The agonizing screams could be heard all through the surrounding streets of City-J, breaking the somewhat peaceful nature of the still night. The flickering patterns of fairy lights doused the neighboring homes in a rainbow of color, giving away the special significance of their particular evening: the symbolic nature not hard to miss.
A figure suddenly passed by with a rustle of wind, causing the arguably disturbing of the peace, before another heart-wrenching scream echoed around the neighborhood.
"Where are you?! I'm here, it's alright! Where are you? I'm here!" the figure yelled in a panic, landing in a side alley and looking frantically around in the darkness. The only answer received though was another horrific scream, and without wasting a second, her head snapped in the direction, before she took off further down the alley.
Fubuki knelt in front of a homeless woman lying on the ground with a little girl sitting next to her - clinging onto her arm. They were both wrapped in rasher worn-looking thick coats, shielding them against the cold. She was visibly panicked, chest heaving up and down with desperate breaths as she looked frantically over her body.
"What is it? What's wrong?" She asked, as she reached out a hand to touch her. The woman could only scream in reply, face terribly flushed and strained as she appeared to be in some form of agony.
"What is it? Are you hurt? Who did that to you?" She practically yelled in reply, snapping around the alley walls looking for a perpetrator. She stopped though when another more dainty hand came up to grab , entwining with her fingers, and she turned back. The woman was clinging to her like she was her lifeline, looking her dead in the face and shaking her head from side to side, as if she was trying to tell him something.
"What? I don't understand," She explained, giving her shed a little shake. The woman appeared frustrated, before ultimately throwing her head back and screaming again, gut deep, unable to reply.
Fubuki hopped up closer to her and grabbed her shoulder with the other hand. "Please, what's wrong? Tell me how to help you!" She asked, getting desperate. When the current bout of screaming finally subsided, she panted, while giving him a pained look, once again trying to communicate something.
"I-I," she choked, and Fubuki cocked her head slightly to the side, awaiting her answer, before her face scrunched up into a grimace, and she once again grunted in pain.
"I don't-'' Fubuki started to say, before her body froze still on the spot as she noticed a dampness around her feet, and she looked down, slowly shifting backwards away from her. What she saw made Fubuki's breath catch in her throat.
"I'm gi-giving birth!" The woman finally managed to say between gasps, sounding extremely frustrated and desperate as she gritted her teeth again.
Fubuki's eyes widened comically as she gulped audibly. All of a sudden, she couldn't breathe. Fubuki stumbled away and leant against the wall as a wave of faintness washed over her, taking in deep, gasping breaths and swallowing hard.
In and out, Fubuki , trying to calm herself down slowing the bubble of panic rising within her. She was just getting himself together when a little voice piped up between the mother's agonizing screams.
"Are you going to help my mummy, Hellish Blizzard?" The little girl says with worry and hope.
Fubuki was surprised that the kid knew who she was off the bat, didn't even state her name at all, maybe her popularity was increasing by a lot with her realizing, maybe it was also part of the Deep Sea King incident with happened the last time she was in City-J.
Fubuki lifted her from her place leaning against the wall and was met with the begging blue eyes of the little girl still perched resiliently beside her mother. She probably didn't entirely understand what was going on, but she reminded him that there was no way she was going to leave their poor woman to suffer on her own, late at night in a dangerous city like City-J, to give birth in a gloomy alley.
'Come on Fubuki, get yourself together. You aren't really going to faint over there are you? I can just see the headline 'The Amazing, spectacular Hellish Blizzard faints over the sight of a woman giving birth!' she thought, mentally chuckling to herself at her panicked reaction, before taking in a deep breath and pushing off the wall.
"Yes, yes I'm going to help her, in other words I'm not leaving you." she said, with a new-found confidence, and knelt back down in front of the woman. "Ok," she said, sucking in a deep breath, "we should call an ambulance."
"No, too late, I'm giving birth NOW!" the woman yelled in response, making him jump as she removed her phone from her hidden belt.
"I could fly you to the nearest hospital-," she tried.
"No! I mean now!" she yelled even harder, before she started screaming again.
"hey, hey, hey just take deep breaths," she said soothingly, as she reassuringly touched her arm, before looking down at the ready screen cupped in her hand, and then back at the woman again. "Ok, ok I'm really doing it here, I'm really doing it here, ok," Fubuki babbles to herself, as she speed dialed 911 on sher phone, holding it up to her ear with her shoulder.
"911, what's your emergency?"
"Hello there, this is Hellish Blizzard Class-B rank 1. I need to get in contact with a hospital immediately. I have a woman giving birth right in front of me and I-I," she swallowed as her throat closed up.
