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dcwastelands · 5 years ago

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R Tizfake Testing Event - June 8, 2019

Eevelion: As the Research department at HQ opened it's doors for the testing, all volunteers would be ushered through the halls by a number of goggled researchers and through a set of security doors. On the other side of the doors our attendees would find themselves in a large room, mostly empty aside from a large blast door on the opposite end with a catwalk above, as well as a one-sided window, presumably for the researchers to watch the test. As the last of the group was corralled into the room the door would close behind them, leaving them with dead silence before the event truly started.

Dezzy: Outside of the car rides she was employed to chauffeur demons, Lessy had to say she rarely interacted with demons. Even more rare did she or Cab see them outside of the human disguises, so she was trying her best not to stare. Emphasis on "trying". Occassionally she would try to sneak glances of their horns or compare their colorful skin tones to hers. Still, she kept hands mostly to herself, putting herself on idle, rolling on the balls of her legs.

"Man, I don't think I've ever been in this department yet, let alone the others." Lessy still considered herself new to this world, however, being here did give her a positive sense of purpose.

Gigi: Necktie was PR why did he need to be dragged in for testing--his ear had been chewed off about something to the effect of 'yearly physicals', or was it 'counter-investigative journalism'? God, he couldn't remember now, it was like his brain turned to static whenever research was mentioned as of late. Still his posture was composed as ever, chest out, chin up, customer service face on.

There were, unfortunately, humans here, as he would be made painfully aware.

"New arrival, I see?" get out, get out of here.

Dezzy: "More or less. I'm used to working from my own mobile office and driving you guys around." Still swaying on her heels, she glanced up at the ceiling as it was rude to stare (though on could argue not making eye contact was equally rude)Cab would occasionally work on their aim in infranty, but Lessy didn't know that. Or she guessed, maybe she did since she was spontaneously better at darts since they joined HQ? Hmm.

Gigi: He tapped a gloved hand to his chin, staring upward. "I think ive heard of a chauffeur somewhere around in the files," He tucked that hand behind his back just as quickly, offering his other for a shake. "Welcome to Research, then! I'm not from this department, though, so...no tours."

Dezzy: It took a moment for Lessy to realize Necktie had offered his had, to which she quickly grabbed perhaps too much vigor. "Thanks!"

Taking back her own gloved hand she gave a cheesy grin and a salute." Yep that's me! Need a ride just holla at ya girl." She winked while making a 'call me' gesture with her hand. "Names Sleeveless Hoodie by the way. Though everyone just calls me Lessy."

Gigi:His return shake was firm in kind. "I'll keep that in mind," he smiled. he had his own valets, but ok. Bringing up his name might bring some unwanted gossip his way, actually, now that he thought of it--jeez, why was he forced to do this anyway?

"Pleasure to meet you, Mx.Sleeveless. People are probably going to be yelling 'Necktie' at me, so let's just get that out of the way so there's no confusion, yes?" He gesticulated his arms around, as if trying to stir some nebulous concept around. "My appearance here doesn't mean anything."

Dezzy: Lessy didn't really recall Necktie as the owner of Diamond Jail on first name alone, let alone appearance. Her curiosity did get the better of her as her eyes wandered down to his namesake. "Necktie huh? So like, your tie thingy turns into a weapon for real??"

She scratched at the side of her head, perplexed by idea of clothing becoming something other than what it was. " Like, we my dad was trying to get me into the family buisness he told me a few things about all this. I thought he was fucking with me! It just sounds so dumb... Underwear transforming into weapons."

Zaku: "Mhmm, yup. Yeah, I'm walking right in. It'll probably be for, I 'unno, two or so hours? Money's on the table if you want to order out, just...don't do anything crazy, alright? Ok...love you too."

Ending the call, the blue haired demon did a quick run back of his hair, a tick of sorts he kept for as long as he's known. Pack's interactions with the demon community was slightly sparce to say the least. He'd hope with how downlow he had been, Guillory would practically be a new name of sorts. But hey, he had been cooped up for a while, and Netti had doted on him not being a "cooped up bachelor", so here he was.

Gigi: "It's not quite underwear, though that's a common misconception--actually it felt more common back when I was younger," He let out a laugh. "But yes, it can do that--actually I think I should be,..."

He took a moment to get the eldredge knot untied with one hand, stretching the fabric taut and a split second later, it took on a bright blue glow, shifting into its two-pronged form.

"We're supposed to have our weapons ready, right?" He called up to the balcony, hoping one of the goggled cronies up top would like, give him a thumbs-up or something.

Eevelion: In response to Necktie's question came a crackle from an intercom as a familiar voice (to Necktie at least) came over the system “You can have your weapon out right now if you waaant, but you don't need to, you'll know when you'll want them.” then another crackle as it turned off.

Zaku: Ah. New company. Welp, time to mingle I guess.

"Evenin'."

Dezzy: Lessy's eyes went wide and sparkly at the sight before her! Magic is real!! Well, she knew that already to an extent but seeing it happen was amazing. "WHOOA HO HO! That's seriously the most fucking awesome shit I've seen in, like, ever! "

She then leaned in close and whIspered, "And I've seen some weird shit with LSD."

Popping back into her place and still juiced from Necktie summoning Eldgredge she noticed the other demon in the room,skipping any formalities. "What about you? What does your thing turn into? Can I see please!"

Zaku: Woah, hello there personal space. Welp, he ain't one to be a party pooper. He already spent most of his early years doing that.

"Uh, yeah, sure thing." Clipping off his name sake, tossed it in the air and let it transform, catching The Fix taking it's form, the blade crackling a bit.

Gigi: Necktie gave a shrug, leaning on his weapon; there wasn't much he could do with tile but at least it functioned the way any other staff was supposed to. His attention was turned to the other, noting the fanny pack and its usage as a transformation catalyst. Spear and a sword, both melee.....This was going to be ugly wasn't it.

"Well, I certainly hope whatever we're facing doesn't need a gun to take care of," He laughed, though his smile seemed somewhat strained.

Zaku: "Right there with you." Pack chimed in. Ah, nervous laughing. He too knew this art of deception.

Dezzy: Lessy stumbled back a few steps when Pack threw his weapon in the air. It was like seeing fireworks, kinda! She was in awe,"So cooooool...."

At the mention of fire arms Lessy snapped out of her starstruck trance, " oh! I have a gun" from the inside of her hoodie she pulled out her silencer, twirling it in her hand before catching it. She seemed to have surprised herself at the trick but said nothing about it. Cab must of learned it, the dork. "I got your backs."

