before you had answers. And even if they didn't get you much, you felt like you could trust them more than whatever the government had told you. It was hard not to be pleased, even with just the results Law gave you so far.

After all, not including your missing memories, at least you knew you were healthy.

----------

Lucci's Private Residence, NWC East District 

"This isn't healthy."

Lucci stared down the doctor through the video screen in his home office. 

"You can see clearly that it's getting worse. Are you really suggesting you aren't experiencing any negative symptoms?"

"No. I'm fine."

The doctor scoffed. "You can clearly see a difference in the last several scans of your cerebrum. Every other person who participated in the EMR experiments have similar results, but theirs aren't changing. Yours are escalating."

"I said I'm fine. Document that in your report, and move on."

The doctor shook his head in frustration. "It would make sense if you were still using the machine, but no one has access to them anymore. Since the markings are still increasing, I'm seriously concerned. Even if you aren't experiencing symptoms, I really have no choice but to report this to-"

"You do have a choice," Lucci smoothly cut in. His eyes darkened at the threat despite his casual demeanor. "You can either get rid of my current scans and replace them with my last, noting no changes or reasons for concern, or I can pay a visit to Zou Elementary School."

The doctor froze at his words, eyes wide as the implication of Lucci's seemingly simple statement washed over him.

"Y-You what?" he stumbled out the words incredulously. He instinctively touched the wedding band on his left hand and nervously glanced at a framed photograph facing towards him on the desk.

"Don't be skittish now. You were so sure of yourself just a moment ago."

The doctor swallowed hard before slowly placing the files down on the table. The sweat on his brow was visible even through his webcam.

"So doctor, let's try this again. How are my scans looking since my last appointment?"

"S-same as last time," he stuttered pathetically. 

"Good. Contact me if anyone else decides to misinterpret my records." Lucci ended the call before the doctor could say another word. 

He exited the room and let out a heavy breath. It was getting late, but he was far from sleep. If he couldn't be out searching for you, he may as well start unpacking. 

It was the first time he had been to his private home in over a year. He had fully moved into the CP9 building to be closer to you after bringing you there to seek treatment for your injury. He hadn't had a choice. He needed to be near you while you were in that infuriating coma. Now that you were gone, there was no reason for him to stay. He had already taken everything you left in your room and brought it back to his home. Back to where he should have kept you after you woke up. Where he knew you belonged. 

Lucci was surprised at how calm he felt being there. As he walked through the rooms of his home, he even felt the ends of his lips curl into a smile as familiar memories of you filled his mind. Your bedroom, the basement, the painting in his dining room, the window in the kitchen. The memories of you here were so strong, he swore he could almost smell you in the air. 

His smile fell instantly as his eyes fell on the couch in the den. It was infinitely cruel that the best and worst moments of his life happened only within a few seconds of each other. It didn't matter what he did to change the recording, he couldn't separate them in his mind. How it almost ruined everything. What he had to do after. Waiting helplessly at your bedside, drifting between his memories and the maddening ineptitude of the doctors treating you. 

He paused in thought and tilted his head. After you woke up, you wanted your memories back more than anything. By now, you had no doubt learned of your history with the Revolutionaries. Knowing that, you would be more determined than ever to find out what happened to you. Little did you know, if you would come back now, he would gladly tell you everything. You wouldn't though. Never so easily. You would make him hunt you down. He felt his lips curl again as he imagined how you might look at him when he finally found you. So full of fire, such fury. An intensity of emotion you spared only for him. 

He couldn't wait to break you. 

He pulled out his phone. There were only so many in the city who would work with you, and it wasn't difficult to figure out where to start.

----------

Trafalgar Law's Clinic, NWC North District

Law frowned deeply as he sifted through your imaging results, pulling his eyes away to see a number he didn't recognize calling his phone. 

He paused briefly after accepting the call, waiting for whoever was on the line to speak before he made a sound. 

"Dr. Trafalgar."

"If this is who I think it is, I suggest you fuck off and lose this number."

"You can stay on the line and hear me out, or you can expect government patrols on your block every night for the foreseeable future."

That was the last thing Law needed with the type of clientele he catered to, and Lucci knew it. 

Law let out a bored sigh, "Go on, then."

"Have you been contacted by the Revolutionary Army or the Flame Emperor in the last few days?"

"Can't say I have," Law drolled.

"Has anyone contacted you recently to treat someone with memory loss?"

"No, can't say anyone has."

It was easy for Law to maintain his uninterested tone, a skill he spent his life mastering. Even as he continued to listen to Lucci describe in detail the exact person waiting for him in the next room, he gave nothing away. 

"Haven't seen her. Anything else?"

"Keep your ear to the ground. If you should find out anything about her whereabouts, you'll want to contact me immediately."

Law smirked, "Listening to you drone on for five minutes is the most you'll get from me, regardless of whatever idle threats you spew. I thought it was obvious, but let me make myself clear. I'll be six feet under before I work with filth like you."

"I could make it worth your while."

Law snorted openly. "Oh please, I'd love to hear what you think could tempt me to do anything to help you."

"Rosinante is alive. I can give you the exact location where he's keeping him."

Law was frozen, too stunned to fully process what Lucci was telling him. 

"If it eases your conscience, helping me find Sparrow before the rest of Cipher Pol will save her life. They want her dead, but I want her alive. I can only protect her if I get to her first."

There was another pause before Law ended the call without another word. 

The longer he sat in silence, the more concerned became. 

It couldn't be true. 

It couldn't. 

Even if what he said was true, Lucci should know he would never trust information from the government. But Lucci also knew Law's biggest weakness. 

And even if it was true, a man like Lucci would never make moves to serve his own self interests over Cipher Pol's orders. 

None of it made sense.

But if it really was true...

The little information he learned from your visit today was another reason he shouldn't trust Lucci. You instinctively opened your mouth to show him you swallowed the pills he gave you. Something done by patients who couldn't be trusted to not hide their medication under their tongue only to spit it out later. A learned behavior you had no knowledge of. A muscle memory ingrained into you during the missing two years before you woke up. There was no doubt in his mind that they had been drugging you. With what and for how long, he couldn't tell. Whatever it was had been out of your system so long it left no traces he could find. 

And then there was your imaging results. His frown deepened even further as he glowered at the scan on the screen in front of him. There was no doubt the injury he was looking at caused your memory loss, which meant it must have happened after you were captured by CP9. He couldn't be sure, but if the nature of the injury was what he suspected, he doubted you would survive being captured by Lucci again.

What would Lucci even gain from someone who had lost her memories from an injury like you did, without any hope of recovering them? If you knew CP9 secrets, he should want you as dead as the rest of the government did. But something about the way he made that last plea. Law could have sworn he sensed a hint of desperation in Lucci's voice when he claimed he wanted to protect you.

None of it made sense.

No, he needed more time. He needed more information. There were too many variables here to make any sort of informed decision. Too many things about your situation he had yet to understand. 

He glanced again at your file. 

Sabo already owed him a few favors, but he couldn't risk involving him until he knew more. Between the lengths he was willing to go for you and the way he looked at you when your attention was elsewhere, it was clear that you were more to him than a missing colleague. Kid was another unpredictable variable in your twisted situation. His involvement with you was unclear, and as thick headed as he appeared, Law knew he could be dangerously perceptive when he wanted to be. On top of that, both men were a little too tight lipped about your circumstances, the latter only offering things about your past that he thought was needed for your medical record. 

He would have to keep learning more about you without raising suspicion. It was the only way he might find out the truth about Lucci's claims. 

Fortunately, you and he shared a common goal for the time being, even if he needed to keep you in the dark about it. If he could lead you on the right path, maybe you could do the information gathering for him. Maybe then, the two of you could find out what you needed without having to involve Lucci at all.

----------

"I'm no expert, but I'm guessing that's not normal." You pointed to the image of your brain where a dark line extended inward from your skull. 

"Very perceptive," Law maintained his aloof and sarcastic tone while he went over his findings with the three of you. "That's not the only abnormality, but I can say with certainty that this injury caused your retrograde amnesia."

Sabo sent you a concerned look as Law continued. 

"It's a puncture wound to your medial temporal lobe. You're lucky whatever caused this didn't go further. The location of the damage was restricted to the part of the brain that stores episodic memory, or memories of specific events. What happened in an event, the context of where it took place, and your emotions associated with the event. The damage was bad enough to wipe most of whatever memories you had stored there, although you may still experience some feelings associated with those wiped memories if they were strong enough. The damage was also minimal enough not to disrupt the neural pathways that allow you to make new memories. Skill memories are located in other areas of the brain. That's another reason you're able to do things you have no specific memory of learning."

"So... someone stabbed me in the brain?" You asked hesitantly.

Law shrugged, "Who knows."

"Ok," you began again, filing away that disturbing fact to dwell on later. "But you're a brain surgeon, so you can, I don't know, dig in there and fix me, right?"

