LITERALLY FUCK ME I GUESS. SPENT THIS WHOLE DAY DOING NOTHING BUT WRITE FOR THE BLORBOS AND YOU KNOW WHAT. IDC. IT'S WORTH IT. THEY'RE WORTH IT.
anyways this are parts of the besties' pov, because I have unresolved feelings and half baked personifications of them screaming at me to write!!! them!!! down!!! so i am blaming my own issues but also James bc SIR. augh. my love for your goddamn blorbos is terminal and i succumb gladly :(
ok but honestly i was originally just going to write a meta fic of Helene actually becoming a self-aware character, that her choices were all predetermined, that it was a game etc etc on the second part but HEY things happen and next thing i know i wrote like 10k words instead of her choosing to fuck the narrative that good things have a price, and love is always enough in this three (?) part series of the endgame that never is, was, and hopefully never will be!!!!!!
ANYWAYS
forgot to say but stream GODSENT by BEN&BEN LIKE AUGH PLEASE.
again, María x Helene, but arching POVs from Sam, Cleo, Esme, Rémy, Zhu, and Dominique in the start of it all <3
---
Helene died, cradled in María's arms. They saw her breathe her last, focused on nothing but the woman who held her.
Sam almost wants to be bitter at that moment, because she'd gone and left, and her eyes never strayed. She didn't notice anyone else, had no other words to say except for María, and then they remember.
("It's always been her, Sam." She whispers, smiling brokenly as she stares straight ahead.)
So instead, they turn that bitterness into one part grief, nine parts wonder because throughout their adventures, the woman they consider their idol-turned-mentor-turned-friend was still as true to their heart, even in the face of broken dreams of the future, in the face of death.
---
"It feels like i'm playing God, when I hold these things in my hand." She whispers.
Sam remembers the island. Of how the Carxite podium held her, gripped her. The way inhuman rage looked at her, and how she ordered the island's defenses to activate.
Sam remembers the ozone smell, like fresh struck thunder; of vision of half-melted bodies of her enemies, of all the Nazis who set their boots into the shore.
Sam remembers calling out for her, and her cruel reply; remembers the light in her eyes gone, replaced with a dead-eyed imposter in her place sneering with cold contempt.
Of her breaking out of it, as they approached her, and as María, even then, stared at the woman with no ounce of fear.
Then Sam thinks about the silver-eyed goddess who stood in that place just moments ago, radiant with power, untouchable, but alive in the way the first one forgot; of how they snapped their fingers, and used the stone's powers like a familiar extension of their limb—not to kill everyone like she did then—but to delibitate and injure her enemies enough to stop them from interfering.
(Of how María, themselves, Belby, and in extension, the rest of their team shot Heidi Hahn in cold blood as Helene turned her wiles against the slippery snake beforehand.)
And of how they decisively struck down, with no measure of mercy, the other woman who made this endgame happen.
(Because if Sabine Schneider never found about the Archive, never subscribed to the Aryan ideals, never descended into a madness so familiar, then this clash of titans would have perhaps never borne fruit.)
(Atleast, Sam would like to think so.)
---
"Of all the people you included for this deathride of a mission, I didn't think you'd be the one to die, Helene."
---
Cleo looks at the woman she just helped lay down the couch, then towards Esme who was looking at Helene with a curious gaze. She looks as heartbreak settles in the woman's eyes, but not grief. She's seen enough people in the entirety of this war mourn and break into grief, but Esme seems to just breeze past that and go straight to acceptance.
Cleo feels discombobulated.
"It doesn't feel right, no?" The blonde's crisp tone shakes her out of stupor. The woman would be embarassed at being caught staring, but she's kind of past that.
"I don't—I mean, She is—" Cleo starts, trying to give words to her thoughts. Esme understands though.
"The first time I met her, I knew she was a star. She burned so fierce and brightly that day that she and my..." Esme shakes her head, voice pained but a broken smile painting her lips. "the day she and I met. Did you know we met during her dig in Jerusalem in '34? We crossed paths outside the Colony, and I felt something was about to happen after a brief moment our gazes met. Not even 10 minutes later, she was running out the Grand Salon, Nazis on her heels after she pissed them off— Next thing I knew, I was out there with the shattered remains of a pot, saving her from certain death by gunshot after she got herself cornered by one."
"I knew Spillane was a bit of a disaster, but to hear that she's just like that since then—"
"Oh no, don't get me wrong, Helene's a great big daredevil, but I was kind of a foolhardy self-proclaimed adventurer then, dragging Abdul all over the place, then it just clicked, you know? I do so hate bullies, and that day... made things clearer. Somehow."
"I kind of get it. She's a trailblazer, with almost 0 regards to conventional boundaries of society, then she drags you along for the ride."
"I went there willingly, i'll have you know!"
"Oh yeah? Well I was the one dragging her through it first!"
Both women look at each other, and laugh. It's painful, and others would say a touch hysterical, but it's something true, a release.
---
"I did her wrong, kinda a lot. Is it selfish of me to wish she was back, so I can apologize for some of the things I did?"
Esme keeps quiet for a few moments, before she replies.
"Helene got my man killed, you know. In '38, during that quest for that man looking for his ancestor's grave."
Cleo turns to look at her, shocked.
"I'm sorry, that's unkind." Esme sighs, but continues.
"It's just partly her fault. This... cult, they attacked our home because Helene was there, because I missed an adventure and it was a perfect excuse to get to see her. We were down to one floor, trying to survive, and it was a bloodbath, because their members so many, then Sam was clobbered down, and then Helene had to make a choice between me and Abdul."
Cleo wanted to ask so many things, but kept quiet.
"It was a split second, and I saw her looking at Abdul, thinking that my honeybear was going to be the one she saves, because to be quite honest, those two are more alike than I really would like to admit. And I was okay, I was ready for death because I love him, I loved him, I loved Abdul Al-Maliki, and I was alright as long as he lived—"
"But she chose you, instead."
"She did. And I wanted to hate her, because she saved me, instead of him, my light and the reason I loved so freely—And for a while, I did."
A slow smile curls into her face.
"I hated her. For all 10 seconds of it."
Cleo wants to be shocked. But she can't. Helene was, fundamentally, never unlikeable. She may be a clown at times, infuriating and stubborn; but never unlikeable.
(It's like a power of hers, they think. Helene has a great capacity to befriend people, soothe tempers, and charm others.)
(But she also was unflinching, unabashed, and unremorseful, especially against her enemies.)
"Helene has a great capacity for love. I was privelleged to part a small part of her heart, along with Abdul, and it was that part that I think, that gave her the instinct to save me. Love is not quantifiable by any means, but I think, Abdul told her just how far the depths go, and that moment made her choose differently."
Esme clenches her fist.
"I didn't understand then, but looking at how María held her, God, how she broke—She asked for my forgiveness before we left for this, y'know? I said I forgave her then, even if I didn't know why. Because even if his death hurts, he tried, she tried, and that's all I can really ask for."
(Abdul is a kind, good, gentle man. Slow to anger, with an infinite well of love. Helene is a kind, somewhat good, gentle woman. Slow to anger, with an infinite well of love.)
(Demons run when good men go to war.)
(So what would good women make run when they go to war?)
(Everything. Everyone.)
---
"You're right. Helene being dead feels surreal, because she survived far worse things. Most of which were my fault, because I kept omitting parts of the truth."
Cleo says after a while. She closes her eyes, thinking about every adventure she shared with the woman.
New Orleans. Congo. Romita. Kuzco.
All adventures fraught with deep, heavy things. Goddamned Racists, secret Nazis and murderous Natives, a Cannibalist group, and again, even more Nazis, except this time not-so-secret.
"I should be dead, to be honest. All the way back from Congo."
Cleo takes a deep breath.
"Our story starts in New Orleans, like I told you. She invited me to do a guest lecture in her fine, prissy, whites-only college, because she was like that; and we attracted the attention of the local Ku Klux Klan because of it. Things happened, and I dragged her to solve a mystery, we solved it only to get captured; she got lightly tortured for our troubles, almost maimed by a dog and then a croc. Then I invited her to Congo, she accepted, omitted that the jungle locals were growing more agressive, stumbled to a Nazi conspiracy, got captured, AGAIN, almost got branded as slaves, DID work one shift as one, staged a coup, overthrew the local soldier garrison... THEN HAD TO STAGE ANOTHER BATTLE YET AGAIN, but we survived; hell, we lived!"
Her hands shake, imperceptibly.
"We lived because she sent Sam and our guide, Jeff, with me, and she braved the north side alone with her part of the troops until we had to regroup as one, and then she saved me, while I was lying prone on my back, about to get skewered by their bayonets; but there she was, like an avenging little angel, smoking gun being reloaded faster than I could comprehend. And all I did get to say was thanks, because our adventure wasn't done, and after it all she was just—"
Cleo smiles, thinking about the Helene who literally flopped down on a bed and slept 48 hours straight.
"She went straight to sleep, heedless of everything else, didn't she?"
"Yeah."
They both take a second to collect themselves. Then Cleo continues.
"The next time we met was months after that, but she waved me off, getting me a drink 'til we went home drunk, and then I didn't talk to her about it again, and see her in person until Romita. I can't tell you want happened in Kuzco, but God, Romita? That place was a hundred ways more personal and fucked up than the whole back-to-back siege in Congo, because that... the monsters we encountered there? Truly Inhuman."
Cleo twists her fingers, trying not to remember the way her student flinched away from her, scared and emaciated; of the broken body of the girl, Mina–no, Stefania, flying down to the earth, and the crunch that followed after her self-made descent off the ravine.
(She tries to keep the chilling image of Ariadne Stokes smiling at them beforehand out of her mind, and shivers as she tried to think of what monster Helene faced. Because the ravenette was so silent and withdrawn afterwards, and she wouldn't speak of anything that transpired, even prodded.)
"Alone." Cleo says, and Esme searches her face, trying to understand. Then it clicks.
"You left her alone."
A statement, not a question.
"Yes. I'm not proud of it, but I've left her more times than I should have, all these years."
