Chapter 21: A Child is born.
It had been almost a week since John had been out of the infirmary and Shalite had been staying with him. He still felt weak at times and seemed to want to sleep all of the time, but the doctors had assured him that was a result of the coma.
Shalite seemed to be getting bigger by the day and could hardly move around anymore, so he'd spent most of his time helping her. He really didn't have a problem with that because he had promised that he would be there for her when the baby was born and there was no way that he was going to go back on that promise. Joe or Carson would come and check on them a few times a day and Rodney, Rohan or Julian were never far away either.
The nightmares he'd had in the infirmary when he'd been poisoned still plagued him and sometimes when he awoke in the middle of the night screaming, Shalite would be by his side stoking his forehead and holding his hand. Some mornings he would even find her curled up next to him on his bed.
This no longer freaked him out like it had the first time that it happened, since he realised that some nights she was just too tired to get back into her own bed after she had been helping him though a nightmare.
She had become his best friend and he would do anything for her.
It was one such night that John awoke to the sound of someone moaning, lying there as his addled brain tried to enter the world of wakefulness, he wondered what it was. It actually sounded as if it was a person. Who would be in my bed in pain? Was his first thought upon waking and then it suddenly it hit him; it must be Shalite. He knew that she'd been having contractions earlier, but she hadn't let him know about it, so obviously she was having another one. Looking at the clock he realised that it was 05:00 in the morning.
Looking over at Shalite, he realised that she was lying on her side with her hands on her stomach moaning and she appeared to be in considerable pain.
"Shalite are you okay? How far are the contractions apart?"
He started rubbing her back and waited for an answer, after another ten seconds her face relaxed and he realised that the contraction must be over, so he asked the same question that he had before.
"Shalite how far apart are the contractions?"
"The last two were 11 minutes apart and they both lasted about twenty seconds."
"Did you have any before those two Shalite?" John asked trying to remain as calm as possible.
"I had a couple 4:00 as well." She told him the worry evident in her eyes.
"Okay Shalite, I'm going to contact Joe to let him know what is going on, so all you have to do for now is lay here."
"John can you help me get up before you contact Joe, because I really need to go to the bathroom?"
He nodded and helped her up, helped to the bathroom and then he stood by the door in case she needed anything from him. A few minutes later he heard a cry from her and his panic meter shot up, what is going on, is she having another contraction, or is it something else. With these thoughts running through his mind it didn't take him long to unlock the door and rush in to see what had happened.
"John, I think my water broke." She told him, pointing to the huge puddle on the floor.
He looked at the mess on the floor and felt himself beginning to panic, but he knew that he didn't have time to panic as he had to be strong for Shalite.
"Come and sit down and I will contact Joe and then we can get you to the infirmary?"
She nodded at him and he took her arm and led her to the table and sat her down in a chair, he was about to contact Joe, when Shalite's face contorted with pain and she doubled over grabbing her stomach again.
John started rubbing her back while he counted how many seconds the contraction lasted, when the contraction was over and she finally relaxed, he realised that it was ten minutes since the last one and it had lasted twenty-five seconds.
Sighing he held Shalite's hand and contacted Joe, "Sheppard to Dr Jarvis come in please?
"Go ahead John?"
"Shalite has been having contractions on and off since about 2:00 and her water has just broken."
"How far apart are the contractions now?"
"Around ten minutes."
"And how long do they last?"
"The last one was twenty-five seconds."
"Can you bring her to the infirmary?"
"I'm not really sure, she looks to be in a lot of pain."
"Bring her to the infirmary as soon as you can?"
"Okay will do, Sheppard out."
He looked over at Shalite and realised that she looked exhausted already and she still had to give birth to a baby, hopefully it would be sooner rather than later, as he didn't want to have to see her in pain.
Walking over to her and holding her hands and looking in her eyes, he spoke gently to her, "Shalite, I'm going to take you to the infirmary alright."
She looked up at him with bleary eyes, he could see that she just wanted to go to sleep again and he didn't blame her, he was beginning to feel tired too. He went about checking a few things in his room and when he had finished, he looked over at Shalite again and he realised that she had dosed off sitting at the table. He decided to leave her that way, because the next contraction was due in about four minutes time.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Shalite awoke from her doze when another contraction hit, this time it lasted a few seconds longer and it was the most painful one yet. Once it had subsided she realised that John was at her side and rubbing her back. Looking around she realised that Joe was in the room as well, which was a good thing, because she was really hoping that she could get to the infirmary as soon as possible and within the next couple of hours the ordeal would all be over.
"Are you ready to go to the infirmary now?" Joe asked her softly, as he came around to take one of her arms.
She carefully stood up with Joe and John's help, and they helped her into the hover-chair that Joe had brought with him.
She was a little fearful of what was to come. She had never had a baby before and she really wished her husband were with her, but he wasn't, because he had been killed thanks to a hideous creature that was still out there. Stop thinking negative thoughts, she chastised herself, you have Joe and John with you, so you're in good hands.
She was startled from her thoughts when John spoke to her in a gentle voice, "are you okay Shalite?" He asked kneeling down in front of her.
"I am alright for now, but I cannot wait to meet my son."
"I know what you mean. Have you chosen a name for him yet?" He asked as they started to walk down the passage way?
At this point she wished he would shut up, "Of course I have and I will tell you once he's born," she said through gritted teeth, as she felt another contraction coming on.
"John!" She yelled and grabbed his hand squeezing it tight as the next agonizing contraction threatened to rip her apart.
"Come on Shalite, remember to breathe," he said rubbing her back with the hand she wasn't in the process of breaking.
When the contraction had finally settled down, she realised that they had actually made it to the infirmary and were sitting just outside a private room. She knew that it was the room which John had been in when he was injured, but for now it was where she was going to give birth and she hoped that John would be there for the duration of the labour and subsequent birth.
"John how far apart were the last two contractions?" She asked him with fear in her eyes.
"They're actually getting closer together, they were only 9 minutes apart and that one lasted 30 seconds." He answered her rubbing his hand.
"She sat back in the hover-chair and actually waited to be helped into the bed, or on to her feet, she didn't really care. Eventually she felt John hold on to one of her arms and Joe held onto her other one, they helped her get on to her feet and settle her into a bed. Feeling absolutely exhausted she closed her eyes and hoped that the next contraction would be longer than 9 minutes away.
Before she had a chance to go back to sleep, Joe was talking to her again, "Shalite I need to conduct an exam to see how you're progressing."
Sighing she did as she was asked, but she really wanted to go back to sleep, why didn't these people understand that.
Joe conducted his exam and announced, "things are looking good the baby's head is down and ready to engage. I want to attach foetal heart monitor to monitor the baby's heart rate, so don't mind me fussing about.
"That sound's great hopefully the contractions will hold off for a while so I can get some sleep." Shalite told everyone in the room.
Once she had found a comfortable position, she closed her eyes and tried to go back to sleep. It didn't take long for her to fall back into an exhausted sleep.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
John watched as Shalite's breathing evened out as she fell asleep, he was really hoping that there would be a break in the contractions and that she could get some decent rest.
Looking over at Joe, he noticed that he was attaching the foetal heart monitor, "how's the baby?"
"His heartbeat is strong and at this stage there doesn't seem to be any problems."
"And how is Shalite doing?" He asked taking the cloth that Joe had given him and wiping the sweat off Shalite's brow.
"She is doing a great Job at the moment, although it is good to see her getting some rest." Joe told him looking down at the expectant mother.
He continued to wipe Shalite's brow as he spoke to the doctor, "how much longer until the baby is born?"
"I'm not really sure, if things continue down the path they are going down it could still be another few hours, but sometimes labour can stall and even stop. If that happens I have no idea what will happen." Joe answered in a caring tone.
"Well at least she's in a hospital and there are doctors present."
"That is a good thing considering what she has been through over the last 3 or 4 weeks."
John felt a lump in his throat when he thought about all that she'd had to endure since his arrival in this time period and he felt a little guilty for putting her through it, "Yeah it can't have been a pleasant experience for her."
"I'll just be in my office if you need me, I will come and check on her every hour or so, unless you call me first." Joe Smiled at him and left the room.
Once the doctor had gone John sat next to Shalite and held her hand. Looking at his watch he realised that it had been half an hour since her last contraction, he hoped that labour hadn't stalled completely, because if it did, this could last forever.
Looking at his watch he realised that it was 7:30 and he hadn't had any coffee or breakfast as yet this morning. He thought about going to get some, but then he looked down at his sleeping friend and decided that he would stay with her for now. He would ask one of the nurses if they could get him something when they came in the check on Shalite.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Shalite awoke to the sound of someone snoring and even though she felt refreshed it annoyed her no end. Why was there someone snoring next to her bed. She opened her eyes and looked to see who was annoying her and to her surprise she saw that it was John. She had never heard him snoring before, but looking at the way his head was resting on his chest she wasn't surprised.
It was becoming more annoying the longer she was awake, so she decided that she needed to do something about it.
"John!" She spoke to him in a loud sharp voice hoping that he would wake up and shut-up.
It didn't work, so she spoke to him louder this time, "John!"
When he didn't wake up she yelled at him, "John!"
"What!" He yelled back as he almost fell out of the chair he was sitting in.
"You were snoring and it was really annoying me." She told him calming her voice a little.
"Sorry." Was all that he said, which irritated her as well.
What was he sorry about she wondered, she hoped that he wasn't going to be saying that all day long, because she would throw him out of the room if he did.
She decided that she felt a little better after a nice long sleep; well she assumed it was a long sleep. Looking up she saw that John was now hovering over her, with his worried look on his face
He was annoying her again and at that moment she considered whether she could do this without him, but in the end, she decided that she really needed him here, because things were going to get more painful again very soon.
"How long have I been asleep, John?" She asked him with the best smile she could manage.
"Around half an hour and that means that you haven't had a contraction for over forty minutes now."
That piece of information brought her to tears, was her labour stalling, how many more hours would it be before this whole birthing process was over and then once it was over she would have a child to look after on her own for the rest of her life.
She felt John putting his arms around her and she actually felt comforted by it.
"Don't worry Shalite, I'm here." John soothed in an awkward way.
She didn't know whether to be comforted by him or whether to hit him. Suddenly another contraction ripped through her abdomen and she tried to curl in on herself while grabbing John's hand and squeezing it tightly as she rode out the pain. After about fifteen seconds it settled down again and she flopped back on the bed moaning.
When it was over she noticed that John was wiping her brow with one hand while she was still squeezing his other hand. "John I am sorry about your hand. I hope I did not injure you."
She watched as he tried to smile, but it clearly turned out to be a grimace, "don't worry Shalite I'm fine."
Their conversation was interrupted when Joe walked into the room, "how are you doing Shalite?
"I am okay at the moment; I think."
"When was the last contraction and how long did it last?" Joe asked looking at them both.
It was John who answered for him, "The last contraction was a few minutes ago and it lasted about fifteen seconds."
"Okay I think I'll check to see how things are progressing?"
Shalite did as she was asked and Joe conducted his exam, "there's not much happening at the moment, do you think you might like to go for a walk out to the infirmary balcony, to see if we can speed things up a little?"
Shalite thought that it was a good idea, she was sure she didn't want to lie in bed all day, "I would love to get some fresh air thanks Joe."
"I'll go with her," John suggested helping her to her feet.
Shalite walked out to the balcony in silence, with John's arm around her. It seemed to take for ever, because for some strange reason she was walking incredibly slow. Arriving at the balcony she went over and put her hands on the railing and breathed in the fresh air. This was just what she needed right now.
She felt John's hands on her shoulders and it made her feel so much better and at the moment she really appreciated him being there with her.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Joe went back to his office after he had seen Shalite and John off to the balcony, it was going to be a long day for him and an even longer one for Shalite, her labour seemed to have gone backwards and he wondered if it would stall in the near future. He hoped not, because that could lead to complications and if that happened he would have to perform a foetal transport, which was a highly dangerous procedure, because if it wasn't timed right he could risk killing the child.
He had settled down at his computer to do some paperwork when Rodney came running into her office.
"What can I do for you Rodney?" He asked looking up from his computer.
"Is it true that Shalite is in labour?"
"Yes, it is."
"How far along is she and when will the baby be born?" He asked, the words tumbling out of his mouth.
"I can't really give you too much information Rodney, as there is such a thing as Doctor patient confidentially. What I can tell you is she is doing well and Shalite or John will let you know when she is ready for visitors."
Joe watched him absolutely sure that he was going to say something else and he was relieved when he just turned and left his office. She knew that it was about time to check on Shalite, as she was due to have another contraction.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
John stood next to Shalite and rubbed her back when she doubled over as another contraction hit. They were walking back to the infirmary after spending a short time on the infirmary balcony. She'd had one on the balcony and had decided that it was time to head back inside. Looking at his watch he realised that it had only been ten minutes since the last one.
He continued to rub her back and she squeezed his hand again; he knew that he was going to ask Joe or Carson for some x-rays on his hand when the baby was born, because he could have sworn he heard the bones break.
"Come on Shalite, breath through the pain." He soothed.
He was a little afraid by the look that he gave her, but it was what came out of his mouth that shocked him.