Eevelion: Now that everyone had had a bit to get situated, the proctor would finally show themselves as Robe entered from a door on one side of the catwalk, a wooden easel and canvas in one arm, and her other hand interlocked with a sort of... paint bucket with arms and feet, though it's color scheme obviously denoted it as a ghost. The catwalk would clank as the pair made their way to the center, where Robe would set up the easel behind them and then turn to face the group before clearing her throat and addressing them loudly “Hellooooo everyone! Thank you all so much for coming, the test will beginning shortly, but before then I'd like to make doubly sure everyone is aware of the rules, and to answer a few questions you might have.”

Rummaging through her pockets she'd grab a copy of the flier that she had used to invite everyone here, reading it aloud “First, the rules. One, you can't attack me or my friend here.” She'd gesture to the paint bucket ghost at this “Two, try not to hit each other for no reason, if you hit someone cause they're blocking your shot, I don't care, just don't be dumb about it. Three, I say when the test begins and ends, when I say the test is over you put away your weapons, no questions asked. And four, aside from a few exceptions, nobody leaves while the test is in progress. Aside from those I also get to add new rules as I see fit.” She'd crumple the paper then shove it back in her pocket “And with that out of the way, let's take a few questions.”

Gigi: Oh, that explained a lot as to how he got dragged here, specifically. Necktie lifted a hand up with a fluid motion, as if he was some sort of aristocrat hailing a cab.

Eevelion: Robe would lean on the railing of the catwalk as she looked at Necktie "Hi Mr. Necktie! Good to see you getting out of the club, anyways, you got a question?"

Gigi: "yes, I kind of got forced out of my hidey-hole, but it's always a pleasure to help you out, Miss Robe!" This time the smile was actually genuine, though nobody really could tell, aside from his tone changing just a bit. "We look a little, oddly balanced, do you have any protocols in place in case we get ah, just absolutely punched to death like a common incel?

Eevelion: Robe giggled at Necktie's question as she dangled her arm over the side “Yeah your teams looking a little bare, and I thought your chances of winning were low even with like, double your current size, but don't worry though, if we notice you taking a beating we'll call for a break to get you out of the arena, only slightly worse for wear!”

Gigi: "Alright, thank you," He didnt seem any relieved at this, seems as though he just called himself a common incel indirectly. Unfortunate. Oh well, if it meant helping Chaleco's kid out, he was happy to. He took a deep breath, trying to not look too full of dread.

Dezzy: Club? Necktie? Lessy's singular braincell was working overtime to put two and two together. She scratched her chin lightly, looking off to the floor. Something about it rung a bell but the more Lessy tried to think about it, the more distant it became till her mind was gone from that moment. Her eyes glazed over, as if she froze for a second but immediately came back. Though it wasn't exactly her who came back.

Cab jumped a bit in their skin, having being brought to the front in a very unfamiliar location. They scanned the area and took note of the demons that were present in their normal flesh. Cab felt around their person, looking for something but didn't find what they were looking for. Lessy was always bad at keeping record of events in case Cab took over. Though more frustrating was what Cab was wearing like HONESTLY LESSY you're at WORK. Cab immediately zipped up their hoodie to salvage some modesty.

"Yes, ah, I had a question as well." Cab infered from what was going on. They were being tested or something. Their whole air had went from energetic ball to a more somber and professional tone. " My memory escapes me, what is the object today from this here's test?"

Zaku: "Yeah, what they said." Pack chimed in, returning The Fix back the it's standard form. Huh. Cute kid. Had the cheery eyes of Netti back when she was little.

Eevelion: Robe picked herself up from the railing to address her latest question "Very good question! I tried to keep it vague on the fliers since the theatrics are way more fun, but you'll be fighting..." She'd take a moment to hunch over and pick up her paint bucket companion, sitting him on top of the railing "A little collaboration project between me and this little guy. In fact, seeing as how you've each given a question, and yes, backing up someone else's question counts as asking." She'd produce a remote from her pocket "I think it's time we get started." And with that, she'd flick the remote, causing the huge steel doors in front of the party to begin to slide open.

Eevelion: As the doors opened and light filtered in, the attendees could get their first glimpse of their opponent, and it was large, orange, and kinda drippy. When the doors fully opened the creature slid out from it's containment chamber and stood in front of the group in it's full glory, a pudgy ectoplasmic dinosaur, it would blink it's eyes at them before giving the ground a mighty thump and roaring. Robe would beam before raising her arms high into the air “And here they are! Try not hold back, we wanna see just how much they're capable of, and half-hearted fighters give rotten data, and with that, the test is begun!”

Gigi: Oh, he did not like the sound of the doors parting, he did not like the size of the shadow he could see. Damn, this really was a mammoth of a thing, wasn't it? What had Robe fed it, exactly? He pulled himself into a position that lowered his center of gravity, two hands on the spear. He really wished he wore contacts today.

Zaku: "...Well damn." Pack looked up at the rather chubby...what was that, a tyrannosaurus? Nah, looked more like a fat Godzilla.

Yeah...yeah, fat Godzilla.

Dezzy: A collaboration? With that small kiddy looking ghost and equally small child? No, no, Cab shouldn't judge a book by its cover. Looks can be deceiving for all they knew. And what do you know, they were right. That thing was GIANT. Now they were wishing it was something more simplistic and smaller in scale. Scarfing down their fears and checking their silencer they gave a steady sigh, "I got your back covered."

Lessy had already said something similar before they switched, but Cab didn't know. Doesn't sound as cool the second time.

Eevelion: Seeing how the group was conceding the first move, the inky behemoth was glad to take it, rearing around to swipe at the three still clumped together with it's tail. Meanwhile Robe plucked RT off the railing, walking back to the easel and turning her namesake into Chroma, she'd look down to her companion and ask “Well, should we give our masterpiece some support?” with a thumbs up of approval from the bucket she'd dip the brush into his ectoplasmic pool and bring it to the canvas while she thought of what to draw.

Gigi: Necktie jumped up, letting two sets of bright blue wings carry him out of the way. Tryingto steer he only just barely seemed to get him out of the way, the tail swiping past his backbone, a pole-vaulter over a pole. He kept flying, trying not to hesitate and landing a heavy stab into its neck. He was getting tossed around a bit, though the behemoth's neck was pretty fat it still seemed irritating enough of a strike-- he was being shook around and losing his hold. He kind of stuck it in there too deep. He looped a hand into one of Eldredge's hilt holes, letting himself finally fly free with the spear after the ghost successfully dislodged him.

