#i lost half a day. i remember nothing after transferring to the surgery table until i woke up in recovery in tachy

[kinglypup]

i was at the hospital yesterday for literally 10 hours which is bonkers.

[veryrealimagination]

Comfortember Day 9 - Aftermath

William immediately headed to the room that had been prepared before any of them came in. Terrence Meyers and his father made sure that a safe house was prepped and cleaned before transferring his people, James Pendrick, and Llewellyn from the small hospital.

Julia, thankfully, hadn’t lost her license straight out. The tape with her confession on having to operate on Llewellyn as the only doctor able to at the moment had been sent to the board. They were debating on possible punishments, or even if she deserved them. Now, she had taken up residence in the room shared by the worst of the injured. James, who remembered underneath rubble, had slowly been regaining his modern memories as he dealt with the past ones. His shoulder was once again, dislocated. At least with modern rehab techniques, it wouldn’t end up like it had in the previous life.

There was a doctor and nurse pair sent from the intelligence agency, vetted by Meyers and Harry before being allowed to step in and work on the four. Henry was propped up with a computer and offsite access to the intelligence information, barely waiting until the concussion was gone before diving into the investigation as best as he could. George was recuperating from the broken arm and an infection that he managed to get from the exposed bone marrow. The two were bickering and talking while they waited for the worst to pass through George and he could be up adding to research again.

Llewellyn had only woken up twice since his massive surgery, which worried the maternal part of Julia but not her medical background. Impaled through the lung, massive loss of blood, right arm had multiple breaks and his left has restricted blood flow for hours, one leg broken and the other with a jagged, deep laceration. It wasn’t a surprise that he wasn’t more awake, although that meant he was on an IV drip and had nothing to eat for a few days. He wouldn’t be moving for at least half a year, and she believed he wouldn’t be halfway to his old physical self for over a year.

Once he could stay awake, he would go insane.

Julia had taken over a couch. After the first two days of resting and eating from her intense work, she was just watching over her son while talking with James. She didn’t want to leave him until he was able to keep a cohesive thought and stay awake for more than an hour.

Murdoch had been going out with Meyers and Harry, working the bombing just the same as any case back in Toronto. Evidence was being processed steadily, although it was hard getting to the shrapnel and possible fragments left. The people working there were slowly being interviewed for what they saw, knew about Pendrick, and everything surrounding him. It was long, taking the better part of two hours.

There was also a fair bit to go through. Thankfully, there was already a table when he made his way to the room. He laid down the files and lightly kissed Julia before sitting down himself. “There’s going to be dinner delivered in an hour. Harry’s bringing pizza.”

Julia nodded, settling herself down on his side. “A good change from the canned soups Meyers brought and dropped off. The kitchen isn’t the greatest for cooking anything.”

He knew that well enough. The microwave died out when he started using that, and the stove was barely functional. There was a lighter sitting next to it to ignite gas when they turned the knobs. “Hopefully, it’ll be filling. Doing investigations into a terrorist act with Meyers hanging over my head is a lot more exhausting than it was previously.”

She huffed. “I know they’ve had issues with getting money, but a microwave can’t cost that much.”

“What is it, like, a hundred dollars?” a tired voice mocked. James was awake, and starting to listen in on the couple.

Murdoch nodded, somewhat understanding the reference. “One of the first ones I ever took apart was about that much. Mary screamed when she saw I had taken apart the one they were planning on sending to the trash. She and Caleb had to warn me about the dangers of unplugged microwaves.” Julia smacked him. Of course, he would do something dangerous like that.

“It was the first family one. Dad was so angry at me tearing that apart,” James admitted.

“At least you never,” a tired voice started. Julia snapped her head around when she saw Llewellyn looking over, “Had to deal with that from me.”

“Llewellyn,” she said, standing up and going over to the bed.

His smile was weak. “Just fingerpainted on Grandpa’s canvases.” William joined Julia by her side, gently pressing the back of his hand to an uncovered part of his arm. He hadn’t seen him awake at all since finding him in the rubble.

She threaded through his hair. “Those were pretty pennies to replace. Although he told me that one of those paintings sold well enough that he almost wanted to let you keep doing it.” He smiled, then grimaced at something sending a sharp pain through him. “Where?”

