Legend of the Touched (23 page)

"It hurts, he's hurting," she sobbed, unable to keep
it at bay any longer.

"Where does it hurt? What's going on?" he asked,
holding her close while he examined her.

"I don't know. We went to the pool, and then
everything went wrong."

Darien squeezed his eyes shut and let out a long
breath. "You're doing a swimming unit?"

"Yes."

"Why didn't you tell me?" There was a slight accusing
tone to his voice.

"I did," she murmured.

He shook his head. "You did, and I didn't even
realize.... This is my fault. I should have said something right
away. It didn't cross my mind."

"What's wrong?" She groaned as the pain started to
sharpen and move closer together in time. The cramps were beginning
to come in waves and move towards her back. "It hurts so much."

"I'm allergic to chlorine," he said and took in a
sharp breath. What did that have to do with anything? She didn't
understand until he elaborated further. "Ethan probably is too. I
need to get you home, now."

"I—" She began, but that was the inconvenient time
she decided to pass out.

Chapter Fifty-Three

The Oceina

Darien paced the infirmary room where Tai lay, still
unconscious. His brother Asher was able to stabilize her and Ethan.
After she passed out in school, he got her home in his car. From
there his brother went to work, using his magic and medical
knowledge to help her. That had been about twenty minutes ago.

"She's contracting, that's what the pain is from. I
got them to slow down, but I can't make them stop," Asher said
re-entering the room.

"I don't understand what you're saying." Darien knew
absolutely nothing about egg birthing. "Contractions" was a term
he'd heard before. He knew it had something to do with delivery,
but what did it mean for this situation?

Asher sighed. "It means she's going to have the egg
soon if I can't get it to stop. I called Uncle Aaron for advice
since he knows more about complications and advanced treatments. He
was the one who delivered you safely. He said he can get here in an
hour and I need to try and stop her labor."

Darien frowned, his eyes looking down to the floor.
"But it's too soon for her to..."

"Exactly."

"This is my fault."

His brother shook his head. "Don't sit around and
start blaming anyone for anything. It's a waste of time, and you
have to focus on what's happening now. Your job is to keep her
calm. If she can stay calm, she can get your son to do the same,
and then he won't feel such a strong urge to leave her womb.
Because I'll be honest, the chances of him surviving if he got out
aren't too good. There have been some advancements in technology.
We know more about how all of this works. I've seen cases of this
happening before, and some of them do go on to live and have normal
lives. I'd say it's about thirty to forty percent. But I'd rather
not risk it if it's not necessary."

Darien closed his eyes and nodded. "You're right.
I'll do everything I can. Is there anything my magic can do?"

"Nothing that hasn't already been done. I was able to
get all of the chemicals out of her system and get some pure water
going through instead. It helped a little."

Where am I? What happened?
Tai's voice entered
Darien's head. He turned around to see her eyes now open and she
tried to lift herself to a sitting position.

"Lay back down, please, you need your rest," he said,
going to her side. He took her hand in his and gave it a squeeze
and a kiss. "You're home, in the infirmary. The pain you're feeling
are contractions. He wants to get out."

"But it's too soon," she whimpered.

"You'll be okay. You both will. So I need you to
relax and focus on that. It's important for you to remind him that
he's safe."

"He can hear you. He knows. I don't think he cares."
She groaned softly.

"Try. More help is coming soon."

Chapter Fifty-Four

The Oceina

After laboring for two more hours, and both of the
doctors unable to make it stop, the egg slid out of her. She barely
pushed. It was two pounds and glossy, and according to Darien's
uncle "well shaped", whatever that meant. Neither she nor Darien
got to hold it, let alone see it in full detail. His uncle took it
out of the room in a hurry. All she could do was cry. Why had she
been so dumb? She remembered Darien's allergy to the chlorine and
he had said it was a violent one. Why didn't she make the
connection that maybe their son would have the same kind?

Darien lay next to her on the bed, holding her hand,
and stroking her fingers with his thumb. She was a gross mess, but
she didn't care. His arms around her made things a little better.
At least she knew he didn't hate her.

