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#patients not patents
autumn2may · 10 months
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Johnson & Johnson is currently, like right this minute, trying to extend their patent on the TB drug bedaquiline, keeping it out of generic for another four years. TB killed about 30,000 people last week and is the world's deadliest infectious disease.
If this drug does not go generic now it could affect 6 million people in the next four years (the time it would take the "new" patent to run out). Out of those millions of people who get TB, but can't get bedaquiline, most of them will die. From a PREVENTABLE DISEASE.
Why is this happening? Money. But also, because TB is not an issue in countries like the US. We can afford its $1.50 a pill price. But if you live in a poor country, that's too much money to spend on something you need to take for up to four months.
J&J needs to let this drug go public and do its job in places that can't currently afford it. They need to help people, instead of trying to wring the last few drops of money out of one of their many products, at the cost of human lives. @sizzlingsandwichperfection-blog does a waaaay better job of explaining this than me. Check out the video and the video description for links and ways to help!
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rivver-b · 10 months
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So Johnson & Johnson's patent on the life-saving TB drug bedaquiline is about to expire and they're STILL trying to extend it via a loophole, preventing more affordable generic brand versions of the drug from being produced, for another 4 years.
In those 4 year, millions of people will die due to lack of access and affordability.
Please submit an ethics report to J&J via:
https://secure.ethicspoint.com/domain/media/en/gui/28704/report.html
And signal boost everywhere else you can.
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staybeautifulmp3 · 1 year
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me waiting for the eras tour to start
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swoopyswish · 2 years
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people who have no interest in learning new things now that they’re adults..... ?
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afeelgoodblog · 7 months
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The Best News of Last Week
1. ‘We are just getting started’: the plastic-eating bacteria that could change the world
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In 2016, Japanese scientists Oda and Hiraga published their discovery of Ideonella sakaiensis, a bacterium capable of breaking down PET plastic into basic nutrients. This finding marked a shift in microbiology's perception, recognizing the potential of microbes to solve pressing environmental issues.
France's Carbios has successfully applied bacterial enzyme technology to recycle PET plastic waste into new plastic products, aligning with the French government's goal of fully recycling plastic packaging by 2025.
2. HIV cases in Amsterdam drop to almost zero after PrEP scheme
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According to Dutch AIDS Fund, there were only nine new cases of the virus in Amsterdam in 2022, down from 66 people diagnosed in 2021. The organisation claimed that 128 people were diagnosed with HIV in Amsterdam in 2019, and since 2010, the number of new infections in the Dutch capital has fallen by 95 per cent.
3. Cheap and drinkable water from desalination is finally a reality
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In a groundbreaking endeavor, engineers from MIT and China have designed a passive solar desalination system aimed at converting seawater into drinkable water.
The concept, articulated in a study published in the journal Joule, harnesses the dual powers of the sun and the inherent properties of seawater, emulating the ocean’s “thermohaline” circulation on a smaller scale, to evaporate water and leave salt behind.
4. World’s 1st drug to regrow teeth enters clinical trials
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The ability to regrow your own teeth could be just around the corner. A team of scientists, led by a Japanese pharmaceutical startup, are getting set to start human trials on a new drug that has successfully grown new teeth in animal test subjects.
Toregem Biopharma is slated to begin clinical trials in July of next year after it succeeded growing new teeth in mice five years ago, the Japan Times reports.
5. After Decades of Pressure, US Drugmaker J&J Gives Up Patent on Life-Saving TB Drug
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In what can be termed a huge development for drug-resistant TB (DR-TB) patients across large parts of the world, bedaquiline maker Johnson and Johnson said on September 30 (Saturday) that it would drop its patent over the drug in 134 low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).
6. Stranded dolphins rescued from shallow river in Massachusetts
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7. ‘Staggering’ green growth gives hope for 1.5C, says global energy chief
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The prospects of the world staying within the 1.5C limit on global heating have brightened owing to the “staggering” growth of renewable energy and green investment in the past two years, the chief of the world’s energy watchdog has said.
Fatih Birol, the executive director of the International Energy Agency, and the world’s foremost energy economist, said much more needed to be done but that the rapid uptake of solar power and electric vehicles were encouraging.
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That's it for this week :)
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valentinedagger · 7 months
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house md 2020 COVID season. princeton plainsborough is the epicenter for covid research for some contrived reason. cameron is extremely pro-mask. foreman isn't anti-mask but he thinks it's personal choice to wear one or not and if you decide not to wear one you deserve to die off anyway because something something natural selection. chase is just trying to clown around and start shit in the workplace. wilson has a very special episode dedicated to convincing his immunocompromised cancer patient to mask. early on in the season house gets hyperfixated on trying to find a cure for covid and starts to forgo his vicodin in favor of the best puzzle he's ever encountered. everyone tells him he can't do it and it can't be cured and to wait for the CDC to distribute vaccines but he keeps going with an insane obsession. towards the end of the season cameron gets irrationally attached to a covid patient who's on a ventilator. she tries to join house on his obsessive journey but he spurns her because she's doing it for sentimental reasons. her patient dies and gives her covid. in the season finale house is trying to save cameron but can't find the cure and starts to believe it's impossible. he enters her room without PPE in some insane patented gregory move to try to cure her that doesnt work. he catches covid as a result of this and passes out with a fever of 104. he hallucinates arguments with his coworkers and friends in an extended dream sequence that eventually culminates in the realization that he's been subconsciously blocking out the answer to curing covid this entire time because he doesn't want to give up the best puzzle he's ever encountered and go back to vicodin. he struggles with this moral conundrum and eventually decides to cure covid and also cameron. the season ends on a shot of him popping a handful of vicodin dramatically. covid is never brought up again.
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pwrn51 · 1 year
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What Patients Teach their Doctors about Life, Death
  Today’s guest is Dr. David Alfery Writer and Author of “SAVING GRACE, “What Patients Teach their Doctors about Life, Death, and the Balance in Between. Dr. Alfery served as Chief of Anesthesia, President of the Tennessee State Society of Anesthesiologists, and was a founding member of Anesthesia Medical Group, one of the largest anesthesia practices in the United States. Also, Dr. Alfery worked…
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I don't care if your 9, 20, 35, or fucking 50. Your patents can go to the doctor with you. It's called your patient advocate.
See I have bad reactions to medications and sometimes those conversations with doctors go
"so what was your reaction?"
"Honestly I cannot remember"
Sometimes it's symptoms like brain fog that causes me to not remember. Sometimes I lose time. Sometimes I just sleep so much. There's a lot of reasons why I can't remember. But I always remember it was really bad the doctor should know I had a really bad reaction.
And I do not have a partner that can go to appointments with me.
So I bring a parent.
Why? Because when the doctor asks "What was the reaction" the parent actually remembers.
But the number of doctors that have infantilized me "You're a grown adult you don't need your parent."
And the thing is. I know what the doctor is doing when they do this. My parents won't let the doctor dismiss my symptoms because my parents are the ones that have to drive me to the emergency room when they get too bad. But if the doctor refuses to let my parent in "You're a grown adult" the "diagnosis" I get is always "Oh, it's just anxiety".
And I feel like doctors know when I'm having brain fog and therefore they can take advantage of me like that because I'm too confused to argue with them. "Oh. Why do you let your doctor talk to you like that". YEAH THAT'S A SYMPTOM OF MY MIGRAINES. THAT'S KINDA WHY I'M GOING TO THE DOCTOR.
-fae
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thesuperiorrobin · 3 months
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Damian Al Ghul was livid.
He leaves you on your own, after a month of convincing him that you’re fully capable of taking care of yourself with no help from his men, and now he’s starting to regret leaving you alone as he paces back and forth in his study, green and gold silk crumbling under his hold. Everything in the room is either pushed over or flipped. His hair is a mess from the amount of times he ran his fingers through it. His heart sank when he got a letter—a Ransom little from a long-time enemy of the Al Ghul family. They’ve taken you hostage and want something in return, and if he’s unable to meet the requirements then they’re sure your head will look pretty on their wall. The paper is ripped in shreds on the floor. The doors to his studies are slammed open and out he goes—jaw clenched and everybody fearing the dangerous aura that spills from him.
But you on the other hand hold no worries as you sit on the ground patently as you wait for your dear husband to rescue you. Locked up behind bars, Knees brought up to your chest—humming a soft tune as you feed a small mouse, that had caught your attention by squeaking at the very stale loaf of bread they have given you, you don’t hesitate, breaking it into pieces and give it to the poor starving animal. You don’t know how long it’s been since you’ve been taken, but you know it’s been more than a day. The silk on your body is torn out the bottom, and bits of dirt cling to it. You bring your hand down—palm up. And the dirty mouse climbs, settling down comfortably with bread in its hand. Legs are not straightened as you place your hand on your lap, holding the dear animal softly. A soft sigh escapes your lips, head falling back and up against the wall. “How much longer?”
You don’t know how much passes right after.
But you hear screams and gunshots.
Tried eyes bore onto the door that’s on the overside of the bars. The mouse starts to shake in your hands—you feel it as you try to calm it down by gently rubbing the top of its head with your finger. The gunshots and screams get louder—they’re getting closer and you feel your heartbeat quicken a bit.
The door is kicked open—and you jump. Green and gold catch your eyes and a smile forms on your lips. “Finally,” you say, pushing yourself up with your green hand. Damian holds a frown on his face and a worried expression. His katana is placed back in its hilt.
