Chapter 10

Against his better judgement Jo had somehow convinced Crovell to let them call Nansetter before risking exposure in the emergency room. Crovell still firmly believed the hospital was the best place for his clearly shell shocked little brother, but until someone else could convince his sister otherwise he was stuck. Almost as soon as Nansetter had arrived she'd made no short work of examining her patient. The frown on her face showed she was concerned about something and for what felt like the millionth time Crovell was glad his old friend had agreed to be Arados's midwife.

Upon finishing her examination she summoned a number of sterile towels and dressings in order to clean up the blood.

'Well,' Crovell met her gaze, as they moved out of Arados's earshot.

'Tearing of the outa lining of the womb,' her words were plain, 'is common in the last couple o months of this kind of pregnancy. After all the wee burn will have to break itself out o the womb-sack.'

'But Ara still has three months left to go,' Crovell tried to protest, 'surely that's too soon for the lining to be…'

'Youse right laddie, is not common fur the lining to be this fragile this soon, but it's not unheard of. I suggest plenty o bed rest for the next few weeks.'

'Great,' Jo rolled her eyes, 'he's just going to love that idea.'

'I'll make sure he sticks to it,' Crovell swallowed dryly, 'I'll even wait on him hand and foot to make sure that he does.'

'Since when were you such a good brother to him,' she shot him a funny look.

'Since now,' a numb feeling washed back and forth through him. 'Something bad happened in that kitchen, I know it. That's why this happened. It was the stress… or the fear… or whatever it was that happened to him in there that caused this.'

'Its possible undue stress brought it on,' Nansetter mused, 'but why do I get the feeling youse thinks it's more than that?'

'You didn't hear him screaming,' Crovell turned away from her, 'or saw the look on his face before he collapsed. Something happened… someone did this to him, I'm certain of it.'

'Then youse better see to it that yur taking care of him well laddie. Cuz I'd hate to think of something doing this to him again.'

'So you think something did this to him too,' Jo frowned at her. 'I thought you said it wasn't uncommon to happen naturally this soon.'

'Its not lassie, but I just think it'll be better fur the lot of youse if yur over cautious on this one.'

'Why?'

'Yur brother has been in fur weekly scans with may, remember? If I thought he were at risk of this happening I would have told him t rest long before now.'

'Just because you didn't think it would happen, doesn't mean…'

'I know that lassie, but I have to agree with yur feller here. Although it is part of a natural process, something all together unnatural caused that tear.'

'What makes you so sure?'

'He's not the first pregnant laddie I've seen in my time Princess, but he certainly bay the strongest. This is the last thing I would have expected, especially the way the laddie is taken it. Something happened to him, I'm sure o that.'

'That's it,' Crovell gritted his teeth, feeling more than mildly overprotective, 'from now on I'm not leaving him on his own.'

'You mean you're going to follow him everywhere,' Jo cocked an eyebrow.

'No,' he shook his head, 'I just think someone should be with him at all times.'

'Well I'm with him pretty much all day most days,' Jo frowned, 'and I don't think Ara would really appreciate twenty-four hour protection.'

'I don't care,' he snapped, 'I don't want anything hurting them,' he indicated towards his brother, 'or do I have to remind you that he's carrying the heir to the Lutoni house.'

'This is about more than just protecting the line though, isn't it,' Jo challenged him. 'You're worried about him.'

'And you're not?'

'Of course I'm worried about him,' she folded her arms, 'but my emotions aren't so over the top about it.'

'You think I'm being over the top about this?'

'I'm just not sure Ara will really appreciate so much brotherly attention.'

'If this is about jealousy…'

'Yes this is about jealousy,' she cut him off, 'I'm the one who should be your main concern right now. I'm the one you should be thinking about protecting.'

'Damnit,' Crovell was hit by a wave of realisation, 'we have to warn the others.'

'Warn the others about what?'

'About the fact something might be after the babies.'

'What?'

'Well what if Ara is just the first? What if he was attacked because of the baby? What if the rest of you are next? We have to make sure all of you are protected.'

'Crovell why are you being so manic about this,' Jo's frown deepened, 'for all we know it could have just been an isolated incident. A freak occurrence that Ara was unfortunate enough to be on the receiving end. It might never happen again.'

'Something stopped me from getting in that room Jo. I could sense its hatred and I know it's not just going to disappear. I'll never forgive myself if I let it hurt anyone else.'

'You blame yourself for this happening to Ara?'

'Yes,' his emotions felt more than a little frayed, 'I should have been taking care of both of you, not assuming he could take care of himself. He's all on his own in this,' he lowered his head, 'everybody keeps forgetting about him, again. That probably just made him an easy target for this… this thing. And it's all my fault.'

'How is it all your fault?'

'I should have offered to keep him company or made him something or… I don't know. I just shouldn't have left him on his own.'

'You didn't know this was going to happen.'

'I should have.'

'Crovell he's not your responsibility.'

'Of course he's my responsibility Jo, just as much as he's yours. He's our brother!'

For a few moments Jo was silent. He could tell by the look on her face she wasn't happy. But he could also tell she knew he was right. Eventually she gave a heavy sigh and shook her head.

'We should get him back home to bed,' her voice was low, 'and then one of us should let Mum and Dad know what's happened. Maybe then we can organise how we're going to go about giving him twenty-four hour protection.'

'Right,' Crovell sighed in relief, glad his sister was seeing reason about this.

'In the morning we'll let the others know what's gone on and let them decide how they want to handle this possible threat.'

'Why not tonight?'

'I doubt anything else will happen tonight,' she gave her own heavy sigh. 'And besides, that would just take focus away from Ara and heaven forbid we should do that.'