Everything is going to be fine. He's strong, just
like us,
Darien said. She liked that he used their telepathy
and didn't break the silence. Outside of her sniffling, the room
was void of noise. It was fitting because that was how she felt
inside. The moment Ethan left her body, she felt a break in their
connection. That scared her more than the laboring itself. Besides,
she hated how she sounded when she tried to talk while crying. It
came out as a blubbering mess, and she always felt foolish
afterward.

The only thing she could do was nod in reply to her
husband, and it was barely a nod. The door to the room opened and
his brother walked in. She sat up slightly, and Darien got out of
the bed. His brother's body language was hard to read. On the one
hand, he didn't look anywhere but down at his hands; however, his
steps were firm and confident suggesting it might not be all bad
news.

"Uncle Aaron says he's going to be okay."

Darien closed his eyes and let out a sigh of relief.
"Thank God."

"There might be some complications though. We're not
sure if all of his organs have developed fully. There's still time
for that to happen though. We also don't know how long he'll be in
incubation. The more accurately we can recreate the womb, the
better chances he'll have of continuing to grow. Ideally, he should
be at least six pounds when he hatches. We'll aim for five, even
four would be great."

"What can we do to help?" Darien asked.

"Keep talking to him, touching him. He's not to leave
the incubator unless you're holding him though, and not for any
longer than twenty minutes at a time. For every minute you hold
him, he needs to be back inside for at least ten. But he should
live."

"What kind of complications?" Tai asked, her voice
choking.

"It depends on how he develops. So that's a wait and
see sort of deal."

"When can we see him?"

"As soon as we're done making sure
you're
okay." His brother pointed to Tai.

She shook her head, already moving to get out of bed.
"I know I'm fine." Outside of feeling exhausted both emotionally
and physically, she didn't have any pressing needs. Unless she was
still bleeding and didn't know it.

"I'll check anyway. It won't take long, and then you
can be with him."

With a heavy sigh, she lay back down. "Fine. Hurry
up, because he needs me."

Chapter Fifty-Five

The Inero

"Look at how big he...she is." Matt stared down at
the seven-pound egg in his hands with awe. "And it's two and a half
weeks early!"

Jason nodded, peering over his shoulder at it.
"Pretty incredible, but I guess when they're done, they're done
right? So you still think he's a she?"

He shrugged. His guess was as good as any at this
point. "We'll find out in three months."

The brothers continued to stare at the egg. It was
oval and plump. Unlike most lizard eggs, the shell wasn't hard, but
rather a flexible leather-like texture. Tough, but malleable to fit
through the birthing canal. It had beautiful coloring: red and
rustic with a few black spots and a beautiful shine in the light.
In fact, when the light hit at a certain angle it shimmered with
magic.

"Want one yet?" Matt teased.

"I have for a while," Jason said quietly.

"Better get on that then." He winked.

His brother's cheeks flushed slightly and he shook
his head. "Still complicated."

"Whatever you say." He kissed the egg before putting
it back into the incubator. "Thank you for coming home for this.
Having your support means a lot to me. I'm sorry things have been
so distant."

"A lot has been going on for us both," Jason
said.

Matt wanted to know what was so big that his brother
couldn't contact him, but decided it wasn't his place to ask.
Because he didn't have a clue, and because he didn't want to start
a possible fight. He would trust him. If Jason said a lot was going
on, then a lot was. Whatever life he was working at building on the
island, it obviously meant a lot to him. It saddened Matt that he
wanted to stay so far away from the family, but there was something
different about his brother's happiness. He liked it.

With a sigh, Matt left the nursery. He didn't want to
go, but it was important for his child to rest under the hot lights
and not be surrounded by overwhelming stimuli. He also didn't want
the baby to overhear the conversation he was about to have with his
brother. "Father is getting ready for his first wave of attack. He
wants me to lead it."

"I figured he would want that," Jason said quietly.
"I also gathered it'd be soon. I've been following the news."

