#sevendaysfic

[deebee-lubdub]

Second batch of character designs/aesthetics!

In order of appearances/mentions (From “Seven Days” and “Right Place”)

Florence O’Kearny

Cassandra O’Kearny

Kiya Rani

[deebee-lubdub]

TW: This story contains: Grief, Sad Backstory, Delayed Grief, Bereavement, Recollection of Past Death.

Seven Days - Day Five

Grace’s POV

My eyes slowly open. It’s early morning, and Matthew is pacing around the room, getting dressed into a black suit and tie. I sit up in bed, watching curiously. “Hey, what’s going on? I’ve never seen you dress this formally.”

Matthew stops to look at me, smart shoes in hand. “Ah, I have to meet my aunt and cousin for some family stuff.” He must have noticed my concerned expression, as he followed up “I’ll explain later darling.”

I got out of bed and stretched my limbs, before throwing on his hoodie and a pair of jeans. “I’ll get coffee sorted then.” A quick walk took me downstairs, where I started making drinks for us both.

A knock at the door startled me slightly. I stumbled into the hallway to answer it. Standing at the door was a middle-aged woman in a black dress. Behind her was a girl who looked Matthew’s age, wearing a black pantsuit.

They looked similar to Matthew, so I could only assume that they were the aforementioned aunt and cousin. I gave an awkward smile, I wasn’t quite expecting to meet his family yet. “Ah, sorry, you’re here for Matthew, right?”

“Hey, I’m coming, don’t worry!” I glanced over my shoulder, as Matthew was descending the stairs. He stopped in the hall and made a detour to the kitchen, and returned with a bouquet of flowers; forget-me-nots.

“Good morning Aunt Florence; Hello Cassie. Shall we get going?” His aunt nodded, before speaking with a soft Irish accent, “Yes, let’s go.” She turned to me. “Grace, right? I hope to see you again in the future.”

They made their way to the car, but not before Matthew swiftly kissed my forehead. “I’ll be back in maybe two hours, okay?” I watched as they backed out of the driveway and headed off. I closed the front door, before deciding to lay down on the couch and take a nap.

———— A few hours later ————

I awoke to an arm wrapped loosely around my waist. I glanced up, to see Matthew gazing softly at me. “Mmm, hey, are you okay?” I straightened up and stretched myself out. “How was family stuff?” Matthew bit his bottom lip nervously, his hands were shaking slightly.

This worried me. “Hey, what’s wrong?” Matthew took a deep breath before speaking. “Grace, I... It’s time I told you about my family.” He reached over and pulled out the photo album from the shelf and opened it.

The first page showed a group of med students. The photo was slightly faded, as though it was over 20 years old. Two faces stood out to me, both bearing similar features to Matthew.

Matthew took a moment to look at the photo before breaking the silence. “This was how my parents met. Their names were Oscar Phillips and Beatrice O’Kearny. They studied together at Trinity College in Ireland, and later fell in love.”

He turned the page, revealing a two page spread dotted with couple photos, graduation photos, and wedding photos. “They eventually got married after graduating their courses. Mum went into nursing and worked in a doctors office; she just had this unwavering compassion for people. My dad, however, had ambitiously set his sights on becoming a cardiologist in a hospital.”

The page was turned once again, revealing a spread of ultrasound photos, in a chronological timeline, with handwritten notes scrawled around the images, some of them were baby names, scratched out, except one; Matthew.

Another timeline of ultrasounds ran parallel beneath, but with different handwriting for the notes. ‘Cassandra’ was the name left untouched by scritches. A photo of two pregnant women, identical in every way, sat to the side of the ultrasounds. A small sketch of two hands engaged in a pinky promise was below the photograph.

Matthew pointed to the photo of the two women. “That was my mother and aunt, they were identical twin sisters. Aunt Florence fell pregnant from a one night stand shortly after my mum fell pregnant with me. They supported eachother through it all.”

Another page turned, and there was a collage of photos, all containing two young children, who looked similar in the younger photos, but started to deviate in physical appearance towards the teenage years. Some of the photos also contained Matthew’s parents and aunt. “We were raised together, Cassie and I. Enrolled in the same primary and secondary schools. She was my best friend growing up.”

Matthew took a moment to brace himself before turning the page. There was an Order of Service and a news article clipping. I glanced at the headline ‘Married couple killed in driving collision’. The Order of Service had two photos; one of each parent. Below were a list of things they achieved as well as a brief background.

