Discover Top Posts Tagged with #dan aykroyd

Aug 4

Adjustments - Part 8 (Saturday Night 2024)

RATING: Mature

SUMMARY: Danny follows through in helping Kara out

CONTENT WARNING: This chapter contains ongoing discussion of abortion and pregnancy. If these are not topics you feel comfortable with reading, please wait for part 9.

DISCLAIMER: This is a work of fiction based on the film Saturday Night (2024). This is not intended to be an accurate representation of the real-life people the film was based on.

The next morning rolled around, and with it Kara's anxiety grew to new heights. Her stomach churned uncomfortably as she dressed herself in a sweat shirt and trousers and fixed her hair into one long braid. She figured she wouldn't feel like doing much other than resting after the procedure, so dressing up in more presentable clothing wasn't worth the hassle.

Danny rang the buzzer when he arrived. Kara quickly bounded the stairs after locking the door, and came face to face with Danny as she exited the apartment building.

He stood with folded arms and a concerned expression; “I'm not late, am I?”

She had told him she would need him to pick her up at 9:30, even though her appointment was at 10:00. That was more advice from the pamphlet, which directed her to show up 20 minutes in advance of her appointment time. When she checked the clock before leaving, it was 9:39. But hopefully being a few minutes off wouldn't matter much.

She shook her head, “No, this is a good time.”

Without further discussion, she followed him to his motorcycle and off they went to the clinic.

They arrived at the clinic building on 5th Avenue. It was a clean-looking building, much better kept than some of the buildings in Manhattan. Danny took a moment to gawk at it, before escorting Kara in with a hand on the small of her back.

They were greeted by a receptionist, who gave Kara a form to fill out while they waited. They took a seat together, and Kara began to look over the questions.

It began with the usual suspects; name, date of birth, address. It went onto more complicated questions, such as; ‘First day of last menses’. Kara consciously turned the clipboard her form lay on away from Danny as she filled out that part.

Once she finished, she returned it to the receptionist and sat back down beside Danny in the maroon upholstered chairs. They sat together in silence, Danny looking down at his lap as he twiddled his thumbs. Kara took in the room; the walls were painted this salmon shade of pink that she found horrendous. That came in contrast to the white tiled floors, which glimmered under the harsh lighting, as if to show off that they were recently cleaned. The waiting room that sat in itself was quite empty. There were three chairs in a row where she and Danny sat, and three in a row opposite to them on the other wall. They were the only two in the room; save for the receptionist sitting a few feet away at her desk. And yet, the sterile environment was making Kara claustrophobic.

Anxiety clawed at her throat as she continued to wait, cursing the loud ticking sound of the clock over their heads. She swallowed, misguidedly attempting to clear her throat from the tightness. It did nothing to help, instead making the feeling of her throat closing up all the more apparent. She steadied her breathing, placing her right hand on her thigh and squeezing lightly to brace herself. That did something; her heartbeat slowed at the very least enough for her to stop feeling as though she was about to drop dead in a waiting room.

“Kara Keaton?” A woman’s voice called.

Kara looked up to realize it was a nurse, clad in a similar pink to the walls. She had stepped out from behind the double doors that led to the patient rooms. She looked about middle aged, with wrinkles forming around the smile she offered Kara.

She stood quickly, but made no move towards the nurse. Instead she felt frozen in place.

The nurse looked at her expectantly for a moment, before her expression shifted to something like understanding. She took a few more steps towards Kara, reaching out to place a hand gently on her left forearm.

“We're ready for you, Miss Keaton.” She said kindly, nodding her head as if to coerce a ‘yes’ out of Kara.

“Right.” Kara agreed without thinking about it.

After another second passed and she stayed frozen in place, the nurse turned her head to acknowledge Danny. He sat still in his seat, looking up at the two before him.

“Is this your boyfriend? He can come back with us, if you would prefer.” The nurse offered.

“No.” Kara answered firmly. Too firm, receiving a startled look from the nurse in front of her, who slowly pulled her hand away from Kara.

“He isn't my boyfriend, he uh-” Kara glanced back at Danny, who was looking back at her with furrowed eyebrows.

“I'm her support person.” Danny chimed in to assist her.

