sg_lab2: (P/E/N)
[personal profile] sg_lab2
I wrote Fic. It's been awhile and only the second one in this fandom.

Title: Adaptations to a New Normal
Author: sg_lab
Fandom: White Collar
Rating: G
Type: Gen
Characters/Pairings: Elizabeth, Peter and Neal with background Peter/Elizabeth
Summary: Elizabeth has worked hard to adjust to a chronic debilitating disease
A/N: A response to a prompt by [livejournal.com profile] sholio found here.

1.

Elizabeth sat at the Burke dining room table listening and writing as Yvonne told her what had been taken care of for Burke Premier Event’s latest event.

“Hold on, Yvonne,” Elizabeth cut in trying to keep up. El was writing on a yellow legal pad she had pulled out of her leather organizer. She had several separators within the organizer tagged with a different color for each subject. Post-It notes were sticking in every nook and cranny of the organizer reminding Elizabeth of one thing or another.

A year ago Elizabeth had been diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis; a disease that affects the brain and spinal cord. When she started experiencing persistent numbness in her left foot she went to her doctor. The numbness spread to both feet and up her legs. Eventually she and Peter had made the difficult decision to sell their house and move into a single level house.

In a way she could deal with the physical limitations the disease had put on her, but then she would lose focus or forget things. It frightened her to think this disease could affect her mind. Post-Its were now scattered about the house reminding her of things she needed to get done. They were more of a ‘just in case’ than anything. A schedule was a very important part of her daily regimen now.

And while she had always worked from home on occasion, she now worked from home more often. Peter had cut back dramatically on his field work and would soon take a permanent desk job so he could be home early at night.

“All right,” Elizabeth said. “What is left to do?” She pulled out another legal pad from a separator labeled ‘To Do’ after putting her first legal pad in the ‘Done’ labeled separator.
To her relief everything was taken care of and El was soon finished talking to Yvonne. She looked at her personal To Do list and was reminded she needed to call a cab for later.

List nearly complete, she pressed the palms of her hands against the surface of the table pushing herself up into a standing position and grabbed the walker next to her.
She made her way across the living room towards the bathroom. Satchmo walked alongside her keeping at a pace and distance he would not trip her. After a few times she had lost her balance Satchmo had seemed to understand what she needed. A few times she had even been able to use him as a way to stand back up when she had fallen onto the floor.

Entering the bathroom, she left the walker just outside the door and grabbed onto the railing along the wall. Over the last year the symptoms had been intermittent. Lately her balance had been off and the on and off numbness in her lower extremities was more on than off. When they had moved into their new house El had taken charge and figured out what she would need. She had bars put into their shower and a seat so she could sit as well as a bar along the wall.

Coming out of the shower she wrapped a towel around herself before stepping over and grabbing the walker. She walked across the hall into her and Peter’s bedroom and sat down on the bench in front of her vanity pulling out her hair dryer and brush.

Finished with her hair and makeup, she stood up and crossed the room to the back of the bedroom door where her dress was hanging.

Dress on, she sat on the edge of the bed and put her feet into the pair of tennis-shoes sitting on the floor. They looked ridiculous with the evening gown she wore, but she didn’t plan on wearing these shoes for long. Next to the bed sat her big handbag which held her high heels she would put on as soon as she arrived at the event.

Remembering one last thing she needed, she opened the closet door and pulled out a wooden carved cane she was given by Neal and Mozzie much to Peter’s irritation. It was such a sweet gesture by both men she couldn’t say no. After, she let her husband know he had nothing to be upset about, that he had already done so much for her. His love and support as she tried to figure out how to continue to live the life she wanted on her own terms was more than she could have asked for.

Coming out to the living room holding the walker and cane with her bag over her shoulder, she checked her watch. The cab she had called for would be there to pick her up in a few minutes.
Satchmo looked up at her sitting patiently. “I guess it’s that time, huh?” El rolled the dining table chair over and sat down as she reached for the dog food and leaned down to put food into Satchmo’s bowl.

She looked out the front window and saw the cab pulling up in front of the house. Patting Satchmo one more time she steadied herself as she walked out with just the wooden cane.

2.

She entered the gallery from the back and found Yvonne. She asked her how everything was.
“Everything is all set,” Yvonne said.

El spotted a chair and sat down handing her cane over to Yvonne so she could switch shoes. “Thanks,” she took the cane back and stood up. “Have you seen my husband yet?”

