The Price Of Salvation by Jesi Donovan

Author:Jesi Donovan [Donovan, Jesi]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-11-20T07:00:00+00:00

15

MARILYN

The air in the room is thick with tension. Dr. Hearst may have left, but the implications of her words hang around like an unwelcome guest.

Nurse Nancy, God bless her, is the one that interrupts the cold, indifferent silence by clearing her throat. “I’d like to review the birthing plan questions to at least get you thinking about how you’d like to proceed.” She makes her way to the foot of the bed, squarely positioned in the center of the room. “First and foremost, as Dr. Hearst mentioned, we need to discuss our options in the event that you do not go into labor naturally.”

For all the due date adjusting Dr. Hearst has done, I was under the impression that I’d be walking down the hallway next week and suddenly go into labor. It didn’t occur to me that Christmas might come and pass without a single contraction threatening to tear open my womb.

“My mother speaks highly of natural births,” Ares announces after a break in the conversation. “I know it’s a little controversial, but she’s never had one any other way.”

Slade smacks his brother in the chest, and the rest of us watch as Ares crumples against the bedside. “Dummy,” he growls, “she has the ability to mitigate her pain.”

I frown, unsure of what that means. Slade recognizes the look and explains that their mom has a unique magic that allows her to transfer her pain to others. “She can give it all to one person or spread it out,” he shrugs. “When giving birth, I think she transferred some of it to my father and then doled out the rest to people she knew. I don’t know how it works in practice, just theory.”

Their entire family is full of darkness; I almost feel bad for them. Ares is the most alive when he’s in the shadows, jumping from one dark and cold existence to another. Slade is a dream bender. In theory, he could have an enjoyable time skipping from happy dream to happy dream, but that’s not who he is. Slade thrives in people’s nightmares and makes them a reality. Finding out that their mother can take her pain and give it to other people explains a lot. The entire Bloodstone clan is fucked up.

“This isn’t about pain management,” Nancy cuts in to add. “This is about how you’d like to proceed medically. Would you like to receive synthetic drugs? These will be given intravenously, and they’ll trick your body into believing you’re going into labor. We’ll monitor you over the course of twelve hours to see if your body effectively triggers labor from the drugs. If it does, we proceed with your birthing plan.”

Vale pulls up a seat for himself. I think he’s still shaken by the doctor’s earlier pronouncements. “What happens if she doesn’t trigger labor or whatever?” He butchers what Nancy just told us. “Or if she doesn’t want to take synthetic drugs?”

The nurse breezes through the answer to his question. “In either event, we’ll move to a cesarean.

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