Welcome to Hickstead, home to both Seven Oak Stables, and Blue Acre - two rival stables. Both offer opportunities for their clients to reach the highest level of excellence. Each stable differs from the other, so choose wisely and never forget, loyalty is everything... Meanwhile as the stables battle it out, there's trouble brewing at the university. Be careful, if you don't pick a side you may get caught in the cross-fire...
This is an chilled out rpg with a super friendly and relaxed atmosphere! Remember to sign up with your characters full name in all caps and don't forget to do your claims! Thank you and Welcome, we've been established since 10th March 2009 but unfortunately have had to close guest view of our boards due to multiple sites ripping off our hard work, such a shame! Come chat to us in Discord before joining if you like!.
"Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair"
Phryne gave out a little yawn as she looked at her watch. Lunch time came quicker than she thought, but that’s what happened when she was busy with some births. She was looking forward to the recharge though. The early evening births drained a lot out of her. While Phryne could handle a lot, difficult births were a weird mixture of long and short. The mother and baby were safe, but not without a lot of complications.
Her sneakers squeaked a bit on the newly waxed tile. Phryne entered the break room and waved at some of the other staff. After popping in her stuffed shells to heat up in the microwave, she grabbed her water and took a long drink. Eyes looked at the familiar faces, equally as drained as hers. “You all have a rough start to the second shift, too?” Phryne asked, gingerly.
Maddison knew she had a long shift ahead of her yet. She had just dropped off a patient who had overdosed on drugs. The dark haired woman took her paperwork and headed to the break room. She stopped at the fridge and heated up her leftovers, having made a peanut chicken tray bake the night before. The woman sat down at an empty table, setting her folder on the table and pulling out a pen. After setting her large water bottle on the table as well, she got to work.
After running a hand through her hair, she heard the microwave beep nearby. She reluctantly got up and walked over to the microwave - pulling the food out of the appliance and walked back over. She saw that a blonde woman had sat down beside her and smiled. Maddison didn’t mind having company. Maddison went back to doing her paperwork, mixing around her food every now and then. “Hey there.” She tried her best to be friendly but the night was long and it often drained her.
It wasn’t long before another woman approached and it was someone Maddie had seen before. “I feel like I’ve been here for longer than normal. Only a few more hours though, right?” She was glad she wasn’t working in a large city like London, sure that there were more calls for them to respond to. “Feel free to have a seat, plenty of room for the three of us.” Maddie smiled, lowering her head again to read what she had written.
Quinn sighed as she peeled off the soiled gloves and washed her hands - thoroughly. She was only five hours into a twelve hour shift and she was exhausted already. Hallie was being difficult at night at the moment, screaming bloody murder at two hour intervals for no reason other than to check her lungs were working. Quinn could confirm that they were. It wouldn't be so bad bu she had agreed to cover a couple of extra shifts whilst a few of the other nurses took annual leave. The money was useful but she now regretted it, the bags under her eyes felt like they had bags under her eyes. Add to that the fact that the last guy she'd attended in A&E had decided to chuck up his entire day's stomach contents all over her and it was going to be a long shift.
She grabbed a fresh pair of scrubs from her locker and quick changed, stripping off and slipping into the clean pressed clothes. It was lunch time for her - luckily - and she was starved, having skipped breakfast and been on the go since, with no time to stop. Her stomach rumbled as she entered the break room, icky clothes balled up in hand, her first point of call was to shove her clothes into the washing machine, pulling a face as she grabbed her sandwich and glanced at the other women already in there. "You don't even want to know how many times that makes it that I've been thrown up on today." She rolled her eyes.
"Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair"
“Time is all a mystery, isn’t it?” Phryne chuckled, as she pulled her food out from the microwave. She checked the temperature before putting it back in for another minute. Phryne could hear one of the elderly people that she was killing herself with the waves of the microwave. But she could only eat so many salads and sandwiches.
Once it was done, Phryne took her food and closed the microwave before sitting down at the table. It was dangerous, sitting down at the table after being on her feet for hours. Even though her shoes were comfortable, pain always seemed to make itself aware when Phryne sat down.
“Vomit, eh? Dang…well, I’d rather take vomit over number two that’s for sure. Good thing for backups, though.” Nursing made Phryne wish she didn’t have a sense of smell. It was all-natural of course, as pushing pushed other things out too.
“Yikes, throwing up?” She had her fair share of different experiences helping patients with the ambulance but recently it had been people who had overdosed. “That’s not exactly pleasant break conversation.” Maddie laughed, she really didn’t mind. It was part of her profession and something she was used to by now. “For me I'm dealing mainly with overdoses tonight so lots of people are foaming at the mouth.” She picked up her fork and began eating.
