Sunday Snippet: Boxing Day

Happy Solstice season! I did start to get in the spirit last week and I'm kind of feeling better about things in general. We're very low-key for holiday celebrations anyway. The good news is because I finally got some shopping done, I had to do a cleanout of my space, which is a very good thing. Got those urges started again and I also did more clearing and decluttering in other areas. Yay!

Ohio is still trying to figure out what it wants to do with the weather. We got a little more snow and a bunch of rain then plummeting temps. Thankfully, we also had a ton of wind before the drop, so we didn't have icy conditions. Whew!

Had a decent work week. I finished up some last-minute changes on a proofread, completed a copy edit, and had a client meeting over Zoom. I'm getting into some deep edits on the memoir and getting ready to start a new proofread and developmental edit over the holiday break.

I had an okay viewing week. I didn't make it through the bulk of my shows, but I'm kind of needing a brief break. I'm changing things up a little for the holiday season.

I did start over with Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries and enjoyed the rewatch. There aren't many episodes left before I'll be moving on to a new show.

I also got a partial episode of Foyle's War in. Since this season's episodes run a little longer, I might break them up into two parts. The Americans have finally arrived in England and it's going about as good as can be expected … which isn't great.

I started a new season of Silent Witness and part one ended up being very interesting. I really wish we got a little more info on where the other characters ended up going. Jack's niece in particular. The new head of the Lylle is kind of different and I like that. And it's always good to see Sean Pertwee show up in any show.

Watched another episode of Poirot and enjoyed the intrigue. Also fun to see super young actors that have gone on to starring roles in their own series. In a weird twist of fate, the actor playing Japp had a guest starring role in the episode of Foyle's War.

Also did a minimarathon of the holiday episodes of Death in Paradise. Both featured Neville. I might dive back into the new inspector's episode this week.

I also plan to watch Madame Blanc's holiday special this week. Stay tuned for more on that one.

That's it for the life update this week. Tonight's post is from Boxing Day, a sexy short about big changes.

Here's the miniblurb:

Aeryn Gray packs up the personal belongings of Nash Nitali and spies a pair of boxing gloves. The sight takes her back through their weird brand of courtship, and she takes some time to reminisce about the end of their long, tangled affair.

And a sneaky peek…

Nash paced the corridor in sickbay. "I can't believe we were eating dinner together two hours ago and now Joe's fighting for his life." He met the ship doctor's gaze. "I mean, he got knocked down when we were sparring, but Joe got up and seemed just fine. What happened?" And how did it take three hours?

The doc explained about the aneurysm. "Look, Captain. They can occur at any time, and I have to stress this … the boxing match didn't cause it." He typed in orders for the next shift.

But Nash blamed himself. "You can't know for sure." He raked a hand through his hair, angry at everything.

Doctor Barnes gave Nash a hard glance. "Actually, I can. Joe doesn't have a brain bleed. The aneurysm didn't rupture because he took an uppercut to his chin." He pulled the curtain and motioned for Nash to walk with him. "This isn't your fault … there's no one to blame here. He's lucky it happened when someone was there. That's not always the case and the outcome is rarely good when it happens that way." He paused and held up a hand when a nurse flagged him down.

Nash shook his head. Lucky? Lying in a coma with less than stellar odds of recovering? Yeah, no. Not lucky.

Barnes picked up where he left off. "Joe's situation, having you and Lieutenant Gray there to seek immediate medical attention, gives him better odds." He frowned. "But I'm not gonna lie. He's in bad shape but stable for now. If that changes, I'll let you know." His tone had dismissal threaded through it.

Nash got it. The man had other patients that needed attention.

He lifted his chin. "Right. I'll be on the reserve hangar deck. If that changes, I'll leave word." Exiting the infirmary, he started toward the reserve deck.

With no recollection of getting there, he hopped up on one of the low walls surrounding a maintenance pit. He didn't care what Barnes said. Too much of a coincidence that Joe landed in the medical unit after a hard round of sparring.

At least they had a fun dinner. Mainly because of Aeryn. She listened to their old stories with fresh ears … and made the old man laugh with a few of hers. Joe had tears streaming from his eyes over her getting stuck in the cockpit during flight school due to a deck hand using spray adhesive instead of cleanser.

What if he died?

Nash didn't want to accept that possibility. "What will I do without him?" He'd been the closest thing to a dad Nash had.

A quiet voice asked, "Where, exactly, do you think he's going?"

The structure of this story is mainly flashbacks, which not everyone is a fan of … but it really works well for Aeryn and Nash's story.

 

That's it for this week. Catch everyone on the flipside.

ML Skye