"...I won't ask why, or tell you what you should feel, because that's yours alone." Esme finally says, after a while. "But I'd like to think she's forgiven you anyways. She did that, kind of a lot."
"...Yeah, I know. I want to think that too."
---
"You saved... kinda a lot of asses, Spillane. But nobody's ever been able to save you, when it mattered."
"No, someone did."
And their gaze slides towards María, who's still looking out the window and into the empty night sky, looking for something only she could see.
---
Rémy can count on one hand the times he'd been out of words. As a learned man, he never had a lack of them, loving the way his voice sounds, especially at the throes of passion.
But hearing that his dear friend, the woman who dared him, once upon a time, to fuck one of his paramours in the top of the Eiffel, has been lost. Well, people can forgive him for not gracing them with his presence, right?
("You, you, you fiendish Frenchman!" Helene shakes with indignance, trying to pummel your back with her tiny fists as you carry her on your shoulder.)
(You laugh, real and deep. "Oh yes, I am a fiend, and I am indeed French! Congratulations on your astute observation, chérie." This is one of the many times you've met after a seminar, but the first you've seen the professional woman crack. Who knew all it took was getting her drunk and embarrassed?)
("Augh, damn you. The only person who should be handling me like this is Spanish and she's farrrrrr more cuter than you, Fournier!" She declares, and you almost colide with a post.)
("Well, well, well! Sounds like a juicy tale, Chérie! You should tell me all about it!")
("No." She pouts, and you feel her tense. "Talking about her makes me sad. And I don't like that.")
(You want to press, but it slips your mind, because the next moment, she's out like a light.)
Miles grimaces beside him, bone deep weariness hitting in the moment the news hits.
"—o can you guys come pick everyone here up?"
"Oui, hang on tight. We'll get the island secured."
---
"How does it go again? Ah, yes. Too rich for use, for Earth too dear."
---
Zhu feels numb, as he sits quietly on his perch, just back from staring from the corpse of his friend.
("You are better than this, Jian Zhu, and you better listen to someone who knows and believes that there IS a goodness that exists within you, with all that want to be a better man! It starts that this moment, by acknowledging that this is bigger than you, than Kao, than everything else you've planned for revenge; So please—" Her voice is five parts pleading, five parts command, and oh. There it is. "Please stay, and help me finish this once and for all.")
(It's at this precise moment you knew you'd come to the ends of the earth with her, for her.)
("Okay." You whisper. "Okay." You say again, more full, more forceful. Because you know your need is selfish, is stupid, but Helene understands, and she knows better than anyone else a part of your story now, and all she asks for is this time, to help her save the world.)
(And you couldn't disobey, even if you tried. Because she is part of your absolution, and you will be a supplicant for her earnest devotion, the same way you feel her protégé(?) does as they cling to her.)
(Helene Spillane may physically be the smallest woman in the room, but the magnitude of her presence fills her with unnatural grace and strength that she dons on and off as she pleases, like a cloak.)
---
"...I'm not surprised, because I know how far devotion can run. I... I understand."
---
Dominique has had some of the shittiest days lately. It nearly tops the moment they uncovered the camps, but—
Helene is still, and if they close their eyes, they could swear the woman was just sleeping, the way she was no less than 48 hours ago, deep in the jungle wilds while in Japan.
It looked deep, you thought, with the way she was so still; but the brief rest didn't last, and she handily opened her eyes to stare towards you, unseeing yet, but her hands flying to the throwing knife hidden in her side at a blink of an eye.
Then awareness fills them, and you shake you head, opting to get her to prepare instead.
(So no, denial is a bad look on you.)
It doesn't feel real, the assault on the fortress taking almost instantaneously after their mission, after a brief hour or two to get ready with tools and wait for the team to be assembled. Then the bloodbath, of fighting the ground troops, teaming up in several pairs because manpower, time, and the path to the end is limited, and you all needed to make sure the assault is fast and efficient for the world, the fate of the world hangs in this one mission, and you loathe to think the end of it fails.
You don't want to fail. Death is inevitable, and you are nonetheless proud for being included in this ragtag bunch of people fighting for a better tomorrow. Included in the imposible last defense of this mystical mumbo-jumbo, because of course alien and magical powers are goddamn real.
(Fires blaze in your heart as Helene makes the final rounds for one last time before the endgame starts. Final goodbyes were already said awhile ago, and everyone tenses in anticipation.)
(In a better world, you think, Helene would have made a great motivational speaker.)
(And then you snort. Because Helene actually hates speaking in front of a crowd, and most, if not all her extroverted tendencies were a front. You'd know, because for all the showmanship you've done for the sake of your career, part of it was just for you to show off your skills in a relatively anonymous manner.)
(Show a clown to the circus, and get your bread and gold, and all that jazz.)
You're going to miss her, you think. You look around and spot Sam cringing on the side, trying their best to patch themselves up with one hand.
And you can't help but sigh, because the woman you observed who'd have patted their head and give them a noogie before doing the patch-up themselves is gone.
(And never coming back...)
---
"Our time was brief, but hey, we always had fun, didn't we Helene my dear?"
---
They say death is the end.
---
Helene is dead.
And then she wakes up.
There are many questions to be answered. But looking into her eyes, even though something inside has fundamentally shifted, something added, something lost; it's still her.
So they hold off, and take the gift as it is.
---
The word of her death does not spread far. Everyone else agreed to keep it under wraps, the cost of victory still too raw, too dear to talk about.
They settle on half of a lie, that yes, she was briefly gone; but life-saving maneuvers got her back.
But everyone in that island remembers. Her friends; her chosen family— something will forever be changed, because they knew the finality, had lived it, and mourned it, however briefly; before she went and changed all the rules.
(Helene loves to defy expectations. This happening is no other. Everyone is safe, and it's free real estate.)
And because of it, they will all have the chance to talk, really talk, and a chance for a future. Altogether.
---
Helene sits in a bench under the shade. Silver strands caress her face as the wind shifts, blowing a gentle breeze against her face.
Beside her, María sits, saying nothing aside from quietly slipping her hand into hers, and squeezing it. A stray beam dapples from the trees, making the golden bands on their fingers glint in the fading light.
"Do you have any regrets, Helene?"
"Before? During? or After?"
"In any of them."
Helene is quiet, as she is most days. But María has grown to be patient, because love is kind, and makes better fools of them both.
"No."
Short and succinct, with a finality in her tone.
(María, as most of the years that have passed, had grown to understand her new language.)
"Okay. Me either."
And silence reigns.
It’s a loaded but comfortable silence, their two hearts beating as one, and for that moment, everything is enough.
---
"Hey, María?"
"Yes, Helene?"
"Do you know I love you?"
"Yes. Do you?"
"Know that you love me?"
"Yeah, that."
"I don't need to know. I always felt it."
"Even after all I put you through?"
"Even then. Even now. Forever will, and even then."
"How?"
"You're a masterful liar, María, but you can't fool someone like me."
The book snaps shut. And she looks down on her lap, where Helene lies as she wants.
"And what is 'like you', huh?"
Helene looks up at her, eyes bright, and ever so full of love.
"Someone who knows. Someone who sees. Someone who percieves."
She says, quietly, but confidently. Then the brunette shifts, bringing herself up, so different in the time she lied there unmoving, craded in the redhead's arms. And she cups her face in her small, warm hands, and brings herself close, close eneough that they can see the flecks in their irises; of the yellow and gold intersped in María's hazel, and the subtle silver that settled in Helene's dark, grey-brown.
"Most importantly, Someone who loves..." she whispers. "you."
(María kisses her, and it's heady, sweet, and everything Helene ever needs.)
---
"Why did you come back?"
"...Because I wanted to."
"And it's enough?"
You understand that she speaks from a fear, a fear that you'll abandon her for your chase of power. The fear of being left alone, because you already left this mortal coil once, and something hums in you, calling for the void.
You can't explain in words, so you capture her in a kiss. And then try.
"I fought the universe itself to come back here because I believed, María. I believed in humanity, in myself, and the people here I do so love."
"That doesn't answer if it's enough." She answers, her grip tighter at the second.
Am I enough, she what she really asks.
It should hurt, after all these years, this doubt; but instead, it teethers you. And you blink, and everything finally slots into place. So you match her, and hold her close.
Since this request isn't too detailed I'm just gonna do this as a hc <:
Jasper Taking You On a Nature Walk HC
Pairing: Jasper Hale/Whitlock x Human!GN!Reader
Warnings: mc much prefers to be inside, me personally i like a nice hike, though i get hives if it's too hot 😬, vampires have to miss walking in daylight tho, and since jasper is a former southern cowboy i bet he misses the warmth of it
Jasper taking his human partner on a nature walk
At first you grumble, wanting nothing more than to spend the day inside. You hated outside activities anyway. You and nature just didn't agree with one another
But he promises you it'll be fun. You haven't gone on one of his nature walks. It sounds promising so you easily relent, surprised by his odd request. He never asked of these kinds of things from you. He liked that you didn't like going out in public and preferred his/his family's company. It worked out for everyone. If he was going out of his way to ask this, then it was probably important to him.
Jasper keeps in mind your humanness and though Forks doesn't get a lot of sun, he's still worried about you receiving a sunburn. He lovingly slathers your face and arms in sunscreen.
As he recommended, you found your comfiest pair of shoes and threw on breathable shorts paired with a tank top.
"I promise you, you're going to have fun." He kisses the tip of your nose which still had a smear of sunscreen that hadn't quite been absorbed by your skin.
Thankfully his home was surrounded by a lush forrest ringing around the house so going to an actual trail wasn't a necessity. No witnesses to his prismatic skin. No extra worries to be added on this excursion.
You're not accustomed to the buzzing sound of bugs or the bumpy earth that was riddled with the crawling roots of trees that rise from above the dirt.
You weren't clumsy, not like Edward's human girl but you didn't possess very good balance. Jasper kept a guiding hand on your arm to make sure you didn't fall. You didn't anticipate how this nature walk was turning into an interesting girl scout lesson. He bends down to show you animal tracks that you hadn't even noticed prior. Shows you how moss only grows on the north facing side of a tree and how that can benefit you if you ever get lost.
