Dream Like New York

"This storm will pass, and soon it will be better. We're all in this together."

Sun, 23 Jun 2024 11:18:30 GMT

Posted by: asskickingblahniks

Who: Gen Hart-Campbell and Alexis Harrington
What: Mom Partners-in-Crime
Where: Sydney, Australia
When: After this

Gen pulled up in the driveway of the Campbell home and shut off the engine. She wrapped her hands around the steering wheel and closed her eyes, exhaling heavily as she let her head hang and her shoulders slump. This brief moment between leaving the hospital and coming back here to freshen up, she needed to pause and just breathe for a bit. Everything that just happened with Mark that pushed Justin into a psychotic episode, on the back of all they were already trying to deal with, it just wasn’t possible to keep up with the emotional juggling act anymore. She had done all the crying. All the fear, frustration, anger. It wasn’t sustainable. At some point, you had to remember to let go of what you had no control over so you could keep your head in a game that seemed to have no ending in sight.

Being a wife and mother were two of the most important things in her life and she had been far from perfect at it and had fucked it up more than she cared to admit. Yet, they made it over those hurdles, but the blows kept coming. She knew Justin was safe where he was, even if it was heart-wrenching seeing him in a closed psych unit for his own safety. That part of being a mom never got easier. In fact, she was pretty sure it got harder each and every time. There had also been a couple of moments in the past where Mark’s health took a dive and they came close to losing him with the weakness in his heart. But this? This was a terror she wasn’t sure she had felt in her marriage before. She had a suicidal son and a suicidal husband, the latter who was in the grips of a gruelling alcohol addiction relapse and mental health crisis. The former’s life was falling apart quicker than he could catch his breath and Gen felt so fucking helpless and useless with all of it.

( Yet, still. What she knew was that she had to persist... )

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"Let me hold you tight, if only for one night."

Sat, 10 Feb 2024 11:08:04 GMT

Posted by: agentcampbell

Who: James Campbell and Ava Marcus
What: "I won't tell a soul, no one has to know..."
Where: Sydney, Australia
When: After this

Ava hadn’t been sure if she and James would end up going all the way, but going all the way they did. In fact, he managed to get her all the way three times in a row and it had been years since she managed a multiple orgasm. In the post-coital aftermath before either of them had a chance to catch their breath, let alone process what just happened, James’ phone rang with an incoming call from Sam, so James apologised to her for needing to answer, making a point of telling her in any other situation, he would’ve let it go to voicemail.

He stayed in her bed amongst the nest of ruffled sheets while he took the call and didn’t seem to mind she was still there beside him hearing at least his side of the conversation. Still gloriously naked, he was lying on his side as he spoke with Sam and the sheets were only draped over his legs, giving Ava a prime view of his bare arse. She couldn’t help it if she took full advantage of that, admiring the view and taking in the tattoos he had above his left shoulder blade and on his right buttcheek. The one on his shoulder was the American and Australian flags crossed, and the one on his bum was the stoned turtle from Finding Nemo, which made her smile and nearly laugh when she saw it. It made her wonder if he had others she had been too distracted by his various talented body parts to notice earlier.

( The call ended and James reached over to put his phone back on the bedside table... )

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"Cause I spend all my time recovering from the sight of what I should be".

Wed, 27 Dec 2023 12:50:39 GMT

Posted by: aussielawyer

Who: Mark and Sam Campbell
What: Chain Reaction
Where: Sydney, Australia
When: After this

By the time Mark managed to wake up with more lucidity to comprehend what was going on, Sam was nearly falling asleep sitting at his bedside in the hospital. The lights in the room were dimmed and Sam had his elbow resting on the edge of the mattress with his head propped up on his hand but he was struggling to keep his eyes open. He watched as his twin managed some slow and groggy blinks as he tried to get his bearings.

“Sammy…” Mark croaked and tried to clear his throat, becoming aware he had an oxygen mask on and he was definitely in a hospital bed. He hadn’t hallucinated that some shit had gone down. The last thing he really had a clear memory of was being with Justin in the rehab gym and beginning to feel really sick with pains in his chest, then not much of anything else but a suffocating sense of foreboding.

( Sam offered a faint smile but he was just too bloody wiped out to manage much else, though there was a rush of relief that flooded through him seeing Mark was awake and finally aware of his surroundings... )

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"Looking out for love in a little bit of darkness."

