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 Posted: Fri May 15, 2009 9:43 am
He had been away for a while now. They knew the baby wasn’t due for at least another two weeks, and the doctors all assumed they’d have to coax it out anyway. When she managed to be in good humour she asked Ke’rehl, jokingly, if they were planning on using smoke signals. But her laughs soon turned to tears as reality hit her. The baby would be coming out. And soon! The ‘false’ labour had been coming on and off per usual and she did her best to putter around the house and get things done.
Ke’rehl was due back any day now and she had managed to scrape up enough extra money selling sketches to buy quite a selection of foods for a ‘welcome back’ feast. She had frozen, whole, halibut, live king crabs scurrying around in the bathtub so they could be cooked fresh, venison jerky, sweet fruits for herself, and loads of baked goods. It would be quite a meal, to be sure.
Jiao’lan had tossed and turned all night. A storm howled outside and rattled the shutters on their bedroom window. Occasionally, lightening would light the entire room in an eerie, powerful, blue glow. She dearly hoped Ke’rehl wasn’t trying to fly in this weather.
She’d skin him alive!
Eventually, she did manage to sleep, and sometime during the night her alarm clock’s face went black, the ceiling fan slowed until it stopped, and the refrigerator shut off. The power had gone out. The sun peered through the windows around seven in the morning. Jiao’lan stretched a bit and placed her hand over her stomach and the baby kicked in return. “Mornin’ sweety.” She murmured as she looked over at the clock. She scowled slightly at it and jostled it around a bit, to no avail. She rolled over and carefully, and slowly hoisted herself out of bed, nearly falling face first onto the floor. Her hands groped wildly and as she grabbed the bedside cabinet the lamp was pushed off by her flight feathers and the shattered base hung over the edge of the table, barely held in place by the prongs of electrical cord. She cursed aloud as got to her feet.
Today just didn’t seem to be going well. Jiao’lan headed to her wardrobe and tugged on a blouse. She had gotten bigger since she was last able to buy clothes and the very bottom of her swell was uncovered. She glanced to the mirror and scowled. She looked horrible, or so she thought.
Apparently pregnancy was a ‘full body experience’. She hardly recognised herself anymore! Anything that could retain water, was, and anything that could become moderately flabby with the extra padding she had gained had done so. Now of course, she didn’t look bad at all to anyone else, but even Ke’rehl didn’t know her body as intimately as she did. To her, it was a sad state of affairs that a successful bowel movement could make or break your day. Of course, she never complained about such things, she just ate fruit and the almost-too-sugary-to-have-ever-been-fruit prunes with gusto.
She waddled into the kitchen, her steps slow and careful, as she set about fixing herself some breakfast. She turned on the faucet and nothing came out. She shut it off and began testing the light switches. Nothing. She sighed heavily, knowing for certain the storm had knocked out their power. The young woman settled on a ripe mango. She took a bite, and the juice squirted at her, getting her chin sticky. She chuckled in spite of herself and wiped it off before looking down at her stomach.
“You’re gonna get hyper with all a’ this sugar, you know?” She had taken to talking to her stomach more often since Ke’rehl had left. Her speech had improved greatly! She still had her dialect but her speech wasn’t as thick and difficult to understand. Her grammar was still lacking at times, however.
She went to take another bite when both her back and her abdomen seized. She slammed the mango onto the counter and wrapped one arm about herself, the other gripping the edge of the counter, as she inhaled sharply.
It was far stronger than any she had experienced before. But soon it faded. Jiao’lan wasn’t so hungry anymore so she headed to the small table and began to thumb through the phonebook. Ke’rehl had highlighted numbers of importance and had drawn a picture next to them. She was looking for the highlighted number with a light bulb next to it. Once she found it she grabbed the phone and dialled carefully. There was a soft buzzing but none of the dial tones worked. She set the receiver down on the cradle and sighed as she reached for her cellular phone. Its face, like her alarm clock, was blank. It had needed to be charged. Jiao’lan laid it down and tried to make herself comfortable on the sofa.
She and Keeta were supposed to go out today. She hadn’t said whether she’d be bringing Joel or not. She supposed so. That little boy always made her day seem better. But she was due to arrive around noon or so.
The hours ticked by slowly. Minutes seemed like hours, and hours like an eternity. Her contractions started to come closer and closer together. The pain grew in intensity. She found it hard to ride them through.
