Chapter Fifty-Four

Poppy.

Rachel helped me onto the bed and gestured for me to lie down. I didn’t feel that bad. A little rundown and worn, but besides that, I felt like an average pregnant woman. Assumingly, since I'd never actually been pregnant.

Rachel put a thermometer under my tongue while directing the dragons to bring up her equipment. “You’re getting bigger quicker than I imagined you would,” she admitted. “I’m going to keep my equipment up here and check on you daily. We may have a baby sooner than we thought."

I didn’t like the sound of that. I'd just found out I was pregnant. “Am I bedridden?” I asked.

Rachel ignored me and grabbed the machine to determine my blood pressure. Selena leaned against the desk in the corner of the room with her arms folded over her stomach.

She looked concerned which was a nice change from the previous situation we’d been in together. Rachel gasped. “Your blood pressure is sky-high, Poppy. I believe you may have preeclampsia. Getup. I need to get a urine test.”

I didn’t budge. “Don’t you get that in the later stages of pregnancy? It's so soon to tell."

Rachel offered me her hand. “Like I said, you’re progressing quicker than I ever imagined you would. Come on now."

Reluctantly, I took her hand and let her lead me toward the bathroom. My head began to grow foggy, and I caught myself against the door frame. “Oh, dear,” Rachel said. “Here get to the toilet. Be careful I don't want you to slip."

"Is dizziness a sign of it, too?" I asked.

"Yes, it is," she mumbled.

She helped me pull down my pants and get onto the toilet. “Pee into this cup and I’ll check to see if there is any protein in it. It’s another sign of preeclampsia."

My bottom lip trembled as I took the cup and positioned it between my legs. Tears began to rush down my face as I relieved myself.

Rachel took the cup and sat it on the counter. She bent down in front of me and touched my cheeks. “Poppy, you’re okay. Preeclampsia is very common. It’s nothing that we can’t fix. But stressing is not what we need at the moment. We need you healthy and calm. We can open the windows and bring up some games for you. Selena has a wall of protection in this room, so it is best to stay here. Since you’re having difficulties, you need to be somewhere safe. Somewhere soothing. Somewhere relaxing."

I wiped my cheeks, feeling like a hormonal freak of nature. “Okay,” I whispered.

Rachel helped me up and back toward the bed. Selena hadn’t moved, but her face said she heard everything. “I’m going to take this to the lab to run a test on it. You need to eat healthy, nothing with high salt, and maybe go for a walk later today. Your feet may begin to swell quickly, so you may lie down for a while. Remember, no stressing. Keep yourself calm."

"That's easy for you to say," I mumbled under my breath.

Rachel held up the pee and smiled. “I’ll be back shortly. I’ll have Melinda bring up something healthy to eat.”

When the door shut, I glanced over at Selena and she sighed. “That sucks, right? I can say that.”

I chuckled. “Thanks. Sometimes you don’t want to hear ‘everything is going to be okay.’”

Selena sat on the edge of the bed. “Yeah, I get that. It’s okay to have a pity party occasionally.”

Resting my head against the pillow, I stared up at the vaulted ceiling. “This isn’t going to make things easy for us. If I go into labor when she decides to resurrect herself from Hell, I'll be a sitting duck."

Selena leaned back against the bed. “No, it won’t. It’ll make it easy for her to get to you if you need to be in one place.”

Selena glanced over. “Are you afraid?”

I jerked the covers to my nose and stared at her. “Yeah, I am. It wasn’t our plan to get pregnant this soon. I wasn’t even sure if we would or not.”

“Yeah,” Selena said. “It’s scary having a baby. You’re bringing in a child to … this madness. Not that you knew that before. It’s your job to protect it, and you’ve never done it before.”

“Okay, it’s time to give me a pep talk now. The reality is sucking the life out of me.”

Selena chuckled and stood up. “I’m going to check on that snack from Melinda. You are safe in here. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

She left and I closed my eyes. Maybe Daegal was better off with a dragon that could help him fight or carry a baby without all of this?

It was a little too late for that now. I had a baby growing inside of me and he was getting big quickly.

My eyes drifted closed, and I felt myself relaxing on the pillow.

When I opened them, it felt like only a few moments had passed. There was a plate of fruit sitting beside me on the bed. They’d dropped off my snack and decided to let me sleep.

Stretching my arms above my head, I reached over and grabbed a strawberry from the plate. I was hungrier than I imagined I’d be.

The floorboard creaked outside of the hallway and I expected to see Selena watching me from the door or Melinda.

But it wasn’t.

It was Kelli.

I stopped chewing and looked at her cold, soulless eyes. She stood on the other side of the door, one hand on the doorjamb and the other clenched into a fist at her side. “Well, look who is having a baby, Little Ember. Congratulations to the happy mother."

I nervously swallowed my bite. “What are you doing here? What do you want?” I asked softly.

She smiled. “Are you asking me that question? What do I want? Little ole’ me? I don’t know, Poppy. Maybe I want my freedom.”

“Well,” I said shakenly. “Maybe you shouldn’t have attempted to put Daegal out of his throne when you could have helped without it.”

Her eyes shifted to a deep red color and her fingers began to curl into talons. “He promised me this kingdom on his own accord, and I will take it. I will burn it down until ash for what he did to me.”

She lifted her fist and pounded it against the invisible wall.

I jumped in the bed, my back hitting the backboard as she hit the wall again.

And again.

Until she was unraveling into a monster in front of me. Her hair fell from its tie, and down along her shoulders. Her face morphed into darkness reincarnated. “I’ll burn it into ash!” she shouted again.

The knowledge of knowing I was safe behind the wall was what kept me together. I didn’t scream. I attempted to stay calm as Rachel suggested.

Then Kelli was knocked from the door and down the hallway. I listened to swift footsteps and then the heavy pressure of a whirlwind and then nothing.

Selena walked through the door with giant eyes seconds later. “Are you okay?” she asked. “She didn’t get to you?”

I shook my head. “No, she couldn’t. What happened?”

“I hit her with some energy and she disappeared. She’s getting stronger to materialize here. It won’t be long before she’s here for good.”

“I’m assuming the wall won’t stop her then?”

Selena shook her head. “I’m afraid nothing will.”