You write so beautifully. You painted such a vivid picture of a haunted Jim. You got into both of their heads simultaneously. I see them in my mind while I read, and because of that, this story was very disturbing and upsetting in so many ways. I'm actually a little bit mad at you, which shows the power of your writing. Much of the disturbing things were resolved, but not all. But my favorite part, what made me laugh, was Pam's gradual admission of the truth of her physical changes --- that made me laugh. And I think I kind of liked the fact that she wasn't quite so "perfect", and the only thing that Jim noticed, he appreciated! Great story Rach3l, as usual!

Author's Response:

Thank you for hating me! I did my best to "normalize" the trauma Jim went through by calling back to it randomly, but without necessarily letting it ruin the moment he was in. I have a lot of personal experience with intrusive thoughts, so I hope/believe that this was realistically done.

Jim doesn't see a counselor by the end of the story. He was too afraid to seek counseling during his sentence, because of how it might cause his cellmate to react. And afterward, he was too busy with life and too poor to investigate the option. I tried to set that up by showing his perception of the group counselor he had in jail as relatively useless, and Pam's reticence to push him. As to whether he possibly sees one in the future, I leave to the reader's fertile imagination. 

I really enjoyed setting up Pam's weight gain and Jim's positive perception of it--so very glad that it was picked up on. :) This is one of the reasons that I do not post chapter-by-chapter. I like to add little callbacks as the story progresses, and this one didn't occur to me until I was almost finished with the story.

Such nice visual imagery of their first sightings of each other. Jim's quiet observations and insight into Pam's heart are so touching and awwwwww-inspiring. :)

Author's Response: Thanks! I haven't done a lot where we only get one POV so I'm very glad Jim's insight worked for you.

Okay, I'm just hyperventilating a tiny bit. Wake up Jim!

Author's Response: He will soon! Although these recoveries are often slow...

Yay! FINALLY he's awake! Finally they're talking to each other. Yay! I think I was holding my breath! I guess I'm happiest when Jim and Pam are communicating. This is such a terrible review, cause I'm just caught in the moment of the story. I'll say something halfway intelligent in my next review. For now, I'm just happy! :)

Author's Response: :) There's nothing better than to hear you're caught up in the story. Now they get to talk, although I will (as life does) keep throwing in some things like Pam's phone call to pull them out of the room together.

Okay, now that I've stopped jumping up and down about the "Hi", let me tell you what else I love about this. The non-verbal communication is REALLY exquisite. The whole conversation about Karen leaving -- amazing! I could totally visualize it. And this line: "Because he feels like this thing they’re doing—communicating without communicating—is precious and delicate" --- perfectly describes what's been happening with their faces and bodies and looks.  The prolonged subtle touching through the rest of the party is torturous ecstasy.  The way they are so completely in tune with each other, mostly certain of what the other is thinking and feeling . . .  is incredibly intimate.   And then, the intimacy is consummated.  Wow.  And thank you again for the "Hi".  It blew me away and was the perfect ending!   You rock BT!


Author's Response: Aww, Clover! Thank you so much. You hit on all my favorite parts, too. I had so much fun writing their nonverbal way of talking to each other and I’m so glad that you think it’s true to their character! This might be my favorite thing that I’ve written so far so I’m so appreciative of your reading and reviewing (twice, haha) and I’m SO glad you like the ending!! I knew you would, somehow! ;)

Oh, so very sweet. Honestly, I thought I'd read every version of the First Date there could be, but this surprised me! The recreation of Casino Night was a lovely visual, and oh-so-satisfying to end that night on a happy note! They have an easy back-and-forth and make the transition to romance about as seamlessly as possible. Thank you for this new and different scenario that is a fun road to travel! Great first fic! :)

Author's Response: Thank you. I just recently got into watching "The Office." Thank you Netflix. Jim and Pam quickly became my favorite characters. After reading a bunch of other fics here and on fanfiction.net the ideas for this came up. I'm glad you liked it. It was fun to write.

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Holy moley Coley! That was . . . wow! It was a combination of fulfillment and still longing, all at once! I can't wait for them to get together in person! As I said before, you are full of surprises, around every corner. Well done Girl!