“I apologize for being so late—“
“Don’t apologize” you cut him off “I’m just glad you’re here”
He says nothing and hums, opening the gate that held you secure in place. His arm is outstretched to you—waiting patiently for you to grab it and you waste no time in doing so. The minute he feels your hand against his, he pulls you closer in a heartbeat. In his arms he left you up your feet in bridal position. A giggle erupts from your throat, oh how he missed that sound, and you shake your head. “I can walk Damian. I’m not hurt, I kicked their asses before they did anything” your hand is brought up to his cheek, cleaning any blood that was left behind on his skin. He leans into your soft touch as he makes his way out of the room.
“That’s my beautiful wife,” he says in a murmur that makes your heart throb.
“Enough sweet talking me, let’s hurry and head on home” You wrap your arm around his should “Me and Perla need a nice bath”
Damian takes a glance at you, eyebrow raised in confusion “Who’s Perla?” He questions.
And just as you were about to answer a soft squeak comes from his shoulder, and a white small mouse stands still. Your other hand is brought up and a finger rubs against the white fur.
“She’s our new pet!”
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Adding the mouse was so random! 🎊
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biatlegal · 2 years
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How Long is a Drug Patent in India?
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Intellectual property laws have developed due to invention, inventiveness, and marketable values. Imprints are a type of intellectual property related to the boons given to an existent for creating a system or design with marketable worth. Brand isn't a new notion. There were multitudinous inventions throughout heritage; in fact, discoveries are among the essential impalpable real estate means for the holder, as patent rights grant them an exclusive annuity for banning others from using, dealing , and distributing those creations for at least 20 times from the date the statement of claim was submitted.
Passages Convention (Trade- Related Aspects)
According to Section 2( ta) of the Indian Patents Act, a pharmacological invention is awarded for a pharmacological material, defined as any new organization comprising one or further creative processes. The pharmaceutical sector was a fairly unbridled assiduity in patent protection before the Passages (Trade- Related rudiments of Patentability) Treaty was espoused. The health- related state was inequitable, and their medical demands were substantially unfulfilled. There used to be only Method brands that defended pharmaceutical enterprises. Still, under Composition 27( 1) of the International covenants, intellectual property protection is extended to the products and all wisdom disciplines.
On January 1, 1995, the Passages Agreement came into place. It's an transnational agreement on intellectual property rights that's exceedingly broad. The Agreement establishes the introductory norms for the protection that each Member nation must give in its original legislation. The major reservation of the International covenants is that imprints will be accessible for any inventive step, whether that's an item or a system, in all disciplines of wisdom, as long as the invention fits the conditions for patent suitable subject matter, which include novelty, original idea, and artificial operation.
TRIPS Rigidity
A patent gives the proprietor of the invention unrestricted access to the invention, giving them monopoly status. In developing countries like India, where attempts are being created to make specifics affordable to everybody, pharmaceutical companies are taking advantage of their intellectual exclusivity by charging inordinate prices and proscribing original directors from producing general brands of the treatments. As a result, certain inflexibility was added to the International covenants to allow major countries to incorporate the interest of the public programs, similar as criteria to save mortal safety, to achieve their social objectives.
medicines created by pharmaceutical companies were granted intellectual property protection under the International covenants, and their prices have risen due to the brand possessors ’ exclusivity. This constituted a severe problem for poorer countries. Over 5 million people inSub-Saharan Africa, for example, are tormented with the condition yet can not get the necessary specifics. This shows that the passage agreement preliminarily denied these developing nations entry to life- saving specifics. To resolve this concern, parties of the World Trade Organization issued the Doha Declaration on passages and Global Health in 2001.
The Doha Declaration was issued to admit the public health threat and the necessity for passages to play a part in resolving these issues. Still, according to the statement, passages don't and should n’t avert member nations from taking conduct to cover mortal safety. passages should be demonstrated in a way that supports all countries ’ right to defend their health and enhance universal access to croakers , according to the Doha Declaration.
Licensing Conditions
Composition 31 of the passages Agreement allows the country to grant nonsupervisory blessing for specific reasons to promote mortal safety. A licensing agreement is a license given to a 3rd person by an executive agency to commercialize an invention without the authorization of the patented invention. This license is generally pertained to as a quasi license because the patent proprietor has not given their authorization.
The primary thing of mandatory licenses is to encourage new medicine exploration and invention. In India, however, similar licenses are entitled to a respectable payment. A mandatory program enables the license holder to start producing a general interpretation of the product for trade in the original growers ’ request at a lower price than its contending product, and the entrepreneur has made sufficient attempts to seek an instrument of enrollment from the patented invention on respectable terms and within a reasonable period.
In India, COVID- 19 medicines And Vaccines Are needed To Be Licensed.
Since the COVID- 19 outbreak in India in 2019, there’s been a high need for specifics and vaccinations. Although the chance of cases has increased exponentially, the imbalance in the demands and requirements of covid tradition specifics has been a source of concern over the once two times.
In the former time, India’s mortality rate was about 7.3 per 1000 people, with5.07 lakh individualities dying from the covid complaint. The patent system of covid medicines and treatments appears to have arisen as a significant boost in addressing the lack of acceptable vaccine cache much more preemptively, with the current governance potentially forcing vaccine manufacturers to start participating their copyrighted material with other medicinal diligence and confirm important quicker vaccine manufacturing.
Regarding the validity of mandatory licenses, multitudinous cases in India show that tradition specifics are needed to be certified. For illustration, the Indian patent office granted Natco, a Hyderabad- grounded medicinal, a obligatory license to develop and vend a analogous conception to Bayer’s Nexavar, a progressive renal complaint drug, in 2012. And yet as soon as 2000, the country has endured pharmaceutical mammoth Cipla challenging the state over mandatory licenses for the anti-Aids drug, indeed though the legislation allows it.
The business sector is presently reluctant to employ mandatory licenses, indeed though the government passes them since they're hysterical of being sued for a long time by international companies or denied collaboration henceforth, indeed for contractual manufacturing. Also, times of mismanagement have destroyed the quality of patient care, which was the applicable model for carrying out the state’s forced licenses. the utmost public healthcare systems have collapsed or are on the verge of ending, inferring that we've struck ourselves in the ankle by failing to make mandatory licenses operate in our favour.
Still, in a media statement released on May 27, 2021, the NITI Ayog boasted that India doesn't intend to award any legislative measures for COVID- 19 vaccinations and that close cooperation from the company that first manufactured the vaccine is needed.
India and South Africa have submitted a negotiated agreement to the World Trade Organization( WTO) requesting a global discussion on whether patent operations should be delayed for vaccinations, specifics, and other tackle to allow numerous nations to fabricate them adequately and largely reduce differences.
Counter Accusations Of Pharmaceutical Drug Licensing Compulsory Licensing
Medical clones obtained under a needed license may not meet the same quality norms as originals. A obligatory license frequently doesn't indicate that the establishment’s background information is sufficient to beget the medicinals as efficiently as the originator.
Obligatory licensing could hamper the development of new drugs. Pharmaceutical companies will depend on specific imprints to make plutocrats by producing clones of patented medicines and will in no way be suitable to stay focused on developing new specifics.
Patent system deters enterprises from conducting trials in countries where patents aren't admired. For individualities who miss out on remedy, this is a reversal. It’s also a blow to indigenous diligence, which would profit from having clinical studies in their area.
Also Read Fee Structure of Trademark in India
Conclusion
India is a developing pharmaceutical company, and as a nation, it has made significant systems in pharmaceutical development to produce unique indigenous medicine exploration & design methodologies. Still, the Committee for Trade- Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights( passages) has been influential in suspending specific conditions of the passages agreement, indeed though the World Trade Organization has advised that the epidemic will beget unequaled damage to world frugality.
Regarding government enforcement, we should work obligatory on the designer's eventuality as a tool by interacting with other Indian medicine manufacturers and asking if they can use their manufacturing capacity to make these vaccinations and trustability particulars. Indeed, giving mandatory licenses for import vaccinations, Indian private pharmacological companies should share in this phase. The administration will circle similar private medicinal companies of action costs and other legal counter accusations .
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bookofthegear · 8 months
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You’re an Art History major! You know your Early Baroque from your Rococo and your Byzantine from your Etruscan. Your guidance counselor was a little worried that it might not be quite the most useful field for an adventurer, but you’ll show Mrs. Gerald! You’ll show them all!
…Ahem.
Actually, it was while doing research on your major that you first learned of the clockwork labyrinth. Eland the Younger’s great lost work inspired generations of forgers purporting to have finished it, some of which are quite lovely in their own right. You did a paper on it. Then another one. Then you may have gotten a trifle obsessed.
The finch waits patiently through your internal monologue, then reaches under his wing and extracts a tiny card, which he offers to you. In a minuscule font, it reads:
James Finchington IV, Esq.
“But you can call me Jimmy!” the finch assures you, via interpretive dance.
Dungeon finches are a unique breed, the adventurer’s answer to the coal miner’s canary. They are highly intelligent, loyal, and brave, and up until recent budget cuts, Wentworth graduates were all assigned one upon graduation. (Now they give you a compass. It’s a good compass, but it’s no finch.) You weren’t expecting to see one here. Also, you have no idea where he was keeping that card.
“My dad told stories about this place,” Jimmy explains. “I’ve been waiting for someone to find it so I could see it for myself.” He gestures with his wings, somehow expressing the difficulty of a small finch carrying a light source.
You, of course, have a lantern. Actually, you’ve got a lot of gear. The standard adventurer’s kit includes a lantern, bandages, water-resistant matches, trail rations, basic climbing gear, the aforementioned compass, and several usefully sized bits of string.
You’ve also got the knife your grandmother gave you when you left the cabbage farm.
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nasa · 6 months
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For the Benefit of All: Assistive Tech Developed from NASA Tech
What do modern cochlear implants and robotic gloves have in common? They were derived from NASA technology. We’ve made it easier to find and use our patented inventions that could help create products that enhance life for people with disabilities.
