Page 31 of The Emerald Boa's Lover
“I only have two viable eggs. Please make sure they save my younglings. A-and I want to have surgical sterilisation once this is over. I don’t want to go through this again. Please?”
“Relax Asma.” I pat her hand and nod with a reassuring smile. “Since you have asked for and want that procedure, as long as your life is not at risk at the time, you have consented to have your oviducts sealed.” She shifted, bracing herself against another contraction.
“Breathe through it.” Another Ucfeni coaxed her from her other side. “There you go.”
“And my younglings. If it comes down to a choice, me or them, save them.”
“Don’t worry Asma. You’re in good hands.” I do my best to reassure her over the top of my mask and visor.
“Asma?” Doctor Chada effortlessly lifted up on his tail to look down over me and at her anxious pretty face. “We’re going to need to help you along now. You have been contracting for a while, but your eggs are showing signs of distress. So?” He continued before she could whimper. I felt her hand clench mine tightly. “We’re going to give you a temporary spinal block and carry out an egg extraction. Alright? Just like we discussed.”
“Charlie?!”
“I’m right here.” I lean down to fill her vision right before Dr. Chada injects the spinal block into her back canular. “I’m not letting go of your hand. I’m right here Asama.”
“Th-thank you.” She smiled and nodded. “Doctor?”
“Yes?” I whisper with a smile. I’m happy to keep her attention to distract her from the way Doctor Chada and the gynaecological registrar test her sensation around the pouch, and begin making the first incision to extend her slit.
“Y-you’ve been so kind to me.” She swallows deeply and my heart clenches, but I will not show the worry on my face. I will do what I always do, and exude cool charming confidence. She deserves no less. “Taking me on in the first place, despite my history? My profession? The hospital bed here?” I purse my lips together, a little surprised she worked out I paid for it. “And now you’re holding my hand. You-you’re a good man.”
“Suction.” One of the nurses speak, but I’m only half listening, as I nod and smile at Asma. She needs me the most right now. I’m not a specialist, so I was never here to carry out the procedure. I was always here for Asma. “More suction.”
“I have no one.” Asma has told me many times in our appointments that she doesn’t have any family. No friends. Only fellowworking girls,who she wasn’t exactly friends with. If this wentsouth,she feared no one would miss her or her care for her eggs. Thankfully, there were places for females with no one else to care for them to go, when they had newly laid eggs to care for. Group laying houses, they’re called. I’ve already promised that even with my reassignment, I would come over and see her there for her checkups. I frown as I take in her changing appearance. Is she…looking a little pale?
“You’re about to have two little someones.” I move her hand in mine to check her pulse.
“We have the first egg out.” Doctor Chada announces, and I smile almost as much as Asma does.“Strong vitals. Excellent.”
“One more to go.” I nod, and lift my eyes up to her monitor. Her heart rate is below the optimum range. I nod at the nurse who has also noticed this, and she hisses quickly to the Registrar.
“Charlie?”
“Yes?”
“You’re human.”
“Last I checked.” I chuckle, trying to lighten the mood. Anything to distract her from how intense things were getting from her navel downward. Out of my peripheral, I can see multiple gloved hands operating on her and moving quickly. I didn’t need to be an Ucfeni to taste the coppery tang of blood in the air.Deep in my heart and at the back of my mind I know what’s happening. But I will be damned if Asma sees terror in my eyes.
“More suction. Gauze. Suture that.”
“Doctor, BP is dropping.” I add, darting my eyes at the monitor. I afford a glance down at her lower half and they are desperately trying to stem the bleeding. She’s ruptured somewhere. I wasn’t watching to know if it’s to do with her extensive scarring around her egg chamber, if her blood vessels have burst under the strain, or if something surgical went wrong. I’m the only one not pouring over her abdomen now to stop the bleeding.
“I-I’ve left them to you.”
“What?” I swallow thickly and return my teary eyes back to her. I know where this is going. It’s Gjenti all over again. Only, this is worse, because I’ve known this woman for months now and been with her on this journey. No. No no no this isn’t fair.Not Asma.
“My eggs.” Her lovely blue scales are so pale. Especially at her throat. “You are so kind. And you have a good job. A-and you are human, so you can’t reject them because of th-their scent. I made a will…I…I’ve left them…to you.”
“Asma, you hold on.” I barely take in what she’s saying, seeing her on the verge of slipping away. I grip her hand tightly and I command her to fight this. Not to give up. “Do you hear me?”
“Promise…please?”
I’m not pretending to smile anymore. It was like there was a disconnect between her upper body and her lower body. It was a horrible carnage back there. Machines beeping and the hissing of the surgical team trying to save her and her remaining egg. She was a pale angel slipping away in my hands up here.At least the spinal block is preventing her from feeling any pain.
“The second egg is free.”
“I need more suction.”
