Magnus stood with his mouth slightly agape. "Dying? Did you not just say the Silent Brother pronouced you healthy?"
She shook her head. "He didn't."
"So you lied?"
Adriana let out a hard breath, almost as if she'd been holding it. "I didn't. I said the baby is fine, which is true."
Magnus glanced toward the window. He could see the cramped, dirty highways of New York through the worn glass. The pollution and exhaust almost a visible haze. Adriana sat down in the winged back chair behind her, one hand still protectively on her abdomen.
"What is it that you are dying of then?" The question hung like poison in the air between them. Finally she sighed.
"Pre-clampsia." She said shortly, flicking a piece of her shoulder length hair out of her eyes.
A crease formed between the warlocks slender black brows. "A relatively common condition among mundane women if I am correct."
"Not in my case. Or my family's case I suppose." She sifted in her seat and looked into the fire that was nothing but simmering ashes. "Average Pre-clampsia, the induction of unheathly high blood pressure should not even be detectable until the 3rd trimester. I'm barely in my second. Before her death, my mother gave me a list of symptoms to watch for. I've already checked off 2 of the 7." A single tear ran from the corner of the girls eye. Magnus snapped his fingers and a hankerchief appeared in Adriana's lap. She jumped slightly but flashed him a small smile.
She continued on. "My mother by some miracle did not have any symptoms until only days before I was born. My father did almost lose her during delivery, when her blood pressure spiked. But she survived."
Magnus drifted toward a chair and sat down, his cat eyes at half mast, contemplative. "And all the women in your family have suffered this?"
Adriana just nodded. "Not all, but most."
"How many of them survive through to delivery?" He asked.
Adriana's fingers tightened around the fabric of her shirt, her knuckles whitening. "My mother is the only known surviver once the symptoms have presented themselves. Of course her symptoms started so late that she actually had a fighting chance."
Magnus shook his head. "As far as I've known, this condition easily treatable, why is it so deadly to your family's women? Do you even know?"
"It builds much faster. My mother compared it to a ticking time bomb. My blood pressure will slowly climb until by body just...gives out. The baby will die along with me if it is not delievered before I get to that level. That's why I need you."
Magnus looked steadly at her. "For what?"
Adriana stood, a bit shakily, and wandered toward him. She kneeled before him. "I know you have the book of White."
Magnus's eyes widened but he immediately relaxed, slumping in the chair. "And?"
"There is a potion, well a special version of a different potion, inside the book. It will take a week or so to make. It will take effect almost immediately, so I would take it once the baby is strong enough to survive without me."
It felt as if all the air was being sucked from the room, a dense chill setting in. "You talk as if you don't plan to outlive this." Magnus's voice was smooth despite the dark subject.
Adriana's green eyes seemed to burn with light. "I don't. The potion will induce labor, forcing my body to deliver, no matter how weak I am. I'm at 22 weeks right now. I am hoping I will not spike before 35 weeks, but I most likely will if the symptoms are already starting. The baby will be okay if I can hold out to 32 weeks. The potion contains a small blast of personal deminatic, it will help to strengthen their lungs and heart."
Deminatic...Magnus pondered the word for a moment. Then it clicked. "A personal deminatic. Only..."
"Warlock blood pocesses it? Yeah. That's where you come in. I could have any Warlock make a potion to induce labor, but by seemlessly infusing just a bit of Warlock's blood into it, it will help the baby develop faster before delivery begins." A sob choked Adriana's words, but she carried on in a cracked voice. "I am begging you. I can not let my child...Alec's child, die. I will do what I can to keep going, but this will insure the child's survival."
Magnus stood. "And seal your death. A small amount of deminatic may help the child's growth, but it will eat away at you. Add that to the pre-clampsia and there is no hope for you." His voice was almost a whisper by the end.
Adriana stood slowly, one hand to her baby, one to her back. "I understand. Will you do this?"
Magnus turned and began approaching the door. "Magnus." He glanced back at the young soon to be mother. Her lips were parted, her eyes soft and round. "Please."
He uttered his reply and left the room, sweeping out of the Institute in a hurried haste.
Adriana plopped down in the chair, her mind and heart heavy. Yes he'd said in a clipped tone. The baby fluttered sweetly and she rubbed her curved stomach. Tears plopped helplessly onto the fabric covering her stomach. She murmered a small phrase over and over as she cried.
I'm sorry my baby. Mommy is so so sorry. I love you.
I am crying. I love emotional chapters. I hate the tears I shed when writing them :( Keep reading everyone and Merry (late) Christmas!
