"What's going on?" Rilian demanded. "Let me in!"
"Your Majesty -" the midwife tried to stop him. Rilian unceremoniously moved around her and ran to his wife. Eustace was a half-second behind him.
Jill looked white as a sheet. The first thought in both their minds was that she must have fainted - but no. She was awake, just holding very still and looking deathly ill.
"What's happening?" Rilian demanded as he took Jill's hand.
"Your Majesty, the pains are perfectly normal. Please go back outside," answered the doctor.
"There was nothing normal about that scream." Eustace observed. He approached the bed from the other side and knelt down. "Pole, are you alright?"
"I can't - Scrubb, that pain wasn't - something's wrong."
"How often are your pains?" Eustace asked, his medical training showing.
"Every few minutes - I don't know."
"Are you having trouble breathing between?"
"Yes."
Without another word, Eustace gently placed his hands on Jill's stomach. He felt around the outline of the baby. Nobody said a word. Nobody moved. Nobody breathed. After a minute, he spoke again.
"The position's wrong."
"Is it breech?" asked the physician.
"I don't think so. The shape isn't right…"
"What do you mean?" Jill gasped, suddenly on alert.
"The baby's alright - I believe. It's just in an unusual position. I think it's sideways."
"Rilian? Rilian?" Jill called worriedly. Rilian instantly reached and held her arm as he calmed her. The others continued talking.
"How do you know this?" the doctor asked.
"I've been reading about it in school. See how the shape is irregular here and here?" he pointed to her stomach and lightly pressed at the top. "It's not upside-down. Here's the head, the legs are over there. She's carrying it sideways."
"I believe he may be right," said the midwife.
"She can't deliver it sideways, can she?" asked Rilian.
"Of course not. We'll have to operate," Eustace answered.
"Scrubb -" Jill was about to say something else, but was instantly seized upon by another pain and clung to Rilian's arm.
"I disagree," said the doctor. "I don't think a child can be carried sideways. In all my years of medicine I never heard of such a case."
"It's very rare, but it does exist. Here," Eustace pulled out one of his textbooks from the bag he'd brought with him. The doctor looked at the book skeptically.
"I was planning a report on cesarean sections for birth complications - this was one of them. It was on page…" he started thumbing through the book.
"Gentlemen, would you mind taking this somewhere else?" the king asked, still trying to calm his wife. The men nodded to each other and moved to the adjoining room. Rilian stayed with Jill until the pain stopped. She then nodded for him to go and was left alone with the midwife.
Rilian approached the next room cautiously, as he could already see a huge argument was about to erupt.
"I don't care what this book of yours may say, you cannot risk the life of the queen-" he could here the doctor saying.
"I'm not talking about endangering the life of the queen - or the baby. But you have got to realize the situation we're dealing with," Eustace exclaimed.
"It's your opinion only that says we're in this situation," the doctor answered.
"And what is yours? That everything is normal?"
"No," the doctor answered slowly. "I believe it must be breech. That would explain the strange position. But she could still deliver it in the normal way."
"She can't. You know she can't. And you know it's not breech. Surely someone of your experience has seen a breech birth before."
"Of course I have."
"And did they look anything like this?" Eustace accused.
"Well every pregnancy is different-"
"Don't give me that! You know you're-" Rilian stepped forward and both men instantly stopped.
"Your Majesty," said the doctor. Rilian nodded then sat down at the table with them.
"Alright, Eustace, what do you think is happening?"
"I've already said-" he started, but checked himself. "I mean, look here. This is what I was trying to show our learned friend. See these diagrams? I'm doing a study on this very type of situation. Jill is carrying the baby sideways."
"With respect, Your Majesty, the young lord here is quite mistaken. He is not a doctor, and is jumping to conclusions," answered the doctor.
"I may not be a doctor yet, but I do know more about this than any-" Rilian raised a hand to Eustace which stopped him. "Rilian, he's trying to tell you that she's carrying it upside down, and that's why it looks different."
"But you don't think so."
"No. I don't think so. He's willing to let Pole go on in this way which simply won't work. She can't possibly deliver it sideways."
"If it's sideways," The doctor interjected.
"If it's sideways," Rilian agreed. He was still plainly listening to Eustace though. "What do you propose to do then?" he asked.
"We'll have to operate."
"Yes, but what do you mean by that?"
"He means he wants to cut open your wife with a-" Rilian stopped the doctor with an ice-cold stare that scared the living daylights out of him. Rilian then closed his eyes for a moment. He was not going to lose control. Not now. Not now. Jill needed him too much. She was in the next room depending on him to make the right decision. Too much depended on this, he had to remain calm and listen to both sides.
Eustace, luckily, seemed to understand. He went calmly and rationally through his books and showed Rilian exactly what he proposed to do.
"That's butchery!" the doctor exclaimed. "You can't let him do it, Sire."
"Why not?"
"Because it will kill the baby and probably the queen too."
"Only if it's not done correctly. I know what to do."
"Have you ever done it before?" Rilian asked, already guessing the answer.
"No… But, I - I know, okay? I know. I know what to do. I just - I know I can do this."
"Your Majesty-" Rilian again held up his hand. He knew what the doctor was going to say and he just didn't have the patience to listen to it. Something was telling him Eustace was right. He knew what he had to do.