Thanks for the review Rose
Oh, if anyone one wants to archive this just mention so in your review and give me an e-mail to contact you at and you can most likely have it.
Ok, here's the end, enjoy. ************************************************************************
I come to but the dark remains; the lights are all out, I assume. It is pouring outside and the moon's light is insufficient to fill the darkened car. I must have only been out for only a few minutes.
"Hal?" Her voice calls out, much too small for my liking. She sounds in pain. I go to sit up and discover that it wasn't the smartest move I've ever made.
"Hal, are you there?" Breath, I command myself, breath through the pain. Let it flow out with the breaths.
"Nyche are you all right?"
"Hal, I think my water broke." She says her voice quivering with pain and worry.
"Ok, its alright, um, it's about time for him to come anyways. Just stay there, uh, I'll get the glow torch I keep in the bag. Then I'll get down on the ground and I'll check you out." I give her reassurance but it's a little hard to think with my concussion addled brain, and the difficulty I'm having breathing suggests broken ribs. Ok, gotta center myself. Breath in, hold it, breath out. Alright, I can do this.
Umpf. I clutch the bag, groping around in the darkness until I find the light. There it is. I turn it on. She's lying on the ground. Her water having broken is the least of my worries. The seat in front of her has pinned her to the ground. It was shoved back by the seat in front of it, which now has absolutely no leg room, is now part of the wall. There must have been something on the tracks that caused the crash, I decided.
"Are you in a lot of pain?" I ask, as I can't see from here if she's injured or just stuck.
"If you mean from contractions, yeah, otherwise I don't think I'm injured." Pause "Hal, they're coming really fast. I think the labor has been sped up by the jolt." Nyche answers me, her voice trying to stay strong despite the worries I know she has about the baby. What if something happened to him? I really need to get her free, but I don't want to injure her if something's broken that she can't tell. Breathe, in out.
Move her, that's what I should do. My gut agrees. I walk over, ignoring the pain in my chest and head. It's immaterial now. I grip the mangled plastic- these weren't well made seats. One, two, three, lift! My left palm is sliced by a piece of metal sticking out of the upholstery, but I have it off her. "There, that better?"
"Yeah.uhnnnnnnnnn."
"Contraction?" I worriedly ask. I hear her breathing, staccato pushes from her lungs that make my own groan with sympathy. Her breathing slows and she confirms my question.
"Yeah." She sounds so tired. I lean carefully walk around her to fetch the glow torch and then wave it around to ensure she's alright.
"I'm fine." She seems to read my mind, however I set my hand down on her belly to reassure myself. She really is ok. Breathe. I glance around to survey the damage.
"Nyche, would you be ok if I go to summon some."
"Go." With that command I nod, bend over and kiss the top of her head.
"I'll be right back. Shout if you need me, I won't go too far. I love you." I set off.
As I look about I am so glad that it the car wasn't too full, otherwise, however many casualties there are, there would be many more. Walking carefully swinging the lantern to help me find a path I see an arm. I bend down and place my two fingers on their wrist. There's a pulse. So I call out "Hello, you there?" No answer. Covering all but the appendage is rubble so the sensible thing to do would be to remove it, which I do. Pulling it off one by one I'm conflicted. I can't not help this person, but my wife is in labor. Where is the rescue squad? Do they know to come? Has anyone been able to contact them? A voice from underneath the pile alerts me to the victims return to conciseness.
"Whose there? What happened?" he asks.
"My name's Hal and I'm pulling the pile off you. Lay still." I reassure him and continue the rescue effort. My head is really pounding now. I'm worried about Nyche and the baby. Suddenly another voice enters the cacophony of sound from the storm and the movements of the car.
"Anyone there, this is Emergency Rescue." Perhaps it's just me but the clear tones cut straight through to my brain disregarding all else around me.
"Here" I call out and finally gathering my control I amend my statement as I lift the glow torch "There's a man underneath the rubble here. I've begun extracting him, but it will take more time. My wife is back near the front, she's in labor. If someone would come attend to this man I'll lead you to her." Atta-boy, I congratulate myself on functioning. Years of training in how to deal with stressful situations has paid off. One of the rescuers has entered my line of sight. She's a tall Selonian wearing the blue uniform of rescue personnel. I gesture her over as I quickly think through what to say. "Here he is. I suspect he's in shock, his hands clammy. He's slightly lucid so you might want to talk to him." She nods and I begin trekking back to my wife, only to hear her moan. I need to get there now but I'm still at least a minute away. I call to her never the less . "Nyche, sweety, rescuers are here. There's someone coming back to help. I'm coming."
"' 'k " was her succinct answer. I'm finally there at her. She looks tired and is sweaty but I don't see any injuries I may have missed. I bend down placing one hand on her stomach and the other on her brow, pushing her hair out of her eyes. "Shhh" I whisper for no reason whatsoever and we wait for the medics.
He arrives and after checking her vital signs, he secures her to a repulser -backboard. I feel rather confused as what to do so I just stand there holding her hand, not even wincing when she squeezes it during a contraction. Ow, here we go again.