Dezzy: Swiftly, Cab jumped back far enough for the beast to miss them entirely. However, the misplaced their footing, disoriented a bit from the switch, and ridiculously missed shooting the ghost’s head and flew way past it’s shoulder. Cab kneeled down, rubbing their temple with their free hand as they tried to shake off the rust. They whispered harshly to themselves“C’mon, c’mon nows our chance to show what were made of...”

Eevelion: No sooner than it finished it's sweep attack the Behemoth felt a prick on it's neck as Necktie's spear, it would give a violent shake to try to dislodge the demon and his weapon, and when it no longer felt the object stuck in it's neck it would focus on the first thing to cross it's vision, in this case, Cab, lifting one of it's fin-like paws to bring it down on top of them, the new holes in it's neck dripping orange. Robe would look over her shoulder to notice first blood being drawn, and that the behemoth seemed to have momentarily lost track of it's assailant, Robe decided on her first drawing, drawing a bulky circle with a nub on one end and a wiggly line coming out of that nub, she'd look down at RT and after sharing a nod, the drawing fell off of the canvas, becoming a real object. She'd grab this object and bring it over the railing, yelling down to Necktie “Hey! Mr Necktie! Catch this!” grinning as a spark ignited on the fuse of her painted bomb as she tossed it to him.

Zaku: "Welp...let's get to work." Summoning Fix once again, Pack gave it a few test swings before going for the big guy himself...and just thrusting air.

"...Right, shit. You don't have ranged functions." Yeah, no shit it doesnt, you goof. Try again, next time.

Gigi: He landed with a skid on his back, turning his head to see Pack doing....whatever it was he was doing. "y-you don't know how to use your own weapon?!" Dear Satan, this was looking to be some kind of hopeless between a human and a PR representative. He wasn't able to think on that statement too long, hearing something familiar telling him something and....

SHIT

He grabbed the thing, fumbling rather comically for a few handslaps' worth of time before slinging it somewhere--anywhere, and running as fast as he could in the opposite direction.

"you're going to need to get close to it somehow unless you want to launch your weapon, which for the record I do NOT Advise!!"

Dezzy: Cab’s dizzyness spell wore off too little to late as the goopy hand of the ghost came slamming down on their little body. They grunted in pain as the monster’s paw pressed against their back, seeping its weird paint into Lessy’s clothes. Normally Cab would be happy another one of Lessy’s flamboyant outfits would be unwearable but now wasn’t the time. Feebly, she tried to crawl out from under the ghosts paw but, as Silver the hedgehog would say, “Its no use!”

But instead, Cab seethed wily pully at the half of their body that was free, “Fucking god dammit!” Cab didn’t want to ask for help, they had to prove themselves capable they couldn't let go of their pride just yet.

Zaku: "Look, it's been a hot minute, alright?" Making shit was one thing, but actually using it was where Pack was rusty. Fine. Let's get physical then.

Only to not even hit the fucker. But hey, he was close. Necktie, can Pack borrow your glasses, because this man's depth perception is fucking infuriating.

Eevelion: Catching Cab underneath it's paw, the behemoth picked up the driver and prepared to shove them in its mouth, that is at least, until Robe yelled from the catwalk “Hey! No eating the attendees! I'd get in huge trouble if I let someone die during this.” Behemoth, now somewhat confused what to do with Cab, sort of just, gingerly set them down on the floor, turning their attention to Pack flailing uselessly at it and giving a swipe at him with their big ol' paw.

As Robe's paint bomb exploded harmlessly away from everyone, she got to brainstorming her next drawing, deciding on a little raincloud that she sent floating over the battleground toward Necktie, drizzling him a little bit before loosing a thunderbolt beneath it.

Gigi: Necktie took this opportunity of confusion to try and swing for another attack, but underestimated the behemoth's speed and...kind of didn't hit where he wanted to. He tried to put more distance between him and the lizard, but flying backwards sometimes means you just end up bumping on top of a raincloud and getting stuck there. Oh, it felt like paint, he hated this.

Dezzy: Necktie wasn’t the only one having a bad time with the paint monsters. Cab was simply, drenched in goop. They couldn't move as freely till they got all that shit off. Angrily they swiped at their limbs to remove the goop. “Great. Just great. They had to literally nerf the ghost just so you wouldn't die great job, Cab.”

Zaku: Hey-hey, he finally hit the fucker. Granted, on the blunt end of The Fix. And non-lethally at that. But hey, this thing is... surprising goopy. Is that even a word? Goopy? Pretty durable dino tho.

Eevelion: As the behemoth missed another attack it started to realize, tiny things are pretty hard to hit, still, it wasn't stopping time yet, so it went in to grab that demon that had been buzzing around it trying to poke it, AKA Necktie. Robe was already readying her next drawing, a baseball bat and matching baseball popping out of the canvas as she finished, she grabbed the bat and RT grabbed the baseball, throwing it up in the air while Robe yelled “Fore!” sending the ball flying towards Cab with a meaty thwack.

Gigi: He was trying his darndest to get off of this cloud but its like, kind of hard to get off of a paint-cloud without making a mess and he was trying to get covered with as little paint as possible, which was like trying not to fall in the mud pit of a game show obstacle course. In fact, he was too preoccupied to notice a the monster swat at him, which he tired to stop with his spear, but it just went through harmlessly and he got absolutely clamped.

"THIS SUIT IS -----GHGHGHHFPFPPGPP," he got cut off before he could lament what brand it was, or if it was new or not, but we can only assume it was expensive.

Zaku: Aaand another swing. And another hit absorbed by the meat. Y'know that old show from the twenty first century way back then about the square sponge and how one episode had him absorbing punches like a...well, sponge? Yeah, imagine that but with a knife and a giant chubby [REDACTED]Zilla.

Dezzy: Chaleco would of been proud of that meaty thwack upside Cab's head. Unfortunately, they aren't him and that smack disoriented them once more that it made them miss the thing by just a hair. " Seriously?!" Cab called out to Robe. They then mumbled fustratedly as they rubbed the side of their head.

Eevelion: After a quick high five over that sick baseball pitch and swing Robe and RT put their hands to their chins (or roughly where the chin would be, in RT's case) trying to think of what to draw up next, hmm, let's let them get back to you next round. Now that the behemoth had gotten a hold of that pesky mosquito they decided to kill two birds with one mosquito shaped stone as they threw the soggy Necktie at Pack.

Zaku: And anotha stab. What the fuck, man. What kind of paint is that Robe kid working with? Also, hey Necktie. Yeesh, that must be frustrating to have all that paint on you, huh?

"You alright?" He asks them, lending a hand to help the demon up.

