“Chloe’s mom wasn’t able to either. Thankfully we had access to Savannah when it was time,” I say, remembering that dark time and feeling sad. Hopefully Sanshia survives, though even if she doesn’t, she will reincarnate, but then we won’t be able to return her powers to her. Shit.
“Lila, she needs to live so we can deal with the orb,” I remind her as she starts to strip off her clothes.
“I don’t know how to do a cesarian,” she says as her father snaps, “Lila, put your clothes back on now, there are children around.”
She ignores him and changes into her Celestian form, wincing as her wings break through her skin. Xavier waves a hand and clothes her in one of their traditional gowns. She hurries over to the bed, her hands glowing with power.
Her dad just stammers as his wife rubs a soothing hand on his back, her baby cradled against her. I realize he’s in some kind of sling.
“I’m doing the cesarian, I need you to heal her once I have the baby out,” Link says, holding up a scalpel. Next to him, the midwife is waiting with a blanket to receive the baby.
I look around and find Ghosie leaning up against the wall, snoring peacefully. I move over to him. “Chloe, this is my friend Ghosie. He was very tired and needed a nap. Can you look after him for me while I help the others?”
She nods, sticking her thumb in her mouth as I put her down on the floor next to him. “Carebear,” she mumbles around her thumb and climbs into his lap, making herself comfortable. “I’ll watch him, Daddy.”
Secure in the notion my daughter is safe, I hurry over to the bed. “You know the baby isn’t going to look like a human one, right?” I ask the midwife.
“Yes, it’s fine. Some of my charges have alt forms. Sometimes I wonder if I’m raising children or a zoo,” she jokes, and I step out of the way. I wouldn’t want her to drop it in surprise.
“Can I do anything to help?” I ask Link, but before he can reply, Zeydan speaks to me.
“Put your glamour on please. I don’t want Sanshia reliving her trauma.” His tone is terse, but I’m not offended. I just wish I’d have thought about it myself. I change my form to the one I’m most comfortable in anyway after having lived with it for hundreds of years.
“Can you please just help the others clear the base out? We have it all handled, but I would like to move as soon as the baby is born. Sanshia needs more help than this base can give her,” Link requests.
“Don’t let her die, Lila. We need her to return her powers to her, and we don’t have time to wait for years for her to reincarnate,” Zeydan reminds her, and Lila’s eyes widen with panic.
“Okay.” She holds her hands up, at the ready.
“As soon as the baby is out, heal her,” Link instructs. “She’s hemorrhaging from the baby, and she really needs a blood transfusion, but I’m not sure if normal blood will be suitable.”
“Tap me.” Zeydan holds out his arm, and Link shakes his head.
“Not yet. I need you to talk to her and keep her conscious. Brannock, send word to the ship that Aarin and Hurricane need to donate as much as they can.”
I hurry over to the console Silac is still sitting at, and he presses a button. Susie appears on the screen, looking slightly harassed.
“What, Silac? We are a little busy.”
“Susie, Link has asked for Aarin and Hurricane to donate some blood. We have their sister Sanshia here, and she’s hemorrhaging. He’s worried nondivine blood won’t be suitable, and Zeydan is too busy keeping her conscious to donate.”
Susie drops her annoyed look and gives a small nod. “I’ll draw it myself.”
“Tell Mark we are incoming with a malnourished female who has just given birth and will need blood transfusions, IV nutrients, and painkillers. Prepare a bed for her,” Link calls across the room as his blade slides across Sanshia’s stomach.
“Oh my god!” Alina blanches at the sight as Link then cuts through layers of muscle and fat to get to her uterus. He breaks it open and puts the scalpel down before reaching in for the baby.
He grimaces. “Get ready, Lila. The baby has made a mess of her insides. I hope it doesn’t permanently scar her. Hopefully once she regains her full god power, it will all heal as it should,” he says as he pulls out a perfectly formed Aaz’axian baby, complete with all their tiny little spikes and membranes.
Sanshia has fallen silent, and when I glance at her face, I think she might be unconscious.
“It’s a girl,” the midwife announces as she takes the baby and rubs it all over, cleaning off the blood, and the baby starts to wail.
“A girl?” Sanshia mutters, opening her eyes slightly to take a peek.
“Do you want to hold her?” the midwife asks the goddess, but she turns her head away and closes her eyes again. A wave of sorrow hits me, but I don’t blame the goddess.
Lila is busy healing Sanshia, her powers glowing bright white as they work to mend her broken body. First, the internal organs, and then each layer of muscle, fat, and skin until she is whole once more.
