Chapter 9 Adrian's Birth
The first contraction hit while Elara was scrubbing dishes in Marcus's kitchen at seven months pregnant.
The pain rip through her lower back and around her stomach so sharp she dropped the plate she'd been holding and it shattered across the floor.
"Too early," she gasped, gripping the counter edge. "It's too early."
Marcus looked up from the register where he'd been counting receipts. "What's happening?"
"The bab.…" another contraction cut off her words and this time she felt wetness gush down her legs, soaking through her pants and pooling on the tile. "Oh god, my water just broke."
"My truck," Marcus said, already moving around the counter and grabbing her arm to steady her as another wave of pain hit and she doubled over, unable to breathe through the intensity.
Thunder cracked overhead as they stepped outside and rain started falling, the kind of violent storm that turned borderlands dirt roads into mud rivers and made visibility drop to nothing.
Marcus drove through it anyway, windshield wipers on full speed while lightning illuminated the sky every few seconds and Elara gripped the door handle, contractions coming faster now, too fast for seven months, her body pushing out a baby that wasn't ready to survive yet.
"Hold on," Marcus said but she could hear the fear in his voice because they both knew what premature birth meant in a borderlands clinic with limited equipment and no specialists.
The power was out when they arrived, the clinic lit only by emergency battery lamps, and the doctor met them at the entrance looking exhausted.
"She's in labor," Marcus said, helping Elara through the doors.
"I can see that," the doctor snapped. "Get her to examination room three, it's got the most light."
They laid her on a table and the doctor checked her progress with his hands that made her flinch, his face grim when he pulled back.
"You're already seven centimeters dilated, this baby's coming whether we're ready or not," he said.
"Nurse, get me towels and the neonatal emergency kit, and pray the generator kicks in before this kid arrives."
The contractions were constant now with barely any break between them, her body tearing itself apart to push out a baby that was supposed to have two more months to grow, and Elara screamed through gritted teeth while thunder shook the building and rain poured against windows.
"I need to push," she gasped.
"Not yet…"
"I need to push now!"
The doctor positioned himself between her legs. "Then push, but understand this baby's going to need immediate intervention or he won't make it."
Elara pushed and the pain was beyond anything she'd imagined, like her body was splitting in half from the inside out, and she heard herself making sounds that didn't seem human while Marcus held her hand so tight she felt her bones were grinding.
"Again," the doctor ordered. "Push harder."
She pushed until stars danced across her vision, and then sudden relief as the baby slid free and the doctor caught him.
But Adrian didn't cry.
"Why isn't he crying?" Elara tried to sit up but Marcus held her down. "What's wrong with him?"
The doctor was working fast, clearing Adrian's airways with a suction bulb and rubbing his tiny chest, and in the lamplight Elara could see how small he was, how his skin looked almost translucent and his chest barely moved.
"Come on kid," the doctor muttered, still rubbing. "Breathe for me."
Seconds stretched into eternity and then a weak cry filled the room, and Elara sobbed with relief so intensely making her whole body shake.
"He's breathing but barely," the doctor said, wrapping Adrian in a towel. "His lungs aren't fully developed, he needs an incubator and oxygen support we don't have here."
"So what do we do?" Marcus demanded.
"We keep him warm, monitor his breathing, and hope he's strong enough to make it through the night," the doctor said. "That's all we can do."
He placed Adrian on Elara's chest and she looked down at her son—so small she could hold him in one hand, his eyes squeezed shut and his fists were no bigger than walnuts, struggling for each breath against lungs that weren't ready for air yet.
"You have to fight," she whispered to him. "Please baby, you have to fight."
The clinic door burst open and Mandivus walked in with four of his men, rain dripping from their leather jackets and their boots tracking mud across the floor.
"Heard you had the baby early," Mandivus said, walking toward the examination room. "I wanted to come see my future stepson."
"Get out," Elara said, wrapping both arms around Adrian protectively.
"I don't think so," Mandivus moved closer and Elara could smell whiskey on his breath.
"Our deal was three months after birth, but looking at this situation, I'm thinking we should move up the timeline again."
"You said three months…"
"I said three months assuming a healthy baby," Mandivus interrupted.
"But this kid might not make it through the week, and if he dies before we mate then I get nothing, so here's the new deal, we do the ceremony tomorrow and I claim parental rights immediately."
"No," Elara said. "That wasn't the agreement."
"The agreement is whatever I say it is," Mandivus said and nodded to his men. "Take the baby."
Two of them moved forward and Marcus stepped in their way but they were stronger and they shoved him aside like he weighed nothing, and one of them tried grabbing Adrian while Elara screamed and tried to shield him with her body.
The doctor stepped between them. "The child is medically fragile, moving him could kill him."
"Then you guys should take good care of him," Mandivus said.
"Elara, you've got until sunrise to agree to the mating ceremony, or my men take the baby now and you never see him again."
"You can't do this," Elara's voice broke. "Please, he's barely alive…"
"Sunrise," Mandivus repeated and walked out with his men following, their boots echoing through the clinic until the door slammed and they were gone.
Elara looked down at Adrian struggling to breathe against her chest and felt Marcus's hand on her shoulder.
"We're leaving," Marcus said quietly. "Tonight, while the storm covers our tracks."
"He's too weak to move."
"He's also too weak to survive if Mandivus takes him," Marcus countered.
"I've got a friend who has better medical equipment. We go there and get Adrian stable. Then we move and try to live till 2 years. And once Adrian is two years old, you start your revenge plans."
"Where will I go after Adrian gets stable?"
"Anywhere that's safe, always safe," Marcus said. "You finish what you started once your child is grown a bit, then you go reclaim your son's inheritance, and with that Swathi can't touch either of you."
The female doctor that stopped Mandivu's men was already packing supplies including blankets, medicine, anything that might keep a premature baby alive during transport—and Elara held Adrian closer, feeling his tiny heartbeat against her chest.
"Okay," she whispered. "We run.”