Previously: She could feel it inside of her, the most violent contraction a human could possibly feel. It was pain like she'd never felt before. Not the exhaust from her first battle with a hollow, or getting knocked down by Yammy, not even watching Ichigo die for her was as painful as this.
There was nothing that gave her any clue what to do next. Her hands gripped onto her stomach, as if it could stop the feeling that made her want to tear out her heart.
The only option left was the same thing that she'd almost always done. She usually felt bad about it, but this time it was the only thing in front of her.
With her last breath, she cried out.
"Ichigo!"
No Regrets
Chapter 10: Time
The shinigami-human burst through the door.
His eyes grew wide as he saw the sight that he had feared an anticipated for a long time. Orihime was lay screaming on the ground.
She had dropped her towel, now only curled up and clenched her belly.
It was so sudden, Ichigo couldn't full process what was happening. There was only thing that his mind told him to do.
He ran for the doctor, nurse, or anybody. Somebody had to help her, but then he realized there was only one person in the hospital with a chance of that.
Next to her bed was an emergency button, the quickest way to get Ryuken. Without any thoughts on patience, he slammed his fist at it several times before giving it a chance to do it's job.
The next thought was to go back to Orihime, he ran through the door and wrapped his arms around her.
Some aspects of this were just like before, when they returned from the Soul Society. It was as if the oxygen in the air had just disappeared around her. He could see her struggling, gasping for air while trying to scream.
There wasn't anything she could say, no way to explain how this had happened. It was very sudden.
He stood up and carried her back to the bed, laying her down and covering her with a blanket. Her trembling fingers pulled it up to ensure that nothing was showing.
"It's...it's going to be alright," a tear rolled down his cheek, but he couldn't promise the words he gave her.
She tried to open her eyes, ignoring the pain. But it felt as if somebody had injected poison into her body, though she knew that wasn't the truth.
In reality, over the past forty-eight hours, she knew very well that something was happening. She just didn't want to worry anybody, so it was kept to her mind only.
That was a mistake.
If people had been paying close attention, they might have noticed that the 'strong kicks' were a little too strong for what she had named them.
Ryuken walked through the door slowly, and Ichigo looked at him with disgust.
"Is that seriously the pace you've been walking at?" he snapped, "Didn't I make it clear with the ringing that this is an emergency?"
"Oh no, you did. Very clear."
He scowled and turned back to Orihime, "Something is wrong, right? You have to tell me!"
The Quincy looked over her carefully, "Well she's in labour, if you class that as a problem."
"Obviously she's in labour! I'm not stupid!" he shouted, "Somebody just needs to do something about it!"
"I'm not currently sure if there's anything I can do," he re-positioned his glasses, similar to Uryu, "right now it's all about how long she's been in labour. It's almost definite that it's been going on for a while, from my calculations."
"I don't want your calculations," Ichigo growled, "Just do something, quickly! Can't you see that she's almost dying?"
"Indeed, I can see."
He hated him. The hate he had before then increased, forming a mega-hate scowl on his face.
Then a loud cracking sound came from Orihime.
In the past few moments, the crying out had become less common. But now, she produced a high-pitched scream that echoed throughout several floors of the hospital.
Ichigo stared into an empty space.
"What...are they snapping her bones now?" he choked.
"Possibly, we don't know that right at this moment," Ryuken walked over to Orihime, looking down at her.
The man just behind him was breaking into pieces, every corner of his minds turning over and spinning in circles.
"Do something."
"What do you expect me to do?"
"To keep her alive, that's what hospitals to, right?" Ichigo spat, facing him with a look of concentrated pain plastered across his face, "I think it's clear that she can't breathe."
"All we can do now is wait. When she is strong enough to talk, we can then determine what actions are necessary,"
"You're pathetic," he muttered.
Ryuken looked right past his insult and strapped the oxygen mask back onto Orihime's face. "Call me again when she's able to talk to you. It may be an hour or so. I want you to ask her how long she's been putting off labour."
"You think it's been going on for a while?"
"It looks like at least a day," he said, walking away.
