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Post by HAROLD HERSCHEL on Aug 31, 2013 19:15:11 GMT -8
Harold, so far as he knew, had just been driving. He wasn't sure he could remember where he'd been going or if it was important, like walking into a room and forgetting why you'd gone in, but… Either way, he wasn't driving anymore. He was waking up. He wondered for a moment if his going into town wasn't part of some incredibly mundane dream, but it wasn't his bed he was waking up in. It was a hospital bed. This was a hospital.
It was then that he remembered where he'd been (near that big law building they'd been renovating for forever), and what had happened, at least vaguely (a construction crane had fallen?). Thus the car-crash, thus the hospital… He was becoming aware of the fact that he was sore all over and of the idea that today, at least, was probably gonna be a pretty crappy day. He finally decided to move, shifting carefully to get a better look around the room.
It wasn't much of a surprise to find Edith waiting up. He was already building up a foul mood about this, but he smiled at her anyway, just in case he needed to illustrate that he was okay. The most he can offer for a greeting, though, is, "God, I hate driving in the city." CODED BY ELECTRIC OF GANGNAM STYLE |
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Post by EDITH HERSCHEL on Aug 31, 2013 20:04:55 GMT -8
The good advice, I always hated, but looking back it made me greater.
May 10th
tag | Harold
words | 445 | Normally Edith was good at keeping a strong air around her. She could be a ferocious woman who knew how to take care of herself and her husband. But for once, she was scared. They had gone into tombs they probably shouldn't have in Egypt, been chased down by bandits in Brazil, and she wasn't even going to start thinking about the terrible misadventure back in India. They had been through a lot together, but it was something as stupid as a car wreck that sent her partner to the hospital. She always had told everyone that she was the better driver. She was the one, after all, who had pulled a lot of stupid stunts in vehicles and still wasn't the one in the hospital bed for it. Clearly, she was correct.
It was a full day before that she had gotten the call about what had happened to her husband. She hurried to the hospital as fast as she could to find him unconscious and with a broken hip. While she had kept herself mostly in control of her emotions, she spent the next half an hour arguing with doctors and nurses about how waiting for consent to fix a broken hip was stupid. They had good insurance and who was even capable of saying no? It was a broken hip, not an inconvenient mole that could wait for removal. Did they expect her to waltz in and say 'oh, no, put him down and have him stuffed'? How stupid could people be?
Fussing at people did help her feel a little better, but her Harold was still unconscious even long after the surgery. Edith had been by his side for forty years, and she wasn't about to leave it while he was lying around in a hospital bed. So, she waited there with him, quietly worried about how long it would take him to wake up. The doctors had told her they were optimistic, but they were also the people who needed consent to fix a broken hip.
Thankfully, that's when she heard him finally speak. The older woman looked up to make sure she wasn't just hearing things and his smile was met by one of her own. She immediately flung her arms around his shoulders in a tight hug. "You're really bad at it." That was all she could think to answer, but she was sure her almost overly tight hugging would get her point across. "I'm sending you back to driver's ed after this. But don't move too much for now, okay?" From what she understood the accident was far from his fault, but she loved picking on him. |
electric has gangnam style and back to neverland |
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Post by HAROLD HERSCHEL on Aug 31, 2013 20:46:35 GMT -8
| @ Edith Herschel
date: May 10th |
"It wasn't my fault!" Harold protested around Edith's squeezing him, which kind of really hurt, but he wasn't about to mention it. She was acting out of concern and affection, after all, and-- Actually, she squeezed just the wrong spot, apparently, or he shifted the wrong way, and a shock of pain went through him. He sucked in a breath through his teeth, posture stiffening for a moment.
He took in a breath and let it out, relaxing back onto the mattress and reaching the Edith's hand to make up for slumping out of her embrace. He was trying to get a feel for just what was wrong with him, here, but it was hard to suss out through general soreness and the lingering confusion. He also didn't want there to be anything wrong, because surely that would be the start of his inevitable, rapid decline. He might as well face that, though.
"So. What's the damage?" CODED BY ELECTRIC OF GANGNAM STYLE |
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Post by EDITH HERSCHEL on Aug 31, 2013 23:04:30 GMT -8
The good advice, I always hated, but looking back it made me greater.
May 10th
tag | Harold
words | 269 | Oh, right, he was injured and recovering from surgery. Even with painkillers, she imagined her husband must've been sore. "Oh, sorry, sweetheart." She backed away, but not before leaving an affectionate kiss on his forehead. The answer to him that came right after was a bit more blunt. "You broke a hip." She found herself covering her mouth right after she said it. She had been so worried about him that it hadn't occurred to her yet. He had broken a hip. There had been jokes about it since they had both gone gray. Edith even occasionally wanted to take a bet on which one of them would have done it first, but thank goodness they hadn't. It was likely that they both would've lost that one.
