Chapter Seventeen
Alicia knew when she was in a corner, and this was one she had backed herself into. She knew she should have handled things differently and if she had she wouldn't be stuck in this bind. It was a cage she had built around herself by every day she let slip by, every extra plate she added to her armor, and the strategies she used to avoid colonists who might notice. The most observant being Elisabeth Shannon.
It hadn't been that long since she had been in clinic waiting for her husband to regain consciousness, the new scar on his temple a reminder she didn't need. Alicia had been pregnant then, but thankfully the medicals had been too busy with Nathaniel to notice her, and she had kept her armor on the entire time.
Now she strode towards the infirmary, her armor again snugly in place, a little too snug and extra plates stuffed into the chest strap to try and even out the shape of her body. The infirmary hummed with activity and Alicia picked her way through, looking for Elisabeth and found her in the closet she called an office.
The doctor's desk was piled with plexs, papers, holos and texts, a testament to the changes the colony faced and some took in stride. Elisabeth was focused on a plex as Alicia slid in and leaned against the wall. It took a moment for the woman to notice her, and Alicia though she looked tired and worn.
"Maddie is ecstatic about the dress so I need to thank you, but it's been awhile Alicia, either I have to put in a request or Nathaniel has to get hurt for you to turn up. A person could think they were being ignored." She continued to read and missed the way Alicia's jaw set at the comment; her hand moving to the straps on her armor.
"Wouldn't be far off." Gritting her teeth Alicia pulled the straps that anchored the front plate, letting it fall to the side as Elisabeth turned to give her a sharp look.
The doctor made a soft 'oh' sound as she caught a look at what the tanks Alicia favored did more to display than mask. There was a long moment of silence, the doctor shifted to face her directly and Alicia resisted the urge to turn and simply walk out. It had to happen, she'd kept her secret to long, forced Nathaniel to keep it; and it was far better coming from her than from someone else.
"Well." Elisabeth murmured, Alicia saw the cool examination in her eyes but she also saw a flash of hurt. It didn't make her feel any better as the doctor slowly got to her feet. "You're here, does that mean I get to take a look?"
It felt like there was miles between them right now, and this was a woman, one of very few people, she would count as a friend; and outside the military. She nodded silently figuring she was going to have to shut up and submit to any tests the woman ordered, and followed her out of the office and stepped into the exam room that was pointed to.
Left alone for a moment she eased into the chair beside the exam table and slid the last fastenings on her armor to slide out of it. Elisabeth returned, wheeling a portable diagnostic unit that was probably in high demand. She didn't wait to be told and silently slid up onto the table.
The doctor gloved her hands and shook her head as she turned to the unit at Alicia's hip. "And you were in here for hours not that long ago, not a single one of us noticed. However I assume you didn't want us to."
There was resignation in the woman's tone and Alicia shut her eyes as her tank top was pulled up her ribs and the cold diagnostics band was laid over her. The doctor picked up the control and began to tap at buttons, entering codes and scanning the results. "Sixteen weeks, you are long past the time frame for selection procedures."
Alicia stiffened. "Good."
"That means if there is a birth defect all I could do for you is attempt inutero surgery or abort; which at this stage is a lot more difficult to go either way. Not to mention we only have half the equipment and medication I would want." The doctor sighed.
"Selection hasn't been approved in the colony." Alicia growled, and as far as she was concerned it was a procedure that should stay in the past.
"It has a place, it has been abused and badly but at the core it served a good purpose. And as of yet there hasn't been a need for any expectant mother to have a full map worked up. But that was determined before the window was closed through a medical exam. Which you did not have."
Selection was a process of scanning an embryo within the first eight to ten weeks of development to map genetic indicators, if the scan turned up defects it allowed options ranging from termination, inutero surgery to genetic manipulation. In the past with population laws as they were and corruption as it was those who could afford the procedure used it to create designer babies. The wrong gender could be terminated, certain genetic markers manipulated for a child with blond hair and blue eyes or any combination that suited.
Given that a family was only allowed two children those who could pay justified that they should at least have two children of the gender, and style that the parents wanted. Yet with Elisabeth at the helm Alicia did not doubt that any expectant couple would be offered the procedure only with the best interest in their future child's health.
"Fair enough but I've taken precautions." She wouldn't excuse the risk of delaying the exam but then she hadn't been taking unnecessary risks either; not that Nathaniel would let her.
"How were the land wars Alicia? Somalia, the chemical warfare both you and Nathaniel have been exposed to? Or last year when your nervous system was fried and we could have lost you to infection?" The doctor set the control down and pulled the chair down to her side; Alicia fought the urge to snarl viciously. "It's not just about the precautions you've taken since you've known. It's about everything you've been exposed to, and your career has exposed you to more than most. But your son looks healthy and the scans are clean."
"A boy?" Alicia lay still, a little boy growing inside her, Nathaniel's son; their son.
"Yes, congratulations." The doctor's hand slid into hers and squeezed. "Have you had any morning sickness?"
"It's pretty well passed." A hand stopped her from sitting up as the doctor continued to fiddle with the machine.
A moment later the machine began to emit a rhythm almost like some form of drum, it took her a moment to pick out that it was two heart beats, her own the louder and slower until Elisabeth did something to the machine to cut it out. Alicia lay still and listened to the baby's heart, a fast patter, almost like wings beating the air. She slid her hand down to her stomach, unable to help it and wanting to feel him.
"A few more weeks and I'd expect you will begin to feel him starting to move; I'd put your due date in early October; the second week. Unless you can give me a date for conception."
"That's about what I guessed, there are, ah, date is kind of hard to pin down."
"Well, we'll monitor you, kind of hard to schedule those procedures anyways and I don't like to aim to early." The doctor commented, continuing to work with the machine, Alicia bit her lip.
