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fanficnewbie · 4 years

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Sienna Weighs In P11

OPEN HEART: SECOND YEAR - CHAPTER ELEVEN

(ETHAN x FEMALE MC)

MC is Dr. Francesca Houseman *This entry takes place after the end of chapter eleven. (This is a chapter by chapter series…)

Sienna visits Francesca in her hospital room.

PREVIOUS CHAPTERS Chapter 1: MC tells Sienna about her Ethan convo at Donahue’s. Chapter 2: MC and Sienna discuss Ethan’s gym routine. Chapter 3: MC questions how well she really knows Ethan. Chapter 4: MC takes Elijah and Sienna to see Evelyn’s exhibit. Chapter 5: Sienna talks MC through a panic attack over Ethan. Chapter 6: Sienna cheers on MC for standing up to Ethan. Chapter 7: MC confides in Sienna how she met Ethan’s mother. Chapter 8: MC has to the consequences after the baseball game. Chapter 9: Baz starts to question MC and Ethan’s relationship. Chapter 10: Sienna confronts MC over Ethan’s “Not Single” status.

Word Count: 1918 Rated: Teen

I make references to “SWI Chapter 8″ in this fic, so I suggest you read that one if you haven’t already.

***

Sienna walked into Francesca’s hospital room to find Ethan at her bedside. Their heads were huddled close together and her hand was clasped in both of his as the two spoke in lowered voices. They looked up as she came in.

“Oh no, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt.” She turned to leave but Ethan’s voice stopped her.

“No, it’s fine, I was just about to leave.” He raised Francesca’s hand to his lips and kissed it softly, before he stood up. “I need to get some sleep and check on my dog. She’s all yours.”

He walked towards the door and the two exchanged a glance of understanding as they passed each other.

Francesca gave Sienna a questioning look when she approached her bedside, “What was that all about?”

Sienna took Ethan’s seat, “I should be asking you the same thing! Was that a public display of affection from Dr. Ramsey?!”

Francesca beamed, “Yes! But it’s not getting you off the hook. That look you guys just shared, and the fact that he felt he could display affection in your presence...what exactly happened with you two while I was locked in that room?”

Sienna shrugged dismissively, “I already told you that we went to go see Travis, hoping he could help tell us find out what the toxin was.”

“Uh huh, and what didn’t you tell me?”

Biting her lip, Sienna hedged her words, “Hmmm, well, we may have talked about you a bit, I mean, to be more specific, you and him, as an...item.”

Francesca couldn’t hide her surprise that Ethan would entertain such a dialogue, “What? How?!”

“It’s no big deal! I just thought with everything going on, maybe I could get him to open up. So, I told him that you were my best friend and how I’d do anything to save you. Then I expressed that you guys seemed like you were much more than colleagues, and he actually admitted that you were!” She threw up her hands, “But he wouldn’t say anything else about it. And I acted like I didn’t know anything else. I played it totally cool - just like when I was under interrogation with Harper last year. It was fine, he didn’t suspect a thing.”

Sienna broke into a broad smile, “Then I walk in here and see him kissing your hand! So, what exactly happened last night while you were both locked in that room?”

Excited to finally share her news, Francesca quickly relayed the events of the previous night. It was the first time she had told anyone about it and she realized that saying it out loud actually made it feel more real. “Sienna, you were right all along! He admitted that he cared for me and he shouldn’t have pushed me away. You should have seen the look on his face when we both got it all out in the open. He was happy, like a burden he’d been carrying was finally lifted.”

“Yeah, his burden of deep denial!” She paused, “Speaking of, the one thing I did find odd about that car ride is that he acted like I totally didn’t catch him doing ‘the walk of shame’ out of your bedroom last year. Like, dude, none of this is new information.”

Francesca laughed, “I’m sure he’s completely repressed that memory.”

Sienna’s eyes widened with a sudden realization, “Oh my God. When you get out of here, you’re going to have the best sex. Lots of it!! Then you guys will get married, then have babies…beautiful, brilliant, stubborn babies.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. I’m all in the for the great sex but the rest of it, slow down! It took me over a year just to get this far. Where’s that all coming from?”

Sienna turned away, instantly deflated, “Sorry. I guess I’m projecting a bit. I thought that would be my life with Wayne, but that’s not happening. Then with Danny, things were still new and I was the one who didn’t want to rush into another relationship, but I really thought that we had something that could turn into something more, we were just so…connected,” she wiped away an onslaught of tears with her hand, “I just want one of us to have the happy ending.”

All the guilt that Francesca had been harboring since Ethan told her about Danny washed over her at once. Her heart ached for the pain she had caused her friend. “God Sienna, I’m so sorry! I just can’t help but think that if I hadn’t have gone and stolen the Senator and brought him here, then none of this would have happened.”

Sienna looked up, sniffing through her tears, “No, no, no! You will not blame yourself for this. How could you have known? How could any of us have known? If being a doctor has taught me anything it’s that sometimes really shitty stuff happens to very good people.”

“Don’t look for meaning in suffering, you won’t find any,” Francesca met Sienna’s red rimmed eyes, “Ethan once told me that. It crossed my mind many times when I was in isolation, contemplating everything that was happening, wanting it to somehow make sense.”

Sienna nodded through her tears and Francesca scooted to the side, patting the bed for Sienna to lay down next to her. Settling against her, Francesca held her tight while she wept. “It may not look like it right now, but you’ll get the happiest ending of all. You’re too good of a person not to.”

Finally able to dry her tears, Sienna gave a humorless laugh, “I guess the other shoe dropped, huh?”

“To say the least.” Francesca sighed, “You know, last night really was the worst night of my life, but even it had this amazing silver lining. Now, I’m just, I’m elated about Ethan, and totally devastated about Danny and Bobby. The range of emotions I’ve gone through in the past 36 hours, that we all have, it’s been unreal. ”

The two women were quiet for a few moments, comforted solely by their proximity to and affection for, one another.

“Sienna?”

“Mmmmm?”

“Are you really going to give an interview for Senator Ed? Call him a hero? I understand why you made the deal, I really do. But you don’t have to go through with it.”

“But I do. I promised him that I would and I’m keeping my word. However, I was hoping you could give me some more information on his new bill. I was planning on mentioning it.”

“No problem, I’d be happy to give you a few more details”, she paused, “as soon as I make them up.”

Sienna offered a wry smile and then flipped onto her back with a sigh as she stared at the ceiling, “So, what now?”

“I have no idea.” Francesca grimaced, “My parents and brother want me to go home for awhile, take an extended vacation. I didn’t call them when everything was happening. I didn’t want to worry them when I didn’t have any answers, but now they’re really upset, and rightfully so. How unfair would it have been to them if I actually did die? But still, I don’t want to leave. I need to make sure Raf is okay. I need to go to the funerals. I need to be with Ethan. And they don’t understand any of that.”

“Why don’t you have them come here?”

“I’m not sure I want that either. Don’t get me wrong, I love them and I do miss them, but they’re just not what I need right now. I need people who understand what happened, who went through it too, and that’s not them. I don’t know how else to explain it.”

“No, I get it. It’s all only something that we can understand.” Sienna suddenly sat up and grabbed her hand, “Francesca, I need you to know that you’re my best friend and I love you.”

Francesca squeezed her hand, “Well that’s a good thing because you’re my best friend and I love you too. Dolphins, remember?”

Sienna smiled. “Good. We can all take a page from Dr. Ramsey. Life is too short to not tell people how you feel about them. I was so scared I was going to lose all three of you guys. I’ll never be able to tell Danny what I hoped for us, but I want to make sure that I’m clear with everyone else.”

“You are one of the most loving people I have ever met. I promise you, we all know. But, I can’t argue that it’s still nice to hear from time to time.”

“Well, you never need to doubt that you are loved. You should have seen how hard everyone worked to create that antidote for you guys. Whatever doubts you have about June and Tobias, get rid of them. They were laser focused, and failure was not an option. Elijah was in his element and Jackie was like a machine. Bryce was the best cheerleader, he kept us hopeful even when things looked dire. And the other MK doctors were so nice and supportive, it was like that stupid softball game never happened. Around midnight Naveen even made an appearance to reiterate that despite everything, cost was not an obstacle in finding a cure.”

Francesca smiled, “He stopped by earlier apologizing profusely for not coming to see me yesterday. It was fine, I totally understood that he had been busy dealing with the CDC, FBI, the media and the Board. But he still felt awful and offered me anything I could have to make myself more comfortable while I’m here.”

Sienna quirked an eyebrow, “And what did you ask for?”

“Better food for me, Kyra and Raf. He’s now having our meals delivered from outside the hospital, on his dime.”

“That’s a good deal.”

“I thought so too. Aurora also mentioned how great everyone worked together and we both had the thought...what if Edenbrook and MK became one institution and shared resources? That way we could both stay open.”

“Oooooo! I love that idea! We could be Mass Edenbrook, no Edenbrook Kenmore! Or maybe Kenmore Edenbrook? I dunno,whatever, great idea!”

Francesca laughed as Sienna plopped back down next to her, “Glad you think so too. Aurora is going to talk to Harper about it and get her thoughts. She’ll know whether the idea is feasible or not since she used to be Chief.”

“Another good idea. So, when are you breaking out of here?”

“Ethan said tomorrow if my strength is up and my blood work remains clear. Zaid stopped by to let me know that Esme is under his supervision and doing well despite being worried sick. He promised he was going easy on her and that she’d stop by after her shift.”

“We’ll be ready for you to come home. Jackie is straightening up and Aurora is helping me make my famous chicken noodle soup. Elijah is putting together the perfect classic comedy movie marathon. He figured we could all use some laughs.”

“He’s not wrong.”

“Hmmmm, it seems like Baz was right after all.”

“About what?”

“That we can get through anything because we have great friends at our side.”

“Yes, he was definitely right about that!”

Overcome with another wave of exhaustion, Francesca started to drift off to sleep when she remembered Sienna’s earlier comment, “Sienna?”

“Yeah.”

“Our babies would be incredibly stubborn, huh?”

“Oh my god, the absolute worst!”

Francesca smiled to herself as she drifted off to her friend’s light laughter.

Chapter 12: Francesca texts Sienna while spending time with Ethan.

***

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING. YOUR LIKES AND COMMENTS MEAN THE WORLD!

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#ethan ramsey #open heart #ethan x mc #open heart fandom #open heart fanfiction #dr ramsey #play choices #open heart book 2 #sienna

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drariellevalentine · 4 years

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Medically Inevitable

Chapter 4- Radical Revelations

Characters:- Arielle Valentine, Sienna Trinh, Bryce Lahela, Landry Olsen, Elijah Greene, Jackie Varma, Rafael Aveiro, Ethan Ramsey, Harper Emery

Pairing:- Arielle Valentine x Ethan Ramsey

Warnings:- None

Arielle’s PoV:-

Completely exhausted from the day’s events, you head into the locker room and take a nice but quick hot shower. Drying off, you quickly change into a cute pearl silk tied top with a comfy pair of ripped jeans. Taking out the bun in your hair, you decide to let your hair down, parting deep to the left, caressing your revealed shoulders.

You enter Donahue’s to find it completely packed. You try to squeeze inside apologising every now and then and look around to spot your friends.

You finally find them sitting in a table at the furthest corner of the bar.

"Long day?" Si asks as soon as I slump into the seat next to her.

“You have no idea, according an 18 year old, I look younger than him, so apparently I not eligible to be a doctor cause I look too cute!," I sigh dramatically and she giggles.

"Careful please," Bryce says before placing a tray of shots in our table.

Jackie scoffs, " Why are you even buying us drinks, meathead?"

"He's being nice, Jackie.”, Sienna smiles.

"Yeah, and also you think you could afford to buy that tonight?" I add.

"Sure," she rolls her eyes, "Thank youu," she says sarcastically.

Bryce laughs. "Think of it as a good luck drink guys. You are going to need a lot of luck to get into the diagnostics team."

"Wrong meathead. What we need is brains and hard work. Duh!"

"And luck," Bryce adds smirking, ‘lots of luck’. He emphasizes on the word "luck".

After minutes of bickering in between Bryce and Jackie, Bryce leaves to join his fellow surgeons. But my friends are still talking over the fellowship.

"I can't still believe they'll be taking an intern in the team!" I hear Landry say, his voice filled with excitement. "Never in my wildest dreams did I think that they'll even consider giving an intern a spot in the team let alone train them."

"Cheers on that," Jackie says forwarding a glass.

"Let's have a toast guys," Elijah forwards his glass. "To having a marvelous fellowship."

As we all toast to it I say, "Honestly guys, good luck. I won't be joining the fellowship but I wish the best of luck to you all." I smile. Everyone stares at me like I just refused a million dollars.

"You won't be joining the competition?!" Jackie asks shocked. "But why?"

"Not everyone wants to join the diagnostics team, Jackie," Landry states.

"Maybe not everyone, but Arielle does. The diagnostics team is the very thing that made Arielle apply here, in Edenbrook. That's one of the many things she said to me the day we met." Jackie turns to me then giving me a look that says "I want an answer".

"I know. The diagnostics team is what made me apply here on the first place, but I changed my mind. I got through my first week because of you guys. I don't think I could have done it if you guys were not there to support me," Sienna places a hand on my shoulder, giving me an understanding look.

"I don't want to ruin our friendship by competing with you guys. I need you guys by my side not against me."

"Idiotic choice but your call," Jackie rolls her eyes. And I smile as Sienna hugs me. A while later, you all head home for the day.

General PoV:-

Harsh sunlight streams through the open curtains of Arielle’s magazine cover worthy bedroom. Arielle turns around in her bed to grab her phone from her nightstand. The alarm clock catches her eye ‘9:15 a.m.’ She bolts right up in bed, rushing to her closet while ranting a ton of expletives. Hearing the commotion, Elijah and Sienna rush inside to see Arielle on the floor half-naked tangled in a bunch of clothes. Sienna stares at her in confusion while Elijah understands what’s going on and bursts out laughing.

“What’s so funny?”, Arielle asks.

“You forgot today’s our day off, didn’t you?”, Elijah asks knowingly.

“It is? Oh shit! I completely forgot!”

They help Arielle out of the tangle of clothes. “Anyways, we were thinking of going to a baseball game so...I bought everyone matching t-shirts but they only come in two sizes you’ll have to adjust yours. Only then Arielle notices their shirts. Sienna hands her an red oversized t-shirt. “We’re leaving in an hour, get ready!”

Arielle’s PoV:-

You shower and slip on a robe after drying yourself off. “There’s no way in hell I’m wearing this!”, you exclaim holding up the red,baggy, oversized shirt. If there’s one thing you care about, it’s your style. You grab a pair of fabric shears and crop the oversized shirt folding the hem to create a neat finish using fabric glue, then cinch the extra fabric on the slides and secure it in place with a few stitches. You hold up the newly altered shirt and look to your mirror. “Much better!” Pairing it with a pair of studded white jeggings, white heel sandals and a couple of accessories, you sit down on your vanity’s stool. You take out your braid from last night, leaving thick curls in its place. You carefully clip your hair out of place and decide to brush on a little extra makeup. After finishing with your usual moisturiser, concealer and primer, you accentuate your almond eyes with a jet black eyeliner and brush out your brows. Knowing that you won’t need any help in the blush department, you move on to your lips. You decide on your favourite red transfer-proof lipstick ‘Bold Beauty’. You grab a crossbody purse and place your wallet, keys, phone and other essentials and head to the living room.

“What do you think? Is it too much?”, you ask uncertainly.

“Hot damn!”, says Jackie.

“You look gorgeous.”, Sienna says.

“Woah! You look good!”, says Landry.

“Someone call the fire department cause it’s getting hot in here!”, exclaims Elijah.

You blush furiously. “Thanks guys, I’ll drive us there.

You pile in the car as Elijah rides shotgun and gives you directions. You reach there at 10:30. “Ok, 10 minutes till game starts. Everyone split up and stand in a different line and get one of everything. I’ll get the drinks.” Sienna tells everyone where the seats are and everyone splits up. You get a drink tray full of sodas, beers and a lemonade for you, everything packed with ice, and head down to the first row where you find everyone holding snacks.

“Great seats Elijah!”, says Sienna.

“Have to be close to fully appreciate the bloodbath, these teams loathe each other.”

Landry and Elijah start geeking out as you, Jackie and Sienna are talking.

“So...I may or may have not seen you get into Dr. Ramsey’s car yesterday.”, Sienna slyly says.

“Crap!”, you think.

“Tell us everything!”, says Sienna.

“Seriously?”, Jackie asks.

You slowly confide in them about yesterday’s events and what you confessed about your personal life.

“Oh my god, Ari! I’m so sorry!” Sienna pulls you into a hug.

“It’s okay, I’m fine now.”

“Now I feel really bad for judging you, also very surprised and impressed that you managed to get away with sleeping on Dr. Terminator’s shoulder.”, says Jackie.