"Do you plan on deserting me here?" You ask halfheartedly but Jasper solemnly looks at you with sad eyes that catch you by surprise.
"One day you may not have me close to you. You may have to rely on the safety of the forest to protect you." He murmurs.
What made up for the boring parts of the nature walk was spying the various wild life that cautiously poke their head out from their hiding places. Squirrels and wild rabbits darted in the opposite direction if you and Jasper got too close to their home.
Eventually you start to relax in the quietness of your walk. Jasper watches you with butterflies thumping along in his stomach as you gather wild flowers; commenting how Esme would love them. The position you're at allows specks of sunlight highlight your lovely features. He's reminded constantly how much he adores you. The others in his family didn't really appreciate walks like this. Couldn't fathom why Jasper enjoyed going out even though there was a risk of someone seeing him.
But he saw the world outside their house a miracle by nature's design. Even more so now that you were out there with him, taking in the glory of living things.
hii story drabble for my favorite boy daniel page!
❝ TAGS ❞ fem mc x daniel, y/n used, year 3 spoilers, ooc(?)
You were charming, there was no doubt about it. That's what Daniel had always found intriguing about you, a muggle born who seemed to effortlessly charm all and any witch or wizard in proxy to you.
Daniel had a hard time pinning exactly how'd you do such a thing. Could it be that, given only being a third year, you were excellent at charms that most had trouble with? This definitely could be a factor, considering he's witnessed your impressive duels with Cassandra and the Frey's.
Or was it how you were so selfless when it came to helping others? He remembers first year when you dropped everything to find Ivy which you barely even knew well enough yet to do such a thing.
Daniel being friends with you, had taught him that over the three years of being at Hogwarts, you were quite known to all. It seemed like every class he'd attended had someone who dropped your name. "Did you hear? Y/n dueled with Elliot Evers! He's more advanced with techniques but yet she beat him!"
And that was another thing. Almost all of third year when the news had spread about his family being locked up, when he had blown off her and Ivy countless times to learn spells with Elliot, when he had told you a bit harshly that he didn't need friends but to be left alone, you never gave up on him. You helped him get Esme back, helped him fight in battles with Gridley, but most of all, you stayed. You stayed by his side.
After all that ended, you never once expected something in return for that all, which truefully daniel thought you'd maybe ask for a favour or two, but nothing ever came up... well perhaps not nothing
Daniel found himself in his least favorite place—the Dance club. He had received an owl from you to meet him here, so he was now. He had already awkwardly turned down the many offers from others to dance desperately, looking around the ballroom to catch a glimpse of you.
"Daniel!" He whipped his head towards your voice. You were dressed up more than usual; you looked... pretty. Her cheeks flushed from running to the hall, he assumed. It suited you, which made him feel a subtle warmth, trying to sneak his way to his own.
"Sorry I'm late, I hope you didn't wait too long" He shook his head and slipped his gands into his pockets. "Don't worry. Anyways why did you want to meet me here?" Daniel tilted his head in confusion when she let a giggle out.
"Well, it's simple." She smiled at him, and he cursed at the way his cheeks held the shade close to his hair color on them. "I want to dance with you, Daniel" He remained silent letting her words sink in before managing to blurt out "You.. want to dance? With me?"
"Yes Daniel, with you" Daniel cleared his throat and held out his hand "Alright then, I suppose Dancing with you isn't as bad as it usually be." She took his hand and lead him to the dance floor.
That day, he found out your charm was real, as real as anything. He finally fell victim after years of denying failing for such a thing, or so he thought. It seems he's been under since he met you. He was just trying to deem it fake for the sake of his heart. His cheeks would always flush red when you'd praise him for his skill in potions, when you asked him to dance so he wouldn't be bothered by others when they tried their hardest to persuade him.
You were charming, no doubt. Daniel Page found it intriguing how you managed to sneak your way into his thoughts, how you caught his eye everywhere he went, and how you, out of all students in Hogwarts chose him to give your every moment too. But he would want no other way.
this is my first time writing anything but the lack of Daniel story's on here is hurting my heart (っ◞‸◟c) anyways i hope this feeds other daniel fans well !!
MC Introduction:
Name: Matty Loraine Ambrose
Name meaning: Matty was named after her grandfather, Matthew Ambrose.
Pronouns: She/her
Age: 15-18 (during her school lore)
Gender: Female
Birthday: April 26th, 1875
Zodiac Sign: Taurus
Birthplace: Dublin, Ireland
House: Gryffindor
Patronus: Graphorn
Animagus: N/A
Wand: Alder Wood, Phoenix feather core, 13”, Slightly yielding
Blood Status: Muggleborn
Languages: English, Irish (Gaeilge)
Ethnicity: Irish ...
Appearance:
Race: Caucasian
Eye Color: Blue
Hair Color: Blonde
Hair Type: 2c-3a curls (ignore the mod, I couldn’t find a good one for her type of curls)
Height: 5’4” (Teen height) 5’8” (Adult height) (162 cm + 172 cm) ...
Personality traits:
Positive Traits: Loyal, Brave, Quick Thinker, Optimistic, Empathetic, Good Chaotic Energy, Joyful, Supportive.
Negative Traits: Very Impulsive, Extremely Self-Sacrificing, Takes Others Problems Upon Herself, Sometimes A Bit Overbearing
Strengths: Her Overall Positive Attitude About Most Things
Weaknesses: Sometimes Cares Too Much And Can’t Let Go.
More Info:
Boggart: The Sluagh
Mirror of Erised: Her being happy with her family
Hobbies: Reading, Writing, Dancing, Dueling, Going on Adventures, Rock Climbing.
Amortentia: pressed flowers, parchment, and rain.
Future Occupation: Auror (Hit Witch division)
Favorite Spell: Confringo
Least Favorite Spell: The Babbling Curse ..
Skills:
Best subject: Defense Against the Dark Arts
Favorite subject: Defense Against the Dark Arts, Potions
Favorite Professor: Professor Fig and Professor Hecate
Worst subject: Astronomy
Least favorite subject: Divination
Least favorite professor: Professor Binns
Quidditch Position: Seeker ...
Family
Father's Name: Howard Ambrose Age: 35 (When Matty was 15)
Status: Alive
Blood Status: Muggle
House: (Would be in Gryffindor if he wasn’t a Muggle)
Personality: Very fun, out-going, funny, witty, sarcastic, a good dad.
Notes: Howard always said he’d name his firstborn child after his father, Matthew, and so when Matty was born (and ended up being the only child), even though she was a girl, she still got her grandfather's name. They just gave it more of a feminine twist...
Mother's Name: Ada Ambrose
Age: 34 (When Matty was 15)
Status: Alive
Blood Status: Muggle
House: (Would be in Hufflepuff if she wasn’t a muggle)
Personality: Very kind and sweet, welcoming, understanding, a good listener, good comforter, a very caring mother. ...
Future Family
Children: Eleazar, Caroline, Marcellus, Adonis, and Anne Sallow.
Relationships:
Love Interest: Sebastian Sallow (Matty x Sebastian)
Age: 15/16 + 15/16
House: Gryffindor and Slytherin
First met each other in: Defense Against the Dark Arts class ...
Best friends: Hope McGowan, Esme Greenwood, Garreth Weasley, Ominis Gaunt.
Rivals/Frienemies: Imelda Reyes, Eric Northcott, Apollo Morgan. ..
Enemies: Victor Rookwood, Theophilus Harlow, Ranrok, Leona Oswald, Charles Willoughby, Apollo Morgan (eventually), Aurelius Gaunt, Lyssa Gaunt, Marvolo Gaunt. ..
aloha (n.): love, affection, peace, compassion, and mercy; a force that holds together existence
Bryce receives the worst news of his life, and to make it worse, he's in love with Casey. And she's about to die.
Tagging: @openheartfanfics, @choicesficwriterscreations, and @mydemonsdrivealimo
AO3 Link: Here
His entire body trembles, but he holds his head high as he pushes his way past the other doctors. Most of them whisper amongst themselves in the hallways, and here and there, he catches words like anthrax and ricin. There’s a pair of attendings wondering how Casey isn’t dead right now. Others who say they hope Travis suffers.
The nurses huddle around their station, and Bryce stumbles over his feet. Marlene rubs Sienna’s back as she lowers herself into one of the chairs.
“I had a date with Danny tomorrow,” she says, looking up with puffy eyes. “What’s—Marlene, what’s going to happen to him? Sarah? Does anyone know what’s happening to Casey?”
He dips his head, trying to remain nondescript as he shoves open the stairwell door.
“Bryce?”
He ignores her.
“Bryce!” Esme reaches out and grabs his arm. “What’s going on?”
He swallows and shakes her hand off of him. “I just need to go, Esme. Ask Ethan. Or anyone else, really, I just—I need to go.”
She frowns and locks her hand around his wrist. “Like hell. Are you seriously going to leave your girlfriend behind now? When she needs you most?” With her free hand, she points furiously back upstairs. “I know she’s in there! I know my resident is fighting for her life! And like a coward, you’re running away.”
He shakes his head. “I’m not running away.”
“Sure looks like it to me.”
Bryce squeezes his eyes shut, begging his tears to stay away. “Jackie and Elijah are off today. Unless Casey or Sienna texted them, they have no way of knowing what just happened in there. They need to know—” They need to know that Casey might be dead tonight. He shakes his head again and pries Esme’s hand off his wrist. “And I need to make sure my little sister will be safe tonight.”
Esme blinks. “Do you think—”
“Esme, I’ve gotta go.” He doesn’t wait for her response, just sprints down the stairs. His lungs burn, from tears or from running, he doesn’t know.
People call his name. Surgical residents congratulate him on Kyra’s surgery. The one he kicked out of the OR glares at him. Ines tries to talk to him. He can’t hear them. His ears ring, and he grabs his keys and sprints outside.
Once he’s in his car, he breathes deeply. Or at least, he tries to. His breaths come fast and shallow, his hands shake, and he rests his head on his steering wheel.
Fuck.
