Chapter 14 - What are you waiting for?

River could see the bright white light of the room even though her eyes were closed. She felt exposed and cold despite the brightness that was surrounding her. She ached, there was no denying that. Her ears ringing and her head pounding, loud and heavy from dehydration. She licked her cracked lips tasting blood on her tongue, she struggled to swallow her throat dry and raw. It hurt to breath. It scratched at the back of her throat and River was sure that she had at least one broken rib. She gasped in pain as she tried to fill her lungs. She could feel pressure not only at the wrists and ankles, but her elbows her knees and also her neck. She didn't need to open her eyes to know that she had been restrained to the bed she was lying on. She could hear talking, the movement of feet and people around her. There were conversations, talking around her but due to the high pitched ringing in her ears, it was very muffled and distant. She wasn't able to make any sense out of what was being said.

River tried to peek through one of her eyes, screwing the other one shut tight. She was only able to manage it a bit at a time. Her eyes felt dry and crusty. The light was hurting her she closed her one open eye almost immediately.

The lights dimmed, submerging her in near complete darkness. She couldn't help but flinch at the feeling of a cool damp fabric being wiped across each eye in turn. The sticky residue removed and the lights dimmed, she found it easier to open her eyes.

"Wakey wakey."

Madam Korvarian stood a few feet in front of River. If she wasn't being retrained down she knew Korvarian would never venture this close to her. "Hello Melody." Korvarian smiled menacingly.

River felt a rush of heat though her, anger boiling in her veins as she stared at Korvarian. Instinctively pulling against the restraints to launch herself at the being she hated most in the universe. A guard behind Korvarian stepped forward but she raised a hand over her shoulder and he stepped back to his original position. The restraints tightened themselves and River could feel them cutting further into her already sore and bloody skin.

River wasn't able to speak, her mouth too dry. A shuffling next to her brought Rivers attention to a nurse that was injecting a light blue substance into the iv drip connected to the back of Rivers hand. Rivers heart race picked up and she could feel her pulse pounding in her ear.

Korvarian stepped forward, holding a glass of clear liquid, a straw bobbed between the ice that floated. She gripped the end of the straw and held it out for River. She hesitated, eyes flicking from the glass to Korvarians face.

Korvarian sighed exasperated, rolling her eyes and stomping a heel. It echoed through the quiet room. "If I wanted to kill you, don't you think I would have done it by now?" She pushed the straw forward to Rivers cracked lips. "Its water."

River hesitated before sucking the straw. She coughed as the first bit of the cool liquid caressed her throat. She put her lips to the plastic once more and swallowed a few sips, taking a bigger mouth full she pulled away and spat the contents of her mouth over Korvarians face. She knew she would pay for her action but the look on Korvarians face was priceless. River couldn't help but smile despite how much pain she was in.

"Where am I you bitch? How long have yo-" River gasped as Korvarian slapped her across the face. The impact made worse by the fact her neck was held in place. A raw tingle spread from the base of her neck up into the back of her head.

"You ungrateful whore!" Korvarian hissed, her face livid and dripping from the water. The nurse handed her a cloth and she snatched it turning away while she whipped her face clean, her body trembling in anger.

River licked her lips, she could taste fresh blood on her lip this time. She tried to move her hands pulling on the restraints once more, gritting her teeth as manacles on her wrists cut further into her skin. She could feel the warmth of her blood seeping out down the underside of her arms.

"Don't you understand what I am doing for you?" Korvarian stepped close to River so that she was only inches away, her make up smudge and wisps of her hair out of place, her eyes glaring into Rivers. "You're hardly the mothering type. Those babies won't last one day with you when they are born. We both know how selfish you are. You can't even remain calm while we try and take care of the three of you. You really think I want to do this to you while you're pregnant?" Korvarian shook her head side to side slowly as she spoke, "Tsk tsk. Why won't you give in Melody? You have been fighting us for weeks now."

Weeks? River thought to herself.

"Madam Korvarian, she and fetuses are stable." The nurse interjected handing Korvarian a virtual clipboard. River felt a weight lift from her shoulders. She has to suppress a smile from taking over face. Hearing that her babies were safe made her heart fill with happiness.

"Perfect. We would want anything happening to them. Take her to the chamber so they can rest. Monitor her. I want at least two men outside her door at all time."

The board River was tied to tilted backwards until she was lying flat. It began to move following the nurse and a handful of guards. They left the medical room they were in and exited into a hallway. The light was much brighter that here and River was forced to close her eyes as she stared up at the ceiling. The movement of the bed stopped as it was turned and she was pushed into a small room that was no bigger than the bed she was on. She was alone and the door behind her closed and she heard it seal. The lights were a lot dimmer in here, she was grateful for at least that. It meant she could now open her eyes again.

