Cassidy rubbed her older sister's arm softly. "Don't worry, sis. They're just going to check over the little squirt to make sure he's totally healthy. Which he is, I'm sure. " Maria bit her lip, her chest was still rising and falling sharply. She just, could not relax no matter HOW hard she tried.
Minutes ticked by slowly, and after a while Maria was moved to another room. But still, no sign of her baby. Dakkarsis sat beside her patiently, holding her hand the entire time. Rose, Tech, and Cale came in a few minutes later to say hi to her. Cale sat in Tech's lap as they patiently waited for the doctors to come back.
Finally, almost an hour later, one of the doctors entered the room. "I am sorry to have kept you waiting so long.... We have... a small problem..."
Maria felt tears stinging her eyes. She knew it all along. All she wanted right now was to have her little baby boy in her arms, knowing that everything was fine. If only she knew exactly how long it would be before then.
"There is no easy way to tell you this.....The baby was born without a jaw. Or eyes."
A deadly silence spread through the room.
"And because of that... his nasal passages.. are collapsed." He noticed the look of total distraught on Maria's face. "But, he is alive. We have managed to stablize his condition. He will require major surgery to live, however. And surgeries of this size are unbelievably expensive... and surgeons skilled enough to perform such an operations are few and far between...."
There was still an erie silence as the news sunk in. The doctor cleared his throat. "I am very sorry.... I... I will leave you be for a few minutes to think about it.." With that, he rose to his feet and left the room silently.
The silence did not go away, even when the door clicked shut behind the doctor. Everyone simply stared at the ground. Except Tech and Cassidy. They looked at each other, then at Cale. They seemed to be reading each others' minds for a moment. Tech nodded before standing up. "I'll do it." He stated.
Those three words took a moment to process through Maria's mind, before her head snapped up to look at him. "...R-really?"
Tech smiled at his sister-in-law. "Really. And you won't have to pay a cent."
Suddenly overcome by feelings of shock, joy, and relief, the tears Maria had fought to hold back broke free, spilling down her furry cheeks. "T-Thank you, Tech." She hiccupped.
Dakkarsis squeezed her hand gently. He was not sure how to feel about this. He probably would've felt a little better knowing that it was a trained and certified surgeon performing the operation, one who'd done it a million times before, instead of Tech, who patched up broken arms and scrapped knees in between building machines.
But, Maria trusted him. So, he decided to trust him too.... just this once, though.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Finally, they were alone. The hospital room was empty besides Maria and Dakkarsis. A somewhat peaceful silence fell over them. Maria closed her eyes, laying back on the bed. Only then did she realize how tired she was after staying up for two days straight.
Dakkarsis gazed at her softly. He could tell that she was not completely at peace, otherwise she would be asleep by now. "Is there something wrong Maria?" He asked.
Maria hesitated. "I'm still a little... scared.." She admitted.
"You do not trust Tech?" He was rather surprised.
Maria smiled, sitting up. "Here..." She patted the spot beside her on the bed, inviting him to sit down. Dakkarsis followed her instruction. "I've said this before, Dakk, and I still believe it.... You and I have two completely different definitions ofthe word 'trust.' For you, in this situation, you are 'trusting' that Tech will do what should be done. That he will complete the surgery without flaw. For me, however, I am 'trusting' that Tech will do the very best he can to help our son. I know many things can happen that will be out of his control. I trust Tech will do what he can. I am scared for what he cannot do..."
Dakkarsis nodded silently. "I understand...."
"We just have to pray that Patchouli will be alright.."
Dakkarsis nodded again, before pausing. "D-did... did you just say 'Patchouli'?" He recognized the name he had suggested so many months ago, when he had first learned that he was a father.
Maria smiled, nodding. "Yes. Yes, I did."
"Y-you picked that name?"
"Yes. Because you suggested it."
"...... You never brought it up after that... I thought-"
"I never brought it up because I was serious when I said it was an adorable name. I really like it."
Dakkarsis smiled at her, placing his hand at her waist softly. He moved closer, pressing his lips to hers gently. "Thank you." He whispered as he pulled away.
