AN/ Just to warn you, this chapter is extremely graphic. I don't recommend you read it if you get squeamish.
Xaler was pacing, a picture of worry. Rehprom had been in labour for three hours and nothing major had happened. Xaler felt like he was being in the way hanging around the infirmary, so now he was wearing a trench into the floor of the hall outside. One, two, three, four, five steps. Turn. One, two, three, four, five. Turn.
Jack poked his head out the infirmary's doors. He spotted Xaler in his state of stress and smiled to himself. Fathers. They get so worried. "Hey, Xaler, you're going to wear a hole in the floor."
The Rican paused and smiled nervously, rustling his wings. "Sorry. I'm just…"
"Anxious?" Jack smiled and gestured to the floor. "Let's sit."
The two men sat on the floor, leaning up against the wall. "This is so weird," Xaler muttered.
"I wouldn't know," Jack said. "I've never been in your situation."
"I'm worried about her," Xaler admitted. "Canads aren't meant to give birth to Ricans. What if the wings get stuck in the birth canal or something?"
"It's no use worrying about stuff like that," Jack told him. "Never does anyone any good."
A scream echoed throughout the TARDIS as Rehprom was hit by a particularly bad contraction. Xaler winced and buried his face in his hands. Rose appeared in the infirmary's door frame. "Jack, I think you'd better get the Doctor. Rehprom's gone unconscious."
"What?" Xaler leapt up and in a heartbeat brushed past Rose and into the infirmary. Jack got to his feet and dashed off down the hall to the console room, where the Doctor had briefly retreated.
Xaler reached Rehprom's bed and touched her sweaty face. "Rehprom, wake up," he pleaded. Jack and the Doctor appeared and both rushed to the bed. Rose hung back with Acro. The Doctor took a look at the machines Rehprom was hooked up to monitoring her heartbeats and the heartbeats of her babies. Just then, the Canad's eyes fluttered open. Xaler breathed a sigh of relief. "Rehprom, are you okay?"
"No," she said quietly. "I'm in a lot of pain."
"I'd give you something for it, but it's too risky," the Doctor said. "Don't know what it would do to the babies."
Rehprom groaned. She reached one hand down and pulled up the shirt she was wearing. It slid over her swollen stomach and stopped at the base of her breasts. There was something at the top of her stomach. In between her two rib cages was a neat crescent moon slit. The arch of the slit pointed upwards, the corners pointing down. A runny, red fluid was beginning to seep from the corners.
"What's that?" Jack asked.
"The opening to my birth canal," Rehprom explained.
"Ah. And the two belly buttons?" Jack inquired. Rehprom did indeed have two navels, one slightly above the other. She didn't answer the question however as she screwed up her face in pain. Xaler offered her a hand to squeeze, which she did, tightly. Her tail found its way around Jack's leg and started to squeeze that too.
"Hey!" Jack protested. He pointed to Xaler. "He may want to be a part of this, but I don't!"
"Tough," Rehprom growled.
A few tense seconds later she relaxed. Jack limped over to Rose, out of Rehprom's reach. The Doctor began to dab the opening of her birth canal with a towel. "Your contractions are getting closer together. Should be any time now." He smiled at Rehprom reassuringly.
"I think you've left a bruise!" Jack accused from across the room, examining his sore leg. Rehprom hissed at him, effectively shutting the captain up. Acro smiled.
The Doctor produced a pair ofmedical gloves from a drawer and snapped them on. "This will feel weird," he warned Rehprom. "But I just want to feel how far along you are." He carefully opened the slit on her chest and slid two fingers in. Xaler grimaced and Rehprom squeezed his hand again. The only ones who didn't react were Acro and the Doctor himself. After a few seconds, the Doctor retracted his hand.
"I can feel a head," he announced, peeling off the soiled glove. "I think you should be good to push. Just wait until the next contraction."
