Morningstar Manor

Phin had fallen asleep, so Bridget took that opportunity to leave the bed and head to the living room. There she could do a little writing alone without various family and/or friends hovering nearby to make sure she didn't have a blackout episode.

She'd only been curled up in the corner of the couch for about five minutes when the already howling wind suddenly worsened and the muffled sound of a crash could be heard from far above. Bridget looked toward the ceiling with a furrow in her brow as the lights flickered.

It was happening again. One second Bridget was sitting on the floor, building a cardboard brick fortress with the kids, and then the next it was like all the air pushed out of her and that surprisingly familiar feeling of someone else inside her head was back. The fortress didn't last long after that and the kids, now frightened for reasons they couldn't really figure out, were soon forgotten as Bridget found herself abandoning them in favor of the balcony attached to the master bedroom. Her brain said she wanted to feel the wind on her face.

( To be continued in comments. )

( Bridget has a bad dream. )

After everything else that had happened in 2009, it was difficult for Bridget to believe that she and Phin were together on Christmas Eve, wrapping presents while the kids at least attempted to sleep in their own rooms. There had been so many reasons to think this little scene would never happen again, but there they were, awash in a sea of gifts--way more than last year as they had so many things to overcompensate for. And despite Phin's request the year previous, hardly any of them had come pre-wrapped. Their work was operated out of the master bedroom this year in order to prevent any sneaky toddler peeking. Once they were all done (and they were about halfway at this point) the presents would be carried out to the tree in the living room. And then, of course, they could eat some of the cookies Penny and Jeth laid out. The cookies were gingerbread that the kids had helped decorate earlier in the evening. They had predictably gone overboard with the frosting, so Bridget was looking forward to taking a bite just as much as Phin was.

( Wrapping presents; continued in comments. )

( Lots of Pandarambles! (super long & continued in comments) )

Bridget came home with a few folded sheets of paper that had been left in the family mailbox. She looked through them with a slight smirk on her face as she walked toward the living room, where Phin was sitting on the couch.

Ever since she and Neil had made plans to move into a new apartment, Layla had been looking forward to hosting some family events there. The first one that came up was Thanksgiving, so this year, instead of going up to the Smith family home in New York, everyone came to Morningstar Manor. Because Neil and Layla only lived a few floors above the Pandigaeshik apartment, there really was no excuse for Phin not to go. Even though no one aside from Bridget or the kids particularly wanted him there, having him stay at home just wasn't an option.

Considering this was the first time Phin had seen Bridget's parents and younger brother since his big secret was revealed, the day didn't progress very smoothly. There were some pretty awkward moments before and during dinner. Luckily the twins functioned as a buffer. Bridget noticed that Phin generally had one within arm's length most of the time. She couldn't exactly blame him. For that.

At least the food was good. After the majority of it was eaten, it was time to clear the table. Neil and Layla had plenty of volunteers to help bring plates into the kitchen; Bridget was one of them.

( Phin surprises Bridget with Chinese takeout, flowers, chocolate covered strawberries and an OnDemand movie while Neil & Layla have taken the twins to watch them for a few hours in the evening so Phin & Bridget can celebrate actually reaching their fifth anniversary. )

Phin was nervous. He had listened to Bridget's suggestion and had readily agreed to try the whole...shrink thing. Initially, he'd been shocked when Bridget suggested (insisted even) that he actually spend his recovery after the hospital at the actual Manor Pandigaeshik apartment. He'd told her initially that she didn't need to do that but had given in because it meant being able to see the kids, and not only that but she seemed more receptive. Part of him hadn't wanted to use that to his advantage but a bigger part was desperate enough to do so. Also, he had been sure that he really had nowhere else to go but his own apartment. Obviously Billie only had a dorm, and his parents wouldn't be very receptive to having him invade their space, and his brothers were both in high school, so.

( Couples therapy. To be continued in comments. )

Bridget held the door for Phin as they exited the doctor's office. She had a small smile on her face, something that hadn't gone away since the doctor confirmed that Phin's sight was back for good.