Kara nodded slowly, not pulling her eyes away from Danny. He held her stare.

“I can go with you, if you would prefer.” He suggested quietly, speaking only to her.

She wanted to say yes. She desired nothing more than to have a familiar face to hold her hand as she went back with the nurse. But she wasn't a child, and asking that of Danny would be embarrassing. She didn't even know what she was so afraid of.

“No, I'm alright.” She forced a fake smile onto her face, then turned back to her nurse.

“I'm ready.” She told her, letting her lead the way to the back.

She took one last look at Danny as they left the room, before the double doors closed behind her. He was still looking at her with the same concerned expression. It burned itself into her memory as she was ushered into the preparations.

She remembered being led to a frigid room to change out of her clothes and into a paper-thin hospital gown. Then she remembered being taken to another room and positioned into stirrups. They put a mask over her face and told her to take deep breaths. Her eyelids began to feel heavy, and drifted closed against her own will. As her eyes were confronted with the dark of her inner eyelids, the last image her brain could conjure up was Danny's face as she left the waiting room.

When she awoke again she was in a different room, laying in a bed. A nurse she didn't remember seeing before with blonde hair stood at the end of her bed, giving her a big, grimacing smile with a mouth full of braces.

“Well, welcome back!” She greeted Kara in a chipper tone.

Kara wanted to say something witty in return about how unnatural her attitude was for the situation, but she found her brain painfully lacking in its ability to conjure such lines. She instead managed to contort her face into a curled-nose look of disgust, and groaned a noise to match.

“Looks like we have a grumpy Gussie!” The nurse giggled, fiddling with the blanket around Kara's feet.

Kara groaned again, wishing she'd be quiet instead.

“Now, no need for that! Your beau is coming in to see you.”

Kara turned her head to the left, finding nothing but an empty wall. She turned her head to the right, and there she found an open door with a figure in the doorway. In stepped a tall man with dark hair and eyes and a thick, dark mustache to match. He was smiling at Kara in a way that made the apple of his cheeks push up and form a crinkle around his eyes. It was a really nice smile. Contagious even, as a matching smile overtook her own lips. She forgot about what great effort it had previously taken to move her face even in the most miniscule of ways.

It was Danny. Right, Danny. The last look of him she saw before she was put under flashed before her mind's eye again. He had waited for her, and now he was here to pick her up.

“Miss Keaton is still under the influence of the sedatives we gave her. But she should be ready to leave very soon. Just keep an eye on her, don't let her operate any heavy machinery!” The nurse broke into a snorting giggle at her own joke as she filled Danny in.

“Sure thing.” He agreed, stepping past the nurse as she left the room. He came to Kara's right bedside.

“How ya feeling, Kit?”

Kara managed to speak this time, answering; “Like I just gave birth.”

She curled her nose, remembering that she did give birth. In a sense.

“They said I can break you out of here once your legs start working again.” Danny informed her. He turned away from her head, towards the bed.

He reached out a hand and tapped on her right leg. The touch made her jolt in surprise, pulling her knees in. The movement caused a deep, uncomfortable ache in her pelvis. She grimaced in response, biting back the need to groan.

“I'm sorry.” Danny visibly cringed at her reaction, apparently sensing he'd gone too far.

“It's okay.” Kara mumbled out through clenched teeth.

She stretched her legs back out, letting her body adjust to the soreness and breathing through the ache as it faded.

“I just have to get dressed.” She turned her head to regard Danny with a fake smile.

He hesitated, standing in place while Kara looked at him expectantly.

“If you don't mind…” She said awkwardly, reminding him that she was in fact naked under her hospital gown.

“Oh, right.” He realized with wide eyes. He retreated for the door, mumbling uncomfortably about how he'd be waiting outside for her.

She pulled herself out of the bed, letting her sock-clad feet touch the floor. She could feel how cold the tile was even through the thick hospital socks. Her clothing had been nicely folded on a chair in the room, right where she'd left them. She fished her underwear out from the pile, tucked in between her trousers and sweater where she'd reasoned they would be safe from any prying eyes. Why she was so concerned about people seeing her underwear when she was going to be naked for the procedure anyway, she couldn't say. It was a deeply ingrained sense of shame, something that seemed more human instinct than rational thought.

