Total pages in book: 136
Estimated words: 128413 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 642(@200wpm)___ 514(@250wpm)___ 428(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 128413 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 642(@200wpm)___ 514(@250wpm)___ 428(@300wpm)
“No, I don’t mind.” Remi was the reason her baby was alive. “Thank you for everything, Finn.” Her heart overflowed with emotion for this kind, gentle man who was very much a healer to the core. Not once in his presence had she felt embarrassed or ashamed or anything but cared for.
“Just doing my job,” he said. “Talking of which, we stopped the bleeding and fixed the problem that was causing it. Unexpected but positive end result is that you’re in far better shape than most women after childbirth—thanks to an injection of medical nanos. You might feel a little weak, but the actual physical damage from the birth is ninety percent fixed. A couple more days and the process will be complete.”
Auden had been wondering about the lack of pain. But more importantly—“Medical nanotech is hard to acquire and extremely expensive.” And RainFire was a young pack with limited resources; it was clear they had connections who could gain them access to the nanos, but the purchase must’ve blown their entire medical budget.
It also meant that whatever had happened to her body, it must’ve been close to catastrophic. Medical nanotech—the new-generation kind at least, the type that could achieve this level of healing—wasn’t broken out for anything less. Nanos of this complexity also had to be programmed for the specific patient and injury, and med-nano programmers weren’t exactly thick on the ground.
A soft shake of the head. “Don’t worry about that, Auden. Just worry about regaining your strength.”
Auden dropped the subject, but while there was no way she could repay RainFire for the precious gift of saving her child, she would ensure their medical supplies and budget were topped back up. No member of RainFire would suffer because the pack had a heart huge enough to help a stranger. “You’re a miracle worker.”
“Hardly.” He laughed, eyes crinkling. “Had a whole team in here—including a Psy surgeon with an ego the size of Mars. Surgeons, right? I’ve got literal decades more experience in obstetrics, and he kept on poking in his nose with advice, but man did pass on a bit of cutting-edge knowledge and help source the nanos, so I can’t complain too much.”
Auden had so many questions—about the surgeon, about the teleporters, about how a tiny pack in the middle of nowhere had such powerful friends, but her heart was too awash in wonder that she’d birthed this baby so tiny and beautiful to ask any of them.
“Your milk hasn’t come in yet,” Finn continued. “Might take a few days to kick in—happens that way with premature births at times. If you’d prefer she use the bottle throughout, we’re all set up for that, too. Whatever it takes to keep her healthy and happy.”
Auden’s heart filled and overflowed with hope and joy at the idea of nourishing her child in such a profound way. “It wasn’t allowed under Silence,” she whispered. “Too intimate, too high a chance of an emotional bond. In my family, mothers don’t feed their children at all, regardless of how—that task is delegated to professional carers.”
While other races had created drugs to help women who wished to breastfeed their baby but couldn’t, the Psy had created a drug to stop the flow of milk. Dr. Verhoeven had told Auden about it, said it would be part of her post-natal care.
“No one here will force your choice either way,” Finn said in that calm voice of his that was as peaceful as water lapping on a placid lake. “But don’t be hard on yourself if you decide to breastfeed and your milk takes a while, or if your baby doesn’t latch at once—every woman and every baby is different.”
Auden nodded, the move jagged. “I’m just happy she’s all right. If I get to experience that with her, it’d be wonderful, but I’m so full of joy right now that I can’t imagine how I could want more.”
Finn smiled. “Someone wants to see you. You feeling up to it?”
Her heart stuttered in a way it had no business doing. “Yes.” Only after the healer had gone to the door did she realize her face was a wet mess.
It didn’t matter.
Because her child was alive, and she slept with a tiny baby smile on her face right next to Auden’s bed.
* * *
• • •
REMI wanted to strangle Finn when the other man finally opened the door and waved him in. At the same time, he wanted to hug Finn and never let go. Because keeping Remi out? That had been the act of a healer who put his patient first, above everything.
“She’ll need time alone with her cub,” he’d said in a stern tone when he’d alerted Remi that Auden’s readings were looking like she might wake today. “Don’t come lumbering in like you’re a bear and not a cat. Give her that moment she didn’t get at birth. Give her the privacy to just be with her child.”