Chapter Two
Cassidy's brown eyes watched him curiously as he fumbled around reading the large book in his hands. She was worried. Tech was too wound up over this. He was too nervous. She had to get him to settle down. "Tech?" She asked softly, stepping towards her husband and taking his arm. "Are you okay?"
Tech only nodded.
Cassidy bit her lip. This was going to take more than a simple 'I believe in you.'
This was going to take some heavy-duty pep talking.
She let her hands rub up and down her husband's arm softly. "Tech.... relax.... I know that this is... unsettling because it's Maria's baby... but you can't go into the operating room shaking like this."
"I know." Tech sighed. "But... I just... can't.... I mean... the surgery you had to have done... I couldn't bring myself to even thinking of doing it."
Cassidy touched her mechanical ear sub-consciously. She hadn't even had it for a half a year now, but she had quickly grown used to the feeling. "Tech... I believe that you can do this.. Maria believes you can do this.. all of us do. You just have to believe it."
Tech was still staring at his book. He gave a small smile. "Well.... that does help... a little..."
"Well, how about this?" Cassidy moved in front of him, taking the book from his hands with one hand while the other touched his cheek lightly. She leaned forward on her tiptoes and kissed him softly.
Tech almost fell over backwards as his wife suddenly moved towards him. Regaining his balance, his arms snaked around her thin waist and pulled her close and tight. Cassidy giggled, pulling out of the kiss. "Well?"
Tech could only give her a lop-sided smile. "....... Yeah.."
Cassidy smiled back, stroking the top of his head, speaking at a whisper, "Go save our little nephew..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Maria, you really must rest...."
"I can't, Mother..."
Rose sighed, stroking her daughter's forehead softly. "I'll go and get you some tea. That will help you relax."
"But, Mother.."
"No 'buts', Maria Rose." The older female stated firmly, standing up to leave the room.
A few minutes later, Cassidy wandered into the room. "Hey, they're going to be starting the operation now."
Maria breathed a sigh of relief, leaning her head back. "Are you sure Tech's okay with this?"
Cassidy nodded. "He's a little nervous, but it's nothing he can't handle. H-" Her sentence was cut off by a gruff sound of disapproval. She turned her head to glare at Dakkarsis. "Yes? You have anything you'd like to say?"
The former zombie only glared at her, not making another sound. Cassidy rolled her eyes. "As I was saying, he's given himself a review lesson... seeing as how it's been a little while since he's done something like this.." She noticed that Dakkarsis had not taken his glare off of her. "What?!" She snapped at him.
"My only concern is that he cannot handle this. Simply reading a book does not make you an expert on a procedure." He spat out angrily.
"True. But Tech's mind doesn't work that way. He knows what he's doing." The little spitfire returned.
Hearing the arguement, Rose rushed into the room, carrying a mug of tea for Maria. She set it on the table beside her bed. "Now, drink this, Maria. You will feel better." Then her eyes moved to Cassidy and Dakkarsis, who both looked ready to tear each other apart. "And you two, behave!"
Cassidy huffed, keeping her eyes locked on her brother-in-law. But, she could feel Rose's Mother Glare on her, and it was slowly breaking her. After a few seconds, Cassidy pulled away.
Maria held the mug up to her nose, sniffing it. Lemon and honey. Her favourite. Her stomach growled. The tea was helping already; her appetite just decided to appear. She took long, slow sips of the warm liquid, savouring the taste.
Rose smiled as she watched her daughter enjoy the drink, knowing what would happen soon.
Dakkarsis was still paying attention to Cassidy. His glare was still locked on her. She was now ignoring him, and that was only making him more mad. His attention was snatched away when he felt Maria's grip on his hand loosen, and heard her sigh. He glanced over at her. She was fast asleep.
Cassidy gave her mother a knowing look. "What did you put in that tea, Mother?"
