Amund Maarud - Dirty Laundry
The next morning, the nurse was already there. It was Isaac that had to let him in, because Natalie still wasn't awake. And of course, the first thing he noticed was the filthyness of the surroundings.
He looked around and immediately concluded that this probably wasn't an optimal place to raise kids. Now he wanted to talk to Natalie, so he sat down on a kitchen chair to wait for her to wake up. He wasn't very happy about how the place looked... uh oh, Natalie..
Natalie finally woke up so the nurse could introduce himself.
Preben Muren: Hi, good morning.. you must be Natalie. I am Preben, the nurse from the hospital. I was sent here by Dr. Lovensteen... Your son Isaac was so kind to let me in. So.. how are you now, Natalie?
Natalie: Oh, I am fine... I took the medication last night, doctor! And I will take it today too, I just haven't.. it's in the bathroom, in the medicine cabinet.. if you want to see!
Preben: Oh, I don't have to watch you take the medicine, Natalie.. as long as you take it. I am here because the doctor is a little concerned for your wellbeing and as a routine check.
Natalie: Oh, but I will show you that I am taking it! It is in the bathroom!
Nurse Preben follows Natalie into the bathroom as she takes her medicine. He is disgusted also by the state of the bathroom, as it is just as filthy as the living room and kitchen area.
"Look, doctor! I am taking it now!" Natalie says.
Preben: That's very good, Natalie, but.. and don't take this the wrong way, but.. have you uhmm... looked at your surroundings, Natalie? I would suggest you try to clean up a little.. not only for yourself, but also your kids....Natalie... it is not at all healthy to live in such conditions...
Nurse Preben has the neat personality trait and cannot at all stand such filthy surroundings.
Natalie: Maybe so, but I think that's a litte rude of you to say.. I took the medication. Isn't that why you came here?
Natalie: I think you should leave now, doctor..
Preben: My work is probably done here for today, but Natalie, I will have to come back on Tuesday, and please, try to clean just a little before then, ok? As a start, maybe.
Well, Natalie didn't improve much with the cleaning, but she did make sure to buy a treehouse for the kids, complete with a fully grown tree and everything..
And she continued to take her medicine, once in the morning before breakfast, and once in the evening after work. Now she was carrying it on her all the time, instead of putting it back into the medicine cabinet for each time. "It should make it a little easier for me to remember", she thought.
Ah yes, doesn't that smell good, Natalie? Fresh, clean clothes. Now I'll give you that, the nurse was probably a little rude for telling you to clean your own home like that, perhaps especially considering what you are struggling with, but at the same time, I agree with him.. it's not really good for you, nor your kids, to live like that.. Now I am curious to see what effect the medication will have on you, now that you seem to be taking it. That's very good, Natalie! Keep it up!
"Hmm, this oven actually is very dirty... maybe I should clean it..."
Yes, Natalie..! You are a chef. How can a chef want to cook on such a dirty oven!? If Schmordon Gamsey came to your home, he would give you a scolding out of this world, I am sure!
Natalie: Go to you room! And stay there!!
Umm.. well, Natalie still struggled a bit, but she also cleaned a lot more now. Its hard to say if it was because of the words from nurse Preben or if it was the medication working and making her see things more clearly. Either way, a positive development, for sure.
Natalie was both doing the dishes, and remembering to take her medicine. Ah, things should be improving now...
The rocking chair was always a good place for Natalie. It calmed her down whenever she would start to feel anxious. As long as it wasn't occupied by someone else, of course...
I like what I am seeing, Natalie! This is good! I am sure both the doctor and the nurse will be very pleased now! :)
No, wait, hold on.. where are you going? What are you doing? Your laundry machine is inside... Natalie?
Natalie.. what the hell? o_O Where are you going??
Well, now I have seen that, too... she is actually using someone elses laundry basket on their home lot...! Natalie...! That's a clever trick, but seriously....
Ok, so they have their laundry basket outside, that's a little odd, but I am sure that is only because they had no space inside.. these small shacks belong to people living in the poor quarters of the town..
Natalie looks very pleased with herself, now that she has gotten rid of the dirty laundry...
Then she randomly changes clothes and has a small panic attack by the laundry basket.. yeah, you're not fully well yet...
Here comes the man that lives there. Turns out its a fire fighter by the name of Edvin Hemmingsen.
Haha, he just greets her. Of course, he probably doesn't know she just dumped her filthy laundry on him.. "Welcome in to my humble abode" he says.
"Ah, sorry, can't stay.. I have to go to work" says Natalie. Good for you, then..
Isaac had for a very long time now wanted to buy a chess table so he could practice playing chess, but since Natalie had barely been at home, he hadn't had much of a chance to ask her to get one... luckily, maybe, he knew where she kept some spare money in her bedroom drawer.. so he snuck in and got some, before he headed to the Solebant consignment store, hoping they had some used ones he could buy...
The consignment store clerk, which also works as a fire fighter by the looks of it, said that they just got one in the other week. It was heavily used, and the previous owner had "improved" the look of some of the pieces, but other then that, the store clerk of course said that it was in good condition for it's price.
"I'll take it!" says Isaac, and so he went home with 150 simoleons less in cash, but with a chess table, as he had wanted for such a long time now.
Of course, he didn't buy chairs for it, so he had to move around and use a couple of the dining table chairs.
"I should probably go back to the consigment store and buy an easel for Aaron too, so he can finally learn to paint!" says Isaac.
Aaron has for a long time had a wish to learn painting, but again for the same reasons as Isaac, hasn't gotten around to ask his mom to pay for a course or to buy him an easel yet.. poor kids!
Natalie has no reaction at all to the new chess table or the chairs that have been moved around. She is just thinking about her medicine and doing dishes..
Actually, she goes over to use it herself, not questioning anything. I guess when you're used to seeing all kinds of unreal things, a chess table suddenly appearing in your house is probably just within what you would expect.. as long as the chess table isn't moving or talking on its own, everything is just fine, right?
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I hope that everyone reading has the opportunity to enjoy the holidays with their friends and loved ones. The next update may be posted before New Years or early january. It might feature a bit of heavy content.
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That was the text I put at the end of the chapter first time I shared it, which indicates that it was posted at the end of the year, and not in march such as right now.. it also seems to warn about something in the next chapter, which I honestly at the time of reposting is not sure what is, because I do not remember what each chapter was about... but from the sounds of it, something that has the potential to be emotionally tough. That would be my best guess.
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