Sat, 18 Nov 2023 15:04:33 GMT

Posted by: breakablehearts

Who: Sam Campbell and Alexis Harrington (with Justin Campbell)
What: Treading Water
Where: Sydney, Australia
When: After this

Sam murmured a thank you to the nurse who admitted him into the secured acute mental health unit and followed her down the long corridor she was leading him to the wing she said Justin had been admitted to. It didn’t have the overbearing bleakness people might assume was stereotypical of a ‘closed’ or locked mental health ward. It looked just like the other units in this hospital, which was state of the art in every sense. It just didn’t have the same hustle and bustle as other inpatient units. Visitation would be limited to likely only a couple of people at a time and shorter visiting hours. This was outwith those hours, so that would be contributing to comings and goings in the corridor to staff and patients. Even then, patients would likely be restricted to where they could go. They had been given an exception because technically, it wasn’t a normal visit because Justin was sedated and his room would be locked until he was awake and they could assess the risk of harm to himself and others. The visiting leeway to a handful of authorised family members was there today because they were waiting to see if Justin had caused himself damage while he was psychotic and re-injured himself physically or internally, potentially setting back the progress he had made with his rehabilitation.

Spotting Alexis leaning into the wall outside the room the nurse guided him to, he came up beside her, putting his hand softly on her back so he didn’t startle her. “How are you holding up, sweetheart?” he asked, following her gaze through the large observation window to where Justin was unconscious, unmoving in the bed by the window. The depressing and dreary view was a grey wall of the neighbouring building and the room seemed cold and bare. It was never easy to see the poor kid like this. It would never get easier either.

( Alexis blinked out of the numb haze she had been lost in, taking Sam’s hand... )

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"And never can you know when my seizures will happen."

Thu, 02 Nov 2023 17:19:14 GMT

Posted by: inkandleather

Who: Jace Hartley, Evan Turner, Merlin Blake, Brandon Blake, and Miles Morrison (with Jesse Hartley)
What: Sickness and Health
Where: Mount Sinai, New York
When: After this

"Why aren't they telling us anything?! This is fucking ridiculous!" Jace snapped to his big brother, Evan. He really wasn't meaning to be an asshole about this but ever since Brandon called to tell him Jesse just had a seizure while he was visiting Merlin, he had been stressing out and panicking.

Once Jesse admitted he was having a rough time and not feeling himself from compassion fatigue, Jace had been worried about him. They nearly ended up having a fight and he hated that because they rarely argued. Stress was probably one of the biggest triggers for both of them with epileptic seizures, so he had been trying to watch him closely while trying no to get up in his face too much about it. Jesse was taking some off work and had slept a lot in the past couple of days, which Jace took as a good sign because his husband definitely needed rest. But Jesse had also agreed to chat with the guy who showed up as Merlin's biological father so Merlin had a buffer about his intentions before he met him in person himself. Jesse had gone over to Merlin and Brandon's place to see how Merlin was and update him on everything with Cillian.

Jesse seemed mostly just okay-ish that morning. He didn't have any appetite for breakfast and weary despite getting a decent sleep last night. But he was flat and more quiet than usual. Jace felt bad now for not enquiring if Jesse was feeling okay. The only thing was, Jesse didn't rally get warning signs of seizures coming. They just hit and they were terrifying. Now Jesse had been brought to hospital by ambulance, where Jace said he and Evan would meet them. But the place was chaotic and the receptionist had disappeared after checking the computer to see if Jesse had arrived. Jace felt like he was about to jump out of his skin, his anxiety levels were through the roof. Why the hell couldn't someone just fucking tell them Jesse arrived safely?

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"Say it's here where our pieces fall in place..."

Sat, 28 Oct 2023 06:43:25 GMT

Posted by: exmilitarymedic

Who: Ava Marcus and James Campbell
What: Old Faces, New Beginnings
Where: Ava's Place, Sydney, Australia
When: After this

“How’s that BSL looking?” Ava brought a plate of multigrain toast with smashed avo and a mug of tea over to where James was sitting on her sofa with his insulin kit open on his lap. She gave him a soft smile. “Think you’re up to trying to eat a little something now? Protein, good fat, some carbs. I can’t have another Campbell in one of our hospital beds on my conscience.”

It had definitely culminated in being a day from hell, to say the least, with a terrible outcome. They wouldn’t ultimately know the cause of Mark’s crash until he was awake and could tell them what happened, and even then, it may have seriously taxed his heart. It was too soon to know and they likely wouldn’t have more answers until morning, when the effects of the Antabuse would be reversing. Then there was the heartbreaking reality of how Justin responded seeing his dad crash like that. Since he had been admitted, they had done absolutely every possibly thing they could to stop him ending up in the acute mental health unit and in a blink, that was undone. With that too, they wouldn’t ease him off sedation until the next day when the psychs would assess his psychosis. From what Sam and Gen had reported, it could be 50/50 on how it went. With medication intervention, they could get him out of it quickly or he might get locked in it for days or weeks to come. As long as he was psychotic, they had to assume he was a suicide risk and they wouldn’t move him from the acute ward for his own safety but the longer he was in there, the higher risk to his long-term prognosis. It was a mess and all they could do was wait for answers.