She did her best to meal prep on her days off so she could keep up a healthy diet. It wasn’t like she had a boyfriend or anything to keep her in check - there were quite often days that she didn’t eat lunch depending on how busy it was at the hospital or at Blue Acres. “You are correct, it seems like when life is going well you want it to slow down but on a night like tonight I think we would all like it to fly by.”
“I’m Maddison, but Maddie is fine too. I think I’ve seen you two around before but it’s always nice to put a name to a face.” She smiled as she unscrewed the lid to her water bottle and took a sip. Maddie lowered her head slightly and went back to filling out an incident report for her last call - clicking the pen twice as she thought of her next words.
“Vomit, eh? Dang…well, I’d rather take vomit over number two that’s for sure. Good thing for backups, though.” ...“Yikes, throwing up?” Quinn scrunched her nose slightly and nodded in answer to the question - a lot of vomit. She tilted her head slightly as she thought on Phryne's words, "If it's only once, I'll take number two over repetitive vomit," She decided. If it was just once, she'd have it. By the third chunder, the smell was firmly imprinted in her nose and she hoped to hell it wasn't going to put her off her lunch.
Once everything was in the machine she washed her hands - thoroughly, several times - in the sink, finally feeling clean after her morning's horror. “That’s not exactly pleasant break conversation.” Quinn glanced over, realising they were eating, and pulled an apologetic smile. "Sorry," She said, as she went to grab her own lunch from the fridge. It wasn't anything too exciting, she'd made a large bowl of salad so that she could just grab a bowl's worth ready made for her working days, having put a few pieces of chicken in to beef it up.
“For me I'm dealing mainly with overdoses tonight so lots of people are foaming at the mouth.” Quinn's eyebrows went up, "So a fun evening ahead for you," She could sympathise, there were some days that were better than others, in different ways - it could be a night of bodily fluids, or it could be difficult patients, or a night where everything went wrong. Rarely was it boring. “I’m Maddison, but Maddie is fine too. I think I’ve seen you two around before but it’s always nice to put a name to a face.” Quinn grabbed her water and headed over to the sofa's with her lunch. "I'm sure I'd seen you both in the usual mad rush of work," She grinned, "I'm Quinn."
"Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair"
"That’s fair, except when it’s after you just changed their linens or turn them over.” It was a miracle that anyone in this business could look at cow patty cookies or chocolate soft serve after everything they witnessed. Of course, there was the trinity of blood and poo, and the spouse vomited from witnessing it.
Phryne couldn’t help but give a playful smirk. She was surprised when someone was uncomfortable about talking about their job, but Phryne wasn’t about to make it worse. Honestly, she didn’t quite know what else to talk about at work, other than work. There wasn’t a lot she connected with.
She took a seat and slumped a bit, wondering if sitting was the best idea. Phryne perked back up and unpacked the rest of her lunch kit. “Oof, giving out all the Narcan then?” Phryne never administered Narcan herself, but she had witnessed what drug addiction did to babies. Poor things.
“We’re ships passing in the night. It’s been a busy night for everyone. Madison? Quinn? Easy enough, I hope,” she laughed, cutting into her meal. “I’m Phryne, but you can call me Fry, like the food. What sections are you in?” Madison sounded like she was part of the EMS team, but a drug overdose could mean a lot of things.
"Ugh. I think I'd rather take vomit over number two." Either was disgusting to her but it was all part of the job and not knowing what she was really in for when she got the call was part of the excitement.
She went back to writing her incident report - rubbing her temple when she couldn't remember a word. Once she remembered it, she went back to writing. "Oh, don't worry about it. It's nice to have someone to talk to about work."
The dark haired woman took a bite of gnocchi and broccoli after she picked up her fork. "It's become more and more of a problem lately." She had tried to get in contact with the police about it but she didn't have any evidence proving who was the one responsible. "Definitely going to have to ask for more in the ambulance."
She nodded at the sound of their names - Maddie was usually someone who was good with names and would try her best to remember. "Nice to meet you both. I'm on the EMS team so I usually drive the ambulance. And you?"
"That’s fair, except when it’s after you just changed their linens or turn them over.” Quinn chuckled and then shook her head, "Honestly, if you want something with a strong stomach, find a nurse." It was true - she knew police officers also saw some horrific things themselves but nurses were generally the one's cleaning up gross messes - and they couldn't gag or pull a face at it, for a lot of people it was their dignity and it would be fair. You had to be tasteful, as gross as it could be sometimes. "Ugh. I think I'd rather take vomit over number two." She chuckled at that and gave a non committal gesture, "If only we could actually pick and choose, huh?"