After dressing, she slipped back into her shoes and went to the door to meet Danny again. He was leaning back against the wall opposite Kara's room. His head was lowered and his eyes trained on the floor, but he slowly looked up when Kara opened the door.

He smiled softly again, “Hey.”

“Ready.” Kara spoke plainly, more than eager to get out of the clinic.

As they left and checked in with the nurse who went over the long list of potential complications to look out for as well as normal after-procedure symptoms, Kara felt like she was in a daze. Perhaps it was the lasting effects of her anesthetic, which had gone from a debilitating haziness into a somewhat manageable fatigue in the past few minutes. Or it was the somber feeling that had suddenly overtaken her with the realization that this whole ordeal would be finished as soon as they exited the building.

It felt surreal to think that all of the stress and anxiety had built to something so inconsequential. Her body felt achy and tired for now, but that would soon fade as she recovered. And then what would she be left with from the situation? Well, nothing. That was the point, after all, of the decision she had made. But it still felt bittersweet in a way. She had undergone something that made her body feel different than before. She liked to think she had come to know her own body in her 19 years of life, and in just the past few weeks it had started behaving in ways alien to her. It had changed her forever. And now it was done, just like that.

When they reached the front door, Danny led her into the street instead of towards the parking garage. She was so lost in her thoughts, she didn’t even realize until they were halfway up the street. She turned to him, a confused look on her face. Glancing down at her, he seemingly knew what she was thinking without her needing to voice it.

“We’ll take a cab. I’m not putting you on a bike after all that.” He explained, raising his hand as they approached a corner and saw a yellow taxi approaching.

The wind whipped the loose strands framing her face around. She crossed her arms in front of herself, starting to catch a chill from the January air.

“Excuse me.” A voice interrupted Kara's focus on Danny and his attempt to hail a cab.

She stepped backwards as a young woman with curly hair pushed a stroller through the sidewalk she was previously blocking. In the stroller, tucked into a nest of blankets, a cherubic baby's face peered out at Kara with big brown eyes. The baby had its head turned, and its eyes stayed locked on Kara's solitary figure even as the stroller moved by.

The sudden appearance of an (almost stereotypically) beautiful baby struck Kara with an indescribable mixture of grief and guilt. Her breath caught in her throat, and her eyes began to sting as if she was about to cry. The tears didn't immediately flow, fortunately, as Danny called her attention back to him.

“C'mon, let's get you home.” Danny wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her in tightly to his side.

She was soothed by the sudden warmth of his presence. Without even thinking about it, she sucked in a breath through her nose, filling her nostrils with the familiar smell of cigarettes and pine that came from Danny. He ushered her into a cab, closing the door behind her before he got in on the other side.

They arrived back at her apartment, stepping back onto the street. Kara paused, having expected Danny to stay in the cab. She turned towards him, ready to relieve him of his caretaking duties.

“Thanks for getting me home.” She smiled at him, though it didn’t reach her eyes.

“You aren't home yet, let's get you upstairs.” Danny retorted, gesturing for her to move towards the apartment building behind them.

She obediently followed, walking up to the building and opening it with her key. She opened the door and stopped short of entering, instead jamming her right foot against it to prop it open. She turned to face Danny who stood slightly behind her, over her left shoulder.

“Thanks for your help, you can head out now.”

He shook his head, “Can't get rid of me that easily.”

Kara's feigned smile dropped, a frown replacing it.

“Besides,” Danny patted his right hand over the left breast pocket of his plaid button up jacket, “I brought you a little something.”

Kara's eyebrows raised in surprise. “A gift?”

Danny nodded, “Something of the sort.”

“Are you gonna make me guess what it is?”

Danny nodded again, “Give me one guess at least.” He held up his right pointer figure to indicate ‘1’.

Kara bit her lip in thought for a moment. Whatever it was, it was small. And it wasn't a proper gift, according to his words.

“A cigarette?” She guessed, imagining the thin outline in his pocket.

“Close enough.” Said Danny, reaching into his pocket. He pulled out a long, thin joint.

Kara's eyes widened, “You brought dope into the abortion clinic.”