( Ava wasn’t surprised James probably forgot to eat or maybe even forgot a dose of his insulin while his family was in crisis... )

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"Now there's a strange way and awkward feelings..."

Fri, 13 Oct 2023 17:29:54 GMT

Posted by: lifeguardoflove

Who: Kade King and Alec Campbell
What: Shitstorm of Family Matters
Where: Sydney, AU
When: After this

Kade poured the bottle of chilled spring water from he mini bar fridge into a glass. He set it down on the nightstand by the sprawling king sized bed and collected the stainless steel bin from the bathroom, bringing it through and placing it on the floor by the bed with a mumbled sigh of, "Don't know what the fuck I'm even doing..."

Against his better judgement and the practical little voice in his head telling him not to, once Alec finished barfing up everything he had eaten in a week in hospital carpark, Kade suggested to Alec they fork out for a room in the hotel nextdoor to the hospital so Alec could lie down and try to sleep off the hangover for a couple of hours so he could get his head back in the game for his family. Kade planned to just leave him there in his own misery but both Sam and Ava's pointed words to both of them to sort their shit out was swirling around his head. Plus, no matter how pissed off he was, his conscience wouldn't let him leave Alec while he was feeling this rough.

Alec was lying on the bed where he gingerly sunk himself onto as soon as Kade opened the door to the room with the swipe card. Kade went back to the bathroom and wet one of the face cloths, coming back and handing it to Alec. Then he sat on the side of the bed, swiping a hand over his face. The anger had dissipated inside him and now he wasn't even sure what he was feeling, let alone what he should be feeling. Whatever it was, it was hard not to feel like it was the end of a very long road, one that he had encountered nothing but dead-ends on lately. He really thought he was done. There had been a glimmer of hope after they slept together in the midst of trying to talk their shit out after he came to the hospital to offer the Campbells his support, but yet again, Alec gave nothing. Kade was sick to fucking death of nothing.

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"I'm a product of a lot of family emergencies."

Fri, 13 Oct 2023 16:21:52 GMT

Posted by: circlesofthemind

Who: Alec Campbell, James Campbell, Sam Campbell, Ava Marcus, Kade King, Reecy Chester-Wilson, Kyan Wilson, (side order of Mark Campbell, Gen Hart-Campbell, Justin Campbell, and Shea Lancaster)
What: Family Emergency
Where: Sydney, Australia
When: After this

Apparently, Alec chose the absolute worst time to catch up with a few old RAAF mates and go out for a few drinks at Darling Harbour the night before. It had been a couple of years since so many of them had the chance to get together in person, so of course a ‘few drinks’ turned into a lot of drinks. Alec had no recollection of leaving the bar, let alone recollection of checking into a hotel where he awoke late that morning with a raging hangover and the very naked brother of one of his RAAF mates in the bed beside him.

He had been in the middle of hangover misery trying to ralph up a vital organ in the hotel room bathroom when the urgent text about Mark came from his father. He had a 30 second cold shower to try to drown away the hangover before he grabbed an uber to rush to the hospital, feeling like a piece of shit for getting into this mess when things were so precarious for his family. It really wasn’t like him, but it had been Mark himself who had told Alec to go for the night out with his mates because life had to keep plugging on somehow and he didn’t get the chance to see his old pals often.

( It was only in a mad dash from the car park that he realised he had put his t-shirt on inside out and the sleeve of his blazer he had pulled on hastily had something that looked suspiciously like vomit on the sleeve and smelled dodgy... )

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[ FACEBOOK ] with Merlin Blake @ magicmoments

Fri, 08 Sep 2023 16:19:21 GMT

Posted by: signofthetimes

Things have been a bit shit of late. He's sleeping a lot but relieved to have him home resting in our own bed

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"Now you've adopted me into your family."