October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month, which highlights the contributions of American workers with disabilities – many of whom use assistive technology on the job. Take a look at these assistive technologies that are NASA spinoffs.
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Low-Vision Headsets
The Joint Optical Reflective Display (JORDY) device is a headset that uses NASA image processing and head-mounted display technology to enable people with low vision to read and write. JORDY enhances individuals’ remaining sight by magnifying objects up to 50 times and allowing them to change contrast, brightness, and display modes. JORDY's name was inspired by Geordi La Forge, a blind character from “Star Trek: The Next Generation” whose futuristic visor enabled him to see.
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Cochlear Implants
Work that led to the modern cochlear implant was patented by a NASA engineer in the 1970s. Following three failed corrective surgeries, Adam Kissiah combined his NASA electronics know-how with research in the Kennedy Space Center technical library to build his own solution for people with severe-to-profound hearing loss who receive little or no benefit from hearing aids. Several companies now make the devices, which have been implanted in hundreds of thousands of people around the world.
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Robotic Gloves
Ironhand, from Swedish company Bioservo Technologies, is the world’s first industrial-strength robotic glove for factory workers and others who perform repetitive manual tasks. It helps prevent stress injuries but has been especially warmly received by workers with preexisting hand injuries and conditions. The glove is based on a suite of patents for the technology developed by NASA and General Motors to build the hands of the Robonaut 2 humanoid robotic astronaut.
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Smart Glasses
Neurofeedback technology NASA originally developed to improve pilots’ attention has been the basis for products aimed at helping people manage attention disorders without medication. The devices measure brainwave output to gauge attention levels according to the “engagement index” a NASA engineer created. Then, they show the results to users, helping them learn to voluntarily control their degree of concentration. One such device is a pair of smart glasses from Narbis, whose lenses darken as attention wanes.
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Anti-Gravity Treadmills
A NASA scientist who developed ways to use air pressure to simulate gravity for astronauts exercising in space had the idea to apply the concept for the opposite effect on Earth. After licensing his technology, Alter-G Inc. developed its anti-gravity G-Trainer treadmill, which lets users offload some or all of their weight while exercising. The treadmills can help people recover from athletic or brain injuries, and they allow a safe exercise regimen for others with long-term conditions such as arthritis.
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Wireless Muscle Sensors
Some of the most exciting assistive technologies to spin off may be yet to come. Delsys Inc. developed electromyographic technology to help NASA understand the effects of long-term weightlessness on astronauts’ muscles and movements. Electromyography detects and analyzes electrical signals emitted when motor nerves trigger movement. Among the company’s customers are physical therapists developing exercise routines to help patients recover from injuries. But some researchers are using the technology to attempt recoveries that once seemed impossible, such as helping paralyzed patients regain movement, letting laryngectomy patients speak, and outfitting amputees with artificial limbs that work like the real thing.  
To further enhance the lives of people with disabilities, NASA has identified a selection of patented technologies created for space missions that could spur the next generation of assistive technology here on Earth.
Want to learn more about assistive technologies already in action? Check out NASA Spinoff to find products and services that wouldn’t exist without space exploration.   
Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space!
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ausetkmt · 7 months
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Pharmacist Lunsford Richardson made Vicks a household name throughout the nation, but his popular product did not do the same for him.
Even in his native North Carolina, where his most celebrated of chemical concoctions has been right under our stuffy noses and on our congested chests for generations, the mention of Richardson’s name elicits blank stares from all but those who study and cherish history.
Richardson’s salve, Vicks VapoRub, helped the world breathe easier during the devastating influenza pandemic of 1918 and during the countless colds and flus of our childhoods, yet most of us couldn’t pick Lunsford Richardson out of a one-man police lineup, much less a who’s who of medical pioneers.
Why didn’t Richardson — by all accounts a creative inventor and smart businessman — ever become as famous as those vapors packed into the familiar squat blue jar?
Because his name wouldn’t fit on the jar.
That’s one version of the story. According to company and family lore, Richardson initially dubbed his promising new product Richardson’s Croup and Pneumonia Cure Salve. Realizing that this name didn’t exactly roll off the tongue nor fit when printed on a small medicine jar, Richardson changed the name to honor his brother-in-law, Dr. Joshua Vick. Another account suggests the inventive druggist plucked the name from a seed catalog he’d been perusing that listed the Vick Seed Co.
The truth may never be known. What is known, though, is that Lunsford Richardson created a medicinal marvel for the ages, the likes of which may never be equaled.
Croupy beginnings
A Johnston County native born in 1854, Richardson loved chemistry and hoped to study it at Davidson College. The college’s chemistry program at the time wasn’t as strong as he’d hoped it would be, so he studied Latin instead, graduating with honors in three years. He returned to Johnston County and taught school, but it wasn’t long before the young man’s love of chemistry got the best of him. In 1880, he moved to Selma to work with his physician brother-in-law, Dr. Vick. It was not uncommon in those days for doctors to dispense drugs themselves, but Vick was so busy seeing patients that he teamed up with Richardson, allowing him to handle the pharmacy duties for him. Richardson relied on his knowledge of Latin to help him learn the chemical compounds required to become a pharmacist, and that’s when he began to experiment with recipes for the product that would become Vicks VapoRub.
It wasn’t until Richardson moved to his wife’s hometown of Greensboro in 1890 that his magical salve and other products he created began to take off.
“He was a man of great intellect and talent,” says Linda Evans, community historian for the Greensboro Historical Museum, which has an exhibit devoted to Richardson and Vicks.
“Druggists at the time fashioned their own remedies a lot, and he created a number of remedies, in addition to his magic salve, that he sold under the name of Vick’s Family Remedies. He was obviously a man of such creativity.”
In Greensboro, working out of a downtown drugstore he purchased (where he once employed a teenaged William Sydney Porter, the future short story writer O. Henry), Richardson patented some 21 medicines. The wide variety of pills, liquids, ointments, and assorted other medicinal concoctions included the likes of Vick’s Chill Tonic, Vick’s Turtle Oil Liniment, Vick’s Little Liver Pills and Little Laxative Pills, Vick’s Tar Heel Sarsaparilla, Vick’s Yellow Pine Tar Cough Syrup, and Vick’s Grippe Knockers (aimed at knocking out la grippe, an old-timey phrase for the flu).
These products sold with varying degrees of success, but the best seller in the lineup of Richardson’s remedies was Vick’s Magic Croup Salve, which he introduced in 1894. And by all accounts, necessity was the key to its success.
“He had what they referred to as a croupy baby — a baby with a lot of coughing and congestion,” explains Richardson’s great-grandson, Britt Preyer of Greensboro. “So as a pharmacist, he began experimenting with menthols from Japan and some other ingredients, and he came up with this salve that really worked. That’s how it all started.”
Another version of the story suggests that all three of the Richardson children caught bad colds at the same time, and Richardson, dissatisfied with the traditional treatment of the day, which included poultices and a vapor lamp, spent hours at his pharmacy developing his own treatment.
Richardson’s salve — a strong-smelling ointment combining menthol, camphor, oil of eucalyptus, and several other oils, blended in a base of petroleum jelly — was a chest-soothing, cough-suppressing, head-clearing sensation. When the salve was rubbed on the patient’s chest, his or her body heat vaporized the menthol, releasing a wave of soothing, medicated vapors that the patient breathed directly into the lungs.
Vicks in the mailbox
In 1911, Richardson’s son Smith, by now a successful salesman for his father’s company, recommended discontinuing all of the company’s products except for Vick’s Magic Croup Salve. He believed the salve could sell even better if the company stopped investing time and money in the other, less successful remedies. He also suggested renaming the salve Vicks VapoRub, according to the company’s history timeline, to “help dramatize the product’s performance.” Richardson agreed, and a century later, the name’s still the same.
Meanwhile, Richardson intensified his marketing efforts by providing free goods to druggists who placed large orders and publishing coupons for free samples in newspapers. He also advertised on billboards and sent promotional mailings to post office boxes, addressed to Boxholder rather than the individual’s name, thus earning him the distinction of being the father of junk mail.
In 1925, Vicks even published a children’s book to help promote the product. The book told the story of two elves, Blix and Blee, who rescued a frazzled mother whose sick child refused to take nasty-tasting medicines. Their solution, of course, was the salve known as Vicks VapoRub.
Expanding and experimenting
As successful as the marketing campaign was, nothing sold Vicks VapoRub like the deadly Spanish flu outbreak that ravaged the nation in 1918 and 1919, killing hundreds of thousands of Americans. Loyal Vicks customers and new customers stocked up on the medicine to stave off or fight the disease.
According to the company’s history timeline, VapoRub sales skyrocketed from $900,000 to $2.9 million in a single year because of the pandemic. The Vicks plant in Greensboro operated around the clock, and salesmen were pulled off the road to help at the manufacturing facility in an effort to keep up with demand.
As the flu spread across the nation, Richardson grew ill with pneumonia in 1919 and died. Smith took over the company. Vicks continued to grow, buying other companies until Procter & Gamble bought it in the 1980s. Through the years, Vicks continued adding new products to its arsenal of cold remedies: cough drops, nose drops, inhalers, cough syrup, nasal spray, Formula 44, NyQuil. And whatever success those products attained, they got there standing on the broad shoulders of Richardson.
Richardson will never be a household name, but his salve has held that status for more than a century — and may do so for the next hundred years. And for Richardson, were he still around, that ought to be enough to clear his head.
A cure-all salve
Vicks users have claimed the salve can cure and heal many maladies. Even though Vicks doesn’t say the salve works for these problems, people still believe.