Dezzy: All that rage in a tiny pink body built up enough resolve for Cab to say fuck you to this unlucky streak and shoot the fucker straight in the chest where Cab assumed its heart would be. Even after the shitshow their performance started it, it did feel good for them to get one good hit in and they smirked to prove that.

Gigi: He took the hand, knowing full well that depending on the paint it was possible he'd end up glued there if he waited too long. He REALLY hoped the ghost wasn't acrylic, but he also REALLY REALLY hoped the ghost wasn't oil either. It was too thick to be watercolor. This was unfortunate all around.

He tried to shake himself off, getting little flecks of orange scattered around. The human thankfully had it covered, it seemed. "I'll manage, I guess." He tried to run and take a hit at the ghost, but he was moving exceptionally slower than he was already and opted to throw the bident instead to try and get a proper hit--which uh, didn't work out so hot.

Eevelion: The behemoth was kind of surprised to see a bullet get lodged so deeply in itself, losing focus on its attackers and instead clumsily trying to use its paws to dig it out. Robe and RT meanwhile snickered to themselves as they set out sheets of canvas on the floor of the catwalk, they'd need some more room for what they were making, and once those were set out, they'd get to work putting together their project.

Gigi: Necktie proceeded to move, taking the opportunity to grab his spear and stab again....but the stab wasn't very successful. This felt like too long between attacks, and he took it as an opportunity to try and put distance between them once more.

Dezzy: "Well that was almost as short-lived as Lessy's relationship with her mother." Dark humor. It helps ease the pain as their next shot for the chest was absorbed in the thing.

Zaku: Anotha' stab, anotha' failed attempt for it to do damage. Seriously, what kind of paint was this kid using??

Eevelion: While everyone down on the testing floor was having their fun, Robe was finishing up her painting, after a brief look at her work, she grabbed RT and flew up to the ceiling with him where he snapped his fingers, causing a tidal wave of paint to cascade to the floor below. The behemoth didn't notice the wave forming behind it, but they did manage to pull the bullet out of them, they would have gone in for another attack, were it not for the wave crashing into them as they were getting ready.

Gigi: Oh, he was moving way too slow now, and even if he had two sets of wings he got hit anyway and got slammed down into the paint abyss, and hard.

Dezzy: Cab quickly climbed up the behemoth's tail as to avoid getting hit by the oncoming wave. All the meanwhile they clung like a cat on the thing's tail, Cab wondered where everything went wrong. Maybe they'd go to the shooting range and work on their came some more while they were still in control of Lessy's body. After a nice long bath of course.

Zaku: Alright, you big chubby painted fuck, Pack's getting pissed. Finally managing to pierce the fatty, jolts of electricity surged from the blade and into the big chungus of a ghost.

Was...was that meme still relevant in the 22nd century? What even is relevant.

Eevelion: The behemoth kind of stumbled under the wave, but it wasn't too unpleasant for it, just kind of annoying at most, what was REALLY annoying though was getting shocked in the side, the electric weapon charring a section of their goopy skin, the behemoth brought up a goopy paw, about to slap the offending demon when Robe called out "Alright that's enough for now, the test is over. Back in the pen for now" And like a puppy heeling to it's master the behemoth obliged, heading back behind the steel doors as it closed. Robe would clap for the victorious(?) testees "Good job everyone on not getting TOTALLY smashed, though I think the results would have been more interesting with a couple more attendees this was still very insightful." Taking out her remote she'd flick a switch and drains would begin siphoning the flood of paint from the room "Anyways, give the room a few minutes to empty out and you'll all be free to go, if you wanna hand in your clothes to the other researchers we can get them cleaned. I in the meanwhile will go return Artie to stasis, I'll return in a few minutes." Taking RT's hand in hers she'd exit the chamber through the same door she had entered, leaving the party alone in a slowly draining pool of paint.

Gigi: Necktie was splayed out on the floor, crusted in orange, just contemplating his life and his life choices. So this is how it was, huh, getting beaten by a paint ghost. Irony was one hell of a drug. Finally, he got up, removing his jacket (leaving a very fun and flirty orange triangle on his collar. caution, slow-moving vehicle.)

That being said, he held the jacket out as far away from the rest of his body as possible, watching the coattails drip. Disgusting.

Dezzy: Cab Declawed themself from the beast as it left and trudged their way back to the group. Lessy's hoodie and socks were the only real casualty of the event. Her boota, gloves and shorts were made of spandex and rubber so the paint just slide off. However it really wasn't any more favorable that Cab was left in a bikini for a top till they got home. The crossed their arms, unpleased with many things, but mainly themself.

Zaku: He hit it. That's all that matters from this out come. Returning Fix to it's base form, he now took note of the paint coating his clothes.

Well shit. He hoped that paint wasn't acrylic. Clothing choices weren't his forte.

Eevelion: A few minutes later and the floor had mostly drained away, just in time for Robe to re-enter through the main door with a spring in her step "Hello hello everyone, now that the room's drained you're free to go, I gotta stay behind though to clean up some of the mess." she'd grin at the party "I also want to thank you all again for coming, not too many people did but it's still better than nothing, I owe you all, I could take you all out to dinner or something sometime? Nothing too expensive though, I'm on a budget."

Zaku: "I'll keep it in mind. Not a bad ghost you made, kid. You've got some potential in ya." Pack remarked.

Gigi: "He's got a point it's...quite the vexing little bugger," His smile was strained but only because of the clothes, really, there was a real warmth to his tone. "And that's fine, just uh, tell your dad I said hi or something."

Dezzy: Cab stared as the paint began to drain slowly from the area. What an awful day, what would papa Wayfarer say if he could see Lessy now? Long story short Cab was bummed. They didn't want to make eye contact with any of the demons and stared at the floor as they walked. The only thing other than tiled floor she made eye contact with has her boobs.

Her perky little boobs that had some left over paint on them. Lessy would probably be into body paint. Once again they started to disassociate as someone other than Cab drew a little star on their chest.

Glaxay was due for paint job again Lessy remembered. Just as she thought of that she realized where she was again. Shoot, did Cab take over during the WHOLE test? It seemed so as Robe was congratulating them for their participation for the day. "Fuck yeah we did!" She cheered, unaware of whether it was technically true or not, "sweet free too? Today was fucking awesome!"

Eevelion: "Well you guys weren't really fighting a ghost per se, that's why you didn't have to use nullifiers, you were fighting one of Artie's constructs, kinda like those things I kept throwing at you but with a lot more work put into it, instead of those little doodles." She clapped her hands together "Anyways though, if you change your mind or wanna call up the favor you have my number, well actually you don't, except Necktie he might have my home number, just call HQ they know how to reach me." Taking a mop and a bucket she'd start scrubbing down the test area, waving off the others as they left.