His body starts to shake again, and as he’s reaching for the blanket in his car — the one that Casey told him to keep on hand, with how cold he gets in Boston weather and how traffic is — the shaking stops, and he bursts into tears.
“Fuck!” He buries his face in his hands, a sob tearing from the back of his throat. “Fucking —” he slams his left hand on the top of the steering wheel “— dammit!” His shoulders curl inwards, and sobs rack his body.
She can’t die. She can’t die. I can’t lose her. I can’t—
The sobs come louder now, and he hasn’t cried like this since he was eighteen years old, and he was flying all the way to Ohio State by himself, with no money, no family, and no friends. He hasn’t cried like this since his favorite teacher, the one who believed in him, the one who believed he could be a great surgeon like Michael DeBakey, fell victim to his parents’ schemes and looked at him with such hurt and betrayal every day of the year after that. He hasn’t cried like this since he was alone and unloved and unlovable, when life was hopeless and he had to carve out hope for himself.
Except there’s not hope now, not really.
Casey’s his best friend, his girlfriend, and he just—he cares about her so much. Everything inside of him begs God to rewind the clock, to put him in that room with the senator when Travis deployed the canister, to let him take Casey’s place. If one of us has to die, let it be me. Not her. Don’t let her die.
I love her.
He screams, his voice scratching the back of his throat, his fingers tugging at his hair. Why did it take so long for me to know? Why did I have to wait?
I love her. I love her I love her I love her.
And she’s going to die.
***
“Okay, Keiki, I’m not going to be back until tomorrow at the earliest.” Bryce moves into his bedroom, chewing his bottom lip. He idly picks up his overnight back and sets it down.
Keiki leans against the doorframe, her arms crossed over her chest. “Why?”
He sighs and grabs a fresh pair of scrubs and shoves them into his bag. “I told you, there was an assassination attempt at the hospital. They might need me.”
“There are other surgeons.”
He stands up straight, dropping his boxers on the cover. “Casey was a victim of the attack, too. She’s alive —” he nearly chokes on the next words “—for now, but it’s not looking good. One person died already, one’s in a coma, and I don’t think Raf has too much time either.” He shakes his head and moves into the bathroom. “I’m going to stay with her.”
Keiki bites the inside of her cheek and steps into his bedroom. “Anything I can do?”
Bryce tosses his toiletry bag onto the bed and drops to the ground, fishing under his bed for a pair of shoes. “Uh, can you try and find my green sweatshirt? The one from my surfing days? It’s Casey’s favorite.”
She nods and starts rifling through his closet.
“You know the drill: leftovers in the fridge, and you can use my DoorDash account if there’s nothing in there. Don’t leave the apartment unless there’s an emergency, you have my number and Case—” he swallows. “If there’s some kind of danger, go to Mrs. Zimmerman across the hall. She’s a sweet old lady, makes the best cakes, and she’ll take care of you.”
“I know the drill.” Keiki steps away from the closet, a sweatshirt folded over her arm. “I couldn’t find the one you were talking about, but I’ve seen Casey wear this one before.”
Bryce tosses a pair of tennis shoes on his bed and grabs the sweatshirt from Keiki. “Dammit, Casey must still have it at her place. Alright, this is fine.” He kisses Keiki’s head. “Thanks, Keiks. You know I love you, but…”
He’s never said it out loud before.
She nods understandingly and sits on his bed. “You love Casey more.”
He nods in agreement. “Yeah.”
“Have you told her?”
He ignores her, roughly shoving his clothes and shoes into his overnight bag. When he gets to the sweatshirt, he folds it carefully. Casey might not be able to wear it just yet, not while she’s in a hospital gown, but maybe…
“Can you grab the blanket from the couch? Not the one you use for bed, the other one?”
She frowns. “You didn’t answer my question, Bryce.”
He sighs and runs a hand through his hair. “What do you think?” He shakes his head and stalks to the living room. “And now she might die before I can tell her.”
Keiki trails him. “So then tell her! What’s the worst that can happen?” She hops over the coffee table and sits on the blanket before Bryce can pull it to safety. “She already knows the worst stuff about you, and she stuck around.” She clears her throat and shifts on the blanket so he has no chance of pulling it away. “And if she doesn’t have the same feelings, well…at least you told her.”
“Keiks, I—I don’t know. I just…”
She stands up, eyes on fire. “Bryce Kai Lahela, you do not have the luxury of waiting. With Morgan, yeah, I understand. You were in high school, and Mom and Dad fucked her family over. But that’s not Casey. Please, just…don’t do something you’ll regret.” She hands him the blanket. “Tell her.”
He kisses her forehead. “See you tomorrow.”
***
Jackie runs up to him as soon as he steps back out of his car. “Where the hell were you?”
He glares at Jackie and slams his car door shut. His car beeps when he locks it. “In case you forgot, I have a little sister under my guardianship. I had to make sure she would be okay.” He shakes his overnight bag in her face, his keys also jingling with the movement. “Also, had to pack one of these. Like hell if I leave my girlfriend behind.”
She ducks her head. “Sorry, I just—”
He nods and shoulders his way inside. “I know. You’re worried about her. All of us are.” He clears his throat. “Where’s Elijah?”
Jackie walks in front of him. “Follow me.”
“Jackie, please —”
She turns and shushes him before grabbing his wrist. Dragging him along, she leads him into the locker room, where Elijah is just finishing up a call.
“Alright. Tell me if it reminds you of anything.” He turns around, face falling when he sees Bryce. “Sorry, that was one of my undergrad professors. He taught history of medicine and science, so I was hoping he knew something about reactions to biological weapons. Maybe something useful.” He lifts one shoulder in a half shrug. “Shoulda known better, though. He hasn’t done any research on this topic for decades.”
Bryce opens his locker and tosses his overnight bag inside. “That’s okay. It might help, and he might go through his research. Or talk to someone who might know.” He jerks his head in the direction of Casey’s room. “C’mon, let’s go see her.”
Jackie holds up a finger. “Hold on, Aurora’s on her way.”
Aurora runs inside the hospital a few minutes later, shoving past the handful of security guards — all of them shaken — with a shout and “I’m Harper Emery’s niece, let me in!” When she reaches the three of them, she slows to a walk and smooths her hair. “Where is she?”
“Follow me.” They stop at the nurses’ station to pick up Sienna, and then Bryce is jogging to the elevator, bouncing on the balls of his feet. Jackie rests a hand on his shoulder.
“She’ll be alright.”
He stares straight ahead. “You didn’t see her. Or Raf.” He hangs his head. “Fuck.”
“Either way,” Jackie shakes him a bit, “Casey’s probably scared out of her fucking mind. She trusts you. She loves you. Don’t make her more afraid than she already is.”
He lolls his head. “How in the hell am I supposed to do that?”
The elevator door dings and slides open. Jackie twists her lips. “I don’t know.”
Bryce leads them down the hall towards Casey’s room. As they get closer, he squares his shoulders and forces a smile, but he knows it doesn’t reach his eyes. And he knows Casey will notice it, too.
Casey gapes at them when they get to her room. She offers him a relieved smile and holds her hand up to the glass. His bravado melts into something more sincere, and though his smile isn’t as wide, it’s genuine, and he presses his hand against the glass. “Told you I’d be back. This time I brought some company.”
Her roommates crowd the front of the windows, speaking animatedly to her and Raf. He wants to sag against the wall and cry and cry and cry some more, but he tries to keep a brave face on. For her or for himself, he’s not entirely sure.
Ethan steps back and stands next to him. “It’s good. That you’re doing this, I mean. It’s helping her.”
He shrugs, his eyes still trained on Casey. “I wanted her to see her friends. They’re important to her.”
“So are you.” Ethan studies him for a moment. “How are you holding up?” He jerks his head in Casey’s direction. “She talks about you all the time, you know. And I’ve seen you two together.”
Bryce resists the urge to cross his arms. “So?”
“So this has to be just as hard on you for an entirely different reason.” Ethan sighs and squeezes his shoulder. “Look, in my experience, it’s just as difficult to deliver bad news to loved ones as it is to deliver the bad news to the patient. In fact, I think it’s harder. So how are you holding up?”
Bryce licks his lips. “It sucks,” he says quietly.
Ethan nods and faces forward once again. “I wish we’d never taken the senator on as a patient. Not that I’d wish this even on Tobias, but maybe…”
Maybe Casey wouldn’t have been caught in the crossfire.
He nods. “Yeah.”
Jackie gestures around at the lot of them. “We’re going to figure this out. All of us.”
Bryce steps forward and tries to force a smile. “I’m just a surgeon, but I’ll offer whatever help I can.” And it’s fucking nothing.
Casey’s eyes well with tears, and she shuffles closer. “Now’s not the time for that confidence of yours to do a runner, Bryce.”
Sienna cranes her neck to see him. “Yeah, you’re not just anything.”
He meets Casey’s gaze, and he prays she can read the love in his eyes. I’ll do whatever I can to save you. “Sorry, I mean we’ve got this.”
Casey wipes her cheeks furiously. “That’s better.”
Everything in him wants to reach for her, to tug her into his arms and bury his face in the crook of her neck, to squeeze her hair and whisper that he loves her. He wants to hold her hand and kiss her face and cradle her cheeks in his hands.
But in between them is a wall of glass, impenetrable, separating the dying from the living. “See you soon, Case.”
***
Baz leans back in his chair, shaking his head solemnly.
Bryce’s heart sinks. “So June was wrong?” We don’t have much time left.
“No,” Baz says, scratching the stubble on his chin, “June was right. It’s a maitotoxin.”
A heart-wrenching sob tears from Sienna’s throat. Elijah reaches up to rub her shoulder in consolation. Ethan pinches the bridge of his nose and leans against the wall. Jackie sets her chin, tears filling her eyes.
Bryce swallows, furrowing his brow. “But —” his blood runs cold, and he shudders as a shiver runs up his spine. “Fuck, there’s no cure for that.” He searches for a friend in the lab, but Sienna’s sobbing, Elijah’s fighting his own tears, Jackie won’t meet his eye, and he knows no one else except Ethan. He holds Ethan’s eye. “Casey’s—that means Casey’s going to die?”
