November
"What is happening?" Alec demanded.
"We don't know," Dr. Peterson snapped. "Stop yelling and let us figure it out!"
Alec clamped his mouth shut. He stood back and crossed his arms over his chest. He didn't know what else to do other than stay out of the way.
Peterson rubbed his knuckles against Max's sternum. "Max? Can you hear me?"
Max shifted just slightly, but it looked more like an involuntary response to the pain than a real answer.
"Max?"
There was still no response, and Alec felt his last bit of hope die that this was something easily fixable.
Max had been sleeping more and more as the twins took an increasingly heavy toll on her body. This morning, however, she hadn't woken up. Alec had tried to wake her to eat some breakfast, and she hadn't responded at all. He'd immediately gathered her in his arms and blurred straight to the infirmary.
Alec stood against the wall, watching as Peterson, Gupta, and a few others moved around Max setting up equipment, drawing blood, etc. They moved at a steady pace, and Alec wanted to yell at them to hustle, but he decided to take it as a good sign that no one looked frantic or rushed.
"The babies are fine," Dr. Gupta told him, looking at one of her screens. "We've got a fetal heart monitor on them and there are no signs of distress."
Alec let out a slow breath and nodded. He'd been terrified that they'd lost another of the babies or both of them, or… he didn't know what. He could kick himself for not noticing something sooner. He'd woken up early and gone to get a bit of work done before he woke Max. He'd thought she was just sleeping. Even now, she just looked like she was asleep. There were no signs of pain or agitation. She still looked ill, but that was how she'd looked for weeks now.
"What about Max? Is something… wrong? I mean clearly something's wrong, but…"
"Nothing obvious," Peterson said, "but we'll wait for the labs."
Alec stood there, keeping watch. It was what he and Max did. When one of them was down, the other took watch. He stood there, grim-faced, while the doctors came in and out. Eventually, after another battery of tests, Max was moved from the emergency area to one of the rooms they'd added for patients who were going to have to stay there longer than a patch up job. It ended up being the same room where Alec had been after he was burned. He had horrible memories of the room, and didn't really think this was going to make it any better.
For hours and hours, he watched as more doctors came in and out. He lost count of the quiet meetings outside the room, poring over the results of the tests. They assured him that although her heart rate and brain activity had lowered, she was fine. Her breathing was fine. The labs looked fine. The babies were fine.
"Then why won't she wake up?" Alec demanded.
Dr. Gupta and Dr. Peterson stood on one side of Max's hospital bed. He stood on the other, and held her hand. It made him feel both better and worse. He felt better with her hand in his, but worse because her hand was cold and there was no response, no answering grip from her. He placed his other hand on her stomach protectively.
"We think we have an idea," Peterson said.
"What?"
"Dr. Lambert? Will you join us please?" he called.
A man Alec hadn't really dealt with before came into the room. He was younger, like many of the experts who'd come to Terminal City, all hoping to make a name for themselves while working with the infamous transgenics. He had dark brown hair, that was too long and hung down in his eyes, but Alec had a feeling that was how he preferred it from the way he moved. It was like he was trying to hide from people around him. It made Alec wonder how he'd ever got up the nerve to apply for the job in the first place, let alone accept it. He doubted the guy had ever really interacted with any of them, and guessed it had all been lab work.
"This is Dr. Lambert. He's come up with a theory that we think has some merit."
"Good to meet you," Alec said automatically. "What's the theory?"
"Hibernation," Lambert said nervously. He glanced at Alec, then averted his eyes and stared at the ceiling.
"I beg your pardon?"
Dr. Peterson explained. "Max's system is severely strained. We think that her body has gone into a form of hibernation to conserve energy."
"Crazy, but… ok? So what do we do?" Alec asked. "How do we wake her up?"
"Not a good idea," Lambert said. He glanced furtively at Alec and then away again. It was making Alec twitchy.
"Look, I'm not going to hurt you. Just tell me what's going on," he said.
"Sorry. I was warned not to make eye contact. Predator instinct."
Peterson sighed. "Sorry," he said to Alec. "He's new."