“S-side,” he whispered, closing his eyes when another sharp pain went through.

“Do you want a hit?”

He shook his head. “No. Don’t like fuzzy.” Julia frowned, as she didn’t like watching him be in pain. “I’ll ignore it,” he breathed, “Like I do the ‘artbreak.”

“You didn’t ignore that, you stole two bottles of wine while she was out doing interviews,” William ratted out.

“Hey,” he protested. There was a promise weaseled out of him to never tell Julia about what he did after being dumped by Jack.

“Llewellyn,” she hissed. Honestly, she already had a thought that something had happened the two weeks she had to go cross country promoting her new work. Coming home and feeling a change in the status quo between William, Dad, and Llewellyn, she carefully watched them for two weeks. Never quite picked it up, but now knowing there were two bottles that he must have drunk after Jack made her wonder about the time.

“I, replaced them!”

“You, out of all people, should know about underage drinking and how dangerous, and bad, it can be for you,” she said.

“Wasn’t that bad last time,” he murmured, falling asleep.

That frown was more pronounced than the last one. “I think,” James said, “That I will take a walk-”

“Stay down,” she ordered, pointing at him with not even stopping her other hand. “William, we will be having a Talk about what happened.”

William knew how that was going to go. Which, he was grateful for Henry and George managing to get in the door. George had the laptop while Henry leaned on the crutches. “Should we come back later?” he asked, knowing he would get two different answers, at least.

“Yes.” Julia.

“No.” Murdoch.

“Please don’t leave me with them.” James. The last had everyone except the sleeper looking at him. “Mom and Dad are fighting,” he mocked, pointing at the two. George set down the laptop while getting more chairs. William went with him. “Anything on who bombed my lab and almost killed me?”

“A couple of suspects,” Henry said, taking Julia’s chair with permission. She nabbed William’s to look at the computer.

“Good. As long as one of them isn’t Allen Clegg,” he shuddered, remembering the rabies mutation that he made last time.

“Haven’t ran across him yet,” Henry relayed, “Or Sally. She is in the country, however.”

“Ugh,” he moaned, “At least she didn’t frame me this time.”

“William would have seen through it in a minute,” Julia said. “All of them would have.” Two more chairs, and the small group settled to start going through evidence that Henry dug up.

[ominous-meme]

SURGERY (URUHA X READER)

Inspired by the recent Spooky Box PV

“Ugh…” You open your eyes to see a pure white ceiling. Your entire body aches, and your mouth feels dry.

Where am I? You ask yourself. What happened?

You try to move, but you’re instantly stopped by a hand gripping your upper arm. “Wait,” a familiar voice says. “I’ll help you up.”

The hand slides under your back, while another rests on your shoulder. By the time you’re made to sit up, you feel slightly less disoriented and you can tell it’s your boyfriend helping you get upright.

“Uru...ha..?”

“Here.” He holds a glass to your lips, and the water soothes your throat, making it easier to speak.

Once your eyes adjust to the light and you’ve settled against the pillows, you see his pale, drawn face staring at you. The dark circles under his eyes are more noticeable than ever, and there’s a look of relief in his eyes now that you’re awake again.

“What happened to me?” You ask.

“You were in a car accident,” he explains. “It was almost fatal...I thought I’d lost you.” His eyes drop to your hands, which are now held by his own. “It was pure luck that we got an organ donor right then whose organs matched up with your body type. I don’t know what would’ve happened if…”

In the back of your mind, you register that you’re in the hospital Uruha works in. It’s known for organ transplants and blood donation, and the speed at which they can get the job done. Thank God for that, what would have happened to me otherwise?

“How long was I out?” You search for a question to break the silence.

“About three days.”

Just then Reita, Uruha’s best friend and another doctor at the hospital, enters the room, looking delighted to see you awake. He checks your vitals and explains how long you’ll have to stay in the hospital, before stepping out to speak to Uruha for some time.

“Was I really that lucky?” You ask your boyfriend once he returns to your side. “It just seems like too much of a coincidence that…”

“Yes, it was some great timing.” He kisses you on the forehead. “I’m off duty for another half an hour, shall I get you something to eat or drink? Reita says you can have soups and soft solids for now.”

