Dragon Whelps: Earth Dragons Series: Book 3

by Hartnady, Charlene

  “Are you okay?” Macy asked as she came back from the pain.

  “Yeah.” She nodded.

  “That bad, huh? This whole ‘giving birth’ thing is not for the faint of heart.”

  “That’s for sure.” Georgia nodded., still trying to catch her breath. “Help me up, so that I can change.”

  Macy helped her to her feet. “You don’t believe him, then?”

  “He says he’s a prince. That I’m pregnant with twins. That the babies aren’t human. They will be boys and the gestation period for dragon offspring is six months, so they are being born full-term right now and will be absolutely fine.” She lifted her eyes in thought, trying to recall all of the crazy things he had said. “He said they will have chest markings.”

  “Chest markings?”

  “Yep, similar to tattoos, only not.” Georgia removed her wet jeans and underwear.

  “Okay, I’ll admit, that does sound a bit on the wacky side.” Macy made a face. “Okay, a lot on the wacko side.”

  “The guy lives in fantasy land.”

  Macy frowned. “He seems so normal. Normal and gorgeous…and cuckoo.” She made a swirling motion with her finger at her temple.

  “Good-looking people have mental illnesses as well,” Georgia remarked. “Now you know why I can’t accept money from him. He says he’s mega-wealthy but that might be one of his crazy ideas. How can I possibly accept any kind of money from someone with mental issues? It could land him in serious crap.”

  “Don’t stress about that now.”

  “I have to! I have to call the Joyces.” The idea of being this baby’s mom was…it was amazing. It left her feeling dizzy. It made tears gather in her eyes and had her heart swelling in her chest. “The fact of the matter is that this baby is coming and he or she is going to need a ton of medical care.” A sob left her. Georgia put her hand over her mouth. Up until then, she’d done a good job of keeping it together, but it was getting more and more difficult with each contraction. “I can’t believe I’m in labor. It’s too early, Macy.”

  “Don’t stress about any of it now. You need to focus on this baby. On staying calm and positive.” Her friend took her hand. “Forget about the Joyces for now. Call them once the baby comes. They will live if they’re not here. I can see that even the idea of calling them stresses you out, so don’t do it.”

  “I was supposed to have more time to prepare mentally.” A tear ran down her cheek. “I’m not ready to do this.”

  “The baby is coming, my friend.”

  “Not that… Okay, that too. I’m mainly talking about giving him or her up.” She put a hand to her belly. “This is so hard.”

  “I’m here. I’m not going anywhere. Let’s focus on the here and now.”

  Georgia nodded. “Thank you, and you’re right.” She nodded, wiping a couple more tears away. She was so afraid of what was going to happen. She was so worried for her baby.

  Georgia needed to sit on the toilet for another contraction before making her way back to the bed.

  Shale was talking with a doctor. At least, she looked like a doctor. She had her long hair pulled up in a ponytail. She was holding a file and had a stethoscope around her neck. “You must be Georgia.” She had a friendly face. “I’m your gynecologist, my name is Doctor Michaels.”

  She nodded. “Good to meet you.”

  “I need to ask a couple of questions. Your partner filled me in on what happened earlier,” the doctor said. “You should lie down.”

  Georgia did as she said.

  “How far along are you?” She held a pen in one hand and a clipboard in the other.

  “I’m six months, almost to the day.”

  “How many weeks since your last check-up?” she asked.

  Georgia felt her cheeks heat. They must be turning a bright red. She swallowed hard. “I haven’t been for a check-up. I don’t have health insurance.”

  “Before you say anything,” there was a growl to Shale’s voice, “I will be paying for the birth and whatever else is needed, in full.”

  “I wasn’t going to say anything.” The doctor smiled. “I understand that medical care can be very expensive.”

  “I would have gone but,” she picked at the quick of one of her nails, “I guess I buried my head in the sand for a while there and…I just couldn’t afford to. I should have though. It’s no excuse.” She should have faced up to reality sooner. Georgia never expected this to happen, though.

  “You don’t have to explain anything to me. Neither of you do.” She looked from Shale back to her. “I’m here to ensure your and the baby’s safety during this birth. I’m not here to judge in any way.”

  “Thank you.” Georgia licked her lips, feeling relieved. Thing was, seeing a specialist, paying for a scan. Paying for everything herself. There was just no way. It would have been her food money for at least a week. It had taken her a while to acknowledge that she was going to have to give this baby up. “I was supposed to see someone this coming week but…” She let the sentence die. It didn’t matter anymore.

