Christmas day
Cat's back from the hospital
"glad you're back Cat" says Tori kissing Cat
"I have no memory of anything while I was there, it's weird, I remember arriving, then next thing I knew I was being ok'ed to leave, one doctor called me Cassandra, which is odd, my name is Cat not Cassandra" says Cat kissing Tori back
"maybe you have DID or something" says Lola messing up Tori's hair playfully
"she was diagnosed with that, the alts name is Cassandra Rebecca Valentine, she is a protector, something about a traumatic experience in the hospital when Cat was three, she only comes out around doctors" says Zoey
"that explains why I never remember my doctors appointments, Quinn was really good with her MRi thing, it wasn't scary at all, kids with claustrophobia will love this, it's not loud, ….. why are you and Tori being so playful, I thought the point was secrecy" says Cat not noticing the tower of gifts for her
"turns out I was adopted, I'm still a Vega but it turns out I'm not as related to Tori as mom I were led to believe, Tori's from the Puerto Rican line of Vega's, I'm from the original Spanish line, that the Puerto Rican line came from, separated by over a hundred years, funny how genetics made Tori and I so similar, we got the legal seal of approval to date" says Lola
"how far are you from her genetically" asks Cat still oblivious to the stack of presents
"like eightieth cousin or something, a judge said since I wasn't a boy the threat was even less, there is no limit to what the four of us can do together now, as a quad" says Lola
"how did your mom not know" asks Zoey nuzzling Cat
"she's work focused, she did have a baby, she died three days after being born due to poor lung development, my birth mom died giving birth to me, my birth dad's name was Eric Vega, he gave me to my mom after signing away his rights then killed himself, I looked like Tori so much growing up that my mom just forgot until we called the Vega dispute counsel in Puerto Rico and they said they had no record of a Lola Martinez-Vega and directed us to the Spanish Vega dispute counsel, it was that moment that my mom remembered" says Lola as Cat finally noticing the presents
"are those all for me" asks Cat
"Principal Eichner finally got cleared to bring everyone from Hollywood Arts to the dorm to see who would like to learn remotely, Robbie and Andre took the offer, mainly to be closer to us, the school obtained a loan to rent the hall from me" says Quinn
"that doesn't actually answer my question" says Cat
"she chose the round about way of answering it Cat, they were on the property, they all bought you gifts, expecting nothing in return, they just wanted you to know that the world isn't always a scary place, before you assume Sikowitz has anything to do with the sheer amount of presents, he said he only asked Robbie and Andre to play secret Santa with you as the chosen one, he had advocated against too many students gifting but Andre said it didn't feel right, Andre and Robbie's are in front, you don't have to open the others if you don't want to" says Logan
"a result of her meds to help with the memory problems she's not able to exert that kind of energy, tonight when us girls do stuff she will have to lay down and we will have to do the work" says Zoey
"opening presents isn't that hard, the sex thing ya I understand but opening presents isn't that hard, not these ones, they're each only held together by one piece of tape each, Andre made sure that they'd be easy to open" says Logan as Cat collapses on the couch
"you don't understand Logan, she's on high dose antibiotics along with a bunch of other meds, not to mention her normal meds, the medication is basically her immune system right now, she just collapsed because she has no energy, standing and thinking drain her, her doctor wasn't lying about being surprised that she's alive, the doctor at the hospital said the amount of brain burn and damage he's seeing in the scans Quinn took, he said he's only seen them in dead people, medically she should be dead, the treatment section was only three days long, it took so long to treat her because nobody could believe that she was alive, they found that her immune system was basically non existent, if she gets anything more than a cold she could actually die, they basically demanded that she be in a wheelchair full time but she's resisting using it, opening presents will literally use energy she doesn't have" says Zoey
"yet she's obviously cleared for making love" says Logan rolling his eyes
"with a laundry list of restrictions Logan, we are only allowed to go so far, by that I mean less than ten minutes, and only because she said she was active sexually, it's not a prize nor is it going to be enjoyable or fun, it was only allowed because they hope the wave of chemicals the body generates may help regenerate her brain, she's literally operating at half capacity Logan, don't assume we will enjoy the meager five to ten minutes we are allowed because it isn't enjoyable at all, just be happy Quinn is ok" says Zoey picking Cat up and taking her to their bedroom
"it's not easy for her Logan you need to be more considerate" says Tori
"why, she's never had a problem with my attitude before" says Logan
"put yourself in our shoes and imagine Quinn had severe brain damage, and you could only be sexual in bed with her for a maximum of ten minutes, ten minutes is not enough to do anything with Cat period" says Tori
