Chapter 35

Embrace of the bloodred waters

Severus woke abruptly form an utterly upsetting dream. His heart was drumming in is throat and he had the soft linen sheet coiled around his lower limbs. Still half asleep, he rolled to his side to reach for Fiddler, then he remembered he wasn't in their room. As he hadn't been since… That day.

 He lay on his back and sighed. He reluctantly admitted to himself he missed her, missed her wonderful hair spread on the mattress, the scent of her, her rounded belly pressed against him.

"It is your own fault you lost all that", he reminded himself out loud.

He sighed again and his eyes drifted shut. Blurred images from his nightmare came to his mind and he shivered. He vehemently hoped it wasn't a premonition, but ever since his magical binding with Fiddler he'd become more receptive to that kind of signals…

Severus couldn't remember the exact details, but the main fact remained that something had happened to the babies. Something dreadful. He remembered his strangled feeling of impotence, his struggle to remain sane as he regarded the blood, Fiddler's pain, white lights, screams, loud sounds, tension… and… death?

 His heart clenched.

After Hermione's prediction, it seemed the fate of the magical world now rested within the welfare of those two little beings growing inside the womb of the woman who was still his wife. Severus still wasn't sure what role would they play, but as the time grew nearer, he realised his intrinsic selfish nature was finding hard to stomach the idea of risking them for the sake of others.

Again.

His musings were interrupted when he heard a muffled moan on the other side of the door. It sounded pained, and that made him get out of bed hastily and run to open the door, as his mouth parted to ask who was it and what did he or she want. But the words died on his lips when the sight before him finally sunk in his mind.

It was Fiddler.

She was grabbing the doorknob for support with one hand, the other wrapped convulsively around her belly, deathly pale, standing amid a large pool of blood. For the second time in their entire acquaintance, she was not wearing a scrub, but a white, knee-length gown that allowed Severus to see the blood running down her legs in thick dollops. The dim light coming from the hall only but enhanced the crudeness of the scene. Severus froze in shock. For half a second he thought he'd fallen asleep again and was having another nightmare, but deep down he knew he wasn't.  Fiddler hadn't spoke to him in weeks, but if there was something that could force her to break the Ice Law, that something were their children.

Something was very, very wrong.

"Fiddler—", he stammered. "What—what…"

"I think it's placental abruption", she answered laboriously but in a calm voice. "It's a premature detachment of the placenta… It's not supposed to… happen… until after the baby is born…"

"But… why… how—?"

"I… don't know. It might be my… My Half-breed nature… I don't know how… how genetics work in this case… But it doesn't matter know. We must—", she stifled a moan and her knees bent a little. "I didn't mean to… disturb you… But… I can't… I…" she closed her eyes as if willing herself to focus. "We must get to the hospital now… Or the babies… will die… and I will bleed to death".

Severus Snape had survived the Dark Lord, had endured torture and faced death not having so much as blinked. But Fiddler's matter-of-factly statement was beyond what he thought he could bear. This was no time for hysterics, though.

"You will not die, nor will our children", he said repressively, trying to drill the thought in her head as he did with his students. "Come on, now, let us go".

"But… you can't… can't drive…" she wheezed and he noted she was shaking. He stepped forward and caught her in his arms as her knees gave up the effort of keeping her upright.

"I will Apparate us if I have to", he said.

He carried her into his room, her head resting on his shoulder, her hair swaying around them, both arms wrapped weakly around his neck. He paused long enough to grab his night robe and shoes. She was bleeding like a fountain and he was growing more concerned by the second. He drew out his wand instinctively but Fiddler's hand stopped him weakly. Then it dawned. Apparating a pregnant woman was strongly discouraged, and Fiddler was in sound enough danger as it was. Severus sighed and put his wand away. He stopped in front of the first door that crossed his way to the stairs and raised his fist to knock.

"Potter", he said to the closed door. "Wake Weasley up and put some shoes on. We have to get Fiddler to the hospital".

He heard some noises and then the door opened to let out  a very drowsy, messy-haired, and pajama-clad pair of teenagers.

"Wha—Oh, Bugger!", swore Ron before he could think better of it.

"Bugger indeed", conceded Severus. "Weasley, I need you to alert the others. Potter will be driving us to the hospital". He wasted no more time in words, and Ron nodded silently and left to wake people up. Appalled by the sight before him, Harry found himself eager to obey Snape's commands for the first time ever, and led the way downstairs taking the car keys from the wooden dog-shaped key hook that hung on the kitchen.

Molly Weasley caught up with them in the garage, carrying a large bag with some hastily packed items with her.

"Severus, I would like to come", she said softly, and Severus, relieved by her down-to-earth presence, nodded silently as Potter unlocked the car doors. He lay Fiddler on the back seat, covering her with his robe, and then sat besides her, lifting her head to rest it on his lap. Molly climbed up on the passenger's seat and Potter started the engine and headed for the gate. Severus smoothed Fiddler's hair away from her face and told her everything was going to be all right. He felt her nod against his lap, but her silent tears of pain had already soaked the fabric of his sleeping trousers. He held out a hand to touch her belly and he felt it harden under his palm. It wasn't the sporty movements of his children he'd become used to and missed so in the last few weeks, but more like a sudden tightening of the womb causing the skin covering it to raise and flutter. Fiddler had explained him the mechanics of delivery when she still talked to him… before the Incident, and if he'd understood correctly that was a contraction he was feeling.

But it couldn't be. It was too early. He splayed his fingers on her bulging midriff and this time there was no question about it. Fiddler's womb was contracting to expel their children out. She whimpered, curling over herself in a feeble attempt to allay the pain, and that confirmed it. She had told him contractions were painful. She even had demonstrated it by insufflating her 'sphyg', as she called her blood pressure measurement device, around his arm at eighty millimeters of mercury. She'd left it there for a whole minute, until his hand was numb and purple, and then she'd deflated it. She did that six times in ten minutes, and by the time she stopped his arm was pulsing in agony. It felt like a miniature cruciatus curse.

"Now", she said, matter-of-factly, "That's the pressure with which the uterus contracts to push down the baby. So, imagine what I just did to you happening at that same interval of time in the whole of your midriff and for about twelve to sixteen hours in a row, and you'll have a shrewd idea of the pain of delivery".

He had looked at her, horrified, and she had laughed softly, told him not to worry because she would probably have a caesarean section anyway and kissed him. Then she'd left the room to her habitual bathroom trip. Severus didn't dare ask what a caesarean section was. He really didn't want to know.

He then had tried to move his fingers, but he discovered he had lost the use of his arm for the rest of the afternoon, and ever since he had regarded Molly Weasley with somewhat awed respect.

After all, she'd been brave enough to go through that seven times.

   Harry drove frantically, eating miles at top speed, reminding Severus of the time Fiddler had nearly killed them all when escaping from Malfoy. He smiled at the memory but stopped in midmotion when he heard her moan again.

"Severus?" she whispered. She didn't seem to have the energy to form the words. "I… love… love you… Will you… will you keep that… in mind?"

She was speaking so low that Severus had to bend his head to hear her. But once he made sense of what she'd just said, he felt the rush of adrenaline in his body. Fiddler wasn't a thespian woman. No, he had in his lap a highly perceptive young doctor who was saying goodbye to him because she sensed she was dying.

Like Hell you are.

 "Don't", he told her fiercely. "Don't you say that. You must hold on, Fiddler, do you hear me? Hold on. Don't you dare to give up".

But she didn't answer. She appeared to be unconscious.

Do not go to pieces, Severus, he told himself, and forced composure into his voice as he insisted:

"We're almost there, álainn; hold on. Potter, step on it".

 They were there in no time, thanks to Harry's driving skills, and Severus, leaving him to deal with the car, irrupted through the door that said Emergency, holding Fiddler close to him, with Molly on tow and leaving a track of blood behind them. A part of his brain wondered numbly how much blood could she have left. He glanced around in search of an aiding, responsible someone, when a familiar face came across him. It was Sonia the Dunderhead, but she did her good deed of the year by yelling:

"Oh, MY GOD! It's Doctor Greene! Chuckie, quick, get a stretcher!"

The response that got was immediate and amazing. White-robed individuals in vivid scrubs ran towards them from all directions, and Fiddler was deposited in a rolling stretcher and pushed away by a whole lot of people, all of them talking at the same time. Molly and Severus followed them into a small cubicle, soundly ignoring the nurse that asked them to wait outside, please. A tall, redhead man with a stethoscope around his neck took the lead and raised his voice:

"Quiet, everyone! Get me two IV lines, Genie, quick; Jenny, Saline and Ringer, a thousand cc each, IV push… Diana, an oxygen mask, 5 liters per minute; John, get me the cardiotocograph, with two trasductors… Marie, call Blood Bank and get me three RBC packs and some PTS as well… Sonia, call Jürgens and tell him to meet me at the OR in five minutes… Cynthia, I will need a blood count, coagulation test, electrolytes and blood chemistry… Mariel… pass her 10 milligrams of butyl and 1 amp of ceftriaxone. Charlotte, tell me her vitals."

"BP 80/40, pulse 130, and RF 23. Give me a minute with the temperature, doctor Dennen".

"God, she's in shock. Jenny, add another Ringer and let them all at free flow. Now, Wendy…"

Severus and Molly listened to what he was saying but didn't understand a word; they both felt alien to that place and to the swirl of white coats and bamboozling orders, and they watched silently as the nurses fussed around Fiddler.

"Fiddler?" the readhead bent over her stretcher and touched her shoulder. She opened her eyes to look at him.

"Hi… Jeremy….", she replied with a weak smile. "I think… I think it's AP".

Severus saw the expression on Jeremy's face and blanched himself.

"Oh, Fiddler…", he heard him say. "I— How far along are you?"

"Thirty four weeks…"

"Damn it all! What happened?"

"Oh… You know… Book-like…", she said, and Severus couldn't help but smile at the irony in her voice, despite the circumstances. "A few cramps… searing pain… rush of blood… Hypertonia… Not… not placenta previa because… it hurt… hurts like Hell", she closed her eyes, as if the effort of keeping them open was wearing.

Jeremy lifted the thin sheet that covered her and nodded.

"I would agree. How much blood do you think you lost?"

"Oh… around… a thousand cc… Fifteen hundred, maybe… "

Severus looked at her, flustered. Fifteen hundred milliliters? And she stated it so calmly? What was wrong with doctors?

"Right. Well, my dear, you need a caesarean, and you need it now."

"I… know", Fiddler closed her eyes, exhausted, but opened them again as she clarified with an urgent voice: "Jeremy… they're… twins".

"Oh, God, Fiddler…"

Doctor Dennen, Severus mused, really looked appalled now.

 "Do you know…", he started. "If they share a placenta?"

Fiddler shook her head slowly.

"No… they're… dizygotic. Each one… with… a placenta of their own… Thank… God… for that".

Dennen seemed to share her feelings.

"Indeed. Apparently only one has torn, but we can't waste time. The internal bleeding will detach the other one sooner or later. Now, try to rest, my dear. You need your strength. I will take care of everything".

Fiddler nodded silently and closed her eyes. Only the slightest relaxation on her face told Severus she'd fallen asleep and he felt the need to reach out for her, but the nurses still fussing around her prevented him. Jeremy straightened up and raised his voice again:

"Oswald! I want everything ready in five minutes tops! Marie, get me that blood now. Jenny, go to OB/GYN and check who's on call, and get a neonatologist as well. Tell him we're delivering a set of thirty four weeks of gestational age twins whose mother presented AP, so he can get everything ready at the NICU. Quickly, we're going in now! Orderly!!!!!!"

As they waited for the orderly, whatever that was, Jeremy turned to Severus and smiled.

"My apologies, sir, madam. You might have thought it was rude of me not to talk to you before, but this is a real emergency and I needed to act with haste".

