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Aanya
I'd never been quiet. Mom said I came out of the womb loud– red and splotchy and loud. An angry little scrunched face with a tuft of spiky black hair. Perhaps that's what made 317 days alone so unbearable.
I closed my eyes and readied myself.
Who knew what they'd try today. Scars littered my body from their exploratory surgeries. Their invasive exams. The whirring of the blade started. I winced and closed my eyes, even though I knew what was coming– the pain I'd known for 317 days.
The whirring stopped.
My eyes flew open.
A bloody hand slapped against the glass in front of my face. A bloody human hand, not the clawed scaly ones I'd grown so accustomed to.
What?
With a whoosh, my plastic coffin opened.
Bright lights flooded my senses. I cringed away from the light. What was going on?
Slowly, I sat up.
The lab was all harsh lines, white and steel. I'd never seen it before. The plastic coffin always appeared in my cell; I climbed in and couldn't see anything. I could feel, though. I could always feel.
The lizardmen didn't operate on me themselves, and I never saw them looming over me. They used robots, disembodied metal arms wielding sharp scalpels and lasers, and who knows what. All I knew was that they hurt. They hurt until I would pass out from the pain.
It was cleaner than clean in here. It reminded me of the coroner's office, so much so that the burning in my chest when I had to identify my parents came roaring back. I squeezed my eyes shut. I didn't like remembering them like that, their bodies mangled from the crash. I wanted to remember salty summers at the beach and cozy winters on the couch.
A loud groan drew me out of my thoughts.
The human, the girl, faced away from me, hands clutching a metal table. Her skin was sickly pale in contrast to her inky dark hair.
Who is she? Why'd she free me? Her knees buckled, arms gripping the table, the only thing keeping her up. What was wrong with her?
She turned and rested her back against the table. I got my answer. Her swollen, pregnant stomach heaved as she took deep breaths.
"Help me, please, help me." She groaned again as another contraction hit her.
I stared at her, eyes wide.
"Wh-what's going on?" My voice was hoarse from disuse.
"What do you think is going on? This baby's coming out, whether I'm ready or not," she gritted out through clenched teeth.
I climbed out of the tube, stumbled over to her, and helped her onto the table.
"What do I do?" My gaze darted to the door. "Where are they?"
The lizardmen used to shock me with cattle-prod-like sticks when I didn't get into the tube-like plastic coffin. I was sure they wouldn't appreciate whatever we were doing now.
"Catch the baby when they pop out of me, easy." She threw her head back and groaned as yet another contraction hit, coming closer together. "They're busy with a little fire I set," she added, panting.
"I thought I could make it to an escape pod, but there's no time." She fisted her hands. "The baby's coming now, and you need to help me."
"There's escape pods?" I lifted my head from the drawer I'd pulled open, looking for clean towels, gauze, blankets, something. She confirmed what I'd been thinking– we weren't on Earth anymore. Those lizardmen were aliens, and we were on a mother fucking spaceship.
"Yes, you're going to take my baby and get in one." Her gaze was fiery and determined but undeniably tired too.
"What?" I shook my head. Why wouldn't she take her own baby? "You'll come with us."
"No, I won't." Her mouth flattened into a grim line.
Oh no. No, no, no, I couldn't do this alone!
"God, I know CPR, I know what to do if someone's drowning. I know the Heimlich manoeuvre, I know how to do a tourniquet, well, I do in theory. But I have no idea how giving birth works!" My voice bordered on hysterical by the end of my rant. I raked my hands through my hair. "Doesn't this, like labour, take hours?"
"I've been having contractions for a while back in my cell, so I set the fire." She hitched up her legs. "Now, it's time to push!"
I rushed over and stood between her legs. I could confidently say this wasn't a sight I ever wanted to see. "Jesus, I see its head! The top of its head, oh my God."
I sucked in air. Don'tpassoutfromtheblooddon'tpassoutfromthebloodDon'tpassoutfr–
With the following ten-second push, its head came out, the face all wrinkly and squishy. The little thing came out turned to the right, and with the next push, a shoulder came out, then the other. I held the head and tried to, like, I don't know, cup the neck and make sure it didn't snap somehow. That's what you do, right? Support the baby's neck?
She pushed again, and I held onto the baby, trying to just let nature do its thing. Jeez, it was slippery.
"It's a girl! She's got a vag!" Did I really just say that? You betcha. The baby had two odd grooves on its back, but I was too busy checking it was alive.
The messy miracle of childbirth. The baby had a heartbeat and sounded like it was breathing. Why wasn't it crying? I mean she. I rifled through a drawer until I found something to clamp off her umbilical cord.
I brought the baby up to mom, which I now was calling the unnamed woman in my head. "What do you want to name her?"
"Lani. Leilani, my beautiful little flower." She took Leilani and held her to her chest, eyes shining with unshed tears.
The baby had a tuft of golden blonde hair and bright blue eyes, which must've been from her father. Those were some dominant genes, that was for sure.
I couldn't find a blanket, towels, or anything like that, but I did find a pile of cloth– cloth like the bib dentists put on you. I laid a couple down and wiped off the baby as best I could, moving quickly. My gaze darted to the door. Still no lizardmen. I went back over to them and wrapped up the baby, like a burrito, to be honest. I didn't know how to swaddle.
Now, how were we gonna get to the escape pods?
Mom let out a pained groan. Huh? I rushed back over to her. "I don't see any blood. You're not bleeding anymore. What do I do?" My voice went high, and panicked.
"Get... get to the escape pods," she rasped out.
"No, you're coming with us!" I clutched Lani to my chest.
"Take Lani and go." Her voice was so quiet I could barely hear her.
"No, I'm not leaving you!" I shook my head no.
"Take care of her." She gave me a smile, eyes serene.
"You're gonna be alright; I just need– I just need to–" I scrambled, trying to figure out what was wrong. Did she have internal bleeding? Something else?
I grabbed her hand. "No! No, stay with me! Don't leave me!" My voice cracked.
"Scream," she whispered as the light left her eyes.
I stumbled back, still holding Lani, who'd chosen that moment to start wailing. "Shit, shit, shit."
An alarm started blaring, red lights flashing. I had to get to the escape pods.
✶ ☾ ✶
AUTHOR'S NOTE
What do you think of Chapter 1? Thoughts on Aanya & her predicament? Have I intrigued you enough to keep reading? Comment or message me and let me know– I welcome feedback!
Comments and votes are much appreciated (and keep me motivated to write the next chapter).
Virtually yours,
Ro
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