I do not own lost or buffy. as always i appreciate r and ring. This chapter in perticular got away form me while writing. I had every thing planned out, but it wasn't apparantly what my muses wanted.
thanks go out to Maria, for pointing out that Ethan is not spelled with an A.
WARNING: This chapter conatins disturbing and saddening contents. If you have had a child, or lost a child, this may be upsetting. I am sorry if this upsets anyone.
Dawn was sleeping when it happened. There was no warning. The plane just dropped. She woke up screaming and clutching Faiths hand. The oxygen masks drop from the ceiling and Dawn scrambled to get hers in place. The plane bucked upwards and then dropped again. It felt like they were spinning. Over the sound of screaming came the sound of metal tearing, and then wind was ripping through the plane from behind them. The front of the plane tore away, and then Dawn passed out. Faith gritted her teeth as the plane kept dropping, bucking and spinning, before something slammed into her head and she passed out.
Faith can smell smoke, its the first thing she notices, blinking sleepily, she focuses on the sand she has her face buried in. Faith springs to her feet. Last thing she knew, she had been in the plane. Now she was on the beach, surrounded by wreckage, fires and screaming people.
"Dawn!" Faith screams, struggling to her feet, her body a mass of burses and aches. There's a pregnant woman to her left, but shes blonde, not Dawnie. To the left theres a group of men freeing another guy from under a peice of wreckage. Faith picks her way back towards the plane. Dawn might still be inside. Someone screams a warning and from the corner of her eye, she can see someone get sucked into the engine. It explodes, sending her flying. She lands on someone else, and hears a familliar groan. Faith scrambles off of Dawn, swearing. Dawn's lying on her stomach, and her legs are covered and surrounded by blood.
"Dawn! Dawnie!" Faith shakes Dawns shoulder, turning her carefully on to her back. Dawn doesn't respond. Dawns shirt is ripped along her stomach, and Faith can see a shallow cut, bleeding sluggishly below the tear. But theres too much blood for just that cut. "Fuck Dawnie, wake up!" Faith does a quick rapid body survey, stopping and swearing at the realization that the blood is coming from Dawnies crotch. "Somebody!" Faith screams, looking around. "I need some help here!" Someone runs to her side. "I don't know what to do." Faith confesses. "Shes pregnant and bleeding."
"How far along is she?" The man asks, pinching Dawns hand, there no reaction.
"Only six months." Faith gasps. "What do we do?"
"First we need to get her away from the fire and the fumes." The man replies. "Can you help me pick her up?" Faith slips her hands under Dawnies knees and back and then slowly stands up.
"I don't need help. Just tell me where to put her." Faith says, rearranging Dawn to get a better grip.
"Anyway thats not here. Up the beach by the trees. About a hundred feet away would be good. Can you carry her that long?" The man orders.
"Yeah. I got her, shes still pretty light." Faith replies, and begins weaving her way through the wreckage and bodies. Faith stumbles, and Dawn moans, then moans again and begins to wake up. "It's ok Dawnie." Faith soothes, BUt Dawn begins to thrash.
"It hurts." Dawn gasps. "What happened?"
"Just stay still till we get away from the wreckage please." The man orders, steadying Faith before she falls.
"Who the hell are you?" Dawn demands, trying to lie still. She wraps one arm around Faiths neck and presses against her stomach with the other hand.
"Jack." Jack says firmly. "I'm a doctor and your going to be just fine."
"I'm bleeding." Dawn counters. "And it hurts. Whats happening?"
"The doctor said your gonna be fine Dawnie. Listen to the man." Faith snaps, as they finally get clear of the feild of wreckage. Faith speeds up, and as they reach the trees, she gently sets Dawn on the ground.
"Did something hit you in the stomach?" Jack asks, dropping to kneel next to Dawn and palpating her stomach gently.
"I don't know. I don't know. I just.." Dawn starts to hyperventalate. "The plane ripped right off. There was all this wind. I just.."
"Its ok. Your fine now. I need you to take deep breaths." Jack orders calmly. "Tell me how close the pains are."
"They don't stop. Am I in labor?" Dawn wheezes, trying to slow her breathing. "Its too early!"
"Its going to be fine." Jack commented, moving his gaze to Faiths face. "I need some cloth. Lots of cloth. Can you find me some?" Faith nodded and then sprinted off towards the plane. When she came back, Dawn and Jack had an audience. The blond pregnant girl was seated at Dawns side, holding Dawns left hand. Faith held her and Dawns carry on bags, which she had thoughtfully handcuffed to the seats ahead of them.
