Chapter 4

"I'm not surprised you're not in the waiting room with the others, but I would have thought you would have found some way to be closer to her."

At sound of the familiar voice, Robin turned from his staring out over the bay with the 'T' shaped building on it's island. Despite the fact that Starfire and her sister had mended their fences, it still felt odd having her talk to him civilly. "When did you get here, and how did you find out?"

Blackfire's expression mirrored her concern. "I only got here a short time ago," she replied. "I thought that Raven and Cyborg contacted me at your order. Now, I'm not so sure."

Robin rubbed his forehead. "Sorry, but contacting you never even crossed my mind."

Blackfire saw him look at the tar and gravel that covered the roof of this wing of the hospital, but she was sure it wasn't because he was so embarrassed that he couldn't meet her eyes. She was proved right a moment later when he looked over at her.

"Standing here, I'm four floors directly above the operating room where Starfire is being operated on," he said. "Giving roughly ten feet per floor, that makes her only forty feet from me. This is the closest I can get to her." He paced a few steps. "Have they filled you in on her condition?"

"Just that she was injured, and that they need blood for her so badly that they agreed to take three units from me," she replied. "Don't look so worried. Tamaranean blood volume is more than human. I'd have to lose another two units before I'd be in danger."

"She and Raven had gone out for a while, and when they were heading back to the Tower, they came across a large truck that was out of control," Robin related. "As it worked out, Starfire was supposed to stay on the sidelines and watch as Raven rescued a small girl that had gotten in the path of the truck. Unfortunately, Starfire ended up rescuing both of them, and that was when she got injured. Her broken leg and shoulder aren't a problem. It's her internal injuries and loss of blood from them together with her pregnancy," he paused for a moment, and Blackfire was shocked to see his shoulders shudder. She was equally shocked at the openness of his expression when he looked back at her. "Blackfire, I could lose both of them down there. The doctor only gives her a thirty percent chance of making it through the surgery."

Blackfire looked at her brother-in-law, too shocked for words. She was surprised at his openness, especially with her. "Robin, she's strong; she will pull through this," she assured him. "What can you tell through your bond?" She heard Robin's sigh, and her eyes widened when he pulled the crystal from beneath his shirt. "Ze! Sho vena trevanar fe zelo shal?"

"Yes, Blackfire, they took it from her," Robin replied as he looked at the translucent dull gray crystal. "Just before she was taken into surgery. It was necessary to ensure sterile conditions. I won't know how she is until Doctor Benson contacts me."

"Robin, the doctor that is treating her is the same that worked with Vern'a before, right?" She relaxed a bit when he nodded. "Then I'm not very concerned. From what I was told, it was the lack of blood that placed Starfire in the most danger. I have taken care of that. What?" Blackfire asked when she saw the sudden look of shock on Robin's face.

"Nie'l!" he gasped. "I've got to contact him; he doesn't know."

"Robin, calm down. Nie'l can be told later when we know how Starfire's going to be."

"No. You don't understand, he's got the other half of the first crystal I shared with Starfire. I gave my half back to Starfire when Nie'l went back to Tamaran so she wouldn't miss him so much. My God, what he must be going through."

Blackfire took a device from her belt. "LIANDER, this is the Jemara, put me in contact with Tamaran Central Communications, priority channel."

"As you command, Jemara."

"Communications Central, this is Captain Pelo'n." came Tamaran's reply as Blackfire handed the communicator to Robin.

"Pe va Vido'an Rob'n klevana Galfore, Kemach Kim'r."

"I'm sorry, Highness, but Galfore and Captain Kim'r are unable to be disturbed."

"Captain, this is an emergency. Koriand'r has been injured and the crystal she shares with Nie'l has been removed without my being able to inform him first."

There was silence for a moment, and they could hear a series of soft clicks coming from the speaker.

"Father? Is that you?"

Robin sighed with relief. Nie'l's voice was a little shaky, but not hysterical. "Yes, Nie'l it's me."

"Thank X'Hal! I feared the worst when my crystal with mother went dark. What has happened to her? Is she. . . . .?"

"She's alive, Nie'l," Robin assured him. "Are Galfore and Kim'r with you, and can they hear this?"

"We are here, Robin," Kim'r replied. "What else is it?"

Robin licked his lips, finding them and his mouth suddenly dry. "She is in surgery as we speak, Kim'r. Thanks to Komand'r's arriving and donating some blood, she should be just fine."

"And your daughter?" Galfore asked.

"I don't know, Galfore," Robin replied softly. "There was a decision I had to make before the surgery. If the doctor had to make a choice between saving with Starfire or Liand'r, I instructed her to save Kori if it came to that."

As he expected that statement drew a chorus of surprised mutters.

"X'Hal," said Galfore

"No," came Kim'r's voice.

"Father," said Nie'l

"Oh, Robin," gasped Blackfire.

"Highness, you know what her feelings on this are going to be if she finds out, correct?"

"I know she's won't be happy with it."

"That's a galactic understatement if I ever heard one," Blackfire said. "Robin she's going to think that you didn't want Liand'r to be born."

"That's not why I made the choice I did. It's not that I wanted Li to die, but that I wanted Starfire to live. As Vern'a told me, when she lost our first child, we are young and can have other children."

"For your sake, Robin, I hope she either does not learn of your decision, or listens to your reasoning," Galfore said. "Nie'l, myself, and Kim'r will be arriving in Earth orbit two of your weeks from now aboard the BRIND'R. On the day that marks the end of the first months of Liand'r's life, the presentation will be held. Until then, may X'Hal watch over you."

With a soft click the channel was closed, and Robin handed the communicator back to her. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Blackfire said as she pocketed the device. "Robin, you have no idea on the. . . .bees nest you will have disturbed if Kori finds out about that. She'll be even more angry at you than she was when Slade had her last year."

"I don't understand. As I said, it's not that I don't want Liana to be born, but if doctor Benson has to make the choice between them, I'd want Star to live, and have other children, rather than have Liand'r not having a mother. I thought I lost Starfire once before. I don't want to go through that again."

Robin grew even more confused when Blackfire turned away from him and started pacing. "I am not surprised at your confusion, Robin. I can even sympathize with you, but it's not that simple. No healer on Tamaran would have placed you in this position. It's not that our medicine is that much better, but Kori will be undergoing a shift in what you would call her hormone levels. You saw what she was like when she learned that your first child miscarried. Weren't you a little surprised at how strongly she reacted to that when it was only at that time she even learned that she was pregnant?"

"I thought it was just her being her usual caring self. Now that you brought it to my attention, I see your point."

"In some ways, it will be worse when Liand'r is born. She will be very protective of her, far more than you may realize. She may consider your decision as an attack on Liand'r and will react as if you are an enemy, and may still wish for the child to die."

"But. . . ."

Blackfire cut Robin off. "She won't be thinking exactly clearly," she said. "I will be surprised if she even lets me see your daughter."

Robin's eyebrow went up in curiosity at the tone of her voice. "It almost sounds as if you've had experience with this."

Blackfire paused in her pacing to look at Robin. "You would have liked my mother, Robin. You are as good at reading people as she was. You are correct; I have some first hand knowledge of what I'm telling you, but only on the receiving end. About a year after Starfire had been taken by the Gordanians, a friend of mine was injured while she was doing some low level flight practice. She was at the same point in her pregnancy as Kori is now. Fortunately, both survived. About a week later I made some comment about how glad I was that she was alive, and Don'a practically blasted me out of the room with a star bolt. She accused me of being upset about her raising Grevan'r to the point that I wanted to harm her child. Unfortunately, because of the result of Starfire challenging me for the crown and banishing me, I was never able to see her again," she sighed heavily. "I am told that the first month is the hardest."

"Well if they both pull through, she'll never have to know."

"I hope you're right, Robin. For both your sakes."

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"Okay, Jen, suction," Linda Benson snapped as she looked for another severed blood vessel to repair. Finding it when the blood was suctioned away, she quickly sutured the ends together, then released the clamps. "Only one or two more," she sighed as she saw the blood flow in to the area was greatly reduced.

"Last unit down to ten percent remaining."

"Thank you Lisa," Linda responded, then peered closely. "Right here," she muttered as she used her fingers to move a section of Starfire's stomach to one side. "Damn!" she gasped in surprise as a small fountain of blood was released. "Lisa, give Jen a hand, I need both suction units working here," she ordered.

"Yes, doctor. Last unit is now empty, we're now using what has been recovered by the reclamation system, about half a unit."

"Great," Linda muttered as she searched for the blood vessel responsible for the blood loss. "Must be either her equivalent to the superior mesenteric or her left renal artery," she muttered as the area would be suctioned clear for a moment, then flood again.

"Reclaimed volume down to ten percent," Lisa announced when a monitor beeped.

"Got it!" Linda exulted when she managed to clamp the blood vessel. "Good, it was the mesenteric," she said in relief. "No worries about kidney damage." She looked up sharply when a different monitor started beeping loudly.

"Fetal heart rate dropping," another nurse announced as she checked the monitor. "one hundred and dropping. Now down to seventy-five."

Linda looked to her right as she heard Colleen McDonnough mutter something in what she thought was Gaelic. "Colleen?"

"Fetal distress, I've got to get her out of there," the redhead snapped.

"Reclaimed volume down to two percent, and holding," Lisa announced.

"Fetal heart rate down to fifty, and she's stopped moving."