Fri, 01 Sep 2023 15:42:48 GMT

Posted by: slowsouthernstyle

Who: Jesse Hartley and Merlin Blake, with Brandon Blake a bit later
What: Much to talk about
Where: Merlin and Brandon's Home, Upper East Side, NYC
When: Day after this and this

Today, Jesse didn't really worry about keeping up appearances. After his long chat with Jace in the wake of him meeting Merlin's biological father, Cillian, he was tired and realised he was feeling a little burnt out with compassion fatigue. It was something he had to take seriously once he realised that was what he was feeling and part of that was, as Jace gently suggested, not keeping Merlin in the dark about it. It was true, it wouldn't be what Merlin wanted. Jesse was just experiencing some guilt about it because he always wanted to be a strong source of support for the people he loved, unconditionally. The reality of recent conditions, however, was that he had to give himself a little compassion too or he'd end up overtaxed and having a seizure himself. Then he'd be little help to anyone, when they needed him the most. So, there he was, unshaven and dressed right down in a hoodie with his favourite pair of Jace's sweatpants, ready to spend some time with his little brother to go over territory that was going to be hard no matter how he was feeling. He had little sleep the night before, the fatigue still very much biting him in the ass. He planned to go home to bed once he finished with Merlin, something he assured Jace he would do so Jace wasn't extra-worried about him.

As promised, he had come over to see Merlin so he could report how things had gone with Cillian. That was the whole point of him being a buffer, so Cillian had context of the current challenging situation Merlin was in and what the last few weeks had dumped on them all, but also so Merlin could have as much information as he could to help him make the choice of whether he wanted to meet Cillian or not. Nothing about it was simple, especially not the emotions involved. There was a lot he had to tell Merlin about Cillian and he knew Merlin couldn't be anticipating any of it. Cillian was an incredible person and Jesse knew from spending time with him there was no doubt Merlin was his blood. That didn't mean the choice would be easy.

Jesse had a swipe card and the security code to get into Merlin and Brandon's place, but he would never use it unless it was an emergency. When he rang the doorbell, their House Manager, Wendy, answered and after offering Jesse refreshments, she directed him to where Merlin was in the entertainment room watching tv. Hands tucked into the front pocket of his hoodie, Jesse smiled when he came into the entertainment room where Merlin was in his Yoda Oodie with his iPad on his lap, looking half asleep as he watched the massive tv mounted on the wall. "Hey, buddy. How are you feeling? How's the pain? You're looking a little more refreshed than when I last saw you."

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"And I'll bring you heaven if that's what you need, 'Cause you've always loved the hell out of me"

Wed, 23 Aug 2023 13:24:12 GMT

Posted by: signofthetimes

Who: Merlin Blake and Brandon Blake
What: Pseudo-Date Night
Where: Blake Home, Upper East Side, NYC
When: After this and this

It had been a bit of a surreal few days for Brandon and he wasn't too sure how he was supposed to be feeling. He deduced that it should probably be something more able to be put into words but it wasn't and he only became conscious of that when Merlin asked him a very specific question in their DM chat. And because his husband specifically asked him to take the time to think about it before trying to answer, he did. A lot. Not that it was terribly productive and even that made him wonder more what the hell really was supposed to be going on in his mind after being diagnosed with cancer for the second time and being told he was no longer in remission.

All he had come to be feeling about that was a strange numbness. After the initial shock of the news and upset at having to tell the people he loved, this blanket feeling of detachment to it settled over him, like he was resolved to the fact he had to go through the motions - as horrible as they were to think about - yet again. This time, there was no choice but to fight. It was no longer just about him and his life. For him, it was more about Merlin now. Merlin was his life and therefore, he had to fight for his life again, whatever it took. It was what it was. But now Merlin highlighted it, he was wondering if it was a healthy state of mind to be in. With Beau out sick from work, he didn't even have anyone he could ask if this was normal or healthy to be feeling or if he was dangerously deluding himself. But whatever it was, he didn't want it to be all-encompassing at this moment. He and Merlin were going to have a pseudo-date in bed with some quality time together they both very much needed to recalibrate and catch their breath.

So, with Merlin's diet now even further restricted after his surgery and him not really having much of an appetite for any of the recovery staples the dietitian had suggested he have until his insides healed a little more, Brandon picked up a couple of pints of non-dairy Ben & Jerry's KaramelSutra (Merlin's new favourite), a thermos flask of gourmet oat milk peppermint hot chocolate, and a giant bag of Jolly Ranchers, Merlin's favourite candy. He also stopped by Lorenzo's florist and chose a beautiful bouquet of two dozen long-stemmed blue and white roses like they had for their wedding.

He found Merlin propped up in their bed amongst a mound of pillows and fluffy blankets, Ted Lasso on the TV on the wall opposite their bed, and his laptop open on his lap. He was crashed out with his phone on his chest and head lolled to the side like he had fallen asleep mid-text or mid-Twitter scroll or something. Brandon wasn't surprised. Merlin had been sleeping a lot since he was in hospital and Brandon knew all too well that if you slept a lot because you weren't well, it meant your body needed it. He was going to raincheck their pseudo-date and let Merlin sleep, but as soon as he took the remote to turn the TV down, kissing Merlin's forehead softly, Merlin woke up, his sleepy eyes looking around in confusion. Brandon laughed softly. "I was trying not to wake you, sweetheart. You should sleep while the pain's controlled. We can do this any time." Still, he rested his hand on the bed so he could lean over and give Merlin a kiss, smiling. "Hi."

