Whumpmas Night 6: Candlelight

Okay, so I did miss last night. Oh well. I’ll make it up to y’all later. Anyway, I succeeded in writing some fluff, but mostly because I love Judaism. There’s a picture of my hanukkiah arranged like it is in the story at the bottom.

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The hanukkiah glows against the dark night outside the window. 6 (okay, 7) candles drip wax onto a large sheet of tin foil. The sizzling coming from the kitchen slows as Maria turns off the stove. “The latkes are done,” she declares. She brings the large platter into the dining room and sets it on the blue tablecloth.

“Happy Hanukkah everyone,” Chaia says, reaching for a latke. “As a reminder, we are an applesauce-only household. If you need salt, you can speak to Maria.”

Everyone shifts their gaze to Maria, whose latke is almost white with salt. “Is it good like that?” Victor asks.

“Depends on what food it’s on. Latkes, yes. Pasta, yes. Lettuce, not so much. For my blood volume, definitely.”

Omar scans the room. “The candles are nice. Actually, it’s all really nice.”

“Oh, the Hanukkiah?” Chaia says. “Yeah. Maria really likes the sixth night because she likes to make the candles be a rainbow and having the shamash be white. We also cleaned a lot.”

“Wouldn’t it be better on the fifth night when there are six candles?” Juliet asks.

“Be quiet,” Maria shoots back.

Demetra takes a bite of her latke. “Maria, these are really good. Thank you for having us. This is wonderful.”

“Of course,” Chaia replies, “You are part of the crew now.”

“Ooh we need to get you sweaters,” Maria adds.

“What?” Omar asks.

“Long story,” Victor says, reaching for his third latke. “Anyone up for some dreidel?”

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Whumpmas Night 4: Putting Up the Tree

Okay so I tried to write fluff, and it kinda worked. Until the end. I’m also Jewish and know very little about Christmas trees. Anyway…

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“You sure you don’t want a big one?” Victor asks, holding the box to a miniature artificial Christmas tree.

“I only have like three ornaments,” Samson responds, “and we both work crazy jobs. This is less work.”

“You have a point,” Victor replies. He opens the box and slides the small tree out. He opens the base and places it on the side table he’d pulled into the corner that morning.

Samson walks up beside him with a black shoebox. He places the shoebox on the table and takes the lid off. Inside is Victor’s collection of ornaments. Samson pulls his three ornaments out of his jacket pocket and adds them to the box.

Victor picks up one of the ornaments that Samson has added, a penguin. “Penguins aren’t from the North Pole,” he remarks.

“But they are from South Africa. My mother turned this figurine into an ornament for her first Christmas here with my father,” Samson replies.

“That’s sweet,” Victor says as he hangs the penguin from one of the branches. “Your turn.”

Samson takes an ornament from the box. It’s a small 9-1-1 token. “You really love your job,” he says, hanging the ornament from a branch next to the penguin.

“Almost as much as I love you,” Victor replies. He leans into his boyfriend. Suddenly his body goes limp.

“Victor, can you hear me?” Samson calls out. He lays Victor onto the floor. Pressing his hands against Victor’s neck, he feels for a pulse. He presses his ear into Victor’s chest to listen for breath sounds. Both are present.

Whumpmas Night 3: Left in the Cold

Trigger Warnings: Hospital Setting, Hypothermia

Kai and Justin rush their patient into the ED. Kai wipes the snow off his brow and takes his gloves off. He waves down Rory and Elissa. “Middle-aged John Doe. Found him unconscious at the corner of Wave and 25th. Hypothermic and low pulse.”

“Let’s take him here,” Rory says, drawing back the curtain on an empty bed. “Transfer in 3, 2, 1.” Rory, Kai, Justin, and Elissa lift the patient onto the bed. Rory turns to Elissa. “Hook him up.” Elissa nods and begins reaching under the warming blanket to attach ECG leads. Rory turns out to face the nurses’ station. “Anna, I need three liters of fluid warmed, stat!”