Toenail fungus: Rub the salve on your toenails, cover with socks, and sleep your fungus problems away. Cough: For a similar fix to a nagging cough, some believe rubbing Vicks on the soles of your feet can fix the problem. Dandruff: Rub Vicks directly on the scalp, and your flakes may just disappear. Chapped lips: Petroleum jelly is one of the ingredients in Vicks, and some say the ointment can help heal cracked lips. Mosquito bites: If you smooth Vicks on the red bumps on your legs and arms, it can supposedly take the itch right out. Warts: Dab Vicks on the wart, cover with duct tape, and it may fall off in a few days.
Greensboro Historical Museum 130 Summit Avenue Greensboro, N.C. 27401 (336) 373-2043 greensborohistory.org
See historical Vicks VapoRub bottles and learn about Lunsford Richardson.
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mynameis-noe-body · 6 months
Note
Can you do a marquis one shot where the reader works as a tailor/assistant/spy for the marquis but they’re also really innocent/upbeat . As he gets to know the reader, he finds himself going from confused that they’re so cheery to loving them as they are to corruption kink?
Thank you for your patient, anon. 🖤 I hope you'll love this.
This add to a second request I recieved.
➡️ Also cause I saw you mentioned a corruption kink, one with the marquis de framing would be fantastic 🥹❤️❤️❤️❤️
I didn't quite understand, but here is corruption kink fo you. I hope you'll love this as well.
Little dove
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Marquis Vincent Bisset De Gramont × you (F)
Rating: Explicit
Status: Complete (one shot)
“Oh, Marquis De Gramont — what a pleasure to have you here!” you exclaimed, seeing him enter your shop. You walked towards him, holding the door open and showing him your best smile. “I just got an absolutely cheeky outfit that you will love, exactly your size.”
Vincent smiled. By now he had gotten into the habit of frequenting your shop at least once a week. He didn't lack money, nor time; he loved spending a few hours on a Saturday afternoon exploring the embellished and sumptuous dresses in your shop. And most of all, he loved spending time with you.
So joyful, friendly, sweet — a little macaron. Such a lovely pastry. You were an extraordinary creature, in his eyes. He, who had seen so much death, who had held so much power—he looked at you and found such innocence in your gaze. It was a part of you that was impossible not to love.
He cleared his throat, with a wave of his hand he ordered his second to leave the shop, closing the door behind him and leaving the two of you alone. That was his moment of pleasure.
The first time he entered your shop, fascinated by the silk garments and elegant suits, the shiny patent leather shoes and the cashmere coats, Vincent believed that he would find the usual snooty shopkeeper who would try to raise the prices by realizing his status. But no, you were there. So excited to be able to show off your best suits and dress him up like a fucking prince. Vincent had to call two of his men and a second car to be able to load everything he had purchased and take it home. You had shaken his hand, you had thanked him, you had given him a discount (even!) and you had suggested that he come back soon; you would have been happy to have such a passionate customer in your shop. Vincent might have believed it was a matter of money... but upon returning, noticing the way your gaze lit up when it met his, he changed his mind. You had fun with him. You loved your job. You were excited, happy… innocent. So pure. A sweet, little pastry, in fact.
Once, arranging the collar of his shirt while he was looking at himself in the mirror, you had asked him with a certain veiled embarrassment: “Monsieur De Gramont, forgive my impudence, but I really want to ask. What is your occupation?”
He had laughed. “Are you asking me about my job?” You had blushed, you had apologized stepping back but he had turned around, taking your hand before you could move away. "No need to be embarrassed, cheri. I find your curiosity quite... charming." Your cheeks were colored the sweetest red. He had lifted your hand to his lips, leaving the ghost of a kiss on your fingers. "I am a businessman. Marquis Vincent Bisset De Gramont, at your service."
He had been absolutely lovely. And he, from that moment on, had wanted in the most perverse, craziest, most intense way, to ruin you completely.
Vincent had noticed the way you watched him, so constantly attentive to every curve of his body, the way his muscles filled your clothes, stretching the fabric, wrapping it in the most attractive way. Your intoxicating gaze devoured him, and he was dying to have your hands on him, your desperate eyes, your mouth praying for his benevolence. So submissive, and desperate. Corrupted by your own will, by the desire and pleasure that only he could have brought you.
That day, without exception, you stood behind him while he looked at himself in the mirror and admired himself. But soon, his blue eyes met yours in the reflection. He smiled.
“What do you think, my dear?”
You nodded, your face bright. “That shade of red is definitely your color.”
His eyebrow rose in mock surprise. He caressed the fabric of the jacket with his fingertips, but secretly watched the way your gaze only followed his touch. Bewitching, indeed.
“I like the jacket. I love it. This scarlet is... fiery. Don't you think?” Your eyes flickered up again, and you nodded without adding anything, attempting a shy smile. "And the pants? Do I wear them well?" It was impossible not to notice the way you blushed and swallowed slowly. He bit back a satisfied grin. With his hands on the belt, he gripped it, lifting it a little. “Look at me.”
He nodded. “Maybe I should sit down, and try to feel them.”
And you looked at him. He had them so tight — you could see everything. All of it. You had to fight against your instincts and force yourself to seek his eyes again. You smiled. “I think they are perfect, monsieur.”
Vincent sat gracefully in the armchair next to him, and sighed. There was nothing innocent about his smile. And slowly, almost imperceptibly, he spread his legs. His right hand, on his thigh, went up his leg, stopped right there, so close to his —
“Sweetheart” he interrupted you, laughing loudly. You turned your eyes, deeply embarrassed and red in the face, but he seemed almost happy with your obvious reaction. “Oh, don't get all shy now, my dear.” He made himself more comfortable in the armchair, spreading his legs in an almost vulgar, cheeky way. God, he loved that game. “Come on, look at me. I know you like it. I see you — the way you look at me — and I bet you're not as fragile and innocent as you want me to think, are you?”
Now you looked at him, with your mouth slightly open and your eyes large, wide and full of bewilderment, your cheeks scarlet, your voice trembling as you stammered an apology.
He shook his head, and his face darkened. “No. I will not accept your apology” he hissed. He raised his finger and motioned for you to come closer. “Come here, little dove.”
He wanted you to stand between his open legs, and immediately his left hand grabbed your hip, while with his right he was already unbuttoning his trousers. He licked his lips like a lion at his delicious meal, hungry, ravenous. “Keep looking at me, don't look away, I know you like it” he said.
And look at you, completely disarmed, dominated by that crazy and irrational desire that he wasn't offering to satisfy, on the contrary, it was fomenting your obsession. He was a fascinating man. And a very passionate one, from what you could see. Without any shame he pulled his hard length out of his trousers, stroking himself slowly, showing you all his virility, his silky skin, his intense hardness. He was perfect.
“And I thought you were so pure, innocent” he whispered, with a certain satisfaction. "But now I see how wrong I was, you little pervert. You like watching me, don't you? Ma petite voyeur."
But his hand suddenly slipped between your legs, he lifted your skirt without shame, found your panties already so wet for him and smiled — he smiled, the bastard.
“I — oh, Marquis, I'm mortified. I didn't mean to —”
“Don't you dare apologize again. I want to hear other sounds from your mouth.”
And his fingertips pressed against the little knot of nerves, right there, causing a vibration of pleasure throughout your body. If you were honest, that exposure and embarrassment only inflated your excitement.
“You're already shaking for me.” His voice was deep, controlled. “Tell me anything you want. I want to hear you pray. I know you can. Tell me, and I will satisfy your every curiosity.”
You breathed, your sigh became labored, panting. “Please, Marquis, I...”
He laughed. His hand continued to touch his member, so hard, up and down, and you could do nothing but watch as your intimacy became wet and your hunger grew without rest. "You what, my dear? Do you want me? Is that it? Do you want my hand, my mouth?"
You nodded.
“No — no, love. Tell me.”
You swallowed, searching for a small voice in your chest. "I want you."
“What do you want?”
"All of you!" his fingers moved the panties, you finally felt his touch on you. And, hungrily, they sought the little wet hole between your soft lips. You could hear the sticky sound of your arousal on his fingers.
“Again, tell me more.”
“Your fingers, they're so — oh, oh please. Inside!”
He licked his lips. “What a good girl. You know your manners. But I don't want you so innocent darling, we know how dirty you really are, don't we?”
You shook your head, but you couldn't deny the truth to yourself.
“Tell me you're mine, tell me how much you want me.”
On the verge of tears, humiliated and excited, you nodded. “I'm yours, all yours. I — I want you so bad.”
His fingers slipped inside you, sweet and intense, touching all those perfect spots that made you moan all your pleasure. And you closed your eyes, for a moment. He stopped.
“Nu-uh, eyes on me. You like to watch. Tell me you like it.”
Yes, yes. “I love it. You are...”
“What? Don't be afraid. I want to hear everything.”
“Perfect. Your body, your...”
Oh, you were still so embarrassed. No, he wanted more. Vincent stood up suddenly, mistreated you hard, pushing you onto the chair. So, still dressed, he knelt over you, tickling your pussy lips with the head of his hard cock. You were dying of pleasure, and you looked at him excited and scared at the same time.
“I know you want it — say it. Tell me you're my little slut, tell me you want my hard cock inside you. Say it!”
And you cried, pleading. “I'm everything you want! Your whore, your tight cunt, your little slut — just give it to me, fuck me hard, now!”
And Vincent finally obeyed.
He fucked you, hard and deep, with an unprecedented ardor, grabbing your hair, your neck, biting your lips, spitting on your tongue.
“More, use me!” you begged. "Yours, only yours! I love it! Fuck my cunt — my ass. Yes, spit on my tongue, and fuck me like you mean it!”
“Dirty, dirty girl” he growled. His fingers dug into your thighs. "I knew you were a slut underneath, all mine. My little voyeur, my bad, dirty girl. That's it, take it, take it all!”