Nodding, you relax against his touch as he caresses you on the cheek before running his hands through your hair. When he finally lets go, he heads off to the hospital canteen to get you soup. It’s not that great (hospital food never is), but it’s enough to make some of your energy return for now.

“I wonder how I ended up in a car accident?” You muse, lying back down. “I don’t even own a car.”

“The pedestrians have it worst,” Uruha responds. “Even when they’re careful, sometimes the drivers are the reckless ones.”

“Good point.” Yawning, you shut your eyes. “Uru?”

“Yes, love?”

“Thank you.”

“Reita handled your surgery, he’s the one you should thank. I was a useless mess.” His laugh soothes you, although it takes you a moment to realize it’s filled with bitterness, and you’re tense again. But the next time he speaks, it’s a gentle voice you hear.

“Sleep, my love. I’m going back on duty now, and I have a patient to take care of, but I’ll be back as soon as I can.” He presses his lips to yours, and the last thing you hear before you fall asleep is his footsteps walking away and a nurse saying, “He’s ready, Dr Uruha.”

Uruha examines the reports, his expression becoming grimmer with each line he reads. He stands up and removes his glasses, observing the ‘patient’ in front of him.

How they managed to keep him alive with some organs missing is beyond anyone who doesn’t work at the hospital. Of course, they don’t know that there are special patients ‘admitted’ on a regular basis.

They have the patient strapped down to what looks like an operating table. His tongue was cut off a while ago, and it was only advice from Reita that stopped Uruha from removing the patient’s heart...until now.

“You’re awake again, Patient 491. That’s good to see.” Uruha stares down at the patient, whose eyes widen in terror. Blood is spattered all over the patient’s bare, stitched-up body, and the mouth isn’t covered: a lack of tongue doesn’t let the man make anything beyond strange sounds and cries.

“As it turns out,” Uruha continues, ignoring the wails, “you have another operation to go before you can be discharged. I’m afraid there is something wrong with two parts of your body, and at least one will have to be removed.”

Tears well up in Patient 491’s eyes, and he begins to shake his head madly, struggling to free himself out of the leather straps that hold him down to the table.

“The donation of your other organs helped out most recent patient quite a bit, which is more than I can say of your original intentions.” In the back of his mind, Uruha is actually quite grateful for the car accident. How else would he have known where you had been?

“But these parts are severely infected, and can’t be donated to anyone...so we have to amputate the first, and permanently remove the second.”

Pulling on some new gloves, Uruha grabs the tray of tools nearby. He crouches at the end of the table, and at the last moment, looks up into Patient 491’s eyes. The wails get louder and louder, and end in sobbing as Uruha carefully cuts it off.

This is the true hospital. Where prisoners and criminals have their blood and organs harvested for other, innocent patients. The five senior doctors mostly take care of this...including Reita and Uruha.

Uruha had been terrified out of his mind when he heard you were missing. He didn’t know where to look or who to ask. It was only the car accident two days later that had aired on the news which told him.

Patient 491 was your kidnapper. And the things he had done to you...if the reports were to be believed, it became even more important for Uruha to get this special surgery done.

No anesthesia. That was the rule. The hospital had figured out ways to keep their special patients alive and conscious during the surgery, and Uruha is using his personal developments quite liberally at the moment.

Nobody saw how much Uruha had cried on seeing your broken body. Nobody heard the promises he made under his breath, sitting by your side while you remained unconscious. Nobody would ever know how far he was prepared to go for vengeance.

Calmly, he cuts open his patient’s chest, and the wails become softer and softer. Satisfied, the doctor watches the light fade out of the patient’s eyes as he extracts the heart. It was clearly a horrible death, to watch blood flow out of your body as the doctor removes your organs one by one, and feel every single pain the doctor wants to inflict on you.

He’ll clean this up later, he decides. For now, he just wants to be with you.

Opening the door to your hospital room, he smiles on seeing you fast asleep, a peaceful expression on your face. He pulls up a chair to your side, panicking when you stir.

“Mm..? Uru?” You smile sleepily at him, and he’s thankful he washed all the blood off before coming to see you.

“Hey.” Uruha kisses you on the forehead and sits down.

“Did you finish that surgery of yours?”

“Yeah. It’s all over now.”

