Page 66 of Rescued By Four Alphas
Fuck! Fuck!!
Chapter 20 - Dahlia
The pain that rips through me is feral and vicious, like someone is tearing my insides apart. I scream until my throat feels raw, and I clench the edges of the examination table as another contraction tears through me.
"Subject is experiencing regular contractions at three-minute intervals," Reid announces, observing me like I'm an insect pinned to a board. "But cervical examination shows minimal dilation. She's still only two centimeters."
I try to focus through the fog of agony. Two centimeters. It's not enough. Not nearly enough. The babies are coming too soon, and my body isn't ready.
"The accelerant isn't working efficiently," one of the technicians remarks, adjusting something on my IV line.
Reid's face hardens. "Increase the Pitocin dosage," he orders. "We need to speed this along."
Another contraction hits, and I arch against my restraints, my vision blurring with tears. The pain is unlike anything I've ever experienced. It doesn't have a gradual build, as I'd read about in all those pregnancy books. It just feels like a sudden, violent assault on my body.
"Sir," Dr. Marianna says, "Her heart rate is dangerously elevated. Increasing the dosage could trigger cardiovascular collapse."
"Did I ask for your opinion?" Reid snaps.
"You'll kill her," Marianna persists, stepping between him and the technician who's preparing to adjust my IV. "And the babies. You need them alive for your research, don't you?"
Reid's eyes narrow behind his glasses. "Fuck! I need one specimen alive. One is sufficient for the initial phase of testing."
"What?" I gasp between panting breaths. "No!"
"Sir," Marianna continues, "with all due respect, the multiple births present a unique opportunity. Four distinct genetic combinations from the same Omega. If she dies from an overdose, you lose that opportunity forever."
Reid checks his watch and shakes his head. "We're running out of time. We've detected unusual activity in the perimetersensors. Her Alphas may have found us sooner than anticipated."
My heart leaps with hope even as another contraction tears through me. They're coming. They're actually coming.
"Let me go," I manage to growl through clenched teeth. "Let my babies go!"
"Double the dosage," Reid commands, ignoring me completely. "And increase it by 50% every thirty minutes if there's no further dilation."
"That will kill her," Marianna repeats, more urgently now.
"Then prepare for surgical extraction if she hasn't dilated to eight centimeters within thirty minutes." Reid straightens his lab coat and moves toward the door. "Call me when there's actual progress. I have other subjects to attend to."
The door hisses shut behind him, and another wave of pain crashes over me. I cry out, pulling against my restraints until the leather cuts into my skin.
"Breathe through it, Dahlia," Marianna urges, moving to my side. "Try to stay calm."
"Calm?" I spit the word at her. "He's going to cut my babies out of me!"
"I know," she whispers, leaning close as the technician prepares the increased dosage. Her hand slips beneath mine where it's secured to the table, and I feel something small and cold press into my palm. "I'm so sorry for everything. But this might be your only chance."
My fingers close around what feels like a scalpel.
"When the next contraction hits," Marianna murmurs, positioning herself between me and the technicians' line of sight, "make it look worse than it is. Draw their attention."
I nod slightly. The technician approaches with the new IV bag.
"Administering increased dose now," he announces, and hangs the bag to adjust the flow rate.
Almost immediately, I feel a burning sensation traveling up my arm and spreading through my body. The next contraction hits with such force that it feels like my spine might snap in half.
"Something's wrong!" I gasp, thrashing against the restraints. "It burns!"