The contractions of your orgasm milked his cock, every drop of his come inside you. And you panted his name, and every dirty thing, now corrupted by that pleasure and prey to a will stronger than you. Your every word was honey. He came inside you, on top of you, making you dirty inside and out.
And looking at you like this, ruined for him, Vincent understood that you were no longer the innocent, sweet girl he thought he had met the first time.
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ohtobeleah · 4 months
Text
Was It Over? // Jake Seresin
-> Chapter Six:: [Conflict & Chaos]
Summary: As panic consumes Jake after finding out about your current medical condition, Jake calls your mother to fill in the gaps. Nurse Lydia escapes being taken to her supervisor and Jake lets loose on his mother who tries to stop him from leaving.
Warnings: Sick!reader. Breast cancer diagnosis. Jake Seresin x F!reader. Angst, hospital & medical inaccuracies. SLOW BURN ROMANCE/ Inaccurate medical information. Relationship turmoil. Overbearing mothers.
Word Count: 4.4K
Author Note: Okay Sick!wifey maybe there is another guy. Or not, who knows. My guess is a platonic friendship that will ultimately end in heartbreak.
Series Masterlist | Main Masterlist
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November 2nd 
“You look like you've just been told you’re dying?” It was a voice you didn't recognise that pulled you out of the bottomless pit of worry you'd fallen into as you sat on the edge of the raised garden bed just outside your doctor's office. “It's okay, you were probably just told that so it's alright to look like your whole world’s just been flipped on its head.” The man shrugged as he came to sit beside you with his hands in the pockets of his jeans. 
“Sorry, sorry–” You shook your head as you wiped your tears and dried your face, probably as patchy and puffy as ever. “Are you a doctor here?” 
“Me?” the man smiled as he pointed to his chest with a scoff. “Oh no, no I'm uh–I’m a patient I guess.” The man corrected you as he watched you try to fix yourself up. Before you knew it there was a tissue being held out of you to take. 
“Thanks.” You smiled softly with gratitude and accepted the tissue the man wouldn't be wanted back anytime soon. 
“No problem.” He nodded. “I saw you come out of Doctor Parsons' office, she's got a pretty rough gig don't you reckon?” 
“I'll say.” You agreed, Doctor Parsons probably wanted to go into her profession to help people, but nowadays all it seemed like was she was dishing out hard to swallow diagnoses. “You’re a patent of hers too?” 
“Unfortunately, Pancreatic– what about you?” The man asked as you tried to wrap your head around the idea of exchanging diagnosis with another human being. 
“I uh–I was just told I have breast cancer.” This complete stranger was the first person you told, before you mum, before your ex husband, before your kids or extended family. This stranger who was sitting next to you outside your local doctors office was the first person beside your doctor to know you had cancer, that your cells were dying–that you were, in fact, dying. 
“Oh yeah? What's the going rate for that one?” This all seemed too normal, too calm to be talking about. It wasn't the reaction you'd ever expected although you weren't really thinking about how people would react. “Sorry, I'm being too nosy.” The man beside you reached out and extended his hand towards you. “I’m Jensen, I don't mean to pry, it's just I don't see an awful lot of young people come into this particular doctors office and when I saw you rush out like your world had just been rocked I couldn't help but to follow you out here.” Jensen smiled as you shook his hand. “I'm also incredibly self aware of how creepy that sounds, so again, I'm sorry.” 
“No no–” You chuckled as you let go of Jensen's hand. “It's okay, it's just uh, fresh I guess, like ten minutes ago fresh.” You tried to explain the best you could. “Y/n, my names Y/n–” 
“Damn Y/n that's hot off the press–” Jesne pressed his lips together in a fine line, he understood what it was like to feel the crushing weight of the world on your chest. He was only in for a chat with doctor Parsons the day he met you. “Listen, in the hopes of not being too forward, can I give you my number?” He asked with a caution laced between his words, ready for rejection. “Not in a, I'd like to take you out sometime, although I wouldn't be opposed.” You had to stop yourself from looking as shocked as you were. Were you really being picked up out the front of a doctor's surgery? “But in more of an I understand what you’re going through kinda way and if you ever need an ear to vent to about the not so glamorous journey you're about to go on, I'd very much like to be that person for you, I always wished I had someone when I first started my battle.” 
“Uh, yeah–” You couldn't help but to smile through the dried tears on your face. “Sure, yeah that sounds really nice actually.” WHen you unlocked your phone the realisation that Jake, your ex husband, had been the last person you called dawned on you. He didn't know, he could never know. He wouldn't care enough to want to know. And yet here this stranger was, willing and ready to listen. “And for the record maybe when the dust settles I wouldn't be opposed to the idea either.” 
***~***~***~***~***~
“I vow to be your faithful partner in sickness, and in health.” Jake could hear your vow’s ringing out inside his mind as he raced around his childhood bedroom getting his stuff packed to leave. Your voice sounded as if you were standing right before him, plaguing his mind with haunting memories of promises he’d failed to keep. 
“I promise to love you unconditionally, to honor and respect you, and bring you solace in times of need.” Your voice was like a hauntingly beautiful memory reminding him of the vows you’d promised each other on your wedding day, right after his father had told him that happiness was essentially a hallmark card scam. Jake could hardly focus as he tried to compose himself enough to just think about what was going on for a second—but then his own voice echoed around in his mind, the voice of his former self who hadn’t yet ruined his marriage spoke up through the darkness of his fuzzy and fragile mind. 
“I take you for better or worse, in sickness and in health, in chaos and conflict, through heaven and hell.” Jake felt an anger so deep and overwhelming that he stood from his twin bed and walked a few quick paces across his room to where his closest door was. The animalistic growl that left his body when Jake slammed his fist into the wooden door woke his mother who was sleeping soundly a room or two down the hall. She hadn’t been woken so abruptly like that in years. Not since her children were young adolescence. 
With his busted hand and a pain in his chest he could only describe as emotional turmoil, Jake stumbled back over to his bed and picked up his discarded phone. He mulled over the decision for a few seconds before he went through his contacts to find probably the only woman who could give him more of the story. 
Your mother, Mary O’Riley. Or as Jake affectionately called her for the better half of your relationship, Maz. 
Jake's thumb lingered over her contact for a few seconds before he decided that yes, yes he needed more information. He needed someone to tell him this was all just some sick fucked up prank. He needed someone to tell him that you were in fact, alright, and that you weren’t lying in a hospital bed right now, without him there to hold your hand and tell you everything would be okay. 
He’d promised you in sickness and in health. 
Jake listened with anticipation and dread as the phone rang against his ear. It rang and rang and rang until finally at the very last second she could—your mother picked up the phone while she sat at your bedside. 
“Jacob—“ He heard her coo into the speaker. “You—“
“Tell me she’s not sick Maz.” Was all Jake said. It was stern and filled with heartbreak. “Please, tell me right now that she’s not in the hospital right now.” Your mother could tell Jake was holding back tears through gritted teeth as she turned her head over to the nurses station to see Lydia almost hyperventilating over her mistake. “Maz! FUCKING TELL ME MY WIFE DOESNT HAVE BREAST CANCER!” 
The sudden outburst made your mum jump nearly out of her seat as she pulled her phone slightly away from her ear, but it didn’t surprise her. Jake loved you so much, it was only natural he’d be in a state of shock finding out the way he had. 
“Jake, sweetheart, I need you to sit down for me.” Mary cooed softly with a sincere expression of empathy. “Please, just sit down and I’ll explain what’s going on.” 
***~***~***~***~***~
Lydia had never felt more stressed in her very short lived career. Once she had hung up the phone with who she now knew was probably your ex husband, Lydia's immediate plan was to come clean to your mum as she sat by your bedside. Luckily, your condition post op was pretty good all things considered and instead of taking up another room in the ICU, your surgeon said that it would be best for your recovery to be placed back in the room you would see out the next few weeks of chemotherapy in. There was no escaping the oncology ward, not even a stroke could save you as it seamned. 
“Miss O’Riley?” Lydia’s voice shook as she walked into your hospital room to see you sleeping in a drugged out haze of pain relief post op. You weren't expected to be awake for another few hours or so to allow your brain time to rest. “I need to speak with you for a moment, if you have a second.” All of this was going on around you without your knowledge. And quite frankly you wouldn't have wanted to know anyway– I mean, who really wants to be told that their nurse accidentally rang your husband and violated your privacy accidently? Certainly not you. 
“Is something wrong with my daughter?” Your mother asked as she held your hand, watching at the monitor told her you were stable, that your heart was beating and that you, despite the odds, would survive another day. 
“No, no, your daughter seemed to be responding well post surgery–” Lydia's voice still shook with nervousness for the reaction her actions would invoke. “It's just that I’ve uh–” Lydia was only young, she had so much left to give to the healthcare industry, one mistake couldn’t end her career before it had even started could it? “I accidentally called your daughter's husband, I automatically assumed he would be her emergency contact because he was listed as her husband and–” Lydia tried to get her explanation out as quickly as she possibly could before your mother had a chance to speak. “I'm so sorry, I told him about her current medical condition.” 
“Oh god.” Your mother groaned as she looked back to where you laid peacefully unaware that Jake now knew about your whereabouts and health status. “She didn't want him to know, at least not yet anyway.” Your mother explained as she sighed and ran her hands over her face. 
“I'm so sorry, I just assumed and before I knew he was asking what the hell I was even talking about and then I looked further down the page and saw that you were listed as her emergency contact.” Lydia was currently seeing her entire career flash before her eyes. All your mother had to do was request to speak to her supervisor, request that she report she violated HIPAA, but she didn't. Your mother simply nodded and accepted the fact a young girl who was only just starting out had made a mistake wasn't life threatening. 
