justprompts | South Park quote
Family isn't about whose blood you have. It's about who you care about.
- Trey Parker and Matt Stone, South Park
Co-written with drcampbell
[Follows THIS and THIS]
Aiden felt like he was having trouble breathing. He kept swallowing to try and get his throat and lungs to work, but it was an unsuccessful feat. He didn’t know whether he wanted to cry or scream or hit someone or throw up. All of it seemed like it would take too much effort, anyway. It felt like he was frozen in shock. He sat beside Pat’s bed, both hands gripped firmly around Pat’s hand to the point Pat had to calmly tell him his grip was starting to get painful. Calmly. How could Pat be so calm?! Aiden watched his husband’s face and it felt like someone had their own hands clutched around his throat trying to choke him. It seemed like Pat was looking at whoever spoke, but his blue eyes never quite met the other person’s. Nothing about his eyes looked wrong, even if Aiden expected them to be blank. They were dull, like they always were when Pat was sick, but they looked okay. They still looked beautiful, one of the first things Aiden had noticed about his husband when they met... So why wasn’t he okay? Why couldn’t he see?!
Pat’s doctors had come and gone, with Lachlan speaking intently to them out in the hall before coming back to sit on the side of Pat’s bed. Aiden had a numb ringing in his ears that was matching the numbness setting in all over his body. Tara was stood in the corner of the room nursing RJ who was sobbing softly in her arms as she rocked him and rubbed his back to try and soothe him. Cameron sat on the other side of the bed, staring in shock at his brother’s face with stunned but silent tears dripping down his cheeks. He hadn’t said anything beyond hoarsely telling Pat he was there. He looked terrible. Aiden didn’t look much better.
Riley had arrived soon after Cameron, his own face slightly pale after hearing the news Pat’s vision was absent upon regaining consciousness. Lachlan held Pat’s other hand as he spoke clearly and calmly, explaining what the doctors had been discussing. Lachlan wasn’t Pat’s doctor, but he was a doctor, and Pat’s best friend. The whole process was there to not spook Pat further, but by this point, Pat seemed to be the calmest person in the room. It was anticipated the vision disturbance was temporary, and caused by a common MS symptom called Optic Neuritis. But nothing was certain. Tests would be needed, and ASAP in case something else was causing it. In fact, Aiden vaguely acknowledged Lachlan talking about Pat’s brain haemorrhage in the past. Apparently, Pat’s vision had been affected by it way back then, and Lachlan was talking about something to do with the possibility of clips dislodging and they wanted to do an MRI straight away.
Aiden couldn’t process any of it. The more Lachlan spoke, the more it felt like he couldn’t breathe and that he wanted to be sick. It was only a couple of minutes later that some nurses arrived to prep Pat for the procedures and Aiden struggled to stand and let go of his husband’s hand.
“Aiden,” Pat said quietly, sensing his husband's distress. He lifted Aiden’s hand weakly to kiss his fingers. “It’s okay, sweetheart. Just get some rest, okay? I’m not going to be gone long,” he said in his soft, reassuring voice with that familiar English accent. His fingers felt blindly up Aiden’s arm and squeezed his wrist. “I love you,” he added.
Aiden didn’t even have a chance to give Pat a kiss before he was being wheeled out of the room. Aiden’s first reaction was follow, but one of the nurses cut him off as they exited into the corridor, and Aiden just stopped and weakly leant against the glass wall of the room. He watched as Pat was taken up the corridor and then out of sight, and it was at that moment that Aiden suddenly felt like everything engulfed him all at once that he had been trying so hard to hold off. Tears welled up in his eyes as he fumbled to get his cell phone out of his pocket. He had never in his life been this terrified about anything. He needed Harri. He needed her more than he ever needed her before. But he couldn’t even get her number up before the emotion seized him and he broke down in a heavy sob, gripping at the edge of the door in a struggle to remain upright and not sink to the floor.
He hardly noticed when he felt someone embrace him and pry the phone from his hand. Lachlan held onto him tightly, taking most of his weight so he didn’t lose his balance in his distress. “It’s okay, buddy. You arenae alone,” he said quietly, and brought up a number on the cell phone he suspected Aiden had been trying to locate. He put the phone to his ear and waited for the answer, rubbing Aiden’s back to try and comfort him in the embrace. He could never anticipate in a million years that one day he would be comforting the love of Pat’s life like this, but he was, and he would do it over and over again til the day he died if it was needed. “Harri? It’s Lachlan. Can you come back to the hospital ASAP, aye? Aiden needs you. Isnae any of the rest of us can help him like you can.”
sexyinscrubs used with permission. All other muses referenced with permission and are from the princeton2nyc universe.