The crushing weight of it all threatens to gut him. He stands up, and he nearly pitches forward. His stomach lurches, and whether that’s from a need to vomit or from the sobs threatening to bubble up, he doesn’t know. “I’m going to lose her,” he whispers.
Baz reaches out and catches his wrist. “She’s not gone yet.” With his free hand, he rubs his forehead. “We’ll try and save Rafael too, of course, but Casey’s lucky because she didn’t get as much of the toxin. She might survive.”
Bryce shakes off his hand. “Baz, what are the chances of her making it?” He shoves his hand through his hair, his chest heaving. “There’s no cure. And even if you guys could make one, she doesn’t have weeks! She doesn’t even have days! She —”
Ethan crosses the room quickly and sets both hands on his shoulders. “I know you care about her —”
Bryce shoves Ethan away. “Like hell! She’s my girlfriend, and I lo—” he sucks in a deep breath. “What can you all do? None of you are God! She’s going to die here, and if not tonight, then tomorrow, and —” his knees buckle. Ethan wraps an arm around him and helps lower him to the ground.
No one speaks.
***
He doesn’t know how his feet move. Right now, it feels like he can’t breathe, like his lungs stop before he can breathe in. His body trembles with each step, and yet, he can’t move quickly enough, can’t wait to stand in front of Casey’s room and see her alive for one of the last times.
Bryce squeezes his eyes shut and shakes his head once. Tears escape down his cheeks, and he quickly reaches up to swipe them away. Sienna cries softly, her head on Jackie’s shoulder. In front of him, he can hear Elijah sniffling. The diagnosticians try to exude confidence, try and hold their chins high, but Baz’s eyes fill with tears.
And Casey will know it’s bad news.
She’s so far away from him.
He would do anything to trade places with her, even just to be in the same room as her and hold her and kiss her and tell her that he loves her and everything will be okay, but the glass windows that separate the living from the dying hold firm. Her face falls when her eyes meet his.
She swallows. “What is it?”
Ethan sighs deeply and runs a hand through his hair. Baz turns his head and swipes at his cheeks. Only June seems to have any level of composure.
“It’s a maitotoxin,” Ethan says. “One I’ve never seen before.” His voice gets quieter the more he explains.
Bryce finds himself gently shouldering himself forward, hand itching to touch the glass, to assure Casey that he’s there for her.
“We’ll find a way,” Ethan says. “We’ll fix this.”
Jackie lifts her chin. “You have the smartest diagnostic minds and the best residents at the hospital on this case. We’ll definitely find a cure with the nine of us working on it.”
“Make that more.” Aurora waves Tobias and a few other Mass Kenmore doctors forward. “I present you the best minds Mass Kenmore can offer.”
Bryce doesn’t hear much else, but he meets Aurora’s eyes, then Tobias’s, and prays that they can see what his voice fails to say. Thank you. Thank you for giving her another chance at life.
The diagnosticians wave goodbye to Casey and head back to the lab, but he stays by the window. He puts his hands in his white coat pocket, takes them out, and shakes them a little bit. When Casey tilts her head, studying him, he tries to force a smile. It won’t reach his eyes.
He clears his throat. “It’s all gonna be okay, Casey. I promise.” I pray. I pray, I promise. He shuffles closer. The glass is too damn thick.
She sniffles and presses her lips together. “You don’t have to be optimistic for my sake.” A stray tear falls down her cheek, and she reaches up to rub it away with her thumb.
Bryce sighs and licks his lips. His own eyes well with tears. This is harder than I thought it could be. She’s so small, and her body jerks with shivers. Her knees buckle, and she sways on her feet, but she refuses to move back to her bed. She stays with him, and he will stay with her, until death do them part.
“…I’m not,” he admits. “It’s for my sake. If I don’t stay optimistic —” he shakes his head ruefully, lifting his hand to the glass again, “— I’m gonna fucking lose it.” He breathes in shakily, past the point of caring about the unshed tears in his eyes. “I can’t let myself do that. Not yet.”
She steps forward and lifts both hands to the glass.
He presses his forehead to the window. “Not while there’s still hope,” he whispers.
“Bryce, I’m scared,” she whispers, her voice carrying through the glass. “I’m going to die tonight.”
His heart twinges. “What if I stayed with you for a while? Would that help? There’s another hazmat suit out here.” And he hates it, hates that he can only see her while wrapped in twenty pounds of plastic and completely unable to feel her skin, unable to kiss her, to press his forehead to hers. But it’s something, it would allow him to be with her, and he would cut off ten years of his life for the opportunity to be with her now.
She nods quickly. “Please stay with me tonight.”
Immediately, he suits up. Doesn’t give a damn whether or not he’s actually doing it right, but he saw June, Baz, and Ethan all do it before — twice, actually — and he’s itching to get in there and hold his girlfriend in his arms. As soon as he can, he steps through the decontamination tent, and envelops Casey in his arms.
She sighs in relief, her left arm tucked under his right and her right arm wrapped tightly around his neck. “Thank you,” she whispers, and he’s almost certain he can hear her tears dripping onto his hazmat suit.
He squeezes her tighter. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” If I could’ve done anything — maybe I should’ve stayed in Kyra’s surgery, maybe invited her to watch, gotten lunch with her — maybe…
There’s nothing more in the world he wants to do than kiss her, so he settles on pulling her as close to himself as he dares, with her lungs as weak as they are.
She shakes her head. “It’s not your fault.”
He nods. “I know. I know it’s not—it’s only Travis’s and maybe that shit senator’s. But I’m so sorry. I wish I could do more.”
Casey steps away from him and studies him.
Bryce clears his throat and forces his smile again. It comes a bit easier, now that he can hold her in his arms. “So, am I handsome? Or am I somehow even more handsome in this suit? Be honest and know that I only accept constructive criticism in the form of praise.” His heart hammers in his chest.
At the sound of her telltale giggle, he relaxes. “It’s not quite doing it for me, I’m not going to lie. Still handsome and still the best eye candy in the hospital, but I’m docking points because I can’t see your hair.”
He nods solemnly. “Fair. My hair is my best feature.” Casey giggles again, and instinctively, he reaches out to brush his fingers over her cheek. “Let’s try and get your mind off this. What’s your favorite thing?”
She twists her lips. “You,” she says so quietly that he’s not sure he heard her right.
“Yeah?” he asks, the first genuine smile gracing his lips since this morning.
She nods again. “Yeah.”
“Doesn’t surprise me. Not to make you feel like you’re not special, but I’m a lot of people’s reason for living.” Please keep living. Keep fighting. If for no other reason, then for me.
Her jaw drops and she gently shoves him. “No fair! You asked me my favorite thing, not my reason for living. In light of the new phrasing, I’m changing my answer to ‘pictures of cute animals.’”
He chuckles, shaking his head. “Okay, fair. Even I can’t be mad at that.”
She smiles brightly, in deep contrast to how frail her body is. Reaching out, she brushes his helmet. “Gosh, you’re pretty.”
And he doesn’t know why that cripples him, why that brings the tears back into his chest, but his smile falls, and he bites back tears. For her sake. She can’t know how scared he is.
Her eyes widen. “What’s wrong? Did I say something wrong?”
He shakes his head rapidly. “No.” He clears his throat. “I just…Case, I really am trying to stay positive. We both have to. But…but when I heard you were in danger, my heart stopped.” He holds his hand up to his stomach. “It dropped. I was so scared for you, Case. I was terrified, and I don’t—I’ve never been that scared before, and I pray to God I don’t have to be again.”
Casey nods, avoiding his eyes. She holds her left elbow in her hand, her free arm hanging limply at her side. “I know what you mean.”
Bryce squeezes her arm. “I called your parents.”
She sniffles, eyes flicking to his. “They’re visiting my brother in Oregon.”
“They said that. They’re gonna get here as soon as they can. Apparently, Logan’s also trying to make it up here, but they told me to tell you that it might be hard.”
“I wish I had my phone. Just so I could talk to them, y’know.” Her tears are flowing more freely. “To say goodbye.” She clears her throat and looks up at him. “I’m glad I got that with you, at least.”
He cups her face in his plastic gloved hands. Theoretically, he could chicken out right now. Could just tell her that she means a lot to him, more than she knows, but it’s her last night, and he would hate himself if he never told her. “I love you, Casey. More than you know, probably. And the idea of losing you…” his throat closes, a rock forming, so he shakes his head ruefully. He meets her eyes. “I love you so very much, Casey Grace Valentine. More than anything.”
Despite the saddened goodbye, the desperate reveal, her smile is genuine, and despite the plastic helmet on his head, she stands on her tiptoes and kisses the front of his mask. “I love you, too, Bryce Lahela. More than anything, and more than anyone.” Casey shuffles forward and presses her forehead to his chest. He wraps his arms around her. “And if tonight’s my last night on earth, then you’re the one I want to spend it with.”
He clears his throat, trying to avoid propping his chin on her head. It couldn’t be comfortable. “Well, damn, Casey. Talk about bittersweet.”
She steps back and twines her fingers in his. “So maybe we can just focus on the sweet part?”
Bryce nods. “You should get some rest.” He hates saying it, because as long as she’s awake, he knows she’s alive, and he can hear her voice, can share whispered I love yous between them, but her body is fighting to give her even the smallest chance, and she keeps swaying on her feet.
Nodding, she shuffles to the bed, but as soon as she reaches it, she turns to face him. “Would you hold me?”
His smile is watery. “I’d love to, Casey.” The setup is awkward, with the tiny hospital bed and his bulky hazmat suit, but they make it work, and he curls around her body, pulling her as close to himself as he can manage. If he closes his eyes, he thinks he can feel her heartbeat against his chest. But he can also hear it on the monitor, and right now, that’s the most beautiful sound in the world to him.
Well. Second, really, only to Casey’s voice.
She runs her fingers over his suit. “I wish I could feel your skin.”
He shifts, trying to assure her of their closeness. “You will.”
With her back to him, he can’t see her tears, but he can hear them in her voice and when she sniffles. “I wish I could kiss you.”