"Emergency C-sect," Linda snapped, drawing a nod from Colleen. "Lisa, go get one of those units that Blackfire just donated; we're going to need it."

"Right, doctor," Lisa said, then left the room.

"Hold on now, Lass, and give me a chance to save the wee one," Colleen said softly.

"That's the last of them," Linda said as she released the clamp on the last severed blood vessel. "I'm closing."

Colleen nodded as she worked quickly, deftly cutting to Starfire's uterus, hoping she'd finish before her patient's body decided to sacrifice itself to save the baby.

"Blood pressure dropping," John Winston announced from by Starfire's head. "Heart rate dropping, too. BP one hundred over ten, pulse forty and now fluctuating."

"Almost there," Colleen said softly as she worked. "Get that isolette over here."

"Yes doctor," a nurse replied as she wheeled over a clear plastic box with holes in the side for gloves.

"Clamp the cord please, Donna," Colleen said. "Lisa, clear her nasal passages, please."

"Clamps in place, Doctor," Donna replied.

"Airway clear," Lisa said, smiling as the baby took an audible breath and began crying.

"Blood pressure and heart rate returning to normal," John announced. "Respirations leveling out as well.

"Thank God for minor miracles," Lida sighed.

"Aye, and fer the big ones too," Colleen said, holding Liand'r up. "Welcome to Earth, and the living, Leeann Mar'i."

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Robin frowned as he sat beside Starfire in her room. She had been moved from the recovery room almost twelve hours ago, and doctor Benson was concerned that she hadn't awakened since the surgery, despite Vern'a's message that it was normal for Tamaraneans to recover their strength in this manner after being injured.

'Who is letting a baby cry like that?' he wondered. A moment later his eyes widened in surprise as Nurse Ramsey walked into the room, Liand'r nestled in the crook of one arm, and a bottle held in the other hand as she tried to get the infant to take it. The infant seemed to want no part of taking the nipple, and was very vocal in her refusal.

"Robin. Thank goodness you're here," Jennifer sighed in relief when she saw him. "None of us can get her to take the bottle. Normally, we'd let the mother do the feeding, but you had luck before, and Starfire is still unconscious."

"Right," Robin said as he reached for his daughter. He saw Jennifer's look of surprise as Liand'r fell silent as he took her. He smiled softly as the baby made some gurgling sounds, then eagerly sucked the nipple of the bottle into her mouth.

"Well it's plain to see she knows who her daddy is," Jennifer said with a chuckle. She quickly checked Starfire's vitals, and Robin saw her eyebrow arch when she was noting them in her chart.

"What?"

"I'm not sure," Jennifer admitted, then turned at the sound of someone entering the room. "Linda, look at this," she said as she handed the chart to the doctor.

"Doctor?" Robin called softly when he saw her brow furrow as she looked at the information.

"Robin, have you felt anything different from her through your bond?" Linda countered.

Robin mentally reached for Starfire's presence in his mind, and was slightly disappointed to find her consciousness the same as it had been since her crystal had been placed back on her after the surgery. "No," he answered, looking at the physician. "Why do. . . . ." he began, but cut off and looked over at where Starfire lay. "Star?"

Almost as if in reply to his calling her, Starfire inhaled deeply, then moaned softly as she opened her eyes. "Robin," she said, then cleared her throat. When she spoke again, her voice was stronger. "Raven and the girl, are they safe?"

"Yes, Star, you saved them both."

Starfire nodded. "I remember now; you told me before," she said, then smiled softly. "I am glad to see that you are practicing for when. . . ." she began, but trailed off as her hand touched the covers over her now flatter stomach. "Liand'r?" she gasped, and Robin nodded. "She is too early! She is not due for another three months!"

"Relax, Starfire; she's doing just fine," Linda assured her patient. "I've been in contact with Vern'a and she says that Liand'r is doing just fine. She believes that it's because she's half human that she developed in nine months instead of twelve."

All eyes suddenly fastened on the subject of the conversation, as Robin took the bottle from her mouth and looked at the level of formula remaining in the bottle. As Robin rearranged the cloth so it was over his shoulder, Liand'r gave a small whimper, but settled down as he turned her so she was facing him and he gently patted her back. After a short moment there was a soft belch, and Robin resumed feeding.

"Robin's been staying here for two reasons," Jennifer said. "One was to be by your side, and the other is because none of the nurses on staff can get Liand'r to eat. We're hoping you have as much luck as he has."

"You'll have to leave for a while, Robin," Linda said. "I want to check my patient over and make sure she's doing alright."

Robin nodded as he stood, making sure not to disturb Liand'r, who had fallen asleep. "I'll take her back to the nursery, and by the time I get back, you should be done, right?"

"Should be," Linda agreed. "Don't forget to let the nurse in charge at the nursery know how much she took."