Good chapter Warrior! So a few questions: 1) without violating HIPAA laws, have you answered a call like this? (baseball to the chest causing an arrest) Was the victim young? 2) Is this a rare or surprisingly common occurence? 3) Do most victims survive? 4) What IS the success rate for CPR for cardiac arrest? My understanding is that it is relatively low. Thanks Warrior -- this is a great backdoor peek into first responder procedures. I'm guessing you have more in store since they're still at the ballfield. Looking forward to more!

Author's Response: Thanks for the questions. Personally I have not responded to this specific situation. However, earlier in the chapter, where James was talking about the frequent flyer patient with no upper teeth due to meth, that's based on a real call. Baseball (or any other object) to the chest causing cardiac arrest is rare but not unheard of. When it does happen it's usually a young male patient playing some kind of sport. It's rare because for this to happen there needs to force applied right over the heart during a very specific 10-30 millisecond window in the 1 second long heart rate. So for any given heart beat there's a 1-3% chance that a blow to the chest right over the heart will cause this. Jim just got really unlucky here. Without prompt CPR and defibrillation (shocking the heart) the fatality rate for this situation is around 80%, with with prompt CPR and defibrillation it's around 65%.

In general how good a chance someone has to survive cardiac arrest has to do with a lot of factors. What's the cause of the arrest, the age of the patient, any underlying medical conditions, how soon good CPR was started, how soon an AED or other defibrillator was used, EMS or other medical responder response time, where one is in the country and if the EMS crews have things like "Pit-crew CPR" in place. That's the method I use and depicted in this chapter. Every person on the call has one specific job and they stay in that job unless the team leader orders them to switch. Just like a NASCAR pit crew. Things like that.
 
I've been a paramedic for over 8 years now. I'm sorry to say that TV and Hollywood tend to get it wrong when it comes to CPR. The majority of cardiac arrest calls I've responded to, end up with me calling a doctor on my radio and asking for a time of death. Now obviously that's not always the case. I've also been on plenty of cardiac arrest calls where we were doing CPR and everything else like I wrote here, and we did get pulses back. It's a great feeling. 

Yes we still have some more to go with Medic 4. Thanks for the review. I'm glad to be able to share this with everyone.

Phew! So glad Jim is awake and feeling better. So sweet that he responded to Pam first . . . and second. And oh, you are such a tease about them figuring out their previous encounter! The heart cell toy is cute! You did make the Halpert family feel like such a warm cocoon. I liked "Use the word in a sentence."

As I am sure you know, being through a traumatic experience like that together would bond ANY casual friends. There's something about a life being suddenly threatened that makes the relationship very precious. Of course, we already know that they are much more than casual friends, so I can definitely see this experience being a real catalyst. It already enabled Pam to tell Roy to take a flying leap. It may not be a permanent proclamation yet, but it is a big step in that direction. Right? :)

Author's Response: Thank you. In terms of the show's timeline we're still over a year away from "Casino Night" let alone "The Job." So while yes there's progress that's been made, we still have a long way to go. It was quite fun to bring in Jim's family like this. Glad it came across well.

What a fun chapter! And the Big Reveal has finally happened! So fun! And I recognized almost all of the songs. Now I'm sad that it will wrap up soon. Congrats Warrior on being #2. This HAS been a real marathon, full of so many great stories. Thank you so much! Looking forward to the finale. So great! :)

Author's Response: Thank you. It was a lot of fun to write and create all these things for Jim to find. Thank you for all the great feedback as well.

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Sweet set-up. Jim trusts Pam and Pam is a huge support to him. This adds a whole other level of intimacy to their relationship. Great premise!

Author's Response: Thanks Clover <3

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Oh Sierra, I'm so, so very sorry that you lost your mom. I can't even imagine, especially at such a crucial time. I'm a mom and your words just make me want to hug you and hug you. No one will ever be your mom again --- it sounds like she was so very special (really? eating a popsicle with your dog? Ha!). But I'm sure you have lots of moms in your life -- take all the hugs you can get. And I'm sending one your way right this very moment!