His heart shatters, and he hates, he despises how this might be her last night, and they won’t even share a last kiss. But she doesn’t need his anger or depression now, she needs assurance. She needs the unshakable Bryce Lahela, so he forces confidence into his voice and props himself up so she can hear him better. “Sorry, was I mumbling? You will, Casey. You’re going to get through this.”
She tugs him back to their original position, his arm draped tightly over her stomach. “Bryce, there’s not a cure for a maitotoxin. If I don’t die tonight, I die tomorrow. And—and I won’t be able to kiss you one last time, or feel your skin. I won’t be able to run my hands through your hair again or—or make love with you again or anything.” She chokes on a sob. “And that’s not to mention my roommates or my family. They’re downstairs, working on a cure that will probably come too late instead of saying goodbye.”
“Or they’re saving your life.”
“It will be too late!” she shouts. “I’m going to die, Bryce. You’re a surgeon. We’re both doctors, so you and I both know that I’m not walking out of this alive.”
He sighs deeply. “I don’t think there’s anything wrong with hoping right now, Case. It’s all we have.”
Her shoulders shake. “I’m scared, Bryce. Just…tell me it’ll be okay.”
Bryce brushes her hair away from her neck. “It will be, Casey, I really believe that. Ethan and the others will come through.” He pulls her so close to him that the plastic probably does no good, but he couldn’t care less. “Until then,” he says, “just stay with me.”
She nods. “I love you. So much.”
He wishes he could kiss her. “I love you, too.”
***
He doesn’t sleep. His body wants to, of course, but the adrenaline still pulses through his veins, and the idea that if he closes his eyes, Casey might stop breathing and her heart might stop beating is too much for him to bear, so he keeps himself awake.
He prays, too. Not because he’s particularly religious, but if there’s one thing he has left, it’s hope, and he can’t see where God or the universe would hold it against him to hope, to pray. He doesn’t know who to pray to, really, so he just throws it out there and hopes something sticks. It has to. It has to.
Around five or six in the morning — Bryce can’t see the clock around all the plastic covering, but the sun is rising — Casey wakes up with a jerk, looks around wildly, catches his eye, and retches into the sick bag by her bed. He bites his lip and rubs her back soothingly. When the nausea stops, she leans back into his chest, blinking tiredly.
“I hate this,” she says. Her lips are dry.
With his plastic-covered hands, he smooths her hair away from her face. “Do you have a hair tie?”
She shakes her head, but there’s a small smile on her mouth. “Guess I didn’t die last night, after all.”
He squeezes her shoulder. “See? There’s still hope.”
The bags under her eyes have grown darker. Vomit crusts the corners of her mouth. She can’t stop shivering, and she keeps scratching her skin. Her voice is weak.
There’s still hope, he said, but she just keeps getting worse. He can hope and pray all he wants, but her death is fast-approaching, and if the other doctors can’t come through by this afternoon…
Ethan, Baz, and June walk into the room. Casey’s roommates crowd around the window, Sienna nearly bouncing on the balls of her feet. Jackie smiles, and Elijah reaches out to grip her hand. Tobias meets Ethan’s eye and nods once.
Bryce sits up immediately. Does that mean…?
Jackie can’t contain her glee. “We did it! We found a cure.”
Ethan nods slightly, a smile curling at his mouth. “At least, we hope so.”
Both Bryce and Casey furrow their brows. “You hope so?”
Tobias clears his throat. “We didn’t exactly have time to test it out.”
Sienna hooks a thumb in his direction. “But we administered it to Rafael. It—it might be too late for him, but…”
“—but he hasn’t shown any signs of getting worse,” Elijah chips in. He nods at Casey. “There’s hope. We think it’ll work.”
Casey hums. “What else do I have to lose?”
Ethan steps forward, syringe in hand. “If you would.”
Casey holds her arm out to him, but her body has clearly weakened overnight. Bryce cradles her against his chest, holding her arm still as Ethan prepares the injection. “How do we know if it works?”
Ethan shrugs, sliding the needle into her vein. “I’m assuming something similar as what has happened to Mr. Aveiro: no worsening of symptoms and hopefully even improvement. We’ll run some tests in a few hours, assuming you feel the same or better.” He steps back. “Dr. Lahela, if you would.”
Bryce’s eyes flash. “You honest to God think I’m leaving her here?”
June sighs. “You have to. The hazmat suit only has so much available oxygen, and you stretched it far beyond its limit already. We don’t want to have to admit you, too.”
He sets his jaw. “I’m willing to take that risk.”
Casey gently places her hand on his chest. “But I’m not. They’ll come get you if anything happens to me.” Her eyes seek out her friends and colleagues. “Right?”
They all nod. “I’ll send for Bryce personally,” Baz replies.
She squeezes his hand, and for a second, he thinks he can feel her skin. “Go,” she whispers. “I have a fighting chance now.”
***
“You need to get some sleep,” Jackie tells him, handing him a cup of coffee all the same.
Bryce takes it from her, mouthing his thanks, and lifts it to his lips. Across the room, Tobias shakes Ethan’s hand, clapping him on the shoulder. Aurora stands behind him, shifting her weight from foot to foot. When it looks like he’s about to leave, she hooks her thumb over her shoulder, and he nods.
“Sienna,” Aurora says, crossing the room, “you should get some sleep, too.”
Sienna wipes her eyes hastily. “Danny’s dead, Aurora.”
Aurora presses her lips together and rubs her back soothingly. “I’m so sorry, Sienna.”
Bryce nods, lowering his cup of coffee. “I’m sorry for your loss, Sienna.” He sighs, sets down his drink, and wraps her in a hug. “Truly, I’m so sorry.”
She sniffles and squeezes him tightly. “But Raf and Casey are still here. That’s good.” She steps back and forces a smile. “It makes it easier, I think.”
Aurora wraps an arm around her shoulder and guides her to the on-call room. Bryce sighs again and leans against the countertop, reaching behind him to grab his coffee.
Jackie crosses her arms. “So?”
He looks up. “So what?”
“You’re not going to get some sleep?”
He pinches the bridge of his nose and knocks back what’s left in his cup. The coffee is lukewarm. “I need to check on Keiki and give her an update. And I know the Valentines are on their way, so I should get in contact with them, tell them Case is still alive. At least I have some good news for them.”
Jackie grabs his shoulders and steers him out of the break room. “And you’ll have more soon. We can’t confirm anything yet, and you need to rest.”
“Jackie, I —”
She stops and moves to stand in front of him. “You’re not the only person who cares about her.” She gestures vaguely around the hallway. “Why else do you think we stayed up all night to synthesize a cure? Why Aurora brought her colleagues from Mass Ken? Why Tobias and Ethan set aside their differences to work on this?” Jackie glances over her shoulder and leans closer. “Dude, Sienna was crushing hard on Danny, and he died, and she still continued to work on this cure to help Casey.”
He nods and bites his thumbnail. “No, I know. I know how close you all are, but—Jackie, she’s the love of my life.” It comes out easier now, now that Casey knows. “I can’t stand not knowing.”
“Well, you’re in the same boat as the rest of us. Text your sister and Casey’s family, give them an update, then get some rest. I’ll personally make sure Sienna knows about this, too.”
Bryce chokes out a watery laugh and holds his hands up in surrender. “I give up, you win.” He holds up his index finger in Jackie’s face. “But the moment we have something definitive on Casey, you come get me.”
Jackie sticks out her hand. “Deal.”
***
From: Bryce
Stayed w Case all night
Wore a hazmat suit, dw
Gonna still be at the hospital until we know more
How were you last night?
From: Pest
are you okay??? hows casey????
and dw about me
From: Bryce
I’m fine just a little tired
We found a cure?? We think?? We’re waiting to know more
Also I’m your guardian, I’m legally obligated to worry, how were you last night??
From: Pest
well get some rest ig
and thats good!!!! rooting for her (tell her i said hi)
alright fine it was a rough night but thats bc of you and casey and i was worried
From: Bryce
I will soon, just need to update the Valentines (same for telling Case you said hi)
Did you eat??
From: Pest
no i photosynthesized
From: Bryce
Dick
From: Pest
all that was in the fridge was ur chicken from hell and it was late so i asked mrs zimmerman for food
love that woman to death
she gave me lasagna and cookies
…
also i watched tv until late and slept in your bed lol
From: Bryce
Wow
I go through a crisis
Discover I’m in love with my dying girlfriend
And you steal my bed and insult my cooking
From: Pest
oh pls
you got food poisoning from it too
From: Bryce
Ughhhhhh
Just go to school, I’ll keep you updated on Casey
And don’t try and argue your way out of it, I can’t be responsible for you committing truancy
…
But depending on how she’s doing, I’ll try and get you to visit Casey asap
From: Pest
how can i concentrate in school when my favorite sibling is deathly ill
From: Bryce
Do you want me to tell Case that you tried to use her as an excuse to get out of school
Bc I will
From: Pest
fine!!!! getting ready
[middle finger emoji]
***
Two hands grip his shoulders, and he starts awake, looking around wildly, hands forming into a fist. His eyes land on an overjoyed Jackie, who’s bouncing up and down. “It worked! Bryce, it worked!”
He sits up straight. “Casey’s alright?”
Jackie nods quickly, eyes welling up with tears. “She’s alright! I mean, of course, she has to recover, but the maitotoxin’s not going to kill her.”
Bryce grins and springs out of bed. “I’ve gotta go see her!”
“What, you’re not gonna update her folks?”
He stops in his tracks at that, fishing his phone out of his pocket. “You know what, fair.” With one hand, he pushes his hair away from his face while he scrolls through his contacts for Mr. Valentine’s contact.
From: Bryce
Good news!! Casey’s improving!!! The cure the diagnostics team administered to her is working, and she should be on the road to recovery by the time you get here.
[Message not delivered!]
He groans. “They must be on the flight.” Shaking his head, he tucks his phone back into his pocket. “Doesn’t matter. I need to go see her.”
Jackie waves her hand. “Go see your girl, lover boy.”