“On it!” Anna replies. Moments later, Anna comes sprinting back holding three bags of fluid. She quickly attaches them to the IV catheter in the patient’s hand and hangs the bags above the bed. She reaches up and squeezes the bags. “Where are we at, Dr. Byrne?”

“79.2 and rising. Slowly. Very slowly.”

Anna directs her attention back to Elissa. “Liss, I got the bags. Go get heated blankets. Anything that gets warm. We need it here.”

Elissa rushes out to the supply closet but does a double-take when she hears an alarm go off. It’s her patient.

Rory climbs onto the patient and starts compressions. He turns back to meet Elissa’s gaze. “And page Dr. Howell!”

Whumpmas Night 2: Hot Cocoa

Okay, yes, this one is a bit late, but it is still the 26th of Kislev so it’s not too horribly behind. Anyway enjoy the fluff

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Juliet grabs the bag of marshmallows from the cabinet above the microwave. “Normal, fruity, or winter shapes?” she asks Anna.

“They make winter shapes marshmallows? Since when?”

“At least since I went grocery shopping two days ago. You never answered my question.”

“Uh, winter shapes,” Anna replies. She walks into the kitchen and grabs one of the mugs from the island. She reaches for the bag of marshmallows that Juliet has just put down and tears it open. She drops a couple snowflakes into her cocoa and walks over to the sofa.

Juliet follows her and curls up in a blue blanket. “Which one do you want to watch?” she asks, picking up the remote.

“There’s a new season of Discovery,” Anna suggests. She takes a sip of her cocoa. “That’s good cocoa. New recipe?”

“Yeah. Maria got it from Alejandro.” Juliet switches on the TV.

Whumpmas Night 1: Countdown

Trigger Warning: Needles, Hospital Setting

“Three, two, one.” Maven slides the needle into Myra’s arm.

“No, no, no!” Myra calls out.

“It’s a little late for that,” Maven replies as she tapes the catheter against Myra’s skin. “You ready to head upstairs?”

Myra shakes her head. “No,” she replies weakly. “Do we have to do this?”

Maven unbrakes Myra’s wheelchair and starts pushing it toward the elevators at the end of the hallway. “Dr. Buhle will take great care of you,” she says.

“Where are we going?”

“To see a friend.”

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“Dr. Howell, this is Myra Handler. She’s Dr. Byrne’s patient — the one with the abnormal imaging.”

Dr. Howell extends her arm to give Myra a firm handshake. “Hi, Myra, I’m Dr. Howell. I work with Dr. Byrne. I understand that he referred you for a diagnostic procedure. Is that right?”

Myra nods. “Do I have to?” she asks.

“Legally speaking, I cannot make you,” Dr. Howell replies, “but this procedure is the best shot at figuring out where your pain is coming from and making sure that it is nothing life-threatening. I highly recommend that you have it done. Why are you hesitant?”

“I’m scared,” Myra admits.

Dr. Howell nods. “It’s okay to be afraid. But you are in the best of hands. Dr. Buhle is one of the best doctors I know. And Maven will be with you the entire time.”

Whumpmas Masterlist

I am doing @amonthofwhump’s Twelve Days of Whumpmas… with a twist. I am Jewish and do not celebrate Christmas, but Hanukkah this year falls around the same time as the Twelve Days of Whumpmas. Thus, I will be posting stories for each of the 8 nights of Hanukkah, starting with tonight. All the nights in December correspond with the event day, and the three in November have prompts from the rest of the event. Oh, and y'all are in for a special treat because there are three whole fluff stories for this event.

Note: Hanukkah is in no way the Jewish Christmas. I’d be more than happy to elaborate on that, but not on this post.

Night 1 – November 28: Countdown

Night 2 – November 29: Hot Cocoa

Night 3 – November 30: Left in the Cold

Night 4 – December 1: Putting up a Tree

Night 5 – December 2: Human Shield

Night 6 – December 3: Candlelight

Night 7 – December 4: Flashback

Night 8 – December 5: Gift Giving