By the time noon rolled around, Jiao’lan was pale, clammy, and in a great deal of pain. She got another contraction and gritted her teeth, a soft moan slipping out of her mouth which grew louder and more frantic as the contraction reached its pique, and tapered off as it slid back down into nothingness. She couldn’t focus enough to time them but they were five minutes apart and lasting for a full sixty seconds. She had no idea that even if a cellular phone had run out of battery that one could still dial emergency services. But even if she had, she wasn’t sure if birth was an emergency. It happened all the time, after all.
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Posted: Sun May 17, 2009 10:33 am
Keeta's power had gone out too, and she frowned at the phone receiver that was annoyingly silent. She had intended to get a taxi to pick her up and drive her over to Jiao'lan's place, but there was no hope of that now. She glanced at the battery-powered clock that was in her kitchen. 11:00. She still had an hour before she was supposed to be there, but she knew she couldn't walk the distance in that time, particularly with her children along and the bus that came by her house didn't go that direction.
For several moments she sat in the kitchen trying to figure out how to get there or at least get a message to Jiao'lan, because if her friend's power hadn't gone out as well, she wouldn't know Keeta couldn't reach her. She glanced at the clock again: 11:15. She needed to get the kids up and dressed. They had slept late because of the storm. Keeta had been up half the night with them and had been grateful to let them sleep as long as they needed. She still hadn't figured out how to deal with contacting Jiao'lan, however.
Sighing she headed to the kid's room. She had managed to scrape together enough money to buy Camille a bed and now she shared a room with Joel. Camille didn't mind at all, but Joel still wasn't quite happy about having to share 'his' space. Soon the kids were awake and bleary-eyed and she started getting them dressed. They could wait to eat for a little bit, because they were planning on getting lunch with Jiao'lan....provided they could get there.
As she tugged a shirt on Camille, however, inspiration came to her.
"The mirror!" She had forgotten the mirror that Ceres had given to her for traveling purposes. Keeta had really only used it to visit Ceres, but she rememebered now that she could use it to go anywhere. She only hoped Jiao'lan wouldn't mind her popping through a mirror in her home somewhere. Keeta hadn't thought to ask before.
Within another 20 minutes the kids were dressed and ready to ge. Keeta glanced at the clock in the bathroom: 12:05. Well they were only a couple minutes late. She slung the bag over her shoulder, had Camille grab her waist and took Joel firmly by the hand. With her other hand she held the mirror and willed herself towards Jiao'lan's.
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Posted: Sun May 17, 2009 5:03 pm
The largest and easiest mirror to use in the house would probably be the full-length mirror in the master bedroom. It was at the other end of the small flat. Off of the bedroom was a small lavatory. Jiao'lan and spent the better part of ten minutes, slowly making her way toward it. Even laying down, it seemed, her bladder was severely compressed.
As Keeta and the children entered her home, a sharp cry of pain met their ears. Jaio'lan had made it into the corridor outside of the lavatory and was trying to go to the closest horizontal surface.
Her bed.
Currently, in the throes of a contraction, she had crumpled to her knees, arms splayed as her fingers dug into the coarse carpeting. Her face was screwed up in pain.
She had no idea anyone was there.
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Posted: Sun May 17, 2009 8:30 pm
Keeta, Joel and Camille had landed with a soft thud in the master bedroom. She smiled, glad it had worked. She quickly let go of the children and was about to put the mirror away, when she heard someone cry out in pain. Instantly on alert, she stepped in front of the children and cautiously headed towards the door, not sure what she might be encountering. Halfway there, she turned towards the toddlers.
"Stay here," she said firmly, in a tight voice. Uncertain, because they had heard the cry as well, and not familiar with this tone of voice coming from their mother, the two small children did as they were told. Camille, put her arms around Joel and watched silently, with wide eyes. Joel whimpered, somewhat afraid.
"Jiao'lan?" she asked, a nervous edge to her voice as she approached the door.
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Posted: Sun May 17, 2009 8:43 pm
She was unable to process any sensory information except pain and that someone said her name. She came to the wrong conclusion. "Ke'rehl?" She asked, her voice shrill and shaky from the pain. As the contraction wained she let out the breath she didn't know she had been holding. "I couldn't get back the sofa...I've been here all morning...the power's out...I'm scared...and it hurts..." She said, running her words together, her voice frantic. "It was never this hard for anyone else in my tribe..." She added, starting to cry a little.
"Eggs don't have corners!"