"When I left for my last mission against the Oceina,
I had asked you to please look out for my family. Our family. I
need to ask you to do the same thing again. You are the person I
trust the most, even over Father. I know he'll make sure my family
has everything they need to be comfortable and happy, but you'll
look out for them in other ways." He kept his voice low.

"You know I will," his brother said.

"So you'll stay then? Until this is over?"

Jason averted his eyes to the floor, but nodded.
"Yes, I will stay until this is over. If something were to happen,
though, I don't think we'll continue to live here. I just want to
be up front and honest about it."

"I can respect that. It might be for the best for the
girls. Good thing everything will be fine right?" He gave his
brother a small smile, and he watched his face hoping to see
reassurance in his eyes. Jason returned the smile.

"I'm not worried."

Matt was pretty sure he meant it.

Chapter Fifty-Six

The Oceina

It surprised Tai how much she wanted to spend time in
the nursery with Ethan. Not simply because she felt guilty either.
She genuinely wanted to be close and to try and regain the
connection they once had when he had been inside of her. The door
opened, and she had expected to see Darien coming in. He visited
with her often as well. The two hardly ever left. For the most
part, she felt fine, but still tired from the ordeal even though
five days had passed. Labor took more out of her than she
originally thought. More importantly though, she just didn't want
to leave. Something kept her glued to Ethan's side.

Darien didn't enter though; it was Katelyn who came
in. She was slowly starting to connect more with Tai, like the two
were sisters, or even the mother figure that Tai had been missing
in her life since she left. Having the void in her heart filled,
even a little, helped a lot with the pain.

"It's been requested that you go up to the pool in an
hour. I'm supposed to help you get ready." She reached out to grab
Tai's hands to pull her out of the room. "I promise he'll be fine
for a little while."

"Okay," she said with a heavy sigh, glancing over her
shoulder at the egg as they left. She was curious about what this
was about though. What on earth did Darien want with her on the
roof that she had to get ready for? Katelyn led the way to her
room, and closed the doors behind them quickly. Laid out on the bed
was the dress she had picked out from her shop. Originally it had
been a royal purple satin dress with a slightly lighter purple
chiffon layer over the knee length skirt. There was an empire
waistline and spaghetti straps and while wearing it, Tai felt cute.
It wasn't anything fancy though.

Katelyn doctored it up and made it much more
beautiful. The straps now had tiny sequins on them that matched a
bust glittering with the same sequins. Tai's eyes widened in awe at
it. She'd never seen anything like it before in person in her
entire life. Her family had never been wealthy enough to afford a
dress like this.

"Do you need help getting it on?" Katelyn asked.

"I think I'll be okay. You may need to zip me up
though," Tai said. Soon after, the dress was on, a plastic styling
cloak was placed over, and Katelyn took the time to do Tai's hair
and makeup. The makeup was light, and her hair was curled and
pulled back into a simple ponytail. Normally, her hair had a hard
time staying in curls, but whatever Katelyn did to her hair kept
them in their loose coils. A few tendrils framed her face.

With a smile, Katelyn hugged her from behind. She
giggled. "Have fun, and don't worry about the little one. Lance and
I will take turns watching him. He won't be going anywhere."

Tai laughed, knowing full well he wouldn't be. Ethan
was an egg, and she doubted anyone would take him from the nursery.
Why would they? "It's okay, but thank you."

"We watched our first one like a hawk too. So it's
not a problem."

She nodded, glad for the understanding.

Katelyn shooed her out the door. "Get going
already."

Her hands clutching the sides of her dress, she went
to the elevator, a nervous excitement filling her gut. Once at the
pool floor, she stepped through the glass doors, her eyes going
wide. The room was barely recognizable. Normally, it was bland with
plain white walls and blinding lights. Her eyes went up to the
glass ceiling where the moonlight poured in, bathing the room with
its glow. A few of the stars were visible as well in the black sky
that was the backdrop of the skyscrapers that surrounded their
home. The overall combination of that alone was enough to take her
breath away.