novelzi 348 That Which is Given . . .
348 That Which is Given . . .
"Just hold my hand, Petunia. Squeeze as hard and often as you need, okay?" She could only just make out the instructions coming from Diana off to her right, the waves of discomfort and nausea drowning out almost everything besides that which originated inside her body. Cramping more horrible than she had ever faced now assaulted her as though her prior experience was nothing but a tickle."Control your breathing and try to calm down, miss Petunia. The pain is just your body opening up for the baby."
"I - hrrng - know!" She'd been the recipient of a few breathing techniques courtesy of Diana and the infinite well of knowledge found within Arc, however every bit of knowledge she'd absorbed somehow abandoned her the moment the pain began. Perhaps if something similar had happened to her in the past this might have been bearable, however she hadn't so much as broken a bone.
"Yes, yes, that's good. You're doing great." The hand on her head, small a gesture though it may have been, was doing wonders to calm her. The immense pain was definitely causing her to descend further and further into panicked confusion. "Breathe with me now, okay? Petunia? Okay?"
"M-kay!" The whisper in her ear, while a slight surprise, was something she'd been expecting. "M-kay?"
"Mhm. In-"
Shakily wrestling control of her lungs from the desire to spasm, Petunia drew air into her lungs. The spasms did not stop, but the illusion of control was better than nothing at all.
"Now out." Air rushed out through clenched teeth as her diaphragm collapsed upwards, the cause either sudden pain from a contraction or a kick from a baby eager to escape. "Slower next time. In."
Another breath, consciously taken at a more gradual rate, replaced the air expelled with such disgrace. The pain was unbearable, particularly so around her groin, and she couldn't maintain a clear mind for long enough to express it verbally. Was it supposed to be like this?
"Now out, Petunia squeezed on Diana's hand in a bid to control her shaking, clenching both teeth and eyelids shut as she slowly let out her breath. A pressure in her abdomen built up as she did so, not painful but certainly uncomfortable. "Good, that was great! Now in."
Inhaling, Petunia felt some of the panic shed away. There was still pain, but it wasn't controlling her, or rather she was able to control herself through it.
"And out again." The exhale brought with it more pressure, as well as some relief. "And in."
"Petunia!" A familiar voice and the hurried stomping of boots could barely be made out through the sound of her own heartbeat. "Petunia, I'm here, how are you doing?"
"HRM! Fine." The attempt at speaking immediately sent her spiraling once more, her focus on controlled breathing broken. A sudden bout of motion from the baby, no doubt spurred by the sudden increase in her heartrate, did not help matters.
"Titanyana, slow down. You can't be running around in here."
"Oh . . . sorry." A smaller hand slipped underneath Petunia's palm in a manner similar to Diana's, the other hand resting on top rather than being used to pat her head. "Donovan is getting dressed."
"Good, good. Breathe in-" Petunia squeezed on their hands to stabilize herself, trying to listen to their conversation even if most of it wouldn't register. "Did he say anything about Arc? And out."
"He said Arc wouldn't do anything until he was present."
"In. I guess he doesn't want someone messing up communication. And out." Petunia imagined there was a special method of speaking with Arc given Diana's tone. "In. Petunia, when Donovan gets here he'll probably need to speak to you. You don't need to answer him verbally. Out."
"Mhm!" Her attempt to take advantage of the exhale to give herself some leeway to speak was met with more spasming. She felt like it was impossible to get comfortable with this no matter how much she tried.
"Like I said sweetie, don't speak. Focus on your breathing and handling the contractions, answer by moving your head okay?" Following the breathing tempo Diana laid out for her, Petunia nodded her head. Now that she'd actually calmed down somewhat, some of what she'd learned was beginning to return. "Everything is going to be alright, just take deep breaths and relax."
- - - - -
Under no circumstances would Donovan ever call the Pegasus' synthetics lab disappointing. For the materials and time frame given to construct it the small manufactory was an incredibly impressive display, capable of producing highly complex chemical compounds, small textiles, molded rubber and plastic products of a limited size, and a small foundry for the production of metal components. That said, it was lacking in a few areas, most notably the production of anything requiring the assembly of multiple sub-items. It would not have been impossible to include something like that on board, however the size of such a system would have precluded it from being installed in the laboratory itself, instead needing some sort of fixture in the cargo hold.
