"But you will be safe in my arms."

[likefatherlikeson]

Who: Justin Campbell and Will Jackson
What: Progress
Where: Lake / Bush / Nature - Camping
When: After THIS

The end of the camping trip was drawing near. Justin had gotten to the point where he had enough anyway. A part of him did feel bad that his tolerance for, well, most things at the moment was threadbare, but he knew they all understood that he had been sick recently. That meant that his meds had been messed with while he was in hospital, and he only had the energy for smaller bursts of things before he started to get that nervy feeling of not wanting to be touched or near anyone. Over the last couple of days, he had been pushing close to that point, but not quite there. There was a bit of an outburst at Skylar, who was innocently asking Justin to go swimming with them. He caught himself before it got too bad, and apologised for being snappy and pulling away.

Those times were getting less and less, though. His friends had amazingly learned when he was or wasn't okay. They knew to give him space when he wasn't in the best headspace. The weed he had brought with him helped too. He was finding it chilled him out enough to enjoy the camping break. Having not long been out of hospital, he was still recovering. But he wanted to get back to work as soon as he could. He missed it. That kept him sane... literally.

( Now, though, after his awkward outburst at Sky, Justin and Will decided to get an early night and not stay up toasting marshmallows around the fire with everyone else... )

NARRATIVE, COMPLETE

"Please hand me a bottle. I think I'm going down..."

[emilywhereverimayfindher]

Who? Emily Cole and Angela Ashwood
What? The terrible truth
When? After this
Where? Mt. Sinai

How had one fucking night started off so amazing and ended up like this? That was all Emily could think to herself. She had come home to her future wife, been treated to some amazing sex and had assumed that she would be spending the night in bed with Ange... making love and cuddling and sleeping by turns. But this? This wasn't at all what she'd expected. Ange had called Tara, and they'd come to the hospital for a mammogram that revealed what they already knew... There was a lump in Em's breast. A mass, Tara called it. It could be nothing. A lot of the time, it was nothing. But she needed to do a biopsy to be sure.

Emily had been checked into the hospital for a needle biopsy, something that she wasn't thrilled about, but knew was necessary. This had all happened so fast, and she was fucking terrified. Still, as they waited in the hospital room, Em felt Ange's hand wrap around hers, and that in itself was comforting. Emily wasn't just scared for herself. She was scared for their baby. It had happened so quickly... the sperm had taken the first time, and she was carrying a baby that she and Ange were already in love with... that they were going to raise together, and love together, and she couldn't seem to find her head when it came to what would happen to the baby. Tara and Ange were both focusing on her... on her health and safety. She wanted to scream at them that she wasn't the only fucking person to worry about right now, and that they needed to be making sure that the baby was safe, too.

If she weren't pregnant, right now she would have Clitty on the phone to get her good and boozed up, but that wasn't exactly on the menu at the moment. "Ange," she said softly, turning to look her fiancee in the eye. "What... what if it is cancer?"