DR. TOBIAS WEXLEY JR.

[sadavang]

"Water? Really, Tobias? Can't even humor me and have a touch of liquor. Don't be a scrooge, it is your family's party after all." Despite the deadpan quality of her expression, there was a hint of humor behind her tone that only others like themselves would probably pick up on.

"It's remarkably quiet. Last week was the opposite, but for now I'm taking the no news is good news route." As long as her phone stayed quiet she might manage to enjoy the night at least a tiny bit. It was a bit of a relief to be off the clock. "I saw Margaret earlier. She looks well. Seems whatever you're doing with her is working."

[tobiaswexley]

"Someone will make up the difference." Someone. Someone could have meant anyone. It could have meant Sada herself. It could have meant someone who hadn't even arrived yet. It could have been neither. It might have been his family's party, but there was one member of it that could siphon all of it for herself. Nameless. Eyes had already taken note of the shots surrounding her and her clique, but long before now. Tobias was satisfied with the water. Simple as that.

"We've made progress," he agreed, tone reserving its neutrality. Margaret was testing well. No incidents. Levels maintained. Sada didn't need to know anything more than that; he saw no reason to divulge anything more than the generic. What business they shared was a different matter to discuss.

"What's the status with Vanessa?" he asked. "She missed her follow-up."

[rioreeve]

Actually, he had been in therapy before, nothing one should be ashamed of. In the past, there had been moments when he didn't know how to deal with his parents' fame taking a toll on his own life, whether he would meet his expectations, despite him already attending all the classes they had planned for him... And then even more things he had learned about himself convinced him therapy was a good idea. For now... Despite a few minor details, life seemed pretty balanced and no bloodthirsty creatures could ruin that for him. Or could they? "No need to waste your time on meaningless rambling, then," he replied, shaking his head. Nothing he would say would have anything to do with the wound anyway. Maybe he could flirt a bit, test the waters – there was something so cheap and straight-up ridiculous about flirting with a handsome doctor cliche and yet there it was – but it wasn't the best moment for that either. "I'll be fine," he added for good measure. "Let's focus on the wound. Wanna see it?"

[tobiaswexley]

For a moment, he sifted through Zach's words, looking for anything useful, anything alarming. Nothing. His speech appeared normal. No slurring. No lack of focus. No behavioral shift. For what he knew from him in the past, he passed for normal. Before the doctor stood up again, a nod was given, a short and unspoken yes to the question.

"Take off your shift," he instructed, back turned briefly while a pair of gloves stretched over his hands. "Have you experienced any increase in pain, itchiness, irritation?"

[ashton-ryder]

"That time was given out of my knowledge nor consent, so," Ashton chuckled, shrugging with his one good shoulder for now, muttering a thanks for letting him in despite the later hours of the day. Ashton shook his head as he stepped in though, going back into the serious matter at hand. "No, we sustained no other injuries on the run, just ended our 24 hour quarantine so no other adverse side effects so far since return."

He stood around, following Tobias' lead in awaiting for orders on where to go, whatever he needed to do to get his shoulder fixed. "Over the last 24 hours, I've iced it and took some over the counter anti-inflammation pills, so the swellings gone down, but at impact my arm went numb for a solid minute, so I probably hit that nerve again." Ashton recounted any important information that could be useful, as if a seasoned visitor to the medical team from every mission.

[tobiaswexley]

"A DNR is not difficult to fill out," he reminded, as dry as the statement before it, closing the door behind the both of them. "24 hours is not a guarantee against most diseases," he added, gesturing to a chair that could easily be sanitized later. Margaret wasn't allowed in this area for a reason, but disinfecting it remained priority from patient-to-patient regardless. Some common practices couldn't be afforded to be missed, and that included the amount of gloves he was managing to go through.

"There was no break to the skin?" he finally asked, as he approached him again. His hand rested on the shoulder in question, pushing over the sleeve to get a better look at the bones' placement. The swelling may have been lowered by the ice, but it still bloated the bruised skin. "Any loss of feeling to your hand?"

[tobiaswexley]

@ivyemerscn

[tobiaswexley]

@rhianwells asked 🍕 for a moodboard about my muse’s favorite foods

[ivyemerscn]

"that's not the polite response." even if he's right, and given the potential people who could be stumbling over the the elevator to make it to their apartments, this would just happen to be her luck. she didn't plan it, that doesn't mean it hasn't happened. "merry christmas to you as well, ivy."

the silence ticks, two exhausted people stand quietly. there's many things that could be said in this scenario, but only one finds its way out of her mouth. "early, what's a couple of days." he'd prefer it to late, that much had always been imperative to keep in mind. "i was supposed to be in air to sweden on christmas eve, so much for planned."