“It isn’t that big of a deal!”, you counter. Both of them give you a look. “Ok, fine, it is. He was actually really sweet, he even tried to console me.”, you confess. Sienna smiles wide at the mention of this.

“Anyways, you both have to promise not to say a word about this.”, you give them a pleading pout. Jackie’s about to ask about something else when you realise some kind of commotion is going on.

"Oh no, did he faint?" Si says and I look forward to see Jake Sandburg, one of the players lying on the floor.

The other players rush to his side trying to wake him up.

"Uh, coach, he's in real bad shape," another player says leaning down beside him.

Their team manager hurries out," Damn our team physician quit on us just before the game."

"Is there any doctor here?" The manager asks and on instinct all of our hands goes up.

The manager looks clearly shocked to see five doctors in a front row but doesn't express it as we move towards the field asking the other players to help us move Jake inside.

We follow the other Nighthawker players into their locker as they carry Jake on a stretcher.

"Have you called 911?" I ask their manager.

"Yeah, the paramedics are on their way," the manager sighs, " Poor kid."

"Lay him here," I hear Jackie instruct them as they follow.

"He's got a pulse, but his breathing is shallow," Sienna says in a low and shaky voice. This sudden situation is clearly affecting her.

Landry pulls a stethoscope from his bag and places it against his chest.

"Sounds like fluid build up. We have to solve it fast or else he could be in trouble," Landry announces.

As the others take his vitals, Elijah and I go to ask his teammates some questions, which we think might help us to crack the case.

"Is there anything we can do to help?" One of the player asks as we approach them.

"You can help us by answering some questions. Has this ever happened before?"

"Not as far as we know," he looks at his other teammates. " Also he had to pass a physical test just recently."

"He was called up from the minor league just a few weeks ago," the manager adds.

"Did he complain about any pain recently?" Elijah asks.

"No, he was pretty quite, kept to himself. I think he was worried," the player says. "About what?"

The player shares a look with his manager as soon as I ask that.

"Look, he's been struggling in the majors. I was in discussions with ownership to send him back down to the minors," the manager answers, a pained expression plastered across his face.

"Did he know about it?" Elijah asks in between.

" You know, the guys talk. Rumors."

"He was kinda freaking out about it, he kept sweating, hyperventilating," the manager adds and I make a mental note of it.

"Hyperventilating... How often?"

"I only saw it a couple of times," the managers states.

"Well, it could've been panic attacks," I conclude thoughtfully.

"He always seemed tired too. Yawing in the meetings, like he didn't get any sleep at all," the player from before says.

"Have you seen any changes in his behavior recently?" Elijah asks.

"Uh, I guess he's been hitting the ice bath a lot recently. Probably because of feeling sore," the guys answers. "But he'd do it even in the days when he wasn't playing," the guys adds after a moment.

"Thanks you for the help. Was he on any medications?" I ask before moving towards the table

"No. The team doctor left all the prescriptions and Sandburg wasn't prescribed anything," the manager says going through the charts.

"Thank you that'll be it," I say and look forward to find a player from the opposite team sneaking in.

"Hey! You aren’t allowed here," I motion the others towards him as the player who was helping us moves towards him. But then to my surprise he hugs him and the other one whispers words of encouragement in his ears.

"Wait, weren't you two fighting in the field?" I ask shocked.

" Yeah, but that's only on the field. Ray and I grew up playing together in the streets of Miami. We are basically family," The Nighthawker player concludes.

“It’s that easy?”, you ask.

“When we’re in a game, our minds are focused on the game. But the minute it’s over, we’re brothers again. Iron sharpening iron, you know.”, he says but your mind is somewhere else.

“Iron sharpening iron. Competing makes them stronger...” You run back towards the patient.

I think it's a drug interaction. His medicines are amplifying each other out," I announce reaching them. "Two medications perfectly fine on their own, cauting each other to have an outsized affect."

"Oh, that could be it!" Sienna says, a sudden excitement hinting in her voice.

" But the team manager said that their previous doctor didn't prescribe him anything," Elijah says confused.

"Sandburg was already worried about being cut. If the team knew he had a medical condition, they'd be oven less likely to keep him around," I reply.

"So you think he kept him situation quiet to keep his job? Wouldn't be the first time someone's done that," Jackie shrugs .

"What do you think he was taking?" Landry asks.

"Well, maybe something for his panic attacks. Let's say fluoxetine," I reply to him

" That could be it. Getting a prescription for that isn't really hard..."

"Okay, maybe you are right. But what was reacting with it. What else was he taking?" Jackie cuts in between.

"Something for his soreness. His team members said he'd be sore even the days he was not pitching," I answer remembering what the player said.

"It could have been arthritic inflammation," Sienna states.

"Right? He's male in his twenties..." I try to think what it could be.

"Ankylosing Spondylitis!" Landry says.

"He could've been taking N.S.A.I.D for it, like - celecoxib," I say while checking his locker, " Here they are." I say taking out the medicines proving what we said is right.

" It could be doing irreparable damage to his kidneys! We gotta take him to the hospital as soon as possible," Elijah says.

The sound of helicopter blades cut through the commotion in the locker.

" The paramedics are here!" Sienna exclaims happily.

Soon the paramedics enter and you see Rafael running towards you. We explain him about the situation.

"Would you like to have a ride on the choper? My shift will end in five minutes. So after dropping Jake to the hospital we could maybe roam around the city," Raf says nervously once we are out of the locker. The other paramedics get Jake in the chopper.

"I would love that," I give him an assuring smile which he returns.

"Great!" He says making his way towards the chopper after asking me to follow him.

"Any certain place you have in mind where you'd like to go?" He asks smiling broadly getting back to the choper after we've successfully admitted Jake.

"Not really," I give him a silly smile.

"We'll have a tour over the whole city then, more fun," he winks and I giggle.

I am really enjoying the birds eye view. The city looks more beautiful from up here. Capturing the breathtaking city from above, I put it on my Instagram story.

The next picture I take is ours, I smile towards the front and Raf's is a candid, he's looking forward flying the chopper but smiling.

I post it on my Instagram feed, tagging Raf and captioning it "Soaring high with @raveirotheemt.”

You notice you have over 250 likes already. Perks of being famous.

"What do you see?" Raf asks and I look down.

"Edenbrook!" I squeak happily. " The first day in there, the hospital looked so enormous but now it looks so tiny!"

"Everything comes into perspective up here. It's one of the reasons I like it so much."

" How'd you learn to fly?"

"My uncle was a pilot in the Marines. He started teaching me to fly when I was still in high school."

"That was so young!"

"I just saw it as a fun thing to do on the weekends, you know. It was a great way to spend time with a great man," he smiles recalling the memories.

"Are you guys still close?" I ask

"He... He died two years ago."

"I'm so sorry Raf."

"He was really active in our community. When he wasn't flying, he'd organize food drives and buses for anyone struggling," he smiles sadly remembering those days," He's the one who inspired me to be an paramedic. I wanted to help people the way he did."

I nod at him understanding.

"Buckle up. We're ready to land," he tries to say it as normally as possible, smiling. But I know it is just an effort to not let people show his broken side.

“Hey, Jake and many other lives have had a chance to live because of you.”, I assure him.

He relaxes. “You too, Arielle.”

“You both land on Edenbrook’s helicopter pad as staff takes Jake away. You inform them of his condition.

“So... are you ready for the tour?

At first I thought that Beacon Hills were the most beautiful thing I saw today. But when we were taking a turn over Cape Cod Bay, my opinion changed. Nothing can be more beautiful than this. The breathtaking view of the glimmering ways merging with the bright golden sun creating a golden hue in the clear ocean water. The scenery is just breathtaking.

"It is beautiful," I say softly, still looking at the ocean.

"It's the best thing you can see in the city," Raf smiles.

"Can't disagree with that."

"And as much as I would hate for this to end," he smiles sadly, "But I need to return the chopper to the hospital now."

"It's cool Raf, we've been out here on it for a while," I smile.

Within minutes, he manages to fly back to the stadium and drops me off.

You return to your friends and show them the wonderful pics and views that you took.

“Of course!” After some time, you and Si head to the food court for a refill on food and drinks.

Ethan’s PoV:-

You’re stuck closing off an important deal with Banner Health alone, as Harper was called in for an emergency. You’re walking towards the bar in need of a stiff drink when a familiar waft of vanilla and cinnamon hits you. There she is, her beautiful jet black curled tresses falling below her waist, standing near you ordering something. She doesn’t seem to notice you. You turn your head the other way and ask for a club sandwich. A few minutes later, you receive a tray full of cheeseburgers. Somebody calls you.

“Excuse me sir, but it seems our orders got mixed up.” You turn around to find none other than Arielle. Her violet eyes widen in realisation.

“Dr. Ramsey! Hi, guess the world really is small!”, she responds enthusiastically.

“Some would say too small.” A petite intern who often you see beside her comes and doesn’t notice me.

“Hey Ari! I’ll take these down. You coming? In a minute, Sienna.” The intern leaves.

“I wouldn’t have pegged you for a baseball type of guy.”

“And you pegged me just right. I’m here to close a deal with Banner reps. They have me in the box suite, trying to butter me up with lobster and wine.”

“That doesn’t sound so bad...”

“I know it might surprise you, but I’m not one for schmoozing.”

“Nooooo... I don’t believe it. The great Ethan Ramsey doesn’t like it when someone butters him up!”, she feigns shock.

“Would you like to join me?, the words slip out before you can react.

Arielle’s PoV:-

You’re surprised. You’d never thought that your medical hero would need your help. He notices your expression and starts explaining, more like rambling.

“You know I’m not much good at speaking to other people, much less idiots but this is a very important deal for Edenbrook. Harper was taking the reins but she was called in for an emergency. One of your traits is that you’re quite persuasive, I was hoping that would help.”, he says.

“Of course.” You follow him to the private entrance which is blocked by a guard.

“Ah, Dr. Ramsey. The Banner Health execs are waiting.” He gestures for you to follow. The guard stops you.

“I’m afraid I’ll need to see some ID, Miss. Alcoholic beverages are being served.” Dr. Ramsey gets irritated.

“I can assure you she’s older than 21.”, he says. The guard insists. Sighing, you pull out your ID. His eyes flash with recognisation.

“I’m extremely sorry miss, but I have to follow protocol.”

“It’s quite alright.” Dr. Ramsey leads you into the private box, where you see a crowd of ‘business’ dressed people lounging on the posh sofas. He picks up two glasses of Malbec and hands one to you.

“Thank you. To deals, negotiations and whatnot!” He rolls his eyes. “To negotiations.”, he toasts.

“This is quite nice.”

“It is, don’t get used to it. I knew many great doctors, all who swore never to make it about the money but did. Don’t let it become about the money.”

“Ha! If only he knew I had millions of dollars in my name and still live like this.”, you think.

“You’re right. It never should become about the money.”, you say truthfully. Two reps saunter up and start sucking up to him. You roll your eyes internally.

“I’m sure there are many opportunities. By the way, let me introduce you to Dr. Arielle Valentine, one of Edenbrook’s newest interns, and one who shows much promise.”, he says.

Your lawyer/advocate instincts kick into action, which includes an amazing first impression.

“Hello, I’m Dr. Valentine but no formalities between us. I have already been impressed upon the very invaluable and precious bond of Banner Health and Edenbrook and hope today will also add on to that. I’m looking forward to the other ways that you have suggested for this partnership, all to help our patients.”, you say.

“Oh my, if this is who Edenbrook is recruiting these days, our partnership is very sure to exceed high expectations.”, they say. Dr. Ramsey nods in approval. They all start negotiating deals, which end in their favour and not-so-good for Edenbrook. Dr. Ramsey looks to you for help.

“Okay, time to pull out all the stops!”, you mentally prepare yourself. You launch into a very persuasive but subtle argument slowly shifting the deal in Edenbrook’s favour. By the time you’re done, the execs have given their consent and you just got them to add a lot of benefits starting from loans to better rates on different services including neurological and cardiac.

“Thank you, Ethan and Arielle for the pleasure. Perhaps we could meet for a round of golf next week to hammer out the fine points.

“Oh hell no!”, you think.

“Oh! Dr. Ramsey is busy next week but how about later tonight?”, you say. They’re about to agree when you drop the bombshell. “Dr. Ramsey and I have an appointment later this week at the shooting range and self-defence center downtown. Don’t worry, I have quite a few guns to be spared, but be warned, I’m quite experienced.”, you say trying not to burst out laughing seeing their shocked faces. You catch Dr. Ramsey which a not-so-well hidden smirk on his face.

“That’s quite alright, we both have made many commitments later this week.”, say frantically say.

“That’s alright, another time then.” A few minutes later, they both leave claiming they had to go. As soon as they leave, you burst out laughing.

“That was quite an act you put on there.”

“Who said it was an act?” He gives you an incredulous look.

“Anyways, it was quite impressive how you shifted the deal in favour to Edenbrook.”, he says questioningly.

You sigh. “Pretty much everyone in my family are lawyers, different areas though. I picked up a lot of skills when watching their hearings.”

“You’re quite good at it. May I ask why you didn’t follow their path.”

“...My godfather was also a doctor. He would tell me stories of how he was able to save lives, make a difference, experience all the love, pain, loss, heartbreak. And I fell in love with it over time. My father wasn’t supportive of it though. I don’t know what went wrong. When I was a child, we had an unbreakable bond. Over time, he buried himself in his cases, that bond slowly evaporating. My brother always knew that I would work in the medical field and was very supportive. When I announced that I had gotten into Johns Hopkins for med school, my father was angry and didn’t support me. He claimed that I had led his hopes up and shattered them, when all along I always was hinting about my dream to become a doctor. We both said hurtful things that a father nor daughter should ever say, that night. After that, I cut off all contact with him.”, you carefully say making sure not to give any clues that Dr. Banerji is your godfather.

Ethan’s PoV:-

You’re shocked. Utterly shocked. You’d never guess that this bright, cheerful, kind intern had such a rough childhood. Especially when your’s made you turn out like this.

“I believe you made the right choice.”, you assure her.

“That means a lot to me.(more than you could ever know)”, she says and whispers.

You both relax and lounge on the comfy sofa, watching the game.

You notice the sun setting as the game ends. “It’s quite late, how will you get home?”

“My friends and I came here by my car, but I told them to take my car when they said they were leaving early. I spent all my money on food so I’ll take a train or something.”

“I’ll drive you home, it’s the least I can do.”

“Are you sure? I don’t want to impose.”

“It’s alright. Let’s go.” You lead Arielle to your car, at the same time kicking yourself. “Dear god Ramsey, what the hell is wrong with you? Offering a ride!” You convince yourself that it’s just a thank you but you know it’s because you want to make sure that she gets home safe.

Both of you are exiting the stadium and stop when you see Harper.

“Ethan! Thank god you’re still here. I just received the terms of agreement of our deal with Banner. What did you do?” She notices Arielle.

“Dr. Valentine, what are you doing here?”

“She was here with her friends when I saw and asked for help with negotiating. She was the one who turned the deal into our favour.”, I quickly reply.

“Very impressive Dr. Valentine, but do know that this doesn’t make a difference in the fellowship rankings.”, Harper says.

“I know Chief Emery, anyways I haven’t entered the competition. But thank you though.”, she replies. You’re surprised. You thought she had entered, but you never checked the list of participants. You tell her to wait at the car.

“You’re dropping her off?”, she asks.

“She literally just scored us a very big deal. I’m just thanking her.

“Hmm... Well I’ll see you later. Goodbye, Ethan.” You nod and get in your car. Turning on the engine, you drive.

“Where do you live?”, you ask.

She pulls up a location 20 minutes from here on her phone.

“Why didn’t you enter the fellowship?”

“Did you want me to?”, she asks. You don’t answer.

“My first week was hard enough, with a competition that would jeopardise our friendship, I decided it wasn’t worth the risk. Especially when they were the ones who got me through the first week.”

“I understand. A lot of friendships of mine were severed during my residency due to the competitiveness.” You both talk about leisure topics until you reach a tall apartment complex.

“This is me. Thanks for the ride, Dr. Ramsey.”, with that, she swiftly exits out of the car. You reverse the car and drive to your apartment.

Arielle’s PoV:-

You walk up to the entrance of your building, taking the elevator to your floor. You pull out your keys when Jackie opens the door and lets you in.

“I was wondering when you’d be back.” You smile, taking off your shoes and head into the living room.”

“Hey Ari! Join us for a drink!”, says Elijah.

“Nah, I don’t want a drink. But yes for the company.”

“You all better kiss that fellowship goodbye, cause I just solved that case in record time.”, Landry says.

“You do realise that Arielle was the one who did most of it and we all helped.”, Jackie says.

“Exactly, I looked at the clues and diagnosed the problem!”