"Right, I'll put you through immediately," the woman on the line said, seeming to sense the situation, and immediately re-directed him to the nearest hospital.
"Hell-"
"Hellish Blizzard here, I need help. I have a woman giving birth right now and-"
"Alright, alright calm down, we're tracing your call and will have an ambulance there as soon as possible." Fubuki's heart clenched and she said a silent thank you to the heavens that she'd used her phone especially for situations like there instead of her personal one, if they were already, already tracing her call...
A chill went down her spine, but she shook it off and focused again at the task on hand, reminding herself to dispose of their mobile when she was done.
"Now, you're going to need to remove any clothing in the way and determine how far the labor has progressed. Can you do that for me?" the woman advised.
"Yeah, umm-umm ok," Fubuki replied nervously, before directing her eyes up at the woman's face, silently asking for permission. She nodded after looking him in the eye for a moment, still grimacing.
"Oh mother, oh...darn I can see the head!" she practically screamed a few seconds later after she pulled the woman's clothes out of the way so they wouldn't constrict the newborn's entrance to the world.
"Ok, that's good, that's normal. That means the babies are ready to come. You're going to need to encourage her to push downwards as hard as she can now with each contraction.''
"Contraction?" Fubuki asked.
"Yes, ahh, basically every time she experiences extreme pain," the nurse explained.
"Right," Fubuki replied, and leaned up to touch the woman's arm lightly. "You're going to need to push hard now every time you experience a contraction," she told the woman. "Do you think you can do that?" she asked, her voice surprisingly gentle and soothing.
The woman's breathing spiked and a wide-eyed panicked look glazed over her eyes and she once again grabbed her hand, squeezing with extreme force.
"Ok, she's going to need to calm down. She's alright; get her to breathe with you, in and out, nice and deep to quell that panic and control the pain," the voice of the nurse piped through the phone, having been discreetly listening.
"Ok, ok, ma'am? You're going to need to stay calm, alright? Take deep breaths, with me, ok?" she said, a newfound burst of confidence entering her, as she took a deep, slow breath, and exhaled evenly. Thankfully, the woman copied her movements. "Ok, that's good; you're alright," she encouraged, before the woman suddenly screamed in pain again.
"Now, she needs to push now," the nurse quickly informed, and Fubuki relayed the message. The woman practically growled as she put everything she had into pushing.
"That's good, squeeze my hand all you like too if it helps. I'm extra strong, so it doesn't matter," she offered, and she immediately took advantage of it, squeezing her hand tight like one would a stress ball.
"Whoop, it's moving!" Fubuki yelled, "It's moving!" She then repeated in almost disbelieving awe as she cupped her hand under the baby's now completely visible head, touch as gentle as a feather.
They continued their way for several minutes, with each contraction drastically increasing, before all of a sudden, Fubuki received a light nudge from her senses, breaking him from her trance. Like lightning, she snatched her other hand from hers and placed them both beneath the newborn as it emerged in one go.
The woman collapsed back against the wall and painted, thoroughly exhausted, while the little girl who'd been watching the exchange, wide-eyed, looked curiously towards Fubuki's hands.
Fubuki was in shock. her hands were shaking because of the extreme gentleness with which she was holding the delicate object within them. Little tiny wails and cries came from a little miniature mouth, while baby brown eyes blinked open for the first time.
Fubuki started to stare, unmoving, ever so slowly lifting the newborn closer towards her. her head cocked to the side slightly as she took it in, tiny little feet and hands, umbilical cord still attached to its belly. she swallowed, a lump having formed in her throat, before lovingly curling it closer to her chest, and shifting up towards the mother.
The second she laid eyes on her child, the woman sobbed, tears streaming from her eyes as she carefully took the baby from Fubuki's delicate arms, letting it snuggle into her warm chest.
"It's a little boy," Fubuki informed quietly, voice choking, as she watched the exhausted mother embrace her new child. her chest swelled with a new-found respect for women, at the incredible act she'd just witnessed firsthand: the concept that she'd just seen new life blossom forth rendering him silent and breath taken.
"Try to keep the mother and child as warm as possible," she shared as the nurse softly spoke from the phone. She carefully moved forward to lift her white fur coat over her shoulders to place over the two so the baby was directly against her chest.
She could hear sirens emerging in the distance, and soon found himself stepping back as nurses and medics swarmed the family huddled tightly together. They loaded the mother onto a stretcher and wheeled her into the ambulance, with the rather silent older daughter going in after her.
Fubuki watched as the ambulance disappeared into the distance as she followed behind.