Ichigo slumped down into the chair, wanting to scream at the top of his lungs.
Orihime was quite still now that she had definite access to oxygen, he was glad to see that at least. But the image of her lay writhing in pain in a hospital bed was still far from a peaceful picture.
Have you been keeping something from me?
If she was awake, he would have asked her that directly. Whenever she kept secrets, it usually lead to trouble. Maybe most of the time it was bad luck, but that wasn't the matter for this case.
He couldn't help but doubt that she had been in labour for a long time, but he felt stupid that there was a chance he hadn't noticed it.
Again, the door flew open and Uryu ran in.
His heavy breathing suggested that had ran, and that kind of annoyed Ichigo.
"What's going on?" he coughed, "Is she okay?"
"Does it look like she's okay?" Ichigo retorted.
"Not exactly."
"Then why did you ask?"
"It's an automatic reaction. And shouldn't you be getting this fixed? It's you who caused all of this," Uryu pushed up his glasses, like his father had earlier.
"You keep saying it like I'm happy about it."
"Are you?"
"No!"
Ichigo slid down in the chair like a sulking child. His arms were loosely crossed over his chest and he scowled up at Uryu.
"What are you doing here, anyways?"
"Making sure your stupid actions haven't killed one of my friends."
"Oh, so she's just a friend to you?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Seriously?" he scoffed, "It might be growing less obvious now, but I swear you used to like her!"
"So what if I did?"
"Nothing, it just looks like it hasn't changed all that much."
"That has nothing to do with this situation."
"Then why did you come running here?"
That left a silence in the room. Uryu decided not answer, sitting down in the chair at the opposite side to Ichigo. It was a smart decision.
Ever since they had become not just a couple, but friends, he was very protective over Orihime. She was fragile and clumsy, it was so easy for her to hurt herself. That was a worry to everybody.
Now she was lay, possibly even dying, on that bed.
One hour later, Uryu finally decided to speak.
"Why is she naked?"
Ichigo squinted while looking straight ahead. "I was wondering when you'd ask that, considering how you were staring at her before."
Uryu looked over at him, the reflection of his glasses covering his eyes, but it was clear he'd be glaring. "You are by far the most frustrating person I know."
"That's great," he huffed, closing his eyes.
Another moment of silence passed before Uryu put his head down, "You ruined her life."
The next few minutes seemed a little shorter than usual, "I know."
"And yet you do nothing to show regret," he sighed.
"It's better that we don't regret it..."
"Just what the hell do you mean by that?" his voice was raised.
Ichigo stood up, "How are we supposed to be parents if we regret having the twins?" he shouted.
"Please...stop..." came a weak, gentle voice.
Both of their heads turned quickly. Orihime's eyes were open, her heart beating.
"Orihime!" Ichigo was right at her side, holding her head, looking up and down her.
"It's okay...I'm okay..." she whispered.
Uryu didn't look directly at them, he turned to the door. "I'm leaving," were the last words he said before walking away.
"Orihime...have you...really been in labour all day?" he touched her cheek, even though most of her face was covered by the mask.
She looked up at him carefully. Her eyes were sparkling, but her expression was full of guilt. "I think it's been going on since yesterday morning..."
"Why didn't you say anything...?" he didn't look angry, but hurt.
"At first...it just seemed like strong kicking," her breathing was at least almost back to normal, "...but I didn't think it was a contraction. I wondered about it, but then I though...that if it was, maybe something was wrong. It really didn't hurt that much at all. I didn't want to...admit to myself that something might be wrong. That's way I kept it...from you and everybody else. I'm sorry..."
"You don't...have to apologise, "Ichigo buried his face in the locks of her hair that lay out across the pillow.
"I-"
She stopped again, blinking. Her eyes shifted down to her bump, which she was firmly holding onto again. The next contraction was beginning.
By instinct, Ichigo smacked to button to call for Ryuken. He had told him to call once she was awake.
"No need for that," he said by the door.
"How are you here already?"
"Uryu told me to come, because she's awake, as I see"
"Yes, awake and contracting, so you can help now!" had he been an animal, he would have snarled those last few words.
