CFV SIDE B REMATCH REDEMPTION

Lost in Transit, Part 5

This is my entry to the Box Boy Extended Universe which was originally created by sweetwhumpandhellacomf and written by shameless-whumper and I’m using a lot of world-building which was done by @ashintheairlikesnow. Still somewhat vague on hospital procedure here and also despite my research, I may be misrepresenting acquired dyscalculia here, pubmed is not helping me out and neither is google scholar.

CN: Dehumanization, human trafficking, amnesia, mistaken identity, box boy universe, IVs, panic attack, hospitals

798591 was woken with a start the next morning by a dream he didn’t remember and didn’t know where he was.

He was lying in a bed, in a small white room with an IV in his arm, and his heart was fluttering with nerves and he felt sore and battered and didn’t know why. There was something about the room. Something he’d remembered — but he didn’t remember it now.

He was in his new home, with his new owner. He remembered that and it made his heart slow down. But a few more memories trickled back and made his heart speed up again, he’d got lost and he’d been sick and he thought he remembered being in trouble, already. But he was definitely in the right place now, his owner - the person who wanted him - had been there, he remembered her face and that made him feel better. He would just wait here, and she’d be back, it still seemed like it was early in the morning.

The first person who came in wasn’t Dr. de Courcy though, it was a rumpled man with ruffled hair. 798591 stared at him for a moment before he remembered that he’d seen him last night. He couldn’t remember his name though.

The rumpled man came and peered at him, “how are you feeling this morning?” he asked.

“I’m okay,” said 798591.

“Do you still have a headache?” asked the rumpled man.

798591 nodded.

“Can you tell me how bad the pain is, out of ten?” asked the rumpled man.

798591 thought about it, his head didn’t feel very bad, but he couldn’t figure out how to turn it into a number, and trying made the pain spike up behind his eyes. And not answering the question was making a sinking, anxious feeling low in his belly.

“Hey now,” said the rumpled man, “its okay, don’t answer if its too hard. Just relax now. Take some deep breaths.”

798591 took a few big gulps of air and the rumpled man nodded encouragingly.

“That’s good,” he said, “let’s try again. Can you tell me if your headache is better or worse than last night?”

“Its better?” whispered 798591, “I think?”

“Well that’s good,” said rumpled man, “and do you have any other pain at all?”

He did, but he wasn’t supposed to complain and the questions were making the fluttery, anxious feelings worse, so he shook his head.

“That’s good,” said rumpled man, and smiled at him, so it was probably good he hadn’t said anything, “are you still feeling nauseous at all?”

798591 shook his head, he didn’t even have to keep that to himself, his stomach wasn’t turning over in unhappy ways any more.

“Good,” said the rumpled man, “good. Can you sit up for me?”

798591 sat up and the rumpled man came over and pressed his stethoscope against his chest, and then his back, and then his belly. He had 798591 hold his hands out with his eyes shut so he could press down on them the way Dr. de Courcy had the day before, and then shone a light in his eyes. He still didn’t understand why. But when he was done, he stepped back and nodded to himself.

“Okay,” said the rumpled man, “do you know your name?”

“798591,” he said, which earned him a frown. But he knew he remembered it. He knew that number.

“And what’s the date?” asked the rumpled man.

“I don’t know,” said 798591.

“Do you know what month it is,” asked the rumpled man, “or the season?”

798591 shook his head.

“Do you know how long you’ve been in the hospital?”

“Since yesterday,” said 798591.

“Yeah,” said the rumbled man “that was a good effort. You’re doing fine. Someone will bring you breakfast in a couple of hours.”

He turned around as if to go.

798591 summoned up his courage and asked, “is Dr. de Courcy coming back?”

“Huh?” asked the rumpled man, “yeah at some point today, rounds are usually early, but everything’s still off this morning, from the accident.”

He hurried out before 798591 could work up the nerve to ask anything else. He huddled down into his blankets and tried not to be afraid. He didn’t know what was making him feel so scared, but he wanted it to stop. He wanted Dr. de Courcy to come back and take him somewhere else. He’s not supposed to want things, it sent a twinge of pain shooting through his head.

The next person to come in was a small woman with lots and lots of curly brown hair carrying food on a tray and more pills for him to take. She looked comfortingly familiar but it took him a while to come up with her name. Like his brain was going very slowly.

“Remember me?” she asked with a nice little smile.