Quinn took a few bites of her salad as she sat down with the others, listening to the others talk for a moment as she shoveled in lunch. “Oof, giving out all the Narcan then?” "It's become more and more of a problem lately. Definitely going to have to ask for more in the ambulance." Quinn was lucky that she'd rarely come across addicts in her line of work, but as they didn't get out anything stronger than the paracetemol you could get off the shelf until they were on the wards, it just didn't tend to happen. “We’re ships passing in the night. It’s been a busy night for everyone. Madison? Quinn? Easy enough, I hope, I’m Phryne, but you can call me Fry, like the food. What sections are you in?...."Nice to meet you both. I'm on the EMS team so I usually drive the ambulance. And you?" ” Quinn smiled, "Nice to officially meet you. I'm generally on the recovery ward but I move about as needed." She had no issue with that, and regularly volunteered to cover A&E when needed.
"Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair"
“EMS. I’m sure you’ve had a few adventures yourself. That's a whole other kind of breed of person.” There was something different about getting to the scene and seeing it all together. A disconnect at the hospital was there. Sure, they dealt with the bodies but seeing it all with the flashing lights and the witnesses, that was a for a different type. Phryne once had to help with an emergency C-section after the mother was in a car accident. Thankfully, both mother and child survived – but imagine being the person on the scene pulling the mother out. Phryne didn’t know if she could witness that. Sure, she could handle a lot – but every human had their limits.
“I work in L&D. Midwife and Doula,” Phryne said, taking a few more bites of her lunch. Time was ticking, which was nice, but also bad. She rarely chatted this much as breaks didn’t often overlap like this. “I haven’t really floated around that much while here, but it sounds like there are quite a few people I haven’t met yet. Heck, I don't think I've been off my floor!”
“That’s actually true. Seriously, I may also be in the medical field, but both of your specific professions need a stomach of steel.” Maddie pushed the thoughts out of her head - realizing that she was still eating her dinner. “Definitely earned my respect anyway.” Once her patients were handed off to the ER team, it was all out of her hands.
Maddie laughed. “I do wish we could pick. That’s not how our jobs work but we can dream right?” She continued to eat her dinner, scrapping the last few bites from the container. The woman set the container down on the table in front of her and attached the lid back on.
“Do you like moving around where you are needed, Quinn?” She was always curious with people who were able to move around the Hospital. They got to see how different parts worked and got to work with different teams.
The brunette nodded. “It keeps me on my toes. Somedays I swear I spend most of my time writing reports on the incidents and never get any sleep.” She tried her best to be diligent and thorough when writing her reports for her boss as it often was handed off to the police if needed. “Oh, that must be so cute with all the brand-new babies.” “I don’t tend to mingle either. Though it’s hard when I’m stuck by the ambulance bay.” She usually had a partner though that was working with her, so she did have someone to socialize with while on shift.
“EMS. I’m sure you’ve had a few adventures yourself. That's a whole other kind of breed of person...“I work in L&D. Midwife and Doula,”“That’s actually true. Seriously, I may also be in the medical field, but both of your specific professions need a stomach of steel. Definitely earned my respect anyway.” Quinn smiled and gave a small shrug, "I think we all do an incredible job, my respect always goes out to all parts of the team - we all work damn hard and see some awful things." She couldn't say that one department was any worse or 'easier' than the other - they each all had their own challenges and difficulties in their own ways regardless of whether there was blood and guts and puke or other bodily fluids or not. "Delivering babies definitely brings a little something special to the day," She added with a smile, knowing how rewarding that must be on a hard day.
Do you like moving around where you are needed, Quinn?” Quinn nodded, "I do, it brings a change of pace to the day. Sometimes on quiet days on the ward it's nice to be able to relieve the stress and pressure for someone else. Plus it keeps me in tune and practice with all my medical training." She had no issue with spending a night doing countless stitches, as the next night she might be back on her ward watching someone wake up from surgery, and it was good to know she had the skills needed when she needed them there.
“I haven’t really floated around that much while here, but it sounds like there are quite a few people I haven’t met yet. Heck, I don't think I've been off my floor! I don’t tend to mingle either. Though it’s hard when I’m stuck by the ambulance bay.” Quinn smiled, "it is good to get a chance to meet more and more teams for sure, it makes switching jobs for the day good too when I can put names to faces right off the bat." Besides, she had always been a people person so the more people she knew, the better. It felt more personal too when giving a patient over to another team if she knew the person she was handing off too.
"Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair"
“Oh yes, watching the babies being held by their new parents is always very cute. Sometimes we have emergencies, and you want to cry. But you have to be strong for the parents and family.” It was always hard telling a parent that their precious baby had to be whisked away to NICU. Or when the mother had complications. The birth was never easy, even with all the new medications and technology. Women truly put their bodies through something physically and emotionally exhausting. Phyrne had no idea if she could do it, birth and all. Motherhood scared me a bit.
“I agree,” Phyrne nodded, taking a sip of her water. “There’s always something new to learn, I think.” It sounded like Quinn and Madison were more people, people than Phryne. But there seemed to be a mutual feeling of having close work relations. It made the day easier.
She finished her lunch and closed the tuber ware. There was still a bit left, but she could shove that into her mouth during her next two-minute break. “Yeah, there always seems to be new faces – even if the person was there for five years.” It was embarrassing really. “There’s a lot of new nursing students and med students, too, so that adds a lot of new people as well! But I’m glad people are still wanting to come into the medical field.”
“I agree. It’s so nice to see everyone pitch in to make the Hospital run well.” Maddie was always happy to have a helping hand while she drove the ambulance. She was supposed to get a new coworker soon and she was looking forward to training her soon. The brunette went back to writing her incident report. “That’s honestly my favorite part of the job is bringing a woman in who is about to give birth. Much better than a car accident victim.” Though burn victims were the worst out of all of them. The smell of burning flesh alone made someone shake.
She nodded as she continued to write. “I do enjoy going into the nursery after a particularly stressful shift and go see if a newborn wants to be swaddled.” Maddie had to do that after helping rescue the victims from the fire at Blue Acres.
“The medical field keeps us on our toes for sure. I know I’m not looking forward to yet another set of first aid tests.” It was something she had to do every year as the Hospital wanted to make sure she was up to date on all her training. “I find it hard to figure out people’s names, though thankfully all the doctors and surgeons have name tags.” Maddie really only stuck to her corner of the hospital, unless she was bringing a patient in.
“Really? I hope a few of them stay. I hear I’m supposed to get someone to train on the ambulance soon, it would be nice to have the help.”
“Oh yes, watching the babies being held by their new parents is always very cute. Sometimes we have emergencies, and you want to cry. But you have to be strong for the parents and family.”“I agree. It’s so nice to see everyone pitch in to make the Hospital run well....That’s honestly my favorite part of the job is bringing a woman in who is about to give birth. Much better than a car accident victim.” She gave a small smile at that and a nod of agreement. "I feel there's no tougher job than emergency services. The police see awful things too, but I think we get the brunt of it - naturally." Because whenever there was anything health related involved, guess who was called, and Quinn had had her fair share of dealing with aggressive people, and those brought in with handcuffs on. “I agree, There’s always something new to learn, I think.” She nodded as she took a bite of her lunch, unable to help but glance toward the clock - forever clock watching in this kind of job.
“I do enjoy going into the nursery after a particularly stressful shift and go see if a newborn wants to be swaddled.” Quinn gave a small chuckle, "It is a bit of medicine, isn't it?" She said softly, thinking of how therapeutic it was to pick up a baby for a cuddle in the middle of a bad day. Quinn took a swig from her drink and started finishing up her food. “Yeah, there always seems to be new faces – even if the person was there for five years. There’s a lot of new nursing students and med students, too, so that adds a lot of new people as well! But I’m glad people are still wanting to come into the medical field.”...“The medical field keeps us on our toes for sure. I know I’m not looking forward to yet another set of first aid tests. I find it hard to figure out people’s names, though thankfully all the doctors and surgeons have name tags.”
Quinn nodded, "it's very fast paced. I'm one of those fixtures that's been here for a while, and will probably be here until I'm the crusty old nurse everyone avoids if they want to keep their head," She joked, though she knew her maternal nature would never let her turn grumpy - she liked helping people too much, even the nervous fresh faced newbies with their silly questions. “Really? I hope a few of them stay. I hear I’m supposed to get someone to train on the ambulance soon, it would be nice to have the help.” She agreed with that too, "perhaps if they paid better, more would stay - turn around is high right now and we're forever short staffed... but I guess we don't do it for money." If she did, she'd have left a long time ago, she was lucky her salary was enough to help at home with the bills and that Arrow pulled in more than enough for the rest.