[tobiaswexley]

He's unfazed. Mockery falling from her lips evaporates to nothing more than casual conversation by the time it reaches his ears. "It's not Christmas," he replies. Again. No exasperation; not on his side. She can keep it as reminder. The man of logic. The man of few words. The man of dry humor when his surface is scratched by her nails.

The coffee is bitter for a reason. It's not that he likes the taste. It does its job like the surgeon himself. Keeps him awake. Keeps him sharp, for better or for worse. It's similar to Ivy. Another sip goes down, hot drip down the esophagus to give another jolt of caffeine to his bloodstream.

"You still have two days," he tells her, another look, another sip. He doesn't ask why Sweden. He doesn't ask about the party here at the Wexley. He asks nothing at all except what does matter. "Any complications from your back?"

[emberwexley]

"Someone? What were we supposed to do let it chew our faces off?" He hadn't seen the carnage in the diner, and so he didn't know. It only hit her harder how much more detached they were up there. Maybe she'd move to one of the lower suites.

Turning back to him as he spoke her name, there wasn't even time for a response as the dart hit her shoulder with enough impact to knock her back a step or two. Gaping at him in utter disbelief as it sunk in what she was looking at, her jaw felt heavy as she spoke at him with incredulity. "You fucking shot me?"

Hands lifting with a sluggishness that gave away just how much it felt like she was moving through air thick as water, she barely managed to touch the place where it'd pierced her before the world started to swim. "Assh-" But there was no finishing the words as the world started to close in around her and then all at once darkness came and she went crumpling to the floor.

[tobiaswexley]

"Tranquilized," he corrected her, the word shot rotting in his ears as he began to move closer to her. Between the two of them, he was far away from being a killer; between the two of them, he was the only one to understand what it took to save someone, even if the choice was difficult to pull the trigger on. "It's for the best." The gun rested back against the table while he continued to move. "For everyone."

It would barely take another minute for her to collapse. The dose had been lowered, but it would remain fast-acting. Side effects could include respiratory paralysis, hypotension, coma, among others. Calculated risks that Tobias wouldn't allow to happen, but were nonetheless better than what alternative she'd bring to them. Ember Wexley, his sister, history of substance abuse, being caught by him as her muscles weakened.

It wouldn't take long before she'd wake up in her bed, freshly washed, in a new set of clothes than the ones she came in with.

"You could have prevented this."

Another mess made by her hand and cleaned up by his, assured only of the thanklessness that would follow.

[ivyemerscn]

december twenty-second, after midnight - the lobby

her flight had taken an extra two hours getting into jfk, leaving her stranded in the snowy christmas eve traffic which left most people cursing the name of the holiday. she'd have preferred to stay at the airport and catch the next red-eye out of the city but the gate agent had assured her no one was leaving the city for a day or two regardless of want.

so, she was standing at the wexley main elevator, pressing the up button. snow melting on hair and coat, bottle of wine waiting for her upstairs, the cure for getting through the holiday season. someone else approached, and she spoke without turning her head, the sliver of propriety before actually acknowledging the person, "merry christmas."

[tobiaswexley]

They were used to snow. Tobias was used to 18-hour shifts. Combine the two of them together and the snow stretches into near-fatal accidents; 18 hours stretches into 20; near-fatal turns into near-miracle when they overlap. During this time of the year, miracles seem plentiful instead of decades worth of dedication, but the result is the same. If he's able to bring life back to a person, a higher power just happened to be located in an operating room, capable of performing an aortic dissection repair. Just because the elevator was going up, didn't mean he was one with the angels, certainly with the company beside him.

"You're three days early." The black coffee in his hand was still hot from Rosie's Diner, warm to the touch as he looked down from the floor numbers to the woman herself. "I know better than to think this was planned."

[rioreeve]

More often than not, when one wanted to self-check and be in control, they would only start finding more symptoms. Does my heart always beat like that, do my hands always feel like this. Zach didn't feel anything unusual, the itchy feeling as the wound started to heal wasn't worrying him either and seemed normal. He sat there, following instructions and not overthinking anything.

Until a set of more difficult questions was presented, that is. Because now he wished he had kept the joke to himself, if that even was a joke. "It's the outbreak, I'm getting used to what's normal for others, that's all. I like being a private person," he said after a moment. Zach stopped right there and clasped his hands on his lap, taking a deep breath as he pondered over the last question. "Nothing that isn't... personal." He arched a brow, another half-serious comment almost ready to be served. "Unless you're that kinda doctor, too."