Rose smiled innocently. "Geranium. A herb native to Sari that causes drowsiness. A mother's secret weapon."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Darkness, that's all she could see; just black, empty darkness. A feeling of loneliness crept over her, making her skin crawl. 'Where is Dakkarsis?' She wondered, feeling around through the blackness, trying to find him. Eventually her blind seeking sent her straight into someone's arms... but she knew that they were not Dakkarsis'. The feeling was different, the motion was different, the scent was different. All of these told her that she was in danger, and she had to act fast. Maria pushed herself away from the person, but whoever they were, they grabbed her arms, pulling her closer. Maria fought against the grip, and as she tried to call out Dakkarsis' name, a hand slapped itself over her muzzle, silencing her.
'What is happening??' She tried to cry, but she couldn't. It was if her body did not have the strength to even react to the fear pounding through her veins. It was as if.... as if she were a zombie.
Suddenly, Maria was thrown forward. She fell to her knees, huffing and puffing from trying to escape. A hand grabbed her chin, pulling her head up. A single light shone from above, and she found herself staring into cold, black eyes. She could not make out their owner, because of the light's angle.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a movement. and tried to turn her head to see it, only to regret doing so. On the ground, only a few feet from her, layed Dakkarsis, now totally silent and unmoving.
She could see a few drops of blood fall from his shoulder.
"No..." She whispered hoarsely, suddenly regaining her voice. "No!" Maria knew what was happening, she was reliving her most dreaded nightmare. The replay of Brayac. The day she had come so close to loosing the man she truely loved before she could tell him how much he meant to her.
She lunged forward, discovering that the bindings around her wrists were gone. and sat beside Dakkarsis, lifting his head to rest in her lap. Her fingers ran through his coarse white hair, tangled and matted from an obviously tough and bloody battle.
Her heart lept into her throat when her love opened his violet eyes, gazing at her softly. She smiled, petting his face.
They layed there together, silent, eyes locked on each other. Little did they realize that as they stayed together, the darkness surrounding them was beginning to disapate, as if being chased away, leaving nothing but a soft white colour everywhere.
That is, until Maria noticed the brightness, and looked around, trying to figure out what was going on. When her attention jumped away from Dakkarsis, the darkness came back, chasing them like a lion after its prey. Maria felt Dakkarsis grip her arms tightly, his eyes were clenched, as if he were going through the pain all over again
Maria clung to him tightly. She didn't want him to feel alone. She only wished that she could at least share the pain he was feeling, if not take it away from him. Minutes flew by them, and Maria payed no mind, all that mattered was Dakkarsis. All that mattered was them, together, fighting.. whatever it was that they were fighting. Neither of them knew, but it did not matter, either.
If only they knew...
If only they realized that what they were fighting was an old freind of theirs.
Something that was beaten, and came back for vengeance.
Something called Fear.
"Maria?"
A sharp gasp escaped her throat as her head shot up from the pillow. Her entire body shook in fear as she sat up a little. Tears stung at her eyes, making their way down her face.
"Maria?" Dakkarsis' voice broke through the chaos of thoughts and sights in her mind. "Are you alirght?"
Maria looked around the room. No one was there besides them. She slowly shook her head in responce to Dakkarsis. "No... I just... had a vision..." Her arms wrapped themselves around her body tightly
"A-are you sure it was a vision?? I mean... you haven't slept in a whole day, Maria..." He reached out with a hand and stroked her arm softly.
Maria nodded. "I'm sure it was.... I usually don't remember my dreams.... But I always distinctly remember visions. I see and hear and feel everything going on.... I felt your pain.."
"My pain?"
"He killed you..."
"Who?"
"I..... I don't know." Her voice was cracking as she struggled to calm herself, which obviously wasn't working.
A deep breath flew into the former lich's lungs as he pulled his wife close and tight. He didn't want her to be afraid, ever. He didn't say a word, just kept Maria near his chest, letting her listen to his heart beating, wanting to be matched with hers, if it ever settled down. He wanted her to know that she was safe.
Maria clung to Dakkarsis tightly, shutting her eyes while trying to shut away the clear, crisp memories of the horrifying nightmare. Ever so slowly, the feeling of his arms around her, the feeling of being so close, started to calm her. Her heart settled down, and her ears dropped as her enegry seemingly drained away, leaving her somewhat relaxed, although not at peace.