Too sleepy to figure out what he means by that, you rub your eyes and sit up. “How long do I have to stay here again?”

“A week, at the very least. Don’t worry, I’ll take some time off when you’re discharged.”

“No, there’s no need, babe.” You kiss his cheek. “I’ll be fine. But I can’t seem to remember the days before the accident very well…”

You don’t notice Uruha stiffen. His voice, when it comes out, is controlled. “What can you remember?”

“Um...I remember walking past some shady area because of work. Why the client’s office was there is beyond anyone…”

That must have been where the asshole kidnapped you...Uruha had run a background check on Patient 491 as soon as that bastard had been pulled out of the wreckage (with only a few bruises, unfortunately) and transferred to Ward X of the hospital.

“Well, you’re okay now,” he chooses to say. “And I’m here for you.” He gently pulls you into his arms.

When his lips touch yours, you feel like you’ve regained something, even though you can’t remember what you lost. His right arm is wrapped around your waist and left hand is running through your hair. You feel your body heat up, and whimper when Uruha pulls away. “Not now,” he chuckles. “Once you’re discharged, I promise I’ll make it up to you.”

I will make sure that you never remember his filthy touch on you. You will only remember mine. You will never remember how much he hurt you, how he tried to sell you to us, not knowing who you are to me. The accident was a blessing, even though nothing would have happened to you after he brought you here anyway.

I love you, (Name). I will do anything for you.

[mstonecollins]

My Parents Planned Ahead and It Helped Me...Maybe It Can Help You Too.

As I posted on Sunday, this past Father’s Day I lost my Dear Father.  I was fortunate in so many ways, including the preparation that he and my Mom did to make sure their wishes were clear as they entered the final stages of their lives.  I share this with you today to continue to further my Dad’s work—to help others.

I need to declare here that I am not a lawyer and accordingly this is not legal advice and should not be taken as such! These insights are simply my opinions based on my experiences.  Everyone is different, so I am sure some of what I share below may not work or apply to your personal situation, but I’ve tried to lay things out in a straightforward manner for you to pick and choose as the particulars relate to your family situation.

It’s better to prepare for a debilitating health event before it happens.

Even if you’re fortunate enough for your parents to live a longer than average life (currently U.S. average life expectancy is 78.7 years according to Google), sooner or later you’ll face the challenge of a debilitating health event.   An experience that will forever change their way of life and ultimately lead to their path of departure from this life.  For my Mom, it was a stroke at age 79.   For Dad, it was a fall in his home that broke his hip.  I remember when I got the phone call that fateful night, wondering if this could be the beginning of the end.  He had the surgery to repair it, was in rehab, and seemed to be on the (long) road to recovery.  Not long after, however he suffered an infection that in his weakened state his 90 year-old body simply wasn’t strong enough fight off.   Just over three weeks after the initial accident, he passed away.

Fortunately for me, given what they had experienced with their immediate and extended family relatives over the course of their lives, they thought through what might happen at some point, and how they’d like to be cared for.  They proactively created a Medical Power of Attorney, clearly indicating their wishes as to how they wanted care administered when they could no longer communicate and advocate for themselves.  They discussed it with my brother and I and made sure we had copies.  Until I was sitting with my Dad as he slipped away on Father’s Day, I had never realized just how courageous, thoughtful, and selfless he was to take that measure.  I was a wreck, but somehow at peace knowing he was dying as he lived-on his own terms.  I can’t imagine what other families must go through when they don’t know their loved one’s wishes and are forced to make tough choices on their behalf.  My Dad faithfully remained at my Mom’s bedside in a skilled nursing care facility for the two and a half years she lived after she had her stroke…but he knew that wasn’t where or how he wanted his life to end.  He wanted to live out his life in the home in they raised a family and lived together more than 50 years.  And that’s what he did.

It’s great not to have to make tough decisions about funeral services, write obituaries, find burial plots, and lots of other items in the immediate aftermath of the death of your parent.  

My folks knew the end would come sooner or later, so they prepared for it.  My dear Mom didn’t want to leave the important details of exactly how she wanted their services to be administered  to her two sons with busy families and careers, so she did it herself!  Literally.

