#what if. Niko was an ER nurse

[kokorocala]

wake up girls! your faves are in their 40s

[andres-ortega]

Valeria Maldonado.

Her name was written neatly across the envelope that I clutched between my hands. My grip was close to ripping into the paper, but my mind couldn’t register. This was it. This wasn’t the end, but it was something. Something that would hurt Wingard but benefit the lives of the people he had destroyed.

Robert Phillips took 2 million dollars from one of Wingard’s business accounts and deposited it into our untraceable one. The twins, being the geniuses they are, set it up with a fake name and social security number. Together, we split the millions among some of the victims. A few families got more than others depending on their need, and others got quiet deposits into their bank accounts. Ryder, Lenna, Niko, Lola, and I, all chose who we wanted to deliver the larger sums to.

Valeria was mine. Her parents were killed in the same gas leak as my own, and they were Puerto Rican like my family. She had to step up and raise her younger siblings but where I only had one brother, she had six. Throughout the years, I have anonymously left food, money, and Christmas gifts on their porch to try and help as much as I could. Today, I would change their lives.

I stepped up the paint chipped stairs and knocked. The house was dilapidated, with overgrown weeds and the bars on their windows. I knew Valeria worked as a nursing assistant in an old folk’s home, but it wasn’t enough to keep afloat. A few of her brothers had odd jobs which helped, but barely. They’ve had to struggle for years.

“Go away.” A shaky voice said from the other side of the door. “I have a knife.” I sighed, leaning forward to ensure my words would carry through. “Valeria, my name is Andres. I’m not here to hurt you. I’m here to help. You can trust me. I’m…” I glanced around, ensuring no one was listening in on our interaction. This was Wynwood, one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in Miami. “Just, open the door and hear me out. You can keep the knife on hand.”

After a few seconds of silence, I nearly accepted defeat, but then I heard Valeria start to work on her numerous locks before opening the door. She glared at me suspiciously. I held up the envelope and proved I had nothing else in hand. “This is for you. It’s money. I… I lost my parents the same way you did. Can we talk?”

The golden-skinned woman’s expression softened and she stepped aside to let me in. The inside of the home was nearly as bad as the outside, but I could tell Valeria tried her hardest to keep it clean and safe. The roof was leaking, but she had buckets to catch the water from Florida’s daily storms. I noted roach and rat traps nestled into the corners of the room. The windows were open to try and offset the lack of air conditioning. God, she needs this more than most.

I sat on the lumpy couch and Valeria joined me. “¿Quieres una bebida?” Do you want a drink? I smiled warmly, shaking my head, and decided to reply in our native tongue. “No, pero eres amable al preguntar.” I pulled out the envelope and set it on the coffee table.

“Inside of that envelope is a check for $100,000. It’s a good check. It’s enough to either fix up this home or find a new one for your family.” Valeria’s eyes widened, reaching out to snatch the envelope and see for herself. She shook her head. “What? Why? Why me?”

My expression went somber. “As I told you before, my parents died in the same accident as yours. But it wasn’t an accident, was it?” She looked up to me in surprise. “We know the truth, Valeria. Wingard killed them with his unsafe working conditions. He put immigrant workers in warehouses that weren’t up to code. He had no regard for the lives of our parents… for the lives of the children they left behind.” I swallowed back the emotion in my throat. “I had to raise my brother just as you have had to raise your siblings. I know how hard it is to do that job… I know how hard you work to try and make their lives decent and safe… but now you can do more than that. With Wingard’s money.” This part made me smile. “Get an updated place to live. Once you do that, I’ll come by again. I’m going to pay for you to go to nursing school. We’re going to invest in a future that you all deserve.“

I stood up from the couch as Valeria sat there in quiet shock, her hands shaking as she held the check. “I’ll be in touch. My phone number is on the envelope. Call me if you run into any trouble.”

I didn’t want to linger. Turning, I left the house and shut the door behind me. As I did, I found an out-of-place woman standing awkwardly in the yard. Elyse Wingard. I would recognize her anywhere. I knew Bernard’s life in and out… the man couldn’t even take a shit without me knowing. Naturally, I’d recognize his daughter, standing tall and beautiful in front of me with her Louboutins sinking into the muddy yard.

“What the fuck are you doing here?”

[thesantiagoperaltas]

prompt; mac needs to go to the hospital for a minor injury

i don’t know if this is considered major? but here we go

She knew something had happened the moment Jake’s name flashed up on her phone, Jake never phones her during the day. She answers it quickly

“Jake?” Amy panics and gathers her belongings. “Look, don’t panic… he’s fine but Mac needs to go to the ER”

“What why?” She stands up exiting her office, completely ignoring Holt trying to see where she was going.

“We went to the park with Charles and Nikolaj, Mac fell off the slide and landed on his wrist, we think it’s broken”

“oh my god” Amy says getting into her car, it’s then she realises she just walked out of work. “Where’s Maya?”

“she’s with Genevieve, Charles is driving us to the hospital” Jake holds onto Mac’s wrist with a cold compress.

———

Amy arrives at the hospital, she was on the phone to Jake for the whole journey, so Holt had left endless texts, he even got Rosa to contact her for some reason. She quickly texts him back

Amy: Hi, sorry for not replying and walking out. Mac had a fall, in hospital now

She doesn’t even care if the text wasn’t professional enough.

She heads over to the desk. “Hi my son, he’s here”

“What’s his name” The nurse says not taking her eye of the computer

“McClane Santiago-Peralta, he’s four”

The nurse looks up, “Yes they’ve only just checked in, they are in the waiting room, a nurse will take you down now”

Amy follows the nurse down the corridor and down to A&E, she sees Mac curled up with Jake, Charles pacing around the room, clearly more worried than Jake.

“Amy!” Charles walks up to her, “Niko is so sorry for not paying attention” She almost thinks Charles will beg on his knees if she doesn’t say anything “It’s fine” She looks walks over to Jake and Mac

“Mommy” Mac cries.

—-

Charles leaves so they can wait to be seen, it was a short wait but they were called in. Mac didn’t stay still much so it took a while for them to get a clear scan.

“It looks like he’s sprained it, it’ll need to be in a cast until it’s healed”

——

Mac struggled to understand that the cast needed to stay on once they were home, he struggles to sleep through the night as well which made him a little grumpy throughout the day.

Charles sent heaps of texts apologising again before Jake called him to say it’s fine and that could’ve happened in his care