"I'm sorry, I didn't know that, I guess I can be a little insensitive and careless about other people's situations sometimes, I'm not like Quinn, I don't understand people on the same level as she does, I've never been able to, I was never taught how to be caring towards others, my dad cares more about making sure I know how to keep my money safe and to tip people the right amount but he never taught me to understand why I should tip nor did he teach me to understand when to be sensitive, I'm trying to learn but it's harder than I'd thought I'd be, I'd tipped Sakura for bringing my food to my table in Sushi Rox yesterday and she'd taken it as an insult or some sort of perv thing, all I was doing was trying to be polite, with her cancer she should really not be working as much as she is, I thought tipping her would help" says Logan
"she's like Cat that way Logan, they both take pride in being independent, if she knows you tried to tip her because of her cancer then she would refuse" says Quinn
"Cat can be deceiving, she looks like she'd be easy in bed, when in fact she is most definitely harder than Zoey or me to bed and that's saying something because I'd never consider Zoey or I easy in bed either" says Tori
"please tell Zoey I'm sorry for my tone" says Logan
"as you know We have half of the building, Cat prefers the lower levels so Zoey isn't as far away as you think she is, I know she didn't head upstairs, she'd have winked, besides as strong as Zoey is and as light as Cat is Zoey can't carry Cat, not when she's basically dead weight, Quinn can you make something to check her heartrate and have it sync to our phones" says Tori
"I could yes but I'm more concerned about her oxygen saturation, her heart was perfectly healthy, the doctor said maybe a bit strong even, the problem will be involved with her lungs not her heart Tori, if she can't get enough oxygen her energy will never improve" says Quinn
"Zoey did say the hospital loaned us a few oxygen tanks, way bigger than I was expecting, the delivery should be here soon" says Lola
"that explains the insistence on the wheelchair, you need to explain to Cat that they wouldn't insist on her using the wheelchair if they didn't feel it was going to help, the ten minute limit is most likely based in her resistance to using the wheelchair, she needs to understand the risks she's taking could cost her severely, by that I mean she could lose her ability to walk, there is not enough oxygen in her body to sustain her in a standing position, the more she tries to resist the more damage she will do to her body" says Quinn
"after her collapsing I don't see her fighting that at all, she's trying to be strong for me, not to prove a point, I hate seeing her in pain and she knows that, do you think if we make her wear the oxygen mask in bed we could go past the ten minute rule" says Tori as the delivery person arrives
"oxygen tank crate delivery for Cat Valentine" says the delivery man
"she collapsed and was taken to rest, does she have to sign it or can I" says Tori
"they don't care, as long as someone signs for it who lives in this building, I was delayed by security and I have a few other deliveries that will be late now" says the delivery man
"sorry about that, I've received bomb threats so I had to increase security" says Quinn as Tori signs
"a reasonable reason, my daughter was paralyzed last year, this job makes her smile, she likes to think that I'm helping people like her, all I do is deliver the crates, I rarely meet the recipient of the deliveries" says the delivery man
"ok thanks we've got it covered from here" says Jade as the delivery man leaves
"you really sure Cat will give just in like that, she doesn't seem the type to be co-operative" says Quinn
"oh she's not, she's the most uncooperative person you will ever meet but she knows when she's lost the fight, she won't risk her life, she might even become severely submissive when it comes to requirements to make her better, even though seeing her in pain hurts me" says Tori
"per your question before the delivery, yes I believe keeping her on oxygen during play could double that time, I suggest caution Tori, start by abiding by the ten minute rule and adjust as Cat requires, whether she believes she can handle it or not you need to keep an eye on her vitals, the main one being breathing strength and her ability to stay lconscious" says Quinn
"what evidence is that based on, we don't want to get in trouble" asks Lola
"the scans I will be doing, before lunch every day, besides the whole goal is to re-activate parts of her brain full time instead of them doing a routine and activating at random, they don't expect you guys to follow their rules to the letter, they're paying me to take MRI scans of her progress for the next six months to a year, the only rule they are strict on is her health, everything you do must take her health into account" says Quinn
"as if there was any other way to live Quinn, she's Bipolar and borderline schizophrenic, her meds work most of the time but they aren't perfect, her doctor suggested medicinal green smokey stuff but she's not fond of smoking anything" says Tori
"you know it works Tori, I had a bad childhood, both my parents always worked so I was always in the hands of a sitter, my parents never looked past their 'experience' to see if they had criminal records, most of the time I was black and blue before dinner and was sent to bed right after, my parents never knew it was happening, not until someone tried to rob the house and I called the cops, then the proof was found and I was sent to therapy, my mom quit her job so she could be there for me, if she can't or won't smoke they make edibles, it has been shown to help people with brain damage" says Jade