When she gave me this document the first time, I waved it off and said I didn’t want to talk about it.  She made me sit down at the dinner table (where all important family discussions always occurred!) and read it with her.  What a blessing.  As you can see, she literally left nothing to chance!  For that I am forever grateful.   Without her, I am not sure I would know just how important my Dad’s military service was to him (WWII Army Veteran).  

He wanted the full military honors that every honorably discharged veteran is accorded (gun salute, flag draped coffin, and playing of Taps), and we made sure he got it.  When one of our brave military service members folds the flag and hands it to you and says,  “on behalf of the President of the United States and a grateful nation, thank you for his service”, it’s meaningful.  

He didn’t think he was special, he just though he was doing what he was supposed to-his duty to his Country and his fellow Americans.  I was always proud of my Dad, but I’m not sure I ever felt a surge of pride as strong as I did on that hot summer Friday afternoon as we laid him to rest.

Mom and Dad decided long ago that they wanted to be buried together in the cemetery of the Church my Dad grew up in, just a couple of miles from the family farm. It’s a beautiful spot with a view of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Northwest North Carolina.  He bought those plots in 1986…more than 25 years before he would need them.

How to minimize the time-consuming impacts of will probate process—Thanks Dad.

Dad learned a lot in his experiences as the executor of the wills of a couple of his family members. Armed with that knowledge, he did all he could to make the transition as easy as possible for my brother and I (we are serving as co-executors of his estate).   Wills can be complex and potentially a burden for your heirs depending on where they live, what stage of life they are in, etc.  Here are a few things I’ve learned from his example along the way:

There’s no substitute for a clear, unambiguous will. Assuming you’re confident in the ability of your heir(s) to manage to your expectations, the simpler the better. In our case, my Father’s property was to be distributed in equal shares to my brother and me.  He gave us direction verbally on what he wanted done for the grandchildren and others, but left it for us to execute versus control in the will via the legal process.

You need to know the location of the actual original will (usually a lock box or in the offices of the attorney), as the attorney you choose to probate the will and the Court do not accept copies-only the original will do.

Liquid Financial Assets Flexibility.  In order for liquid monetary assets to avoid the probate process and to keep cash available for the heirs (for funeral expenses and other costs that arise after death) it’s important to take certain measures with the accounts while the parent is alive.   Make sure all financial accounts (checking, brokerage, etc.) are JWROS (Joint with Right of Survivorship), POD (Payable on Death), and TOD (Transfer on Death) for your heirs.   If you aren’t sure, a call to the financial institution can easily clarify.  

Any accounts set this way go directly through to the heirs, and are not subject to the probate process.  This was easy for us; as a service to them, I took over the bill-paying process for my Dad over 10 years ago as his eyesight no longer enabled him to administer those types of every day affairs.  For his brokerage account, all it took was one trip to the office to set up new accounts for my brother and I to split the proceeds.

Following my Dad’s example, I’d opine that it is helpful It’s to make an inventory of all of the property while they are with you and review it with the family.  As you approach the end, it helps to simplify/liquidate as much as you can—he sold off some real estate 10+ years so we wouldn’t have to deal with it after the fact.  It’s helpful to leave your heirs with the least complications you possibly can; for my Dad, the estate is only having to deal with two pieces of real estate, and some savings bonds that were payable on death to my Mother, who pre-deceased him.   I know that if he realized it would cause a challenge with the probate process, he would have liquidated them long ago!

Please understand that I would have done anything for my Dad, and find joy in doing it—a labor of love so to speak.  In some ways, I believe God led me to retire from full time work last year for many reasons, one of which was to deal with this series of events.  But in making these preparations, my Dad died as he lived—thinking of others, not himself. He gave us all the opportunity to gather as a family and celebrate his life.  And for that, I am truly grateful.

[skittykittie]

Kaiyuan to Jianshui

July 30, 2015 (written on the day)

My alarm went off at 7. I actually was able to make myself get up and make it down stairs for group breakfast... but it was only me, Jessica, and Sophie. Little by little, everyone else was getting too lazy to get up early to eat. Our hotel didn't provide breakfast, so the three of us got the task of finding a decent local place to find something to eat.

Luckily, Jessica was able to spot the entrance to a local farmer’s market not too far from our hotel. We walked across the street (through crazy traffic) through a small gap between the strip of stores and businesses. I couldn't tell from the outside, but the entrance led into a huge farmer's market. They had set up all behind the strip of buildings. There was plenty of fresh and hot food as well as vegetable and meat stands.