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"I'm locked in your eyes, I love our quality time."

Sun, 20 Aug 2023 11:35:04 GMT

Posted by: inkandleather

Who: Jace and Jesse Hartley
What: Quality Time
Where: Hartley/Turner/Casey Home, NYC
When: After this

It felt to Jace like it had been days since he had seen his husband. It hadn't, of course. In fact, that evening was the first shift Jesse had been at work all week because he took time off to care for Jace after he had a nasty seizure that really impacting his functioning this time. But to Jace, it felt like a lot longer. Whenever he had seizures like that, he lost all concept of time and slept a lot while his body and brain recovered. He had vague recollection of Jesse's presence but it wasn't like a usual consciousness of spending time with someone. It was patchy and could even be inaccurate recollections. Jesse had left for his shift that morning before Jace was awake and he was really missing him. Jace knew some things had happened while he was out of it and he wanted to talk to Jesse about them, make sure he was okay.

Jace couldn't believe how boring the tv show he chose to watch while he worked on some designs on his sketchpad was. It could just be because his attention span was skewed with his head still a little hazy or because he was watching alone but it definitely wasn't entertaining him like he hoped it would. He was just about to switch to something different when he heard the front door open and close up the hall, and a few moments later, Jesse appeared. Jace broke into a grin. "You're home! I missed you, baby. Did you finish early or am I messing my times up again?"

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"Fighting is not good in a family."

Wed, 16 Aug 2023 13:26:42 GMT

Posted by: daysgonequiet

Who: Justin Campbell and Shea Lancaster (with Mark Campbell later)
What: Unexpected Bonding
Where: Sydney, Australia
When: After this and this

It had been a rollercoaster week. Or rollercoaster month. Oh fuck it, Justin had to concede his whole life was a constant rollercoaster and all too frequently, left him with a churning gut and a desperation to just get the hell off. Not that the latter was a secret. It was why he struggled with the label of ‘survivor’. A lot of the time, he didn’t feel like he had survived anything. He had made it through a lot of shit because he had so many people who loved him and kept pulling him back from the brink but that brink wasn’t something he saw as ‘survivable’. More just treading water until his head sunk back below the surface to it again.

One small added silver lining of Sash coming out of the coma and waking up when he did was that it timed with Justin’s physiotherapy team wanting to start working on exercises that would first get him up on his feet with partial weight-bearing, then standing, and ultimately walking again. The orthos were happy with how fractures in his pelvis and sacrum were healing and he was now far enough post-accident to begin the process, though the process itself would take a lot of blood, sweat, and tears, no doubt. None of which Justin was foreign to in bucket loads lately. The physio had given him a way of compartmentalising the mess in his head because of the pain he felt doing the work. Physical pain was preferable to emotional and mental pain, no competition. He had been working extra on his upper body strength while he was immobilized from the waist down until he healed enough to be able to start weight-bearing again. Even the upper body strengthening had caused him pain in the first few weeks because he had the surgery to his spleen and bladder. He had to focus on core strengthening first. With all that, he didn’t let himself dwell on the chance he might not recover enough lower-body strength in his hips and lower back to dance again. If he let himself go there, he was sure the darkness would swallow him whole.

( Once again back in the hospital’s physio gym, Justin sat on the side of the Pilates reformer bed after finishing the upper body program his physio had advanced him to a few days earlier... )

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"Damn, I’m realizing how lucky I am and blessed to have best friends that understand."

Sun, 13 Aug 2023 06:58:43 GMT

Posted by: magicmoments

Who: Merlin Blake and Cassidy Cohen
What: BFF D&M
Where: Casa de Blake, Upper East Side, NYC
When: After this chat

Merlin wasn't really sure what the difference between night and day was right now. He was glad to be out of hospital and home in his own bed with Brandon close on hand if he needed anything, but after his operation, he was so tired and had mostly slept the last couple of days away. Even when he was awake, he was sleepy and kept dozing off. Not quite in the middle of conversations, but not far off it. Brandon kept reminding him that it was okay to sleep if he needed to. It was the body's way of recovering and if there was anything Brandon was an expert in now, it was being a sick person and doing his best to recover while his body had other ideas.