Severus shrugged his shoulders as if saying it didn't matter, but he couldn't bring himself to speak. He was hypnotized by the sight of his wife on the stretcher, her naturally pale skin looking almost blue against the pasty sheets, her face half-concealed by a green oxygen mask, her black hair making a crude contrast amongst all that whiteness. She had needles inserted in both her arms, connected to transparent, thin hoses, and a whole lot of bottles emptying rapidly into them. A nurse came then to fasten a belt with two discs around her stomach, and she attached it to a big square machine that beeped loudly and showed three sets of mountains and valleys.  Jeremy caught Severus' glance and said:

"That's the cardiotocograph. This line here…", and he pointed at it. "Shows uterine activity. That's a contraction right there". Severus observed a peak on the line, "and these two others show the babies' heartbeat. 146 and 150 BPM, both doing fine". He smiled reassuringly and Severus thought maybe they taught doctors to develop that kind of smile, because he'd seen it in Fiddler's face as well. "I am doctor Jeremy Dennen", the redhead continued. "You are, I assume, Fiddler's husband?"

"I am", he said, hoarsely. He shook the hand Jeremy was offering him and added numbly: "Severus Snape".

"Madam?"

"Molly Weasley", Molly said, shaking his hand as well. "Just a friend".

"Well, Mr. Snape, Mrs. Weasley. Fiddler has a condition named abruptio placentae. This happens when the placenta separates from the uterus before the birth of the baby. During a normal labor and delivery, the baby is born first. Several minutes to 30 minutes later, the placenta separates from the wall of the uterus and is delivered. This sequence is necessary because the baby relies on the placenta to provide oxygen until he begins to breathe independently. Are you following me?"

Molly and Severus nodded.

"The cause of AP is unknown. However, a number of risk factors have been identified. These factors include multiple pregnancies, which is Fiddler's case, malformations of the uterus, malformations of the placenta, Injury to the abdomen, as it occurs in car accidents, and genetic abnormalities".

Severus swallowed hard. Fiddler had mentioned something about that… And she was right, no one knew for sure if a Banshee was prepared to carry a human child in her womb. For all his previous studies, Severus had thought they didn't even had a womb. But his wife had been born from one… and hadn't Dumbledore told him that her own mother had died giving birth to Fiddler? Had the same thing happened to her? He willed himself to stop thinking about it and focused on Jeremy's explanation instead:

"Placental abruption is risky for both the mother and the fetus. It is dangerous for the mother because of blood loss, loss of clotting ability, and oxygen deprivation to her organs, especially the kidneys and heart, and it is dangerous for the baby because of oxygen deprivation, too, since the mother's blood is the fetus' only source of oxygen. Because the abrupting placenta is attached to the umbilical cord, and the umbilical cord is an extension of the fetus' circulatory system, the fetus is also at risk of hemorrhaging. The fetus may die from these stresses, or may be born with damage due to oxygen deprivation. If the abruption occurs well before the baby was due to be delivered, early delivery may cause the baby to suffer complications of premature birth. But if we don't deliver those babies soon, Mr. Snape, their chances of survival will grow thinner. As I said before, it seems like only one placenta detached, but the internal bleeding will soon be enough to detach the other one. Do you understand the risks, Mr. Snape?"

Severus nodded yet a third time.

"Good. Then I will need your signature authorizing the procedure".

Severus did as asked, and then bent over the stretcher and held Fiddler to him, mindful of the lines and artifacts connected to her. He kissed her cold forehead and whispered the Three Words in public for the first time in his forty years of life:

"I love you, do you hear me?" and then, feeling he needed to make a masculine statement after his soppy declaration, he added warningly: "So don't you dare to die on me".

She opened her eyes with difficulty and brought her hand weakly to her forehead, in a mocking salute.

"Yes, sir…" She mumbled. "I love you too". And she closed her eyes again.

Severus let go of her and watched as the orderlies took her away. Jeremy patted his shoulder comfortingly and with his encouraging smile he promised:

"We'll take good care of her, Mr. Snape. I will let you know as soon as we have some news".

And then he walked after the stretcher.