“When I was 14, they... They went out for a drive late at night, and it was raining heavily on their way back home. Something caused them to swerve, because they lost control of the car... and h-hit a tree.” Matthew’s face was swamped with tears. I pulled him close. “Oh no... Matthew, I’m so sorry”.

The tears and sobs kept coming. “F-Florence took me in... I t-tried my best t-to stay strong for Fl-Florence and Cassie. I distracted my-... myself with my career prospects . M-Maybe everything would be okay if I w-worked hard to be a doctor, a-a cardiologist even, like my dad.”

I ran a hand through his hair. “Oh baby...You’ve been so caught up in trying to make your parents proud that you’ve never had a chance to grieve properly, have you?.” Matthew looked like he had a moment of realisation. “N-No, I don’t think I have...” The tears came thick and fast as he buried his head in my shoulders.

“I-It’s been... 10 years today... Why does it still fucking hurt so much?!” I pulled him closer. He tensed up. I could feel his heartbeat thundering against my own chest. “Y-You probably think I’m weak...”

I rubbed his back slowly. “Shhh, you’re not weak, you’re grieving, it’s okay... I don’t think you’re weak for showing vulnerability. You can’t be strong all the time.”

I gently picked up the photo album and flicked to the next page, which featured two handprints, identical to the ones on Matthew’s back. Each handprint had the name of the corresponding parent underneath. A photo of a teenage Matthew and his parents also sat on the page. Oscar had his hand on the left shoulder, while Beatrice gently touched Matthew’s right shoulder. So that explained the tattoos...

I turned to the next page, which was blank. I showed it to Matthew. “Their story isn’t over just yet. They may be gone, but you’re still here, and you’re going to make them so proud. You’re following in their footsteps, you want to live up to the legacy they left behind. You’ll add your own pages in this book someday.”

A small sniffle came from Matthew. “Th-Thank you Grace, that means a lot to me. I’m so glad that I have you in my life.” I dried his tears with a gentle thump swept along his cheek. “There we go, all better?”

Matthew nodded. “All better.”

Next Chapter

[deebee-lubdub]

TW: This story contains the following; Panic attack, Trauma-Based Nightmares, Medical Aid, Mentions of Past Medical History, Lots of Hurt/Comfort, Stething

Seven Days - Day Four

Grace’s POV

THUD!

I was jolted awake by the sudden commotion. The sheets were pulled halfway off of the the bed, and Matthew was missing from his usual place next to me. I heard quiet, strained gasps coming from the floor.

I leaned over to Matthew’s side of the bed, and there he was. He was struggling to breathe normally, as tears streamed down his face. Fuck! I scrambled to get the ambu-bag and his Sprague before arriving at his side.

“Hey, shhhh, I’m here.” I pulled the strap over the back of his head and secured the bag over his airway. I slowly squeezed, trying to force his breathing to regulate. He fought my efforts, attempting to shake his body free of my hands.

I straddled him, and pressed a palm against his chest. His heart was bucking hard against my hand. I slipped the eartips of the Sprague in and let the diaphragm touch his chest through his T-shirt, just to be sure.

BA-DMP BA-DMP BA-DMP BA-DMP

Fuck, his heart was almost pounding out of his chest. I touched his cheek gently. “Hey, Matthew. It’s me, Grace.” I slowly squeezed the bag again, introducing fresh oxygen into his lungs. “Just let me breathe for you... Nice and easy... There’s a good boy.”

His breathing started to settle as calmness washed over him. I could hear his heart still racing, and I was confused until I shuffled my hips carefully, and accidentally rubbed against a solid mass. Matthew had a hard on.

I glanced at his face, which had become flushed red. He slowly sat up and reached for his glasses from the nightstand. He removed the ambu-bag and set it in his lap, refusing to meet my gaze. “I-I’m sorry Grace...”

I pulled him close “Hey, you did nothing wrong. Lemme give you a check over, I’m really worried about you.” Matthew looked up at me, biting his bottom lip nervously, “A-Ah...Sure.” He quickly removed his T-shirt and lay back down, closing his eyes.

My eyes skimmed his chest from top to bottom. A visibly pale scar ran down the length of his sternum, indicating that he once went under the knife at some earlier point in his life. I trailed a finger down his scar, causing him to let out a soft whimper.

“Hey, what’s this from? Are you okay?” My voice was barely above a whisper, as if I was afraid of making him even more nervous. Matthew swallowed before looking up at me. He looked somewhat ashamed.