She wouldn't be totally at peace until she had her baby in her arms.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I totally only meant for this to be a little blurb I chucked at Bri for her amusement. 8| Look where THAT got me.
Tech only nodded.
Cassidy bit her lip. This was going to take more than a simple 'I believe in you.'
This was going to take some heavy-duty pep talking.
She let her hands rub up and down her husband's arm softly. "Tech.... relax.... I know that this is... unsettling because it's Maria's baby... but you can't go into the operating room shaking like this."
"I know." Tech sighed. "But... I just... can't.... I mean... the surgery you had to have done... I couldn't bring myself to even thinking of doing it."
Cassidy touched her mechanical ear sub-consciously. She hadn't even had it for a half a year now, but she had quickly grown used to the feeling. "Tech... I believe that you can do this.. Maria believes you can do this.. all of us do. You just have to believe it."
Tech was still staring at his book. He gave a small smile. "Well.... that does help... a little..."
"Well, how about this?" Cassidy moved in front of him, taking the book from his hands with one hand while the other touched his cheek lightly. She leaned forward on her tiptoes and kissed him softly.
Tech almost fell over backwards as his wife suddenly moved towards him. Regaining his balance, his arms snaked around her thin waist and pulled her close and tight. Cassidy giggled, pulling out of the kiss. "Well?"
Tech could only give her a lop-sided smile. "....... Yeah.."
Cassidy smiled back, stroking the top of his head, speaking at a whisper, "Go save our little nephew..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Maria, you really must rest...."
"I can't, Mother..."
Rose sighed, stroking her daughter's forehead softly. "I'll go and get you some tea. That will help you relax."
"But, Mother.."
"No 'buts', Maria Rose." The older female stated firmly, standing up to leave the room.
A few minutes later, Cassidy wandered into the room. "Hey, they're going to be starting the operation now."
Maria breathed a sigh of relief, leaning her head back. "Are you sure Tech's okay with this?"
Cassidy nodded. "He's a little nervous, but it's nothing he can't handle. H-" Her sentence was cut off by a gruff sound of disapproval. She turned her head to glare at Dakkarsis. "Yes? You have anything you'd like to say?"
The former zombie only glared at her, not making another sound. Cassidy rolled her eyes. "As I was saying, he's given himself a review lesson... seeing as how it's been a little while since he's done something like this.." She noticed that Dakkarsis had not taken his glare off of her. "What?!" She snapped at him.
"My only concern is that he cannot handle this. Simply reading a book does not make you an expert on a procedure." He spat out angrily.
"True. But Tech's mind doesn't work that way. He knows what he's doing." The little spitfire returned.
Hearing the arguement, Rose rushed into the room, carrying a mug of tea for Maria. She set it on the table beside her bed. "Now, drink this, Maria. You will feel better." Then her eyes moved to Cassidy and Dakkarsis, who both looked ready to tear each other apart. "And you two, behave!"
Cassidy huffed, keeping her eyes locked on her brother-in-law. But, she could feel Rose's Mother Glare on her, and it was slowly breaking her. After a few seconds, Cassidy pulled away.
Maria held the mug up to her nose, sniffing it. Lemon and honey. Her favourite. Her stomach growled. The tea was helping already; her appetite just decided to appear. She took long, slow sips of the warm liquid, savouring the taste.
Rose smiled as she watched her daughter enjoy the drink, knowing what would happen soon.
Dakkarsis was still paying attention to Cassidy. His glare was still locked on her. She was now ignoring him, and that was only making him more mad. His attention was snatched away when he felt Maria's grip on his hand loosen, and heard her sigh. He glanced over at her. She was fast asleep.
Cassidy gave her mother a knowing look. "What did you put in that tea, Mother?"
Rose smiled innocently. "Geranium. A herb native to Sari that causes drowsiness. A mother's secret weapon."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Darkness, that's all she could see; just black, empty darkness. A feeling of loneliness crept over her, making her skin crawl. 'Where is Dakkarsis?' She wondered, feeling around through the blackness, trying to find him. Eventually her blind seeking sent her straight into someone's arms... but she knew that they were not Dakkarsis'. The feeling was different, the motion was different, the scent was different. All of these told her that she was in danger, and she had to act fast. Maria pushed herself away from the person, but whoever they were, they grabbed her arms, pulling her closer. Maria fought against the grip, and as she tried to call out Dakkarsis' name, a hand slapped itself over her muzzle, silencing her.