~~~
Fubuki bounced her leg as she sat in the waiting room of the hospital several hours later.
People stared at her, giving her odd looks as to why the newbie crushing heroine was here, but she ignored them, her only thoughts being about the mother and child, and whether or not they were alright. It was three in the morning, the baby having been delivered just after midnight but even in the early hours of the day the hospital was still full.
"Hellish Blizzard?"
Fubuki snapped her head up faster than a rocket from where she'd been staring at a muffin and soda she'd bought that she had not touched to see a woman wearing a nurse's uniform holding up a clipboard looking down at her.
"You may see them now." She informed, and Fubuki's eyes widened in shock that they had even decided to let her in, before her brain caught up with the fact and she jumped bouncily to her feet, startling the nurse slightly, waiting to follow her.
The nurse, quickly getting the message, began leading him through the doors into the many inner corridors of the hospital, twisting and turning: the walls a simple pale blue and floors a squeaky white, people in beds, and stretchers everywhere. Fubuki soon got the jitters as they passed many rather sick looking people and complex machines.
Soon the nurse led her to a simple, silver lift and Fubuki felt her stomach drop as they were taken up several floors.
"Other way," the nurse said as she led him down some corridors in a quieter part of the hospital, before stopping in front of a room and pulling the curtain back for him to enter.
Inside the mother lay calmly resting on a bed, the baby quietly feeding on her chest. The image was surprisingly peaceful and serene. The little girl was sitting in a chair next to the bed, staring at the child, not unlike how Fubuki had been mere hours before. She looked up as Fubuki entered, and she ducked her head a little as she was shy, before clearing her throat.
The mother immediately looked up, and Fubuki was worried what her reaction might be to seeing him there, but her face broke out into a smile, and she beckoned him over.
Slowly, she walked up until she was standing next to the bed, while mother layed down and stroked her baby's face, receiving a small sound in response. Once again, Fubuki found herself entranced. Her gaze shifted around slightly as she moved her , gazing over the tiny, delicate bundle in her arms.
"He's beautiful," the mother suddenly voiced, before looking up at her. "Thank you so much for helping me bring him into the world. I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't," she said, tears lingering in her eyes. Fubuki ducked her again awkwardly and swallowed, before she reached out a hand to touch her arm.
"It's alright, you did good. You did more than anyone expected of you," She complimented, smiling.
She nodded slightly in acknowledgment, before she looked down at her child, and looked back up at him again with a small smile playing at her lips. "Would you like to hold him?" she asked, and Fubuki balked, taken aback, before she slowly started lifting the baby up in the air. "Here," she invited, and Fubuki hesitantly reached down to pick the child up.
Before she knew it, Fubuki had the newborn baby wrapped up in her arms. Fubuki looked down at the bundle, and saw the tiny little face sleeping peacefully, smacking its lips. She just stood there, holding him close to her chest, and subconsciously found herself bouncing the child slightly as it slept, hesitantly stroking a thumb against its cheek. She was completely unaware that she attracted the gaze of everyone in the room, plus several others outside who were curiously taking a peek at what was going on, and before she realized, had held the baby in silence for a good ten minutes. Feeling she'd had enough, she looked up and placed the baby back in her mother's arms, watching him snuggle back against her chest.
"You'll be a good mother one day," the mother said kindly, the second part spoken extra softly, and Fubuki looked up, picking up on the unspoken knowledge that she somehow knew she was only young. she nodded shyly.
"Thanks," she said, looking to the side slightly as she swallowed again from the emotion. She only smiled again in response before the nurse then came forward and tapped her arm.
"It's time to go," she said.
Fubuki nodded, "Ok," she said, "Will you be alright now?" she then directed at the mother.
"Yes, they're going to set me up somewhere safe and offer me help, thank you," She said, sensing her admirable concern. "Feel free to visit anytime. Can you give him the details of the shelter before she leaves?" she asks the nurse.
"Yes, certainly," she nodded.
"Thank you," the mother replied, "Oh, can't forget your fur coat."
Fubuki shifted her gaze to the fur coat that the little girl held for warmth but she puts her arms for Fubuki to simply grab and reach but that wasn't the case, Fubuki just smiled, "Actually, you guys can keep it as a souvenir. I can always buy a new one."
She was led out, before pausing to look back again at the entrance, seeing the little girl watching him attentively and taking one last gaze at the now-smiling mother and her child, before she moved away and the curtain was closed back around behind them.
Now all she had to do was make it home before dawn and try not to fall asleep during the whole trip back. She lets out a little chuckle, 'What a night.'