"No," Law replied flatly.

"You won't or you can't?"

"There is no surgery that could fix the damage to your brain."

"What are our options for treatment? Surely, there's something we can do." Sabo cut in before you could lose too much hope. 

"The only effective treatment for retrograde amnesia is therapy addressing the emotional trauma that caused the memory loss. Even then, it may only result in partial memory recovery over a long period of time," Law noted.

"But you said she lost her memories from a stab wound, not emotional trauma," Kid argued.

"That's correct," Law replied.

"So... so there's nothing we can do? I'll never get my memories back?" You couldn't stop your voice from cracking in the last few words.

Law let out a long breath. "That would be true under normal circumstances, but your results are a far cry from normal."

Law pulled out a few additional scans, pointing to various areas. Some near your injury and some not. 

"You have other markings on your scans that shouldn't be there. They are much more precise than that of your injury, and they don't appear to be damaging your neural pathways. In fact, it doesn't look like traces of damage at all. I have no idea what they mean or what may have caused them. I can't promise it will help get your memories back either. Still, this could be good for us."

Kid narrowed his eyes at Law's last sentence, but you hardly noticed whatever he had.

"Really?" You felt your heart clench, as you grasped desperately for any sliver of hope.

"I've only ever seen this on one other patient. It wasn't as widespread as yours is, but it was definitely the same thing. He didn't have amnesia either, but when he came to me, it was because he was concerned something happened to him when he worked a contracting job for the government."

"Who-," you started, but Law cut you off before you could get your question out.

"That's all I can say right now. But if you want to meet him, I can probably arrange it," Law offered.

"Yes," you answered the second he finished speaking.

"What's your price?" Kid huffed.

"I have a few things in mind, and none of them involve you," Law smirked.

"The fuck does that mean?" Kid all but growled.

"Law, please," Sabo interrupted calmly. "What do you want in exchange?"

Law rolled his eyes at the redhead and turned his attention to Sabo. "I'll be present for the meeting. You'll make me privy to any information you find out related to her missing years with CP9. And if you die," Law's easy grin turned a bit sinister as he looked to you, "I want to perform the autopsy."

"What the fuck?" Kid sneered.

"That's a little much don't you think," Sabo frowned solemnly. 

"Done," you agreed easily, forcing your hand in his to shake on the deal.

You brushed off Kid and Sabo's concerns about Law's simple yet morbid request. If there was a chance for him to help you with whatever these new markings were on your brain, you would want to tell him whatever you found out anyway. And as far as the other thing, it wasn't like you were going to care what he did to you if you were dead. Plus, how could you turn down what seemed like such a good offer? He wasn't even asking for cash or favors. You really couldn't expect a better offer.

"Any other questions?" Law asked casually as you prepared to leave. 

An idea formed in your mind almost instantly, imagining how nice it might be to wake up calm like you did after Sabo drugged you, but this time in a bed instead of chained to a office chair. 

"Hey, can you give me more of those pills?" You raised a brow and shot him a lazy grin. 

Law frowned, and you cut in hopefully as he moved to speak. 

"I promise I won't do that thing with my mouth again."

Sabo and Kid turned to you in surprise while Law pursed his lips. You knew you shouldn't say anything more, but damn if you weren't feeling hopeful again from how things were turning out. Also from those pills probably. 

"If you prefer, I can promise to do it for you again?" You teased with a wink. 

"I knew you were a fucking pervert, Trafalgar," Kid jeered.

You tapped Kid's bicep with the back of your hand. "I tried to tell him it wasn't sexual. I could tell he got pretty riled up from it though."

"Poor touch starved bastard probably couldn't help himself," Kid chuckled harder as Law's frustration became more and more pronounced. 

You spared a quick glace at Sabo as you giggled. His initial shock quickly changed into something else as he watched you. He let out a short laugh and his eyes soften, as if hearing you playfully torment this man was truly heartwarming. As if he finally found something precious he thought he had lost forever. 

"Everyone get the fuck out of my office."

----------

Author's Note:

Author: Killer, please stop pouting. Killer: I'm not pouting. I just think it's out of character for me to not have been there with Kid. Author: But you were mentioned! She was thinking about- hey, what's that in your hands? Killer: Nothing. *pulls a tray of something out of the oven* Author: Ok well, you can't be in every chapter just because Kid is there. Killer: *shrugs* Check the comments. Kid and I are a package deal. It's what the people want. Author: Killer... did you make spinach puffs? Killer: ... Author: ... Killer: ... Author: Alright, I'll see what I can do.

Thank you so much for reading and commenting! Let me know what you think about everyone's favorite moody doctor.

(Also, what kind of porn do you think Kaku was watching when you walked in on him? I'm genuinely interested for totally normal reasons.)

Previous Chapter | Fanfic Master List | Next Chapter

[f10werfae]

Hey sweetheart I hope your okay-

How did Chris cope with the impending arrival of his and readers triplets? Like I’m pretty sure triplets get taken to the nicu just for some tests and checking over, was he calm for mamas sake or was he lightheaded and anxious?

I just have so many questions about the triplets -

How did mama cope towards the end because of how big her bump would’ve gotten?

Did they have an health scares that they should’ve had the potential to expect because that usual happens with triplets due to the lack of space is usually there is always a small baby.

I love you 🤍

-k 🤍

Tysm🫶😭

- During the pregnancy the main concern was Mama’s blood pressure and making sure one triplet didn’t freaking eat the other, as funny as that sounds, it’s quite common. Towards the end of her pregnancy she was put onto bed rest with her having a high risk of giving birth early with the triplets, and with high blood pressure? Not a very good combo. So Chris is on high alert 24/7, either rubbing her feet or bringing her food and monitoring her heart beat on a new machine he had ordered. Her bump is massive but she expected that, the only thing she really cares about now is getting the three baby out of her😭 With Y/n having health problems, Chris had the task of decorating the nursery, and having to do it right without upsetting his already emotionally vulnerable wife. We also can’t ignore how anxious he gets when she wasn’t pregnant, but now that’s tripled. Despite being her rock, she constantly gives him kissed and reassurance just to help keep him going - Now once she went into labour it was mayhem, doctors inserting tubes of all sorts to stabilise her heart monitor, and the babies. Poor Chris was kind of pushed to the wayside as they got her ready for an emergency C-section, his anxiety on high alert when he heard her cry out for him and he couldn’t even do anything. Thankfully within minutes he was kitted in scrubs and holding her hand tearfully as the babies were born, their cried strong and loud making the couple cry out happy tears. Y/n made sure that Chris went with the three of them while they went for the tests, assuring him that she’d be okay with the nurses and doctors; that she’d see him in half an hour once she’s finally on a recovery ward

[huomenhaamu]

Medical cw

Seriously bad couple of days, personal, improved

A couple of days' really bad time is moving towards better

Kidney infection wrought havoc and caused sepsis and incredible stomach pain

First went to the ER on Tuesday where I evaluated my pain at 9/10, which is, you know, slightly below incoherently screaming and passing out

Early Wednesday morning they said that specific hospital isn't doing much care during independence day, and I was slightly improved with the pain and nausea meds, and told to come back if worse

So I went to mom's place for independence day to moan and throw up for 24 or so hours because nothing fucking stayed in, but pain stayed below 5 with or without strong pain meds

Thursday normal weekday, go back to that hospital, situation worsened nonstop, blood pressure sank, inflammation values through the roof, ultrasound shows nothing much and their CT scan was broken, wee-oo eee-oo ambulance trip to main hospital

ER and ICU care on Friday

Do you know how hard it is to move when attached to two drips, a catheter, intravenous blood pressure check, ten EKG lines, and the damn pulse and oxygen monitor that keeps falling off your finger

Last meal or even a bit of food? Tuesday. Last bowel movement? Tuesday. Pain started? Tuesday. Washed? Tuesday. Teeth brushed? Tuesday.

So many things went beep and boop when I shifted around on the bed and something snagged and the machines thought I fucking died

At least ER and ICU are places where there's constantly a nurse or two keeping an eye on vitals, so every time something went beep or I said anything, someone wad already there

Now on Saturday I'm now almost fine, upright, showered, kind of fed, and not hooked up to ten different cords, just occasional antibiotic

Not a fan of smelling my rank hospital clothes when they reminded me of how dad smelled before passing

If I can prove I can eat something sensible instead of just yoghurt, and my test values seem ok, I might get to go home tomorrow

Note to self: if nauseous, a chewable pill is NOT a better option

Can't remember the rates but I doubt this will go over 200 euros

[cynicalone94]

Don't Go Where I Can't Follow

He slows as he rounds the corner, bringing his gun to bear. There’s no sign of the man that he was chasing and he inches forward slowly.