“Kenna?” He asked, he still wasn’t totally sure.

“That’s right,” she beamed, “you remembered. That’s really good. I brought you some breakfast, sorry its late, there was a thing with the dietetics orders. And I’m supposed to stay with you and make sure you’re swallowing okay, alright?” She came over and put the food in front of him and asked, “can I sit here? I promise I won’t come and loom over you every time you eat.”

It took him a moment to figure out that Kenna was actually asking his permission, like he got a say in where people sat. He nodded and she perched on the edge of his bed.

“Do you feel like you can eat anything?” Kenna asked him, “or are you still feeling too sick?”

He wasn’t feeling sick, having food in front of him made him suddenly realize that he didn’t know when he’d last had any food and he was awfully hungry. He shook his head hard.

“Well that’s a good sign,” said Kenna. She gave him another nice little smile. “But I want you to eat this very slowly so we can make sure you’re not having any trouble with it okay? We normally have a speech path to do this, but everything is still sort of mad and we didn’t want to make you wait that long to have some food,” she added.

798591 didn’t really know what that meant, he was just happy to be fed, and to have Kenna there. He did as he was told and took small, slow mouthfuls Kenna encouraged him a bit while he ate, and patted his legs a few times through the blankets and it made it easier to eat slower, so she would stay and he wouldn’t be left alone again. He could only drag it out for so long before he didn’t have any food left.

“You did really well,” said Kenna, getting up and patting his shoulder, “I’ll be back at some point to take you to imaging, but I’ve got to run.”

And then she left, and 798591 was left alone for hours and hours.

A stranger came in at one point and brought him more food but they didn’t stay or talk to him and even after another meal he was still lingeringly hungry. It felt familiar, and that made him feel anxious and he just wanted it all to stop. Everything felt wrong and he didn’t know why.

He lost track of the time a little, but it was sometime after that that a group of people in white coats, including the rumpled man again filed into the room followed, at last, by Dr. de Courcy. 798591 immediately straightened up and tried to look alert and tidy. Dr. de Courcy’s eyes brushed over him briefly before she turned to face the rumpled man.

“Dr. McCormick?” she said, and then stared expectantly at him.

The rumpled man, who must be Dr. McCormick and who looked more rumpled than ever, picked up the pad of paper that hung off the edge of his bed and looked from it, to Dr. de Courcy.

“An unidentified and unclaimed male patient, admitted yesterday afternoon and believed to have been involved in the shipwreck. He was assessed by you and by Joey Mallory and presented with disorientation and - pure retrograde amnesia - and moderate dehydration and nausea, believed to be secondary to - ingesting salt water, treated with oral H2 inhibitors. The patient experienced more nausea and headache overnight and I administered oral acetominophen. As of this morning he reported reduced headache and no further nausea. And the RN noted no dysphagia or nausea with breakfast this morning. Initial labs taken during admission showed minor electrolyte imbalances but no other abnormalities, and follow-up labs taken during the early morning are entirely normal.”

He ended his long report by gasping in a big breath, like he’d just run.

“Where are we in the imaging queue?” Dr. de Courcy asked. 798591 still didn’t really understand what that meant.

“They’re hoping to get him in this evening,” said a woman who was standing behind Dr. McCormick.

“Are the labs in epic?”

“Yes,” said Dr. McCormick.

“I want them redone every day until I say otherwise,” said Dr. de Courcy, “maintain the H2 inhibitors for 48 hours to be on the safe side. What’s the obvious next step diagnostically?”

“We need brain imaging,” said one of the women.

“Does everyone agree with Dr. Yeo that imaging is going complete our clinical picture?”

The woman who was standing behind Dr. McCormick spoke up again, “we need to do a neurological exam.”

“Thank you Dr. Halabi,” said Dr. de Courcy, “yes, don’t ever neglect diagnostic exams just because you have, or expect to have imaging. And frankly, becoming over dependent on high tech imaging is a bad idea. You never know when you might suddenly not have it, as we’re currently experiencing. However, because this patient is showing some atypical symptoms I’m going to be doing his work up today and full neurological exam tomorrow, so you will all have to practice on our next patients.”

Dr. Yeo put her hand in the air.

“Yes,” said Dr. de Courcy.

“Shouldn’t we also do a psychological exam? I thought pure retrograde amnesia was usually psychiatric?”