"What if I don't want a bio sonic delivery?"
"Alicia its standard practice. It won't likely be bio sonic as our sonic procedures are already changing. But I can take the baby quickly and safely by C-section, we've nearly perfected a nu-skin formula to knit skin and minimize scar tissue from a plant derivative the science division was working on even before we lost the connection to the future." The woman was frustrated with her, and Alicia knew it; she deserved it.
"Our bodies were made for it, my baby can grow safely in me and I think I want to deliver him myself. It was done that way for centuries. Bio sonic procedures have only been around for forty years, I can remember when they became standard; it's not that long." Acadia, Storme and every woman in their neighboring camp had delivered their children with no modern medical support.
"And when I trained as a doctor I witnessed women going through labor Alicia, women who couldn't afford the procedure or didn't have insurance to cover it. It wasn't pleasant for them." Elisabeth removed a small tab, similar to a tag, from the machine and shut it off; motioning for her to sit. "Look I know you would have studied some of it in your medical training but in the clinic I can make sure it is safe for you. I can give you a local anesthetic so you can be awake to hold your son the moment we've got him cleaned up, I know there have been stories of women who've slept through it but that is just the reaction some have to anesthetics. The drugs will have minimal impact on him, he will be exposed to some of it by your system but nothing we give you, or do to you even now would risk him; that baby's health and safety is just as much a priority as yours."
"It's something I am thinking about. Nathaniel and I will make the decision closer to the time it happens." She knew it would be painful and much more difficult but she wasn't sold on the bio sonic procedure either.
"Fine but we will talk more about it. Now I am sure Nathaniel has already restricted some of your duties but…"
"You aren't going to tell me to live in a bubble for the next five and a half months. I will take precautions and I will be careful." Alicia growled.
"It would be a good idea to stop working, you don't need the stress and you certainly don't need the physical exertion." Elisabeth gave her another frustrated glance as she made notations in Alicia's medical record.
"No." The doctor didn't have to like it and she wouldn't be the only one. "I will not spar, I will not do PT or patrols and I will not go OTG. Nathaniel and I have already decided that. But we have run this colony together for eight years, and I usually handle the OTG missions, the fact I am unable to do that leaves a hole in our structure. I have duties and responsibilities within the colony that I have always managed and can continue to handle. I will not make him take it all on himself, nor will other members of security shoulder all my tasks. Guzman, your husband and our squad leaders have already been assigned a number of my duties. They will handle them until I have the baby and then I fully intend to resume active duty; just as everyone else needs to attend their own tasks."
"Closer to your due date you may need to revisit what you can handle. And I can't speak for Guzman or your squad leaders but I believe I can speak for my husband and yours when I say no one will mind taking a bit of extra work for the few months you need to have your child. You are a stubborn woman and completely oblivious to what you mean to the people around you. You can fight with the boys Wash, you don't have to prove it."
She did growl at that, and perhaps her husband was rubbing off as she ignored the comment, fixing her shirt she slid off the exam table. She had already spent too much time here. The baby was healthy, it was a little boy and she knew her husband would be happy to know both those facts. She would take the time to tell him that but then she needed to get back to work.
"Stop." Elisabeth put a hand on the door knob, Alicia knew she could bully past the woman and the doctor knew it too; but she wouldn't. "I am mad at you, and at myself. I am guessing my daughter knows and she clearly didn't tell me, and with the trial we've had you in I understand why Nathanial was hesitant to discuss it. And just shut up."
Alicia bit her lip, she had been about to tell her Nathaniel had handled it alright. She would let her friend vent, because she had earned at least that much.
"You are here because you were cornered and that annoys me. I knew you two were trying and I was hoping you would. But what really annoys me is you are sixteen weeks along, no I haven't seen you much but you haven't been invisible either and I didn't notice. I'd hoped we were close enough friends you would be able to trust me." Elisabeth put a hand on her arm.
"If I told you others would find out." She murmured. "I wanted the baby, our baby to be mine and Nathaniel's for a while, the longer I hid it the harder it became to tell anyone."
"Alicia, friendship aside I am your doctor. Anything you tell me, any treatment I provide is confidential. I can't tell anyone."
"I'm sorry." She meant that, and it was enough to make her back up to lean against the exam table. "Want to tell me about the next part of the plan?"
Shaking her head Elisabeth dropped onto the stool and began to outline the theory, it helped to hear it outlined, to hear the ideas and pieces that had not made it into the final report.
There were some environmental factors they saw commonly, contact irritation, bites, contaminated cuts and scrapes. There had been several serious issues in the past few years, serious infections and reactions to irritants, pollen and venom. The Sixers had seen just as much as they had but with restricted access to medical care many had died.
"Am I still a viable candidate?" This would be the kicker, Elisabeth had figured this out unaware of her condition.
"Yes." But Alicia saw the concern in the doctor's face. "But is it worth the risk?"
"How big is the risk?" She wasn't the only one who got to decide that.
"Not huge, clearly the medication has not had a negative effect on the baby. I can use the bio bed to monitor your vitals and the baby's but the procedure will be done by incision; like I said before sonic procedures are changing. I can use a general anesthetic, we have one that I know is safe but it will have to be measured depending on the time it takes me to work; that takes some finessing . My hesitation is the procedure is not necessary to your health; and the recovery time is nonnegotiable."
"Understood." The goal would be to work up an antibody profile on her, taking cells from her spleen, tissues rich in antibodies, platelets and white blood cells. "Why are you uncomfortable?"
"I don't like asking you to undergo an experimental procedure, and I really don't like it now. I want to say there is a risk, a reason you can't be considered and I don't like that either."