Bryce sprints upstairs, breezing quickly past Harper and Takana. He can’t help the smile on his face, so when he catches Harper’s eye, she physically relaxes and gives him a nod. Tanaka stops him briefly to shake his hand and to congratulate him.
Normally, Bryce would prioritize this kind of conversation with Takana. It’s not just congratulating him that his girlfriend is still alive and hope is alive and well — after all, he did get through the most difficult part of Kyra’s surgery and essentially left Tanaka to close. His career could catapult with this conversation.
And it will. It can just wait a few minutes.
Bryce excuses himself and bounces on the balls of his feet while he waits for the elevator. Maybe he should text Keiki. She should be getting out of school soon. He glances at his watch. In twenty minutes, actually.
The elevator dings before he can fish his phone out of his pocket, so he slips inside, presses the button for the seventh floor, and taps his fingers against his thigh during the agonizingly long elevator ride. Once the elevator doors begin to slide open, he squeezes past them and sprints to her room.
Before he reaches her room, he slows to a stop and pushes his hand through his hair. If he cranes his neck, he can see her through the glass. She sits on her bed, swinging her legs back and forth, staring outside while biting the inside of her lip.
The glass. It separated the dying from the living, but now, it separates the living from each other.
He strides through the decontamination tent, knowing that there is absolutely no way that he can erase the smile off his face. Opening his arms wide, he locks eyes with Casey. “It worked!”
Her jaw drops and her eyes widen. She straightens.
Bryce lets out a watery laugh, brushing the tears away from his cheeks with his thumb. “I told you it was going to be okay. I told you —”
Casey streaks across the room, launching herself into his arms with such force that he stumbles backwards.
Immediately, he wraps his arms around her, pressing one hand to the small of her back to pull her closer. With his other hand, he cups the back of her neck. She tucks her face into the crook of his neck, and he can feel her tears dripping hot and fast against his neck.
He rests his chin on her shoulder. “Couldn’t wait for me to cross the room, huh?”
She shakes her head quickly. “No.” Stepping back, she grabs the front of his scrubs and pulls him into a dizzyingly deep kiss. His arms wrap around her to hold her close.
When they finally break apart, he rests his forehead against hers. She lifts her hand to brush her fingers across his cheeks. “I love you,” he says.
Casey stands on her tiptoes, capturing his mouth in hers again. “I love you, too.”
Bryce cups her face in his hands and kisses her once, twice, three times. “Thank you,” he whispers, eyes fluttering shut.
She wraps one arm around his neck, keeping one hand on his cheek. “For what?”
Just imagine Sebastian wandering into a poachers camp by accident, then getting hit with Imperius because they recognized him as the MC’s friend.
Would they have him go find you? Would you two face off in an epic battle, only for you to beat him (of course) and give him a lil kiss while he’s laying there helpless and confused because you know he probably won’t remember it.
But you visit him in the hospital and he does remember, and begs you to kiss him again because he wants to actually feel it this time??? Yum?? This is how I thought the hospital wing scene would go:
……..
“ please” he uttered out, his hand reaching to snag her coattail before she was able to step away.
“I’ve been dying to know how it felt. I’ve been driving myself crazy trying to remember it.” Sebastian let out a weak laugh, face turning pink. Esme turned back towards him, anxiety high in her chest, was he saying what she thinks he is? Esmerelda didn’t know how much she could trust this Sebastian, the one hopped up on medicinal potions, his brain must be muddled drunk for him to be acting so open and honest.
“What?” The Slytherin girl had a feeling she knew what he meant, but after worrying about him for hours, holed up in the med ward she was tired. Tired of being the one to save, to help. Esmerelda needed Sebastian to take the lead on this.
“ Kiss me again, please Esme? I need to know. I’m going crazy knowing I finally got to kiss you and I can barely remember it.” He was practically begging, ache laying blatant on his features, his eyes looked so soft-
Well she couldn’t say no when he sounded like he’d die if he couldn’t have her.
…….
Thought of it this morning! I wonder if it will make it into a fic of mine!!!
Summary: A trip to take Louise to rehab enables Ethan and Casey to have an honest discussion about their feelings. The kindness of strangers gives Kyra an idea.
Word count: 3171
Disclaimer: Characters belong to Pixelberry
🫶🏼🫶🏼🫶🏼🫶🏼🫶🏼🫶🏼🫶🏼🫶🏼🫶🏼🫶🏼🫶🏼🫶🏼
It is very Wednesday morning and Casey is one again office alone but instead of working she is reading. The medical journal she is reading is starting to not makes sense and she looks at the clock- 6:00am and two hours sleep no wonder. Casey, along with her friends could not help but feel responsible for the merger falling through. It had been a week since the news and feelings eoUlf not go away, as well as everything with Esme. Despite the physical exhaustion, she had been unable to sleep much, even the thought of Ethan and the use of her toys or hands was not taking the edge off. Casey hops up from the couch and goes to the coffee machine to make a coffee. As she is filling up the water tank the door opens, it is Ethan.
“Stupid question Dr Ramsey but would you like coffee?”
Ethan looks towards Casey in shock,
“What are you doing in so early? And yes I will have a coffee.”
Ethan walks towards the couch and sees journals everywhere. “What is up Casey?” With a very concerned expression.
Casey is making their coffee and is not sure how to answer Ethan. She came in because she could not sleep and she could not sleep with all that was happening. She knows he is her boss and mentor first but but her feelings were still strong and she knew that confiding in him would very easily end up with her in his bed and as much as she wanted that to happen, it would not be wise to do so.
“I couldn’t sleep” she finally replies. Casey makes her way to the couch with both coffees. Ethan takes his cup and sits down beside Casey.
Ethan asks her again what is up. “Nothing” replies Casey.
Casey changes the subject. “How is Louise going?”
Ethan sighs. “Louise is getting discharged today and she will be going to rehab.”
“That is good isn’t it?”
“I honestly do not know. Her body has taken a serious toll from the addiction, she may be beyond help but how could I in good conscience not send her?”
Casey grabs his hand and squeezes it. “If you need to talk you know I am here for you despite our circumstances.”
Ethan squeezes Casey’s hand in return and massages the side of her hand with his thumb.
“Thank you Casey.”
They sit there in comfortable silence. Casey has missed this among other things and Ethan has done so too, they fight the urge to kiss but Ethan is relieved that he has someone else to talk too.
They finish their coffee. Casey gets up. “I best go and get organised for my shift. See you later.”
Ethan cleans up the medical journals and puts them away. How to approach Casey with his feelings for her and how he wishes to tray again run through his mind but work was not the place.
Later on that day Casey is paged. The Diagnostics team have a new case. Marisa, the young patient has Cirrhosis, advanced hepC and has Sepsis due to an unknown infection. The team has to figure it out and the clock is ticking as the liver she was donated. After our consult with Marisa we have a chat. We run a myriad of tests and head back to the office to try and formulate a plan of attack as time is of the essence. Whilst we are in the office, Garry, one of the interns is trying to find the door handle to the diagnostics room. Myself and Ethan try to direct him too it but to no avail. He ends up shouting his message. “She won’t go without seeing you.” Garry then leaves.
Ethan takes off his glasses and pinches the bridge of his nose. Ethan admits that he had promised to take Louise to rehab. Casey and Ethan then go to see Louise to take her to rehab. On the drive to Willow Hill Recovery Centre. The tension is palpable as Ethan does not answer Louise’s questions. Casey can sense the nerves on both sides. Louise starts to apologise and then they arrive. Louise is then taken to her room whilst Ethan berates the receptionist and sorts out paperwork. When Ethan is finished Casey has a chat.
“She really wants to speak to you Ethan.”
“I know that, but what happens if I let her in. I have told you how much of a whirlwind I remember her being, not to mention her being an addict. You know I need to remain rational.”
“Even with me Ethan?”
“We all know that I don’t always act rationally around you.”
Casey smiles.
“You don’t have to let her in but can you at least hear out. It did seem like she wanted to at least apologise. Whatever you decide to do in relation to any relationship is upto you but you need closure on what happened that dayI know you have a lot of deep seated anger and it is time to let it go.”
They make their way to Louise’s room. Before he knocks he asks me to come in with him. I agree. We enter the room and see Louise unpacking. She looks up. “I thought you had left already.”
Ethan sits on the bed. Louise looks nervous.
“You would think this would be easier to say with 10 years of practice.”
I grab Ethan’s hand and hold it. He does not respond but does not pull away either. Louise continues. She tells Ethan why she left, how she later regretted it and apologised for the pain she caused. She knew it was not going to erase the pain but she wanted to at least apologise for walking out but now wants to to be better, for you. You could have sent me off after three days but you did not.”
Ethan was overcome with emotion.
“I was a changed person after that day. I had a lot of anger in me from that. I did not let many people in because of what you did. You are right, an apology is not going to erase 25 years of anger but it is a start.”
Louise looks relieved. We have to head back to Edenbrook. Ethan and Casey head to the car.
“How are you really Ethan.”
“Remember at the Stevenson’s how I said I had a certain restlessness that I could not pin down.
I nod in reply.
“Well it is very disquieting to share personality traits with an addict but at the same time there is an element of relief. I still do not know what to do next but that is a question for another day.”
“I am hear for you Ethan.” I then grab his hand again.
“Thank you for coming with me.”
He looks at me. All notion of of self control goes. I lean across and kiss him gently. He returns the kiss and we pull apart.
“Remind me thank you more often.”
I smile as we return to Edenbrook. We drive back in silence. A million thoughts are running through my brain. All pertaining to why the hell did I kiss Ethan and what does it all mean. It is not like it was a quick peck on the cheek, it was a full kiss. Will we get back together, will he just think I was caught in the moment even though I was not. At least I can take comfort in the fact that he was not angry.
Meanwhile Ethan’s brain is running a million miles an hour too. He wanted nothing more in the last few weeks than to kiss Casey again. It took all his self control not to take the kiss further. He was not expecting it but was glad it happened but what to do next was the thoughts that were plaguing him now. They return to Edenbrook and make their way to the Diagnostics team room. June is there and asks where we have been as we have test results. What is causing the sepsis is Intestinal Cryptosporidiosis. They go to the treatment room and advise Marissa. She is happy to know what the cause is and we start her on a treatment plan of Nitazoxanide but time is running out. We discuss moving her up the transplant list and other medications to speed up recovery but we decide no on the extra medication but look into transplant list options.