"Did you ask her?"
"She told me that she thinks it started yesterday, in the morning."
Ryuken's eyes widened, "In that case, we need to get her into delivery."
"Now?"
"Yes. We don't know what could happen from here on out."
The Ouincy walked away quickly to fetch some people to take her. If this was a normal situation, he should have checked that she had dilated enough for delivery. Ichigo was glad he didn't actually mention it, but suddenly the image was in his head.
Well now I feel sick.
Orihime held his hand.
"We have to go now?"
"Yes...but don't worry, I'll be there. I won't let them do anything to you or the twins."
Ryuken then walked in with a syringe.
"That's typical..." Ichigo muttered.
"We'll need to inject this into her before we can take her to another floor."
"What is it?"
There was a strange blue liquid inside. It looked a little scary.
"This will mute the spiritual pressure. It's dangerous to have it flying all over the place down there, it could harm the normal humans. This may also make the delivery a little easier, you should be able to breathe just fine without all of that energy suffocating you."
"Thank you..." she trembled, starting at the syringe.
"We must do this quickly, before they take you into delivery."
He took her arm and searched for a vein. Ichigo had her holding onto his hand, she would obviously be scared.
Then Ryuken found a spot and prepared the needle.
It was just an inch away from her skin, half an inch, a quarter of an inch, and...
"Ouch!" the needle pierced through her skin.
The cry wasn't hers, it was Ichigo. She was holding on so tightly that she nearly crushed his hand.
All three of them had heard the snap, probably a bone breaking. Ichigo held up his hand, panicking and looking from Orihime to Ryuken and back again.
"I'm sorry!" she squeaked as the syringe was taken out, and replaced with a band aid.
"I think you broke my hand..." he stared at it, eyes filling up at the corners.
Orihime looked down to grab her hairpins, before she remembered that she only had the blanket covering her. At that point, she started to blush.
She grabbed her hairpins, which she remembered were right next to her on the table, and healed his hand, apologizing throughout the whole twenty seconds it took.
Then she put them down quickly as the team of doctors came to take her.
At that very moment, another contraction started. But it was normal. She just breathed through it, and it was over like that. The spiritual-pressure-muting-syringe thing had actually worked, but she wasn't surprised.
For the first time in a while, it felt like a completely normal pregnancy.
The doctors instructed Ichigo to wait, as they had to get Orihime in a medical gown. She was then taken to a room in the Delivery Ward.
It was very similar to the other room, plain and simple, yet quite large. They got her onto the bed and set up the room.
Ichigo's eyes didn't go far from Orihime, but he looked with confusion at the two hospital cribs. Until then, he had only been concerned about her safety.
But now, he had just opened his eyes the the fact that they were about to enter parenthood.
He stood right next to her as they prepared to start the delivery. She was scared, he could see it right there in her eyes. Both of them had worried about this from the beginning.
"You know...everything is gonna be fine...right?" Ichigo gently rubbed her hand.
She placed one hand up at his cheek, "I'm only worried about you."
"Why?"
"Because in a few minutes you're probably going to learn how completely disgusting childbirth really is," she attempted a smile, but it was barely an expression.
"Orihime, are you ready to start now?" the doctor pulled on some plastic gloves.
She sighed, "Y-yes. I think so."
"Then let's get into position."
All they had to wait for now was the next contraction. They had been coming every thirty seconds, it wouldn't long.
Ichigo didn't dare to let go of her hand, not for anything. He wasn't sure if he had any interest in watching the birth, only comforting her.
As the contracting sped up, he felt her hand starting to grip his tighter and tighter. By now, he didn't care if she broke his hand. Orihime had to keep breathing, that was all that mattered.
"Okay, we'll tell you when to start pushing."
The doctor was sat at the foot of the bed as she raised her knees. Now wasn't the time to show the usual Orihime characteristics. It was still strange though. There was a doctor right there, staring and she couldn't care less.
Nobody in that room had any idea how long it would take. They just had to get through it. Once all of this was over, they would have two little people. After that, it seemed like everything would be okay. But at this stage, anything could happen.