“Shhh.” Danny raised his left hand to his mouth to silence her, glancing around suspiciously between the quiet street behind them and the echoing entryway of the building.

“I can't believe you did that.” Kara shook her head in disbelief, a few chuckles escaping despite herself.

“I figured you'd need it.” Danny finally crossed the threshold, stepping past her and into the building.

Kara followed, letting the door close behind them as they approached the elevator.

“I'm fairly sure they told me not to get high immediately after waking up from anesthesia.” She quipped, stepping onto the elevator with him.

“Nah, all they said was no smoking or drinking.” Danny shook his head, facing the door of the elevator.

Kara looked up at his taller figure, “I think smoking covers that.”

“No way.” Danny turned to frown at her. He held the joint in her face, inches from her nose. “This is different. It's medicinal”

Kara went crosseyed focusing on the joint in front of her, but she relented. She had to admit, smoking sounded really good right now. And what could the harm be anyway? It wasn't nearly as harsh for her body. It was probably better for her than whatever they gave her to make her sleep through the procedure.

“Alright.” She agreed.

When they entered the apartment, Kara quickly made for the fire escape with Danny on her heels. She wasn't going to hot box her entire building. He seemingly knew the drill, following her out of the living room window and onto the flimsy metal structure.

Kara perched herself in the corner of the small balcony-like structure. She knelt down, leaning back on her heels. Danny sat opposite to her, his back against the window and legs dangling over the side where the ladder connected down to the next apartment.

They passed the joint back and forth until it burnt out, hardly speaking a word to each other the entire time.

As she sucked in a breath, the warmth of it spread from her mouth, to her lungs, and then to the rest of her body. Her head swam, and if she had any ability to focus right now, surely she'd be concerned about falling. But that anxious thought floated past her, along with every other concern.

“So where are you from?” Danny regarded her with squinted eyes. She wasn't sure if that was a side-effect from the weed.

She locked her eyes on the joint between her fingertips, withering at the tip as it turned into ashes. She went crosseyed as she pulled it in for another drag.

“Cal-if-ornia” She dragged it out, enjoying the feeling of her tongue rolling against the roof of her mouth.

Weed always had a way of amplifying the simple pleasures of living. All the textures and smells and sounds that normally Kara drowned out as she carried on from one concern to the next. When she was high, she could just enjoy each moment. It was freeing. She understood exactly why most of the writers in Studio 8H relied on the shit to get out of bed in the morning.

“Yeah, I can see that.” Danny agreed.

He continued to study her, she noticed as she handed the joint over. He was nodding, as if he was telling her where she was born. He grabbed the joint with an eager energy, quickly returning it between his lips. He reminded her of a dog, she realized. A young Labrador, with his big, kind eyes. Always staring at her expectantly, waiting for her to tell him what he should do next. She supposed it wasn't a very flattering comparison, so she decided to keep it to herself.

Now, equipped with a pleasant buzz that warmed her body and made the discomfort fade into background noise, Kara followed Danny back inside.

She turned on the TV, while Danny sat down on the couch behind her. She joined him, sitting by his side as a commercial for alka seltzer came to an end and the familiar face of Richie Cunningham flickered onto the screen.

She sighed, settling into the couch. “I've seen this one.”

On screen, Richie and Mr Cunningham took the car to get fixed by Fonzie. It was the Christmas episode from the year before. Next up, Fonzie would lie about having plans for the holidays and get caught by Richie, who would invite him to his family's Christmas.

“Me too.” Danny agreed.

As the episode droned on, Kara's eyelids began to feel heavy. Exhaustion was quickly overtaking her senses. She attempted to settle into the couch better, letting her head rest against the back. But the moment she relaxed into it, her head began to slouch down, and she had to sit up to avoid toppling over.

“C'mere.” Said Danny, throwing his arm around the back of the couch, and inviting Kara into an embrace.

Too tired and too high to resist, she lay her head down in his lap. She was turned so she could still see the TV, with her knees tucked in to fit comfortably on the couch.

Now too warm and comfortable to resist, sleep came quickly for her.

#saturday night 2024 #dan aykroyd #adjustments #fanfic #adjustments fic #snl fanfic

aiming-low