He loved chatting with Cassidy online and when he heard she wasn't far of needing to fly to Australia with Tori for what was frankly an awful reason to do with Sash, Merlin wanted to see her before she left. He had two massive bombs dropped on him in recent days and he didn't want her to find out anything like that secondhand. Since they decided to call it quits on dating and remain friends, they had been as close as ever. Besides Wes, Cas was Merlin's closest friend and they pretty much told each other everything. Their stars hadn't aligned for them dating, with Merlin's shock of finding out he was adopted and Cas juggling a huge upheaval in her life heading into her gender affirmation surgery. It was too much emotional stress to tackle and still focus on dating. But they had both eventually went on to fall in love in the most unexpected ways with their perfect matches, so maybe everything really did happen for a reason.

He didn't even realise he had dozed off again until Cas was there, gently giving his knee a little shake. He told her to come any time and if he was sleeping, just wake him up. Catching up with her before she flew out to Sydney was way more important. He blinked, stretching as he gave her a sleepy smile. "Hey, honeybunch. What time is it? Jeez, I didn't even realise I fell asleep again."

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"You're the best team that we can count on."

Sat, 12 Aug 2023 18:44:40 GMT

Posted by: signofthetimes

Who: Brandon Blake and Merlin Blake with Autumn MacDonald, Montana Everitt, and Olympia Duvall
What: More Difficult Conversations
Where: Blake Residence, NYC
When: Simultaneous to this

Merlin squeezed Brandon’s arm and stopped walking, biting his lip and taking some deep breaths to try to breathe through the pain in his stomach. “Hold on, darlin’. Wait.” They were making their way slowly through the lobby of their apartment building after Brandon had given his keys to the valet to take his car to the parking garage. Merlin was significantly out of place in the luxury marble-floored, marble-columned, leather-sofa’ed lobby in his well-loved Baby Yoda pyjama pants, black Ugg boots, and fluffy blue hoodie bathrobe. He had been too uncomfortable with the post-surgery pain that changing out of his PJs into clothes just for the short trip home was silly, especially when he was just going home to bed anyway.

Brandon was holding Merlin securely around his waist, making sure not to squeeze him too tightly. He had Merlin’s backpack slung over his shoulder and a couple of sick bags stashed in the pocket of his leather jacket that Miles had given him ‘just in case’ for the trip home. Overall, Merlin was doing really well since his op but there was still inevitable pain and some nausea here and there considering the sort of operation it was. Mile said patients who had had abdominal surgery could feel sick again when they moved around a bit more to go home, so it was better to be prepared than be caught short if it happened. They were assured it would all settle down in the coming days and he would probably feel much better being home in his own bed to rest anyway. “It’s okay. Just rest if you need to. We can take it as slow as you need. Do you want to sit for a minute?”

“No, I’m okay. I just wanna keep going so I can go to bed. It’s just hurting to move.” Merlin took a few more moments to rest before he started shuffling forward again, walking much like a geriatric on their way to the nursing home’s weekly bingo match. He really had not anticipated how much the surgery he had would hurt, which probably wasn’t a bad thing at the time or he would’ve had a lot more anxiety about the procedure when he was already emotionally overwrought.

( Sure, the laparoscopic surgery was less invasive but he still had six holes in his gut they had used to dig giant probes around in his insides with... )

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[ FACEBOOK ] with Brandon Blake @ magicmoments

Mon, 31 Jul 2023 10:17:24 GMT

Posted by: magicmoments

My husband sent me this. I feel attacked. I'm also taking away his Reddit when he's bored.

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[ FACEBOOK ]

Sat, 29 Jul 2023 12:35:57 GMT

Posted by: signofthetimes

Gotta love a good Twitter burn.

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[ TEXT ] To Tori @ theateroflove

Sat, 22 Jul 2023 13:32:56 GMT

Posted by: likefatherlikeson

Hey, Tor. I have huge favour to ask. Like, beyond huge. And you're probably going to wanna say no and I get that. I really do. But I have to ask you to think about it because there aren't really any other options. Anyway, when you get this can you just shoot me a text back or FaceTime or whatever. Don't worry about the timezones. I'm not exactly sleeping much lately. Tell Cas I said hi. Love you guys. JC x

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"But either way, I got you in my DNA."

Sat, 08 Jul 2023 18:26:50 GMT

Posted by: slowsouthernstyle

Who: Jesse Hartley and Cillian O'Donovan
What: A simple twist of AncestryDNA
Where: Hartley/Turner/Casey Home, NYC
When: After this and this

Jesse finished loading their bed clothes in the washing machine when he heard the doorbell chime and checked his watch for the time. The morning had started out pretty badly and time really got away from him but he wasn't foreign to a bit of chaos from time to time. There was just more than their fair share of it in the family lately. At least Merlin was being discharged from hospital, which was a weight off everyone's mind now he was on the mend.