Rehprom nodded. Her tail flopped and twitched, looking for something to hold onto. It was carefully avoided. Rehprom whimpered, feeling another contraction coming. The Doctor sighed and offered his hand to the tail. Soon, it was trapped and squeezed. Rehprom took a huge breath and began to push, her eyes closed. Her pushing wasn't like that of human mothers in labour, where they push for ten seconds then break to breathe. Rehprom's pushing was constant, without pausing. A bludge appeared under the slit on her chest. Fluid was forced out of the birth canal first, then the opening stretched. The head slowly but steadily crowned. The baby's eyes were shut tightly, its skin slick with the birthing fluid. As soon as the head was all the way out, Rehprom stopped pushing. She lay still, gasping for air, tears streaming down her face. She chocked out a sob.
"Okay," the Doctor said. He raised the hand still snared by the tail. "Could someone take this, please?"
"What is it?" Acro asked.
"Her tail," the Doctor replied.
Acro stepped forward, reaching out a hand. The Doctor managed to transfer Rehprom's tail to her brother's hand, leaving both of his hands free.
He quickly placed fresh gloves on his hands and opened the baby's mouth, scooping fluid out with a finger. "Okay," he sighed. "Good. Now we've got to get the shoulders out. Push again, just a little bit."
Rehprom took another deep breath and did as the Doctor asked. The Doctor carefully eased the infant's shoulders out. One more small push and the baby slid all the way out in the Doctor's hands, its body wrapped in dark leather wings.
"Rose, get a towel," the Doctor said, grinning. He looked at Xaler, who wore an expression of shock and joy. Rose appeared with the towel. She placed it on Rehprom's belly and the Doctor laid the baby on it. "Clamps," he ordered. Jack stepped up with the clamps, which the Doctor used to secure and pinch off the umbilical cord. "Scissors." Jack handed him a pair, but the Doctor paused, looking at Xaler. "Do you want to cut the cord?"
Xaler looked stunned, but nodded. He took the scissors and snipped the cord cleanly between the clamps. Everyone wore a smile.
"Good," the Doctor said. He looked at Rose. "Rose, take the baby and rub it with the towel to dry it and induce breathing."
She nodded. "Okay." Rose scooped up the baby and moved to a near-by table, rubbing carefully but quickly. Within a few moments, the baby began to cry, filling its new lungs with air. The sound brought grins all around.
"Is it a boy or a girl?" Rehprom asked. Rose gently peeled the wings apart and checked.
"Looks like a girl," she announced.
Xaler kissed Rehprom's forehead. "A girl," he whispered, beaming.
"Rehprom, could you give me one little push, please," the Doctor asked, one hand holing the end of the umbilical cord. She did so and the first baby's afterbirth slid out. "Fantastic, thanks. Jack, pass that container."
Jack handed the Doctor a plastic bucket and he scooped the placenta into it. Jack made a disgusted face but said nothing.
"Right," the Doctor said to Rehprom. "Now you can relax for a few minutes and then we'll start on the next one." He grinned and took the opportunity to change his gloves.
Meanwhile, Rose had completely dried off Xaler and Rehprom's daughter. Xaler wondered over to get a closer look at her. She had reddish fuzz on her head and big blue eyes. Her tail was about half a metre long and instinctively curled around her father's finger when he touched it. Her wings were broad, black and about a metre long each. She flapped them feebly on the table, provoking her father to smile. He folded her wings around her tiny body like her own personal blanket and Rose helped him wrap her in a clean blanket. Then he lifted her and took her over to Rehprom. He placed her in her arms.
"She's so beautiful," Rehprom said softly.
"And strong too," Xaler added.
"Do you have any names picked out?" the Doctor asked.
Rehprom thought for a second, then met Xaler's eyes. "Otina."
Xaler tried saying the name. "Otina." He smiled and nodded. "Otina it is."
Rehprom gasped. "I think her sibling is coming," she breathed painfully. Xaler took Otina from Rehprom as a contraction hit her.
Xaler turned to Rose. "Can you hold her, please?"