( Phin regains his sight thanks to a toddler's misbehavior while on a Post-Halloween sugar high. ((Just about completed, story so far)) )

Phin was quite possibly the most uncomfortable he'd ever been in his entire life. He'd spent weeks in the hospital and had multiple surgeries on his leg, on his neck, on his lower back and on his right elbow. He still had to wear the stupid neck brace for another two weeks. The brace on his leg was probably going to be there for another four to five weeks at least. He had two slipped discs repaired in his back and, oh yeah, he was still blind. All of this and, regardless of what Bridget had said when she thought his death was imminent, he was still probably going to wind up going through a divorce once his injuries were suitably healed. He couldn't see his kids, nor their faces as they watched him and his mangled appearance throughout the past couple months.

( To be finished in comments. )

Phin was slowly recovering, but unfortunately that recovery process wasn't at all smooth sailing. His leg, for example, still required more surgeries, the last of which happened on Tuesday afternoon. Bridget took the day off work and left the kids at the Manor daycare so she could be with Phin before he got wheeled off to an OR.

She waited anxiously for them to bring him back out and when he did, she returned to his now familiar room. He was still unconscious, which Bridget really hated. It never failed to make her worry that he would never wake up. He did look pretty peaceful though, more so than when he was awake or fell asleep on his own lately. She watched him for a while, but after a long night of taking care of Penny who thought there was a monster in her closet, Bridget found herself starting to doze off. So she did the questionably logical thing and climbed carefully onto the side of Phin's bed to lean her head on his shoulder and place her hand on his chest. She could lie like that for a little while, close her eyes, and pretend everything was all right and back to normal. If only the heart monitor wasn't beeping.

Visiting hours were almost over. Bridget was going back to work on Monday after taking a week off, so she had stopped by a few hours earlier to spend some time with Phin.

"What else do you want me to bring the next time I come?" she asked, looking down at the little list she'd started writing before they'd been interrupted by a nurse who was checking on Phin's status.

The kids were coming in to visit Phin today. Phin was not happy about this, but it had been over a week since the last time they'd seen him. So Bridget put her foot down and said they had to come by. The kids had been prepped at home that their father wasn't in great shape and Bridget went to the hospital early to prep Phin. Neil would be coming not too long after that with Penny and Jeth in tow.

"It's going to be all right," Bridget assured, frowning down at Phin.

Phin was having a nightmare, caused by the effect the pain medication and constraints were having on his limbs, making them feel heavy and weighed down. He'd started gasping for air and the various heart and blood pressure monitors started going a little haywire and even set off a minor alarm on the heart monitor. He struggled to move but was weighed down by the neck brace, the harness his leg was in, the IV line in one arm, the heart monitor on his finger, the sling his arm was in and the blankets tucked around the rest of his lower half. Oh yeah, and he was constricted from the pain he was in too.

( Phin babbles, Bridget is still worried, yup that about wraps it up. Kinda unfinished for now. )

The doctor and various nurses were speaking quickly about Phin's condition and calling for other doctors as they ushered Phin into an empty room and started working on him, shining lights in his eyes and trying to get answers out of him as they worked around him. Grace kept Bridget in the hall with her even though there was a clear view through the room's windows. "Do you have anyone who can come and stay with you in the waiting room? Anyone at all you want me to call for you?" Grace asked Bridget.

( More Pandadrama. Phin goes in for operations and Bridget worries a lot. )

( Summary: Frustrated Phin keeps a crew on to work at night so he has something to do in his restlessness. There's a collapse at the site that traps Phin under a mountain of debris after sending him falling two stories. Phin's construction partner goes to retrieve Bridget since Phin's asking for her. Panda sappiness ensues. )

The kids were bouncing all over the place. They were always like this when Phin was on his way over, and it still didn't stop being depressing. Bridget tried to distract and exhaust them with a game of crawling tag around the apartment, but as soon as there was a knock at the door, the twins forgot she existed and went dashing for it, shouting about their daddy.

Bridget sighed and moved to her feet to join them. "All right, all right, let me get through so I can actually open the door up." She double-checked through the peephole that the visitor was indeed Phin, and then turned the locks to open the door.

( Did he use the baseball bat? )

( Neil lays a big brotherly smackdown on Phin )