Round 15: August 2023
Narrated by Alexandra Hayes.
Having three teenagers in the house is sure way to drive any adult crazy. It feels like the boys are going through every emotion every day. Aaron and Ethan can be at each other's throats at any time.
Then a minute later they'll be playfully fighting and laughing.
Their most favourite pastime though is to torment their little brother. In a way I think it's their way of showing that they care about him.
They're not that bad though. Patrick usually amuses us by telling the same stories over and over again but the boys always listen with such an enthusiasm. Especially Ethan loves to hear his grandpa's stories no matter how many times he's heard them before.
Jeremy has started to learn to cook. I've tried to teach all my boys to cook some basic food so that they won't starve if there's nobody home cooking for them. Jeremy's the only one who actually volunteers to cook for everyone. He's still learning and sometimes burns the food but at least he's trying.
Sometimes it's nice to get away from the noises and the hot tub in our backyard is the perfect spot for that.
Ethan was the first of our sons to get a girlfriend - which didn't surprise me. It was all quite innocent at first but nowadays I feel we need to keep an eye on them so that he and Emily won't sneak out to the hot tub or up to his room.
I think the fact that Quinn works with
Emily's mom keeps them pretty grounded though because they know that all hell would break loose for both of them if they broke the rules we've given them.
Kissing is ok as long as it stays within the limits. We don't allow any below the waist action in our home!
One day Aaron and Ethan were throwing football outside when I went to tell them that dinner was ready. I heard Aaron shouting for help as soon as I walked out the door.
I rushed to where they were and saw Ethan collapsed on the ground and Aaron trying to help him. I told Aaron to run inside to call an ambulance and tell Quinn to come help us.
I totally panicked but fortunately Quinn stayed calm. He quickly realised that Ethan wasn't breathing and started CPR.
The ambulance came pretty quickly and Ethan was taken to the ER at Exmoor City Hospital. I couldn't go with them because they needed all the space to take care of him so we followed them in our car.
After a few hours Ethan was transferred from the ER to one of the patient rooms and we got to see him.
Grace came in and gave us the bad news. Ethan had suffered a sudden cardiac arrest. He was revived once in the ambulance and once in the emergency room but in the end, he didn't make it. I just looked at her without understanding what she said.
"I'm so sorry but I have to be completely honest with you. Ethan's brain was without oxygen for too long and he has suffered a massive brain injury. He is now on a ventilator but that is the only thing keeping him alive. It is most likely that he won't wake up" Grace said and after giving me a hug she left the room.
I don't understand how this could happen. One minute he was playing football with his brother and now he's lying in a hospital bed, lifeless.
I sat by his bed for what felt like hours, begging for him to wake up, praying for any sign that he was still there.
Days went by and nothing happened. He looked so peaceful, like he was just sleeping but the constant noise of the ventilator and the tubes coming in and out made it impossible to pretend that everything was alright.
We took turns in sitting with Ethan. We thought that maybe this was too much for Aaron and Jeremy but nothing could have dragged them out of the hospital. Family members and friends had gathered to the hospital but they were giving us some space, only coming in to chat in the waiting room if we felt like it.
After two weeks we finally had to make the hardest decision. Ethan was taken off the ventilator.
We took a moment with just the immediate family before facing everyone else.
Emily's parents had brought her to the hospital almost every day. I think she was the only one who got through to Aaron at that time.
My heart was completely broken to pieces when I watched Aaron say goodbye to his twin brother. I don't know how our family is ever going to survive this and move on.
Notes:
- Title reference: Some die young by Laleh
- Poor Ethan was the unfortunate sim to roll the "death by illness" ros.
- This was the most difficult update I've ever had to written. I've been dreading this update ever since I rolled the ros and I actually had to fight back tears as I was playing and especially when I wrote those last few lines. The fact that I had to kill off such a young sim really broke my heart. I hope I don't roll a death ros for a long time!
- I was curious so I aged up Ethan temporarily to see what he would've looked like as an adult (really good BTW). However I won't publish the pic until Aaron ages to adult since he and Ethan look so much alike. Ethan's obituary will be up tomorrow.
- Obviously I don't have any medical knowledge so any factual errors are completely unintentional.