*******************************************************************
We were brought to a hospital along with several victims of the accident. Luckily for us, it was the same hospital that we were trucking out here for and incidentally the obstetrician that is the room with Nyche now has known Rostek for over 30 years. Luckily and incidentally. They kick the fathers out for a couple minutes during the exam, which is why I'm sitting here in the hall, waiting. They patched me up and now I'm waiting. I'm going to be a dad today. Not some time in the future but [I] today [/I]. I can't fathom it right now and all I want is to be in there.
Breathe in. Hold. Breath out. I force myself into the breathing exercises that I've been doing as long as I remember only to return to my state of nervousness with the nurse's statement, "You can come in now Mr. Horn."
I go in.
*******************************************************************
He's beautiful. He's perfect. He's sleeping in my arms. It was only an hour after I re-entered the room that he first cried out, but it seems like so much longer. I held her hand and couched her through as I had been taught, but I felt so useless, standing there as her pain reached me in wave coinciding with her vice grip. She was so tired near the end but she kept it up, pushing as hard as she could and then suddenly he was crowning. Then I was cutting the cord. And he was in my hands.
They tell me he's a little small for a boy of a full gestational period, but I can't tell. What I see are more important. His full head of hair is a dark brown between my own and Nyche. His fingers and toe's are so small. He just looked up at me. Green, striking green, his eyes are beautiful. They're perfectly clear, not a muddy blue like most newborns. I'm spellbound.
I've thought so much of my worries about raising him, but now all I can think is how overcome by love I am. He's here and he's mine and he's perfect.
Nyche just awoke to join her son and me. She's obviously exhausted but at the same time she poses this glow.
*******************************************************************
"Hi Daddy."
"Well, good morning Mommy. How are you feeling after your little nap?"
"Better. What did you two do?" she asks me.
"Well, he slept and I thought, then I explained to him how the universe works." Laughter erupts to my right, punctuated by a high pitch giggle. "However, Mommy, I do think this little one needs a name. What do you think, which one will work?" She doesn't know so we go over our final five but none really seem to fit him. Out of nowhere she suggests a name I haven't heard since, well a long time.
"Kieran, how about Kieran? I like the sound of that. Strong. Sounds good with Horn."
Kieran Horn, Kieran Horn, my brain chants. It fits him but I worry. It's too obvious, too much of a link.
"Corran." I say without a thought. I summon it from my mind somewhere. Alike enough to Kieran, but not connectable.
"Corran. Corran Horn." She repeats her voice flowing over the words, cementing them in my mind. She pauses then nods her head with a smile. We found his name. We can do this. It will work. We have a son.
"Corran Horn."
******************************
Oh, if anyone one wants to archive this just mention so in your review and give me an e-mail to contact you at and you can most likely have it.
Ok, here's the end, enjoy. ************************************************************************
I come to but the dark remains; the lights are all out, I assume. It is pouring outside and the moon's light is insufficient to fill the darkened car. I must have only been out for only a few minutes.
"Hal?" Her voice calls out, much too small for my liking. She sounds in pain. I go to sit up and discover that it wasn't the smartest move I've ever made.
"Hal, are you there?" Breath, I command myself, breath through the pain. Let it flow out with the breaths.
"Nyche are you all right?"
"Hal, I think my water broke." She says her voice quivering with pain and worry.
"Ok, its alright, um, it's about time for him to come anyways. Just stay there, uh, I'll get the glow torch I keep in the bag. Then I'll get down on the ground and I'll check you out." I give her reassurance but it's a little hard to think with my concussion addled brain, and the difficulty I'm having breathing suggests broken ribs. Ok, gotta center myself. Breath in, hold it, breath out. Alright, I can do this.
Umpf. I clutch the bag, groping around in the darkness until I find the light. There it is. I turn it on. She's lying on the ground. Her water having broken is the least of my worries. The seat in front of her has pinned her to the ground. It was shoved back by the seat in front of it, which now has absolutely no leg room, is now part of the wall. There must have been something on the tracks that caused the crash, I decided.
"Are you in a lot of pain?" I ask, as I can't see from here if she's injured or just stuck.
"If you mean from contractions, yeah, otherwise I don't think I'm injured." Pause "Hal, they're coming really fast. I think the labor has been sped up by the jolt." Nyche answers me, her voice trying to stay strong despite the worries I know she has about the baby. What if something happened to him? I really need to get her free, but I don't want to injure her if something's broken that she can't tell. Breathe, in out.
Move her, that's what I should do. My gut agrees. I walk over, ignoring the pain in my chest and head. It's immaterial now. I grip the mangled plastic- these weren't well made seats. One, two, three, lift! My left palm is sliced by a piece of metal sticking out of the upholstery, but I have it off her. "There, that better?"
"Yeah.uhnnnnnnnnn."
"Contraction?" I worriedly ask. I hear her breathing, staccato pushes from her lungs that make my own groan with sympathy. Her breathing slows and she confirms my question.
"Yeah." She sounds so tired. I lean carefully walk around her to fetch the glow torch and then wave it around to ensure she's alright.
"I'm fine." She seems to read my mind, however I set my hand down on her belly to reassure myself. She really is ok. Breathe. I glance around to survey the damage.