“It's alright, just uh, he’s going to come, if I know that man he's going to be on the first flight here so as my daughters medically proxy, can you please adjust her visiting list and add Jake Seresin to the list.” Your mother knew Jake would be calling any minute now and that he knew there was no vacation away. Now that he knew what was going on. Mary fished her phone out of her handbag and sat it on your bedside table in anticipation. She was almost going to set a timer just to see how long it would take her son in law to call. 
“You–you aren't going to report me?” Lydia was at this point, in tears. She was so overwhelmed that she could barely see. Your mother felt sympathy for the young woman and really didn't want to be a part of whatever reprimanding could come of a simple mistake. So, she simply shook her head, looked back at her phone for a fleeting moment before she turned to look at you and finally back to Lydia who couldn't have been more thankful for the words that came out of your mothers mother. 
“No dear, no I'm not going to report you, mistakes happen–” Your mother pressed her lips together in a fine line as she reached up to touch your cheek with the pad of her thumb. “My daughter knows that all too well.” 
***~***~***~***~***~
“Please, just sit down and I’ll explain what’s going on.” Jake listened to what Maz had said and he did what he was told. He had always respected your mum and her natural born wisdom that Jake clung to through the time he had known her. “Are you sitting down?” 
“Yeah, yeah i'm sittin.’” 
“Jake–” Maz sighed heavily into the phone. “Back in november when Y/n called you about taking the kids for christmas she was sitting in her doctors office.” Jake didn't speak, he listened carefully to every word your mother spoke. His head was spinning as his heart raced. Tears streamed down his cheeks as the realisation set in. “She’d just been told she has a very aggressive form of breast cancer– stage three A, triple positive grade three invasive doctoral carcinoma.” 
“Wh-why didn't she just tell me?” Jake knew that the two of you had never been more divided in your marriage, but he always thought that if you were sick to this level, that you'd call and he’d come running. Come hell or high water Jake was going back to Rhode Island to be with you. 
“That's a question you’ll just have to ask her.” Your mother replied. “But she's not alone, I'm with her right now, she uh–had a stroke only about an hour after she’d been admitted to oncology, good thing we were already in the hospital when it happened or else it could have been a hell of a lot worse.” 
“Maz–” Jake croaked out. “I don't know what I'm supposed to do.” He cried softly into the phone, it broke your mothers heart. “Tell me what I'm supposed to do.” He wasn't asking if he should get a ticket on the next flight out, no. No Maz knew exactly what Jake was asking her and again, it wasn't a question she held the answers to. 
“You just have to show up for her.” Was all your mother was able to say. “I dont have the answers this time Sweetheart, I’m not sure how to fix what's broken between the two of you, but I wanna know how soon you can get here–” Your mother paused as she tried to hold back her own tears. “She's not in a good way, she needs her husband Jake, she needs you here.”
Jake remembered that phone call, the one where you initially asked him to take the kids for christmas. He should have asked more questions, should have pressed you a little harder for information. Maybe, just maybe if he did back then, you would have crumbled and told him the truth. 
“I'll be there as soon as I can Maz, consider me on the next available flight.” 
***~***~***~***~***~
in sickness and in health, in chaos and conflict. It was the only thing Jake could tell himself over and over again as he walked down the large staircase of his parents place. in sickness and in health, in chaos and conflict. Jake had one thing and only one thing on his mind, getting back to you. 
“Jacob?” Jake froze as he got to the bottom of the staircase, his mother stood at the top, dressing gown pulled snug against her as she folded her arms across her chest and frowned down at her grown adult son. “What’s going on? It’s almost four in the morning?” 
“I just got off the phone with Maz—“ Jake explained as he watched his mum walk down the stairs, her eyes tired from a restless sleep. Having a home full of children and grandchildren didn’t help. “Y/n’s really sick, she’s uh—“ Jake wasn’t sure he wanted his mother to know about your diagnosis before he’d truly had a chance to process it himself. So, he didn’t divulge. “In the hospital, I just need to get back.” 
“Get back?” Janeen frowned in displeasure at her son's decision to leave. “What do you mean get back, you only just got here.”
“My wife’s in the hospital Ma, I need to go and make sure she’s alright.” Jake didn’t think he’d have to spell it out, but he did. “I promised her in sickness and in health, unfortunately she’s taken a turn for the worse and she’s at the very least right now the mother of my children, so I need to go and be with her and figure out what’s going on.” 
“Y/n is a grown woman who can take care of herself.” Janeen reached up to touch Jake's cheek, however, before she could run the pad of her thumb across Jake's scruffed cheek, he pulled away in anger. “She decided that when she left you? Or don’t you remember what that woman put you through?” 
“Ma.” Jake clenched his jaw under the dim light of the main foyer. “I love you, I do, but you need to stop disrespecting her.”
“Disrespecting her?” Jake's mother scoffed as she watched him pick up his duffel bag and head towards the front door. “What about the disrespect she showed this family? The disrespect she showed you when she was unfaithful to her wedding vows and left you! She took your kids away from your Jacob and what? You’re running back to her the second she gets a runny nose?” Jake was holding his tongue between his teeth as his mother followed him out to the cars, he’d already called a taxi. “Honestly I never in a million years thought you’d settle for someone so—“
“MUM!” Jake snapped abruptly, he wasn’t proud of raising his voice with the woman who raised him, gave him life, but my god did she need to back off. “SHUT, THE HELL, UP!” Jake hissed as he saw headlights coming up the drive. “I’m leaving my children here until I figure out what’s going on but so help me god if I get back and your attitude hasn’t done a full three sixty about my wife, the love of my life, you will never see her, or our kids, or me, again!” 
Janeen remained silent as she watched the taxi Jake had called pull up to where they were standing. She watched with teary eyes as he threw his bag into the back seat and greeted the driver kindly. He was an older gentleman. Probably mid sixties. 
“I will call you when I know more but you have to stop degrading her, I’m the one who drove her away.” Jake had wanted to say this since the first comment his mother ever made about you way back in January just after he’d told her the two of you were separating. Jake took his mother in his arms, he towered over the smaller built woman with graying hair. He let his chin rest on the top of her head and didn’t hold back. 
“Just because you never had the courage to leave dad when he stopped loving you the way he should doesn’t mean you get to project your pity on my wife for doing what you always wished you should have.” Jake had never felt such a weight lifted off his chest and immediately knew that the chances of him being invited back for next years Seresin family Christmas was probably a long shot. “You should ask Jasmine about her new nanny.” Jake finished as he pulled away. “I heard she's a really good people pleasure.” 
***~***~***~***~***~
“Ordinary streets, Extraordinary stories.” Jake read over your shoulder as you jotted down some ideas for your latest project. “Huh, I like that, it's sorta catchy.” He smiled softly against your cheek before leaving a gentle kiss in his wake. His eyes lingered down to your book proposal for your publisher and continued reading as you sat at your desk, glued to your laptop like a woman on an impossible mission against time. “This collection of stories centers on the idea of ‘accidental death’ and the upheaval caused in the lives of those who lost a loved one in this way.” Jake read outloud over your shoulder in the dimly lit office. “I'm starting to think I should sleep with the lights on at night.” 
“One eye open will do.” You mumbled back as you re-read your last sentence and continued on typing like your husband wasn't trying to coax you away from your work. “I have a deadline to meet, so shoo fly, don't bother me.” You teased as Jake moved your hair to one side and began to kiss the juncture of your neck and shoulder. Seduction was usually his strong suit. 
It was no shock to Jake that almost immediately out of college you started writing non-stop about the things you were most passionate about. He thought you'd stick it out and become some wildly successful fiction novelist. Perhaps lean into your fascination with dystopian hierarchy, but no. You really came out of the left field when you picked up a publishing gig to write and publish not one, but three true crime biographies. The little bookshop on firth you worked at were so overjoyed for you when you’d told them the big news. 
“You are working yourself to the bone, Honey.” Jake replied softly as his hands trailed down your stomach to feel the small but swelling baby bump that was growing bigger by the day. 
“Says the guy still in his flight suit–” You fired right back without taking your eyes off the screen of your laptop. Your fingers worked fast to type the thoughts in your mind onto the screen before they were forgotten. If you let your mind wander too far away you'd lose your momentum. “Jake, I need to finish this chapter before bed.” 
“No, no, what you need Hon, is to close your laptop and follow me to where I've run you a bath for your surely aching muscles, swollen feet and to ward off that impending cold I know you're coming down with.” Jake caught the way your fingers froze across the keys of your laptop at his thoughtful words, you hadn’t even mentioned feeling under the weather yet. “I heard you sniffling while cooking dinner–thought I better be proactive and try help you sweat it out.” 
You felt the heat in your cheeks rising as a smile crept across your face. You looked down at the ring on your left ring finger and tried not to cry. You could have blamed it on the raging pregnancy hormones from the twin Seresin babies currently using your body as a host, but you knew it was just the overwhelming love you felt. 
“You ran me a bath?” It was something you didn't know you needed until Jake had mentioned it. 
“Not to toot my own horn or nothin but I lit your favorite candles too, even went as far as to put a few rose petals in the bubbles.” Jake watched as you spun around in your chair to face him with big teary eyes and an even bigger baby bump. “Gotta look after my girl, can't have the mother of my children feeling sick, now can I?” 
“I'm intrigued to see what kind of special treatment I'll receive if I'm ever really unwell if this is what I'm getting for a runny nose.” You teased as Jake helped you up off your work chair. His hand went straight to the small of your back to guide you out of the study down the hall towards the bathroom where he had everything set and sorted for you. 