“He just got here a few minutes ago,” Yvonne followed her to the door pointing out into the gallery. Peter was dressed in a tuxedo talking with Neal dressed similarly.

El smiled and nodded squeezing Yvonne’s hand in thanks before exiting the room and heading towards Peter and Neal. “Don’t you both look handsome,” she said.

Peter’s face lit up smiling at El giving her a kiss. “Beautiful,” he said.

“El, thank you,” Neal said pressing a light kiss to her cheek. “You out did yourself.” Neal had been finished with his probation for nearly six months and was a manager at this very gallery the event was being held. It had been Neal who had hired her for the art show.

El waved her hand dismissively. “I have an amazing staff.”

3.

It was late when El and Peter had returned home. As soon as she entered the house she had handed her cane over to Peter to put it away in their closet and took hold of the walker. With the support of the walker she took off her high heels. Peter had waited and picked up her shoes and take them and the cane into their room.

She headed to the bathroom and got ready for bed passing Peter as she came out and came in. She went to their bed and crawled in under the covers. She closed her eyes resting comfortably against her pillows feeling Peter climb into the bed next to her.

It was a few minutes later she heard her cell phone bleat out next to her. She picked it up and checked the text message. It was from Neal.

Boss very impressed. Thank u again. May have some business for u.

Neal


“Everything okay?” Peter mumbled from his side of the bed.

“Yep, everything’s fine. I’ll tell you in the morning,” El smiled and put her phone down before curling up and falling asleep.

The End

Date: 2012-04-17 06:42 am (UTC)
sholio: Elizabeth from White Collar, smiling (WhiteCollar-Elizabeth smiling)
From: [personal profile] sholio
Oh, I like this! Thank you for writing my prompt! :D It's exactly what I wanted - the little details of her day-to-day management of her disease, the background info that they had to sell the townhouse, all of it. I think you did an excellent job of handling Elizabeth's condition while still having her be capable and busy and very much herself.

I especially love Satchmo as a volunteer service dog, and Neal still being close with the Burkes post-anklet.

Thank you! <3 <3 <3

Date: 2012-04-17 09:24 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] sg-lab.livejournal.com
Thank you. I am so glad you enjoyed it. I really enjoyed writing it. It was such a great prompt that got me back into writing fic again.

Date: 2012-04-17 10:48 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] pipilj.livejournal.com
Beautifully written. Loved that El seemed to be cooping well.

Date: 2012-04-17 09:25 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] sg-lab.livejournal.com
Thank you, I am glad you enjoyed it.

Date: 2012-04-17 04:27 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] emrys141.livejournal.com
I liked this, you showed how Elizabeth coped and some how made this a positive story despite what the character has to cope with. Really great fill :)

Date: 2012-04-17 09:27 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] sg-lab.livejournal.com
Thank you. I'm glad it came across as a positive story. Too often I read fic where something happens physically to a character and it's treated as if it's the end of the world.

Date: 2012-04-17 11:37 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] leonie-alastair.livejournal.com
Very nicely done. My best friend is living with MS and you did an admirable job of capturing the fears, annoyances and adjustments she deals with daily. And thanks for ending it on an overall up note.

Date: 2012-04-18 08:45 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] sg-lab.livejournal.com
Thank you. I am glad to know I captured the difficulties of MS well.

I felt it important to end in a positive note. Thank you again.

Date: 2012-04-17 11:56 pm (UTC)
aelfgyfu_mead: Aelfgyfu as a South Park-style cartoon (Elizabeth Burke)
From: [personal profile] aelfgyfu_mead
You made this story both vivid and believable, with attention to key details. I enjoyed reading this, even though I felt a pang for Elizabeth that she had to work so hard for the things that she used to do with little thought.

Date: 2012-04-18 08:46 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] sg-lab.livejournal.com
Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Date: 2012-04-18 01:22 pm (UTC)
elrhiarhodan: (Default)
From: [personal profile] elrhiarhodan
Lovely - my heart aches for them.

Date: 2012-04-18 08:47 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] sg-lab.livejournal.com
Thank you.

Date: 2012-06-18 06:39 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] semisweetsoul.livejournal.com
Interesting topic. Ending the story on a positive note was a nice surprise. Of course, Peter would take care of El, and help her the best he could.

Thanks for sharing :)

Profile

sg_lab2: (Default)
sg_lab2

April 2017

S M T W T F S
      1
2345678
91011121314 15
16171819202122
23242526272829
30      

Most Popular Tags

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags
Page generated May. 29th, 2025 10:18 pm
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios