The voices, though they were talking quietly, broke the silence that had permeated the room and Eidra opened her eyes but she saw, not her husband, but a woman in a gray pant suit, speaking with a heavyset nurse in blue scrubs with yellow ducks all over it. She reminded Eidra vaguely of Artra. As she began to focus on her surroundings, she recognized the other woman.
"Lily?" She rasped, she was so dry, she wanted to ask the nurse for a drink but couldn't form the words.
Both women looked at the bed and smiled.
"Well it seems the new mommy is awake." The nurse leaned over beside the bed and Eidra felt the back start to rise until she was sitting up. She shifted position a little and was rewarded by sharp prickles of pain across her abdomen that dulled to a throb.
"My name is Anne, I'll be your day nurse today. I wrote my name on the board hanging on the closet, don't be afraid to ask for me by name." She adjusted the blanket for Eidra, "Now on a scale from one to ten, ten being the worse you can imagine, how is your pain?"
Eidra moved again, she felt as if she'd been run over by a wagon and team of four. "Perhaps seven?"
Anne hit the button on the blood pressure monitor that she'd been hooked up to since she'd been brought into the operating room and the band started to tighten around her arm.
"Okay, i'm going to get your vitals and check your chart. Open your mouth," Eidra did as she was bid and Anne popped a thermometer inside. Eidra was becoming rather used to the strange practices on Midgard. She was proud of the fact that she had stopped panicking every time someone approached her now.
"No fever," She watched the monitor until the cuff deflated and wrote the numbers in the chart she'd taken down from the hook by the door.
"I'll go get you something for pain. You can have Tylenol. Then we'll get you out of bed and sitting in a chair. You feel up to that?"
"I shall try. Where is my husband?"
Anne hung the chart back on the hook. "He's still down in the NICU with the baby as far as I know. We'll get you up and on your feet so you can go see her, too."
As the nurse left the room, Eidra turned to Lily, "I am so happy to see you."
Lily smiled at her, "When I heard what had happened, I put my name on the list to..." She hesitated but Eidra finished for her..
"Babysit us?"
Lily looked away, "I prefer to call it standing watch, that way it doesn't sound so bad."
"I do not ken why we need to be watched in the first place."
Soon after she and Loki had come to stay in Rialo with Ren, she had asked him about the years he had been gone and the reason he had been imprisoned in Asgard. He had refused to tell her what had happened, explaining that the past didn't matter anymore. His tone had concerned her but she had let it drop. The treatment they received each time they were on Midgard, however, had decided for her that one day in the future, she would ask him again, not now, however.
"I can't tell you anything classified, I'm sorry."
Eidra shrugged, "Eventually he will tell me. It is alright." She turned to her side and swung her legs out over the floor as Lily stood up, "Hey wait for the nurse."
"I shall."
Lily put her hands behind her back, "So what did you name her?"
"Cait, the name holds special meaning to us."
"Pretty. What about a middle name?"
"Middle? What is a middle name?"
Lily put her hand to her chest, "My name is Lily Beth Andrews, you see?"
"So your middle name is Beth...we do not use them."
Anne had returned by then, seeing Eidra sitting on the side of the bed. "Well you're halfway there already. Eager to see the baby huh?"
Eidra nodded, "Very much."
She had Eidra put her arms around her neck, "Now use me to steady yourself but use your legs to stand. Don't pull yourself up."
Eidra stood slowly, the pain in her lower belly screaming at her and she moaned.
"Yeah, it's going to be a sore few days but once you see that little girl, it'll all go away."
She turned Eidra and eased her into the recliner beside the bed, knelt down in front of her and took out a pair of red socks, slipping them on Eidra's feet after which she looked down and tilted her head. "The stockings smile at me." There were smiley faces on the top of each sock. The nurse laughed.
"It's to remind you to be happy. Did it work?"
Eidra shook her head and the nurse laughed again. "It worked for me, then."
The nurse stood up, "Are you going to breastfeed?"
Eidra gave her a curious look, "Of course, how would the baby eat if I did not. Do you have wet nurses here?"
"Not in this century. If the mother doesn't breastfeed, they use formula like Enfamil or Similac."
At Eidra's look of confusion, the nurse put her hands on her hips, "I gather you've breastfed your other children?"
Eidra nodded, "There was no choice."
"Can I ask a personal question?"
Eidra looked to Lily, "Yes." And Lily was on the alert.
"Are you from one of those groups that reject modern technology?"
Eidra was about to answer, "I am from Asgard." when Lily spoke up.
"They're from a very remote area, geographically isolated."
Eidra caught Lily's eye and the return look she gave her was enough to hold her tongue still.
"So they don't have formula where you're from? That's a new one on me, then you've probably never expressed breast milk before."
Eidra shook her head, "What does it mean?"
The nurse held up a finger, "Hold on," walked over to the sink near the bathroom and picked up a brightly colored satchel, brought it to Eidra and sat it on a large round table beside her. "This is for you, and there's a lot of great stuff in here. Pamphlets, coupons, a soft rattle for the new baby.."
She rummaged inside and pulled out a small booklet which read "Breastfeeding your baby" and handed it to Eidra who took it and politely thumbed through it though she could not read one word.
"You'll need to express milk because premature babies can't latch on at first. They're too small, they're too fragile to be held yet but it's important for them to have that milk so we have a machine that takes the milk from you and puts it in a bottle. You read that booklet and i'll go get the pump. We can try it and then we can bring the milk to the NICU."
When the nurse was out of the room, Eidra handed the booklet to Lily, "I cannot read your language. I can only read Alfari and Asgardian."
As she watched Lily peruse the booklet, she was quiet for a moment, then, "I am beginning to ken, people here do not know of Asgard."
Lily bit her lip, "Not many people do, no." She hated to lie to her but she felt it was in Eidra's best interest. There was no reason to upset her at this point, no reason to explain to her that up until the Avenger team member Thor showed up on Earth some years ago, they were all thought of as myths.
"Then I shall say nothing of it if you think it best."
"I do." Lily nodded.
The nurse had returned and in her hands was a small light green box with a cord attached to it and set it on the table, reached around to the wall and plugged it in, then handed Eidra what looked like a large clear cup with a bottle attached to it. As the nurse began to explain what it was for, Lily started to move for the door, intending to give them privacy but Eidra called to her, "Lily, please stay." So Lily sat back down in the chair at the end of the bed and tried to politely look elsewhere though it proved hard.
"There's nothing to it." The nurse started to loosen Eidra's gown at the neck to draw out a breast and Eidra's eyes grew wide. Lily had to stifle a giggle when she chanced a glance at Eidra. She was red-faced but smiling back at her and Lily knew a connection had been made between them.
The walk to the NICU was laborious. She still felt weak and each step brought a stab of pain though it was muted by the little white pills the nurse had given her to take before she had started the breast pump. Now with the bottle of breast milk in hand, she took Lily's offered arm gratefully, apologizing at her slow pace.
At last they arrived at the reception area and Eidra sat down on one of the couches to catch her breath while Lily spoke to the unit nurse behind the front desk. The nurse walked over to Eidra.
"Let me see your I.D. Bracelet."
Eidra lifted her arm to show the nurse the blue band around her left wrist and the nurse looked at the clipboard in the crook of her arm. "Alright come with me."
Lily helped Eidra to her feet and they started after the nurse but when they reached the door to the unit itself, the nurse turned and saw Lily. "I'm sorry, only immediate family is allowed in at this time."
Lily smiled at Eidra, crooked her finger at the nurse, drawing her aside. Eidra saw Lily take a wallet from her suit pocket and open it to show the nurse who wore a suspicious expression on her face. Lily then leaned over and whispered something in the nurse's ear whereas she sighed loudly and waved them on. "You'll need to put on a sterile gown before you enter the main room."
They entered a room with shelves of gowns and benches to sit on, where the nurse took a gown and handed it to Lily. "You tie it in the back, when you're finished, you may go in."
While Eidra waited for Lily to tie her gown, she looked through the glass wall at the other side of the room through which they could see the little plastic bassinets, some empty, some occupied. Men and women were gathered around those, talking, touching the baby within. There was a small girl on tiptoe peering through the plastic of one bassinet, trying to get a glimpse inside. In the far corner of the room, she could see Loki. He was sitting in a rocking chair beside one of the bassinets, seemingly asleep, his head on a pillow resting on the arm of the chair.