“Yes,” said Dr. de Courcy, “that is correct, your reward will be contacting the psychiatry department and scheduling the exam. Do not conflict with my exam we can’t do both at once.”

“Yes Dr. de Courcy,” said Dr. Yeo.

Some of the other people scrambled for notebooks and scribbled notes.

“And what else?” Dr. de Courcy said.

The scribblers stopped scribbling.

“We have a completely unidentified patient,” said Dr. de Courcy, “we need the police. The world outside the hospital does continue to exist during your shifts. I realize you’re tired, but please attempt to retain object permanence.”

They scribbled some more.

798591 looked between the cluster of people as they talked and tried to figure out what was going on and why Dr. de Courcy wouldn’t look at him or speak to him. He didn’t feel sick anymore, and he didn’t know why Dr. McCormick had said he was unclaimed. He had been delivered. Someone wanted him, someone had to want him, or he would be sent back and refurbished and -

“Well,” Dr. de Courcy said suddenly, and everyone else looked as confused as he felt, “begin the neurological exams on our next set of patients.” she barked, “and go find me Kenna.”

“But -“ Dr. McCormick started.

“Now,” she snapped, and he ran away.

They were alone in the room but 798591 suddenly didn’t feel good about it.

Dr. de Courcy moved a bit closer and leaned over him.

“Take deep breaths,” she said to him.

798591 obediently sucked air deep into his lungs.

“Slowly now,” she said, “good. Try and stay calm, we’re nearly done. We’ll leave you alone soon.”

No, no, she couldn’t leave, he didn’t know what he was going to do, he didn’t want to be alone again.

“Please,” he whispered, “please, I’m better, I’ll be good, please don’t send me away,” he tried desperately not to cry again.

Dr. de Courcy frowned down at him, “what are you talking about? And stop biting your lip you’ll make it bleed.”

798591 opened his mouth like he’d been told, but then he couldn’t stop tears dripping out of his eyes. He wasn’t supposed to cry. She really wasn’t going to keep him if he couldn’t stop crying.

“Oh no, Fawn, what happened?” Kenna said, and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, he didn’t know when she’d come in, “you were doing so good earlier. Are you hurting?”

“Fawn?” said Dr. de Courcy.

If Kenna said anything in response he didn’t hear her, but he felt a little better while she was stroking his shoulders, and he managed to blink away the rest of the tears.

“That’s better,” said Dr. de Courcy, “now, what are you crying about?”

798591 risked a glance up at her. She was frowning down at him with her arms crossed.

“Did you sleep much last night?” she asked.

“S-some,” he said, timidly, “I can do better - I’ll be better.”

“I may write you a prescription for a sleeping pill, just for the night,” she said, “there’s no point in spending an hour on a neurological exam that will just tell me you’re exhausted. Would that be easier?”

“Whatever you like ma’am,” said 798591.

“Kenna,” said Dr. de Courcy, “I’m hours behind as it is, when you’re finished here, I need you to go contact the hospital legal department, about contacting the police and about what we discussed yesterday. Hand off your other patients if you need to and blame me for it, I want this handled.”

798591 felt his breathing pick up again and he couldn’t stop it, even though he did try.

“Oh is that what got you all wound up,” said Dr. de Courcy, “you’re not about to be arrested, we always call the police when someone gets lost.”

“You’re okay,” said Kenna, “you’re safe here. You’re safe.”

798591 gasped in a very shaky breath, and then his stomach gurgled loudly, and he couldn’t stop it. He also couldn’t stop himself from blushing.

“Are we starving you?” said Dr. de Courcy.

“No,” said 798591, “no I’m alright.”

“Feed him before you talk to legal,” Dr. de Courcy said to Kenna.

“Will the kitchen -“ Kenna started.

Dr. de Courcy took a wallet out of one of her pockets and handed Kenna a folded bill, “the cafeteria will be faster. Hopefully he’ll be less panicky when he’s comfortable.”

She swept out of the room.

Kenna stood up and looked at him, which meant she wasn’t holding him any more, “what would you like?” she asked him.

“I don’t need anything,” 798591 whispered, “its okay.”

“Don’t be silly,” said Kenna, “ you need to eat if you’re hungry. And you’ve had a time of it, I’ll get you a treat, kay? I’ll be right back.”

And she dashed off, and he was alone again.