“Hopefully we never get to the point where you're chronically ill.” Jake kissed your temple as he walked with you. “Never wanna see you sicker than a cold.” He explained as your eyes went wide with wonder and ore at the sight of your bathroom fully lit with candles. “But trust that I'll be right by your side, holding your hand through whatever may come.” 
“You really didn't have to do all this for me.” You sighed as Jake started to help you undress. You watched him with love filled eyes through the mirror as his hands roamed your body, stripping articles of clothing from your pregnant silhouette.  
“Nonsense, I'll always do things like this for you.” Jake shrugged it off like his actions were no big deal. To him at that moment they really weren't, he was just trying to help wherever he could. “But you should probably wake up now–” 
“What do you mean?” A slow steady beeping broke through your mind as your body began to feel numb.  “Jake—“ You frowned as the bathroom faded around you. “Jake?” You called out as you felt yourself feeling heavy and lethargic. “Jake—?” 
“Sweetheart can you hear me?” Your mother asked as your surgeon tried to assess your ability to open your eyes. The small light that was shining in your eyes did little to cure your confusion. 
“Jake?” You asked again as your eyes fluttered open, you groaned softly in annoyance to the light of the hospital room you woke up in. “Where’s Jake?” Everything was so blurry, so confusing, the last thing you remembered was getting ready for a bath, now you where here in a hospital room. 
“He’s not here Sweetheart, do you remember what happened?” When you didn’t answer your doctor interjected to jog your memory. 
“You had a minor stroke Mrs Seresin, lucky for you you were already on sight when it happened—do you remember why you’re here?” As you looked around at the Christmas lights that now decorated your hospital room and the small Christmas tree in the corner on the coffee table near the old recliner, you remembered. 
“Oh.” That’s right you thought to yourself, you were separated. Jake didn’t care, not anymore. He’d stopped running baths for you years ago. “Oh, yeah—I remember.” You whispered before a single tear ran down your face. 
“I remember everything.” 
***~***~***~***~***
Tags: @blindedbythelightt @starset21 @tayl0rhuynh @mamachasesmayhem @marvelogic @itsmytimetoodream @maverick-wingman @kodzukenmaaa @eternalsams @seitmai @nota-professional l @jessicab1991 91 @hardballoonlove @senawashere @lafrone @fanficfandomlove @withahappyrefrain @dizzybee03 @maisie-rebloging-blog @goldenseresinretriever @a-reader-and-a-writer @sunlightmurdock @shelbycillian @memoriesat30 @accioprocrastination @the-aspiring-fanfic-writer @athenabarnes @eternallyvenus
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bangtanflirt · 8 months
Text
(Un)natural Instincts (Part 3)
Tumblr media
angst, fluff, smut
Pairings: OT7 x Fem Reader, Human CEO Reader, Human Assistant Yoongi, Wolf Hybrids Joon, Jin, Hobi, Jimin, Tae, and Kook.
Basic premise: You and your assistant end up rescuing six wolf hybrids. No part of the process is easy.
Part 1 > Part 2 > Part 3 > Part 4
General Warnings: Hybrid abuse and lab experimentation, hybrids as second-class citizens/owned property, future smut (Minors DNI, 18+ content)
Specific Warnings: torture collars, needles, surgical collar removal (implied not shown), drugs, one mention of euthanasia, misogyny in the workplace
____
Jungkook tries to hide behind you the second he walks into Dr. Gong’s office. The doctor greets both of you in a friendly manner, guiding Jungkook to the patient bed while you stand close by.
You can tell she wants to ask about the collar, but refrains. Even if she did, you’d have to make up some lie, as the product isn’t officially released yet. But you’re thankful she doesn’t. Dr. Gong is one of the top hybrid doctors in the country, and you’re sure her usual clientele expect her not to ask questions when it comes to their hybrids.
She wastes no time checking the wolf’s vitals and getting the needle ready.
Jungkook turns his head away when the blood is being drawn, choosing to look at your face instead. You make sure to tell him how good he’s doing every three seconds.
The receptionist comes in with an assortment of drinks and snacks as you wait for the results to come through. The second you give permission, Jungkook is diving his hands straight to the banana milk, making both you and the doctor chuckle.
“How did you do it Ms. Shin?”
“Do what?”
“Domesticate a 40% wolf hybrid? I mean, it’s remarkable. You two must have a really great bond.”
Yeah…a great bond.
You chuckle nervously, “We do.”
You and the doctor make more small-talk as Jungkook eats and drinks his way through every snack in front of him. When the results finally come in, the smile from Dr. Gong’s face drops immediately.
“What’s the matter? Is it severe? What’s the allergy?”
“It’s not severe, very mild actually…but the substance…”
“What is it Doctor?”
“Y/N, I need you to be completely honest with me, have you been giving Jungkook any substances lately?”
Substances? The hormones are in his bloodstream, but there couldn’t be anything sketchy in there when it’s been patented…could there?
“What substance did you find?”
“Fevocaine. To be specific, when I did an allergy test, fevocaine showed up. However, when I ran a secondary drug test specifically for fevocaine detection, the report was all clear. This is an advanced version of the drug that somehow goes undetected when tested for, I would have had no idea if not for the allergy test. You know how serious this is, don’t you? I’m going to need to get the police involved.”
Fevocaine? One of the most high-alert drugs on the government’s system? Oh…Kang was done for.
___
It’s not long after you, Dr. Gong, and Jungkook sit with the authorities that the Pet Paradise research facility gets raided. You guide the police there yourself, watching researchers scramble as their hormone development lab is found stashing copious amounts of the banned drug.
A special type of joy overtakes you when you see Kang Byung-hun grace the TV the next day, handcuffed and yelling over and over again about how he did nothing wrong. You know better than to think it’s over, as Kang’s lawyers are sure to put up a fight, but right now you just want to celebrate this moment. Jungkook watches alongside you, letting the question on the tip of his tongue drop at last.
“Does this mean I can see my pack again?”
“I don’t see why not. I’ll talk to the feds and figure it out.”
That’s the first time Jungkook hugs you, sobbing happy tears into your shoulder.
You have your schedule cleared for the next day, taking an emergency leave for the first time in your career.
“We really have to thank you once again for your cooperation, Ms. Shin. I know you’re a very busy woman.”
The head of the investigation, Special Agent Kwon, ushers you into a seat in his office.
“I’m just glad this is all sorted out. Fevocaine is no light matter.”
“It definitely is not. May I ask what brings you here today? If I remember correctly, we got all the statements we needed from you already.”
“I’m here to follow-up on what will happen to the hybrids. Jungkook is still under my care, and as you can imagine, he’s dying to be reunited with his pack.”
“Ah yes, I’m sure. Well, we’d love to reunite them. Thankfully, the fevocaine was given in doses too low to leave long-term impact, so the plan is to de-collar and give all the hybrids to the state.”
“To the state? Like an adoption center.”
“Precisely.”
“But they’re 40% wolf…they won’t ever be adopted once the collar wears off. Will they be released into the wild?”
Agent Kwon shifts uncomfortably in his seat.
“We can’t release lab-hybrids into the wild.”
“So then what?”
More uncomfortable shifting.
“If they can’t be adopted, the shelter will have to consider euthanasia.”
No. Absolutely the fuck not.
“Let me take them.”
“What?”
“You heard me. I’ll adopt all six right now.”
“Ms. Shin, I don’t think that’s—”
“Rational? Probably not. But it’s better than the alternative. You and I both know no state-funded rehab is going to make a difference. I can give them what the government can’t. I can give them an actual fair shot at life.”
There’s a pause as the agent mulls it over.
“If you’re that adamant about it, I’ll see if I can figure something out.”
You get a call later that day, telling you that you have clearance to go ahead with the adoption procedures. It’s the first time you initiate a hug with Jungkook, telling him the good news.
“Thank you Y/N. Thank you so much. I don’t know how we’ll ever repay the kindness you’ve shown us.”
He’s sobbing again, and you hold him steady in your arms.
___
It’s the next day and you can’t help but feel antsy about your driver taking Jungkook to Dr. Gong without you. You know he doesn’t like doctors, but he needs his collar off as soon as possible.
You’re in the office kitchen when you get a call to begin the adoption process. All the worrying over the hybrids has you completely forgetting where you are and how you’re seen here—because the next thing you know, gossip is running wild.
And now you’re seen as everything you didn’t want to be.
The men aren’t exactly subtle, making jabs about how you’ve been an emotional push-over this entire time and how the mask is finally slipping off. You try to ignore it, but you can’t escape.
“Maybe she’ll invest in the HoloPad if we give her a sob story for it. She’ll buy six versions herself, I bet.”
“You think she has some supercharged maternal instincts from bottling it down all these years? She sees the six as her little babies?”
“This is going to be really good for the company. Six hybrids mean six ways to get dicked down. Maybe she’ll finally stop being a frigid bitch!”
“This was supposed to be the investment that give us our bonuses, and she snitched to the police because she couldn’t handle seeing hybrids cry…not even people…but hybrids! How can anyone take her seriously?!”
You told yourself you’d never cry at work, no matter the countless times you’ve wanted to, but you can’t help the tears from falling today. You’re in your office with the blinds closed, but it still feels like you’ve broken the promise to yourself: the promise to not let the people here break you.
There’s a gentle knock at the door.
“One moment” you say, frantically reaching for the powder foundation to hide your crying face.
“It’s just me.”
You stop, breathing a sigh of relief.
“Come in.”
Yoongi enters tactfully, making sure the door isn’t open enough for anyone to see you.
He sets a mint tea on the table, as well as a packet of ginseng which he mixes into it in front of you.
“Try this, it’ll calm you down.”
You don’t question it. He pats your back as you down the drink, watching over with worry etched into his features. It takes a while for the tears to stop falling and your breathing to steady, but he patiently stays by your side.