You laugh with your friends as they playfully egg each other on. You’re going over today’s events, thinking about all the crazy events, when you realise that you haven’t been true to yourself. “Competing makes them stronger.”, you remember saying. You’ve given advice to other people but you aren’t following your own. You bolt up from the sofa, grabbing your purse and keys and head towards the door.

“What are you doing, Ari?”, Sienna asks.

“You smile replying, “Something I should have done way before.” Your roommates give you a knowing smile as you head towards Edenbrook.

You park your car, rushing through the atrium and up the stairs towards Dr. Ramsey’s office. You a minute to compose yourself and knock.

“Come in.”, his professional but baritone voice replies.

You enter his office to see a minimally decorated desk, covered with papers and patient files. He files them away neatly as you enter. “Rookie. To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“I want in.”

“I made it clear that the cutoff was midnight.” Your eyes follow his gaze to the wall clock. ‘12:02’

“What makes you think that you’re an exception?”

You steady yourself. “I know I can be a good doctor. I know that I can make a difference in people’s lives, like you do. It just took me a little longer to realise it.” You gulp, wondering if you’ve blown your chance.

He smirks and pull out a long list of names, adding yours at the bottom. “You had me worried there. What changed your mind?”

“I always advised other people to follow their dreams, never give up, to take a leap of faith. I realised I needed to take my own advice.” He nods with approval.

“Good Night, Dr. Valentine.”

“Good Morning, Dr. Ramsey.”, you say, pointing at the same clock ‘12:08’. He shakes his head with amusement.

You head out to your car, the cool autumn breeze in your hair, and drive into the night.

“Bring it on.”

33 notes · View notes

liamrysandme · 4 years

Text

Hurt- Part two

All characters belong to Pixelberry

Book: Open Heart

Paring: Ethan x F!MC

Word count: 3741

Warnings: Head injury, surgery.

A/N: I’m doing my second year of residency and I really wanted to write a medically accurate fic!

Part One

Ethan was sitting in his office, specs on and looking over some blood work results. Truthfully, he was concerned about his girlfriend. Earlier when the rest of the team had met, she complained of a headache and just seemed a little off. It wasn’t like her but as a junior fellow on the diagnostics team she was being given more responsibilities, more challenging, stressful cases that she wouldn’t been able to take when she was an intern. Maybe it was just stress. It didn’t stop the older doctor being concerned though, it’s strange behaviour for her.

Ethan had just finished looking through the results for the team's newest patient. Everything was normal, except the patient had a vitamin D deficiency and a vitamin E deficiency too which could be why he’s experiencing vision disturbances, fatigue and muscle weakness but unfortunately didn’t explain the rest of his symptoms.

He was just finishing looking through when his pager went off. Ethan picked it up off his desk, read the message and was immediately up out of his seat and moving toward the door.

Ethan rushed into the ER just in time to see Sienna and Bryce wheeling her in. He’d rushed through the hospital like a complete mad man- the staff he passed must’ve thought he was a lunatic.

Ethan made his way up to the gurney just as they were wheeling her into a cubicle. “W-what happened?” Ethan stuttered asking no one in particular.

“Er…” Bryce started, swallowing thickly as he looked down to one of his closest friends laying unconscious on a gurney.

“Dr Lahela. Bryce,” Ethan said sternly and urgently, encouraging the younger doctor to continue.

“Erm...a New-onset seizure, she complained of a headache earlier and also vomited," Bryce summarised, clinically. He needed to attempt to distance himself emotionally from this if he was going to help her. “We gave her five of diazepam to stop the seizure. She’s post ictal. She woke up for a minute or so and now isn’t responsive.”

Ethan moved to reach for a pair of gloves from a box hung on the wall, “Right, someone get me IV access and page Neuro. Now.”

There was a flurry of activity. “Okay, I’ve got an 18 going in the left AC!” A nurse called as Ethan slipped on the pair of gloves and stepped closer to the bed.

“Ethan, you can’t-” Bryce started. Ethan turned to him and gave him a pointed glare.

“Either you two can help me or you can stand there and I’ll save her life single-handedly.” Ethan didn’t wait for a response as he turned his attention back to her. “Casey? Casey, can you hear me?” Ethan called, rubbing her sternum.

This time Ethan managed to get her to open her eyes. She made an attempt to shuffle away from Ethan’s touch but couldn’t. He listened closely, noting her breathing was irregular. He moved closer to her to get a better listen. “Okay, she’s not moving enough air,” Ethan explained. He was just about to request that somebody bag her when Casey started gagging. “She’s vomiting. Let’s roll her.”

Bryce moved to support her head as Ethan and a team of nurses helped to support the rest of her as they rolled her on her side.

"I need suction,” Bryce requested, a nurse handed it to him and he took over draining the vile stuff from her mouth.

“Anyone have any ideas?” Ethan asked the team. There were a thousand explanations. A thousand different diagnoses.

“Meningitis?” Sienna suggested from the sidelines.

“What’s her temperature?” Ethan asked. A nurse quickly checked her temperature.

“It’s normal,” She said.

“No fever. It’s not meningitis,” he insisted,” Her blood pressure is high,” Ethan noted.

“A stroke?” Bryce suggested. He knew that was unlikely given her age but the symptoms added up.

Ethan didn’t say anything as he moved around the bed. He gently pushed the hair away from the back of her head so the goose egg shaped hematoma was visible. “No, there’s a hematoma here. This is trauma.”

Casey’s eyes momentarily opened, she moved her arm trying to move Ethan’s hand away but failed to do so before her eyes fluttered back shut.

“She hit her head?” Bryce questioned. It didn’t make sense to Ethan either, when did this happen? How did this happen?

“Okay, er...Roll her back down carefully, then get her in a collar and then she needs an urgent CT.”

After they were sure Casey had finished vomiting, they turned her back over, got a neck brace on her and Bryce took over ventilating, except she wasn’t moving much air and he’d tried re-positioning her jaw to no success. “She’s not protecting her airway. I can’t-” Bryce announced, trying once again to position her jaw properly.

Ethan knew what that meant. She’s not able to protect her airway which meant they needed to intubate. This definitely wasn’t something anyone thought they’d need to deal with today and they all still had no idea how this happened.

“Ethan!” Bryce called, when the older doctor seemed to zone out for a second. How did this happen?

“We need to intubate her,” Ethan announced. Ethan moved to the head of the bed, moving Bryce out of the way as a nurse handed him the laryngoscope. He used a technique called a jaw thrust to try and open her airway, since he couldn’t move her head since the she had a potential spinal injury. After that was done he placed the laryngoscope. He took him a second to it in the right position. “Okay...pass me a 7.0 tube.” A nurse handed him the right sized tube. Once again, It took Ethan a couple of seconds to place the tube. Once it was in place he slipped the laryngoscope out of her mouth.

Ethan then moved from the head of the bed as a nurse connected the tube to the BVM. “Steth-” Ethan ordered, Sienna took her stethoscope off and handed it to Ethan. Ethan listened to her breathing through the scope for a couple seconds, “Okay, I've got bilateral breath sounds. Okay, someone inflate the cuff and then lets get her to CT. Someone call them and say we’re coming.”

Ethan, Dr. Gary Taylor- the neurosurgeon on call, and the technician we’re standing in the CT technicians room looking at the images as they spread across the computer screen.

“C-spine is all clear,” Dr Taylor nodded, “There’s no sign of a spinal injury.” Although Ethan already suspected that so it was no surprise.

“She’s bleeding on the brain,” Ethan mumbled. Neuro wasn't in any way his specialty but he didn’t need to be a specialist to see the bleed on the CT.

“Subdural hematoma,” Dr. Taylor nodded. “She needs surgery.” The two doctors filed out of the room, as a couple nurses headed into the CT room to get Casey out of the scanner then prep her for surgery.

Gary was definitely not who Ethan would want to operate on his girlfriend. He’s an arrogant little shit but Harper was sick and he’s the surgeon on call. Dr. Taylor turned to Ethan just outside the room. “You’re not coming anywhere near my OR.”

It frankly annoyed Ethan that was picking a fight now. Yes, they’d butted heads many, many times in the past but now was not the time to piss off and simultaneously test his restraint, not while Casey’s life is at risk.

“I’m going with her,” Ethan insisted. He didn’t want to leave her. He wanted...needed to be with her.

"If you come into my OR, I will have you removed," Dr. Taylor pointed a finger in Ethan's face, "You watch from the gallery. Do I make myself clear?"

Ethan was fighting every instinct he had to punch him, his jaw and fists clenched tightly by his sides. Had Dr. Taylor not been one of the best neurosurgeons next to Harper, he just may have followed through with it.

“Fine.”

Everyone made quick work of getting Casey prepped. Ethan walked alongside the bed as they made their way towards the OR.

Ethan’s head started pounding in his chest as they approached the sterile line line. Someone was about to open up her skull and he couldn't stop thinking about everything that could go wrong. The damage that can be caused, that already could’ve been caused.

Ethan leaned down and place a kiss on her forehead, "Don't you give up on me now Rookie, okay? I need you." He whispered as he took her hand. “I love you so much,” His voice wavered. Whether or not she could hear him didn't matter; he just wanted to tell her.

Ethan let go of her hand and the other slip of the raising as the scrub nurses rolled her through the OR doors, her anaesthesiologist following closely behind. Ethan felt helpless when the door swung shut- that was a new feeling for him. He was frozen in place. That could’ve been the last time he gets to tell her that he loves her. That he needs her.

Naveen had arrived and guided Ethan to the gallery. This was a sick, cruel form of torture for him. He didn’t like not having any control over what happened in there. He didn’t want to watch and do nothing. He couldn’t help but be annoyed with the surgical team as they scrubbed in- the bleed could potentially be getting bigger and bigger, causing more and more damage.

Bryce, Sienna, Elijah and Jackie were also now present. Jackie had explained to them how Casey could’ve hit her head. If Casey wasn’t so stubborn and had just told Jackie the truth. This could’ve been avoided.

Ethan just stood, fixed on the scene below him. He involuntarily flinched when Gary turned on the bone saw. He’d seen this a dozen times but...his girlfriend was never the one on the table.

He wasn’t squeamish. Ethan couldn't afford to be in this job but seeing someone drilling into Casey’s skull had him feeling that way.

He couldn't take this. He thought he could deal with it but he couldn’t stand to hear the horrific, nightmare inducing, sound of a bone saw drilling into her skull.

"I’m...I'm gonna pass out," Ethan stuttered, stumbling back. Naveen was immediately on his feet at his statement. Ethan staggered backwards again right into Naveen.

“Ethan, sit down,” Naveen ordered. He guided him to a seat. He’d kept it together but he just couldn’t anymore. This was the final straw. That sound...

He ran a hand through his hair, fighting to urge to put both of them over his ears. Soon the sound stopped, he’d thought that would be a relief but it now meant Casey brain was on display.

Tears started to pool in his eyes as he unsteadily got to his feet and gazed down into the OR. He quickly turned his gaze to Naveen then back to Casey. “She-” He started, his eyes refilling and glistening with unshed tears. Before too long they slipped down his cheeks. “She...she h-has to be okay... s-she n-needs t-to b-be.”

It was two days later since Casey’s freak little accident and Ethan hadn’t left her side. Ethan was sitting by her bedside when Bryce came in to stand at the end of her bed.

“How is she?”

Ethan nodded, “ Surgery was considered a success, there were no complications, her post- op EEG was all normal. SBT's have all been great. They’ve even started lightening sedation as well. She’s practically the ideal candidate for a full recovery.”

"That's great," Bryce exhaled, nodding gratefully.

“Yeah,” Ethan sighed. Both men tried not to think about that fact that Casey may now wake up as the same woman they once knew or wake up at all. There was no reason to believe that anything will go wrong, yet that's the only thing he can think about.

It was much later that day when Sienna and Elijah stopped by after their shift had ended. Ethan had moved from his post and was now standing by the window, looking over the view of the dark hospital parking lot.

"How's our favourite patient?" Elijah asked as he and Sienna came in. Ethan turned to face them nodding.

“Really good,” Ethan replied with a small sigh,

“Bryce said that they’re lowering her sedation?” Sienna asked, Ethan nodded.

“Yeah, they started this morning. Dr. Taylor hopes to see her start to wake up soon but it’s a waiting game for the time being.”

Suddenly an alarm on the monitor started to ring and Casey’s head jerked back. All three doctors we’re immediately next to her.

"Is she seizing?" Sienna asked, unsure of what she was seeing.

Ethan looks to the monitor then back to Casey. “No, no, this isn’t a seizure. She’s bucking the vent,” He explained, the younger doctors relaxed somewhat, pleased that this wasn’t an emergency.

Ethan took hold of her hand resting on her stomach and placed his other on her shoulder, “Casey can you hear me? Case?” Ethan gave her shoulder a light pinch and her eyes fluttered open.

Ethan could see the panic in her eyes as her surroundings started to become clear to her. She started grabbing at her face, desperately attempting to remove whatever was choking her. Ethan caught her frantic hands in his, stilling her and stopping her pawing at the tube.

“Don’t do that, You're alright, Case, look at me," Ethan said calmly, "Look at me."

She looked up to him. It took her a second to connect the dots- Ethan . She searched his face frantically, trying to figure out what was going on. She’s scared and she can't figure out why her boyfriend isn’t doing anything to help her. Ethan read her expression.

“Casey, you had surgery,” Ethan told her plainly, “You’ve got a tube in your throat, that’s helping you to breathe.” She shook her head; tears welling in her eyes. “Casey, you need to leave it in.”

She withdrew away from him."Case-" Ethan warned.

She immediately reached for the tube tamer and tore the velcro off as Sienna and Ethan jumped forward to grab hold of her arms. If Casey wasn’t panicking she would know that she couldn’t just rip it out but she rightfully so freaking out.

"Wait, wait, wait, stop!" Ethan called. He turns to the side and reached for a syringe and she relaxes. "Hold on, I got you," He murmured quietly as he deflated the balloon. "Big cough on three, okay?" He instructed as he gripped the tube, "One, two, three."

Casey erupted in a coughing fit as Ethan gently slid the tube out. Sienna gently held an oxygen mask up to her face, which she gratefully gasped into. Once she slowed down, she finally rested her head back against the pillow. Ethan rested a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"There you go, easy, just breathe," Ethan soothed.

"E-" she sputtered quietly.

"Shhh, don't talk, just breathe," Ethan said, watching her vitals on the screen. “Okay, You’re stable.” Ethan turned to face Elijah and Sienna on the other side of the bed. “Could one of you go and update Dr. Taylor.”

Instead of one of them going, the pair did. As much as they wanted to see their friend, they knew Ethan needed some time with her.

"Do you know where you are?" Ethan asked as he sat on the bed beside her.

"Eden-" She replied, the rest of the word silent from her hoarseness.

“That’s right,” Ethan nodded. Casey nodded to the glass of water on the bedside table. Ethan picked it up and held the straw to her lips as Casey took a few large gulps. “Slowly, small sips.” Once Casey was done Ethan placed the cup back down.

“Ethan,” Casey breathed, her voice scratchy and quiet. She reached out to him, She just wanted some comfort, she still didn’t know what was happening.

"That was the answer to my next question," He smirked. He got to his feet to lean over to place a kiss on her forehead, just below the dressing over the incision wound. “How are you feeling? Any pain?" He asked sweetly.

"No," she shook her head, wiping at her tired eyes, "What happened?"

"You hit your head really hard and you needed surgery to fix—" Ethan started.

"No, not like I'm a patient," She interrupted, holding up a hand, “Talk to me like I'm a doctor. Don’t gloss over anything, I want to know what happened. Everything.”

A hint of a smile ghosted over her boyfriend's lips. Ethan was just relieved to have her back if he was being honest. Who knew that a freak accident could make you realise how much you need someone? He always knew that Casey was able to keep him on his toes but this definitely took it up a notch.

“Well, you managed to somehow hit that pretty head of yours which caused a subdural hematoma,” Ethan started with a sigh. He wished that he didn’t need to relay this to her but it's what she wanted after all. “You had a seizure, During the time you were in ER we had to intubate you because you weren’t able to maintain your own airway, then when we were examining you we found a hematoma on the back of your head. Shortly after you were rushed to CT. The CT showed a bleed on your brain and then you had surgery.”

“Why did I have a seizure? Did I hit myself during it?”

“No, Bryce and Sienna made sure you didn’t hurt yourself during your seizure,” Ethan reassured, shaking his head, “You were acting off before the seizure started according to Bryce and Sienna. I assume that was an Aura but then you had been complaining of a headache while we were together shortly before this happened. Taking into account all of your symptoms, I assume you must’ve hit your head at some point during the day,” Ethan explained, Casey nodded along. “Do you remember how that happened.”

“No,” Casey replied

“Jackie seems to think you hit it on a bed.”

She nodded, her eyebrows creasing. Come to think of it, she didn’t remember anything from that day. It was all a blur. "Who operated?"