@haro-whumps  @whatwasmyprevioususername @whump-it

Hey everybody!! I’m queueing this for right after my scheduled reblog of my post from tonight; this is my promised post of insta edits and headcanons for my Rowaelin/Manorian fanfic Fast Firsts and Sloppy Seconds! This edit is not essential to understanding this one, but it does provide some more context :)

I just wanna say that I’m sorry again :( and that I really hope you enjoy! If you have any questions, or requests for more headcanons, please don’t hesitate to ask! I’m going to go to trying to struggle through this damn part now :’( Happy reading!!

- Aelin and Sam were best friends since they were little kids - Aedion and Aelin were pretty close too, but he lived a few towns over, and as they got older the harder it was to make time and schedule visits and what started as a few times a week soon turned into a few times a month - Sam was her first boyfriend, her first love, and they dated throughout high school - When Lysandra arrived at said high school, Aelin hated her - she was totally going after Aelin’s boyfriend, seemed like a bitch, and Aelin was just not having it.  - But eventually, circumstances changed, and Lysandra and Aelin actually became friends - really good friends. Lys helped Sam plan his promposal for Aelin, Aelin and Lys ended up going to the same college and being roommates, all around general cuteness ensued, and honestly one can’t imagine her life without the other - Aelin’s cousin Aedion is a few years older than Lys and Aelin - so he graduated two years before them and went to college on a full scholarship for a D1 Hockey Team. He’s one of the best and most aggressive forwards in the league, and earned himself the nickname “the Wolf of the North.” (Aelin thinks it’s kind of dumb, but she’d never tell him that) - Once Aelin and Lys became friends, she and Aedion developed an on and off flirtation, but neither of them ever did anything about it - she was his cousin’s best friend, and younger than him, and all around not a good idea. But even though Aedion knew that, he still asked her out a few days after she and Aelin graduated. But Lys didn’t want to do anything to jeopardize her friendship with Aelin, and Aedion understood that, so they just sort of silently pined - Aelin never really understood why Aedion didn’t ever get into relationships? He was a huge hockey player, boys and girls were throwing themselves at him, but he just stayed single?? She was very confused, but she figured he was just hooking up with people and didn’t want to talk to her about it - at the end of the summer before they were going to start college, Aelin and Sam broke up. She had spent her entire life with him, and she wanted to meet other people and do new things and he was her first everything - and she didn’t want him to be the last. He understood though, they were friends first, they broke up amicably, all was well - when Aelin started college, she actually ended up deciding she wanted to try staying single, despite the fact that Dorian was throwing himself at her, and the fact that Lys was totally trying to convince her to give in - but whenever Aelin brought up the fact that Lys was still single, despite the tons of guys trying to get with her, she just sort of shrugged it off and moved on, and Aelin eventually just accepted it - until they got home for Christmas, and she saw Lys and Aedion in the room together for the first time in a long time. They weren’t with anybody, because the only people they wanted to be with were clearly each other. - so Aelin sat them down and basically told them to start dating because they both deserved to be happy, and they did, and she regretted it almost immediately - they were an absolutely nauseating couple. Aedion would come visit them at school, Lys would go visit him a lot, they timed visits home at the same time, it was pretty gross. Aelin walked in on them having sex multiple times, constant pda, lots of sexting she had accidentally seen on one phone or the other, it was bad. But at least they were happy. - second semester, super drunk and super jealous, Aelin decided that enough was enough and that she was gonna hook up with Dorian. Except that didn’t go so well, and they realized they were better off as friends - then, she and Chaol sort of slowly went from Lab partners, to gym buddies, to more, and eventually ended up dating throughout college. They were super happy together, and not nearly as gross as Lysaedion, though everyone thought their work out pictures were kind of cheesey... - Dorian dated around - was with this other girl named Sorscha for a while, but she ended up breaking up with him out of nowhere, and disappearing. He was convinced that his dad had paid her off because he wanted Dorian with someone else - someone “more appropriate” for the heir of the company. - all was more or less good for the next couple years - Lys and Aedion were happy, Chaol and Aelin were happy, Dorian took some time to stay single and just be with his friends (everyone was shocked). Dorian and Chaol visited Aelin at her home town, met Sam, they were all cool, also became pretty good friends with Aedion! - The three boys ended up hanging out a lot, which kind of bugged Lys, because that just meant she had more people to share Aedion with when he came to visit - and overall, things were just really happy! - Until the summer before senior year. Until Sam died. - Aelin just sort of fell apart. Shut everyone out. - Aedion sort of freaked out - he and Aelin had just gotten really close again, and he was super protective, so he was just sort of up her ass all the time, trying to make sure she was okay, which generally pissed her off.  - Lysandra was also super duper worried, but she tried really hard to be chill, and let Aelin come to her, and basically got all information from Aedion in regards to Aelin, because as much as it hurt her, she knew Aelin needed time to grieve and do her own thing - Dorian quickly became Aelin’s favorite person to spend time with after the fact. He ignored it, and was just sort of her constant excuse to have a good time. They drank, and laughed, and while she was with him she could pretend everything was okay, he just let her be. Lys and Aedion hated this of course, and deemed it “unhealthy,” but Aelin didn’t care. She was too mad and sad and angry to care. - Chaol was sort of the hardest to be around in this time. He didn’t really know what to do to help, and was obviously worried for her, but he didn’t want to be up her ass, but he didn’t want to leave her alone, and so he had a front row seat to watching her fall apart, and doing nothing.  - slowly though, she started to feel like the old Aelin. They would hang out, and go for runs, and it was steadily getting better - she seemed better to him. and they went to school, and she threw herself into her studies, and just sort of ignored all of her problems, and everyone just kind of started to let her.  - until it was winter break, again, and she went back home again, and Sam wasn’t there, and she was kind of dying. - so she went back to school, and tried to bury it all again. But it was harder that time. Last semester of college, everything was piling on, stress was everywhere. She didn’t really have as much time to hang out with Dorian. - She made a new friend who was there on exchange from Spain - Nesryn - and they hung out a bit. She was cool, and the one person in her life who didn’t know about Sam, and didn’t treat her differently because of it, so that was refreshing. Plus, she’s part of why the squad decided to go on the big Europe adventure! But even still, she wasn’t Dorian.  - Aelin did spend a lot of time with Chaol though. And it seemed like they were good? She thought that Chaol thought that they were good.  - Until they weren’t, until he pushed her too far, and she pushed the fuck back. - Until they got back from spring break, and she’d been alone again, and it was midterms, and she was stressed, she was so so stressed, and the 6-month-anniversary just passed of Sam’s death, and he was “just checking in” and “are you okay” and  - “no I am not fucking okay?!?! a part of me died, Chaol! he was my best fucking friend and he died! and you don’t get it! no one fucking gets it! and I just sit here, and I pretend to be okay, and everyone thinks I am but I’m not. I’m just not! But you know what I am Chaol? I’m fucking done.” - and there’s screaming, and anger, and she storms out and he’s really worried? He doesn’t hear from her for like a week and he’s sort of freaking out and really hurt and really upset because he loves her - he just loves her so much - eventually, she talks to him. and he’s so fucking happy to see her, and that she’s alive, and not dead in a ditch somewhere, and he hugs her immediately, and she gently, sadly steps out of his arms, and offers him half of a broken smile, and  - “I’m sorry, Chaol. I really really am. You’re so important to me.” A pause. “But Sam ... Sam was everything. And I think I need time to get used to missing him on my own. And that doesn’t mean I don’t love you. It just means that I need to learn to re-love this new me - the one without him.” - She didn’t have the time or capability for emotions, and Chaol was draining what little she had left. - so she broke up with him. And he was mad. And hurt. And devastated. And he begged - begged - her not to. but it was done. and not even Dorian could fix it. That was the end of march. - And by May, he could look at her without feeling dead inside. And by the time they all got on their flights in the end of June, hearing her laugh didn’t hurt anymore. And he didn’t want to flinch every time she talked. And he wants her to be happy, he does, he just really wishes that she could be happy with him. They were - kind of friends. Strained, slight friends. At least, he wanted to be. Because he was not sure he could ever be without her. - By the time they get ready to leave, Aelin’s finally sort of better, but she’s creeping up on the one-year anniversary of Sam’s death. - With that thought in her head, she gets on the plane - no intentions of looking back. - Chaol gets on the plane, with only thoughts of her.  This became a lot longer than it originally was, and I’m not checking it for typos, but yeah, here you guys go!! Let me know if you want more, or if you have questions!! Headcanons and edits of Lysaedion in Italy might be coming up? We’ll see, let me know if you want it. Much love!!! Everyone pray that the writing gods bless me with some good Rowaelin tomorrow :’(