"Will you shut up John, I am sick of listening to your voice."
He kept his mouth closed until the contraction was over, which was about 30 seconds and then he continued to help her back to the infirmary.
Once they were back in the infirmary and Shalite was settled in her bed again, John decided that it was time to go for a walk to the mess, since he hadn't eaten all day and was beginning to get hungry.
"I'm going to get something to eat. Would you like anything Shalite?
She just glared at him and said nothing, so he decided it was time to go. On his way out, he found Joe and sent him back in.
"How is she John?" Joe asked him with concern.
"She had another contraction a couple of minutes ago, the last two were ten minutes apart and lasted thirty seconds. I'm going to go and get something to eat and believe me when I tell you she is in a really bad mood."
"Just remember she's in a lot of pain John."
"Yeah I know that's why I need a walk; I hate seeing her like this. Let her know I'll be back soon."
He left the infirmary and headed towards the kitchen, passing the waiting room on the way. When he looked inside, he was surprised to find that Rodney and Rohan were waiting there.
"Hey guys what are you doing here?"
"Were waiting until Shalite has her baby, so that we can go and see them." Rodney answered while standing to his feet.
"Well you might actually have a long wait, so you might as well go and do something else."
"Where are you going Sheppard?" Rodney asked him with suspicion.
"I was just going to get something to eat."
"Well how about Rodney and I go and get you something to eat and then you can go back to Shalite?" Rohan suggested.
"Sounds good Rohan." John answered, before turning around and heading back to Shalite.
He arrived back in the infirmary to find that Joe was holding Shalite's hand as she rode out another contraction and this one looked more painful than any of the others she'd had. He rushed around to hold her other hand and started to wipe her brow with a damp cloth as she rode out the pain.
Once it had finished, Joe conducted another examination to judge how things were progressing.
John continued to wipe Shalite's brow while he waited until Joe had finished what he was doing.
"How's she doing Doc?" John asked when he had finished.
"The baby's head is engaged, so it won't be long now." Joe told them
"Did you hear that Shalite, it won't be long now." John soothed.
"Of course, I heard, I'm not deaf!" Shalite shot back.
John took that as a sign to just keep his mouth shut, so he didn't say anything more; he just kept holding her hand and rubbing the damp cloth over her face.
For the next half an hour, he sat and held her hand and wiped her forehead, as the contractions came and went. They were getting closer together, lasting longer and seemed to be more painful.
After once such contraction, Joe told them that the baby was ready to be delivered and when she felt the next contraction, she needed to push as hard as she could.
A few minutes later John held Shalite's hand as the next contraction hit, "come on Shalite, you're almost there, don't forget to push."
"John don't you talk to me, it's your fault that my husband isn't here, so why don't you shut up, before you drive me insane!" Shalite shouted at him as she pushed.
He continued to hold her hand and Shalite moaned again as another contraction hit.
"Push Shalite," Joe encouraged her gently.
For another five minutes the only sound John heard was Shalite moaning in pain as she continued to give birth to her child.
He could barely believe it when Joe announced that it was a boy and put it on Shalite's chest, asking him if he wanted to cut the cord.
He nodded eagerly and followed Joe's instructions and cut the cord, all the while looking at Shalite's son. It was the most beautiful sight he had ever seen.
"Do you a name for him?" Joe asked smiling at Shalite with tears in his eyes.
"John Tuart Flensing." Shalite answered with tears in her eyes.
John's eyes lit up, he was stunned that she had decided to name her son after him, he understood that she would want to name him after his father, but he had no idea why she would want to name him after him. "You named him after me?"
"The reason I chose to name my son after you, is that you are the bravest, kindest self-sacrificing man I have ever met and if my son possesses even half of those qualities, he will grow up to become an incredible man."
He felt tears brimming in the corner of his eyes, so he bowed his head feeling a little embarrassed, there was no way that he could comprehend why Shalite felt that way about him. He was just a crusty old soldier, who had ended up in another time thanks to a freak accident and all he'd done since he'd been here was be himself.
Before he had a chance to feel anymore embarrassed, Joe spoke, "Why don't you have a rest Shalite while I take John and check him out to make sure everything is okay. Perhaps it's time for you to get some sleep and I promise I will take good care of your son.
John watched as Shalite closed her eyes, hopefully she would be able to have a rest before it the baby needed feeding.
He sat in the chair next to her and held her hand as she drifted off to sleep, she was obviously exhausted. A few minutes later he felt his eyes closing and it wasn't long before he drifted off to sleep as well.
TBC…