Chapter 53
John trusted Taker above everyone else and knew the man wouldn't steer him wrong, his baby blues moving to the woman lying on the bed. She was the love of his life and he was crying. Tears slipped down his cheeks freely and John didn't bother hiding them or brushing them away because there was a chance this could go very wrong.
"You save her. I love our baby, but I love her more. If it comes down to one of them having to die, you let the baby die." He held his hand up. "I'm just saying IF. We can make another baby, but we can't make another her, you feel me, dog?"
Jeff understood, sharing a worried look with Taker, and nodded. "Both of them will survive, the baby is nearly full-term and we have the incubator set up, just in case we need it."
"Then do it. I'm not leaving, I'm staying by her side."
Abigail was currently sleeping on one of the cots, resting up just in case they needed her assistance with Stephanie, her eyes slowly opening to the HORRIFIC sight of Taker slicing open the woman's stomach.
His hands were steady, and Jeff was right by him, assisting by handing him whatever he needed and keeping a vacuum there to suction away blood. His eyes darted up when Abigail stirred, his lower face covered by the mask he wore. "Stay there, darlin'." He ordered, having kicked Melina out and John was sitting against a wall.
"He put up a barrier around them," John said tiredly, watching as Taker and Jeff worked. "We can't get to them." At her curious look, he managed a wan smile. "Sterile environment. Taker needed one to do this so… he used magic."
Abigail could only nod, sitting up and stayed on the cot, watching the miracle of childbirth, even though it was via C-section. The sounds of the baby's cry echoed around them as John breathed a sigh of relief, keeping his forehead pressed against Stephanie's. It didn't take long to realize Stephanie was out cold, so they must've sedated her for this process. Gently and carefully, Mark extracted the baby out of Stephanie, handed the little boy over to Jeff to clean up, and blinked when he walked over with the baby to hand to her.
"What do you want me to do?"
"Clean him up, Taker needs my help to sew Stephanie back up and make sure she hasn't lost too much blood. Can you handle this?"
"Y-Yeah, yes."
Abigail took the baby from him, cradling the little boy in her arms, and stood up to walk over to the sink, wetting a cloth to wipe him down while he continued showing how strong his lungs were. He was so cute with wisps of brown hair and dark blue eyes, though they could change over the next several months. Both Stephanie and John had blue eyes, but that didn't mean the baby would. Once the baby was cleaned up, she swaddled him, remembering learning this technique in the DOV with the mothers before Bray alienated her from the mothers and children. While Mark and Jeff finished up with Stephanie, John walked over to look down at his son and Abigail smiled up at him, handing over the baby boy to his father.
"Congratulations, Daddy."
Gingerly, John took the baby boy from her, staring down into the tiny, scrunched face. His son had a perfectly shaped head, something he knew as a result of being born the way he had. "He's so damn perfect," He whispered, tears in his eyes.
"You should name him after me." Taker said without looking up, more intent on what he was doing.
"I don't know, Taker JR sounds stupid to me."
"Shows what you know." This was crazy work, stitching up layers, and he was also incorporating magic into it, just a hint, just enough to make sure everything healed properly. "Abigail, when John's done, would you weigh and measure Taker JR?"
"I'm not THAT grateful, boss."
Giggling softly, Abigail shook her head at Mark and took the baby from John, when he handed the baby over, walking over to the baby weight and measure machine. "I think the mother should have a say in the name, boss." She smirked at his arched brow and winked back in reply, feeling John hovering over her like the protective father he was. "He is…7 pounds, 8 ounces, and 21 inches long." Abigail announced, wrapping the baby up again and could tell he was hungry, frowning since Stephanie was still out cold. "Umm do we have bottles on hand or something for the little tike?"
Jeff nodded, leaving the 'sterile' environment to show Abigail where all the baby items were located, including the formula. "If Stephanie wants to breastfeed, she can still do it, but one bottle beforehand won't hurt since she's physically unable to."