“Dr. Taylor,” Ethan said reluctantly. The man was arrogant, pompous and very few people in the hospital actually liked the man. Although he had many, many unappealing qualities, Ethan couldn’t deny that he was at least skilled, he saved his girlfriend's life after all.

Casey huffed and rolled her eyes. "You really think I'd let him come anywhere near you with a ten blade If there was any other choice?"

“No,” Casey muttered, a hint of smile on her face. Her hand came to rest on her throat. She now understood why people hate being intubated. Ethan picked up a glass of water from the side and held the straw to her lips. Casey took a few sips of the ice cold water. “Thanks. So...How long have I been sedated?" She glanced around, trying to figure out the time of day. It’s light dark- that’s all she was able to gather.

"Two days," He replied as he rested a hand on her cheek as the other gently ran through her hair. “How are you feeling? Truthfully.”

Casey looked up to him, quickly meeting his eyes. It wasn’t often that Ethan was this affectionate to her. “My throat is a bit tender," she mumbled, Casey moved so her cheek was pressing more firmly against his hand, melting into his touch. “I’m just really tired.”

Ethan nodded in understanding. “We only lowered the propofol a couple hours ago so that’s probably why. Just try and get some rest.”

It was safe to say that Casey was terrified. She understood everything Ethan had told her although it was still a lot to try and process in a short amount of time too. She was anxious about the possible complications she could have in recovery.

Casey turned back to him when she felt his hand come to rest on her arm, “I’m here, Casey. Everything is going to be fine.”

She was certain her heart just swelled. It really wasn’t often that Ethan was so affectionate and gentle but she was scared and he knew that- he’s scared too although he’d never openly admit that to anyone.

Ethan collapsed the rail of the bed and slid in next to her, carefully pulling her close so her head was resting on his chest. "I'm right here Case," Ethan said gently, "You're safe."

Both of them understood all too well the gravity of her injury. A brain bleed wasn’t something that people just recover from overnight. The couple just laid in each other's arms for sometime, grateful that Casey would recover and that she hadn’t suffered a different fate like many people with head injuries sadly too often do.

"Ethan," She whispered, "I love you."

"I love you too, Casey."

______

Here’s a medical lowdown! I used a lot of terms in this fic and I don’t wanna confuse anyone

I’ve got an 18 going in the left AC- The nurse is referring to the needle size. An 18 gauge needle is one of the largest needles. It’s good for giving fluids/ meds/ blood quickly. AC is the vein in the bend of your elbow.

“No fever”- Since Casey has no fever it pretty much rules out Meningitis.

A stroke?- Casey is young which means the chance of her having a stroke isn’t that likely, however, it’s possible. Because they’ve ruled out meningitis they could combine the symptoms and come to the conclusion that it’s a brain bleed. A hemorrhagic stroke could absolutely be why someone is having symptoms of a bleed.

Casey opens her eyes, whimpering, and tries but fails to push his hand away - So we measure somebody’s level of consciousness by how many points they get out of 15 using the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS). It’s calculated by how someone responds and other factors that play into this. The way Casey reacts shows that she’s aware that she’s in pain and where the pain is localized (ie: The back of her head).

(I would put Casey’s GCS at around 9 her which really isn’t good!.)

“There’s a hematoma ”- So now they know it’s trauma and not an illness.

Ethan tells them to roll her carefully. This is because if someone has a head injury we always suspect they have a spinal injury too. This is because if you’re able to hit your head so hard to cause a potential bleed on the brain, you could’ve also hurt your C-spine. This is also why Ethan requests a C-collar (neckbrace). It’s just a precaution until a spinal injury can be 100% ruled out.

Bilateral breath sounds- After somebody has been intubated You have to check that the tube is in the right place (aka not in one of your lungs). Bilateral just means that there are even breath sounds on both sides.

BVM- Bag Valve Mask.

Sterile line- In most, If not all hospitals, there is a line painted on the floor before you enter an OR. You have to be really, really sterile to go in.

“I’m gonna pass out” - Now, this isn’t uncommon when you’ve seen something happen to anyone, normally a loved one, but there’s a technical reason why this happens.

When someone experiences something triggering (like someone drilling into your girlfriend’s skull) The vagus nerve will send signals to slow your heart rate and blood pressure but sometimes your body will do this too well. Basically Ethan’s body is trying to chill him out too much. His brain just isn’t getting quite enough blood which makes him feel faint.

SBT - SBT means short breathing tests. Doctors use this when we’re trying to take someone off a ventilator or just to see if they can breathe on their own. The ventilator is turned off to see if the person can breathe adequately without being aided or not.

(People on ventilators aren't something I see all that much so my knowledge is fairly limited in all of this.)

Post- op EEG-

Post-op= Post operation.

EEG= Electroencephalogram. This tests the electrical activity in your brain. They are most commonly used in people with epilepsy or to just detect seizures in general.

Electrodes are stuck to your scalp (like a heart monitor) but for your brain instead.

When someone is unconscious, Like Casey, It’s used to make sure that you’re not braindead or having subclinical seizures. This means that the person is having seizure activity but they’re not outwardly showing that they’re having a seizure.

Ethan mentions that Casey is an ideal candidate for a full recovery. This is simply because Casey is young. The older the person is who suffers an injury like this, the mortality rate gets higher. It just means that she’s likely to recover. This isn’t always decided by age though. Lots of factors are taken into account.

Bucking the vent- This can happen because the settings on the ventilator may not be correct or in this case it’s because Casey is awake. It basically just means that she’s fighting against it.

Ethan gave her shoulder a light pinch- Again this is painful stimuli. This is called a trap squeeze because you’re squeezing the Trapezius muscle. This is painful and won’t leave a mark like a sternal rub can do.

Tube tamer is just the thing that secures the tube in place.

Ethan reaches for a syringe and she relaxes- Basically there’s a balloon-type thing at the bottom of an intubation tube that creates a seal. You need to deflate this before you remove the tube. (Ethan referred to it as ‘the cuff’)

Aura- Not a spiritual one. This is simply what the feeling you get before a seizure is called. based on what Bryce had told him about her behaviour before her seizure, Ethan concludes this is what was happening.

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soheila-1996 · 4 years

Text

Wake up, Rookie- Part five (final chapter)

Paring: Ethan x F!MC

Word count: 3,492

Warnings: major character death 😭

A/N: I’m posting an alternative ending tomorrow!

Catch up here

Tags: @dulceghernandez @rookie-ramsey @choicesandanimeruleme @aylamwrites @ethansmommyissues @schnitzelbutterfingers @therookie @lilyvalentine @sitihania @cordoniaqueensworld @eramsey28 @lucy-268 @swimmingauthordreamerbonk @utterlyinevitable

Any feedback is always super appreciated! :) All characters belong to Pixelberry

(Ethan’s POV)

We’re now nearly two weeks into this nightmare and nothing has changed. I’m back at work, somewhat. I can hardly concentrate when I’m away from her and not sleeping isn’t helping either. All I’ve been doing is going to my office and looking over some notes and doing paperwork- it’s a distraction. The problem is it doesn’t actually distract me. My thoughts, my heart is on a completely different floor and It’s all I can think about. There’s no distracting myself from this. Even when I’m sometimes able to get some sleep, seeing her in that bed, in that state always plagues my dreams. Every day is like another painful blow when nothing happens. When she makes no progress and therefore gives no indication that she’s recovering from this.

I drop the pen in my hand back down onto the desk. I can’t sit here and pretend that everything is okay when it really isn’t. This place once felt like my home in a way. My work, this place meant the world to me and now I can’t stand the sight of it. I hate being here but when I go home, not that I’ve been back to the house much, I’m surrounded by even more things that remind me of Casey. Remind me of that night. I’ve made a fair few mistakes in my time but letting her walk out will always be the thing I regret the most. This whole, heartbreaking ordeal is making me slowly lose my sanity. I like solving problems, I like fixing things and I just can’t fix this. There is nothing I can do to fix this.

I stand up from my desk after placing all the papers into a neat pile then leave my office. There’s no point being in here since I’m seemingly incapable of thinking about anything else. Naveen has said I could take as much time as I need off of work. I thought that helping someone else would distract me but It doesn’t. It just reminds me of the one person I want to help more than anything but I can’t. I lock my office door as I leave and make my way to the nearest elevator.

When I reach Casey’s room Abigail is just walking out. We quickly exchange pleasantries and she tells me she’s heading outside to get some fresh air and to meet Anthony. Her dad hasn’t really been here all the much, I understand though, It’s hard seeing someone you love like this.

Just as I sit down, someone knocks on the door and Harper peeks her head in. The look on her face makes me immediately start to panic. I can read that woman like a book and sometimes is wrong.

“We need to talk.”

***

I’m surprised to see Abigail and Anthony already sitting around the table in the board room Harper has just brought me to. “Take a seat,” Harper says, gesturing to the vacated seats that stood around the large oval table.

Somethings wrong. Something feels off, I conclude as I sit beside Abigail. Harper sits opposite us all. This is bad- I can feel it. I’ve had that same look on my face when I’ve told people that their loved ones aren’t going to recover.

Harper reverts her gaze from us and looks down at, what I presume are Casey’s notes, in front of her. “There’s no easy way to tell you this,” She begins. “As you know Casey suffered a severe head injury-”

“Can you just say whatever it is?” I interrupt, “Just- just stop beating around the bush, Harper. Just say it.”

“Casey’s brain dead,” She blurts out with no preamble. That’s what I wanted and asked for after all. How am I supposed to react to this? I don’t know. I- She can’t be. No…

I turn to look at Abigail and Anthony- they don’t seem that surprised which confuses me to say the least. “W-When-?” I stutter and turn back to harper, “When did you-? Why-?”

“Abigail asked me my opinion on whether Casey would recover or not. I gave my opinion, we ran tests-”

“When?” I interrupt.

“Last week,” she explained.

“How long have you known this, Harper? When did you start looking into this, start running tests? What tests have you run? And why the fuck did nobody tell me?!”

“Ethan-” Harper starts but is promptly cut off by Abigail. She turns to me and takes my hand.

“We- I wanted to make sure of everything before we told you, Ethan. It was my decision so blame me and not Harper”

I just can’t deal with this right now. I- I just can’t. I can feel myself starting to panic. I pull my hand out of Abigail’s grip and get up to my feet, tipping the chair over in the process.

“Ethan, come back!” Harper calls after me as I storm out of the board room and back towards Casey’s room. This isn’t real.

So much for the ‘don’t give up on her just yet’ speech Harper gave me the other day.

No, this-this can’t be happening. I refuse to believe this is really happening. This is just some sick joke, right? A nightmare. This isn’t real.

“Ethan stop.” Harper manages to catch up to me and grabs my arm to pull me back. “Just stop.”

I stop trying to get away from her and turn to face her. I can feel the tiny tear droplets falling down my cheeks. “Ethan…”

“Please, please tell me you’ve made a mistake. Please, Harper,” I beg her but the look on her face is telling me that no mistake was made and I lose it. I open the floodgates and I don’t think that I’m ever going to be able to close them again. Not without her.

“I’m sorry, Ethan.”

I stifled and wipe my eyes. “When are you going to do it?” I ask, referring to turning off life support. I know that’s what is coming next. I can’t do this. I can’t. We’re supposed to spend the rest of our lives together. I want to marry her, I want to have kids with her one day….I want to spend the rest of my days with her by my side, loving her and making more memories together. I want...no I need her. I need Casey.

Harper places a hand on my shoulder, “That’s down to you and her parents. No one is going to rush you to do this, okay?” I nod in response. “Would you like me to tell her friends?”

“No, I should do it,” I insisted, “It should come from me.”

*** It’s now a couple of hours later and I have in no way shape or form, accepted this. I will never ever be able to come to terms with this. This is...this isn’t fair for anyone. Casey isn’t even thirty yet. She’s only two months off her birthday. She is incredibly young and she’s essentially lost her life because of a stupid argument, a stupid accident. If that guy wasn’t in custody...I’m not sure what I would do. I want to kill him.

Harper showed me the tests results for everything. Both of her pupils are unreactive to light, she’s unresponsive to any sort of stimuli, cold water has been inserted in each ear, which would normally provoke a reaction, but nothing happened, they turned the ventilator off and she couldn’t breathe on her own. A whole plethora of tests have been preformed and the reaction, or rather the lack of a reaction, all points to being... brain dead.

What really fucking bothers me is A: nobody told me, B: Everyone let me think that there was a possibility that everything was going to be fine. They all allowed me to sit beside my brain dead girlfriend and make plans for the future. C: Keeping her alive- as much as I don’t want to say that in all technicality she’s dead. Is it not cruel to keep someone alive for the sake of it? She’s not going to recover from this. She’s not going to be able to be a mom one day like she’s always wanted. She’s never going to get to do all things she’s always wanted to do. Keeping her alive is cruel when there’s no possibility of her recovering.

Anthony, Abigail, and I talked things over. I still don’t understand why they thought not telling me was the right thing to do but we all agreed that keeping her here for the sake of it is cruel and she doesn’t deserve that. She doesn’t deserve any of this actually but life just isn’t fair, is it? Bad things happen to good people. We all made the decision to turn off life support today.

I’m standing in my office with all of Casey’s best friends- people she saw as family. I can see the unease on everyone’s faces. They’re all scared and that’s painfully obvious. How do I tell them that Casey isn’t going to get through this?

“What’s going on?” Bryce asks, not wanting to beat around the bush. This is harder than I thought it was going to be.

I straighten my posture and clear my throat. I don’t want to break down in front of them. I can’t. “I’m not really sure how to tell you all this,” I start. I’ve started and now I’m not sure how to continue. I don’t know what to say.

“Ethan?” Jackie questions.

“Casey-” This was something I never thought I’d have to do. I’ve had conversations like this with people so many times in my career but I never thought the person that I would be talking about never recovering would be the love of my life. “Casey isn’t going to recover,” I state matter of factly. I know that I must look cold and desensitised to them but this is the only way to do this and not completely break down.

“What?” Elijah asks. I know they’re all probably hoping the same thing I was earlier. That they’ve heard it wrong. Jackie and Bryce stand in complete shock and Sienna looks as if she’s on the verge of tears, actually, they all do.

I go through everything with them. All the test results and everything and answer any questions any of them have. As I suspected, they all ask to go and see her….to say goodbye to her.

***

(Bryce’s POV)

I’m sitting beside Casey’s bed, her hand in mine. I’ve seen her multiple times since she was admitted but this is the first time seeing her and knowing that she’s never, ever going to wake up. That I’m never going to get my friend back.

“Who am I going to mess around with now? Eh?” My eyes begin to tear up. God, she’s my best friend. I think overall the hilarious pranks we’ve pulled together over the years and all the other amazing, funny times we’ve spent together.

Casey is one of the kindest people that I’ve ever met. She is one of the best people that I’ve ever met. She’s not only insanely smart, but she’s also intuitive, kind, compassionate, she doesn’t judge people on their past but on rather who they are now. She even managed to overlook the fact that my entire family is literal criminals. It’s a skill many people don’t have. I don’t think any amount of words assorted into combination can describe how much I’m going to miss her. Casey Valentine is my best friend and she made the world a better place.

I give her hand a small squeeze as I get to my feet. I want to spend all day with her but there are other people who need to come and say goodbye. I lean over a place a kiss on her forehead. “Bye Case.”

***

(Ethan’s POV)

I stand just outside Casey’s room. Her friends have all had a little time with her and have all been able to say goodbye. I’m able to see Anthony and Abigail inside as they completely break down. I’m sure that they feel 100x worse than I do right now. That’s they’re a child. Abigail will never be able to help her pick out a dress for her wedding day, Antony will never be able to walk his daughter down the aisle and give her away. They are going to miss out on everything. A parent should never lose a child. It’s sadly meant to be the other way around.

It’s a little while later when the heartbroken parents vacate their daughter’s room and allow me to go and say my goodbyes. I’m looking at her but I’m not seeing her...I don’t know how to explain this feeling. She’s in all technicality dead, she’s brain dead, it’s just her body laying on that bed. She’s not there anymore, she’s just a shell, and that kills me. I wish there was something that I could do. I wish I could fix this, find some sort of loophole or something but I can’t.

I take a seat and pick up her lifeless hand to hold in mine. I’ve been wishing that she’d squeeze my hand back for nearly two weeks but that’s never going to happen now. I’m never going to get to see her open those beautiful eyes again. Casey was my future and now I don’t know what the future holds or what I’m going to do. I don’t know how or if I’m ever going to be able to move on from this.

“I don’t really know how I’m supposed to say everything that I want to say to you. Casey I-” My voice cracks. I don’t know why talking to her is making me feel better, logically. I know that she can’t hear me but talking to her and holding her hand does help me. It helps me and arguably I’m the reason we’re where we are now. “There are so many things that I want to say, Case. There are so many things that I wanted to do with you but I guess Life had other plans. I’m sorry. I was supposed to protect you and I’m sorry that I couldn’t. I’m sorry for everything.” Why is this happening? This isn’t fair. “I love you and I don’t think- I know that I’m never going to love anyone half as much as I love you. Goodbye, Rookie.”

***

It’s time…

Casey’s room is full. I’m sitting on one side of her, her hand still in mine both her parents on her opposite side, both of them clinging on to their daughter’s free hand. Bryce, sienna, and Jackie as standing around the outskirts of the room, and Elijah is sitting just beside me in his chair. Harper and Naveen are stood beside the ventilator. Just outside, June, Baz, Ines, and Zaid are stood.

“Are you ready?” Harper asks us all. I look up and give Harper a nod. She gives me a sad, small smile before switching the ventilator off. It beeps as she does so and a loud puff of air fills the room as she disconnects it from the intubation tube down Casey’s throat.

I don’t think I’m ever going to be able to look at Harper the same way again. Not after this.

The heart monitor begins to incessantly beep. I can’t help but to still hope that some miracle happens and she takes a breath but any hope of that happening is dashed away when she flatlines. The room is filled with a loud, piercing sound that I’m sure is going to haunt my dreams forever. Some try to hold in their sobs but ultimately fail. Naveen switches the monitor off and the sound is replaced with everyone’s cries. Everyone’s but mine.

This is a feeling I’ve never felt before. I feel..empty, lost. Casey Valentine is- was the little glimmer at the end of the long, dark, suffocating tunnel. When I started to lose myself, Casey would be there to guide me out safely when it felt like the walls are caving in on me. She was everything, my everything and now I have nothing.

Today Edenbrook lost not only an amazing doctor but one of the kindest human beings on this fucked up planet.

***

It’s the funeral today. The day that I been dreading since Casey...Since Casey died a little over a week ago.

This is the first time I’ve come back to our house. Everywhere, everything reminds me of her and it’s just too painful. It hurts too much. Since Casey...Since she died I’ve been staying with Naveen. He had offered to come and pick up my suit I’m wearing to go to the funeral today but I declined. I’m going to need to come back at some point. It’s my home even though it feels more like hell now, much like Edenbrook.

Nothing is ever going to be the same ever again. Not without her. Not without Casey.

I push the front door open and step inside. The memory of coming to view this house for the first time flashes in my mind. The first time we walked into our new home to start a new chapter together. Tears start to sting my eyes as I head to the staircase. I pass by the living room and once again, flashes of the meaningless but also amazing moments in between goes rushing by. I peel my gaze away from that room and to the front door. I remember that night, I remember hearing the door slam when Casey stormed out and her engine coming to life as she sped off.

I shake my head, trying to rid the memory from my mind. It still feels like it’s my fault. I let her walk out. I make my way up the staircase and into our bedroom. I honestly don’t think I’m going to be able to live here again, not without being bombarded with memories of her.

I’m cautious of taking too long since Naveen is sitting outside in his car waiting for me but...coming here is hard but nice, helpful in away. This was our home. This was where we spent time together, creating new memories together. This was where we were supposed to raise our children one day. This was where I was supposed to carry my new bride in to. The next chapter of our life together was being written here. I quickly retrieve the suit from my closet and head out of the house.

***

The service was nice. Everyone was there, her family, all her friends, even some old patients of hers turned to up to pay their respects to the doctor who saved their lives. All in all, it was the send-off that Casey Valentine deserved but a goodbye that happened way too soon than It should have.

I thought that saying goodbye, having a funeral, would give me some sort of closure but it hasn’t. I don’t see this ever getting easier. I made the executive decision to come and stay at the house tonight. I need to be on my own and I need to get used to being here again.

I’m sitting on the couch, a beer bottle in one hand, and a photo album Casey had put together a long time ago in the other. Drinking isn’t going to fix this I know that logically but It’s pretty tempting right now.

From where I am I can hear someone put a key in the lock and open the front door. There’s only one other person who has a key to this house. I don’t turn to look up as they enter..

“Hello, Ethan.” That’s not who’s supposed to me here. I turn around to see Harper instead of Naveen who I assumed was here. I’m confused as to why she’s here. We haven’t really spoken since Casey’s death. It too hard. Look at her reminds me of the worst time in my life.

“It’s never going to go away, is it?” I ask as I look back down at the picture of Casey I’ve been staring at for some time now.

“Ethan, it’s only been a week. You just need to-”

“Don’t say I need to give it time,” I interrupt. “No amount of time will fix this. No amount of time will bring her back, now will it?!” I snap at her.

Harper doesn’t say anything as she sits herself down beside me. A Little bit of time goes by as I think over everything and all the emotions I’ve held back today and when she died comes bubbling to the surface. My head ends up leaning against Harper’s shoulder as she slings and arm around me. I finally feel able to cry.

“It’s okay, Ethan. I’m here. For as long as you need me to be I’ll be here.”

65 notes · View notes

anotherbeingsworld · 4 years

Text

Friends till the end.

Pairing: Bryce x F!MC (Casey Valentine)

Book: Open Heart

Warning/Rating: None/G

Word Count: 2163

Disclaimer: All characters belong to Pixelberry, I do not own any of them.

Summary: A day out with good friends.

A/N: Hiii!! So, I am back with a new fic!! This is just a happy-go-lucky fic that I really wanted to write. With OH still being on hiatus, I really missed the dynamic from the friendship, and I decided to write it all down. I hope I did the characters justice! I have some hardships (a few breakdowns and just, a tons of writers block) so, I hope it came out good. Hopefully! Soo, ENJOY!!

Tags: @soederberg ; @choicessa ; @annekebbphotography ; @dcbbw ; @bitchloveskcbaseball ; @princess-geek ; @storyofmychoices ; @mvalentine ; @n-whas ; @mrsbhandari

LINK TO MY MASTERLIST

It was a rare occasion for the second year resident of Edenbrook Hospital with a fellow EMT to be seen at the long roads in the states. One day, Casey has an amazing idea to bring along her friends along with Keiki to a 3-day weekend road trip. Their final destination would be a vintage beach house to have a bonfire as their final days on the road. It sounds ridiculous since their jobs would never allow them, but by taking up most of the week cases and begging to Dr. Banerji. They were given a green light.

They ended up renting a van, for the whole trip. Bryce and Rafael were assigned as designated drivers for the whole trip. All of them had visited the wonders of the states, in the duration of the last 48 hours as they made their way to the final location. A secluded beach, where they would rent a beach house for a bonfire.

After what felt like an eternity, they finally arrived at their final location of the trip. The Gildosa Strand Beach looks majestic, with the beautiful blue waters as the sun shines across the golden sands. Casey felt herself smile at the beautiful sight as she immediately pulled Bryce into a hug, as he places a small kiss on her cheeks.

‘Finally, we are here.’ Jackie let out a scream as Elijah and Sienna immediately make their way to the beach. Rafael laughed at their antics along with Aurora as they cleared the trunk that was filled with their baggage.

‘Race ya to the shore Jackie!’ Keiki shouted before sprinting ahead as Jackie followed her from behind making the whole gang laugh.

‘Hey, the beach ain’t gonna play itself! C’mon guys!’ Elijah shouted from a distance, as the others took out the baggage. Rafael and Bryce carried most of the bags to the beach house, whilst Casey and Aurora settled on the lighter ones.

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The beach house is spacious, the kitchen was filled with supplies and the living room is furnished and the view is spectacular. It was everything that they needed to get away from the real world.

‘Honestly, I want to stay here forever.’ Aurora said as her gaze falls to the beach.

‘Wow, I thought you were a mini Harper who enjoys work and not relaxing?’ Bryce assumes as he earns a glare from Aurora, making him put his hands up in a defensive manner.

‘Lay it off her Bryce, we all needed some time away. So, for now. Let us enjoy paradise.” Rafael said as he went to check out his room.

‘Okay, okay. I didn’t mean it that way Aurora. I just somehow, you looked like you never had a vacation and..” Bryce was stopped as Casey smack his arm causing him to shut up earning a soft chuckle from Aurora.

‘I get it Lahela, so the next 24 hours is going to be dedicated to me having the vacation of my dreams.’ Aurora replied before leaving to find her room as well.

Casey and Bryce stood there, as they stared at their friends and Keiki playing in the sun. Casey felt a pair of eyes are staring through her. She tilted her head and saw Bryce was staring at her.

‘What are you staring at Lahela?’

‘You.’ He replied with a smile whilst Casey felt her cheek burn from the heat.

‘This is our first vacation together, and I can’t believe it's going to end soon!’ Casey said with a sad tone in her voice.

‘I am not going to let your negativity ruined it for the both of us, we should enjoy it. With the bonfire tonight, it's going to be one of the best nights in our lives. Let’s live for tonight.” Bryce said as he pulled her into a sweet kiss.

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After all the preparations are ready, all of them were seated in a circle around the bonfire. Casey was sat between a Lahela sandwich with Keiki and Bryce on both of her sides, followed by Aurora who is seated beside Bryce and Rafael, followed by Jackie, Elijah, and Sienna on their side.

The fire is bright as the darkness appears, all of them were silence enjoying the beauty of nature before Bryce cleared his throat.

‘Cheers to an amazing group of friends, and making amazing memories.’ Bryce said while raising his glass while glancing at the others.

‘You know when I first came to Edenbrook. I never would have thought that I would meet a bunch of amazing people who I am proud to call as my friends. You guys are really amazing. Cheers to all of you.’ Casey continues raising her glass as Keiki smiles feeling giddy inside.

‘Guys, this is supposed to be a vacation. Not, an emotional wedding toast or something.’ Elijah said as the others laugh at his comment.

‘Well, some of us maybe will end up on the aisle. We will never know.’ Sienna commented as her eyes gaze at both Bryce and Casey making them both blush.

The moon was shining above them in its finest as they all enjoyed their last night on the road together. Aurora clears her throat as well, commanding for the attention.

‘Soo, I figure I would like to prepare a toast as too. Cheers to this vacation, where we could take a breather from the hospital once every 365 days. I also wanted to say thank you for accepting me into this circle of friends, especially after everything we have been through. It feels nice, and somehow it felt like home.’ Aurora said as she met Casey’s eyes who nod in approval.

‘Aw, we are lucky to have you here Aurora.’ Sienna lets out a squeal as she pulled her into a small hug making her smile.

‘Raf, anything to add?’ Elijah asked as Rafael was lost in thought thinking about what to say.

‘I would like to propose a toast for this group also, for accepting me for who I am. Honestly, I somehow feel a bit out of my league among amazing doctors but, you guys accept me for the person who I am today and I couldn’t be more grateful. This has been an amazing time for us and well, I couldn’t have it any other way.’ Rafael cheered in happiness as the others let out a whoop from the speech.

‘Hey, buddy. You are a superman! I would kill to be like you.’ Elijah said patting his Rafael’s back.

‘The way you saved those people that is really admirable!’ Sienna squealed in delight as Rafael let out a small laugh.

'Yeah man, you are amazing!' Bryce exclaimed as they fist bump one another which is making Casey smile at the encounter.

'Okay, okay. It's my turn. I would like to cheers to another year of our residency and our life. When I first came to Edenbrook, my mind was set to the prize; being the best doctor. Without any distractions, and attachments. But, you guys prove me wrong. I need all the support I can get if I want to reach the top. I appreciate what we have here and honestly as Rafael said; I wouldn't have it any other way either. So, cheers to us.' Jackie raised her glass aswell, as Casey felt herself tearing up.

‘Jackie, that is beautiful.’ Casey commented as she wipes a tear that has fallen.

‘We love you too Jackie.’ Sienna exclaimed as she makes a heart with her hands towards her making her blush.

‘You guys are saps, but the craziest saps a girl could find.’ Jackie said as she lean in her chair.

‘Hey, sappiness is good. This is a golden moment, and sappiness is required.’ Casey said as the others laugh.

Bryce glanced at his sister who is itching to say something, he lets out a whistle capturing the others attentions as all eyes fall on him. Keiki looks at him, and lets out a small smile.

‘I think Keiki here have a few words to say aswell.’ Bryce gestured to Keiki who gave a small nod to him in appreciation. Keiki clears her throat and starts,

‘I am not an official member of this friend group, but I just want to lay out a few words here. I’m not much of a master in words, so I am winging it. No pressure, I have been here, living with Bryce for a few months now and I have never been happier. Its not a huge mansion at home, or a field full of unicorns but it is an equivalent to home. Let’s raise one for my annoying brother Bryce who is a bit full of himself but at the same time has the biggest heart a person could ever have...’ Keiki paused before continuing.

‘Elijah’s right, this sounds like a wedding toast but what the heck, its a good night to pass it on. I also, want to thank Casey for being the big sister that I never had, you really feel like family and in this moment,it feels perfect.’ Keiki concludes as the others lets out a sniff, even Jackie is crying over her tough demeanour. The whole minute was dedicated for wiping their own tears, as Sienna continued.

‘Since we are all saying all good things, I would like to join myself in the party. Last year, we were just wide eyed interns who is starting in life and honestly, we still are. But, now we are second year residents trying to stay strong despite everything. To put it short, I love each and everyone of you. After everything we have been through, I never could imagine doing it with anybody else. The adventure with Mr.s Martinez, to Casey’s hearing and everything. It brought us here together, and life couldnt get much better than this. So, here is to friendship!’ Sienna beamed at all of them as she leans her head on Elijah’s shoulder from the exhaustion and satisfaction.

Elijah rubs her back and raised his glass too.

‘I might not get sappier than all of you, but I really appreciate each and everyone of you. Sometimes, I wonder what if we worked at different hospitals and, just never had a chance to have this...’ He pursed his lips before continuing.

‘It would feel incomplete, and I owe you guys a lot for all the good times and even bad times. I have grown a lot in these years and its because of this circle of people here. Cheers to right here, right now.’ Elijah concludes his speech as the sound of the water crashes through their eardrums.

The circle around them are silence as the bonfire crackles to life, as everyone is capturing the moment around them. Casey felt herself leaning against Bryce, as he held her in his arms. Bryce placed a kiss on her forehead, followed by clearing his throat once more.

‘So, let’s save the best for last. I won’t get sappy here..’ Casey lets out a scoff as he winks at her.

‘As I was saying, I really am happy here. Med school was okay, but nothing could top this moment; good friend, great vibes. Period. But, through it all, I really am grateful to meet one of the most amazing girl a guy could ever asked for. These two years with her are the best years of my life and honestly, I couldnt wait for what our future will hold, so I decided...’ Bryce took out something from his back pocket and in dropped to one knee facing her. The others let out a chorus of gasps.

‘Casey Valentine, I may not be the guy from the magazines, but I am here as I am and it would be the greatest honor to be your husband. The world is still young for us, but I couldn’t imagine life without you in it. So, I told myself, what the heck, and lets do it. Everything from that leads to this moment, which leads to an important question. Will you marry me?’ Bryce lets out a small breathe as his eyes gaze into hers.

The atmosphere around them was thick, as time seemed to slow down for a moment. Bryce sat there with a huge amount of fear as he suddenly regrets, until... he saw the small nod from her.

‘Yes..’ she replied quietly as the tears started to fall .

‘Yes?’ Bryce stood up in excitement as Casey nods excitedly. He quickly pulled her for a kiss as he slip the ring on her finger.

Their friends let out a celebratory screamed as Bryce and Casey was engulfed in hugs by their friends. In that moment, everything is perfect. Although the tears blurred her vision, the silhouette of each of her friends. The smiles and tears as they celebrate the night were tattooed in her heart where they will be forever. As they will become friends until the very end.

THE END.

A/N #2: Hii again! I really hope you all enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it!! The friendships that choices has given is really amazing and I want to acknowledge that somehow since the friendship group in OH is one of the reasons why I fell in love with the book. This fic is somehow dedicated to all the friendships that occured in life. I have met so many amazing writers, artists, and amazing people here that I was lucky enough to call my friends and all of you who took the time checking out my stories !!! I LOVE EACH AND EVERYONE OF YOU. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING. ❤❤

#bryce x mc #bryce lahela #open heart #open heart fics #casey valentine #playchoices #open heart second year #choices fics

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juergenklopp · 1 year

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I SUPPORT BRYCE HARPER RIGHTS BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY BRYCE HARPER WRONGS

#LET HIM FIGHT OR LET ME FIGHT FOR HIM

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acourtesanofedgewater · 3 years

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Open Heart 3, Ch. 9 spoilers for Bryce/Jackie/Raf stans

It's Spoiler Wednesday and here I am once again. Ugh. We all know my spoiler posts never bring good news, so let's begin already:

Bryce

•He has a small cameo where he's talking with Jade about some study. That's it, basically. No premium scene, although at this point I'd consider that a blessing because y'all know I hate those qUirKy premium scenes where we have to share Bryce with someone else, and get 0 development.