[tobiaswexley]

"A psychiatrist?" he stitched Zach's words with his own, suturing the meaning together. "No." It was never a field of medicine he had shown interest in. Neurology was the closest, but there was a difference between mapping the effects of neurotransmitters and untangling emotions. There was nothing tangible to memories and their affects on the consciousness, and therefore there was nothing to fix, not for him. "What you tell me could be relevant," he offered, eyes meeting eyes directly. "It's up to you. Otherwise, we'll move on."

[ashton-ryder]

// int. tobias' apartment - early evening. 22nd Nov. @tobiaswexley

The last 24-hour quarantine was honestly harder than the others, mostly because of the flaring pain in his left shoulder, the gift from their trip to the docks that keeps on giving. Ashton had genuinely thought about breaking protocol to go see Tobias, but he managed to get through most of it by icing the swelling down and taking pain killers to sleep and pass the time. It wasn't as bad as the first traumatic time at least, so Ash was confident no new surgeries were required, no thank you, not under these dire situations. But still, he knew he needed it checked if it was popped back into place right, get it braced and get the right meds. So the moment he could leave, the first place he headed to was Tobias' doorstep, good thing his legs still worked going up those flights of stairs.

He knocked on the door and when it pulled open, Ashton just managed a tired half-assed smile to greet the doctor, even in pain, he couldn't help but crack an old joke from when they first met under the knife, "hey, so uh.. I'd like a refund on that shoulder surgery," Ashton didn't commit to the bit for that long, knowing the man opposite him wasn't one for jokes, down to business, "dislocated again when we went to the ship, first time since the injury."

[tobiaswexley]

Tobias' head angled just off center, barely a tilt, a movement that was propelled from an ill-landing joke. His eyes shifted from the patient's face to the shoulder the moment it was mentioned, as if an x-ray could be performed right as he stood. The way Ashton's shirt jutted out at the wrong place, a corner forming where a curve should have been at the start of the sleeve, confirmed what he had already been told.

"You owe me a refund on my time," he returned to him finally before stepping to the side, letting the door open wide enough for him to enter. "Are there any other injuries?"

[contigencyplan]

The bottle she'd gingerly transported from the diner slipped from her fingers almost without notice as he took it. Every joint in her right hand moved like rusted hinges, forced to flex, but exhausted from use. The edge of the metal napkin holder she clutched so tightly an hour ago marked an indent across her palm now, but a bruise would form later.

"I -- I don't know. Close enough? But not close enough?" The answer to his question came out confusing without context. "This isn't mine," she gestured at the blood splattered across her clothes in a second attempt. "It was... Courtney bit Mari and I . . . she would've bitten the rest of us if I hadn't --" Rosie pressed her hands to her face and swallowed thickly. An attempt at a sigh to calm herself exhaled staggered with tears.

"But I wasn't bitten." Charlie kindly checked her over while they sat in the storage room. "This should be normal by now, I mean . . . shouldn't it be normal? You see people pass away at the hospital all the time. I should be used to it all, but I can't stop crying."

[tobiaswexley]

Brows knit, a deeper fissure forming as she continued on. The focus shifted, eyes settling on the crimson stains to her clothes before shooting back to her face again, the explanation giving no ease to his face. The jawline grew rigid, tighter. The head bowed gradually, imperceptibly, narrowing gaze in thought even as she cried.

"Take them off," he spoke, cutting in between her gasps, a voice as steely as a scalpel. Another look back at her, a gesture to the blood. Any slight scratch on her skin exposed to what seeped through the fabric could be enough. Eliminate the risk. The explanation went wordless, only adding the minimal, "This isn't normal. If it was, everyone would know the risks and how to avoid them."

He paused to watch her before his head tilted to his coat, laid over the back of the chair to her left. "Take it when you're done."

[margaretwexley]

she can't recall seeing a weapon brandished in her brother's hands, there's never been a reason for one to exist within the prism of her experience. certainly he was meant to hold scalpels and scissors, their own kind of damage, but this? his words attempt to soothe but the panic is hardly erased from her face at the new vision.

"i don't." she can't doubt him, if she even tries then the world in front of her vanishes. there's nothing here for her that her brother hasn't built himself, assigned words and defined as he can. but even a world such as that has limits, as they're both finding. all she can do is repeat herself, try and find the worst case scenario in the implicated violence. "what's happening."

[tobiaswexley]

A steady breath is taken in, released just as slowly, just as silently. The sight of her brings it out of him, a reinstated control, a need to be whatever she needs, and what she needs right in this moment is security. His sister. More adored than she could ever know. His patient. A bond between them bound by an oath as thick as the blood they share. He can feel it beneath his touch as he cradles her face, hands on either of her cheeks to hold her in place, the center of their universe shared.

"What happens outside of here doesn't matter," he tells her, head nodding, instilling it into her, waiting for her to do the same to make sure she understands the weight of his promise. "As long as you're safe," he goes on, "nothing else matters."