Then Jace had a seizure when he went to the grocery store with Nana Turner, so Jesse had turned down shifts at work for the rest of the week so he could take care of him for what would inevitably be a few days out of action. Jace slept most of yesterday away but he was really struggling with is functioning, so needed Jesse's help with everything. When he woke up that morning, he was a little more lucid but ended up having an accident in bed when his brain misfired the messages to his body. He was feeling pretty miserable and wanted to go back to bed to sleep once Jesse got everything cleaned up and remade the bed. Jesse gave him a kiss and a cuddle, tucking him in and telling him to just call out if he needed help. Jesse would keep a close eye on him anyway, in case there were any aftershock seizures.

Regardless of that, he still had every intention of keeping his promise to Merlin to reach out to Cillian for a chat. Even if it was just to get a bit more information and clarity around who he was and what intentions he had. He hoped that it helped allay some of Merlin's anxiety about the whole thing and help him make the massive decisions he faced. He spent a lot of time with Merlin the evening before last, asking him what he wanted to know of Cillian and if there was anything he wanted Jesse not to get into. No matter what happened, it was going to be difficult. Jesse knew that, having gone through meeting his own paternal biological family. Luckily for him, that all turned out pretty amazing but he knew it could just have easily gone the other way.

He went to answer the door and as soon as he opened it, couldn't help being surprised to not find someone standing there but sitting... in a wheelchair. There was no doubting it was guy in the photo from AncestryDNA that Merlin had shown them, though, so he smiled and offered his hand. "Cillian? I'm Jesse. It's nice to meet you in person."

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[ TEXT ] To Cillian @ somethinglikemagic

Fri, 07 Jul 2023 17:56:38 GMT

Posted by: slowsouthernstyle

Hey, is this Cillian O'Donovan's number?

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"If the memory fade of you, can the memory fade of me?"

Fri, 07 Jul 2023 14:17:42 GMT

Posted by: beautifulday

Who: Sasha Stanford and Justin Campbell
What: Tiny steps of recovery
Where: Sydney, Australia
When: After this

It took some time for the nurses and a wardsman (who had been helping with various things related to Justin’s care since he had woken from the first surgery here and was always so kind and chatty to him) to get Justin transferred from bed back into the special reclinable wheelchair yet again. It had been a few days since Justin had been in to see Sash and the awful realisation hit that Sash didn’t remember ever meeting him. The same day, Justin started showing symptoms of what turned out to be a kidney infection, a complication resulting from the surgery he had to repair the bladder rupture, one of the multiple serious injuries he sustained in the crash. The catheter he still had and his history of kidney injury from an overdose put him at risk. It was another thing to throw on the shitpile. He wasn’t surprised. Just exhausted and feeling crappy with it. He had turned down the request for Sash’s parents to come talk to him and his dad told them it was probably best to wait until Justin wasn’t feeling so poorly for him to visit Sash again.

But he knew the longer he waited to face it all again, the harder it would be and the more he would struggle to push on. He still had pain in his back and side which was different to what he’d had with the injuries and was chilled from the fever but that morning, when Ava had told him Sash had been saying his name, he agreed to go in to see him. Only after plucking up the courage to ask her if he said his actual name or called him Ren or Bueller again. It should’ve been funny, like a joke. There was nothing funny about it and it terrified him to seek clarification. Ava was so gentle with him and he was glad there was a history between her and his dad because he knew he could trust her. She told him she heard with her own ears that Sash had said ‘Justin’ but it had seemingly been in the context of again wondering if he had imagined him there. Not seeing him again was confusing him when he was already confused neurologically. There was no way Justin could ignore that once he knew.

( The nurse made sure his IV lines weren’t going to tangle on anything when they moved... )

LOG, COMPLETE

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"Keep your head up, little brother. I can see you're hurting inside."

Fri, 30 Jun 2023 14:48:34 GMT

Posted by: musicsavesmysoul

Who: Damien Larson, Jesse Hartley, and Merlin Larson
What: Big Brother Duties
Where: Eleven West Unit, Mount Sinai
When: Couple of days after this

Damien and Jesse both discovered that one thing worse than your little brother being sick and in hospital was waiting for your little brother to have surgery. No matter all the reassurances that Merlin was in the best hands and it was a straightforward procedure, Damien just hated the thought of it. Merlin wasn't good with anaesthetic and he had a really rough few days between when he became really ill and was rushed to the ER and the scheduled surgery to widen the stricture in his gut that caused the bowel blockage. There had been another brief endoscopic procedure a few days earlier, then the had to go through really crappy (no pun intended) prep for the second laparoscopic procedure.