"Can someone please tell me why we're not going to wake Max up," Alec snapped. He knew he sounded belligerent, but he was nearing the end of his patience. "Because it sounds like my wife is in a coma and you're telling me it's for her own good."
Peterson's shoulders drooped. "In a nutshell."
"Her body is protecting her," Gupta said, her tone very calm and even. "Dr. Lambert has some experience with hibernating animals. This isn't the same, but we think it may be similar. Max has DNA from several animals that hibernate, and we don't know if this has activated some sort of latent instinctive reaction in her. Bears, for example, can give birth while they're hibernating."
"She's not a bear," Alec said through gritted teeth.
"Her body may not know that," Lambert offered. "We've noted how much she's been sleeping, far beyond what an exhausted person should. Her movements have been slower, too. Bears behaviors change as they prep for hibernation."
"I don't care. She has to eat," Alec insisted. "She's already missed a meal today and she has to eat twice as much just to keep up."
"We know, Alec," Dr. Gupta said. "We're already making plans in case it's needed."
"You mean if she doesn't wake up," he stated dully and she nodded.
"Most black bears wake somewhat when they give birth," Lambert offered professorially, "although they go back into in a sort of pseudo-hibernation until spring, even though the cubs are suckling."
Alec had to clamp his jaw shut to keep from screaming. He paused to get his emotions back under control, and forced himself to think. "What if this isn't some sort of hibernation? What if she's just… shutting down?"
"It's possible. Her system may be failing, but-" Lambert said, and Alec felt his stomach drop. He also wanted to kick the guy's teeth in.
Peterson glared at Lambert to shut him up. "We're watching her very, very closely for any signs of trouble."
"Other than the coma," Alec said, and Peterson nodded. "Are we considering…" He cleared his throat. "Should we take the babies early?"
Dr. Gupta was already shaking her head. "The babies aren't in distress. Neither is Max. If this is just her body's way of conserving energy to help the babies, then we need to wait. The babies are better where they are, ok?"
"If we had to, are the babies viable at this point?" He had to force himself to ask. If he was going to prepare for the worst, then he needed to know.
Dr. Gupta and Dr. Peterson looked at each other, but it was Lambert who answered. "Maybe. Hard to tell with the uncertain due date."
Peterson shot him another glare and pointed toward the door. Lambert quickly scooted out into the main infirmary area.
"Very probably," Peterson corrected. "It would be early, but they're developed enough. Waiting as long as possible is best, though, especially when we're guessing about the timeline."
"We're going to take good care of her," Dr. Gupta promised, "of all three of them. We'll always do what's best for them, all right?"
Alec forced himself to nod. "Keep the bear expert away from me," he ordered.
"It's a given," Peterson replied solemnly, then broke into a compassionate smile. "She's holding her own, Alec. We think her body just made a few decisions without letting her know first."
Alec nodded again. He looked down at Max, who seemed like she was sleeping peacefully. Her face was thinner than it normally was. She'd been struggling to keep her weight up, no matter how much food Alec offered her. He had a horrible memory of Rachel lying in her bed at her father's mansion, wasting away, beautiful until the day she died.
He bent down and placed a kiss on Max's forehead. He brushed her hair back and whispered, "I'll be here when you wake up, Maxie. You take care of the kids and I'll handle everything else. I'll even keep Mole in line."
Alec's cell phone rang. He stood up and ripped it out of his pocket. It took everything he had not to throw it against the wall. "What?" he growled.
"You're late for the meeting," Mole said, immune to Alec's outbursts.
"What meeting?"
"You and Max are supposed to be the go-betweens for the potato people," he replied. "Conference room three. Move it," he added and hung up.
Somehow, word hadn't gotten back yet to the people in Command. Everyone was so used to Max and Alec being at the infirmary these days, maybe they hadn't thought anything of it.
It was well into the afternoon now. They'd scheduled the meeting for later so the people from the two potato/tomato companies wouldn't have that long to yell at each other before quitting time.
Alec put his phone back in his pocket and straightened. The two doctors were looking at him worriedly, so he packed it away as best he could. He offered them a strained smile. "I'm good," he said. "I have to go to a meeting, but I'll be back right after. That ok?"
"Of course," Dr. Peterson said, clearly not one bit reassured. "Someone will be here and the equipment will let us know the second anything changes."
Alec squared his shoulders. He gave Max's hand one last squeeze of reassurance and headed for the door.
Alec walked into the conference room. Andrew Rafferty, his subordinates and his lawyers sat on one side of the conference table. Roger Stephenson, Cynthia Barclay and their team sat on the other. A hired mediator sat at the end of the table while the other remained empty except for Mole. Two chairs sat waiting for him and for Max.
Max. Who wasn't coming.
Several transgenic guards stood against the walls, but not Fred and Barney. Alec had called and ordered them to the infirmary. Some of the guards were from Alec's team who'd done some of the work for Agri-Genome. Some were from Charlie Team who'd done the work for FarmGene Technologies. All of them were one hundred percent sick of dealing with these people.
Alec in particular had zero patience. Zip, zero, zilch. Not to mention, he was angry.
Alec didn't know what he looked like, but the moment he walked in Mole stood and Slick came to attention, ready to do whatever his commander needed. The rest of the transgenics also knew something was wrong and they tightened up, ready to fight. Unfortunately, they couldn't fight their way out of this battle. He waved them all down, and they relaxed a bit, but Mole and the people on his team knew him too well.
"We were about to start without you," Mole said warily.
"You're going to have to continue without me," he replied.
Rafferty stood up, bristling. "I knew this was a waste of my time. You people lured me here under false pretenses. I was assured that you and Max would be leading this farce of a mediation attempt."
Not to be outdone, Stephenson also stood up. "If you can't even guarantee the basic setup that was agreed upon, then we have no reason to be here. These people aren't-"
"Sit down," Alec ordered. The words were quiet, but there was definite command in the tone, a warning as well.
He waited, and finally both men sat, still looking disgruntled.
"We brought you here because we are tired of going back and forth between your two companies while you spy on each other and steal from each other and plant false data, and on and on. There will be absolutely no more assistance from our company unless these talks continue. Is that understood?"
Rafferty frowned. "But-"
"Is. That. Understood?" he bit out. He waited for the leaders of both sides to nod.
"Where is Max?" Ms. Barclay asked. "She agreed to be here."
"My wife went into a coma this morning," he stated flatly. "Complications from the pregnancy."
There were gasps around the room. Mole took out his phone and started sending messages to let others know what was going on.
"I will not be here for the rest of this meeting for obvious reasons." He looked at Rafferty and Stephenson. "The mediator is here to help you. You two need to figure this out. We're recommending a joint project for your research. Mole has our suggestions for setting it up."
He wanted to punch something. He wanted to scream. He wanted to cry. He wanted to break every bit of furniture in the room and chase these idiots out of Terminal City. Instead he was standing here talking about their stupid genetically modified potatoes as if they mattered.
"Just do it," he ordered. "Get it done together and benefit both your companies instead of throwing money at us while you take pot shots at each other. Just do it," he said again, and his voice cracked. Alec shook his head, struggling to keep himself together. He turned to Mole. "You got this handled?"
"Absolutely," Mole answered. "Go."
Alec nodded and hurried out of the room. Maybe they would agree to the joint project idea, maybe they wouldn't. He didn't care either way. He had bigger things to worry about and Freak, Inc. wasn't taking one more project from either one of them until they got their crap together.
Alec made his way back to the infirmary. He needed to talk to the docs again. He needed to know what kind of equipment they might need, or anything else needed to care for someone in Max's state. As soon as he had a list, he'd scramble his team and they'd go.
After that, he'd stay with Max and do what he always did when they were alone. He'd sit and talk to the babies while they slept. He'd talk to Max now, too.
She always said he talked too much. This might be the first time he hated listening to himself, too.
The last chapter tomorrow… maybe. It's a long chapter and I'll do my best to pretty it up, but no promises. If not tomorrow, then definitely by Christmas.