[sadavang]

Where: The W Who: Open When: Dec 23, 2022

Oh the conversations were terribly droll. If it weren't for the free champagne, Sada wouldn't have been there at all besides making an appearance, and even now she almost sure she wasn't going to make it long. Thankfully the phone in her pocket was also quiet, which meant things at the club had to be going smoothly. Christmas was always a hard time for the lonely, and like many other industries, it was one of the busiest times of the year. Even her dancers fought over working Christmas day itself, for that's when the pockets really opened up.

Extracting herself from the conversation she'd found herself in without word nor notice, and in the middle of someone's sentence, Sada made her way toward the bar and ordered a glass of cognac. Glancing to the person at her side, she decided she might as well get her charitable act of the year out of the way. "And one of this person's drinks on me, as well." Looking toward her chosen party, she offered a prompt "You're welcome."

[tobiaswexley]

He returned her look, a neutral expression on his face before shifting attention to the bartender, giving his order, the one that would be generously put on her tab. "Water, please." Before they had even turned their back to the surgeon, his eyes lowered back to Sada, a thank-you not even remotely on the tip of his tongue.

"You're not busy tonight," he noticed. "No problems?"

[tobiaswexley]

@birdiedrake sent in 💗 for a moodboard about another significant relationship in my muse’s life

top searches is it a god complex or is he just too into his sister do surgeons make good brothers what does it mean when you track your sister's vitals on your phone how many times can you save someone's life before it's yours who is ember wexley

[therpmemes]

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[tobiaswexley]

@hawthornpenrose

[ivyemerscn]

"yes." no. he didn't care. she couldn't imagine anything but leaving the room. especially now that she'd relinquished the next appliance from the growing list. but she stayed, the last remnant of duty scraped together for the undeserving. "you're the joking type."

propriety was the last refuge of the exhausted, as though she'd already burned through all the attitude she'd been able to throw towards anything else with the wexley brand on it now that she was faced with tobias. "results couldn't wait for the steadier hand?"

[tobiaswexley]

His breath almost gives her a hum back, but why acknowledge in sound when minute changes in the facial muscles pass the same amount of encoded information? A tick in the frontalis; the relaxation of the orbicularis oris; she's heard; sarcasm noted. His eyes haven't left the operation. He hasn't contemplated why she's here. She simply is. She said yes, and that's where the questioning ended.

"A steady hand wasn't requested," he tells her as the tweezers pinch around the final layer of tissue coating the organs beneath. "I have two," he goes on, peeling away the membrane. "A third will get in the way." The intestines are the first to reveal themselves, and they'll be the first to be removed. His hand is ready for the next instrument. "Enterotome."

[emberwexley]

"Oh please. Just because I know how to live." Hissing the words at him, she rolled her eyes hard in his direction. "You were up here protecting her, and I was down there killing those things. So what if I want to celebrate afterward. A victo-" Words dying on her tongue as her face was taken hold of, there was nothing but seething anger and defiance in her eyes as she glared up at him. "Hey-!" but even her protestations at being grabbed so forcefully were abruptly muted as he yanked her forward through the pent house.

"Yeah well... Fucking ditto." The words came as almost a growl as he shoved her down onto her knees, though there was little chance she was going to stay there. Far less pliable than her sister, especially when empowered by victory and vice. As he moved to start the water, she shoved herself hard into his side in the same motion of making a run for the door.

"You fucking psycho! You don't get to have a say in what I do! You're not Dad!" Like venom the words spit from her lips as she made use of feet he'd ensured would be bare. Running was definitely easier without her heels, that was for sure.

[tobiaswexley]

"You killed someone, and you brought that back here. There's nothing to celebrate," he reminded her, words lacquered in their visceral. In Ember's entire life, there was no one who took precedence over herself. Tobias' existence, since the introduction of his siblings, had taken a second-tier to their welfare, and steadily it proved over the years that only one of them ever deserved it.

Her hatred back hit a brick wall. She lost the right a long time ago, during a time when Tobias turned into a man and she remained a screaming toddler. A toddler would have been preferable. A toddler wouldn't have blindly exposed themselves to a disease, killed the infected, unprotected, dragging the remnants against her clothes, her skin, to spread it to someone known to be vulnerable, all while under the influence.

The water continued to run. No steam. A metallic tint of coldness in the background while the frigid temper of her brother pulled himself back up. Her voice was loud, irritating, words a wave that crashed at his feet, stepped on with every elongated stride until his hand snatched up what would put an end to this.

"Ember."

The tranquilizer gun was already raised, target locked, trigger pulled the moment her attention was grabbed.