What was worse for Damien was he had to be away from the hospital when it all first happened because Liam had been hit with norovirus, which turned out to be what Damien could only describe as gastro on crack. Even if it only lasted a few days, Liam had been so sick and contagious for the duration. Damien mostly dodged the bullet, though he had a couple of days where his guts were a bit dodgy but it was really mild in comparison. He didn't even throw up, but he couldn't be at the hospital while either of them still had symptoms because they'd still be contagious. Liam returned to work that day, and although he couldn't operate on Merlin being his brother-in-law, he was able to be in the operating theatre and observe the procedure, which was a huge relief for Brandon, Damien, and Jesse. Merlin said he didn't really care if the population of a small country was in the OR, he just desperately wanted his stomach to feel better and the pain to finally ease.

Brandon insisted Merlin be transferred to the super private luxury unit, Eleven West, to be cared for after his surgery and even paid for the private nursing care for him, at least for the first few days. They both really needed their privacy and it meant Brandon could both stay at the hospital with Merlin in the twin room, but also be able to come and go freely without fans spotting him and getting up in his face again.

After the first hour or so after Merlin was taken to surgery, Damien kept grilling Jesse about whether it was taking too long, did it mean something was wrong, what was a normal length of time for that sort of procedure, when would they know if anything went wrong, etc. etc. Luckily, Jesse had the patience of an army of saints and answered every question calmly and didn't care how many Damien wanted to ask. Soon, Liam had come to find them and told them Merlin was in Recovery and it all went well, save for a little bit of a bleed when something was accidentally nicked during the procedure but it was resolved quickly. Brandon was going to let them know when he was transferred to the room and wasn't feeling so rough after waking from the anaesthetic, and in the meantime, Liam explained to Damien what the surgeons did in a way he could understand. Jesse already got it, being a Nurse Practitioner himself.

Jesse arranged for Lorenzo to deliver some flowers to the hospital but when they both got to Merlin's room, they discovered Brandon had - of course - beaten them to the punch there and Merlin had a massive bouquet of what looked to be at least three dozen multicoloured roses with a Get Well balloon and large fluffy teddy bear. Still, Merlin did look pretty rough when they got there and so did Brandon, for that matter.

He came over to the bed, softly rubbing Merlin's knee through the blankets he was cocooned in. "Hey, you two. Too soon for a good fart joke? How you holding up, baby bro?"

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[ TEXT MESSAGE ] To Damien (musicsavesmysoul) & Jesse (slowsouthernstyle)

Thu, 29 Jun 2023 17:16:26 GMT

Posted by: signofthetimes

Not sure where you guys went to while you waited but Merlin's feeling a little more human now and asking for you both. If you want to keep him company for a bit, I really need to head home for a shower and change of clothes.

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[ TEXT ] To Brandon @ signofthetimes

Sun, 25 Jun 2023 10:44:33 GMT

Posted by: autumnkisses

Just saw your post. Look at you, turning up the sassy gay bitch factor for Pride. Oly told me you told her you'd rather cut one of your balls off than do social media damage control. In fact, she told me you once purposefully caused a social media scandal rather than PR damage control on socials.

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"You were just a step behind when the strength was hard to find."

Fri, 23 Jun 2023 17:45:14 GMT

Posted by: signofthetimes

Who: Brandon Blake and Merlin Blake
What: Leukemia v2.0
Where: Mount Sinai, NYC
When: After this

“Bran… Bran? Shit— Bran, you gotta wake up, darlin’. Seriously, wake up!”

Brandon struggled out of a deep sleep hearing his name but abruptly jolted awake with the desperate tapping on his arm, closely followed by a shaking of his shoulder. He peeled his eyes open, squinting against the light that assaulted them and realised it was Merlin trying to wake him up urgently. He must’ve fallen asleep lying on the hospital bed with him after Tara and Beau left without realising, so he was groggy and disoriented for a few moments. “... wha—?”

“The edge of the blanket’s stuck under your butt. I can’t get it off my legs. I need to go to the bathroom, like, now. Seriously, baby. Move. Please? Or this ain’t gonna end well.” With a panicked whimper, Merlin tugged sharply at the blanket to try to release, already awkwardly half out of bed and hanging onto his IV pole to take with him once he was untangled from the blanket and Brandon’s embrace.

“Fuck, sorry. Sorry! I’ll help you.” Brandon disentangled himself from the sheets to shove the blanket off his legs, trying to help Merlin up at the same time. That was when he was rudely reminded he was attached to an IV too and nearly pulled the damn thing out of his hand when the tube caught around Merlin’s elbow. “They said this wouldn’t happen!”

( Now his legs were free, Merlin stiffly shuffled his ass to the edge of the bed, one hand holding the IV pole and the other clutching his stomach... )

LOG, COMPLETE

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