Understanding this, Donovan was not surprised to find himself dressing himself in his flight suit rather than a surgical gown. The textile machine was capable of producing them, Petunia's own gown was one such construct, Donovan's suit was simply a better alternative. Practically impervious to most cutting implements, it offered a smooth, form fitting fitting surface that was easy to sterilize, the most difficult portion being the attachment point for his injection and blood chemistry kit at the elbow - already easy to clean by design. He'd still need nitrile gloves though, fine motions would be much easier with the thinner medium they provided.
"Suited." Having put on one set of gloves and then his suit, Donovan held his hands out in front of him and closed his eyes. In short order a second pair covered his hands, the mask and glasses following shortly after. "Clear?"
"Clear. Any discomfort?"
"Negligible. Are the glasses synced?" Donovan's eyes moved back and forth, but he wasn't scanning the room. The glasses were his focus, specifically the overlay responding to the movements of his eyes.
"Yes, though without the rest of the headgear they may jostle. If you need them pushed back into position, say so."
"Understood."
Overlay glasses, these ones being the standard set issued to pilots in case their screens got knocked out, were not anything new to Donovan. This wasn't even his first time using them outside of piloting either. He'd utilized variants specialized for infantry combat capable of displaying a mesh net mapping out terrain and overlaying different light spectra to see in the dark or through smoke, as well as display the trajectory of bullets coming out the muzzle of the gun. One pair he'd been given during his classes provided a visual representation of changing electromagnetic fields in real time, and his first aid classes had him use one to 'invigorate' the practice dummy by making it more lifelike and providing some vital metrics.
Today these glasses would perform a similar role to that final pair, though the dumbed down nature of the internal projector and lack of networked hardware meant it would be receiving biometric readings like heartrate and blood pressure from Arc, and the projecting components were not good enough to make a satisfactory overlay of where different organs and blood vessels should be. That said, they would be more than enough for Arc to highlight the sew points and highlight the suture's location, all Donovan really needed to be concerned with.
"And the suture?"
"It's a poliglecaprone 25 thread. It will be dispensed as needed."
Donovan nodded, content with the choice. If he were to use it on himself the material could be expected to dissolve in about 200 days, but most of the strength would be gone by the second week. There was little doubt the staples were made of a similar material, Arc just wanted to avoid complications associated with them.
"Let's get down to business."
- - - - -
"Before we begin, do not talk. Respond to my questions through head language. Nodding means yes, shaking means no, tilting means you would like me to repeat the question, tilting again after a repeat means you want me to elaborate. Answer if you understand, blink twice then squeeze your eyes shut if you can't do that."
Petunia nodded.
"Excellent. Are you in pain at the moment."
She nodded once more, not that the pain wasn't painted on her face.
"Would you like me to numb it?"
Petunia hesitated for a second before tilting her head.
"Would you like me to numb it?"
An immediate tilt this time, she needed an explanation.
"I can have Arc inject a chemical that will block all sensation in the region, pain or otherwise. Would you like me to do that for you?"
Petunia nodded.
"Alright. I'll give you a light injection for now and ask again in a few minutes to see if you need more. There will be a bit of a pinch." He stepped to the side as the ceiling mounted contraption slid into place above the operating table from its recessed position in the wall, syringe arm positioning itself while two of the grabbers pulled her gown up. "Chershei, how is she doing?"
"Good, but I am a bit concerned. Her tummy is much bigger than any I've delivered before."
"Will she be needing a cesarean?"
"I . . . I don't know. Her birth canal hasn't fully expanded yet, so I can't say."
"How long do you think it will take to reach that point?" Donovan didn't want to stand around in his suit and this mask all day. He could do it, he just didn't want to. In his mind it would be better to get this over with as soon as possible even if a C-section was not strictly necessary. Chances of complications in a future pregnancy were incredibly slim owing to Petunia's bonded partner having passed, and the probability of some form of problem developing during delivery only increased the longer it continued. Obviously he didn't want to go for the nuclear option from the start, so relying on the limits of an experienced practitioner's judgement was as good as it got. "You said labor for your people usually takes a couple of hours, so it's faster than labor for mine, but is there an upper limit?"
"Can I give you an answer in an hour?"