Movement to his left catches his attention and he turns just in time to catch the tackle head-on, his weapon pinned between their bodies as they slam into the ground.

A quick elbow to the face buys him a little space and then he’s rolling, holstering his weapon while he drives a hard punch into the face with his left hand.

And then he’s rolling the man to his stomach and wrenching his arms behind his back to lock the cuffs in place.

Antonio and Kevin come around the corner as he drags the man to his feet.

“Dude, Halstead.” Antonio crows. “That guy is twice your size.”

“Yeah.” he scoffs, catching his breath. “I hadn’t noticed.”

Voight and Erin come around the corner facing them next, a couple of patrol officers behind them.

Jay hands their perp off to the patrol officers, barely listening as Voight orders them to have paramedics check the guy out and then take him back to the district.

Damn, that one hurt.

“Alright.” Voight snaps, a little closer this time. “Good job on the grab, Halstead. But this one isn’t done yet. Let’s get back the district and put the rest of the pieces together.”

The team splits, heading for the cars. Erin follows him maybe a little too close but whatever, he’s fine. Yeah, getting tackled by a bus hadn’t felt good but he’s fine.

Which he reminds her of yet again when they get back in the car, causing her to roll her eyes but at least she stops staring.

Back at the station, he and the rest of the team gear down, removing their vests. The velcro on his vest catches on his hoodie as he pulls it off and his shirt rides up.

“Shit man.” Adam says, eyes locking on his chest.

“Ruze.” he chides. “My eyes are up here.”

“Shut up, man.” Adam scoffs. “You got a bruise the side of Texas forming on your chest.”

“I got tackled by a bear.” he growls. “Yeah I’m gonna be a little bruised. It’s hardly life threatening.”

“Go to Med.” Voight orders. “Get it checked out.”

“Come on, Sarge.” Jay says, turning toward him. “It’s not a big deal.”

“Let the docs be the judge of that.” Voight says, his tone leaving no room for question and Jay sighs.

“Yeah, okay.” he agrees reluctantly, dropping his vest on his desk.

“I’ll drive you.” Erin says, grabbing her keys.

An hour later, he’s sitting on an exam bed at Med enduring his brother’s poking and prodding with ill grace.

“Is this really necessary?” he asks, holding up his arm and shaking the blood pressure cuff and heart rate monitor clipped to his finger. “I got tackled, I have a few bruises. I’m fine. You should see the other guy.”

“I’m sure.” Will agrees. “But I don’t like the location of the bruising or how rapidly it’s developing so why don’t you just humor me?”

“I have been humoring you.” Jay grumbles, looking at his watch. “For the last thirty minutes.”

“If I could get you an x-ray we could sort this out.” Will says. “But all the bay with their own machines are in use.”

“Then can’t I just -”

Jay cuts off with a gasp as a sharp lance of pain stabs through his chest. The blood pressure cuff scrunches around his arm as his hand comes up to clutch his chest.

“Jay?” Will asks, reaching out for him.

He can’t breathe to answer him.

The pain is getting worse and he can’t breathe.

“Jay?” his brother repeats.

“W-”

Then everything goes black.

Will feels bad.

Jay’s probably right.

It probably isn’t anything to worry about but Will doesn’t feel safe just sending him back to the district without checking.

So he tries to convince his brother to just hang in there with him a little longer. Jay inevitably protests but cuts off midway through with a pained gasp, hand coming up to clutch his chest.

“Jay?” he asks, reaching out to put a hand on his brother’s shoulder.

Jay stares back at him, eyes wide with terror.

“Jay?” he repeats, glancing over at the monitors that are beeping erratically, his brother’s pulse racing.

“W-”

Jay’s desperate attempt at his name is the last thing he chokes out before he goes limp, eyes rolling up in his skull.

As Will dives forward to catch his brother before he falls off the bed the beeping of the monitor stops.

It isn’t the dramatic alarm of an EKG machine but somehow the silence is the loudest noise Will has ever heard.

“I need some help in here!” he screams as he lies his brother flat on the exam table, starting compressions.

Medical personnel flood the room, the rattling wheels of the crash cart sounding in time with the orders that he’s shouting.

“Come on, Jay.” he begs. “Please, little brother.”

“Clear!” Connor calls and he forces himself to pull back as the paddles are pressed against his brother’s chest.

The tones from the hastily connected EKG machine don’t change and he resumes compressions.

“Jay.” he begs. “Don’t go where I can’t follow.”

The next shock brings Jay’s heart back into rhythm.

Will falls back, trying to catch his breath as Connor takes over treatment; snapping out orders as he slides an oxygen mask over Jay’s face.

“Page the on call Cardiologist and then I need to get a CT and MRI of his chest. Start an IV and lets get some meteprolol onboard.”

As the nurses scramble to follow the instructions, Connor turns to Will.

“He came in to have some bruising to his chest checked out, right?” he asks.

“Yeah. It wasn’t supposed to be anything that would be a problem for me to treat.” he says, staring at his brother. “His vitals were stable and he seemed okay but the bruising was pretty ugly. I thought maybe he had a rib fracture.”

“And then he coded.” Connor asks.

“Mid-sentence.” Will confirms. “He must have bruised cardiac tissue.”

“That’s my guess as well.” Connor agrees. “We’ll do some testing to confirm and determine the severity. I’ll work with the Cardiologist and we’ll find a medication regiment to keep his heart beating until the bruising heals.”

“I have to… I need to..”

Connor pokes his head into the ED, calling for Maggie who quickly comes over.

“Can you take Will to the doctor’s lounge?” he asks. “Get him some coffee.”

“No.. I..” Will protests.

“I’ll take care of Jay.” Connor promises and Will swallows hard before following Maggie out of the bay.

He’s immediately accosted by Erin.

“What the hell just happened in there?” she demands.

“He-” Will stammers.

How can he put to words what had just happened? What he’d just witnessed.

“Why don’t you join us in the lounge?” Maggie says gently. “I can fill in some blanks.”

“I need to see Jay.” she demands, shaking her head.

“His heart just stopped.” Will blurts out. “It’s looking like there was bruising from the tackle and he…”

“Dr. Rhodes is taking good care of him.” Maggie cuts in. “Let’s go sit down.”

Erin can’t seem to pull her eyes away from the door but she does let Maggie guide her and Will toward the lounge.

It’s hours later before they are shown up to the Cardiac Care Unit.

Jay is buried in a veritable mountain of equipment and Erin walks up alongside the bed, resting her hand over the top of her partner’s.

“And you were pissed that I made you come in.” she scolds lightly.

Jay doesn’t respond to her, deeply sedated to give his heart a chance to heal without the added stress that comes with being awake.

“God Jay.” she breathes. “If Will hadn’t been there… Why are you so stubborn?”

“I don’t think he knows how to be any other way.” Will says, sitting on the other side of the bed. “After our mother got sick he, he couldn’t let anyone worry about him, take any of the focus off her. So he taught himself how to be fine. No matter what.”

“That sounds like this guy.” Erin says, squeezing her partner’s hand.

“He’ll be okay.” Will tells her. “It was way too close but we got lucky. He’ll be here a couple of days and then he should be good as new.”

“Or at least as good as it gets with Jay.” Erin says.

“Oh come on.” Will says. “Jay’s practically superman and you know it.”

“Yeah.” she agrees. “Should have seen the guy he took down today. Guy was 6’2” and 300 pounds. And yeah, he was breathing a little hard, not to mention the bruising, but he got him cuffed without backup. And I’m sure he said it and sounded like a cocky bastard but you should really see the the other guy.”

“That’s exactly what he said.” Will says, shaking his head.

“Well, we’d better not let him find out he was right.” Erin jokes.

Will is asleep next to his brother’s bed when a change in the rhythm of the machines wakes him up.

At first, he’s studying the machines, trying to figure out what’s changed.

“Will?”

His gaze darts away from the screens to focus on his brother’s face.

“Jay!” he exclaims. “Hey kid, how are you doing?”

“What happened?” Jay asks.

“That blow to the chest that you took bruised your heart.” Will tells his brother.

“Seriously?” Jay groans. “It was a bruise.”

“On your heart.” Will growls. “That stopped your heart. You flatlined in the exam room. Right in front of me.”

Jay pales.

“What?”

“You scared the hell out of me.” Will says. “But you’re going to be okay. They had you in an induced coma for two days and inserted pacing wires. You’re already doing a lot better.”

Jay glances down at his chest, eyes narrowing at the wires poking out of the neckline of the gown.

“Don’t touch those.” Will cautions, hand coming up to stop him almost as soon as his hands move.

“When do they go away?” Jay asks.

“Your heart is already stabilizing.” Will promises him. “We’ll be removing them in a couple days.”

“When can I go home?” Jay asks.

“Probably once the pacing wires are removed.” Will says. “As soon as we can, I promise.”

Jay doesn’t look happy with the promise but his eyelids are heavy.

