Prednisone acetaminophen

Ironic that I'm hopped up on prednisone & some antibiotics that I think are called Godzilla. I've got pneumonia gagantuosa, & lo & behold your story speaks to me. I love the sweet, gentleness of this story, how so many people show their concern & caring. The worst thing after a rape is the loneliness & I'm glad that wasn't part of the mix. You are a joy to read & a gifted writer. I'm moving on to the next installment, happily, because I have the company of a beloved writers stories to help me heal.

Very nicely done so far. Premise is reasonably believable, unlike most stories here. Your pacing is good and free of extraneous fluff.
I will say this, however: you need an editor. There are a few typo's misspellings, etc, but also a few other small issues; e.g., paracetamol would not be used by someone growing up in San Antonio, or anywhere else in the US. We all know the drug as acetaminophen. There are few more examples such as this, but the story is still rock-solid.
Thanks for the effort.

Courtship had more red flags pop up than in the annual running of the bulls, yet our put-upon protagonist can't hear the sound of the Mack truck bearing down on him, at full ramming speed.
Goodness, do all such folks have to be possessed of IQs lower than their age? How does this guy manage to dress himself?
Given all that family and friends dished out on him, I'm surprised that: (a) he hadn't been institutionalized; and (b) his revenge was so weak...poison ivy/oak for most folks, a few days of prednisone will handle that.

I very much enjoyed the story, a full 5 stars.
Unlike some, I've no problems with April being a little peeved at the beginning, we can all lose sight of someone's worth occasionally. If she was an ingrate, or it was Charles's grooming, is an imponderable mystery within the story.
Because you didn't make some things clear, or read your own story, or because I'm a pedant.
This was set during the Covid, yet a health centre didn't revert to the default that everything was covid and had a doctor that was free to be dispatched to June within minutes?
In appraising Dr. Satapathy, she was no older than Paul's 39 years, later on Paul is in his early 40s?
Cafés, restaurants sports centres (Paul's dojo) were all open and there is no mention of masks anywhere.
April wearing raunchy underwear for Paul. To be fair, you didn't say Paul's new job was Monday to Thursday, but you did say it was four days per week. I thought Aprils early show on Thursday morning was to prime Paul for the long weekend.
April feeding Paul sushi. No mention made of what had wasabi on it or what was dipped into soy sauce and how Paul told April his preferences. Well, I told you I was a pedant.
The drugs for June were mentioned and Tylenol was included. Tylenol is acetaminophen, which is also used in many cough medicines. Later on in the story, the alternative name for acetaminophen is used, which is paracetamol.

An IRL word of caution APAP, (acetaminophen) and alcohol are hell on your liver, short term and long term. Better to take aspirin for a hangover. Hell, by itself, APAP is hard on your liver. I used to get pain meds with APAP in them, which were yellow tablets. The APAP would make me sweat, in abnormal amounts, and non-exertiom, or cold environments.. The yellow die would come out in my perspiration as a brownish-yellow. White t-shirts I slept in during that period have stains around the collars for 2-3 that no amount of bleach or sunshine will remove.
Finally got the doc to get me on something without the APAP, and it's such an improvement in my comfort level; I'm not always sweating, or going through 3-4 shirts a day when I do anything milder active.
GeoD

I like your story. Your caveat about discontinuities at the top was way too understated, they were jarring, but I get it. I've been there myself, but please remember to come back and clean up later, you're going to throw a lot of people off.
OK, big problem: Never, ever, ever take Advil and Tylenol together! Ever! Tylenol is Acetaminophen, it's a blood thinner. Advil is Ibuprofen, it's an anti-inflammatory that will also irritate your stomach lining. So between the two, you'll end up with a bleeding ulcer. I think the standard recommendation is to separate them by at least twelve hours, though I just stick to one. So unless you're TRYING to mess Hayley up even worse than she already is (bruised, battered, hung over), PLEASE stick to one or the other.
PS: Yes, this is a pet peeve. Yes, I've personally had a problem with both drugs. Google it if you don't believe me.

I met an Armenian girl who was, is, a friend of one of my daughters; petite little girl, long curly black hair, eyes so black they hypnotize. She's just lovely; all perky and saucy. She'll be my next heroine. I showed her this story and she was furious! She wanted to know what was going to happen to poor Poncho and Lefty.
The desert's quiet, Cleveland's cold, so the story ends we're told. Poncho needs your prayers it's true, but save a few for Lefty too. He only did what he had to do, and now he's growing old. (They played it on the radio...)
You guys are going to be sorry when Poncho's gone and you didn't give him one measly tip of the hat. That's thoughtless indifference to a national institution.
The story's still pretty good in a silly sort of way, but shouldn't the sun be up by now? There's going to be a lot of commuter traffic, and I bet a lot of people are double parked. Can't remember the name of the island in the Arctic where they think the last Mammoths lived. Save that damn pachyderm; I heard some nefarious Zambians were out to get his tusks.
These things should all be getting fives; for balls if nothing else. (Elephants have big balls)
Oh, oh I just felt a rush of blood to the head! The damn Prednisone is kicking in. By for now...