Word Count | 887
- Trey Parker and Matt Stone, South Park
Co-written with drcampbell
[Follows THIS and THIS]
Aiden felt like he was having trouble breathing. He kept swallowing to try and get his throat and lungs to work, but it was an unsuccessful feat. He didn’t know whether he wanted to cry or scream or hit someone or throw up. All of it seemed like it would take too much effort, anyway. It felt like he was frozen in shock. He sat beside Pat’s bed, both hands gripped firmly around Pat’s hand to the point Pat had to calmly tell him his grip was starting to get painful. Calmly. How could Pat be so calm?! Aiden watched his husband’s face and it felt like someone had their own hands clutched around his throat trying to choke him. It seemed like Pat was looking at whoever spoke, but his blue eyes never quite met the other person’s. Nothing about his eyes looked wrong, even if Aiden expected them to be blank. They were dull, like they always were when Pat was sick, but they looked okay. They still looked beautiful, one of the first things Aiden had noticed about his husband when they met... So why wasn’t he okay? Why couldn’t he see?!
Pat’s doctors had come and gone, with Lachlan speaking intently to them out in the hall before coming back to sit on the side of Pat’s bed. Aiden had a numb ringing in his ears that was matching the numbness setting in all over his body. Tara was stood in the corner of the room nursing RJ who was sobbing softly in her arms as she rocked him and rubbed his back to try and soothe him. Cameron sat on the other side of the bed, staring in shock at his brother’s face with stunned but silent tears dripping down his cheeks. He hadn’t said anything beyond hoarsely telling Pat he was there. He looked terrible. Aiden didn’t look much better.
Riley had arrived soon after Cameron, his own face slightly pale after hearing the news Pat’s vision was absent upon regaining consciousness. Lachlan held Pat’s other hand as he spoke clearly and calmly, explaining what the doctors had been discussing. Lachlan wasn’t Pat’s doctor, but he was a doctor, and Pat’s best friend. The whole process was there to not spook Pat further, but by this point, Pat seemed to be the calmest person in the room. It was anticipated the vision disturbance was temporary, and caused by a common MS symptom called Optic Neuritis. But nothing was certain. Tests would be needed, and ASAP in case something else was causing it. In fact, Aiden vaguely acknowledged Lachlan talking about Pat’s brain haemorrhage in the past. Apparently, Pat’s vision had been affected by it way back then, and Lachlan was talking about something to do with the possibility of clips dislodging and they wanted to do an MRI straight away.
Aiden couldn’t process any of it. The more Lachlan spoke, the more it felt like he couldn’t breathe and that he wanted to be sick. It was only a couple of minutes later that some nurses arrived to prep Pat for the procedures and Aiden struggled to stand and let go of his husband’s hand.
“Aiden,” Pat said quietly, sensing his husband's distress. He lifted Aiden’s hand weakly to kiss his fingers. “It’s okay, sweetheart. Just get some rest, okay? I’m not going to be gone long,” he said in his soft, reassuring voice with that familiar English accent. His fingers felt blindly up Aiden’s arm and squeezed his wrist. “I love you,” he added.
Aiden didn’t even have a chance to give Pat a kiss before he was being wheeled out of the room. Aiden’s first reaction was follow, but one of the nurses cut him off as they exited into the corridor, and Aiden just stopped and weakly leant against the glass wall of the room. He watched as Pat was taken up the corridor and then out of sight, and it was at that moment that Aiden suddenly felt like everything engulfed him all at once that he had been trying so hard to hold off. Tears welled up in his eyes as he fumbled to get his cell phone out of his pocket. He had never in his life been this terrified about anything. He needed Harri. He needed her more than he ever needed her before. But he couldn’t even get her number up before the emotion seized him and he broke down in a heavy sob, gripping at the edge of the door in a struggle to remain upright and not sink to the floor.
He hardly noticed when he felt someone embrace him and pry the phone from his hand. Lachlan held onto him tightly, taking most of his weight so he didn’t lose his balance in his distress. “It’s okay, buddy. You arenae alone,” he said quietly, and brought up a number on the cell phone he suspected Aiden had been trying to locate. He put the phone to his ear and waited for the answer, rubbing Aiden’s back to try and comfort him in the embrace. He could never anticipate in a million years that one day he would be comforting the love of Pat’s life like this, but he was, and he would do it over and over again til the day he died if it was needed. “Harri? It’s Lachlan. Can you come back to the hospital ASAP, aye? Aiden needs you. Isnae any of the rest of us can help him like you can.”
sexyinscrubs used with permission. All other muses referenced with permission and are from the princeton2nyc universe.
Word Count | 887