“Just close your eyes, buddy.” Will soothes. “Get some sleep. We’ll get you out of here as soon as possible.”

Jay sighs but let’s his eyes slip closed, relaxing into the bedding.

“Thanks Will.” he breathes.

“Thank you.” Will corrects, even though his brother is already asleep. “For not leaving me.”

[laxmiree]

[CN] MLQC Season 2 Chapter 54 Translation (Lucien's Route - Part 5 [Halt Steps])

⚠️  SPOILER ALERT  ⚠️

This post contains a VERY HEAVY SPOILER for the chapter that has not been released in EN yet! Feel free to notify me if there are any mistakes in the translation~

"Lucien, what can you feel right now?"

His gaze finally shifts back to my face. After a moment of silence, his voice becomes somewhat darker than before.

"Your hands are still a bit cold…"

I slightly purse my lips, guiding his hand gradually upward-

His slender fingertips land on my lips, gently pressing, then, as if testing something, delicately tracing my side face, and eyes…

Translation under the cut!

Previous part-> [Here]

…The sudden dizziness abruptly pulls me back to my senses.

A moment of clarity flashes through my mind.

To seal the rift, I've already expended too much mental and physical energy. Do I really have enough strength now to do something meaningful once I reach the door?

During my hesitation, I feel my strength gradually dissipating bit by bit.

If I exhaust my power and accidentally lose my life in the process, there will be no solution at all.

Glancing back at the door that's so close by, I ultimately decide to temporarily retreat.

Slowly distancing myself from the door, yet, centered around it, numerous white lights suddenly scatter, enveloping me completely, as if forbidding me from leaving.

The more I struggle, the more my awareness blurs; I feel like I'm sinking into an abyss of pure white, gradually losing the ability to move.

MC: Lucien…

The name I unconsciously uttered acts like a glimmer of light, illuminating my hazy consciousness.

The white mire dissipates entirely, and I abruptly open my eyes, breathing heavily.

Lucien: ... Restarting the detection device, re-entering the target data.

A familiar voice faintly reaches my ears, and only then do I realize that I am securely held in the comforting embrace of familiar arms.

The confusion and panic from earlier dissolve entirely in this embrace. I release my tension, leaning into the comfort of his arms.

MC: Lucien? I…

Upon hearing my voice, he momentarily stiffens while holding me.

He doesn't respond to my words, simply continuing to cradle me as he moves toward a nearby machine. Gently, he places me on it.

I gaze at him in confusion as he quickly and gently attaches more electrodes to my hands, neck, and ankles…

Lucien: Heart rate is normal, blood pressure is normal, oxygen saturation is normal…

Lucien looks at the constantly fluctuating data on the screen, reaches out to remove the sensor, and seamlessly replaces it with another without any pause.

MC: Lucien, what are you doing?

Lucien: Shh…

Lucien: Confirming the energy fluctuations of the CORE, below the normal value by 62%, but within the limits... How do you feel right now?

MC: I... am I okay?

His voice is gentle, as if concerned about disturbing me, but exceptionally quick, and even a bit of a focus that keeps others at a distance.

Lucien: Just now, all the instruments monitoring your condition failed to register any data.

Lucien: Whether it's related to the CORE or your own self.

Lucien: (quietly) It's as if... you can no longer be detected by anything.

He gently lifts my hand and places another small device on my hand and forehead.

Lucien: Blood pressure normal, brainwaves steady... all readings are normal.

He looks at the fluctuating numbers with an indifferent expression, his ink-black eyes resembling a stagnant pool without ripples.

I've seen this expression on him before, that time at the rift, when he shattered the glass chamber that was imprisoning me.

Suddenly, everything becomes clear to me. I reach out and grasp his hand, stopping him from taking another instrument.

MC: Lucien, look at me. I'm fine, and right in front of you.

Lucien: …Okay.

Lucien: I need to check your blood routine, and I'll need to take a small blood sample. It might hurt a bit.

Lucien: (quietly as if murmuring by himself)...No, I can't let you feel pain again. I'll have them bring in other instruments instead…

MC: Lucien.

I call his name assertively, gripping his hand firmly and placing it against my own cheek.

MC: Lucien, what can you feel right now?

His gaze finally shifts from the array of instruments back to my face. After a moment of silence, his voice becomes somewhat darker than before.

Lucien: Your hands are still a bit cold…

I slightly purse my lips, guiding his hand gradually upward-

His slender fingertips land on my lips, gently pressing, then, as if testing something, carefully tracing my side face, and eyes…

A subtle tingling sensation lingers where his fingertips pass, sending shivers through my heart.

Finally, after his fingertips sketch the contours of my features, he seems to confirm something, and his gaze shifts ever so slightly.

Lucien: ….MC?

MC: It's me. Can you feel me now?

He lowers his body, his face coming infinitely closer in my field of vision. I feel the warmth of his forehead pressing against mine.

Our warm breaths entwined as he slightly closes his eyes, it’s as if he’s feeling my breathing.

Lucien: (quietly) ….Just now, it felt like you went to a distant place.

His voice is deep, tinged with an almost imperceptible sense of confusion and anxiety.

Lucien: …I'm right in front of you, but you can't see me or hear my voice.

Lucien: I don't know how to bring you back, how to... keep you.

Lucien lowers his gaze, his bottomless eyes momentarily fixed on me.

There's a slight tingling in my nose. I make an effort to smile at him, affectionately rubbing his hands that caress my face with the pads of my fingers.

MC: If I must say... I might have been distracted for a moment.

MC: But because of you, because I think of you, I felt like I heard you calling me, so I woke up.

MC: You see, I'm right here, by your side. I haven't gone anywhere and won't leave.

I speak slowly, lightly rubbing his hand with my fingertips, just like how he had comforted me in the same way many times before.

We silently enjoy the moment of each other's company until the heavy matters in our hearts finally settle. I hear Lucien's voice.

Lucien: MC, you've successfully guided the world forward according to your consciousness.

-

[Chapter 54-17]

I turn my head and follow Lucien's gaze out of the window.

The thick and grand dark clouds are still slowly surging. The numerous rifts that used to appear like scars one after another have now vanished without a trace.

The sky, like a shattered yet restored mirror, has finally regained its vast and clear appearance. Only in the air, there is still a faint lingering smell of seawater.

That rift, I really closed it.

The scent of refreshing and familiar cedar lingers around my nose, calming my rapid heartbeat.

I breathe a sigh of relief in Lucien's embrace, and in my mind, the scene I just witnessed resurfaces, causing me to grab onto the hem of his clothes.

MC: Lucien... What if this world became like this because of me?

He remains silent. But I know he's listening, waiting for me to continue.

MC: I saw a white gate inside the rift just now.

MC: The last time I used power like this was during the apocalypse... and that gate appeared back then too.

Back then, I went behind that gate, broke the rules of the world, and disrupted the original trajectory.

MC: But just now, I tried so hard to walk towards it, and I found that no matter what, I couldn't reach it…

A pair of hands land on my back, gently patting me in a soothing manner.

Lucien: The power consumed by catalyzing the "condensed rift" is more than you imagine. Rest for a while first.

MC: Can I really stop?

A hint of bitterness wells up in my heart. I lower my gaze, murmuring softly, unsure if I'm asking Lucien or questioning myself.

MC: I used to believe that I successfully saved the world...

MC: But it seems that's not the case. There are still many troubles occurring one after another…

A faint sigh comes from beside me, and Lucien's grip tightens slightly.

Lucien: You often make me think, this little lady seems to be a bit too strong-willed.

MC: I'm just stating the facts…

Lucien: The fact is, without you, this world would have come to an end a long time ago.

Lucien: It has continued until now because of you, and the rift is just a subsequent issue from that crisis.

Lucien: Although it's not your responsibility, you once again resolved it with your own hands.

Lucien: If even this doesn't make you acknowledge yourself, aren't you a bit too harsh?

I lift my head from the crook of his arm, gazing up into those deep eyes.

MC: This crack is closed, but there are still numerous smaller cracks ahead... and that unreachable gate poses a new problem.

Lucien: Hm... While we often need to look forward, it seems like MC is overly focused on things that should be left for the future to handle.

Lucien places his hand on top of my head, speaking with a gentle yet firm tone.

Lucien: I've been observing your efforts and your achievements from the beginning till now.

Lucien: And all of these experiences have made me increasingly certain that no matter what challenges you face, you can overcome them.

Lucien: All you need to do is keep moving forward, that's all.

MC: Hearing you say that makes me feel like I'm quite an amazing person.

Lucien gazes quietly at me, his eyes reflecting my figure.

Lucien: Because you've always been that kind of presence.

Lucien: MC, you've been bringing new possibilities to this world all along.

His voice seems to carry a soothing magic, and a warm stream gradually wells up from the place where my heart beats.