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Posted: Sun May 17, 2009 8:57 pm
Keeta blinked and stood there for a moment, trying to process what she was seeing and hearing. When it all came together, she rushed forward, very concerned.
"Jiao'lan, it's not Ke'rehl. It's Keeta. You're having the baby?" she asked, hoping the woman was coherant enough to clarify this point for her. Her voice was tight and nervous, not sure whether she was ready to do what needed to be done if the baby was coming now. There was little doubt in her mind, but she wanted to be sure. It was unlikely that it would be too much longer with the amount of pain Jiao'lan seemed to be in, and with no power and no vehicles the chances of getting Jiao'lan to a hospital were slim. There was the mirror....but what would that do to a woman in labor? It wasn't worth the risk.
She had seen babies delivered back in Evin, where it was very common for them to be born in a person's home. Hospitals like their "modern" manifestation in Gaia were nonexistant in Evin. Her mother had helped a few ladies here and there and Keeta had been sent to get things when no one else was available, but she had never delivered a baby herself. She put a supporting arm under one of her friend's wings, trying to get her upright and to the bed. Whatever was happening Jiao'lan didn't belong on the floor.
As she stepped into the room, she spied the children who were watching in confused and frightened silence. They didn't know what was going on, and for the moment that was just as well in Keeta's thinking. They shouldn't be here if she was going to be delivering a baby.
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Posted: Sun May 17, 2009 9:16 pm
As soon as she laid on the bed she seemed to relax a bit. "I-I don't know...I'm.." She noticed the kids. "S'okay Joel, Camille..." She added, brows knitted afraid she had scarred them for life. "I might...I mean...they're strong. Really strong and I have to get to the clinic. It's dangerous. I was told we could," She locked eyes with Keeta. Her grey pair were filled with fear.
She started to cry. "Ke'rehl's not home, it's just...just not right...I'm sorry. The kids...I..." her voice trailed off as she bit back a moan. Jiao'lan contented herself by pursing her lips and biting the inside of her cheek until it bled.
Births just weren't this ardous on the women that she saw. She wondered, partly, if she was making too big of a fuss. But the worst they had gotten were PMS strength cramps and the actual birth was no worse than a very hard bowel movement.
This had to be worse.
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Posted: Sun May 17, 2009 9:24 pm
Keeta started to panic inside and turned her gaze away so Jiao'lan wouldn't see. It was dangerous? She was supposed to be at the clinic, but how?
"You have nothing to apoligize for. It's not like you planned this. I'm just glad I came when I did. The kids...." Keeta glanced towards them. She needed to find a way to get them away, but how much time did she have?
"Jiao'lan, do you mind if I...check how far the baby is?" she asked, hoping her friend could handle this invasion of privacy. Her expertise wasn't enough to know dilation etc, but she would be able to see if the baby was crowning at any rate.
"And what do you mean....dangerous? I don't know how to get you to the clinic. With the power out....." she trailed off helplessly. "I have my mirror, but I don't know if it'll be safe."
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Posted: Sun May 17, 2009 9:39 pm
She shook her head 'no' as if to say she didn't mind. She put her feet together and allowed her knees to fall to the sides. coarse feathers were covering 'the business' part of that end. All of her muscles were tight, her face bunched up. "Unsafe's better than dead!" She screeched. She knew if she said a word it would come out in a scream or at the least very, very shrill. Jiao'lan, in hindsight, would be glad it was the latter, for the kids' sakes.
"This baby isn't natural. High-risk, they said." She explained before moaning a bit as the contraction reached it's peake. She arched her back a bit before it started to come back down. The woman was trembling slightly.
Jiao'lan was three centimetres dilated so the infant was still very high, and wasn't going anywhere any time soon. In fact, they'd probably have hours.
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Posted: Sun May 17, 2009 9:54 pm
"Ok...well....if you want me to try...." Keeta bit down on her lower lip. She didn't like this, but what choice did she have if it was what Jiao'lan wanted? Her gaze traveled to the still frightened and silent children. Well, first, she needed to get them somewhere safe. She didn't think Jiao'lan was going to deliver in the next few minutes and things would be more dangerous if she had small children to worry about in addition to her friend.
"Ok Jiao'lan," she said, nervously turning back to her friend, "I'll take you to the clinic through the mirror, but I need to take Camille and Joel somewhere safe so I don't have to worry about them and I can help you as much as you need me. I'll only be gone five minutes. OK?" She swallowed, hoping her friend could handle this and that she wasn't making a dangerous gamble by waiting five more minutes to get her to the clinic.