They opened the inner door, the couple at the nearest bassinet nodding and smiling at them. As she drew closer to Loki, her pace slowed, shock setting in at what she was seeing.
The baby lay there in a white nappy, within a forest of tubes and wires. One tiny arm was splinted with an IV tube running from it. Another tube ran down her nose, and a tube connected to a large plastic object ran down her throat, held there with strips of surgical tape. There were tiny patches on her chest attached to wires running out of the bassinet and up to a tv screen above her head. Eidra suddenly felt dizzy, her legs shaky. She gripped Lily's arm to steady herself.
"My poor little girl." She moaned.
Another unit nurse had seen them enter the room and approached them, putting her hand at Eidra's back, startling her, she turned to look at the pretty, plump redhead "My name is Lacey. I'm one of the day nurses here in the unit. Cait had a busy morning. We ran some tests, made her comfortable and..."
"She hardly looks comfortable like that." Eidra rasped, her throat tightening.
"I know," Lacey rubbed her back, "But she really is. She was having a lot of trouble breathing on her own when we got her here so we intubated her to help her breath. The tube going down her nose is her feeding tube since she can't suck on her own yet, oh did you bring breast milk with you? The maternity nurse said you were going to be breastfeeding."
Lily handed her the bottle she'd been carrying and Lacey nodded, "Wonderful, I'll go get a syringe and I'll help you feed your baby, okay?" Before she could walk away, Eidra put her hand on the edge of the bassinet. "Might I touch her?"
"Oh by all means, take care with the wires and tubes. I know it looks scary, touching is the best thing you can do right now. Let her know you're here, rub her head, hold her little hand. It'll help her get stronger and comfort her. I'll be right back."
Eidra put her hand into the bassinet and gently stroked Cait's belly, reveling in the soft skin. At the touch, Cait let out a muffled squeak and Loki's head came up from the pillow.
"Eidra? Gods, I fell asleep. I am sorry." He stood at once, slipping his arm about her waist.
"You have been here all this time, do not apologize for being tired." Her head dropped to his shoulder and Lily backed away to allow them privacy.
"Oh Loki, had we not been here, we would have lost her."
He reached into the bassinet and put his hand atop her head, struck at how big his hand seemed in contrast, stroking the soft down with his thumb. Eidra turned to Lily and nodded at her, "If you had not told me this was possible, I would not have known to come to Midgard. We owe her life to you."
Lily looked down at her shoes, "I was hoping you wouldn't need to come here, if you get my meaning, but I'm glad you decided to." When she looked up again, Loki was staring at her.
"You saved my daughter's life, I will find a way to repay you."
Lily flushed at this, "It was my pleasure."
Lacey had returned with the syringe and Eidra saw it was filled with the milk from the bottle. She watched her attach it to the tube in Cait's nose and motioned for Eidra to take it. "Now press the plunger down very gently. She will only take an ounce or so in this feeding. Don't rush it."
Eidra's hands were trembling as she pressed the plunger down and watched the liquid flow through the tube. Lacey put a fingernail on the syringe, "There is the ounce mark, when the liquid gets to that point, stop and we'll save the rest for the next feeding. See, the milk is going right into her belly and when she gets strong enough, she'll be able to latch on her own."
Eidra looked at the card placed at the end of the bassinet, "What does that say?"
Lacey looked at the card then to her, "It says Cait, weight three pounds, ten ounces, length, eighteen inches. She was a good size for a preemie. It shouldn't be long before you get to hold her and feed her."
Lacey detached the syringe from the tube and capped it. "You'll be able to do this on your own later. The pediatrician on call today is Doctor Bane, he's making rounds right now and he'll be up to discuss the test results with you soon, okay? Call me if you need anything, i'll let you enjoy your new baby."
Eidra put a finger to Cait's cheek and her hand flew up to grip it. Eidra, sore, scared and tired, finally broke down. Loki held her tightly, whispering to her, "Hush, my heart, she will be well."
Loki eased her into the rocking chair and she motioned to Lily who walked over to her and bent down. "Is there any way I can get a message to Brenna? I wish for her to know she has a little sister.