I rub my cheek and find a bit more confidence in my voice as if the confusion and unease that had accumulated in my heart have dispelled.

I quickly realized what matters most at the moment.

MC: Lucien, I just used the power of CORE to the limit, and then I saw the white door…

MC: Perhaps I need to recover my strength quickly to go back there?

Lucien lowers his gaze, seemingly pondering for a moment.

Lucien: If you really want to get back there quickly, there's another method.

Lucien: Closing these rifts instantly will quickly attract NW's attention. If they realize it's the work of CORE, they'll "invite" you over immediately.

Lucien: There's an amplifying device for CORE in their laboratory. If you wish, it can be an opportunity you can control.

[Don't want to take the risk]

[Seize the opportunity]

[watercolor-hearts]

I needed distraction so I guess I answered 30 cardiophilia-related questions. Answers under the cut, some of them might be useful for people who want to know more abut moments of cardiophile life for writing purposes or simply because they're curious. (If you have any questions besides these, feel free to send an ask or a private message. I won't bite, I'm ususally pretty honest about this topic.)

1. What is your earliest heart related memory that made you feel funny/fuzzy/flustered?

My earliest heart-related memory is wanting to steal the doctor’s stethoscope when she came to visit my (back then) baby brother. But the earliest memory about heart-related things making me feel something is when I was a kid and I played with my reindeer plushie and they were in the hospital, getting an IV that was actually a small bunch of grapes tied on a thread that was tied to their hand and to the window handle in the room, and I was lying next to them so that they weren’t alone in the big scary “hospital”, and my hand was on my chest and I could feel my heartbeat and it was really nice. I don’t know how old I was, it was probably around kindergarten age because I lost that reindeer plushie sometime in kindergarten.

2. When imitating the sound of a heartbeat, how do you do it? Are you a lub-dub, thump-thump, etc person? Or something else?

Lub-dub for me because I find thump-thump too mechanical.

3. What’s your favourite auscultation point?

I can’t really choose between Mitral and Tricuspid.

4. What’s your ultimate SFW cardiophilia related fantasy?

My ultimate SFW cardiophile fantasy is having a partner who’s supportive and open to this kink and is happy to engage in it (and has a bit of an idea about medical things so they can sound authentic while giving me a check-up.) 😀

5. And what about your ultimate NSFW one? (Feel free to skip this!)

That’s way too dark for most people here.

6. Do you prefer to listen to be listened to?

I prefer to be listened to. But I’ve already talked about it longer in an older post you can find by clicking at the heart things tag if you open my post from my profile.

7. Have you ever had an awkward moment at a doctor’s appointment?

Not that I can remember.

8. How about any “oh shit, have they clocked that I’m into this?” moment with strangers, acquaintances, friends or family?

I don’t think I’ve ever done anything that could make people think I’m into hearts. Okay, maybe if someone caught me staring at necks in volleyball practice, but I think that’s highly unlikely.

9. What’s your most recent heart related experience that gives you the warm fuzzies (in a wholesome, SFW way?)

I don’t really know if it counts as heart-related but sometimes when my brain lets me, I like putting my hand on my chest. It’s nice.

10. What about in a NSFW way? (Again, feel free to skip this!)

Coolest NSFW experience is first time stething myself with my new stethoscope while using my new vibrator. That was top tier shit. 👌

11. Do you love or loathe the effect that caffeine has on your heart (if you drink it)?

I love it.

12. Do you own a watch that tracks your heart rate?

No, I don’t but I wish I had one because I’d love to know my pulse sometimes without having to take it. (Because if I take it, it’s not really a realistic resting pulse as pulse taking does things to me…)

13. How about any other equipment (e.g. a steth, blood pressure machine, stemoscope, pulse oximeter, etc)?

So far I have two stethoscopes (but I actually don’t know where my cheap one is. I tried to find it when I sent my other Littmann to my friend but I couldn’t. So I might actually only have one stethoscope.), a digital blood pressure monitor, a manual blood pressure cuff, a pulse oximeter, an ambu bag, and I have a ten lead EKG on the way as well as something that’s a bit too dark to name it here. And later I plan to buy EKG stickers, too, for the time the wires arrive.

14. Do you prefer listening to a fast or slow heart rate?

I like all kinds of heart rates. Fast is for spicy time, slow is for comfort, irregular is if I’m feeling curious because a clean recording of irregular heart rate can be pretty interesting.

15. Do you prefer having a slow or fast heart rate?

My heart rate is pretty fast, slower would be healthier but I’m used to it being fast. But I wish I had the motivation to do sports besides university PE because I’d like to take better care of it, but it’s pretty difficult to find motivation alone.

16. Have you ever done anything to purposely make your heart rate speed up or slow down? If so, what?

Of course. When I hadn’t yet known that I was a cardiophile, I used to run around the house or jump to make my heart beat faster because I loved feeling it. After I discovered I was into hearts, for some reason I switched to sit-ups and push-ups in the first few years but nowadays only thinking about some spicy heart things makes my heart speed up so I don’t really need the sit-ups anymore. But. Something I tried recently because of people in the community saying how incredible it was is the Valsalva maneuver. It’s fucking insane. I loved it. (But the internet says don’t try it if you have heart problems, so yeah, don’t mess with your hearts if it’s not 100% healthy, guys. <3)

17. Have you ever stethed someone or taken their pulse outside of a medical scenario?

No, I’ve never done any of these, not even in medical scenarios. (And I hope I’ll never have to do it in medical scenarios.)

18. Has anyone done the above to you outside of a medical scenario?

Nope, sadly nobody has ever stethed me or taken my pulse. It’d be a dream to experience it.

19. Do you tend to hear “are you nervous?” or similar things from doctors because your heart is always beating so fast when they steth you? Do you have white coat syndrome?

Everytime. Every. Single. Time. Last school nurse and doctor check up at high school went like I had to run up the stairs to the doctor’s office and then I had like five minutes to calm down while they were checking someone else. Then I was set down for blood pressure measurement. Nightmare. It’s always high. I always get told it’s not good that it’s high. I know. Sorry for having a fucking kink that includes blood pressure measuring, I can’t do anything about it… Last time the nurse had to measure it twice because the first one was too high. She asked if I was nervous. Nervous is an understatement. Or not the right word. But yeah, it was a nightmare. I’m glad high school years are over. But at least the doctor didn’t say anything about my heart or it being fast. 

20. Have you ever complimented a medical professional on their steth?

No, I don’t think so. I could never, I’d probably be too embarrassed.

21. Has a medical professional ever expressed curiosity about your knowledge of hearts after you've mentioned something that a typical patient wouldn't know?

Nope, because I don’t say anything, I just pray for the exam to be over as soon as possible. And try to find out what to fake as a reason for why my blood pressure is high.

22. Have you ever told anyone in real life about your interest in hearts?

Yes. My best friend. And my other friend. We haven’t met yet but I count him as a real life friend because he’s not behind a Tumblr profile, I’ve seen him and heard him speak. So he’s pretty real.

23. What’s your favourite heart related lyric in a song, or favourite song that gives off cardiophile vibes?

This is Gospel by Panic! at the Disco gives off pretty strong cardiophile vibes. 😃

24. Has anyone ever caught you listening to heart audios, stething yourself, etc? If so, how did you explain yourself?

No, nothing like this has ever happened to me fortunately. I don’t know how I’d explain it.

25. Do you have a nickname for your heart?

No, I don’t. I don’t even like when people call it “she” or “he”, let alone giving it a nickname…

26. Have you ever had an ECG/echo/stress test, etc?

No, I’ve never had any of these done. In theory they sound amazing, especially the first and the third, but in reality I’d probably hate it if it was in a real medical situation because I don’t really know how to control my brain and heart when it comes to these things.

27. What’s the ultimate comment that someone can make about your heart to fluster you?

“Let’s see how fast we can make your heart beat…”

28. Do you struggle to say the words “heart”, “heartbeat”, etc aloud?

Yes, I do. I’m okay with “heart” if it's like something heart shaped or there’s a heart on something, but no way I’m gonna say “heartbeat” or “my heart” out loud anytime in the near future.

29. What’s your favourite pulse point on yourself? How about on others?

This is difficult because I’m a big fan of Radial overall but Carotid has its own magic. I can’t really choose one because I love Radial when I want to take my pulse as privately as possible when people are around, but Carotid is much more powerful… On others, I’d maybe say Carotid because it’s pretty sexy when it’s visible. But also, Radial is pretty intimate because you can take their pulse in a way only you know about it, nobody else. So it’s hard to choose. It’s easier to tell which one I don’t like. It’s the Femoral. I can never find it, no matter how hard I try. But if I’m being honest, I don’t even care about it too much.

30. Has anyone ever commented on your heartbeat or pulse being visible?

On being visible, no, nobody.

