Radioactive - Book 1: Birth 🪼

Thirty-Two

Nalak
My brain seems to wake up before my body does and I can hear the sound of someone humming and something touching my skin. I will my eyes to open but everything is still blurry and hard to make out.
"Welcome back to the world of the living." I hear a young girl's voice say.
I turn a little and find a girl a little younger than me looking at me from above. I blink, trying to see better.
"Who are you?" I rasp, my throat feeling dry.
"I'm Waverly Stront. I've been nursing you back to health at the request of R."
I think for a moment, my mind still trying to catch up with me. I look around the room and see that it's a pretty normal room when I hear a small snort and look over, finding R sleeping in the chair beside me with his arm on the rest and his cheek in his hand.
"He's been there every night since you guys got here."
"How long has it been?" I rasped again, coughing this time.
The Waverly girl stops looking over me and I hear her leave the room. My body feels heavy, so I don't really move.
"Here, drink some of this."
I take a sip of the water and cringe at it, pushing it away.
"Where did you get that, the sewers?"
"No, it's lavender induced water, obviously."
I turn to her quickly as she stares at me with big pale blue eyes.
"Are you trying to kill me?"
"No. Am I going to have to explain this whole spiel to you too?"
"I don't know what you're talking about... and I don't feel like arguing." I say with a sigh, turning away from her.
I hear her sigh. "Look, despite what you think, lavender isn't going to kill you. Especially with the minute dosage that's in this water. It will help your throat to heal and also help you relax."
"I'm already relaxed."
"You're disoriented, stupid. Just trust me with what I'm doing."
I didn't really want to but I took another few sips before I have to make her leave me alone.
"I can't do anymore."
She nods and I try to sit up, but I feel so heavy. Waverly holds out her hand to me and I hesitate but let her help me sit up. I touch my stomach and am surprised to feel just the slightest of pooches there. I look down and Waverly does as well.
"Oh, yeah, the baby seems to have grown just a little."
"Enough to make it noticeable?" I ask a little dumbfounded.
"Well, considering you were probably at least a month or two at the beginning of your swell anyway, it was probably just really slow growing at the get go and now it's trying to catch up. You just turned fourteen this year, right?"
"Yeah, a couple months ago."
"Exactly. So even in a Normal, when they turn fourteen it takes the body a moment to adjust to the new development. Much is it like when a girl hits puberty. She doesn't automatically start having her period the day after she hits puberty. Again, since you're also one of the Altered, the process is sometimes either slower or faster."
I touch my stomach and smile a little. I know Mr. A told me I was pregnant but it didn't all seem that real until just now. There is a snork and we both turn to see R smack his lips a little and look around the room in confusion. Seeing me, he smiles bright and gets up to come around the bed.
"I'm so glad you're alright!" he says, hugging me.
I hug him back lazily with my good arm when I remember what happened to me. I look over at my other shoulder and find it wrapped up nice and proper.
"It's healing quite nice. R is a good nurse." Waverly says with a smile as she sticks her hands in her pockets.
"Nurse? Are you a doctor?"
"Practically." R says, smiling. "She's taught me a lot about the Altered and such and she knows where to find Jetson's Bar and Asstro."
"Good, cuz I was starting to believe that that place didn't exist. So now we have a plan. When are we heading out?"
"Hold on, Mister." Waverly says. "You'll need to have someone check on your baby. You got attacked pretty badly by a blood-albino. Luckily R got here as quick as he did because the bite was really nasty. I have a friend who can get you a sonogram and quick check-up for a nice price before you head out. There may be some pills you need to take so that any of the lingering effects of the bite won't affect the child."
"Lingering effects?"
"Well, like I was telling R, despite what you think, lavender is actually a healing property when used correctly. But as with everything that heals, using it in moderation is the key to healing; anything over that can cause damage. I don't think it did anything bad to you, per se, but since the child is being harbored within an Altered, you need to make sure any secondhand effects didn't go to the baby."
"And what effects would those be? Will my kid be deformed because of you?" I growl.
"No. It may be nothing, but considering that I had to use a little more than usual due to the severity of the bite, the only thing I can really think of is either a hypersensitivity to lavender or a higher resistance to it. Both need to be known in case of medical care when the child grows up. Either way, you still have to be checked."
"I'd feel more comfortable knowing everything is alright as well." R says. "I would hate for you to lose the baby when there was something you could have done to save it."
I sigh. "Okay..."
"Great! I've already decided to leave at the end of the week. That gives us two days to relax completely. No running away from stuff, no odd circumstances, just nice quiet days to gather our strength and sleep and then be on our way."
"Not to be the frump, but if you're going to your friend's then what's the difference in leaving now than later?" Waverly asks, pushing a strand of hair behind her ears.
"Like I said before, from what I understand, she lives closer to the border than here and we still have to find a way into the Badlands without really alerting the RDC and then I have to be able to get out of there."
"I already told you what you should do."
"And as grateful as I am for your opinions, I'm not going to do that."
Waverly throws her hands in the air.
"Whatever. See what I know. I'm just the one who's witnessed it firsthand..." she growls as she leaves the room.
I look at R as he frowns after her.
"What does she mean?"
"Don't worry about it. Besides, giving us these two days to relax means that we have time to get you to that doctor Waverly said could help."
"Yeah... R?"
"Yeah?"
"Do you trust her? She said a lot of contradictory things and..." I falter, shuffling my feet.
"I didn't think she was very trustworthy either but spending time with her and learning about what she's gone through, she knows what she's talking about and actually pretty nice once you get past the rough demeanor. She seemed most willing to help you and was kind enough to show me some things too. Out of all the people we've come in contact with on this journey, Waverly is probably at the top of the list of trustworthy people."
"I see... alright then. If you trust her then I trust her."
R smiles and I follow him out of the room.