These were definitely where the locals came. We passed by a lot of people on bikes with baskets of their fruits they had picked. There were families that were shopping for the day's ingredients. We walked around a bit until Sophie found a rice noodle shop she liked. She ordered from there, and Jessica and I got some steamed buns for ourselves and the rest of the group. It was so cheap! Only 1 yuan (about 15 cents) for one bun, and they were big buns!

When we got back, it was time for our morning routine of putting all of our stuff into Dr. D's room, transferring all of our equipment for the work day downstairs, and checking out of our rooms.

It was a nice morning so I decided to walked the short distance to the hospital with FangQi, Jess, Zhangrui, Landy, and Sophie. The streets were much more alive than the evening previous. I'm starting to get the impression that these smaller Chinese towns really like the "the early bird catches the worm" saying.

Once at the hospital, we were warmly met and welcomed by the hospital staff, most of which we had met the night before. At the entrance of the building was an rolling banner of LED lights that read, "Kaiyuan welcomes the China California Heart Watch!" Wow. These people really knew how to impress.

The meeting with the head director and co was equally as impressive. We were brought to a large conference room with a huge table that was able to accommodate our whole team of 10 and their staff, who I didn't count. We were served tea in glasses, instead of plastic cups. They also introduced themselves one by one, making us do the same. There was applause after every person was introduced. Their head director spoke before we started our proposal and conditions for work, and it seemed as if he had memorized and pre-rehearsed it. Maybe he was just very articulate? I'm not sure, but it was pretty professional. Lastly, at the end, they had the typical photo taking with Dr. D and the directors, but they had them take it in front of another room where there was already big screen with a fancy background set up.

Kaiyuan really, really, knew how to welcome us.

We separated into our clinic and training groups. Clinic was set up on the pediatrics and OB/GYN floor. I don't actually remember how many patients we saw that day. Maybe 7 or 8? Half of our patients were infants, less than a few months old, making our job fairly simple. A lot of them didn't have much of a problem, some were just follow ups.

There was one family in particular that stood out to me that day. It was an 11 year old girl who came in with her parents. I could tell by her father's extremely dark skin and over worked hands and her mother's traditional outfit, that she was from a very poor family. As we interviewed them, Sophie and I realized they didn't speak Mandarin well. We had to get one of the other doctors to interpret for us. They had traveled hours from their small village to come into town to have her examined. They were also of an ethnic minority group, which explained why they spoke a different dialect of Chinese.

The reason this girl really stood out to me was because they were so extremely poor (well, most of our patients are) and she was very sick. We found several heart issues on her that were operable. With the funds and resources ChinaCal has, we were able to help arrange to send them to Kunming and accommodate her for surgery. They were worried because they had never been to Kunming and would most likely get lost, they were also worried about having to take time off work, but Shanshan and the other doctors helped work out a plan for them to get her the help she needed.

It is cases like this that make me remember why we are here and my motivation for coming in the first place. She is a prime example of what good all the donations went to. Many of the kids we see don't usually have anything direly serious wrong with them. Our purpose is to find and help the unfortunate few that do. I was extremely happy to see them get what they needed for their little girl. Without this organization, I don't think she would have ever even been seen for her issues.

Sophie and I finished well before 12 pm (our designated lunch hour), so we opted to go get a tour of the maternity ward. Similar to the NICU in Mile, we had to dress up in the whole gown attire. Unfortunately, this woman we toured with didn't realize I didn't speak Mandarin well. Sophie and I also didn't get a chance to really tell her, either, because she kept talking... and talking... But it was kind of cool to at least walk around. The ward was empty (thank Jesus), so there wasn't really anything for us to see besides the rooms and a little bit of equipment.

We hung out a bit longer, finding things to watch in the ultrasound room and the hallway. Pretty soon we went to lunch. Lunch was almost exactly like the day before, welcoming staff, lots of pre prepared food, and toasting. Most of us chose not to drink wine this time, though, including myself. My redness gets embarrassing.

