After The End

Contractions

"I'm sure we'll figure out a way."

"We tried. And we lost Tokyo. The entire city. Gone. All those people. And we are on a runway, surrounded by toxic spores and our rescue team just blew up in Tokyo."

I shake my head, "Jackson, listen to me. We are going to get out of here and we are going to find your sister. And we are going to stop her. We will end this. I don't know how, but we will. Okay? Trust me."

As Jackson looks down to me, with tears in his eyes Mitch comes into the stairwell, "Clem's contractions are less than 30 seconds apart. Are you good to deliver a baby?"

I look up to Mitch and nod, "Yeah, help me up." Jackson and Mitch help me up, before Mitch and I head into the lab, where Clem is step up on the team. When we get there I look over to Clem and smile, "You ready to have a baby?"

"Is anyone right now?" She looks over to Mitch as another contraction hits.

Mitch takes her hand and she squeezes it, "What can I do?"

"Just keep talking." Clem groans loudly, "Distract me."

Mitch nods and looks over to me, "Okay. um, uh, did I ever tell you about the Suriname toad? The mother keeps the babies underneath the skin of her back and so, at birth, they have to punch their way out..."

Clem shakes her head, "Never mind. Stop talking!"

Max comes down the stairs and places a few things on the table next to the bed, "Candles, lanterns, whiskey?"

Mitch nods, "Yes, please."

Max looks over to Mitch, "I was talking about her. It's not like we can do an epidural here."

Clem shakes her head again, "No. No whiskey. No cable news." She groans loudly again.

I look up to Mitch, "her contractions are too fast."

Mitch and Max look over to me, "What do you mean, what do you mean too fast?"

"They should be slower, longer by now. Haven't you ever delivered a baby before?"

Mitch rolls his eyes, "No, not a human one. Have you?"

I nod, "Yes. It's been twelve or so years, but yes."

Max sighs, "All right, look we have to keep her calm, keep her heart rate down."

"Hopefully, that'll slow down her contractions."

Mitch nods, "Yeah, alright. Calm her. Um, I remember the day you were born I got this, um..."

Clem nods, "parking ticket. Almost missed it. Priceless." Clem bellows in pain. Sam comes into the lab, not saying a word. He walks over to Clementine and takes her hand, "Boulder. The night we met."

"You were the most beautiful girl I'd ever seen." Sam nods and smiles down at Clem, "We brought popcorn from that guy in a top hat, watched the family of ducks. Mother and her babies."

Mitch rolls his eyes again as Clem nods, "I told you I wanted a family someday." Clem wheezes, "I was wrong."

Sam shakes his head, "You can do this. Trust me."

As I smile and watch Clem and Sam, thinking about how much they remind me of Jackson and I. Mitch lifts his hand, as if a light bulb went off in his head, "Preen glands."

Sam and I look over to Mitch, speaking in unison. "What?"

Max nods, "ducks. Good thinking. Good thinking, son."

"Ducks use oil from their preen glands to keep water off their feathers. That's what we're missing."

"We don't need a shield. We need to oil up a filter. Turn on the auxiliary power unit." Mitch nods agreeing with Max, but Max stops him, "No no no. You stay with Clem. I'll take care of it." Max places a hand on Clem's cheek, "Honey, you're doing great. I love you. I'm so proud of you."

I have the boys turn the lights off and light the candles to try and calm Clem. Since she is still having odd contractions we turn her onto her side. Clem is still in extreme pain, "Somethings wrong!"

Mitch looks over to me, "Uh... Maybe you need to get on your feet." He looks to Sam and then to Clem, "Let's get you up and moving."

I shake my head, "no, don't move her." Clem yells as I take a stethoscope and place it on her stomach. "Is the pain in your lower abdomen?"

"Yes."

"Here?" I place the stethoscope on her lower stomach and listen for a minute. Once I take the stethoscope off I feel around her stomach, and Clem's right something is wrong.

Mitch takes a deep breath, "What is it?"

"I can't be sure without all of the equipment, but it could be a clot."

"What does that mean?" Sam looks over to me, still holding Clem's hand tightly.

"A blood clot pressing down on the baby is very dangerous. If we don't force a delivery now, we may lose the baby."

Mitch nods, "okay, let's do that."

I sigh, "forcing a delivery can also disrupt the clot and cause it to burst after the baby's born, which can be extremely dangerous for the mother."

Sam looks over to Mitch, "Well that means..."

Mitch cuts him off, "no. absolutely not. Think of something else."

I shake my head, "Mitch we may not have the time to..."

"Think of something else!"

Sam shakes his head, "I'm with him, we're not doing it."

"Yes, we are," Clem speaks up, "This baby is all that matters now."

Mitch shakes his head, "Clementine, listen, listen to me."

"Dad, you said I'd be a good mother. Let me try."

( I thought the song choice was nice for Clem and Sam's little moment.)