Nodding, Abigail handed the bottle over to John after prepping it and sat him down, letting him bond with his father while she cleaned up where she could.
Once he was finished with Stephanie, Taker lowered the bed to a more comfortable position. This room was only used for labor, something Jeff had insisted upon because he didn't want cross-contamination. As there were no other mothers expecting to deliver anytime relatively soon, he went about making Stephanie comfortable, not that she would be able to tell.
"I'm going to put her on antibiotics, just in case," Jeff informed them. "John, were you wanting him circumcised?"
"Don't look at me man, I don't clip dicks." That was all Jeff. "She needs to stay here for a few days, John. On bed rest, she won't be up for a while. Jeff, you got this?"
"Yeah, Melina should be coming back. You look…"
"Hungry." Taker was starving. He glanced at Abigail, noting the look on her face as she watched John and… Taker JR, grinning.
"He looks like you, Johnny."
John was in awe of his son, kissing his forehead softly and snuggled him against his chest. "Yeah…I see Steph in him too, though."
Boys weren't treated this way by their fathers in the DOV. The fathers did not come in contact with the boys until they were one month old, and training instantly commenced. Watching John with his son, cradling and loving him, amazed Abigail and she couldn't take her eyes from them. Mark's hand planted on her shoulder and she looked up at him, leaning her head back as his arm wrapped around her shoulders.
"That's how it should be." She murmured, watching John walk over to sit down beside Stephanie while holding their son. "There's not an ounce of resentment or coldness coming from him when he looks at that little boy. All babies deserve to be treated like that, nothing but love and affection from both parents, not just one."
Taker knew what she was talking about. Abigail was thinking of the DOV and how things were done there versus what she had just witnessed. He bet the stark contrast was mind-blowing. Taker didn't know how they were going to handle the aftermath of taking out Wyatt, though. There would be people loyal to the man and they would have to go, but it also sounded like the survivors, men, and women, would be adults with the minds of children. That was a bushel of problems he was not mentally equipped to deal with right now.
"Come on, let's leave them to it, darlin'." He said quietly, stepping out of the barrier to remove his scrubs and clean up.
"You were amazing in there." Abigail complimented, taking his hand as they walked out of the medical wing toward the common house to get something to eat. Her poor man had been in there with Stephanie, coaching and talking her through the process, but once she stopped dilating, it was time to take action to save both mother and child. "Is Stephanie going to be okay?" She asked once they were seated with their trays of food.
A sigh of relief escaped her when he nodded, and they proceeded to eat, Mark devouring his food while she ate slowly, looking around the place at the new faces that had been trained, including Susan.
"I heard Stephanie had her baby, is that true?" Susan asked, bouncing over to put down an urn of coffee before them. She had learned from Amy that Taker drank coffee the way other people drank water.
"A handsome baby boy, lil darlin'." He said, flashing his niece an appreciative smile before pouring himself a mug, offering to do the same for Abigail.
"Do you think I could go see him?"
"Maybe tomorrow Susie, Stephanie is sleeping right now."
"We'll go together, okay? But tonight she really needs to rest with the baby and Johnny." Abigail poured herself a mug, still feeling somewhat fatigued, and figured one more good night's sleep would bring her back to feeling normal.
"Okay, sounds good. I'm gonna go finish cleaning up and then head up to bed." She hugged Abigail and Uncle Mark before heading into the kitchen, her hair bouncing behind her.
"Such a good kid, Amy said she's learning the ropes around here pretty fast." That had to be the serum since it also helped grow the mind at a fast rate as well. Some things, such as instincts and learning right from wrong had to be taught from experience, however. "I'm gonna work in the medical wing tomorrow and have Jeff and Melina train me." Since Melina couldn't draw blood without vomiting, Jeff decided he'd have to help with the training process. "We'll have to drain you again too, you and Malcolm." Speaking of the old man… "Where is Malcolm anyway?"
