Page 28 of Dreaming of His Omega
The friendly nurse was at my side in an instant. “Don't worry! I’ve got you.” I watched as he started injecting something into one of my IV lines. “This is going to take care of that just breathe, breathe… breathe.”
And then I was fine. “Wow,” I said, “That's amazing.”
He grinned. “Just let me know if you need anything else. Here.” He produced a tissue and carefully dabbed at the corners of my eyes, then wiped once under my nose.
“Thanks,” I said.
“That's what I'm here for.”
laughed in slight disbelief. I couldn't believe that I was carrying on a normal conversation in the midst of what was probably pretty major abdominal surgery. I felt a little tug and then nothing. I could still hear the doctor and nurses bustling about and talking.
“Is everything going okay?” I asked.
“Everything's fine,” I heard the nurse say. I considered asking his name again, but couldn't decide if that would be rude or not.
“Traviel?!” I said, realizing I couldn't see him.
“I'm here.” His voice was instantly calming. “I'm here, Elarian,”
I rested my head back down. For a long while, nothing seemed to happen. In fact, just as I was starting to think maybe it was takingtoolong, I heard a sudden cry. My eyes filled instantly with tears. Happy ones.
“There we go,” Dr. Evans called over the sound of crying. “A healthy baby boy!”
Chapter Ten
Travis
A sudden screeching sound snapped me awake. Some sort of weird alarm in the hospital? I sat up and looked around. It was pitch black. I frowned, positive I left the bathroom light on so that we could see little Kirielm without turning on the too-bright lights in the hospital room. I reached for the arm of the chair, trying to push myself up, but found only fabric. Confused, I tugged on it and was nearly blinded by rapidly flashing lights. An ambulance? No. Something else…
Another screech came and everything shook and shuddered. Reality crashed down around me. I was on the train. I watched the flashing lights slowing. Dark silhouettes of buildings appeared as we slowed down even more. A station.
I shivered and closed the curtain, then lay back down. Ihadto go back to sleep. Elarian was recovering from a c-section – a graphic operation I, or maybe Traviel, could see happening around the curtain – and needed Traviel with him. If I was right, then me being awake meant Traviel was gone.
I wrapped my arms around myself in a hug. The feel of Kirielm’s tiny body being placed into my arms wasso, achingly real. His bright eyes. The little points at the tips of his ears. The tiny fisted hands waving. I held him, Traviel held him, awed and instantly in love, then reluctantly gave him to a nurse, while Elarian was being sewed up. The memory made my eyes sting with tears; Traviel was afraid to hold his own son. Afraid of disappearing. Maybe because of me.
Elarian’s legs were still too numb to walk, so they wheeled the bed to a private room, where he’d stay until his release. Kirielm was placed in a tiny baby bed and Traviel pushed it, nervous as hell, along to the room with Elarian.
They laughed and talked and fawned over Kirielm until Elarian was ready for bed. A nurse gave him some medicine and told him she’d be back later in the evening. They kissed. I could still remember bending over Kirielm, after placing him gently in his little bed, and kissing his tiny forehead. Then, Traviel unfolded a somewhat uncomfortable chair into a bed and settled down.
It was all so real. And if it was, Elarian needed me there. He was alone, unable to walk. What if Kirielm woke and wanted to nurse? What if he soiled his diaper?
“Sleep, damn it,” I muttered. “Sleep!”
~~~***~~~
Threedayson a train. Who knew it would take so absurdly long? I drove across the country in four once, with plenty of stops along the way. I assumed a train would be faster. I supposed we spent lots of time parked in stations.
Any other time I would have enjoyed the trip. I was a firm subscriber to the theory that getting there is half the fun. It’s the journey, not the destination, and all that stuff. But I couldn’t wait for it to be over, to see f I really did arrive in Vale Valley.
The first night, after thankfully falling back asleep, I discovered that Elarian had been awoken by a nurse for another round of medication, and found Traviel gone. He fed Kirielm, got a nurse to help him put the baby back, and then went back to sleep. I woke up again before dawn, thanks to some asshole in the corridor being too loud. After that, I couldn’t fall asleep again. I got breakfast and absently watched the scenery go by, distracted mostly by wondering if I was insane.
When I was done eating, I used up the last of my cell phone battery searching train routes, trying to find one that said Vale Valley. I wasn’t entirely sure when the stop was supposed to be. All I knew was it was before Philadelphia. It wasn’t until my battery was dead that I realized I hadn’t even told my roommates where I was going; followed quickly by the realization that, while I knew the number to Vale Valley General Hospital, my own roommates’ numbers were a mystery. It wasn’t as if I ever called them.
I wasn’t able to fall asleep again until after lunch. Elarian was watching TV, with Kirielm snuggled on his chest. When I woke up again, I nearly forgot to eat dinner, because I could remember doing it as Traviel.
It was harder to fall asleep that night, but I spent it watching a TV show in the chair, while Elarian dozed. I changed Kirielm’s diaper and helped the nurses check on him and do a hearing test.
At long last, the final day of the train ride was here. It was killing me to be awake. My last memories of Vale Valley were of waiting to be released from the hospital. Elarian and Kirielm were going home. Alone, seeing as I was awake. But, it couldn’t be helped. I was afraid of missing the station. I had no idea how close we were.