I head down to the ward to check on my intern. I can see that the stress of Levi Coates is getting to her especially with all the speculation. I tell her that she needs to put it behind her much as possible but Esme states that she feels that she is the reason behind the failed merger between Edenbrook and Mass Kenmore. I want to try and get a straight answer out of her as to what happened but I am unable to do so. We go through our patients. I head up to the Diagnostics room to get an update. Ethan states that the treatment is working but not fast enough. He advises that he has authorised the liver to go to someone else. We go to break the news to Marissa. She is understandably upset but understands.
Later on, I head to Donahue’s and catch up with my friends. We are all understandably anxious about the future with the hospital not having much time left. I try to have fun but all I can think about is Ethan. The kiss today, the hand holding this morning and how I wish I was with him right now. The evening wears on, after several drinks I feel brave and send a text
CV: are you free, would like to talk
ER: I am at home.
I feign tiredness and tell everyone I am going to head home. I walk out of Donahue’s and order a ride share to Ethan’s. I let him know I am on my way.
I arrive at his building and press the buzzer. He lets me in. I make my way up to his apartment. He is standing in the doorway waiting for me. He hugs me tight. I inhale his scent. He then kisses me on the forehead.
“This is one of the things we need to talk about.”
We pull apart and head inside.
“Would you like some choc cherry tart?”
“What, no chicken?” I say with a giggle.
Ethan just glares and breaks into a smile.
“I would love some.” I say.” I sit at the island bench while he is serving.
I take a bite.”oh my gosh this is amazing! Have you been watching Nigella again?”
Ethan smiles at me ruefully.
“Seeing you genuinely smile for the first time in several weeks is all the justification I need to watch more Nigella.”
We eat our dessert and I move to sit on the couch. He pours himself a scotch and asks if I want one. I accept.
“I have missed you.” I say as he sits facing me on his couch.
“We see each other daily”
“Not what I meant Ethan and you know it.”
We sit in silence drinking our scotch
“The last few weeks have been torture Ethan.” I say rather more spitefully than I intended.
“All I have wanted to do since we broke up was see you, hug you, kiss you, hell I even wished you were in Vegas with us so you could fuck me up against the penthouse room window but no. We both had to decide that we could not handle the bullshit from everyone else at work and I regret that most of all. I have wanted to come to you so much. I have an intern who will not tell me what the hell really happened and I presume anyone else the truth of what happened which is making baby sitting her even more awkward as I can not even bring myself to tell her that I think she did. Yes we took down Panacea and Declan but the next day Kenmore is bought out and we can not help but feel responsible. And again all I have wanted to do was come to you but could not...”
By this time I am tears, hot streaming possibly some of them angry streaming down my face. Ethan moves to give me a hug and I bury face in his chest. He rubs his hands up and down my back. Eventually I settle and I pour myself another scotch. I offer the bottle to Ethan and he pours himself another.
“You are not alone rookie.” Ethan takes a sip of his drink and takes a deep breath.
“Every time I have seen you visibly upset all I have wanted to do was hug you and kiss you, hell even take you on the desk if we were alone but I haven��t and that is all because I know I have caused much of the pain. I talk myself out then berate myself later for being such a selfish coward because despite deciding to end the romantic part of our relationship I have wanted to be there for you, as your mentor and friend but what I feel for you is simmering close to the surface.”
Casey grabs Ethan’s hand and interlocks her fingers with his and squeezes.
“What are we going to do? I can see us imploding if we try to keep this charade up but I care for you too much to only want to keep things casual and keeping it professional at work is not going to work either.”
Ethan rests his spare hand on Casey’s cheek. “Do you remember what I said the first time we succumbed to our wants?”
“ I knew that if I crossed the line again there would be no coming back from it. Well you were right about it in more ways than one.”
Casey moves so that he legs are across Ethan’s lap and she positions her forehead on his. Ethan moves closer, gently kissing Casey on the lips. He pulls back slightly.
“We don’t need to decide right now rookie. I certainly do not want us to be a clandestine affair, you deserve so much more than that. Can't we just enjoy this moment. Casey nods and kisses Ethan gently. They stay in that position kissing and just holding each other for quite awhile and then they change position so that Ethan is on top. They continue to kiss, it started off as tender but it was getting more and more intense as time went on. Casey was getting an all to familiar sensation stirring in her loins. She so badly wanted to succumb but did not want to, not tonight anyway. As Ethan moved slightly she could feel his hard on and boy was it hard. She tried to put those thoughts out of her mind. He started to kiss down her neck, which solicited a moan from her mouth. The next thing Casey knew is that Ethan’s hand was moving up the inside of her thigh. She knew that if she was not going to go further she had to stop now as she knew how wet for him she was.
“Ethan, please stop!” She says. Ethan stops with his hand literally millimetres from her centre. He removes his hand and sits up.
“Are you alright?” He asks perplexed “have I done something wrong?”
“Not at all Ethan. As much as I more than want too, I also don’t want too- its weird I know but I just don’t know how I am going to feel afterwards- especially since we have not defined what this is. I’m sorry Ethan.”
“No need to apologise Rookie.” He says “you know I would never force you into anything you were not a 100% sure on.”
We look at the clock and it is 1:00am. “Did you want to stay in the guest bedroom?” Ethan asks.
“That will be nice, thank you.”
He gives me a hug and walks me to the door. “Sweet dreams rookie.”
“Goodnight Ethan.” I make my way to the bed and fall into an exhausted sleep.
Meanwhile Ethan goes to his room. A part of him wishes he had resolved what they were exactly but he also knew there were too many unknowns which made such a decision difficult. Deep down he was relieved that his feelings were reciprocated but with what happened a few weeks ago still very raw for both of them- it was hard. Ethan was exhausted but he still had a raging hard on. He so badly wanted to relieve himself inside Casey but knew that No meant no and he was not going to pressure her into a yes. He went to bed and started rub himself. Despite the exhaustion he took his time and called out Casey’s name as he released. Ethan than falls asleep. His alarm wakes him up. He gets up and goes to the kitchen and makes a cup of coffee. Casey then emerges from the guest room.
“Coffee?”
“Yes please- can you drop me home? I have no spare clothes.”
“Of course I can.” He says. They finish their coffee and Ethan drops her home.
He pulls up at the front of their building.
“Sorry for earlier” says Casey.
Ethan grabs her hand and squeezes it. “There is nothing to be sorry about Casey. You were not sure if you wanted to continue and you listened to that. I would never force you into anything that you don’t want to do.”
“Thanks Ethan.” Casey gives him a hug. “See you at work.”
Casey arrives at work to find Marissa upset. The liver she was promised has moved to another as she is too unwell to have it. She is convinced that this was her last chance.
Casey leaves her be and heads to the ward. She spots Bryce talking to two people. The lady is going to be receiving the liver. After Bryce leaves Casey walks over to have a chat. Apparently the male was going to donate a lobe of his liver to his sister Janice. Casey states she is happy that Janice was able to get the liver and asks her brother if he would still consider donating a lobe in a few days time when Marissa is better. Casey explains the situation and Janice urges her brother to do this.
Casey takes Janice’s brother to meet Marissa and they have a chat about everything. Kyra then spots her.
“You’re looking happy”
“Yeah I am, glad to see that there is still kindness in this world, even if it is towards strangers.
Kyra looks inspired. “Kindness of Strangers. I have an idea” and she walks off.
Despite still so much being up in the air with Ethan and the future, Casey is cautiously optimistic that things are slowly looking up.
————
Authors note: well that is my take on chapter 16. Next up the gala.
Got an AU to share? Show us how OH characters and dynamics change (or not) in other realities.
In any AU, Ethan X MC will remain the ship (because I'm beset upon Ethan as a love interest, lmao, but we are going to ignore that for now)
Bryce X Jackie might become another ship because I love their playful banter and think they'd make a great duo.
Sienna X David (OC) DEFINITELY. I MEAN DEFINITELY. Sienna, as a sister in law to MC, would be a dream come true.
Landry might come back to Edenbrook in an AU but won't be a part of the Edenbrook Gang. (P.S. I never want him back, but alright, not everything can go according to plan)
Phoebe X Elijah. We never got enough of that. Phoebe made an appearance only in Book 1 and then disappeared. So AU has to have a lot of that ship.
June X Tobias. I liked that ship. Though June wasn't perhaps a great character, she was definitely a good doctor and had platonic feelings for MC and other people.
MC and Jackie......may have some problems... but it would all work out eventually.
Aurora might get engaged to Adam (OC), Sienna's brother.
MC and Rafael will remain firm friends, though maybe they might date once or twice? Either way, they would just be better off as friends.
MC X Bryce might be a temporary ship, but it would end as fast as it began, both mutually agreeing that a platonic relationship was best for them.
Esme might soon be a part of the OH gang, thanks to her extraordinary personality and her ability to fit in any group that was any good.
Can you draw me Esme and Helene hanging out being Best Girls together? With whichever Esme hairdo you like best!
best girls sharing a bed? during an international race competition?? 3 ft apart bc they like to hold hands before sleeping??? more likely than you think <3
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Part of the Intimacy Series || Esme • María • Cleo
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Quick Links -> [Relics Book 2 | Forum ] [Relics Book 1 | Google Playstore | Steam] [My Ko-Fi]
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OKAY BUT literally i am so sorry for taking. 13 days to get my ass into gear and find an idea to fully line and color nonny,,, since as u may well know i've been struggling to produce something that just screams. them. my 3 previous wips with various hairstyle trials nothwithstanding,,, *clown noises*
NONETHELESS. THANK U FOR COMING & REQUESTING!!! i live thanks to u and in addition. u might see more best girls from the cast coming soon <3
anyways requests for relics series ideas/scenes and memes are still open, please feel free to come drop by my inbox!