“Is it true that you’re adopting all six?”
You nod, putting the now empty cup down.
“The collar effects are going to go down Y/N…it’s way too dangerous.”
“If they do end up clawing my face off, I really think I deserve it at this point.”
It’s your poor attempt at a joke, but Yoongi isn’t laughing.
“Let me move in.”
“Excuse me?”
“Let me move in for a while. I can’t let you live there alone with six wolf hybrids. I won’t.”
“Yoongi, I appreciate you looking out for me, but the last thing I need are additional rumors. The people here are going to have a field day with the sugar-mommy jabs if you move in.”
“Y/N, they’ve been calling me your sugar baby since the second week I’ve been here. They’ve never cared for the truth when it comes to you. We’ll keep it low-key, but if they find out then they find out. Your safety is the priority here.”
He’s got a point. How much could anyone say that hasn’t been said already? And, as much as you’re trying to keep it from showing, you are scared of what could happen once their natural instincts kick in.
“Fine. I’m picking them all up after work tomorrow. I’ll text you when we’re all back home and you can come.”
___
The second you open the door to the doctor’s office, you’re ambushed by a mop of brown hair in a hospital gown.
You peel him off to take in his new appearance, with white, blood-stained bandages replacing where the collar once was.
“He was asking for you every five minutes.” Dr. Gong comments from her desk.
“Thank you so much for letting him stay here while I was working.”
“It actually turned out for the good, gave me some time to monitor his vitals and behavior. This isn’t exactly a case I’m used to seeing. I should probably monitor the ones tomorrow too.”
You give Jungkook a sympathetic look as he tugs tightly onto the sleeve of your blouse.
“And I bet you were so good for Dr. Gong, weren’t you Jungkook?”
He looks over in the doctor’s direction, only feeling confident enough to respond once she gives a reassuring nod.
“I w-was. She told me I was really brave.”
“He was scared, but he followed directions really well.”
“I even got a reward! Apparently, these taste really good” He holds up an orange lollipop, only to realize that he’s half-crushed it in his fist. He looks so devastated that you feel bad for wanting to laugh.
“Doc, you don’t happen to have any more of those, do you? I think Jungkook forgot his strength for a second.”
Dr. Gong smiles before tossing another one in his direction.
Jungkook entertains himself on the sofa in the waiting room, watching “Extraordinary Attorney Woo”—aka his first assignment from you. You fondly watch through the window of the office as he pulls out a little notepad and pen, eager to jot down the key points.
You turn your attention back on the doctor, ready to be briefed on next steps.
“As far as I can tell, the collar removal process went as smoothly as possible. I’ll give you a wound care kit and instructions before you leave today, but the wounds should heal in the next twelve days. For the changes inside his body, the synthetic hormones will take around twenty days to fully leave his system. I have to advise you to be careful of your safety as this process occurs, because his high level of wolf can make him dangerous in as little as ten days.”
You let the weight of her words sink in, the whole situation becoming more and more tangible now.
“I’ll be careful.”
She gives a nod before continuing, “I understand the other five are coming for collar removal tomorrow as well. It will be the same for all of them. Oh and one more thing,”
She shuffles through a file before placing a piece of paper in front of you,
“This is a record of his last heat suppressant. He’s due for a shot next week. My guess is that the other five are too, so you can schedule that with the receptionist accordingly.”
You’d been meaning to ask Jungkook when his next heat would be and how to prepare, but you’d completely forgotten heat suppressant shots were a thing; most owners would rather not deal with the “inconvenience” of their hybrids in heat.
“Is it necessary to keep them on it? Their hormones have already been messed with enough.”
“I wouldn’t advise them to be taken off of it for at least the next month. Give some time until after removal of the collar since it’s best to keep everything else in their bodies as stable as we can right now. If you still feel this way after then, you can stop scheduling the shots.”
 You nod, “Thank you doctor. You’ve been such a great help throughout all of this.”
___
You wince as you undo the bandages and gauze, seeing the exposed wounds. He jumps the second you touch his skin with a cotton pad, applying the saline solution as gently as you know how, with the antibiotic cream right after.
“Here you go” you say, handing him his prescribed pain meds. “You have to take one every eight hours. It’s really important you don’t forget, or it will hurt really bad. Understand?”
He nods, making a face as he swallows the bitter pill. It’s not even one second after he swallows it that you’re holding the allergy one up in front of his face.
“Are you excited to see your pack tomorrow?”
His face goes from contorting in disgust to the biggest grin imaginable.
“I’m so excited! I missed them so much!”
“I can’t wait to get to know them. They’ll be getting their collars off in the morning, observed for a few hours like you were today, and I’ll pick them up right after work. My assistant will come a bit after, he’s staying over too. You were sleeping last time he was here, so I didn’t get a chance to introduce you.”
“Someone else will be staying too? For the night?”
“For a while actually. He’ll be helping me take care of all of you.”
You don’t dare say the real reason to the boy’s face.
“We won’t cause trouble, I promise! We’ll be really really well-behaved.”
“I bet you will be,” you chuckle, fluffing his hair, “but wound care for all of you is not easy for me to do alone. You’ll all love Yoongi, I promise.”
You aren’t completely lying; having Yoongi here is going to be a huge help in that regard, but the main reason is still because of how wrong all of this can go…because you can’t trust any of them yet…not even your sweet Jungkook.
____
Work is the last place you want to be right now, especially with the snickering and gossiping at an all-time high. It doesn’t help that you’re handing over your duties to the COO today, taking three weeks off to properly help all six of the hybrids. It’s the first time you’ve ever taken time off, and you’re paranoid about handing things over to someone else. It’s not like your COO, Hwang Minhyun, isn’t reliable or competent—quite the opposite, actually—but you’re just not used to giving someone control like this. Yoongi assures you he’ll stick by Minhyun’s side for the whole three weeks, reporting everything you need him to, and that makes you breathe a little lighter.
It feels like you’re taking a walk of shame when you leave work.
You know the latest whispers, people saying you’re taking time off because you got your feelings hurt…because you’re too sensitive…
It stings.
But you can’t let it show, and you certainly can’t break down when you have five hybrids waiting for you at Dr. Gong’s.
You drive with infinite worries in your head, almost running a red light on the way.
This time when you enter through the door, there is no hybrid running into your arms. It’s the exact opposite, with five bodies flinching and huddling together in fear—neck bandages matching Jungkook’s. They no doubt remember you as one of the many people ogling them at the facility.
There’s a social worker right by them, but he doesn’t look all too pleased to be there. Hybrid social work is considered the lowest position, and most don’t do it with much diligence.
Dr. Gong brushes past the group to welcome you, “Welcome back Ms. Shin. Happy to say all of the removal procedures went well.”
The social worker steps up,
“Hello Ms. Shin. I’m Jo, the social worker in charge of this case. I’m here to collect a few signatures and hand the hybrids off. It’s nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you as well” you say, meeting his handshake.
The hybrids’ ears stand straight on their heads at the mention of being handed off, you see their eyes widen in alarm, one of them—Jimin, you remember—squeaks.
“We-we’re going home with her?”
Jo shushes the wolf, glaring sternly before turning his attention back to you.
“Sorry about that.”
You raise a brow, “Why is he asking that? Surely, they know what’s happening right now?”
He gives a nonchalant shrug, “I don’t think anyone’s told them yet.”
“What do you mean? Why haven’t you told them?”
“With all due respect Ms. Shin, keeping them in the loop isn’t part of my job description. I just need to make sure they follow orders.”
The annoyance on his features makes your right hand itch to slap it off of him, but you take a deep breath, not wanting to make a scene in front of the terrified wolves. You need to be tactical and get them adopted as soon as possible.
“Of course, my apologies.” You deliver your signature tight-lipped smile.
Dr. Gong takes charge of the conversation, speed-running the post-surgery instructions as they are identical to yesterday’s. She tries to give them lollipops, but they start shaking harder and she quickly tucks them back into a drawer.
It’s not long before you’re signing the adoption papers, double checking to make sure Jungkook is included in the agreement as well. It baffles you that he doesn’t even need to be present for his adoption—a clear indicator of how much care the government gives towards hybrid autonomy.
“They’re all yours. I’ll schedule a house-visit in two weeks, to make sure they aren’t a danger to you. If we find anything alarming, the state will take them, as stated in the papers.”
It doesn’t go unnoticed that there’s no mention of whether or not the hybrids are safe. It breaks your heart knowing not even their own social worker cares about that.
“Thank you. I’ll take them off your hands now.”
___
The car ride gives you déjà vu, with four of the hybrids in the back, eyes trained on the floor. Namjoon takes the seat beside you, putting on his guard hybrid senses on display as he sits with his chin protruding in deep concentration. He’s the only one not looking down, but instead on the road.
“Sorry for springing all of this on you guys,” No one looks up, but you continue, “Jungkook is so excited to see everyone again.”
Suddenly, ten pairs of eyes are trained on you.
Namjoon speaks in an instant, forgetting to ask for permission in the haze of hearing his youngest packmate’s name “Jungkook? Our Koo?! He’s with you…he’s alive?!”
They really didn’t know a thing.
You can’t imagine how hard it must’ve been for them, seeing him get taken away and having no idea if he was even alive. You hope Kang Byung-hun and his researchers are having a great time rotting in their prison cells right now.
“He’s alive and well, got his collar taken off yesterday.” You give the warmest smile you know how.
You hear various sighs of relief, paired with low whispers that you can’t quite make out in the back.
____
A/N: I cannot believe how much positivity and love this series is receiving so far. THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH! I love reading your thoughts and seeing you as invested in these characters as I am, and it gets me so excited to write future parts!
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