Zaku: Nullifiers? Uh...huh. That was a new thing. But hey, Pack would have time to get used to all of this demon tech mumbo jumbo properly. But for now, he's got a favor in his pocket, and that outcome seems pretty nice, yeah? Yeah.

Now to get home and try to wash this shit off. This'll be an interesting story for Netti

#dcwastelands #dcwlogs #dcw demon event

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theycallmebeccawrites · 6 years ago

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Perfectly Imperfect: Chapter 3

With Tumblr holding my original writing blog @beccaheartschrisevans captive (aka flagged as explicit), I have made a secondary writing blog and may end up closing the other all together. In the meantime, I am reposting all of my stories on my new blog.

Pairing: Chris Evans x Wren Arnold (OFC)

Rating: PG-13

Warnings: n/a

Disclaimer: This work of fiction is not to be reposted, used or translated without my permission.

Perfectly Imperfect Masterlist | Chris & Wren Masterlist

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

June & July 2020

Before deciding, ultimately, to help Chris out by taking care of Addy for the summer, Wren consulted her roommate, Heidi. She and Heidi had met in college and had become roommates after their sophomore year and had been roommates off and on ever since. Since they were also best friends, it meant that Heidi knew most Wren's secrets and vice versa.

Heidi's professional opinion had been that is was a bad idea for Wren to go to work for Chris, especially since she was still secretly in love with him. She also thought it was a bad idea for Wren to get closer to Addy, when she had already fallen in love with the little girl. Her best friend advice slash opinion had been pretty similar to her professional one, but she knew that Wren would do anything for Chris and, suspected based on the interactions she had witnessed or heard about in the past, that he would do the same for Wren.

Armed with Heidi's advice and her own thoughts on the situation, Wren had agreed to help Chris out with Addy on the condition that the little girl attend daycare for at least three half-days a week. As an educator, Wren knew it was vital for Addy to spend time with kids her own age, especially since she was an only child.

Chris and Addy, both, had been excited when Wren had agreed to the take the job. The first couple weeks, however, had been a rough transition as they worked out the kinks and the hiccups to their schedules. Eventually though, it had all become relatively seamless.

On mornings that Chris had an early call time, Wren would arrive at the house an hour before he had to leave. Whereas, on the mornings that he had a late call time, Chris would either take Addy to daycare or get her up and ready for the day before Wren got to the house.

On the days that Addy went to daycare, Wren would pick her up before lunch and they'd spend the afternoon together. Typically, on those days, they'd go to the house for lunch, nap time and some afternoon activity. On the days they spent all day together, they typically left the house after an early lunch and used transportation time as naptime.

No matter his call time, Chris was usually home between six and seven in the evening, which meant he was either home in time for dinner or in time to put Addy to bed. Either way, Wren always made sure that there was enough dinner for him and kept his meals warm, if needed.

On the days that Chris had night shoots, Wren got to the house just before dinner and ate with Chris and Addy since Chris had to leave right after they finished. After Chris left, Wren always let Addy help clean up dinner and then let her spend a little bit longer playing in the bathtub. Nevertheless, the little girl was always in her bed by eight p.m. and Wren had the evening to herself, usually spent watching Chris's vast collection of movies. She usually retired to the guest room by eleven p.m. and left the door open a crack just in case Addy needed her.

Since most of the night shoots happened on Friday nights, Wren was usually woken up to the sound of Chris and Addy laughing as he carried his daughter downstairs to make breakfast. Wren usually gave them some extra time alone before she ventured downstairs. By that point, Chris was practically hooked up to a coffee IV, which meant that after breakfast, he went to bed and Wren drove Addy over to his mom's house for the morning.

On the weekends she wasn't helping Chris, Wren's spent most of the weekend at her apartment getting caught up on laundry and other things that seemed to slip by her during the week. It also gave her time to plan the next week for herself and Addy around Chris's schedule.

At first, Wren left their house as soon as Chris arrived home from work, wanting to give father and daughter some time alone together. That changed, however, when Addy started asking for Wren to help tuck her in and Wren couldn't tell the little girl no.

After that, it was only natural that Chris started asking Wren to stick around, too, claiming he was too amped to go to sleep and wanted to watch a movie or something. They always put on a movie, but they didn't always watch it. Sometimes they played cards and sometimes they talked. They talked about their families, their jobs and her love life (not that there really was one to talk about), but any time his past relationships came up, especially the one with Jessa, he was suddenly tired and asking Wren to leave.

The first time that happened, Wren chose not to let it bug her, after all, Chris had put in a full day on set, but the second and then third time it happened, she had begun to take it personally. In the past, there hadn't been anything that they couldn't talk about, but there clearly was now. It was obvious to her, more now than ever, that the Chris that had returned to Boston as a single dad was not the same Chris who'd left as a newlywed.

The Chris that Wren had met at the tender age of 13, had been lively and the first to chase after you if he sensed something was wrong. They had met doing summer theater together and she had witnessed several of his "encouragement" sessions, but hadn't experienced one until the summer she had been 14 and he, newly, 15.

The play that summer had been Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. She had been cast as Snow White and Chris her Prince Charming. She had auditioned for the role knowing that she would have to kiss someone, but when the time came to practice that scene, she just couldn't do it. Every time Chris had leaned down to kiss her, she had felt every eye in the auditorium watching them and she'd yank her head out of the way at the last second.

After one particularly embarrassing dodge, that resulted in Chris kissing her nose, Wren had fled from the stage and out one of the stage doors. She had paced the parking lot and had nervously applied her favorite blue raspberry chap stick that she always kept in her pocket. She had just stuffed the stick back into her pocket when Chris had found her.

At first, she thought he was angry, but he had dispelled that thought by asking her how she was doing. She had assured him she was ok, which had led to him asking what was wrong. She hadn't wanted to tell him the truth, but he had coaxed it out of her, promising that he could help, whatever it was. She had doubted that fact, but had given in and told him the truth: she'd never kissed anyone.

Wren had expected for Chris to be surprised after she'd made her confession, but he had just nodded his head like he had expected it. Then the idiot had offered to kiss her, like it was no big deal. She had been both embarrassed and mad, obviously, she hadn't been in love with him at that point and she had let him know exactly how she'd felt about his offer.

Chris had quickly apologized for his lackadaisical offer, but had reminded her that, short of letting her understudy take her part in the play, there was no way around the kiss. After all, if they skipped the kiss until opening night, there would 250 sets of eyes watching her have her first kiss.