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Posted: Sun May 17, 2009 10:02 pm
She turned to her left side and adjusted her wings a bit. "Y-Yeah...of course...it'd be bad for them to be here anyway." She agreed. "S'been hours anyway...I think I can manage five minutes." She said giving her friend a ghost of a smile.
She felt slightly cold and burrowed under the bedclothes, attempting to get comfortable. In the back of her mind she thought of her mother and father. She was starting a family of her own, but she deeply missed her birth family as well. Her mother most of all.
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Posted: Sun May 17, 2009 10:15 pm
Keeta reached for Jiao'lan's hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze before collecting her children. She hoisted Joel onto one hip, holding the mirror in the same hand she supported him with. Then she held onto Camille with the other, she looked into the mirror and....disappered.
-ten minutes later-
Keeta reappeared by the mirror, her children no longer beside her. She had taken a little longer than she had intended and hoped Jiao'lan was not worse for the wear.
She had popped through the mirror at Ceres' and had surprised Perian. As she shooed the children towards the centaur, she had given a hurried explanation, not really sure whether she had been understood and disappeared through the mirror again.
She didn't go right back to Jiao'lan. Instead she headed for the clinic, thinking that if this was as serious as Jiao'lan had indicated, then she should warn someone, or even bring someone back with her. She came out in the bathroom, seemingly the only mirror in the place but it was dark. Opening the door, she discovered the rest of the place was just as dark.
"Hello?" she called, but received no response. It was clear the power had gone out here as well, and that no one had come into work because of it. After all, how could they operate the machines without power? Frightened for Jiao'lan at this turn of events, she immediately headed back hoping she had not been gone too long.
Now she was back and stepped directly over to the bed, taking her friend's hand again.
"Jiao'lan? I went to the clinic....no one was there. The power is out there too..."
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Posted: Sun May 17, 2009 10:29 pm
Her eyes widened, and if possible, she took on an even greater palour. "No, no, no, no, no!" She seemed to be panicking a bit now. "Doctors...if I can't...get it..." She swallowed hard. "Out...then..." Tears began to cascade down her cheeks as she held her stomach. "M-My...m-m-my haju'ri." She breathed. "I-I don't know how to have an un-shelled baby!" A twinge of what could only be described as mild hysteria laced her voice.
"I don't want to do this to you..." She started crying again. "I'm so sorry...that damn storm!" That was one of the first times she had ever really cursed, let alone used an English one. "Horns and...elbows, knees...claws and HORNS!" It was clear she was frightened.
Another contraction started and she pressed her eyes closed. "Ooooah, laying hurts..." She grumbled as she forced herself into a hands and knees position, resting her head against the rather large and fluffy pillow. "Is your front and back supposed to hurt?" She asked, rocking a bit, as the contraction's grip increased.
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Posted: Mon May 18, 2009 6:48 am
Keeta's internal panic returned at JHiao'lan's reaction and it was all she could do not to let it show. She was the one that needed to maintain control, because she wasn't dealing with a dangerous situation and painful contractions. She placed a soothing hand on Jiao'lan's back, trying to calm her, and spoke in a low voice.
"I know it hurts, I know," she said softly as she massaged. But did it hurt more than was normal for this kind of delivery? Keeta had no way to tell. She had been able to have pain killers for her delivery and so hadn't experienced the full measure of discomfort that came with labor and delivery. At least Jiao'lan didn't seem to be bleeding. Keeta knew that would indicate a serious complication.
"And you really need to stop apologizing. Nothing is your fault. We'll make it through this. Do you want me to try going through the mirror to the hospital?" They wouldn't know Jiao'lan and her case and maybe the power was out there too, although Keeta liked to think they had some kind of backup power source for cases like this, but....maybe they could help.
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Posted: Mon May 18, 2009 10:31 am
"No...not yet...just...uuuuughn...they aren't...close en-'" She let out a shaky breath and laid down. "They aren't close enough, and I'm not bleeding or anything." She said. "I doubt they could do any more for me than we are here and the hospital doesn't know anything about my race or the pregnancy." She said, stifling a yawn.
Jiao'lan had dark circles under her eyes. "D'you think if the power comes back we can get a hold of anyone from the clinic?" She asked, her eyes growing heavy.
Under the bedclothes she wrapped her arms about her stomach, pulling her legs up against it as well. She felt a kick and rubbed that area. "Sorry, sweety...I'm not havin' any fun either." She murmured.
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