"One hour." Donovan took a look at the machine currently snaking a probe into Petunia and shook his head. Arc had every intention of helping Petunia, but he was similarly motivated to learn as much as possible about the differences in birth for Nekh compared to Terran delivery. The speed of delivery was one such difference, the initial contractions taking place in around an eighth of the time. He had to imagine it was an adaptation to either a weaker body or dearth of ambient split, not that such knowledge was important at this time. "If you don't have an answer in an hour, I will begin. No need for her suffer more than necessary."
This would put the time of incision well ahead of the predicted delivery, but if Chershei was still uncertain Petunia could dilate wide enough to facilitate a normal delivery he didn't want to risk the baby's head getting stuck - he hadn't done research on anything other than a C-section.
- - - - -
"Hrmmm." Donovan lifted his head at the groaning, his attempt at a brief rest once more foiled by Petunia's audible discomfort. Diana seemed to be on it though, briefly exchanging some words with her before pointing somewhere on Petunia's body so Arc could administer a sedative.
Judging by the time shown on his glasses, something like fifty minutes had passed and Chershei still seemed apprehensive about the situation. He'd promised ten more minutes, but it didn't hurt to get ready . . . he could wait five minutes though. Arc would need to make incisions and open Petunia up enough to permit Boromir's extraction, only after which would Donovan be required. He could take these extra five minutes to ignore his surroundings and maybe get a wink of-
Holding back a sigh, Donovan gestured for one of the women acting as observers to open the door with his head. Chershei and Diana both had tasks, Titanyana was the closest thing to next of kin, and he couldn't touch anything unsterilized without needing to replace his gloves.
"Excuse me!"
"Stay outside." Donovan stood in front of the door and clasped his hands behind his back, immediately recognizing Leno to be drenched with boots covered in mud. "I'm trying to keep this place clean, talk from there."
"Ah, of course, my apologies." The foggy tinting of the glasses obscured some detail on the face, but he could tell Leno was a bit stressed out. Panting, likely doing everything in his power to stop from dropping to his knees in exhaustion, he continued. "There's been a crime!"
"A crime?" Donovan struggled to believe that a crime decided to occur of all times.
"Yes, I, I apologize. The car got stuck in the mud so I ran."
"Well, take a breather and clean yourself up a bit. I'm occupied at the moment, so I'll go deal with it after the delivery."
"Yes sir." Leno bowed and left towards the bathroom, taking the hint that this would take a while so he could take a shower.
- - - - -
"And one last time. If I am to decide between you, should I prioritize the baby or you?"
"The baby." Though she still winced and groaned at every contraction as could be expected of someone being stretched to their limit, Petunia had responded well to the lidocaine injections. "Please save the baby."
"Of course." Donovan knew what her answer to the question would be well before he asked it, but Arc insisted he ask three times to confirm. "Now we are going to be cutting you open to retrieve him, and I will not lie and say there won't be blood. Ideally the amount of pain you feel will be minimized by the anesthetic, however I will ask you to remain calm and limit your motion as much as possible. If that makes you uncomfortable, I can put a curtain up to obscure your view."
"No, I want to see it." Titanyana wiped away the sweat beading on Petunia's forehead.
"In that case I will ask you to maintain your calm. Moving will make this much harder, both for me and for you." Donovan took a step back as the incision arms lowered into place. He didn't want to mess up their alignment with an accidental nudge.
"Okay."
"Diana, I'll need you keep an eye on her. Restrain her if she starts spasming or flailing, and help her regulate breathing. If need be you can cover her eyes with a towel." Diana nodded, visibly apprehensive that Donovan was being so quick with this operation. "Titanyana, same for you. Feel free to leave if it gets a bit too intense for you, but once the baby is out and has been cleaned of blood I would like you to hold him for Petunia. She'll shouldn't have him in her hands while I'm sewing her up."
"Of course!"
Donovan gestured for Arc to start with the operation, the syringe arm prodding Petunia one last time before an an arm with a rotating cloth pad sprayed disinfectant on the operation area and wiped it away, a bright purple light shining on it for a few seconds afterwards.
"Chershei, ladies. I won't fault you for leaving or averting your view, these operations are not the prettiest, however I will need someone to take the baby off of my hands and wipe the blood away once I've extricated him so I can begin to close the wound. Am I understood?"
The chorus of affirmative responses was followed by the small army of women standing up to get a better look. Donovan had already gone over the limits of the surgical spider suspended from the ceiling, but they all gave themselves an extra foot of clearance anyways. He had to imagine they were a little creeped out by it, if not outright afraid.
"Surgeon, you may begin."