This was hard for me to read, too, since my husband died of sudden cardiac arrest completely out of the blue, too, and at 41 years of age, of course he was way too young as well.
ReplyDeleteOn a more cheerful note, though, I think it is good to add some drama every now and then to our games, since it makes it a bit more interesting and challenging, doesn't it.
And I just love playing the busy families with several children!
I'm so sorry to hear about your husband. I didn't mean to evoke any bad memories :(
DeleteROS (random occurrence scenario) is a good way to add drama to the game although I wish I won't have this kind of drama for a while.
I enjoy playing families with several kids. There's always something going on in the family so it's easy to write an update about those families too.
Thanks for reading. :)
How absolutely heartbreaking! It's terrifying to think that something like this could happen to someone as young and healthy as Ethan but it does, unfortunately. A few years ago at the school I teach at, a little boy died of the exact same thing. His parents always knew they wouldn't have long with him but they never told him - they just let him enjoy being a regular kid.
ReplyDeleteI don't know a family would even begin to come back from something like this. I hope they've all got a lot of support coming from outside the family. They're going to need it.
Honestly, you deserve a break from death ROS for a while! Writing something like this in for such a young sim is really draining! I give you permission to reroll if you get a death ROS next round (I rerolled death ROS three times after Tessa and Betsy). ;)
It's so shocking when it's someone who's so young. I remember when I was in junior high that a boy from another grade, I think he was a year younger than me, died of a heart condition. I didn't really know him but it was a huge shock for the whole school.
DeleteThis is going to affect the family for a long time. They'll probably never get over it completely but hopefully someday the pain will subside and they'll be able to continue their lives. It'll never be the same again though.
Thank you for the permission to re-roll. ;)
Thanks for reading. :)
Why to the death by illness ROS always pick the young ones? My Grace Elise was 15 as well when she had to die, ugh. This is so sad, to lose a twin brother, wow" I hope this family is able to move on a bit at a time.
ReplyDeleteIt seems so unfair to kill off a young sim. It's easier to accept when it's someone older who has lived a full life, not someone who's barely started theirs.
DeleteI hope they can move on somehow but it's going to take a long time to recover.
Thanks for reading. :)
Wow! I almost started crying at the end of the update! It must have been hard writing this update!
ReplyDeleteSometimes you got to hate ROS, especially when you have the do something like this to some one this young!
I hope the family can come back from this, even though it might take some time.
I'm going to keep my fingers crossed that you don't get any death-ros for a while!
It was hard even though I had been preparing for it ever since I knew what was going to happen. I'll definitely re-roll if I get a death ros next round, I have Carla's permission to do so ;)
DeleteI think the family is going to need therapy to get over something like this. It'll be a long process to recover and their lives will never be the same.
Thanks for reading. :)
This was a really sad update.It was really sad to him die, especially when has a twin brother, who will be a constant reminder of his brother, since they're identical.It must be hardest on the parents.It was really touching to see him playing with his brother and even hanging with his girlfriend and grandpa before his passing.At least, the family has great memories to comfort them as they deal with Ethan's death.
ReplyDeleteIt was really was sad to play and write it. It's been on the back of my mind constantly even when I was playing other households because I knew what would happen for this family.
DeleteHopefully the pain will eventually subside and they can focus on the happy memories instead of the grief of losing him.
Thanks for reading. :)
Oh my gosh! How awful!! Why do the death ROSs claim the young ones :(?! I know that had to be tough to write about. I would have been dreading it, too. You did a good job with it, though. This is going to be a tough one to get over. I can't imagine how hard it's going to be for Aaron to be without his twin. But parents should never have to bury their children. :(
ReplyDeleteIt really seems like the death ROS always targets the young ones. It was tough to write but I'm glad you and others feel like I did a decent job with it.
DeleteI can't even imagine what the next update with this family will be. And not just that. It's going to affect many other updates too. I really feel bad for Aaron especially. And for poor Alexandra too. She lost Aaron and Ethan's father when they were just babies, her mother died a few years ago and now she lost Ethan. Life definitely hasn't been a bed of roses for her. Hopefully she'll be able to get over this somehow.
Thanks for reading. :)