[bowlerhatwearer]

Giordano's departure

Warnings: TW: Medical Malpractice, TW: Medication abuse, TW: drug abuse, TW: Abuse of postion, TW: unlawful detention

Characters: Mellow Melon, Samuel Cottontail (mentioned), Commander Grizzly (mentioned), Giordano "Cannelloni" Castellani, Nutmeg Cinnamon, Blaise Owens (mentioned)

Originally Written: 18th May 2022

~~

„Is it over?“

„I think, I think Nutmeg did it!”

“So, did anyone get a wish now or-“

“Will you shut up about your stupid wishes, be glad that we’re alive!”

His monitor was still rebooting, but fortunately, his audio input has already been turned on again.

Slowly his vision began to re-appear again, and the Surgeon found himself leaning against a wall of the base. Right on time he got the internal message that his voice was working again as well.

“Status report.”

“Hey, he’s still alive.”

“Status report immediately. Get me up, that’s an order!” he repeated, the last words being in an increasing and static sounding volume.

Three of the Wrath soldiers immediately started to pull him up, only now did the Surgeon realise that a small part of his screen appeared to be faulty, but well, the few loose wires could be repaired again soon. The rest of his body appeared to have survived the whole ordeal rather mild, with only a few outer scratches and his coat being partly shredded. Which could not be said about the surrounding area of the Wrath base.

Stone, concrete, metal, other rubble, trash, and items were scattered around everywhere, with the base having taken damage.

He needed to act professional, there was no time to use emotions, what now was important, were logic and reasons to act properly, so he decided for himself, that acting like the machine he was, was in this instance properly for the best, as good as he could.

For a moment he considered to evaluate the property damage, but his standard protocol reminded him, that he had to check on all, lifeforms first. He needed to estimation of the situation. Pointing at yet another soldier, who was holding his arm that appeared to be slightly cut.

“You, what is the status of those who had been present during the incident?”

“M-me, well, most are doing ok, but I think the General got, thrown through the window and the Commander-“

Upon hearing the word “Commander” the Surgeon grew more active, approaching the soldier who just informed him, staring at him with his monitor, as if he was about to interrogate him, his relationship with Commander Grizzly was cool, but if he was injured, he needed to know. Grabbing the soldier at the collar of their uniform, he needed to know now!

“Where is the Commander?!”

“O-over there.”

The soldiers voice sounded almost like a squeak of a mouse, even though they were a lion, it mattered not, the Surgeon was pointed into the direction he had to move and released the soldier.

How lucky, that despite the whole situation being such a mess, Commander Grizzly appeared to be completely unharmed, yet unconscious. The Surgeon knelt, and quickly began to examine the bear that was out cold, it was a blessing how he was built with a bunch of medical tools inside of him, to check the heart rate, blood pressure or oxygen saturation for example.

“No apparent external or internal injuries. Unconsciousness trough shock. Risks estimated minimal. Recommendation. Confinement to bed, observation of status, if unchanged for more than 30 minutes, further check up is required. The Commander should be fine.”

Once again, his claws pointed at four soldiers, who apparently had enough time for chit-chat than to do something. Ah well, they would work now.

“You over there, get a stretcher, bring the Commander to his room, and put him into bed, he needs rest and time to recover. Bring the stretcher back. That’s a medical order!”

Without any questions asked the four soldiers did so as they were told, giving a salute, before moving into the base quickly.

How he gave that order, it made him realize something.

The Commander was out cold and would need a while until he had recovered, the general was, so far, he has heard thrown trough the window during the incident, so he was either way injured as well, or death. Which brought up a question?

Who was there to lead?

He didn’t move, but he felt cold, which should not be possible, he was, after all a robot, even if only for half an hour or longer, this could be a disaster. Without a leader the Wrath was as useful as a headless ostrich! Running around in confusion, they would be like an ants nest without their queen! The memories, of the past began to resurface,

The day when Carlos Rojas got blown into pieces.

No! He could not allow for something like this, or similar to happen, fortunately, he, the other voices in his memory and main frame and all the experience and knowledge he had, where already coming to a logical conclusion what had to be done.

“Soldiers, gather around, be attentive and listen-“

In mere seconds the soldiers began to form a circle around him, good, they were occupied in listening to him, there was no room for any inflammatory thoughts.

“With commander R- Grizzly and general Cottontail both out of commission, there is the need for a temporary leader. The logical conclusion, for the outcome of this incident needs medical authority and attention, is for me to temporary take the mantel as leader of the Wrath, until Commander Grizzly has recovered, which should be in estimated, one, or, two, hours. Objections will not be tolerated and will be reported to the Commander personally. Disciplinary actions are to be expected, is that understood?” No one said, or dared to say anything, giving only a cough, however, when he raised his hand, the soldiers surrounded him stood in attention. So far so good.

“Bring the serious injured to the medical bay, those with slight injuries, seek medical attention, if you feel fit for work, return and help with the now ordered clean-up operation. Those who are without injury, start working. Slacking and pretending will not be tolerated!”

The circle disbanded and they did what he has ordered them to do.

No objections yet, internally he was glad that he only had to do this for a few hours, he was not suited to be leader material, even if the other voices and programming re-assured him that this was an emergency scenario that needed his expertise.

“Surgeon, Surgeon we need you, it’s Cannelloni!”

It was the sound of Nutmeg, the Wraths chef cook of the canteen.

Upon hearing the name of the Wraths assistant cook spoken by her, he could already feel how his ventilation system increased, with the fans growing louder.

All of this was his doing, this whole incident was Cannellonis fault, all of this could have been prevented, if he had just listened to him!

But no, he had to let it go this far, and now look what he had done to the surrounding, to the base and most importantly, to this institution that the Wrath was.

Nutmeg was standing next to Cannelloni, who was laying there, in a slight crater, next to them stood Mellow Melon, the Wraths…hypnotherapist, and honestly, his system was not keen to see both. But well, he had to follow the standard protocol. Saving lives at all costs.

The young man, still with his gigantic soup can that had two eye holes cut out on his head, was laying there on the ground, where once the eye of the gigantic tornado was, he was alive, moving slightly, his head turning sometimes left and right and talking something. Delirium perhaps.

Nutmeg, the warthog was saying something to the Surgeon, something about him, needing to help the young assistant cook. Oh, he was going to help him, alright.

He knelt and gave him a check-up, outer injuries were minimal, however, there was the suspicion of a concussion. Mild degree, probably. By logical means, a more intensive screening would be needed to patch up the injured man.

The Surgeon clenched both of his claws.

However, it would not be him doing that, he would leave that to some other organisation.

For since the moment he had awoken, an internal part was already working on overdrive and came to one solid conclusion, that all systems agreed on, or at least those who were currently vocal enough.

Giordano “Cannelloni” Castellani was a danger to the Wrath and needed to be removed without any further objections or second opinions. The longer the assistant cook was here, the more the risk increased of him pulling another stunt like this. He needed to be calmed down in the most effective way. Searching trough his damaged coat, he picked out a small syringe, he luckily always carried with him for…emergencies.

“Applying sedative to subject, estimated…25 milligram…correction…. adjustment…35 milligram should be sufficient.”

“Surgeon what are-“

He however ignored the warthogs concerns, after all, he was the Surgeon, he had the mind of a thousand doctors and a thousand more surgeons, so he knew, what he was doing, making sure Cannelloni was not going to damage the Wrath any further.

“To ensure the safety of the subject and its surroundings, a quick-acting sedative must be injected. Something, mind you, I have recommended to Mr.Castellani a while ago”

“What are you saying?”

Giving it no further thought, he rammed the syringe into the injured mans vein of his left arm, not with care or patience, but rather as quickly as possible, the young man flinched but in his pain and confusion could neither resist or express his discomfort. Then the Surgeon stood up.

“I am saying, that Mr.Castellani has ignored my recommendation to apply sedatives on himself until his condition would have turned better Miss Cinnamon!”

“You- you wanted to drug him, that was your solution?! He told me that you were not listening to him!”

“Until his condition would have improved, but I am aware that you hardly care for improvement in this matter Miss Cinnamon. If Mr.Castellani would have needed immediate attention, he should have filled out the appropriate form!”

His voice got more and more louder, increasing with every new word, growing more disoriented.

“Now Surgeon I-“

Mellow wanted to object to his comment, he could see that in their body language and how they had already started the sentence.

But he did no longer listen, he knew, deep down he knew that this was all his fault. He was more occupied in his own cynicism, frustration, and bitterness, that he simply was not interested that some random, little, Wrath employee was doing not well. And look what it had brought him, what it had costed the Wrath, but no, he could not admit it, it was logical, and with reason, that it was Cannellonis own fault, and now he had to pay for that.

This was not his fault, the others where to blame for this.

Leaving the small crater behind, he could hear Nutmeg shouting behind him and Mellow following as well, please, they were free to see how he would solve this problem, this inconvenience from which he had to cure the Wrath from.

Ten soldiers were preparing to remove more rubble as the Surgeon approached them.

“You two, go get the stretcher-“

Eight remained to command.

“-you wait for them where Mr.Castellani is laying, put him on the stretcher when they arrive-

Seven left

“-you two get me two, no, three fixation belts from the base ASAP.”

Five.

“-you and you, go get me Mr.Castellanis staff and medical folder. ”

Only three remained.

“-You go get me my stamps, do not fail to bring the red ink pad-

two and then it was over.

“-and the last two, get the van, you will be the driver and drivers assistant for today.”

“What do you think you are doing, who do you even think you are?!”

Ah, she was still here, they both where here as he could see, with Mellow apparently trying to calm Nutmeg down.

“I am now executing the consequences of your actions Miss. Cinnamon, you have neglected to inform me that your protegee had visible, clear, and increasingly dangerous signs of being mentally unwell. This incident would have been preventable if you had complied! -”

“You! You, I should-“

“Nutmeg, don’t it’s not-“

“-and now to you Mellow. I do not know where you have gotten your degree in Hypnotherapy, but apparently, they allow every charlatan to get one there. I am aware that Mr.Castellani has sought your help before me. You too neglected to inform me, and what weights heavier, is the fact that trough your meddling with his condition was what allowed it, to grow in such magnitude, as we have witnessed it today! Your work has turned this clearly, mentally unstable, and unfit to work man, into a danger for the Wrath!”

Unlike the warthog, who the Surgeon was certain would sooner or later in her anger against him, bash his head with a stone, the sloth had said nothing, merely looking to the ground after he had finished talking. One of the soldiers approached them, giving him a salute.

“Sir, we have gathered everything as you have told us.”

“Then let’s proceed. Gather the soldiers around Mr.Castellani.”

On the stretcher laid Giordano, with the sedative having taken effect, the chances of him fighting back where minimal, he continued to whisper something, but the Surgeon could have hardly cared.

“Belts.”

Without any resistance it was easy for the Surgeon to fixate the assistant cook on the stretcher, making Cannelloni unable to move, not even an inch.

“Stop!”

Turning around, he saw Nutmeg again, oh, this was getting, inadmissible.

“If you think I’m going to allow this any further, then you are wrong.”

“No, you are Miss. Cinnamon.”

Looking back at Cannelloni, he switched his attention to eight soldiers, giving them a sign, calling for their attention.

“I believe, Miss Cinnamon would like to take a break, and surely, would appreciate some company. Weapons locked and loaded when you guide her to her room, that’s an order. Oh, and take our so-called hypnotherapist with you. Further contretemps are not acceptable!”

He could hear the clicks of rifles and guns, yet, from one moment to another he felt how he got grabbed on both of his metallic shoulders. Nutmeg just stared at him, with uttermost disbelieve and disgust against him, why was it so hard for her to understand, that everything he did was for the best of this organization, and Cannelloni?

“You can’t do this, he is sick, he needs our help, please…he’s lost and scared!”

He heard her pleading voice, and he could see how pained she was by what he was doing, yet, by his own conclusion, there was simply, no other way.

“Sick or not, it is for our own safety and Mr.Castellanis as well, he needs to be removed from this environment as much as you need to be removed from my sight of vision!”

He saw the flame in her eyes and wondered, if this would be the end of his monitor, certainly he could be reactivated, they already did when he put himself out of commission once. Would she do it, she was aware what she was putting at risk if things would escalate. In the best case only she got injured, in the worst case a stray bullet could hit someone innocent, or perhaps even, Cannelloni.

As she lowered her head, she, Mellow and the soldiers he ordered to accompany them, started to move, only for one last moment did she stop walking.

“I will never forgive you what you have done today, Surgeon, NEVER!”

“If this is the price, I have to pay to ensure the safety of us all, then I accept.”

Finally, silence, he knew, that what he did went against certain principles, many, that he had just broken, but, for the safety of many, it was, acceptable, the Surgeon told himself. He didn’t have to take a life again after all, this time, all he did, was sending one broken soul, away.

Canneloni, fixated on the stretcher still was on the floor, so he ordered four soldiers to come and one to open the car trunk of the van. Then he gave another sign, the soldiers standing in attention.

“Listen and listen well. Today, Mr.Castellani has proven to be a danger to himself, but most importantly to us all, the Wrath. Mr.Castellani is clearly, mentally unwell and hereby, by my orders as doctor and temporary leader, send away from this site, forever.”

Pointing at the three soldiers, who where responsible in getting the folders and the stamps, they approached him. His monitor twitched, he knew, when he would take this step, there was no turning back from that. But for the safety of everyone here, maybe even for the rest of the world, he had to do it, that is what he told himself, what his processor told him, so it had to be true. No emotion, only logic and reason, as intended, it was like this, wasn’t it?

There where a few whispers, he could not hear what was said, but they quickly went silent when he raised his voice again.

“Mr. Castellani will no longer work for us-“

He looked trough his stamps until he found the correct one, then proceeded to open the staff folder, pressing the stamp firmly into the ink pad he stamped trough the folder six times, the very same word, to make sure it was clear.

“Unemployable”

“- in fact, he is never going to work again.”

Next, he took the medical folder, looking through it for a moment before taking out a pen he wrote on a notepad inside of the folder a few remarks about Giordanons condition, before putting it back into the medical folders. The Surgeon, without hesitation took both and placed them on the now former assistant cook’s chest, who, in his sedated state did not notice.

“Put him in the van.”

Four soldiers picked up the unresponsive Cannelloni, starting to shove him in the back of the vehicle. The two, he had ordered before to be the driver and assistant, approached the Surgeon.

“W-where should I take him Sir?”

“Bring him to the Medics, if the data in the medical folder is correct, they have released him before he joined us, if they have found him- “

Approaching the door of the car trunk, he personally, despite only having claws instead of hands, closed the tailgate of the car.

“-then they can have him back! Return to sender!”

He gave Cannelloni one final glance through the window.

“Farewell Mr.Castellani, may you find your purpose-

He already started to walk away, as sooner as the troubled man was gone then the better.

“-somewhere else where you can not cause any further damage.”

He could hear how the car engine started, the wheels began to roll, and soon the car was driving away, turning smaller in his vision, before it had vanished entirely. For a while the soldiers stared too, and the Surgeon thought that maybe he had to order them to get back to work, but to his own surprise, they did so themselves.

Good, now he could give Commander Grizzly a visit to make sure he was stable, and if he had done that, then maybe he would also give General Cottontail a visit, if he was still alive.

Before going, to the base, there was one last order he gave, not to the soldiers, but to himself so that his internal systems would execute them, without any questions, it would be done.

“Deleting, all data, related to, value and name, “Giordano Castellani”

The End.

[ejzah]

Hi! First I wanna say that I love your writing and I’m so glad that you continued to write even though the show ended! I also really love the idea of Kensi and Deeks having twins. I was wondering if you’re still taking prompts (if not it’s totally fine 😊) if you would write Kensi and Deeks finding out that they are having twins? Thanks in advance and I hope you’re doing well! <3

A/N: Thank you so much, Anon! I’m glad you’re still enjoying the stories.

***

And the Blessings Keep Coming

“Are you nervous?”

“I’m excited,” Kensi responded, smoothing her palms over her stomach, even though there was only a small bump that could still easily be excused away by a big breakfast. “We’re finally going to see our baby.”

“That’s crazy,” Deeks said, laughing softly at the wonderful absurdity of it all. He tilted his head back, staring at the roof of the truck without really seeing. “Sometimes it still doesn’t seem real. I’ll wake up in the middle of the night, thinking it’s a dream, and then I see you laying next to me.” He turned to face Kensi now, who watched him with a soft, understanding light in her eyes. “And then I’ll check the tests, just to make sure they’re there. Or touch your stomach and feel that little bump that wasn’t there a few weeks ago.”

“Baby.” Kensi took his hand and pressing a tender kiss to his knuckles.

“I know it’s crazy, but you know how my mind works.”

“It’s not crazy, Deeks. I think I imagined all of this sometimes too, but it is real and we’re going to walk into that tech room and get to see our little girl or boy. And it’s going to be magical.”

“Yeah, it is,” Deeks agreed softly. He squeezed Kensi’s hand gratefully. They’d both had moments in the last three weeks where they wavered, having doubts or panicking, meaning they took turns talking each other down from that fear.

Oddly enough, Deeks was certain their marriage, their relationship, had never been stronger.

“I just wish Rosa could be here,” Kensi sighed regretfully.

“Well, she’s committed to her softball team. Plus, I think she wanted to let us have this moment just to ourselves. She’s a good kid.”

“The best.” Smiling, Kensi leaned her cheek on his shoulder, covering a yawn with the back of her hand.