The bed titled upwards until completely vertical and the restraints unbolt pulling back into the bed, allowing her to step off the bed. Her knees gave way from underneath her and she stumbled forward, through another door way, on to all fours. The door which she just fell through closed within a second.

River looked at the floor in front of her, focusing on the droplets of blood at had fallen from her still bleeding lip. Her eyes moved to her hands which were also covered in her blood but it wasn't fresh. Dried and darkened, it had been there hours if not days. She could see many pin pricks covering the back of her hand at various attempt of inserting iv lines into her hands. The needle was still in her right hand, the white bandage covering the majority of her hand so her fingers pocked out the end. Breathing deeply, she pulled herself to her feet. The pain in her chest sky rocketing. At the other side of the room was another door. The frame was smaller but she rushed forward, non the less, to investigate. A bathroom. There was no bath, shower or mirror. A tiny room with just enough space for a basic loo and sink. Lifting the hem of what could be described as a gown she sat on the toilet to relieve herself, breathing a heavy sigh of relief, she then winced at the motion moving her arm over her chest. She filled the sink basin with water and gave her face a quick wash. She exited the bathroom to the room she had just come from. Glancing around it only contained a bed and a small table with a lamp. Walking to the bed side table, River attempted to pick up the lamp but it had been bolted to the cabinet. Examining the side of the cabinet, that had been bolted to the floor. She stood straight rubbing a hand over the swell of her belly. River felt no movement, she hadn't since she had woken. Worried and overcome with exhaustion she climbs carefully on to the bed. Punching fists at what was a pitiful pillow in an attempt to get comfy. It didn't work. Sighing, she gave in, laying on her back on the stiff bed.

The door clicked and opened. A nurse entered the room, rolling in an iv unit. She was followed by a guard who had his gun aimed and pointed at River.

"Please, stay on the bed Dr Song. I'm here to administer a mild sedative to help you relax and I have a bag of fluids to help you rehydrate."

River lay in silence her eyes flickering from the guard that stood at the foot of the bed to the nurse that was setting up the drip. Connecting the drip to the tube in her hand. Several beeps could be heard coming from the machine and then a steady tick as the iv would gradually feed the fluid into her veins.

"I'm just going to flush this tube through. It's just salt water." River watched as she picked up a small syringe and clipped it into the second shorter tube that hung from her hand. A slight sting radiated through the top of her hand up into her arm. There was popping noise as the nurse removed the syringe and second clip as the vial filled with sedative was attached and pushed through. A metal tang coated Rivers mouth as she watched the liquid disappear into the tube.

"Best you try and get some rest," the nurse dropped both vials into a metal dish before picking it up and heading out of the room.

The door hadn't even closed when River felt her eyelids close and she fell unconscious.

River woke, she was laying in the same position she had fallen asleep. She had awoken abruptly and felt uneasy. Frowning, she wasn't able to say how or why she felt the way she did. Lifting her head, she tried to peer through the darkness. She felt for her hand, the drip had been disconnected.

River lay her head back on the pillow and then she felt it: a cramping in the side of her stomach spreading through to her back and pushing down to her pelvis. Her eyes screwed tight she took a deep intake of air, a causing a sharp pain to ripple through her chest where her ribs ached. It subsided but not truly disappearing. River shifted in the bed trying to roll onto her side so she could swing her legs out of bed, but then she felt it again. She wasn't able to suppress the noise that came from her as she cried out in pain. The lights above her flicked on as she held her arms over the swell of her stomach. River tried as hard as she could to pull herself out of the bed and make an exit to the bathroom. She was hoping that they would of be foolish enough to have a lock on the door. Standing to her feet she felt the blood rush from her face and she threw up. Blood and vomit splatting the wall and floor. Pain crippled her again and she collapsed to her floor.

Rivers eyes flickered, she was disorientated, the smell of vomit and blood filling her nose and she heaved. Her legs felt warm and wet, she glanced down to see the gown to see it absorbing fresh blood that was coming from between her legs, causing the fabric to stick to her legs.

"We DO NOT have time to waste. Get the extraction tank ready and get her to the med station. I will not risk losing both of them." Madam Korvarian was close, River could smell her perfume and it made her throw up once more, blood running from her nose. "Administer the atheistic and get started, don't wait for it to spread. What are you waiting for? I need one of those babies alive!"