"Looks like you can start pushing now."
It began.
She started trying to push. At first she thought it'd be fine, until she realized how much energy it took.
"You're doing just fine, keep going. I can see a head now, almost here."
Ichigo counted, just twelve seconds later, a loud cry echoed in the room,
It was coming from where the doctor was sitting, he held the tiny little blood-covered body of their child.
That's...my...son, he kept thinking, while staring at the wriggling creature. This was a moment that he would remember for the rest of his life.
The doctor cut his umbilical cord and passed him away to be cleaned. At the back, the nurses wrapped him up and laid him down in one of the plastic/metal cribs.
From the bed he could see the strands of dark, soft hair on his head. It was a surprise, they'd both taken a guess at more orange.
His mind wandered away for a little too long. Orihime cried out in pain. Her hair was dark with sweat and her eyes were tired. Ichigo had no idea how, but he seemed to miss whatever was happening.
"You just have to keep pushing! Don't think about the baby, just keep going!"
"I can't!" she cried, "I can't any more!"
Ichigo snapped back into the moment and tightened his grip on her hand, "You can try, right? You can do this for the baby, can't you...?"
"There really isn't time for that!" the doctor said, "The baby is stuck, if you don't push, you'll probably die. There's no time for a C section, you just need to push it out, right now."
Not great encouragement.
"I...I can't do it..." she whispered.
This situation was no longer related to spiritual pressure, or anything like that. Orihime was eighteen years old. She'd always lacked physical strength, in most aspects, but now she needed it to save two lives.
"Is there really nothing you can do?" Ichigo shouted at the doctor, who shook his head.
"She's practically choosing to die here."
There was almost a silence, besides Orihime's heavy breathing.
Ichigo wanted to scream, or anything that could rid of him frustration. He took her other hand and leaned over, looking into her eyes.
"You're not trying to kill yourself, right? You can't do that!" he whispered.
She had tears flowing in every direction, unable to keep herself together. "I just can't...push...any more..." she spoke in shaky voice.
"You have to!" he cried, finding his own tears again, "I promised you that we could stay together forever, right? You have to help me make sure we can! You have to...". He kissed her, in every available spot he could find on her face.
Orihime stared blankly at the ceiling, with no idea what she could say. There was only one action left.
She tried to push again, without a lot of effort. She wanted the strength to do as he said, but it was difficult to find.
"Orihime, you need to push harder than that," the doctor said, "If you're really trying to save your baby, you'll need to try with more effort."
Ichigo kept his hold on her hand and he stepped forward, almost next to the doctor. "Will you let me see out second baby be born?" he tried to persuade her, "You'll let me, right?"
"I-I.." she stuttered, "...Okay."
"So you'll push as hard as you can?"
"I will..."
The doctor tried to encourage her, "Come on, then. Let's get your other baby out before it's too late."
Orihime took a deep breath and pushed with all of the strength she could muster.
"And again."
She tried again, with a little less determination.
"It's almost over, just one more big push, Orihime."
With all of her desire to see her twins in mind, she inhaled and screamed out as she used up the very last of her energy.
At last, the cry of the second baby was heard. The second son, was finally there with them.
"He's here..." Ichigo whispered, looking down at the little human and smiling.
Then he looked up at Orihime, who was trying to recover the energy to look at him. Without any other words, he moved back up and kissed her lips.
–
Update! Yeyz. I didn't know if I'd be able to finish this or not, but I guess so! School starts again tomorrow...so I've been here all day writing this extra-long chapter in hope that it won't seem so terrible, because I'm assuming the updates will be less-common once I'm back into school.
Right now, I need sleep! Writing scenes like this is difficult, I have no idea what to write because I've never experienced it. That's why it turned out pretty bad.
All I know about is cat birth, which I had to be stupid and research now that I'm suspecting that this cat sat right here on my lap is pregnant...sigh.
Well, a review would be nice! Please, please, do tell me what you think! Tomorrow I will wake up and check my inbox for reviews, I really hope to see some there, it might make going back to school less painful! :)
~HellYus