  Doctor Michaels smiled reassuringly. “Your membranes have ruptured but with drugs and antibiotics, we can try to suppress your contractions. We need to try to keep this baby inside you for at least twenty-four hours.”

  “What if it doesn’t work?” Georgia sounded nervous. Her eyes were wide. Her hand caressed the curve of her belly.

  “If you have this baby today, at six months gestation, the chances of survival nowadays are roughly ninety percent.”

  “So high?” Georgia pushed out a sigh of relief. “Still though, there is a chance that—”

  “No.” Shale said. “It won’t happen! You don’t have to worry.” His voice held an edge of frustration. “Our child will be strong.”

  “You can’t say that for sure,” Georgia muttered. She let it go ‒ it was no use arguing with Shale. She’d learned that the hard way with her mom.

  “Look,” the doctor interrupted, “we’ll give you steroids to mature the baby’s lungs. If we can slow this thing down or even stop it for a day or two, the odds go up exponentially. Then you have to pray for a girl.” The doctor smiled, clearly joking. Obviously trying to lighten the mood. “Girls tend to develop faster than boys. Pink is gorgeous and, best of all, girls don’t pee all over the place when you take off the diaper.”

  The whole thing only made Shale scowl deeply. His eyes even darkened slightly. “That’s just it,” he blurted. “We’re having a boy child,” he added when no one said anything.

  “Oh.” The doctor’s smile broadened. “Typical guy.” She laughed. “Hoping for a boy.” She shook her head. “I’m only teasing about the whole girl thing anyway. It doesn’t matter either way. Let’s take this one step at a time. It doesn’t help worrying and stressing.”

  Doctor Michaels pulled on a pair of rubber gloves with a snap. “I need to check how dilated you are. Your contractions may not go away completely but you may stop or slow down on dilating further for a while. I need to have a reference point. You can use the sheet to cover your lower end,” she advised, and Macy helped her pull the sheet up to her hips. “Please bend your knees and open your legs for me,” the doctor instructed.

  Georgia did as she asked.

  She used the sheet to shield her. “This might hurt a little. It will be uncomfortable, I’m afraid.”

  Georgia nodded. “That’s fine.”

  The doctor applied what looked like lubricant to her fingers and leaned down between Georgia’s legs.

  Georgia made a squeaking noise as the doctor inserted her fingers into her vagina. She yelped as pain flared and then it was over. She couldn’t help but notice that there was blood on the doctor’s gloves as she pulled them off her hands, throwing them in a bin for contaminated materials. “You’re already six centimeters dilated.”

  “What does that mean?” Georgia wracked her brain to try to remember the different stages of labor.

  “Ten centimeters means that the baby is read
y to be born?” Shale stated. “I read that last night.”

  “Correct.” Doctor Michaels smiled. “Believe it or not, you’re still considered to be in early labor. Even though it’s the later stages of early labor. Once you hit seven centimeters, you’ll be in active labor, which is more difficult to stop.”

  “So, we caught it early enough?” Georgia could hear the hope in her voice.

  “It’s hard to tell. We’ll have to wait and see. It does get more difficult once a woman is in active labor.”

  “I see.” Georgia felt hopeful. Maybe, just maybe, they could stop this.

  “I’m going to perform an ultrasound shortly. I’m waiting for the machine to be brought up. In the meanwhile, I’m going to go ahead and give you a drug called Nifedipine to try to stop labor.”

  “I see,” Georgia grunted the words. Another contraction was on its way.

  “You’re definitely under thirty-four weeks?” Doctor Michaels raised her brows in question. “It’s very important. If you’re not sure, then…”

  “I’m sure,” Georgia groaned, clutching at her belly. It was getting difficult to pay attention to what the doctor was saying.

  Thankfully, she wrote in the file for a while, moving to the other side of the room to fetch something. Georgia stayed focused on her breathing. It didn’t take long, and the contraction subsided.

  “You’re doing great,” her doctor reassured her. “I’ll go ahead and give you Nifedipine now to try to stop the labor, and then steroids which are important for getting the baby’s lungs more mature. Every minute will count. If we can hold things off until tomorrow, all the better.”

  “Shouldn’t we wait until you perform the ultrasound?” Macy asked.

  “It’s more important that we hold off on delivering and that the baby’s lungs mature. The sooner these drugs are administered the better. Like I said, pretty much every minute counts. If we find a problem on the ultrasound, we’ll take it from there,” Doctor Michaels said as she hung up a bag of IV fluids and had a needle in her gloved hands. Georgia hadn’t seen her even put them on. “Are you righthanded or lefthanded?” she asked.