"He wanted access to the forge today, something about trying to grind Mythril into powder." Taker said after a moment. "From experience, I can tell you that's not easy, even with magic. Easier to smelt it down and use it for other things." Weapons that were indestructible with magical properties were very useful. Would continue being useful in the upcoming battle that was definitely looming. "I should probably go check on him…" That would definitely be the last thing he'd be doing today, he was… exhausted. Nothing compared to how Stephanie was going to be feeling when she woke up, however. "I think you'd do a lot of good in the medical wing, darlin', and I know they need whatever hands on deck they can get."
Grinding Mythril into powder…Abigail lowered her head, knowing exactly what Malcolm was trying to do. "I know what he's doing." She slowly looked up at Mark, feeling him take her hand, and heaved a sigh, pushing her tray aside since she'd eaten almost everything on it. "I told Malcolm about the shortage of medicine around here and…asked him about the possibility of using Mythril to replenish the stocks. He told me if he could grind the Mythril into a powder, it would be possible…but he also said it was very difficult to do…" Mark was right, using magic medicine on these people wasn't a smart idea because of the aftermath. Would they too be granted powers if their bodies were infused with magic? "You should go stop him if you don't want magical medicine in Wonderful or he's going to end up making a slew of it."
"If he can grind it," Taker laughed, shaking his head. "Mythril is… hard, to work with. It took me a long time to even learn how to smelt it and, when it's turned into a liquid form, the fumes are toxic." Grinding it to a powder and making it into medicine, he eyed her, wondering how that would work out. There was just no telling. "Come on, let's go down there and get him out. If he's been at it all day, he's probably tired too." He stood up, pushing away his now empty plate, and held out a hand to her.
There was no need for them to go anywhere because Malcolm strolled into the common house, looking both amused and annoyed. Mythril was intriguing and he was enjoying being able to see it, study it, and work with it. However, it reminded him of a woman: tricky and volatile.
"Malcolm, thank god you're all right!" Abigail actually hugged him, seeing he was no worse for wear, and chalked it up to the magic.
"Of course I am, my dear. Whatever made you think otherwise?"
"Taker mentioned something about you going down to the forge and we were on our way to check on you."
Malcolm smiled, waving her off dismissively, and patted her head affectionately. "Fear not, Abigail, I'm perfectly fine. I just…had to go to the forge to study the Mythril for myself. It's tricky…and, if not used properly, very deadly." He watched his son nod in affirmation. "I was thinking about the medicine shortage you told me about on our journey back here and…I think it's possible, but…we'll have to wait until AFTER the war to test out my theory." Providing he survived.
"One thing at a time and tomorrow, you two need to be drained for a second time, don't forget. So you should rest up and eat something." He smelled weird…and she chalked that up to Mythril.
"Yes, I haven't forgotten and you two should do the same. Mark, I trust you listened to what I said about your…activities. Let the poor girl rest tonight." He patted his son's shoulder on his way to the kitchen to grab some food.
That was awkward and funny as hell.
"Hey, Malcolm," Asshole parent, he scowled, though he smiled when Malcolm faced him. "I'm thinking, we're going to have prisoners of war, people who are loyal to Wyatt, regardless."
He could see where this was going and nodded slowly, wondering if perhaps Luke Harper would be one of those POWs. "Of course…"
Taker felt absolutely zero qualms about using pieces of trash like that for human test subjects. He'd rather test experimental things out on them than risk his own people dying. Not to mention, it'd be a great way to determine any potential magical side effects. He'd just have to be on standby to terminate them if necessary.
Abigail would do whatever Mark wanted to do, supporting him thoroughly, and went back to the tower with him. She was basically moved in with him, all of her belongings were here, and she slept with him on a nightly basis since returning. Changing into a simple t-shirt, she slipped into bed and snuggled against him, sighing in contentment while he read a book. When Mark began reading to her, she listened and enjoyed the sound of his voice, noticing it was the book she had given him as a gift. He kept it and it did her heart good because this was one of her favorites.
"I love you." She whispered, closing her eyes, and fell asleep with him joining her shortly after.