After listening to his reasoning and coming up with her own similar conclusion, Wren had given her approval. Chris had told her to relax and then had leaned in, pressing his lips against hers. It had been a chaste kiss, but it had been a kiss and, in the end, it had helped break the tension she had been feeling on stage.

Though they had already known each other for a year, at that point, that moment in the parking lot had been the true start of their friendship. She had already known his mom and siblings from the summer theater program, but once she had been deemed a friend by Chris, the whole Evans' family had taken her under their wings. Chris's parents had even reached out to her parents, introducing them to their social circle.

After that, despite being a grade apart, Chris and Wren had spent most of the school year that followed hanging out together. They'd suffered through driver's education together as soon as Wren had turned 15 as well as acted together in the school's theater program.

It had been at the end of that school year, Wren's freshman year of high school and Chris's sophomore year, when Wren had realized that she liked Chris as more than a friend. She wasn't sure when or how it had happened, but suddenly, one day, he was telling his mom something and the light coming in the window just sort of hit him right and Wren had realized how cute he was.

Initially, Wren had tried to shake off the feelings and, instead, had tried to channel them in a different direction, but it couldn't be helped and her feelings had only gotten stronger over the course of the summer.

By the end of the summer, she had been ready to tell Chris how she felt. There was just one little problem. While she had been trying to put some distance between them to try and calm down her feelings, he had been using that time to meet girls and had successfully gotten a summer girlfriend. Not wanting to ruin his happiness, Wren had decided to hide her feelings from him.

Of course, at age 15, Wren hadn't imagined that she would still be in love with her best friend at age 38 and have him still be none the wiser, but that was the truth of her situation. She wasn't sure if there would ever be a time or a situation for her to let her secret out, but it certainly wasn't now.

Chris might be single and in Boston again, but the fact that he was putting up a metaphorical wall between them, told Wren that he was not in a frame of mind to find out his best friend loved him. At this point, all she could do to help was be there for him.

Which is why she started accepting Chris's invitations to spend Saturdays with him and Addy. Logically, she knew it wasn't wise, but she couldn't help it, she loved spending time with the two of them and they clearly loved having her around.

It had been on one of those Saturdays that Wren got a phone call from a school in Albany, New York. She had sent the school her resume the summer after Chris had married, hoping that a change of scenery would help her in her quest to get over him, but the school hadn't had any open positions, at the time. Now, however, they did and she was one of three people they wanted to interview for a job starting in mid August.

Chapter 4

Want to find me off tumblr? I'm @beccatheycallme on twitter. I also post my stories on AO3.

My tag list is always open, just let me know if you'd like to be added!

#chris evans #theycallmebecca #beccaheartschrisevans #theycallmebeccawrites #chris evans fanfic #chris evans fanfiction #chris evans fan fiction #perfectly imperfect #chris and wren #chris evans x ofc #chris evans as a dad #chris evans x original female character

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oldnintendonerd · 6 years ago

Text

Prime Hunting Season Starting Soon

Official hunting season for 2018 is long over. With another season in 2019 just around the corner. I visited what was to be the final yard sale of the 2018 season on October 25th 2018. A brave older couple was downsizing and held a yard sale when it was 36 degrees out. Unfortunately, they were not gamers. Nor did they have any games from any kids or grandchildren. They did have some stereo equipment, and a surround sound speaker system. No music, or blu rays either though. The stereo was a shelf system, not a component type unit like I would be looking for to match the Sony TC-WE805S tape deck that I got at the start of the season. An all around bust of a sale for me. I wished them luck and headed on my way.

I closed out the last post with the PS3 find from 09.01.18. Giving me access to HD console gaming. A new era for this Old Nintendo Nerd. I do primarily game at 240p being that NES, SNES and N64 are the consoles nearest and dearest to my heart. GameCube and Wii weigh in at 480p at their absolute best, still falling short of HD. But now, with a PS3, we’ve got 720p gaming (mostly, some is 1080p). I have no problem with collecting a little for this system, I’ve heard good things about Uncharted, The Last of Us, and a smattering of a few other games that I will be looking out for.

Before we get into finds for the last, freakin 5 months, I have sold a couple things since the last post, and I should hope so, since its been forever! Right? Sorry. Life.

I had a bundle of 16 total PS1 games that I let go of. Titles were the likes of Syphon Filter, Driver, Test Drive 5, Rainbow Six, and a smattering of other luke warm titles. I’ve posted all of them up here at one point or another, so you have an idea. They were nothing I’d ever want to play, and since I only paid around $16 total for all of them at $0.99 a piece, I thought if I could average around $2 a pop on eBay id be doing OK doubling my money. They all added up to a value of about $95 on pricecharting. Now granted, that is fantasy prices, even those prices aren’t the prices the sellers MAKE when sold. Ultimately they all went for $52.99 as a lot. After fees and shipping it netted me $38.44, which comes to right about $2.40 each. 40 cents higher than I was hoping to get per game. Not bad!

The end of the last post left us with $9.73. Put that in with the $38.44 for a total of $48.17.

Additionally, I sold a disc only copy of Animal Crossing on eBay that I had laying around for $18.99. This came to $13.58 in pocket after fees and shipping. Tack that on and we now have $61.75 game hunting money moving into this post.

I’ll be honest, it’s been thin, it is cold here in the winter, there are no yard sales through the cold months at all. Places like Arizona or Florida where you could sale year round are lucky. Not here. Even donations to Goodwill slow down significantly as well, making the hunting quite a bit more difficult. I had zero finds for basically all of September. Which was surprising, it is really the last warm month here with temps still reaching 70′s and sometimes low 80s. But it wasn’t until the end of the month I ran across something at the Goodwill.

De Blob - Found 09.29.2018 at Goodwill

Disc, case and Manual all in pretty good shape, but nothing to write home about. If it were June and prime hunting season and I’d been getting finds, I probably wouldn’t have bought it.

But I did, and it cost me $3.21. Takes the total down to $58.54.

Next up was the first official game for my new PS3. Again nothing fantastic, but at least it rang up at the DVD price instead of the game price. Saved me $1.

Gran Turismo 5 Prologue Found 10.04.2018 at Goodwill

Minty fresh.

But, again nothing special, not even a full game. But I sat and played it for an hour anyway. Probably already had $2 worth of fun with the thing. Despite being labeled $5.99, they still only charged me the DVD rate of $1.99. Hah! So, $2.13 out of the till leaves us with $56.41.

The next find was literally the next day. Different Goodwill though.

