5th October 2013 Saturday

Day 278

Welcome to the first "fear" snippet. This makes my life easier because I've left this chapter a bit late. Enjoy…Jane's fear.

Disclaimer: I own nothing…NOTHING!

Jane stared nervously down at her stomach while the doctor prepared the sonogram. Dex sat beside her wearily, seeming completely distant to her.

"So, we understand that a few requirements were not followed to the key," the doctor murmured as she wrapped the silicon cone around the patient's stomach. "We're going to check why you have unusual stomach cramps, as that's quite an unusual symptom in a planned child."

"Dex?" Jane held out her hand to him for comfort, but he merely stared at it. Allowing his hands to run down his face, he begrudgingly let his palm fall in to hers, leaving a horrible taste of worry in her throat.

"Ok," a few buttons were pressed on the control, and a blurry image was presented on the screen. The doctor projected the image on to the wall, humming in thought as she narrowed her eyes to the unborn baby. "So as you can see here, your baby has a severe condition of the heart. According to your blood studies, it is quite severe and will reduce the life expectancy of the child. By my approximation, this baby won't live to see its thirties."

Dex sighed in disappointment, removing his hand quickly from his wife. Jane stared in shock at the wall; her body moving with her violent breathing. Noticing this, the doctor cleared her throat.

"I understand that this is big news," she said as she crossed the room towards the door. "I'll leave you two alone."

The door closed with a slight swish, leaving Dex and his wife in the eerily silent hospital room. Because Dex didn't seem to be addressing the situation at hand, Jane took it upon herself to start.

"So, what do you think we should do?" she stuttered out with a shaky breath. Dex turned around to look at her; the fear and frustration seen in his eyes scaring her.

"I can't do anything," he admitted with a shrug of his shoulders.

"You mean we-"

"No, I mean me," he interrupted with a bit of a snap. Jane backed herself in to her seat, looking at him sceptically. "I just…I can't do anything like this. Honestly, I never wanted another child, and learning all this, all these new regulations we have to follow in order to keep it alive for as long as possible, it's just too much."

Jane could feel the tears building up in her eyes; her breath increasing and her ears disbelieving at what he was saying. He cast a thoughtful look down to the ground, before approaching her to address her correctly.

"Winston will stay at the habitat; it's a better suited environment for him and it's guaranteed that he'll live long enough to succeed my work," Jane was shaking her head as her husband spoke; whispering a few 'no's' in interruption. "I can't have someone who suffers a heart condition around giant alien insects all the time. You can leave as soon as you're packed. I'm sorry, I just can't deal with something like this."

He left without another word, ignoring the patients pleas and cries for him.

"No Dex! No, I need you for this…"

"No!" Jane shouted as she sat bolt-right up in bed. She continued to inhale deeply as her eyes adjusted to what little light was in the room. Her hand moved slowly to her belly, which had grown a little more in size. She smiled as she realised that the unborn baby was safe. Beside her, Dex woke up with a snore, sitting up quickly in response to his wife's sudden movements.

"Wh-what's wrong?" he asked in a groggy voice. Jane released one more sigh as she heard his voice.

"Oh, I just had the most awful dream," she confessed, allowing her hand to fall in to her lap. Dex shifted in his seat properly as he rubbed his eyes awake.

"Ok, well if you want to talk about it, I-" he stopped once the leader spied his wife, breathing slowly in her sleep. He smiled down at her before shifting back in to his spot and wrapping his arms around her waist, his hands entwining around her stomach.

"Goodnight sweetheart," Jane felt her lips pull in to a smile at her husband's words, allowing her to drift in to a peaceful sleep.

As if Dex would leave her, it's just unnatural. Well, that's what I think Jane's fear would be, but maybe the others will be a bit more general rather than main story focused. No need to flame; sometimes suspense is good to read...? R&R!