Jackie

•She interrupts Jade and Bryce's conversation to assign Jade a new case. Jade seems pretty fascinated by studies and papers and not so much at the perspective of dealing with patients, and it shows. I'd say Jackie has it better than Bryce (and Raf) because at least she gets crumbs of development this chapter but this scene developed Jade's character, not Jackie's. She's just there because she needs to be there to tell Jade about the new patient, and that's it.

•Raf

Raf's back... in his cryotank, next to Naveen and Kyra lmao. He doesn't have an appearance or is even mentioned in this chapter.

I don't even have words, I don't know what else to say because, sadly, I'm used to Raf/Jackie/Bryce being treated like shit so I was kinda expecting this, although it is upsetting that none of them get a diamond scene, specially Jackie, given that, following PB's shitty chart of premium-scenes-for-characters-that-are-not-Ethan it would be Jackie's turn this week, but... sigh.

You are probably asking yourself, if the supporting cast barely gets cameos this week, then what is the chapter about, right?

Oh, boy. I think you know the answer for this one, but I'm still gonna give you some spoilers regarding the Ethan general plot we'll get:

•The chapter, as usual, picks up right were it was left last week, with Tobias being named the new leader. You get a new case and there'll be a diamond scene to visit the patient's home with him, where he'll explain more about his rivalry with Ethan. He admits he used to be a bit of a hothead and he regrets being a bad loser, demonstrating, once again, that he has grown up since his college days (you know... like any functional adult should?) while Ethan is still a whiny baby. No surprise here

•Harper asks MC to have a talk with them where she apologizes for her behavior and admits she was wrong. Thanks, I hate it. (I mean, I hate that the writers put one of their strongest woc characters in this position)

•Then, MC wonders why hasn't Ethan answered their texts AND GOES FUCKING VISIT HIM. Really??? The man who harrased you at work just a day before? Who almost let you take the fall for his mistake? Guys, I'm not even joking, given Ethan's behavior I was so scared about MC going to his house alone lmao and I think that sums up how bad the writing is for this book pretty well

•Enter a premium scene to have lunch with him. HARD. PASS. I scrolled that scene down, until I caught the sentence "Bloom's system is saving you" and stopped myself lmao. Turns out, Bloom's new rules for the hospital will allow Ethan to only get a slap on the wrist, he's not facing any serious consequences. But read this post til the end, because that's not the worst thing.

•Back at the apartment, we have small cameos for Aurora and Sienna and, turns out, Elijah is fucking pissed at MC for the trial thing. They try to blame it on Ethan (as it should be) and, once again, we're faced with disbelief and answers like "hOw dArE yOu bLaMe sOmEoNe aS gOoD aS eThAn fOr yOuR mEsS". MC explains he will have a board hearing for it and Elijah's still like "wElL yOu pRobAbLy gAvE hIm ThAt iDeA sO I'm StIlL aNgRy aT yOu" and leaves. But hey, you can pay diamonds to patch up your relationship with him!... or let it deteriorate just because of an old man's white savior complex, I guess.

•The ending scene is just hilarious because of how bad it is lmao. Last week I made a post where I mentioned it was pretty obvious Ethan was not gonna be sanctioned and would be back in the team in the team in two chapters or so. We already know he's not gonna face real consequences for his acts, but I guessed two chapters for his return because... well, this book is lame and the writers need conflict and drama, right?

•Well, PB could not even last ONE full chapter without their golden boy, so, while Tobias, Harper and MC are bonding and being iconic, Ethan comes back. It hasn't been even a minute since he entered the office AND THIS WHITE MAN HAS THE AUDACITY of gesturing towards the leader-chair where Tobias is sitting and say: "iF yOu dOn'T mInD". Fuck, I get it makes more sense for Ethan to be the leader because he's worked in the team (and the hospital) longer, but damn, couldn't he be nicer? More professional at least? I'd be offended if irl me boss asks me things like that. Anyway, Ethan is confident that Bloom has already fired his worst shot at the team (stupid believe, really) and he won't bother them again, and the chapter ends with MC not feeling so sure about this.

Aaaand that's it. This is such a wasted chapter. Having Ethan suspended gave PB a chance to organically make him disappear for at least one chapter and use that time to develop the other three LIs and give them proper diamond scenes, but it seems they're afraid of the Ramseynators lmao. Disappointed but not surprised.

#playchoices #choices stories you play #choices #open heart #open heart 3 #open heart third year #open heart 3 spoilers #bryce lahela #jackie varma #rafael aveiro

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drsobemoji · 4 years

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Tobias seem so obsessed with the idea of winning that at this point I’d be far more surprised if it turns out that he had no idea that Aurora is Harper’s niece. I think by the end of this book Aurora will be confident enough to deal with that on her own but I want to know what receipts June has on him

yep. there’s no way he didn’t know. it’s just not realistic, no ma’am!

seeing aurora getting more and more confident is such a blessing. if u choose a bitchy response to the blonde girl at the reunion she goes off on her too and it’s simply amazing. i think she’ll able to handle tobias just fine if he tries anything with her, but mc will be there too to support her.

tobias and june.. now that’s a story i wanna hear. i’m simmering with curiosity!! what’s the tea?!! i’m so glad we got to know what’s ethan’s deal with tobias right away. now i just need mc to ambush june and find out what’s up with her and tobias 👀

as for tobias himself… i saw some people say they hope he flirts with mc so ethan gets jealous but that would be so weak imho. i don’t fuck with that, it reeks of toxic masculinity 🙃 also if u choose the “hi, excuse me, i was also there” (ugh lov u mc u sassy binch) option when you first talk to tobias with aurora he basically calls mc a dumbass and continues to ignore their existence and talk to aurora lmao. he seems like a smart dude (he was ethan’s bestie and greatest competition) so i don’t think he’s gonna try that shit with mc. it’s just stupid. sorry. 🤷🏻 (if ethan’s gonna be jealous he better be of someone he should jealous of. like bryce cause u bet my mc fools around with that boy every chance she gets😊)

i think tobias is being set up as this book’s villain. i mean we still have declan but he’s just so cartoonishly evil and just annoying tbh idc much abt him. don’t get me wrong, he will be causing us troubles but we know it. he represents the big evil pharma. the struggle all doctors face (see: our girl jackie). it’s gonna be bad but not the worst (i think..)

but tobias.. he might be our new landry. it will get more personal with him (he’s ethan’s ex bestie and now rival, aurora’s new boss and the chance at coming out of miss aunt emery’s shadow, he works at edenbrook’s rival hospital, the one where our own nemesis, the rat boy himself fled to (pls pb let me throw hands with that little shit, those scenes last year were not enough🙏).

tobias might stir some shit up and i’m looking forward to it. like you said, he does seem obsessed with winning so i’m curious how far he will go… landry’s betrayal last year hurted so i’m excited and scared (lol) to see what’s gonna happen this year.

so yeah that’s what are my thots on this… sorry this reply is so long, your ask just got me thinking about this whole thing again so i thought i will just write it all down.

and thank you for the ask! lemme know what you are thinking. and sorry if there are any grammar mistakes!

#asks #tobias carrick #aurora emery #ethan ramsey #open heart #Anonymous #head full... many thoughts

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lucy-268 · 4 years

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The Morning After

A/N – This is a missing moment from Open Heart, book chapter 15 between sleeping with Ethan and returning to the apartment the following morning to find Landry packing. This also picks up two challenges from @choicesweeklychallenge: the current one for week 17th-24th August - You need to surround yourself with those people who are right for you. Not every good people will be right for you! You need to find the right ones. And me.....I'll be always here. And as a bonus, last week’s 10th-17th August - I honestly don’t know…. My masterlist is here.

Disclaimer: Characters belong to PB

Warnings: None.

Series/Pairing: Open Heart - Ethan x f!MC (Charley Valentine)

Word count: 707

Charley opened her eyes in the unfamiliar room. It took her a few minutes to realize where she was and then memories of last night flooded back. She smiled as she snuggled back against his chest. Ethan’s arm was slung over her side, with a hand cupping her hip. She shifted in the bed and her movement woke Ethan. He sat up, and looked at her, guilt and regret on his face.

She sat up and shifted away from him. She pulled a sheet around her. “You regret last night.” It wasn’t a question.

Ethan reached out and touched her cheek. He shook his head. “I don’t. I just feel like I let you down. If I hadn’t been so caught up in Naveen’s case this year, I could have helped you more, and you wouldn’t have the hearing tomorrow.”

“It’s not your fault. I made the decision and acted on it, for better or worse.”

“Are you ready for tomorrow?”

Charley twirled a strand of hair around her finger and chewed on her lip. “I honestly don’t know. I’m going to stop at the library on my way home and see if I can check out some medical law and medical ethics books.”

“I have one you can take. I’ll also look up the name of two others you’ll want to look for.” Ethan stood and pulled on a pair of sweatpants. “I’ll fix you breakfast before you go.”

Charley smiled at him. “You cook?”

“I know my way around the kitchen.” Ethan left the bedroom while Charley dressed.

Soon Charley was in the kitchen, sitting at a bar stool at the counter. Ethan had poured her a cup of coffee and had managed to pull a copy of Mason and McCall Smith’s Law and Medical Ethics. He had also written out a note with Medical Law, Ethics, and Bioethics for the Health Professions by Lewis and Applied Law and Ethics for Health Professionals by Stanford. “Thank you.”

Ethan was at the stove watching the eggs. “Harper won’t let me testify for you. I have an idea for something that might work, but I don’t know if I can make it work yet.” Ethan pulled a pan of bacon out of the oven and plated the food. Soon they were eating.

“How did the family find out it was you?”

Charley laughed at the question. “I trusted the wrong person.” She took a bite of eggs.

“Who?” Ethan asked.

“Landry. I thought he was a friend. He told me not to do it. All my other roommates and Bryce saw that it was unfair what Panacea was doing, but Landry disagreed.”

“Huh, I thought he was a decent doctor and good person,” Ethan said.

“Only a decent doctor? He thinks he’s the best doctor and that he should be the number one intern.”

“Technically, I have no problems with his work, but he often brushes patients’ questions aside. That concerns me.” Ethan touched her hand and he continued when she looked up and met his eyes. “You always listen to what your patients want and need.”

They ate in silence for a while until Ethan cleared his throat. “Can I give you a piece of non-medical advice?”

Charley nods.

“Be careful of who you surround yourself with.” Ethan took a sip of his coffee before continuing. “You need to surround yourself with those people who are right for you. Not every good people will be right for you! You need to find the right ones. And me.....I'll be always here. No matter what happens tomorrow, you can always count on me.”

“Funnily enough, I usually am more careful about trusting people.” Charley reached over and grabbed his coffee mug and took a sniff. “Irish coffee for breakfast? And I just got coffee?”

He took his mug away from her. “I don’t have to work. Remember, I’m unemployed. I also don’t have to research to defend myself tomorrow. I just need to show up to support you, however I can. And I’ll be there for you afterwards, no matter the outcome.”

“Thank you. For breakfast and for the books.” She hugged him before she headed back home to prepare her defense and fight for her career.

My tag list @oofchoices @openheart12 @jamespotterthefirst @ohchoices @catchinglikekeronsen @aylamreads @nerdydinosaursweets @eramsey28 @txemrn @starrystarrytrouble @queencarb @thegreentwin @lion-ess24 @caseyvalentineramsey @mvalentine

@choicesficwriterscreations @choicesweeklychallenge

#dr ethan ramsey x mc #ethan jonah ramsey #open heart fanfiction #choices open heart #open heart #dr ethan ramsey #choices fic writers creations #choicesweeklychallenge

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hellospunkiebrewster · 5 years

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weve asked about a lot of headcannons youve had about desire and decorum (feel free to list any new ones!) but do you have any anout ride or die?? or open heart???

Ooof, I have a lot of these. Here’s some after the cut.

RoD Headcanons. (Mostly Logan and a lot of it from my WIPs)

Logan’s a crier. He hasn’t really ever had someone care for him, without expecting anything in return like MC. So when she does something like the night where she patches him up, or the time at the rave where she promises she’s not going anywhere, he gets a little tickle in his throat and because of toxic masculinity in the shop, might run and hide if he gets too emotional. One time when he gets a sweet text from MC, he hides under a car on a creeper and you can hear a long sniffle from under the car. Colt teases him about it. FUCK YOU COLT.

Logan has also been through a lot. Duh. That time in the parking garage where he disarms those guys when MC shows up? That wasn’t his first time handling a gun and he has one.

Logan’s experienced, he’s run through a few sideshow girls and older women. Never much more than casual hookups though.

I think he’s got a tiny wisp of a memory of his mom, who took care of him as an infant and toddler before she was jailed again, when she got desperate and mixed up in the same old shit as before, and Logan was taken for good by the state. It’s so happy and light that Logan thinks perhaps he’s made it up from tv shows and movies, but it’s real. This is why Logan was never permanently adopted by a family, adopting out a child, as opposed to a baby, is much more difficult.

His childhood is marked by jumping around from home to home, never really staying long enough to get truly comfortable. Abuse and neglect plague his childhood and that’s why he falls so hard for MC when she shows him even the smallest hint of truly caring for him.

Kaneko’s crew is the first real structure he’s experienced even though he doesn’t necessarily see Kaneko as a father figure, he does see him as father-esque, but a true father wouldn’t treat Logan the way Kaneko has. Logan’s been roughed up a bit for breaking the rules.

Kaneko plays chess, no one in the crew has ever beaten him at it.

Before Wren, Logan is 1000% a thirst trap on picta. SOMEONE PAY ATTENTION TO ME PLEASE. Mona is thankful she doesn’t have to see it any more when he starts dating Wren. Toby comments on all Logan’s pictures and is supportive of him regardless of what phase of his pictagram life he’s in.

Wren cycles through tons of car themed nicknames before she finds the perfect one, Logan loves all of them. He loves nicknames.

Logan’s felt like he’s been ready to go his separate ways from Kaneko and MPC for a while and Wren seems like the perfect opportunity. He’d love to escape to the East Coast with her when she leaves for college. He gets his GED and ends up going to community college.

Logan’s smart, you can tell from the way he is just able to fit into the high school classes.

He knows he’s attractive. He’s used it to get sympathy before, or to get people’s wallets, watches, et cetera.

He doesn’t show his love in big gestures with flowers or notes or poems but he’s the expert at just being there and knowing what Wren needs without having to ask. If he’s not taking Wren home he always texts her to make sure she got there. He knows that dairy doesn’t quite agree with her, so if they have pizza one day he remembers and suggest something else the next. He always sits touching her.

He has a lot of heart. It’s just hard to get him to share it, he has a complicated relationship with trust. He’s all about PDA and showing how he feels but ask him for it in words, and he can’t voice it.

Logan has to kiss Wren goodnight every opportunity that he has.

I imagine when all is said and done, Logan and MC eventually marry. He takes her last name because he’s never felt connected to his own anyway.

My MC, Wren, becomes a criminal defense lawyer and Logan has his own garage. It’s not really profitable, it’s more of a side project, and he welcomes kids from the neighborhood to come and tinker with a shitty car that barely runs so they stay off the streets after school.

When they have kids, he goes to PTA meetings. The moms have a love/hate relationship with him because they think he’s potential trouble, he has no qualms standing up for exactly what he thinks is right, and always comes through when whatever fundraiser needs a clutch save. He gets banned from meetings for doing donuts in the parking lot with some kids though.

–

Open Heart (There’s not a lot of these as I don’t think the book has quite hit it’s stride.)

Bryce Lahela is a sort of bread winner for a large family of siblings.

Ramsey’s been married/deeply involved with a woman before Harper Emery and when that fell apart, because of his intense devotion to his career, he and Harper happened. It was easy, they were both at the hospital so much, and it just became natural for them even though a true deep connection did not exactly exist for him. Harper caught feelings and Ramsey never really acknowledged them, breaking it off when she was promoted.

Ramsey doesn’t think he’ll ever have kids, but he eventually mentally adopts the interns as his kids. He is their Steve Harrington.

Jackie never wastes an opportunity to roast Bryce.

Jackie’s under a lot of pressure and faces high expectations from her parents. It’s why she’s so competitive about the fellowship to the point of lashing out at her friends.

–

Ernest Sinclaire Headcanons.

Ernest Sinclaire is seriously tall.

Mr. Sinclaire was not always an angel. While his father always instilled a sense of fairness and right and wrong inside of him, he briefly lost his way when Roselyn and Tristan happened. He was young and had little direction in his adult life from mentors. His activism came from a very dark place after Roselyn was found cheating. The rumors of him frequenting houses of ill repute weren’t entirely false. He fell into a habit of frequenting them, then one day it was as if he saw what he was doing in a different light, and decided to never take advantage of this privilege he had again. He kept going back, but this time to deliver supplies and help the women find new jobs.

Ernest Sinclaire has strong eyebrow game.

After his parents passed, Ernest was not quite old enough to take over the estate. An agent takes care of it and he heads off to boarding school and a couple years of university in London before returning to officially become Master of Ledford Park.