She found herself in a sudden fit of giggles, partially from amusement out of the situation and also because of the heavy wave of relief knowing that he was okay. He would be okay, at least. "Your car's totaled, too, but I don't think you'll be doing any driving soon anyway. They put everything back in place, but you still got to take it easy for two or three weeks." She'd feel better being the one to drive him around for awhile, so it didn't really matter to her. Though for him that was probably a lot to take in after being out of it for a day. She hadn't told him yet how long he had been out for.
"These guys wouldn't perform your surgery until I was here to consent, can you believe that? What's with hospitals these days?" |
electric has gangnam style and back to neverland |
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Post by HAROLD HERSCHEL on Sept 1, 2013 2:39:31 GMT -8
| @ Edith Herschel
date: May 10th |
"It's not funny," Harold countered her giggles sourly, reaching up to pinch the bridge of his nose only to discover a cut. His glasses might have broken, then, against his nose. Maybe he knocked his face into the airbag. This was getting better and better.
"Maybe it's an insurance thing? They needed to make sure I'm not some old, remarkably hygienic, bum." He'd sunk into full-on grousing by this point. He was attempting to keep a good temper, considering that things could have been worse. This was still pretty lame, though, which… Yes, lame was an appropriate enough word choice, he supposed. Anyway, his attempts at keeping the mood lighter came out more sarcastic than good-humored. "We could take a moment to grumble about the American health care system, buy why ruin the moment?" CODED BY ELECTRIC OF GANGNAM STYLE |
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Post by EDITH HERSCHEL on Sept 4, 2013 4:31:02 GMT -8
The good advice, I always hated, but looking back it made me greater.
May 10th
tag | Harold
words | 225 | Harold's sourness only brought a warm smile to her face, though she managed to calm herself down for him. Still, she wasn't going to say sorry this time. He was definitely going to be okay and that made her happy. She couldn't help feeling relieved, even if he was going to be a little sore for awhile. At least he wasn't going to end up in a wheelchair for the next fifteen or twenty years. Or in a coma. That was a plus. "Coulda moved to Canada, that's all I'm saying." She wouldn't have done that when it came down to it, but she jokingly threw that note out there before letting a short moment of silence pass.
"But just don't scare me like that again," she spoke, finally admitting that she had been afraid even though her tone was trying to pass it off rather casually. He was likely going to scare her somehow again eventually. It wasn't really something he control and she knew that. That didn't mean that she had to like it. Her eyes fell momentarily to their hands as she straightened her posture a bit. She tightened her grip on his. "Do you want anything? Thirsty? I could get you something." She could go get him something with her perfectly healthy and unbroken hips. She stifled a few more giggles. |
electric has gangnam style and back to neverland |
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Post by HAROLD HERSCHEL on Sept 9, 2013 7:53:59 GMT -8
| @ Edith Herschel
date: May 10th |
"Oh," Harold started, perking up a bit. Her offer reminded him of where he'd been off to in the first place or, at least, around the time of day it had been. The reminder was enough to let him ignore her new round of almost-giggles. "I was on my way to lunch, would you believe it? Now that you mention it, I am thirsty. Hungry, too."
He had to guess that the fact he'd kept his appetite was good news, if nothing else. He wasn't sure if he could eat, but he'd sure prefer it. He tried to shift his sour demeanor into something sweeter, so as to have a better chance of getting favors off of his wife. "I don't suppose you could get me a Subway, hm? And a coke?"
Because screw potentially-regulated, post-surgery diets. A nice, big sandwich would seriously hit the spot right now. CODED BY ELECTRIC OF GANGNAM STYLE |
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Post by EDITH HERSCHEL on Sept 11, 2013 5:20:12 GMT -8
The good advice, I always hated, but looking back it made me greater.
May 10th
tag | Harold
words | 244 | She gave him a sympathetic coo when he explained that he had been on his way to lunch. Had it been her instead, she probably would have been hungry, too, then. Though she had already offered to get him something, she recognized the sweet demeanor he then put on for her. The man wanted something. More often than not, she was more than happy to oblige him in his requests, as he often obliged her more than he should have some days. Despite the circumstances of what had happened and where they were sitting, now was no exception.