"Nyche, would you be ok if I go to summon some."
"Go." With that command I nod, bend over and kiss the top of her head.
"I'll be right back. Shout if you need me, I won't go too far. I love you." I set off.
As I look about I am so glad that it the car wasn't too full, otherwise, however many casualties there are, there would be many more. Walking carefully swinging the lantern to help me find a path I see an arm. I bend down and place my two fingers on their wrist. There's a pulse. So I call out "Hello, you there?" No answer. Covering all but the appendage is rubble so the sensible thing to do would be to remove it, which I do. Pulling it off one by one I'm conflicted. I can't not help this person, but my wife is in labor. Where is the rescue squad? Do they know to come? Has anyone been able to contact them? A voice from underneath the pile alerts me to the victims return to conciseness.
"Whose there? What happened?" he asks.
"My name's Hal and I'm pulling the pile off you. Lay still." I reassure him and continue the rescue effort. My head is really pounding now. I'm worried about Nyche and the baby. Suddenly another voice enters the cacophony of sound from the storm and the movements of the car.
"Anyone there, this is Emergency Rescue." Perhaps it's just me but the clear tones cut straight through to my brain disregarding all else around me.
"Here" I call out and finally gathering my control I amend my statement as I lift the glow torch "There's a man underneath the rubble here. I've begun extracting him, but it will take more time. My wife is back near the front, she's in labor. If someone would come attend to this man I'll lead you to her." Atta-boy, I congratulate myself on functioning. Years of training in how to deal with stressful situations has paid off. One of the rescuers has entered my line of sight. She's a tall Selonian wearing the blue uniform of rescue personnel. I gesture her over as I quickly think through what to say. "Here he is. I suspect he's in shock, his hands clammy. He's slightly lucid so you might want to talk to him." She nods and I begin trekking back to my wife, only to hear her moan. I need to get there now but I'm still at least a minute away. I call to her never the less . "Nyche, sweety, rescuers are here. There's someone coming back to help. I'm coming."
"' 'k " was her succinct answer. I'm finally there at her. She looks tired and is sweaty but I don't see any injuries I may have missed. I bend down placing one hand on her stomach and the other on her brow, pushing her hair out of her eyes. "Shhh" I whisper for no reason whatsoever and we wait for the medics.
He arrives and after checking her vital signs, he secures her to a repulser -backboard. I feel rather confused as what to do so I just stand there holding her hand, not even wincing when she squeezes it during a contraction. Ow, here we go again.
*******************************************************************
We were brought to a hospital along with several victims of the accident. Luckily for us, it was the same hospital that we were trucking out here for and incidentally the obstetrician that is the room with Nyche now has known Rostek for over 30 years. Luckily and incidentally. They kick the fathers out for a couple minutes during the exam, which is why I'm sitting here in the hall, waiting. They patched me up and now I'm waiting. I'm going to be a dad today. Not some time in the future but [I] today [/I]. I can't fathom it right now and all I want is to be in there.
Breathe in. Hold. Breath out. I force myself into the breathing exercises that I've been doing as long as I remember only to return to my state of nervousness with the nurse's statement, "You can come in now Mr. Horn."
I go in.
*******************************************************************
He's beautiful. He's perfect. He's sleeping in my arms. It was only an hour after I re-entered the room that he first cried out, but it seems like so much longer. I held her hand and couched her through as I had been taught, but I felt so useless, standing there as her pain reached me in wave coinciding with her vice grip. She was so tired near the end but she kept it up, pushing as hard as she could and then suddenly he was crowning. Then I was cutting the cord. And he was in my hands.
They tell me he's a little small for a boy of a full gestational period, but I can't tell. What I see are more important. His full head of hair is a dark brown between my own and Nyche. His fingers and toe's are so small. He just looked up at me. Green, striking green, his eyes are beautiful. They're perfectly clear, not a muddy blue like most newborns. I'm spellbound.
I've thought so much of my worries about raising him, but now all I can think is how overcome by love I am. He's here and he's mine and he's perfect.
Nyche just awoke to join her son and me. She's obviously exhausted but at the same time she poses this glow.
*******************************************************************
"Hi Daddy."
"Well, good morning Mommy. How are you feeling after your little nap?"
"Better. What did you two do?" she asks me.
"Well, he slept and I thought, then I explained to him how the universe works." Laughter erupts to my right, punctuated by a high pitch giggle. "However, Mommy, I do think this little one needs a name. What do you think, which one will work?" She doesn't know so we go over our final five but none really seem to fit him. Out of nowhere she suggests a name I haven't heard since, well a long time.
"Kieran, how about Kieran? I like the sound of that. Strong. Sounds good with Horn."
Kieran Horn, Kieran Horn, my brain chants. It fits him but I worry. It's too obvious, too much of a link.
"Corran." I say without a thought. I summon it from my mind somewhere. Alike enough to Kieran, but not connectable.
"Corran. Corran Horn." She repeats her voice flowing over the words, cementing them in my mind. She pauses then nods her head with a smile. We found his name. We can do this. It will work. We have a son.
"Corran Horn."
******************************