Half the time, when Ernest has a problem he really just wants to go lay down and not move.

He doesn’t quite know how to show affection and is pretty touch starved. SOMEONE HUG HIM PLEASE. Half the time he ends up buying Emmeline something because he doesn’t know how to show his love in other ways. Which is fine because he has the means to do that, but how many pieces of jewelry and such does Emmeline really need?

In the many idle hours he’s had around his large estate alone, Ernest Sinclaire has learned how to play the pianoforte.

#logan x mc #ernest x mc #mr sinclaire x mc #long post

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weekegg2-blog · 5 years

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Jed Hoyer Speaks: Payroll Level, Internal Improvements, Bullpen, Russell’s Conditional Second-Chance, More

Today, Cubs GM Jed Hoyer joined Dave Kaplan on ESPN 1000 to discuss a wide range of topics on the eve of the Cubs Convention. I listened, took notes, and have some thoughts on what he had to say.

I was rather taken aback by Hoyer’s candor at the top of the hour, but not in a particularly positive way (I mean, I appreciate the honesty, but not the position). Expectedly, he was asked about the Cubs’ budgetary restraints this winter and he seemed to suggest he doesn’t see any reason Cubs fans should be upset about how much the team is spending and has spent. He said there’s no way you can complain when the team is basically running out the third highest payroll in the league. In fact, he went as far as saying that, if anything, there should be a level of gratitude for getting the payroll as high as it is.

I hate that I have to go through this nuance over and over, but even Hoyer side-stepped the obvious, so here we are: No, the Ricketts are not cheap – at all. Clearly, the payroll is very high, both in terms of organizational history and league-wide rankings. And, finally, yes, the team has done a FANTASTIC job of spending to this point. Period. All true. Not arguing any of that.

HOWEVA, not spending at this point would be a strategic misstep. Like it or not, the Cubs may have backed themselves into a position where this competitive window is shortened without more dollars being infused into the on-field budget. Maybe, if they did a better job at drafting and developing pitchers (which isn’t easy, I know!), or if some big contracts hadn’t been misses (tricky, I know!), they wouldn’t be here, but the reality is what it is. You will rarely have a core like Rizzo-Bryant-Baez, and not supporting and supplementing that core – even at a disproportionate level – would be misguided. It doesn’t have to be Bryce Harper. It just has to be something. There shouldn’t be obvious holes going into the season.

To that end, Hoyer did suggest that the Cubs have spent most of the last few months trying to fortify the bullpen, and while I believe him, I can’t let some of his other comments slide. Hoyer seemed to be confused about the handwringing over the bullpen, saying as much while also intimating that unless a group is perfect, fans are going to want more out of the pen.

That’s true, but the top two arms, Brandon Morrow and Pedro Strop, finished the season injured, with one of them expected to miss a month to start the year? Another three quality arms, Jesse Chavez, Justin Wilson, and Jorge De La Rosa are gone. Carl Edwards Jr. got wild, Brian Duensing was not even close to the guy he was in 2017, Steve Cishek was overused, and the team got some solid (and probably unrepeatable) contributions from the Triple-A shuttle bus guys. Everyone is a year older. Is an expectation that a useful addition or two is necessary really that out of whack?

Maybe I’m being hard on them – and he did say improvements/additions were coming over the next few weeks – but it just feels so off to say fans are overreacting to the state of the bullpen. The state of the bullpen is the one, true, painfully obvious potential weakness of the club right now. That’s not up for debate.

Asked if trades were still possible, Hoyer said they’ve been engaged with teams throughout the winter, so we shouldn’t rule anything out and that there’s plenty of time left for things to happen … but also, their focus is internal. “How do we get these hitters to perform the way they have.”

Hoyer went on to explain that this was one of the best offenses of 2017 and the entire first half of 2018 (true). So while the offense did break in the second half of the year, they see that as more of an outlier than something to overreact to. This feels like a walk-back of an otherwise strong address at the end of the season, but it’s not like he’s entirely wrong. This offense could be great – and it almost certainly will be just fine – but then what was all the tough talk about in October?

Specifically, the front office remains very excited about Kyle Schwarber. Hoyer sees the already existing power and believes the batting average and OBP will follow soon behind. He warns fans to remember that these players didn’t spend as much time in the minors as other guys and so their development isn’t entirely complete. To that end, he wasn’t surprised to see Javy Baez break out last year, because he had the most professional experience/plate appearances of anyone in that younger core.

Hoyer addressed the lack of an extension for Joe Maddon, but there was really nothing new. He doesn’t have an extension, but that doesn’t mean he won’t get one.

Hoyer also discussed Addison Russell without too much new information, but did say (pointing it out specifically multiple times) that this is a conditional second chance for Russell, and that he’ll have to show he’s becoming a better person to keep his job on the team. Hoyer did not mention how he could show that or if we’d have any insight. He also said he was aware that the decision to tender him a contract would be unpopular.

Hoyer does not think the Cubs need to have a set lineup, despite the wishes of fans. One of the Cubs’ biggest strengths is their depth, so not using it to the full potential would be a mistake. Playing the matchups, keeping guys healthy and fresh, and really taking advantage of their roster depth is what’s helped the Cubs win as much as they have. Agreed on that part.

Source: https://www.bleachernation.com/2019/01/17/jed-hoyer-speaks-payroll-level-internal-improvements-bullpen-russells-conditional-second-chance-more/

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rickhorrow · 6 years

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18 FOR ‘18: TOP SPORTS STORIES OF 2018

18 FOR ‘18: RICK HORROW’S TOP SPORTS/BUSINESS/

TECHNOLOGY/PHILANTHROPY STORIES OF 2018 with Tanner Simkins

This past year in sports was full of gripping storylines and iconic events. We isolate some of the more unique happenings and their impact in our 18 for 2018 list.

The Golden State Warriors’ appearance in the NBA Finals has become expected. The Warriors have reached the Championship each of the past four seasons. Their 2018 sweep victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers brought them to their third championship in those four years and their first back-to-back O’Brien trophy. When winning is as plentiful as it has been for the Warriors, business booms for the team and its players as well. Steph Curry, Kevin Durant, and Klay Thompson all were in the top 10 last year for money earned in endorsements for NBA players.

Serena Williams accused Finals chair umpire Carlos Williams of sexism after her multiple outbursts at the 2018 U.S. Open. This became international news because of the impact of Williams on tennis and the polarizing debate that ensued with respect to sexism in sports and removal of any double-standards in tennis. The incident also drew attention away from first time U.S. Open winner Naomi Osaka, the first woman from Japan to win a Grand Slam singles title.

Tiger Woods won his first golf tournament since four back surgeries and renewed debate about whether he remains capable of breaking Jack Nicklaus’ record 18 Major victories. The season-ending Tour Championship Sunday at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta was the first Woods victory at a professional golf tournament in more than five years. This was Woods’ 80th career PGA win — two short of the career record held by Sam Snead. Woods' last victory was in 2013 at the Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio. Later in 2018, Woods and Phil Mickelson held a PPV special head to head match where Mickelson ousted Tiger after the match went into extra holes. As a result, Mickelson took home $9 million. Vegas odds makers currently have Woods at 25-1 to beat Nicklaus’ record.

University of Central Florida football fans will tell you they are National Champions from the season prior, and likely will push for that same recognition this year if the team keeps up their undefeated game streak. Debate like this was common during the BCS Championship years, but by 2018, the NCAA was supposed to have it figured out. The College Football Playoff system was designed to identify a true national champion. But with the success of UCF, perhaps the system isn’t as foolproof as it suggests. Does there need to be an eight-team tournament?

One year after the horrific Las Vegas shooting, the sports community is still proving to be a platform for healing and repair. “Our great state has shown the country and indeed the world what Vegas Strong is every day for nearly a year,” said Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval. “The events of 1 October affected so many and I think it is only right to show the world again how Vegas Strong Nevada is on the one year anniversary.” The NHL Las Vegas Golden Knights have completely bought into the VegasStrong movement, providing hope and a positive distraction to the still-recovering region.

Bryce Harper won the 2018 MLB Home Run Derby and solidified himself as a superstar. A six-time All-Star at the age of 25, Harper has established himself as one of the game's premier young stars. The 2015 National League Most Valuable Player Award winner had his breakout season at the age of 22. Coming off the Home Run Derby victory, Harper is baseball’s top free agent in 2018. This will likely yield him a $400 million dollar contract – the main reason he made our list.

High level athletics equal big time money – this year, college basketball added corruption and abuse into that mix. The FBI and other government agencies arrested NCAA basketball coaches, others close to NCAA programs, and Adidas representatives at the University of Arizona and elsewhere on various corruption and fraud charges including bribery, money laundering, and wire fraud. The investigation spread to reveal a much larger level of corruption, naming more than a dozen schools and over 25 current and former players as having been potentially implicated in the scandal. While there have been pay-to-play NCAA scandals in the past, what made this story unique was its size and breadth, in addition to the consequences. This was also the first time real jail time has ever been a factor in collegiate corruption scandals.

HBO Sports dropped boxing both from a coverage and PPV revenue perspective. This headline was easy to miss if you do not follow this sports media vertical, but its weight on boxing’s decline cannot be overstated. MMA, on the other hand, has been on the rise with coverage extending into new markets and new networks like ESPN. But for combat sports in general, the new-age coverage and subscription approach of networks like DAZN (which made headlines by signing Canelo Alvarez to a five-year, $365 million fight deal) seem to be the future and the final blow to PPV as we know it.

NASCAR celebrated its 70th season in decline. The anniversary came amidst the fourth year of its current 10-year television contract with Fox Sports and NBC Sports and the third year of a five-year race sanctioning agreement with all tracks. But who really cares? With TV ratings and race attendance on the wane, NASCAR in many ways remains mostly a sport for B2B plays and only its most diehard fans.

Sports in 2018 continued to be a platform for protest, change, and political platforms. From athletes, coaches, and team owners supporting candidates during the November midterms to powerful hashtag campaigns to retracted championship invitations to the White House, sports continued to be firmly entrenched in the national political scene. Whether this is right or wrong, it seems that sports has become a vehicle for these debates. When these hot button issues interfere with fan enjoyment, what will the effect on viewership be? Just ask the NFL and they will tell you this is no easy issue to navigate. One clear 2018 political victory for all that was heavily influenced by pro athlete voices: the December 14 passage of The First Step Act, Congress’ bipartisan criminal justice reform bill.

The business of esports continued to accelerate in 2018 and doesn’t show any signs of slowing down. Total prize money in 2018 across all major esports games was nearly $150 million, with a total of 3,261 high-level tournaments and 18,016 professional players. The global esports economy is around $900 million, with brands contributing about ⅔ of this. According to a report by Newzoo, the global esports audience will reach 380 million this year, made up of 165 million esports enthusiasts and 215 million occasional viewers.

The nationwide legalization of sports betting has been a gradual process that exploded in 2018. This year, New Jersey, Delaware, Mississippi, New Mexico, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island joined Nevada in offering legal sports wagering in some form, in the wake of New Jersey’s U.S. Supreme Court victory that paved the way. All seven newly legal gaming states are seeing tens of millions of dollars in new tax revenues as a result, with those numbers increasing exponentially every month. As sports gambling becomes more widespread, surrounding businesses like big data, new-age sportsbooks, and gamification apps and platforms will continue to boom.

Sports continues to have a unique power to inspire and motivate positive change. 2018 had some memorable philanthropic standouts, such as LeBron James opening the I Promise School in Ohio, insurance leader Group1001 continuing to champion the LPGA Indy Women In Tech Championship and related initiatives for girls, and online education platform EVERFI partnering with young IndyCar driver Zach Veach and Andretti Autosport on the Endeavor STEM education program, just to name a few. More personally, we continue to be proud of our monthly “Power of Sports” TV program, carried by Fox Sports RSNs nationwide and highlighting standout team community service initiatives, athletes giving back, and sports facilities being built in underserved communities across America.

Content will always be king. This was cemented even further in 2018 as we saw OTT content proliferate on mobile apps, tablets, streaming devices, Smart TVs, and all the latest tech. In short, from now on every piece of hardware manufactured with the capability of viewing content will have accompanying software providing it. This is a pivotal time for content providers both inside and outside of sports to either get with the program or get phased out.

USA Gymnastics filed for bankruptcy in the wake of the Larry Nassar scandal. Late in the year, the organization continues to attempt to reach settlements over abuse. Out of Michigan State, Nassar served as USA Gymnastics’ national team doctor and was accused of molesting at least 250 girls including a number of well-known Olympic gymnasts, dating as far back as 1992. The USOC has taken steps to revoke the status of USAG with superstars such as Simone Biles supporting the move. Olympic medalists such as McKayla Maroney and Aly Raisman not only helped to blow the whistle on the disgusting scandal but continue to be voices of power for all victims.

LeBron James’ move to Los Angeles was the lead NBA headline until the season tipped off. James’ long term impact on the Lakers franchise and his personal entertainment empire remain to be seen. But in his first year with the team, there have been personnel growing pains on the court and also tremendous growth for LeBron’s brand (specifically in the content space). James has made it to the NBA Finals nine times, including each of the last eight seasons. His overall record in the Finals is 3 wins and 6 losses. Will the Lakers bring home the Championship? Anything short of that would be a failure if you ask LeBron.

University of Maryland football player Jordan McNair tragically passed away from a heatstroke, spurring further debate on athlete healthcare and well-being. The offensive lineman showed signs of extreme exhaustion after running a series of sprints at a Maryland football practice. After evaluating McNair at the on-campus football facility, EMT responders reported a male patient with a seizure, and McNair was transported to Washington Adventist Hospital, according to the 911 call. He later was moved to Cowley Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore, where he died June 13. The incident led to the firing of head football coach D.J. Durkin, the resignation of the university’s board chairman, and a reexamination of heatstroke prevention tactics at all levels of outdoor sports.

Internationally, 2018 saw mega events like the PyeongChang Olympic Games and the FIFA World Cup. This was the first time that South Korea had hosted the Winter Olympics and the second Olympics held in the country overall, after the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul. It was the third time that an East Asian country had hosted the Winter Games, after Sapporo (1972) and Nagano (1998), both in Japan. It was also the first of three consecutive Olympics to be held in East Asia, the other two being the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo and the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. The FIFA World Cup came and went with less controversy than the 2014 event, but debate is already heated around the 2022 Qatar World Cup both from a political and athlete safety (read: high temperatures) perspective.

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junker-town · 6 years

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Shohei Ohtani is pretty good, Andrew McCutchen is a delight, and Tim Tebow is in this headline for SEO purposes

Welcome to Monday, baseball fans. Here’s some baseball.

Can you follow everything that happens in baseball every week? Man, I sure can’t. So every week, I dig back through the archives and tweets and videos and recaps and look for interesting baseball things to share with you on Monday. The best part is that I’ll miss a whole bunch, which is definitely a feature, not a bug. It wouldn’t be baseball if a week’s worth of action could be explained in a few hundred words.

But there are some baseball things that are impossible to miss. Here, then, are those baseball things. While the categories and sections will rotate from week to week, the first one will be an absolute constant. This first section will always posit that ...

Baseball is good, actually

Baseball friends, I promise you that this section will not be a secret way of sneaking Giants-related content into this weekly recap. There were not a lot of times that I watched the Giants last year and thought, “Yes, baseball is good, actually.”

While I’m anticipating a much better season, it’s likely that they are the sixth- or seventh-best team in the National League if everything goes right. This section almost certainly will not feature the Giants very often.

But, sweet Njörðr, look at this at-bat from Andrew McCutchen in the bottom of the 14th inning:

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I’ve been hard on MLB Advanced Media in the past because of how they’ve intentionally limited how some of their videos can be shared. Looking for something older than two years ago can be a nightmare. Basically, they never think about me, the baseball writer who needs to lazily embed something whenever he needs it.

But this video is exactly what you need to understand that baseball is good, actually. Someone in charge took this entire 12-pitch at-bat and presented it unedited, allowing you to drink in the mounting tension and expectations, and it was a brilliant decision. It’s not just that McCutchen hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 14th; it’s that he directed the whole thing like Kubrick, piece by piece, setting up the reveal at the end.

I’m a sucker for a lot of baseball things, but I’m really a sucker for two very specific baseball things:

Andrew McCutchen

At-bats where the hitter keeps fouling pitches off again and again and again and again and again

This at-bat had it all, really. It started with a muffed strike call, and it quickly went against McCutchen after Wilmer Font fuzzed him with a wicked fastball running in on his hands. If he popped up the next pitch, nobody would have blamed him. Instead, he turned into a living Rocky IV montage, fouling pitches off again and again and ...

One thing that I love about baseball is the idea that all of those foul balls are examples of the hitter failing. Font’s job was to make the hitter not do what he wanted with the ball. McCutchen’s job was to hit the ball somewhere where it couldn’t be caught. Framed like that, Font won. He got McCutchen to do something he wasn’t trying to do.