Grand Theft Auto San Andreas on PS2 and Grand Theft Auto IV on PS3 - Found 10.05.2018 at Goodwill

This was absolutely minty fresh as well. Both of them were. Discs, cases, and manuals / maps. I wasn’t going to buy San Andreas but when I saw that it was in as good of shape as it was, and had a bonus inside, I couldn’t not get it.

First time I’ve found a game in Goodwill with a Memory Card inside. Those are $8 to $10 each right there, and I am a little short on memory cards, so I had to get it. The game was technically the bonus, I bought it for the memory card. Heh.

Great shape for two Goodwill games, they look brand new. Plus I heard that while GTA V is superior graphically, GTA IV is better with exploration, in that you can enter buildings, and enemy AI is a lot better as well. So I thought, what the hell?

Those two ran $6.42 together taking us to $49.99.

The next find was from 10.15.2018, from Goodwill, another few halfway decent games. Borderlands, Alice, Dante’s Inferno, Marvel Vs. Capcom 3, and a Disc only copy of Skyrim. It was actually in the same case as Alice, just under the Alice Disc for some reason. I wasn’t arguing with that so I left it there.

PS3 Lot - Found 10.15.2018 at Goodwill

Sucks about the two basically disc only games. Marvel Vs Capcom and Skyrim. One being from Best Buy pre-owned. The other hiding under Alice in the same case. not that I’m complaining about that one. Free game? Nothing wrong with that. How Best Buy even gets disc only copies of stuff is beyond me. Game system trades or returns with games still in them? I wasn’t aware they did pre-owned anything.

In any case... They are all in good shape. Minimal labels and damage.

Especially Alice. I dig the art on this one, and it is in very good condition.

As for Skyrim, well, I had a spare case laying around for FIFA 09, and I figured, why not print out a cover for it. I couldn’t give a shit less about FIFA Soccer. You can see the print lines, but it’ll do to hold the disc.

All of this ran me $12.86 being I paid for four games at $2.99 each plus tax. This takes the hunting money down to $37.13.

Moving into November, I had a spectacular find. At least, for the hunting money total. Not so much on the video game front, because it was just a Blu-Ray movie.

Wing Commander Blue-Ray - Sealed - Found 11.08.2018 at Goodwill

This thing, just looks like cheese from the cover. I picked it up, and immediately put it back down and walked around the corner to where some more shelves are. Then I said to myself you know what? No, let me check that, immediately dismissing something out of hand like that loses people money. Pulled up eBay on my phone and about pooped my pants. A sealed one was listed for $180. I thought that has to be some looney toon’s listing. I kept scrolling and no, used ones were just under $100. Check sold listings and there were real sales for $80+. Suffice to say I bought it, of course. Listed that sucker up, and I was hoping to get over $100 for it since it was sealed, but, there was some damage to the corner. The plastic was not in tact anymore.

This made the listing go for a lot less than $180. However, I was still pleased to see it sell for $85.00. For a $2 item? That’s a home run! After fees and shipping it netted us a nice cool $68.67. To be fair I will pull the money I used to buy it from the game hunting money, it was $2.12 ($1.99 plus tax) dropping us to $35.01. Then, adding $68.67 gives us...

**** DRUM ROLL****

$103.68!

We are now officially above the original $100 I started this game hunting journey with.

Not a bad note to end this post on. I’ll post up the finds for the very end of 2018 in the next post. Hopefully I can cobble that together here in the next couple of weeks and have it up much faster than I got this one up. There’s a really nice co-worker find to detail.

2018.03.25

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stephenmccull · 3 years ago

Text

How ERs Fail Patients With Addiction: One Patient’s Tragic Death

Jameson Rybak tried to quit using opioids nearly a dozen times within five years. Each time, he’d wait out the vomiting, sweating and chills from withdrawal in his bedroom.

It was difficult to watch, said his mother, Suzanne Rybak, but she admired his persistence.

On March 11, 2020, though, Suzanne grew worried. Jameson, 30 at the time, was slipping in and out of consciousness and saying he couldn’t move his hands.

By 11 p.m., she decided to take him to the emergency room at McLeod Regional Medical Center in Florence, South Carolina. The staff there gave Jameson fluids through an IV to rehydrate, medication to decrease his nausea and potassium supplements to stop his muscle spasms, according to Suzanne and a letter the hospital’s administrator later sent her.

But when they recommended admitting him to monitor and manage the withdrawal symptoms, Jameson said no. He’d lost his job the previous month and, with it, his health insurance.

“He kept saying, ‘I can’t afford this,’” Suzanne recalled, and “not one person [at the hospital] indicated that my son would have had some financial options.”

Suzanne doesn’t remember any mention of the hospital’s financial assistance policy or payment plans, she said. Nor does she remember any discussions of providing Jameson medication to treat opioid use disorder or connecting him to addiction-specialty providers, she said.

“No referrals, no phone numbers, no follow-up information,” she later wrote in a complaint letter to the hospital.

Instead, ER staff provided a form saying Jameson was leaving against medical advice. He signed and Suzanne witnessed.

Three months later, Jameson Rybak died of an overdose in his childhood bedroom.

Missed Opportunities

That March night in the emergency room, Jameson Rybak had fallen victim to two huge gaps in the U.S. health care system: a paucity of addiction treatment and high medical costs. The two issues — distinct but often intertwined — can come to a head in the ER, where patients and families desperate for addiction treatment often arrive, only to find the facility may not be equipped to deal with substance use. Or, even if they are, the treatment is prohibitively expensive.

Academic and medical experts say patients like Jameson represent a series of missed opportunities — both medical and financial.

“The emergency department is like a door, a really important door patients are walking through for identification of those who might need help,” said Marla Oros, a registered nurse and president of the Mosaic Group, a Maryland-based consulting firm that has worked with more than 50 hospitals nationwide to increase addiction treatment services. “We’re losing so many patients that could be identified and helped,” she said, speaking generally.

A spokesperson for McLeod Regional Medical Center, where Jameson went for care, said they would not comment on an individual’s case and declined to answer a detailed list of questions about the hospital’s ER and financial assistance policies. But in a statement, the hospital’s parent company, McLeod Health, noted that the hospital adhered to federal laws requiring that hospital ERs provide “immediate stabilizing care” for all patients, regardless of their ability to pay.

“Our hospitals attempt to manage the acute symptoms, but we do not treat chronic, underlying addiction,” the statement added.

Suzanne said her son needed more than stabilization. He needed immediate help breaking the cycle of addiction.

Jameson had been in and out of treatment for five years, ever since a friend suggested he try opioids to manage his anxiety and insomnia. He had insurance through his jobs in the hotel industry and later as an electrical technician, Suzanne said. But the high-deductible plans often left him paying out-of-pocket: $3,000 for a seven-day rehab stay, $400 for a brief counseling session and a prescription of Suboxone, a medication to treat opioid use disorder.