When we got back, we had only one or two more patients to do an ultrasound examination on. The last child was one of those that was so afraid of the doctor's, he'd cry just by entering the room. He was really cute though, a little 2 year old boy. He had been so fussy before lunch that we told the family to go out, get him really tired, and come back after lunch. They came back and he was less fussy, his dad was carrying a large toy truck that was still new in the box. It was a cute attempt to try to calm him down, but he didn't care for it once we got him in the examination room. Poor kid.

I actually had to help with this one, he was so bad. He kind of reminded me of how I used to be with needles. We finally were able to get him to lay still and stop crying by playing a few episodes of Tom and Jerry that Jessica had on her iPad. It was like magic. He was mesmerized by the cartoon. His mom was also there next to him narrating the whole thing to him. It was adorable.

Once we were finished, we packed up and then... nothing. It was only about 2 when we finished. The training team had finished, too. We had 2 hours to kill while waiting for our car that would bring us to the next city at 4. I spent my time working on blogs out on this nice patio they had and watching the baby yoga and swim session.

What? Baby yoga swimming?! What's that you ask?

Probably one of the cutest things I've ever seen. It's an out patient service where parents bring in their babies to be given a thorough bath and let them swim around. Babies obviously can't swim, so what they do is put a round floaty right under their chin and around their necks. Then, the nurses have a huge sink of water, and let the babies float in there. It's seriously the funniest and cutest thing I had seen all trip. The babies are literally just floating heads. A lot of them really enjoyed it, they were kicking and swimming around, one even fell asleep. After their designated swimming time (maybe 15 or 20 minutes) the nurses would come over and give them a good washing. The entire team was so fascinated by this whole procedure. We stood at the viewing window taking pictures, video, and coo-ing over how funny they all looked.

Car came right on schedule at 4 pm to pick us up at the entrance of the hospital. I was confused at first because on the outside, it was just an ambulance van. But then the door slid open and I saw that it had been remodeled on the inside. There were enough seats for all of us, plus two extra! We were amazing able to fit every person and every one in that one van. It was also the most comfortable ride thus far. We each had individual seats, AC, cushioned with SEATBELTS (something that is not often seen in public transportation, let alone used at all in China).

This ride, I was less tired than before. I was actually awake for half of it, but that also could have been because the road was extremely bumpy at times. The road was very wound around the mountains, as well, causing me to get constantly bumped against the side of the van. Nonetheless, I was awake and able to watch the scenery. It was beautiful. We were finally IN the mountains, not just driving through them or by them. There were several turns where one wrong slip of the tire would mean us tumbling down a cliff.

We arrived at our next city Jianshui, our 5th city of the week, and it was only Thursday. We weren't greeted with a parade like Kaiyuan, but the hotel was extremely nice, the nicest so far. We had a western toilet (a valued commodity for Donna and I), a shower that was closed in (most showers just pour out onto the ground and everything gets all wet), a coffee table and a couch, breakfast was included in our stay... the only bad part was the wifi. It was terrible. I had to go out into the lobby to actually be able to use it at all.

Oh well, you win some, you lose some. We were staying there over the weekend, so I was extremely happy about that.

Around 7:30 we went out for dinner. We had to walk a bit to find a Muslim restaurant for Zhangrui's sake, but I'm so glad we did. We ended up at a place that had HOT POT. Even though it was the middle of summer, it was SO GOOD to have some real hot pot. I ate to the fullest I've felt all trip. I can't describe to you how amazing that place was. A group of people actually went back the next day for dinner again haha.

When we got back, our stomachs stuffed, Donna decided it was time to do laundry... by hand. She had brought soap to wash some clothes in the sink. Everyone in our group did it that way, too. My dad had told me to find a place with laundry service, but honestly, I couldn't find anything that said they had laundry service. The only place that had was my 5 star hotel in Kunming, and they charged, like, $2 per SOCK. Shirts and pants were even more.

Nope. I was going with Donna's plan.

We were going to be there over the weekend, so we'd have plenty of time to make sure our clothes dried. They had plenty of rails and a laundry wire where we both hung our clothes to dry. I also felt very safe and clean at this hotel, so I washed everything I could. It surprisingly did a pretty good job. Some of the water I washed in actually turned dark because of the dirt I was getting out.

After I finished that and showered, we got ready for bed and our last work day before our first "free" day!