"Sure." Rose took little Otina from her father's arms and sat down with her. Otina's bewildered eyes blinked up at Rose, who smiled down at her. Xaler took up his station once again beside Rehprom, his hand in hers.
Three more contractions came and went, each one worse then the last. The Doctor checked Rehprom's progress again and declared her second child ready to be born. Rehprom pushed, slowly and steadily, but her strength was waning. When the second baby's head finally appeared, the Doctor imminently noticed that there was something wrong; it was an unhealthy blue colour. As soon as the head was out. The Doctor checked the baby's neck. Sure enough, the umbilical cord was wrapped around the infant's throat. He told Rehprom to stop pushing. She did, gasping and trembling. The Doctor tried to remove to cord but quickly found that he couldn't. "Damn it," he muttered.
"What's wrong?" Acro asked, concerned.
"The cord's wrapped around the neck but I can't get it off. It's snagged on something else. Rehprom, push again."
"I can't," she sobbed.
"You have to!" the Doctor snapped. "Just do it!"
Rehprom inhaled deeply and pushed again. It was weak, but enough to get the baby's shoulders out.
"There's the problem," the Doctor muttered. "Its tangled in its wings." He pulled on the baby, sliding it a bit more out, only to have it stopped by an unexpected resistance, like it was suddenly too big to come out. "Its wings are open," the Doctor said. "I can't get it out." His eyes darted up to Xaler and Jack. "You two, grab some gloves and help me."
"It'll be okay," Xaler reassured Rehprom as he let go of her hand. He and Jack both adorned gloves.
"What do we do?" Jack asked.
"Hold the birth canal open. I've got to untangle to cord," the Doctor instructed.
Xaler swallowed and gently slipped his fingers in one side of the birth canal, pulling it slightly more open. Jack gritted his teeth and did the same for the other side. Rehprom whimpered and began to breathe quickly. Her pule rate was speeding up dangerously. The Doctor reached inside and wrestled with the umbilical cord, unwrapping it from around the baby's wings. This in turn loosened it from the baby's neck and the Doctor was able to pull it off. He then forced the baby's wings against its sides and told Rehprom to push again.
"Last time, I promise you," he said.
Somehow, Rehprom tapped into a hidden strength and pushed again. This time, the baby slid all the way out into the Doctor's hands. "Jack, a towel," he commanded. The Captain and Xaler let go of Rehprom and Jack fetched a clean towel. The troublesome umbilical cord was quickly clamped and cut and the baby taken away. Rehprom lay still, panting.
Jack and the Doctor were working on the second baby, trying to get it to breathe. Jack did take the time to announce to the room that "it's a boy." They rubbed him vigorously, but the infant's limbs, wings and tail just flopped limply. Rose bit her lip nervously, still cuddling Otina.
"Come on," the Doctor said quietly. "Come on!"
"Uh, Doctor?" Xaler said, his voice shaking.
The Doctor looked up. "What?"
Xaler gestured to his mate. "She won't stop bleeding."
The Time Lord crossed the room back to Rehprom. The second afterbirth had come out. Xaler had followed the Doctor's example and placed it in the bucket along with the other one. Now Rehprom was seeping large amounts of bright, pinky-red blood from her birth canal opening. "I'm sure that's okay," he said, assessing the situation quickly. "Some bleeding should be normal."
"But not this much," Rehprom told him. She sounded weak and scared.
The Doctor looked back to Jack, who was still working on the baby. "Is he breathing yet?"
"No," Jack said.
More blood gushed steadily out of Rehprom, draining her life away. The Doctor found himself torn two ways; Should he help the baby breathe, or stop his mother from haemorrhaging to death?
AN/ References from this chapter:
Otina's name comes from a portion of the backwards spelling of Manitoba, the Canadian province in which I was born.
The second baby being born with the cord wrapped around its neck echoes not only my birth, but my father's birth as well. My mother also haemorrhaged after I was born.