After he lost his job in February 2020, Jameson tried again to detox at home, Suzanne said. That’s what led to the ER trip.

Treating Addiction in the ER

Hospital ERs across the nation have become ground zero for patients struggling with addiction.

A seminal study published in 2015 by researchers at Yale School of Medicine found that giving patients medication to treat opioid use disorder in the ER doubled their chances of being in treatment a month later, compared with those who were given only referrals to addiction treatment.

Yet providing that medication is still not standard practice. A 2017 survey found just 5% of emergency medicine physicians said their department provided medications for opioid use disorder. Instead, many ERs continue to discharge these patients, often with a list of phone numbers for addiction clinics.

Jameson didn’t even get that, Suzanne said. At McLeod Regional, he was not seen by a psychiatrist or addiction specialist and did not get a prescription for Suboxone or even a referral, she said.

After Jameson’s death, Suzanne wrote to the hospital: “Can you explain to me, especially with the drug crisis in this country, how the ER was not equipped with personnel and/or any follow-up for treatment?”

Hospital administrator Will McLeod responded to Suzanne, in a letter she shared with KHN, that per Jameson’s medical record he’d been evaluated appropriately and that his withdrawal symptoms had been treated. Jameson declined to be admitted to the hospital, the letter said, and could not be involuntarily committed, as he “was not an imminent danger to himself or others.”

“Had he been admitted to our hospital that day, he would have been assigned to social workers and case managers who could have assisted with referrals, support, and follow-up treatment,” McLeod wrote.

Nationwide, hospitals are working to ramp up the availability of addiction services in the ER. In South Carolina, a state-funded program through the Medical University of South Carolina and the consulting firm Mosaic Group aims to help hospitals create a standardized system to screen patients for addiction, employ individuals who are in recovery to work with those patients and offer medication for opioid use disorder in the ER.

The initiative had worked with seven ERs as of June. It was in discussions to work with McLeod Regional hospital too, program staffers said. However, the hospital backed out.

The hospital declined to comment on its decision.

ER staffs around the country often lack the personnel to launch initiatives or learn about initiating addiction treatment. Sometimes affordable referral options are limited in the area. Even when the initial prescribing does occur, cost can be a problem, since Suboxone and its generic equivalent range in price from $50 to over $500 per prescription, without insurance.

In South Carolina, which has not expanded Medicaid, nearly 11% of the population is uninsured. Among patients in the state’s program who have been started on medications for opioid use disorder in ERs, about 75% are uninsured, said Dr. Lindsey Jennings, an emergency medicine physician at MUSC who works on the statewide initiative.

Other parts of the country face similar concerns, said Dr. Alister Martin, an emergency medicine physician who heads a national campaign to encourage the use of these medications in the ER. In Texas, for example, hundreds of doctors have gotten certified to provide the medications, he said, but many patients are uninsured and can’t pay for their prescriptions.

“You can’t make it effective if people can’t afford it,” Martin said.

Too Late for Charity Care

Throughout the night at McLeod Regional hospital’s ER, Jameson worried about cost, Suzanne said.

She wanted to help, but Jameson’s father and younger brother had recently lost their jobs, and the household was running on her salary as a public school librarian.

Suzanne didn’t know that nonprofit hospitals, like McLeod, are required by the federal government to have financial assistance policies, which lower or eliminate bills for people without the resources to pay. Often called charity care, this assistance is a condition for nonprofit hospitals to maintain their tax-exempt status.

But “nonprofits are actually doing less charity care than for-profits,” said Ge Bai, an associate professor at Johns Hopkins University who published a study this year on the level of charity care provided by different hospitals.

That’s in part because they have wide leeway to determine who qualifies and often don’t tell patients they may be eligible, despite federal requirements that nonprofit hospitals “widely publicize” their financial assistance policies, including on billing statements and in “conspicuous public displays” in the hospital. One study found that only 50% of hospitals regularly notified patients about eligibility for charity care before initiating debt collection.

McLeod Regional’s most recent publicly available tax return states that “uninsured patients are screened at the time of registration” and if they’re unable to pay and ineligible for governmental insurance, they’re given an application.

Suzanne said she doesn’t remember Jameson or herself receiving an application. The hospital declined to comment on the Rybaks’ case and whether it provides “conspicuous public displays” of financial assistance.

“Not once did anybody tell us, ‘Let’s get a financial person down here,’ or ‘There are grant programs,’” Suzanne said.

Mark Rukavina, with the nonprofit health advocacy group Community Catalyst, said most hospitals comply with the letter of the law in publicizing their assistance policy. But “how effective some of that messaging is may be a question,” he said. Some hospitals may bury the policy in a dense packet of other information or use signs with vague language.

A KHN investigation in 2019 found that, nationwide, 45% of nonprofit hospital organizations were routinely sending medical bills to patients whose incomes were low enough to qualify for charity care. McLeod Regional hospital reported $1.77 million of debt from sending bills to such patients, which ended up going unpaid, for the fiscal year ending in 2019.

Believing they couldn’t afford in-patient admission, the Rybaks left the hospital that night.

After the ER

Afterward, Jameson’s withdrawal symptoms passed, Suzanne said. He spent time golfing with his younger brother. Although his application for unemployment benefits was denied, he managed to defer payments on his car and school loans, she said.

But, inside, he must have been struggling, Suzanne now realizes.

Throughout the pandemic, many people with substance use disorder reported feeling isolated and relapsing. Overdose deaths rose nationwide.

On the morning of June 9, 2020, Suzanne opened the door to Jameson’s room and found him on the floor. The coroner determined he had died of an overdose. The family later scattered his ashes on Myrtle Beach — Jameson’s favorite place, Suzanne said.

In the months following Jameson’s death, hospital bills for his night in the ER arrived at the house. He owed $4,928, they said. Suzanne wrote to the hospital that her son was dead but received yet another bill addressed to him after that.

She shredded it and mailed the pieces to the hospital, along with a copy of Jameson’s death certificate.

Twelve days later, the health system wrote to her that the bill had been resolved under its charity care program.

Bill of the Month is a crowdsourced investigation by KHN and NPR that dissects and explains medical bills. Do you have an interesting medical bill you want to share with us? Tell us about it!

KHN (Kaiser Health News) is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues. Together with Policy Analysis and Polling, KHN is one of the three major operating programs at KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation). KFF is an endowed nonprofit organization providing information on health issues to the nation.

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gordonwilliamsweb · 3 years ago