'What is happening??' She tried to cry, but she couldn't. It was if her body did not have the strength to even react to the fear pounding through her veins. It was as if.... as if she were a zombie.
Suddenly, Maria was thrown forward. She fell to her knees, huffing and puffing from trying to escape. A hand grabbed her chin, pulling her head up. A single light shone from above, and she found herself staring into cold, black eyes. She could not make out their owner, because of the light's angle.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a movement. and tried to turn her head to see it, only to regret doing so. On the ground, only a few feet from her, layed Dakkarsis, now totally silent and unmoving.
She could see a few drops of blood fall from his shoulder.
"No..." She whispered hoarsely, suddenly regaining her voice. "No!" Maria knew what was happening, she was reliving her most dreaded nightmare. The replay of Brayac. The day she had come so close to loosing the man she truely loved before she could tell him how much he meant to her.
She lunged forward, discovering that the bindings around her wrists were gone. and sat beside Dakkarsis, lifting his head to rest in her lap. Her fingers ran through his coarse white hair, tangled and matted from an obviously tough and bloody battle.
Her heart lept into her throat when her love opened his violet eyes, gazing at her softly. She smiled, petting his face.
They layed there together, silent, eyes locked on each other. Little did they realize that as they stayed together, the darkness surrounding them was beginning to disapate, as if being chased away, leaving nothing but a soft white colour everywhere.
That is, until Maria noticed the brightness, and looked around, trying to figure out what was going on. When her attention jumped away from Dakkarsis, the darkness came back, chasing them like a lion after its prey. Maria felt Dakkarsis grip her arms tightly, his eyes were clenched, as if he were going through the pain all over again
Maria clung to him tightly. She didn't want him to feel alone. She only wished that she could at least share the pain he was feeling, if not take it away from him. Minutes flew by them, and Maria payed no mind, all that mattered was Dakkarsis. All that mattered was them, together, fighting.. whatever it was that they were fighting. Neither of them knew, but it did not matter, either.
If only they knew...
If only they realized that what they were fighting was an old freind of theirs.
Something that was beaten, and came back for vengeance.
Something called Fear.
"Maria?"
A sharp gasp escaped her throat as her head shot up from the pillow. Her entire body shook in fear as she sat up a little. Tears stung at her eyes, making their way down her face.
"Maria?" Dakkarsis' voice broke through the chaos of thoughts and sights in her mind. "Are you alirght?"
Maria looked around the room. No one was there besides them. She slowly shook her head in responce to Dakkarsis. "No... I just... had a vision..." Her arms wrapped themselves around her body tightly
"A-are you sure it was a vision?? I mean... you haven't slept in a whole day, Maria..." He reached out with a hand and stroked her arm softly.
Maria nodded. "I'm sure it was.... I usually don't remember my dreams.... But I always distinctly remember visions. I see and hear and feel everything going on.... I felt your pain.."
"My pain?"
"He killed you..."
"Who?"
"I..... I don't know." Her voice was cracking as she struggled to calm herself, which obviously wasn't working.
A deep breath flew into the former lich's lungs as he pulled his wife close and tight. He didn't want her to be afraid, ever. He didn't say a word, just kept Maria near his chest, letting her listen to his heart beating, wanting to be matched with hers, if it ever settled down. He wanted her to know that she was safe.
Maria clung to Dakkarsis tightly, shutting her eyes while trying to shut away the clear, crisp memories of the horrifying nightmare. Ever so slowly, the feeling of his arms around her, the feeling of being so close, started to calm her. Her heart settled down, and her ears dropped as her enegry seemingly drained away, leaving her somewhat relaxed, although not at peace.
She wouldn't be totally at peace until she had her baby in her arms.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I totally only meant for this to be a little blurb I chucked at Bri for her amusement. 8| Look where THAT got me.