"I have an emergency child birth kit in my bag." Faith blurted out, pulling out a sealed first aid kit.
"Can we do anything?" One of the audience asked. "I'm a life guard."
"I remember." Jack said. "Get me some wet cloth, and then keep everybody else back." The pregnant woman went to get up, but Jack stopped her with a wave. "You stay and hold her hand. That way I can keep an eye on you. Are you still having contractions?" The blond shakes her head and takes Dawns hand again.
"Am I in Labor?" Dawn demands, grabbing Jacks hand, and pulling him towards her. Jack nods and pulls back.
"I think something hit your stomach. You've got that cut on it, and from the way it looked, I think when you were thrown clear, you landed on your stomach." Jack said calmly.
"She was on her stomach when I found her." Faith said, hauling clothes out of both bags.
"Its too early." Dawn said, starting to cry. "Its too early."
"You are going to be fine." Faith cut in, her voice determined. "We got a doctor right here D. We got the emergency childbirth kit. I know it ain't the labor and delivery wing in Cleveland, but we got tons of stuff."
"We have to take the pants off." Jack said smoothly, pulling on a pair of gloves from the kit. "Do you have something we can use to cover her legs?" He looked at Faith.
"I got a few 1 metre flannel and fleece blankets." Faith offered, holding out one of each.
"They'll work fine." Jack said.
The rest of the labor passed by in a whirl of moans and screams and handholding to Faith. It only seemed like moments had passed, when Faith and Claire were holding Dawns feet up in the pushing position.
"One more push." Jack coached. "The Babys almost out." Dawn bit down on her lip and pushed with a scream. Faith closed her eyes and willed the baby to come out. With a rush of fluids, the babys head slid through, and then the body. "Its out!" Jack announced. Dawn collasped backwards onto the sand and closed her eyes. Faith opened hers and turned her head to look at the baby. The placenta slid free of Dawns body with another rush of fluid.
"Oh god." Faith whispered. The baby was unmoving as Jack suctioned its nose and mouth. Claire started to cry quietly and turned her head away.
"Its not crying." Dawn said flatly. Jack started cpr on the tiny body, and Faith felt a rush of tears on her face.
"He's doing CPR." Faith choked out. Dawn turned her face away from Faith. "Maybe.."
"No maybe's Faith." Dawn said, her voice still flat. "We got on that stupid plane to save my baby and now its dead!" Her voice rose in a shrill scream. "I don't even know if its a boy or a girl. But that doesn't even matter. Nothing matters." Her voice faded into a whisper. Faith looked and saw that Jack was just staring at the tiny, still, perfectly formed little body.
"Its a girl." Faith managed, her voice heavy. Jack reached for one of the blankets, and gently wrapped the tiny body and the placenta in bright pink patterned flannel, leaving the face free and gently laid the small bundle on Dawns stomach.
"I'm sorry." Jack said, his voice thick. Dawn looked down at the face, surrounded by pink and dancing bears and burst into tears.
A million miles away, Willow was meditating on the lawn of WCI Cleveland. Her eyes burst open in horror and tears ran down her face. She scrambled to her feet and ran inside, crying, tripping and stumbling, until she came to the small study where Giles, Xander and Buffy were arguing about movies.
"Oh goddess!" Willow cried, hanging from the door frame. "Its all gone so horribly wrong!"
End part three
Author Note: For those of you that read this chapter, i hope it wasn't too upsetting.
and as a first aider, i must point out a few things. In first aid, if a person is found on their stomach, they are never just rolled over. There is manual stabilization involved. Most first aiders will also never do palpation, (using a firm touch to check for broken bones, hardness or other signs of injuries that can not be seen). I do not reccomend doing this in a first aid situation unless you have been trained.
I carry first aid training to the level of AMFR 1 (Advanced Medical First Responder 1), CPR C, and i am AED trained. My training was done through St. John Ambulance Canada.
I'm not sure that emergency child birth kits are available unless you recive them as part of a larger full 'any emergency' first aid kit. If you want one, you can always make your own, which should include: a flashlight, pillows, clean sheets, clean towels, suction bulb, sterile rubber gloves, container for the placenta, clean scissors, and two clean cord ties.
For more information on Emergency Childbirth you can check out http/www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000009.htm or you can google 'emergency childbirth"
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