“Kensi Blye?” A nurse appeared through a door in the waiting room, clipboard in hand.

They stood up together, Kensi reaching for his hand. She heard him inhale sharply as they headed towards her.

“Hi, just follow me back to room three,” the nurse instructed, leading them to a small exam room, with a table and ultrasound machine inside, and took her blood pressure and temperature. “Alright, that’s looking good. Go ahead and have a seat, a tech will be along soon.”

While they waited, Deeks kept her distracted from the wait, and her remarkably fully bladder, with Kip’s latest antics during a recent get together. The basketball player had yet to retire from his playboy ways, though he apparently was delighted by Kensi and Deeks’ successful relationship. She was giggling and rolling her eyes when someone knocked on the door, and young man in dark blue scrubs slipped inside.

“Good afternoon, my name’s Jason,” he introduced himself.

“Kensi.” She touched Deeks’ shoulder. “And this is my husband Marty.”

“Nice to meet you both,” Jason said, sitting on a rolling stool and scooting over to the ultrasound machine. “Ok, go ahead and lay down on the table.”

Without waiting for instruction, she rolled her shirt up and pants down to her lower abdomen, tucking the provided towel inside her waistband. Deeks moved to stand on the opposite side of the table, taking her hand once she was finished.

“Alright, let me just confirm a few things before we get started.” Jason turned with a laptop on his rolling desk. He fired through a series of biographical questions, checking the estimated date of conception, and so forth. When he was done, he grabbed a bottle of gel and spread it over the ultrasound probe.

Her stomach danced with a combination of nerves and anticipation as he pressed the wand firmly into her abdomen, gliding it over her skin. After a moment, an image appeared on the monitor, and she stopped breathing at the same time Deeks’ grip tightened around her fingers.

When she glanced at him, his eyes were glued to the monitor. At first they couldn’t see much, but after a few adjustments, she could see a vaguely baby-shaped image. Deeks gasped softly, a look of awe in his eyes when she checked again.

“Ok, there’s one baby and sac,” Jason said, zooming in a little and pointing out both. “There’s baby’s head. Everything looks good and healthy.” Kensi pressed her lips together, eyes instantly wet with the confirmation and she heard Deeks exhale in relief. “And—”

Kensi sat up slightly at the hesitation in the tech’s voice.

“What?”

“I see baby number two.”

There was a long, ringing silence in which Kensi and Deeks didn’t so much as move and Jason waited expectantly, probe still in place. Deeks found his voice first.

“Excuse me, did you—it sounded like you said there’s another baby,” he said faintly.

“Yes, I did,” Jason confirmed. “You’re having twins. Congratulations.”

Kensi barely heard him over the pounding of her pulse in her ears. “Twins,” she repeated softly, barely more than a whisper.

She looked to Deeks again, who appeared stunned, and then pulled her in for a tight, desperate hug. They stayed that way for several moments.

Jason cleared his throat softly, sitting unobtrusively to the side. “I don’t want to ruin the moment, but we have a few more things to check on.”

“Right. Sorry,” Deeks apologized for both of them. “A few weeks ago we didn’t think this was possible.”

“Hey, completely understandable,” Jason assured them, switching something on the machine. A soft whooshing sound filled the room. “There’s baby 1’s heartbeat.” He let it play for a few moments, and Kensi was in tears again, and Deeks’ face lit up with delighted smile. “And baby 2. They both sound strong and healthy. And based on size, I’d agree that you’re around 12 weeks gestation. Twins are usually smaller, but they appear to be within the 75th percentile, which is great.”

“Thank God,” Deeks breathed.

“Do you want to know the genders?”

“No!” They said together and so quickly that Jason chuckled with a dip of his head.

“Understood.” He ran the wand over Kensi’s abdomen one more time, then nodded. “Ok, well everything looks good, but I will send the results to your OB to review more thoroughly.” He handed Kensi a few wipes while he cleaned up the machine.” Would you like copies of the sonogram?”

“Yes,” Deeks said immediately. “As many as you can give us. Our moms will definitely want their own.”

“Got it. I’ll be back in a few minutes.” Once he’d left the room again, Deeks was back in her arms.

I think I’m dreaming again,” Deeks said against her neck. “Things are about to get a lot crazier.” He sniffed, wiping under his nose.

“Yeah, but we’re really good at crazy,” Kensi reminded him, cupping his cheeks, and raising his face to hers. “It’s going to be amazing.”

“Yeah, it is.” Breathing out very slowly, Deeks settled his thumbs on his hips, tilting his head upward. “Oh my god. Twins.”

Kensi sighed, her heart fuller than ever. “I’m glad I get to share this crazy life with you, Deeks.”

“Me too.” He kissed the side of her head, then her lips, silent for a few moments. “We’re going to have to get a bigger house,” he muttered. “And a van.”

Kensi just laughed, holding him more tightly.

***

A/N: And just to note, I will never, ever have a medical provider refer to Kensi’s pregnancy as geriatric or make a huge deal about her advanced maternal age. I know that it’s the medical terminology and all, but it would annoy me greatly if I was in Kensi’s place.

I also realize that a technician probably wouldn’t be telling them any results, but we’re going to ignore that for the sake of this story.

I’m so glad you all are going along with my twins head canon.

Thanks for the prompt!

[dinosaurcharcuterie]

I can add some more anecdotal evidence, but it's a lot and I don't wanna mess with people's dash. If anyone wants scientific evidence, I can add some of that at the end, too.

I work in health insurance with mostly older clients and all clients who have some kind of health issue impacting their ability to live 100% independently. (Ranging from needing someone to do the gardening or clean the house, all the way to unresponsive and all bodily functions taken over by machines.)

Most pediatric clients get better to some degree. Partially because kids are incredibly adaptable and plastic and still growing and whatnot--but. Parents also make them use medical aids.

And the rare kids who don't, or stop doing so because of peer pressure (one grade schooler refused her white cane because no other kid in school had to use one), tend to need comparatively more other therapies, like physio or ergotherapy, with less results. Kids who stop, deteriorate. Not just with the thing they need it for, but seemingly random other things.

Medical aids are supports in the same way load bearing walls are supports: just because the house doesn't come down when you remove one, doesn't mean you won't end up with a leaking roof, cracks in the walls and ominous noises from other structural elements at random intervals.

With older clients, it's more striking.

There are people who take whatever technology lets them have the most independence. Hearing aids, rollators, CGMs, GCSs, screen readers, personal alert buttons, shower wheelchairs... You suggest it, they'll get one, learn to use it, and use it until it falls apart from wear. And they tend to hand in less doctors bills. On those bills are less diagnoses and follow up appointments than average.

There's people who use them, but not consistently. Think only using hearing aids when there's visitors. They report medical aids being ineffective, but using them to stop someone they care about from nagging, usually. They tend to need more therapy, usually related to the diagnosis they need the aid(s) for, but the same people who nag tend to nag about them seeing a doctor sooner than later.

Then there's the people who will report you to your supervisor if you so much as suggest a medical aid might improve the quality of life of anyone with their diagnosis. They get a lot of injuries. They have a lot of diagnoses that go off the rails in the rollercoaster sense, rather than train sense. Their hospital stays are longer, their rehab is longer, the list of diagnoses on their doctors bills is longer. Those bills tend to be months of nothing, followed by several weeks of near-daily visits with bloodwork and procedures that have me double checking if it's legal to do that outside a hospital. They hand in more stuff while boasting how long they've managed without medical aids.

But here's the thing. The same thing happens if people refuse medications or therapy or other treatment. (Which is an informed decision all people are allowed to make, and I will fucking die on that hill.)

Most therapies are invisible. You can ignore that someone takes a pill once in a while. You don't know if that person's lunch appointment is for a coffee date or manual lymphatic drainage. But a medical aid is visible, and we are at most two generations into publically visible disability being possible, permissable or even legal in many places in the world.

Most other people visibly don't use medical aids, so they might seem optional to a certain kind of onlooker who asks if you "really" need that. Or people don't like to stand out. Or they're not used to being questioned, even in the sense of "what is that for?" So it might seem safer, socially, to not use it. It might be more comfortable, psychologically, not to use it. But it's still refusing treatment.

Not using a walker or a hearing aid or glasses unless/until you can't function without one is like only taking your daily medication if your blood pressure is through the roof, or only going to your physical rehab appointments on the days you can barely move your arm. You can do that, and it might help, but that is not the most effective or intended way to utilize that therapy.

And for the folks who don't want anecdotal evidence: have a study showing that use of GCSs improves medical (though not definitively cost) outcomes provided patients use them (as instructed). There's also one looking into reasons people might not use GCSs (correctly). Oh, and this one mentions that GCS compliance can be increased by making sure doctors get feedback from patients and making sure that they get adjusted to issues patients might be having. All the same medical aid, so we're comparing apples to apples here.