Instead, it ended with McCutchen hitting a dinger and reacting with a broken water main of emotion that had been building pressure since the first pitch. It was mostly perfect.

And maybe — maybe — the fact that it was against the Dodgers in the 14th inning will color my judgment just a little bit. But I’d like to think that if McCutchen were on the Twins, and he did this against the Rays, it would be just as notable.

Because look at that museum-quality at-bat. Carve pictographs of that at-bat into the side of an interstellar probe and let alien civilizations learn about baseball.

What Shohei Did

Well, this section sure feels a lot different this week.

Last week, it was still okay to be cautiously optimistic about Shohei Ohtani. He had one quality start under his belt, albeit with a ton of strikeouts. He was 1-for-5. This all came after a rough spring. So you’ll forgive me if prudence was the better part of valor in this case.

And then Ohtani started firing lighting bolts out of his eyes and demanding our fealty. Yes, yes, we cried. We are yours to do with as you wish. We’re so sorry, Shohei. How could we have been so blind?

The Shohei-o-meter just seven days ago was stuck on “timid,” and we spent an hour on the phone with tech support trying to get it unstuck.

Shohei-o-meter: half-Luis Castillo, half-Gregor Blanco

See, he was a wild, unproven fireballer with a .200 average, so I thought ... look, forget it. I was wrong.

Let’s update that Shohei-o-meter:

Shohei-o-meter: half-Tim Lincecum in his prime, half-Bryce Harper

THIS IS WHAT WE WERE PROMISED.

Deep breaths. Stay with me. But it’s completely okay to freak out.

This doesn’t mean that we’ll keep getting it all year. He could be half-Vince Velasquez, half-Eric Thames, where the early returns are drowned by a tidal wave of baseball being extremely hard.

Still, if you can’t get excited about this fastball-splitter combination, you hate baseball and are already googling “2019 Oscar frontrunners.” Look at this marvelous baseball player:

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That is peak Tim Lincecum. I saw it. I lived it. I breathed it. He doesn’t know exactly where the ball is going, but he knows two things: The fastball goes fast and the splitter goes prrrowwwwww down into the abyss. If those two things can hold steady, he isn’t just a Rookie of the Year candidate. He’s a Cy Young candidate.

Maybe we should see him against another team that isn’t the A’s before getting nutty, but it’s worth pointing out that the Athletics are stuffed with solid hitters. It’s possible that they’re especially susceptible to splitters that go prrrowwwwww down into the abyss. All of this still might be a mirage.

Wouldn’t it be a lot cooler if it weren’t, though? Wouldn’t it be a lot cooler if he were a Cy Young candidate every year with a 900 OPS?

It would. It absolutely would.

The best part is that I don’t even have to mention the three home runs in three consecutive games to make you impressed about Shohei Ohtani. Because peak Tim Lincecum was just about the most exciting thing I’ve ever seen, so if he’s already that, he’s a baseball legend.

Ohtani hitting dinger after dinger, though, is the kind of thing that’s going to melt our hearts and follow this story wherever it goes. He’s even better than advertised right now. That’s probably not going to last, but what if it does?

John Sterling calls a famous home run throughout history

It is high! It is far! It is gone!

Sho-hei can you see? By the ball’s distant flight!

What so proudly we hailed, at that pitch’s last gleaming!

it’s so cold in here, is anyone else cold, i’m freezing, i’m not proud of this, please get me a blanket, why is it so cold

THIS WEEK IN “AW, RASPBERRIES”

Good things can happen when you put the ball in play. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯#walkoff pic.twitter.com/wKJRkLrM7i

— MLB (@MLB) April 8, 2018

aw raspberries

A grown man bought this baseball card on purpose

This was $1 plus shipping, and I bought it for a couple reasons. The first is Ted Williams. The second is that Ted Williams is about to hit Mike Epstein with a bat because of his sideburns.

Is it possible that Williams had such incredible bat control that he could can hit someone with a bat and make it hurt, but not incapacitate them or cause lingering damage? Is it possible that he could hit someone with a bat just hard enough to make their sideburns fall off but cause no other injuries?

No, it is not possible. It is absolutely guaranteed. He could hit you with a bat on the back of your ankle and make you sterile for exactly eight years if you wanted. He was just that good. And if you think that’s hyperbole, look what popped up when I was looking for the above image on my computer:

When you opened that box, Ted Williams would pop out and hit you with a bat until you were temporarily sterile. And you were fine with it. This is how things were done back then.

Also, I think it’s fine and normal to have a file called “Ted Williams condoms.jpeg” on your computer and not remember that it exists. It is absolutely fine and normal.

This week in McGwire/Sosa

It’s the 20th anniversary of Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa transfixing the country with their historic chase. It’s also the 20th anniversary of:

McGwire: 21 AB, 0 HR (4 total), .333/.438/.429 Sosa: 27 AB, 1 HR (2 total), .400/.444/.600

The race is still nothing at this point. Sosa had a hot week, but he had seven singles and two doubles mixed in. McGwire was hitting like an especially focused Chone Figgins.

Later in this season, enough baseball things would happen to make someone decide to make a Mark McGwire/Sammy Sosa diecast semi-truck.

At this point in the 1998 season, though, they’re just a couple of baseball players, doing normal things. Sometimes they hit the ball, and sometimes they don’t. That’s how you play this wacky game, ha ha. No big deal.

Also, because of this stupid article, I finally bought one of those trucks on eBay. I hope you’re happy.

Let us study this baseball thing

The U.S. Olympic men’s curling team got to throw out the first pitch for the Twins’ Opening Day. That’s incredibly regional and exciting and regionally exciting. It’s also exciting for the rest of the country because, heck yeah, gold medal curlers. It’s an honor for them, and it’s an honor for us.

What could possibly go wrong?

I can't stop watching the gif of the gold medal-winning US Olympic curling team throwing out the first pitches at the Twins home opener. It's the most inspiring thing I've ever seen. I'd read an oral history about this. pic.twitter.com/7FWhRZ6wO9

— ℳatt (@matttomic) April 6, 2018

Oh, noooooooooooo.

The crowd reaction to USA men's curling team first pitches in MN yesterday pic.twitter.com/5WZarp0GNE

— That Dude (@cjzer0) April 6, 2018

nooooooooooooooo

The good news it that we get to study this baseball thing. For it started with such hope and optimism.

Anyone can throw a first pitch in a baseball game. But it takes a special person (or group of people) to get the enter-from-center-field-to-throw-a-first-pitch treatment. Gold medal winners get that treatment. The downside, though, is that expectations are incredibly unfair. This isn’t something that’s blurting out of the loudspeaker while people are finding their seats. This is something that’s supposed to be watched.

If you watch the video, at 2:17, the guy in the middle, Tyler George, turns to his teammate and says, “Ready?” He’s fired up.

EDUARDO ESCOBAR: [record scratch] Yep, that’s me. You’re probably wondering how I ended up in this situation.

You can see how it’s George who screws this all up. He throws the ball first, and he almost kills Tyler Kinley, there only because of the Byzantine red tape of the Rule 5 Draft. Because Kinley has to protect his face, the second-from-left pitcher looks much worse than he otherwise might have, though it’s not like he did himself any favors. The guy on the right throws a gull-killer that almost leaves orbit, too. It’s an incredible mess.

For my money, though, I’m most impressed by the commitment of the fellow who decided to “curl” the baseball and roll it to his catcher. If they had all done this, it would have been funny! Whimsical! And I’ll bet that idea was floated, but I’ll bet George was like, oh, heck no, I get one first pitch in my life, and I’m gonna chuck it.

Because there was exactly one guy rolling the ball to home plate, though, it looked bizarre beyond words. It looked like he was screwing up almost as much as everyone else, even though he’s just doing a bit.

Please acknowledge the calm, collected first pitch of John Shuster, the captain of the medal-winning team. He’s the one on the left, and he threw a perfect pitch that absolutely no one will remember.

“What the crap was that?”, he asks. You’ll notice that there are only four curlers in this picture. That’s because George is already off screen, apologizing profusely for winning a gold medal for screwing up a first pitch.

But I saw you, John. You did well. Proud of you on several levels. Thank you for representing our country. Thank you for knowing how to throw a baseball.

This week in baseball spoonerisms

If I can be an 11th-grader giving a presentation in front of the class for a moment, according to Wikipedia, “a spoonerism is an error in speech in which corresponding consonants, vowels, or morphemes are switched between two words in a phrase.” So instead of “Joe Maddon,” for example, you would say, “Moe Jaddon” and laugh for some reason.

On baseball Twitter, they are very popular and obnoxious but also popular. Every week, I would like to share a baseball spoonerism with you.

But if I’m going to start doing this, I need to start with a bang. I can’t just give you a B-minus spoonerism that I’ve been sitting on for a couple months. I need something big.

Allow me to present ...

I think the important thing to remember is that a cat pooper isn’t a cat that poops. You wouldn’t need to single out a cat for pooping by calling it a cat pooper. They all do it. It’s their thing, man.

A cat pooper has to be, by definition, someone who consumes cats and ... well, you know.

Anyway, the important part to remember is that this section has started out incredibly stupid, and I promise you that every week is only downhill from here.

Internet Christmas for Baseball Nerds

Used to be that I would spend a lot of time digging through the bowels of the internet looking for stuff to put on on Baseball Nation under the heading of “Internet Christmas for Baseball Nerds.” It was just baseball esoterica from throughout the history of the sport, no big deal. Like this book from Johnny Evers from 100 years ago, in which he basically invented modern defensive statistics.

Anyway, this installment comes to you by way of the Library of Congress, which decided to publish a treasure trove of Branch Rickey papers. If you’re a true nerd, you’ll enjoy idly leafing through them, like me. But if you want a hot sample, I’m partial to this one:

Man.

If there’s a happy ending to this story, it’s that Joe Adcock had a 133 OPS+ over the next three seasons, even as he was older and injury-plagued.

Still, that scouting report haunts me. One day, someone will write “not desirable as a gift” about me, and they’ll be absolutely right. I’ll have earned it.

Baseball picture of the week

Stacy Revere/Getty Images

I’m not sure what happened to make Travis Shaw accost veteran umpire Biff Tannen with such venom that someone in an Old Navy hoodie had to come get him, but that’s okay. I don’t want to know. I’m satisfied with the image of an umpire living his best life in the face of a baseball player who is very, very upset for whatever reason.

BRIAN O’NORA: That’s right. Fleetwood Mac’s best album is Tusk.

TRAVIS SHAW: oy, mate, what’d you say?

I don’t think Travis Shaw is from Sunderland, but we can’t rule it out. Anyway, I’m in love with this baseball picture. Look at the disdain on O’Nora’s face! It’s absolutely withering. He does not care what Shaw has to say, and that is probably the best default position for an umpire to take.

Baseball picture of the week (runner-up)

Photo by Norm Hall/Getty Images

See, it’s not just that Yoshihisa Hirano is sharing his baseball butt with the world. It’s the Getty-supplied caption that accompanies the picture:

PHOENIX, AZ - APRIL 03: Yoshihisa Hirano #66 of the Arizona Diamondbacks delivers an eighth inning pitch against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Chase Field

[lowers sunglasses until they slide off the tip of my nose]

Man oh man, I gotta see this guy pitch.

Tim Tebow is the Shohei Ohtani of baseball players who can run a power-read option instead of pitch

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First at-bat in Double-A where he probably doesn’t belong and it’s a dinger. You might be impressed by Tebow’s incredibly respectful run around the bases. For my money, though, I can’t get enough of the pitcher checking a nonexistent runner at second base twice before he throws the pitch.

Minor league baseball: where everyone is still trying to figure this crap out. Put it on a t-shirt, and send me three of them, please.

Man, this is a weird one to end on. We’re not really going to spend all season following Tim Tebow in Double-A, are we?

No. Because at some point, we’ll have to follow him in the majors.

Until next week!

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newstechreviews · 4 years

Link

Opening day, at last.

A baseball season that was on the brink before it ever began because of the virus outbreak is set to start Thursday night when excitable Max Scherzer and the World Series champion Washington Nationals host prized ace Gerrit Cole and the New York Yankees.

When it does get underway — the DC forecast calls for thunderstorms, the latest rocky inning in this what-can-go-wrong game — it’ll mark the most bizarre year in the history of Major League Baseball.

A 60-game season, stars opting out. Ballparks without fans, players wearing masks. Piped-in sound effects, cardboard cutouts for spectators. Spray-painted ads on the mound, pitchers with personal rosin bags.

And a rack of strange rules. DHs in the National League, well, OK. An automatic runner on second to start the 10th inning? C’mon, now.

“Gosh, it’s going to be fun,” Cole said. “It’s going to have fake crowd noise, and going to be 2020 coronavirus baseball.”

Plus, a poignant reminder of the world we live in. A Black Lives Matter stencil can be put on mounds throughout the majors during the opening weekend.

And still there’s a team that doesn’t know where it’s going to play — barred from Toronto because of health concerns, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and the Blue Jays had hoped to roost in Pittsburgh or Baltimore or Buffalo or somewhere else.

“This is 2020 baseball,” Scherzer said.

To many fans, that will do. No other choice, really. Four months after the games were supposed to start, strange ball is better than no ball, right?

We’ll see.

Opening day brings a tasty doubleheader: a marquee pitching matchup in Washington, followed by the nightcap at Dodger Stadium when star outfielder Mookie Betts, fresh off a $365 million, 12-year contract, and his new Los Angeles teammates take on the San Francisco Giants.

One player Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw won’t face: six-time All-Star, three-time champion and former MVP Buster Posey. The Giants catcher and his wife have adopted twin identical girls who were prematurely born, and he’s among about a dozen players who have chosen to sit out this year.

“From a baseball standpoint, it was a tough decision for me,” Posey said. “From a family standpoint, making a decision to protect children, our children, it was relatively easy.”

Dodgers pitcher David Price, Washington infielder Ryan Zimmerman and Atlanta outfielder Nick Markakis also are sitting out.

Other players won’t be ready by the weekend — on Wednesday, the Royals announced Hunter Dozier (26 home runs, 10 triples) had tested positive for the virus and was being put on the injured list.

For those are who healthy, it’s time to play. For how long, with the virus looming, we’ll find out soon enough.

Something that will be firmed up by the first pitch: how many teams will make the playoffs. A decision is due by then after renewed talks about expanding the postseason field.

Tossing out the first ball at Nationals Park to begin a schedule clobbered by COVID-19 will be Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country’s top infectious disease expert.

“I used to play baseball as a young boy,” the 79-year-old Fauci told CNN. “I hope I don’t bounce it too much.”

Don’t worry, Doc. Even before the first pitch, this season already has handled plenty of bad hops.

“I think it will be emotional for fans that are huge fans of each team, but I think it will be emotional for sports fans, being able to see baseball return,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said.

Elsewhere around the bases this year:

Social Justice

MLB players traditionally haven’t been as outspoken as those in the NFL and NBA on social issues. Until this year, former Oakland catcher Bruce Maxwell was the only baseball player to take a knee before the national anthem — he did that in 2017 and felt it cost him a future spot in the majors.

New Giants manager Gabe Kapler and several of his players knelt during the national anthem before an exhibition game this week. A group of Reds did the same in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.

“I wanted them to know that I wasn’t pleased with the way our country has handled police brutality and I told them I wanted to amplify their voices and I wanted to amplify the voice of the Black community and marginalized communities as well,” said Kapler, among 10 managers starting new jobs.

Said Yankees star Aaron Judge: “That’s the beauty of America, is freedom of speech and freedom to express yourself.”

“We got a special platform being athletes and being able to speak our mind and speak what’s going on in this world. Some people express it online. Some people express it with words. Some people kneel,” he said.

MLB players can put a patch with “Black Lives Matter” or “United For Change” on a jersey sleeve during opening day.

Masked Men

Didi Gregorius and Clint Frazier homered in exhibition games while wearing masks —those aren’t mandated on the field, but many other rules and guidelines are in place.

Social distancing in the dugout. Skip tossing the ball around the infield after strikeouts. Keep the Phillie Phanatic and mascots off the field.

No high-fives, either. Not a problem, Phillies slugger Bryce Harper said.

“I think the air high-five is going to come back and be the coolest thing in baseball this year and be the coolest thing in sports,” he said.

Still, a lot of protocols to keep in mind for players who’ve been doing things the same way since they were kids.

“Is it going to be perfect the very first day?” A’s manager Bob Melvin said. “Probably not.”

Boo Who?

All those hoots and hisses the Houston Astros heard in March, they’re gone now. Some fans will claim the guys who took part in that sign-stealing scam are getting off easy, not feeling the wrath of crowds on the road.

MLB has issued stern warnings against any basebrawling this year. Even so, some Houston hitters might feel a little retribution — José Altuve, Alex Bregman and George Springer all got hit by pitches Tuesday night in Kansas City during the Astros’ final tuneup.

#Blogger

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