“I... I had a bad heart during my second year of University. I suffered a sudden cardiac arrest during a lecture and they... They had to perform open heart surgery to fix the problem after I was resuscitated. I feel so fucking awful for never telling you this. Especially since we both like hearts and yet mine is so faulty.”

I wiped away tears that were brimming in the corners of my eyes. “M-Matthew, you shouldn’t feel that way. I don’t think your heart is faulty, I’ve heard it a few times now, and it sounds good to me.”

I returned the stethoscope to his chest and listened to his heart again. It was still a bit thumpy, but had slowed down a small amount. “Just as I said, absolutely fine.” Matthew was breathing heavily, and I saw relief and the slightest hint of lust in his eyes.

He sat up. “Ah, uh... Do you want to check my lungs too?” I moved around to his now bare back, where I was met with an unexpected detail. On his left shoulder blade was a large tattooed handprint, curved around like a comforting platonic touch on his body. Another handprint adorned his right shoulder blade, although it was smaller and more slender in the fingers.

I chose not to say anything in this moment, maybe I’d ask later. I focused on listening to his breathing. It sounded a lot better than before. I pulled the blanket off fully from the bed and wrapped it around us both.

“So, Matthew, what happened here? I have never seen you act like this.” He leaned into me, with his head on my shoulder. “I... I had a nightmare, it involved a fatal car crash. I get this recurring nightmare occasionally, but it was different this time. You were in it and you... You...” His tears streamed onto my skin.

I nudged his body closer to me, tracing fingers up and down his spine. “Hey, I’m here, I’m okay.” I took the Sprague and inserted the tips into his ears, before pressing the chest piece to my heart. Matthew let out a small relieved gasp, before sobbing quietly. “I-I’m sorry that I’m like this...”

I planted a kiss on his forehead. “Shh, it’s okay...” I pulled him closer and laid back down with him on the floor. We lay in silence for a few minutes. I would have let this continue for hours, but I had a burning question to ask him.

“Matthew? Um... Earlier, when I was bagging you, I noticed that you were h-hard” Matthew’s face became warm as he hid his face in the crook of my neck. “Fuck... I... I usually use that ambu-bag and Sprague during my ‘alone time’. You were only trying to help me, you couldn’t have known.”

My hand found his hair, and I slowly traced circles against his scalp. “It’s okay, I’m not weirded out. That’s mild in comparison to the spicy shit we’ve done.” Matthew’s grip tightened on me, his face getting slightly warmer again.

I thought about the handprints on his back. “Matthew? C-Can I ask about your tattoos?” He froze. “Grace...I don’t really want to talk about that today... I’m kinda emotionally drained, maybe tomorrow?”

I was met with a pang of guilt. Shit, did I try to push past his boundaries again? I rubbed his back comfortingly. “I’m so sorry... How about we just take it easy today? We’ll just lounge about the house if that’s what you need.”

Matthew was quiet for a moment, before he moved his head to lay on my chest. “Thank you Grace”.

Next Chapter

[deebee-lubdub]

Character Aesthetics!

Will be updated whenever I add new characters!

Matthew:

Grace:

Their relationship dynamic:

[deebee-lubdub]

Cardiophilia fic masterlist

I’m pinning this post so anyone can easily find my works as I frequently update the chapters and post more stuff to my blog

Tidbits (Posts containing canon info)

One Small Favour (TW: Dark Cardiophilia)

Prologue | Chapter 1 | Chapter 1.5 | Chapter 2 |

Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 |

Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Finale

A Second Date (TW: Dark Cardiophilia)

Prologue | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3

Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 |

Finale

Seven Days (TW: Sexual Scenarios)

Prologue | Day One | Day Two | Day Three |

Day Four | Day Five | Day Six | Day Seven/Finale

Right Place (Matthew’s Prequel to One Small Favour)

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3

Submission - Soft Dom Matthew oneshot

Control - Matthew x Grace smutty cardiophilia

Their Pleasure - A Kiya x Cassandra drabble

Her Pleasure - Grace’s cardiophile fantasy

His Pleasure - Matthew has a self-resus roleplay

10 Weeks

Part 1 | Part 2

Fever - Oneshot

Halloween Party | Afterparty

Drowned

Not Safe (For The) Workplace

Two Hearts Together

Am I Still The Guy You Dream Of?

My Favourite Patient ——> Voiced by the lovely Andmybodytosurgeons here, go check it out, it’s AMAZING

My Favourite Patient- Chapter 2

Writing Prompts

HeartBeatPrompts - 15 & 35 | 13, 19, 22 & 28

6 & 28 | 10 & 23 | 10, 15 & 19 | 18