"It's good to know you still have an appetite after that," she said, playfully nudging his arm. "I'll go get you one then. What kind?" She had never been one to care much about health rules that she found overly particular. It seemed better to her that he did want to eat even if it might not've been the best thing for him to eat at the time. However, she wasn't getting up to leave immediately. Instead, she pulled her purse from the floor and started digging through it. "You know, I think I've got a coupon in here somewhere…"
And out unto the bedside table the items started coming. A notebook, tissues, hard candy, dental floss, q-tips, nail clippers, at least five pens, her husband's extra pair of glasses, one of his sudoku books… "Oh, want your puzzle book?" She held it out to him. |
electric has gangnam style and back to neverland |
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Post by HAROLD HERSCHEL on Sept 14, 2013 9:10:40 GMT -8
| @ Edith Herschel
date: May 10th |
"Italian BMT. Or chicken salad, if they have it." Does Subway have chicken salad? Harold wants to say that they do, but it usually turns out that they don't. He could swear that they used to, though, or that certain locations have chicken salad. Either way, he's going to keep asking. "With lettuce and tomato, you know… And bell pepper. Oil and vinegar, if it's the BMT."
His order started to trail off a little as he watched her empty her purse handful by handful, squinting down at the bedside table. He was reaching over for one of the hard-candies when she held his book out to him. He stopped and grabbed the book instead, smiling warmly. "Thank you, lovely," he started, shifting to look over the other items on the table. Moving was still achy business, though, and he went limp again. Fine. He'd just not move until this whole thing was done with.
"Are those my other glasses, there?" CODED BY ELECTRIC OF GANGNAM STYLE |
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Post by EDITH HERSCHEL on Sept 14, 2013 22:58:36 GMT -8
The good advice, I always hated, but looking back it made me greater.
May 10th
tag | Harold
words | 217 | Edith stopped taking things from her bag for a moment and looked over to the side table with his inquiry. "Oh, yeah, they're your older pair after the last ones you bought. They've been in here for awhile." She picked them up and handed them over to her husband as well. It was lucky that she still had them in there, as she had debated taking them out during the last time she had cleaned out her purse. However, now was just the time she thought that keeping them would come in handy. Okay, well, she hadn't expected him to end up in a car crash or anything, but she had worried his others could get lost. Couldn't do a puzzle book without being able to see it, right?
Then it was back to digging. "Aha!" She smiled to herself rather triumphantly when she pulled out her small green coupon pouch. It was stuffed with various coupons from newspapers and magazines, but from there she actually managed to find the subway one she was looking for rather quickly. Her purse may have been a mess, but she was never going to let her coupons stay as lost as Harold's pens.
"Here we go," she looked back to her husband. "Alright, anything else you need before I go?" |
electric has gangnam style and back to neverland |
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Post by HAROLD HERSCHEL on Sept 21, 2013 5:38:26 GMT -8
| @ Edith Herschel
date: May 10th |
"Nope," Harold answered, fairly content to settle down and stop his griping now that he had something to occupy his mind and hands. That and the promise of food was enough to grant him temporary contentment. He clicked the nib down and up on his pen several times while he flipped to the page he'd left off on.
"You watch out for those boys with their working hips, now. Don't let them tempt you." See? He could even leave off on a joke, even if further verbal acknowledgement only made him more aware of his situation. He was old. This was potentially the official marker of a steep decline. Anyway… "Oh, and… Can you ask them what I'm supposed to do about the bathroom? Do I gotta get up, or..?" CODED BY ELECTRIC OF GANGNAM STYLE |
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Post by EDITH HERSCHEL on Sept 21, 2013 18:40:13 GMT -8
The good advice, I always hated, but looking back it made me greater.
May 10th
tag | Harold
words | 212 | All of the items that had been removed went haphazardly back into the bag once she found what she needed. Edith looked back to her husband who now seemed a bit more content than he was when he first woke up. Words could not express how grateful and relieved she was that he was going to be fine. At least it seemed that way for now. One never knew when to expect the worst, and it was good to know that she didn't have to just yet. Now that he seemed more settled, she stood and started toward the door, only pausing briefly to answer his last questions.
"Oh, Mr. Herschel, however can I control my wicked self around those dashing young men with working hips and lush heads of hair. You should just see the doctor who took care of you." She stopped in the doorway for a dramatic swoon before laughing again. "You've got a bedpan next to you, sugar, you'll have to use that for a day or so. Just call the nurse if you have any trouble with it." With one last kiss blown his way, she walked out the door to find the nearest Subway. She wouldn't mind getting herself something now that she thought about it. |
electric has gangnam style and back to neverland |
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TERRESA
UNKNOWN ENTITY
RESIDENT UNICORN
小書瑀
Posts: 105
MINI INFO - GENDER: Female
MINI INFO - D.O.B.: HOW DARE YOU ASK A WOMAN HER AGE?
MINI INFO - OCCUPATION: Guardian Kirin of the White Rice Paddies
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Post by TERRESA on Sept 27, 2013 9:28:36 GMT -8
| | | Finished Thread
You have been rewarded with ONE RESIDUE as this thread is now complete. It has been placed in the archives under the 'finished' sub-board. You are more than welcome to PM fate if this thread is not finished or if you are unhappy/unsatisfied with the amount of residue that has been rewarded. Keep up the great work and keep posting with other members.
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