  “Righthanded.”

  “Okay, we’ll insert the IV on the left then.” She tore open a small foil pack, and the scent of alcohol hit Georgia. She used the swab to clean the top of her hand. “You’re going to feel a pinch,” she warned before inserting the IV, taping it in place once she was done. Next, she handed Georgia a small cup. “Chew on the tablet.”

  Georgia did as she said. The medicine was bitter. Georgia must have made a face because Doctor Michaels handed her a glass of water. She gave a nod of thanks and took a deep drink.

  “The next part is irritating but important. I need to inject you in your buttock. It will sting and the area might feel a little numb for a few minutes. It’s the steroids to mature the baby’s lungs.”

  Georgia leaned over on her side and felt a prick. Another contraction started up, so she didn’t feel much after that since it hurt like hell. By the time she came back around, Doctor Michaels was standing next to a large piece of equipment. “We need to do an ultrasound, just to check what’s going on in there. I’d like to measure the baby to get an exact indication of how far you are along. Also,” she cleared her throat, “just to rule out any complications. It’s routine,” she added, “so, no need for concern.”

  “How exciting,” Macy said. “Your first glimpse of the little one.”

  Shale was glowering heavily. He didn’t look happy at all.

  “Lift your gown to just below your breasts,” Doctor Michaels requested. “That’s it,” she added, as Georgia did as she asked. She picked up a bottle and squeezed some clear gel onto Georgia’s belly. It was surprisingly warm.

  She placed the scanning wand thing onto her belly and turned to look at the screen. Then she frowned. “That’s odd.” Her eyes widened and then narrowed as she leaned forward towards the screen.

  “What’s wrong?” Georgia tried not to panic. She looked at the screen the doctor was staring at and it was black. Okay, not entirely black but almost. There were a couple of very dark gray areas. Otherwise, it was all dark.

  Doctor Michaels moved the wand over her skin. She applied more of the gel on the other side and tried there. All with the same result. Splotchy and dark. Nothing to see.

  “That’s not right.” The doctor fiddled with one or two of the dials and pushed a couple of buttons. “There’s something wrong with the ultrasound machine. This has never happened before.” She frowned harder. “I would love to try transvaginal but…we can’t because your membranes have ruptured.” She spoke more to herself, still moving the device over Georgia’s belly in circular motions. She finally removed the wand altogether. “I can’t perform the ultrasound right now. I’m going to have to call for another unit. Maybe the cardiac department has one to spare.”

  Her pains had started up again. Just when she began to relax from the last contraction another one would begin. Georgia grit her teeth. It didn’t feel like those pills were working. Maybe it took time.

  “Until then, we’ll have to play it by ear. I’ll send this machine through to maintenance. Although, I doubt they’ll be able to do much onsite,” her doctor went on, again talking more to herself.

  “How bad is it that you can’t…see inside me?” Georgia asked, gripping her belly.

  “I prefer to get a look at what’s going on in there. The good news is that you’re pretty sure on the timelines. I’m hoping the Nifedipine works. Then we’ll have time to perform an ultrasound later today. I really hope I can find another unit at such short notice. We like to check on things like placenta placement, the way the baby is lying. He…or she,” the doctor pointed while looking at Shale and smiling, “could be lying breach or feet first. There are…”

  Georgia struggled to keep up with the conversation after that. Doctor Michaels spoke for a few more seconds.

  This contraction was worse than the ones before. It had been more severe and had lasted longer. Maybe that was just her imagination. Georgia slumped back against her pillow, breathing heavily. Whoever called this labor sure wasn’t lying.

  “Are you okay?” Shale looked concerned. “Is there anything I can do?”

  She shook her head. Asking him to stop talking like a crazy person probably wouldn’t help, so she refrained. No point!

  Doctor Michaels had already left. “What did the doctor say? I missed the end bit of the conversation,” Georgia asked, noticing that she was alone with Shale. “Where’s Macy?”

  “She went to the restroom.” Shale gestured in that direction of the ward. “You don’t have to worry. The babies are going to be just fine. Doctor Michaels said that a nurse is coming soon to bring you more medication.” He made a face. “Anti-bio-tics.” He said the word like it was foreign to him. “She also said there is a small possibility that you might need a C-section.” He shrugged. “I’m not sure what that is.”

  Yeah, right! She decided to humor him. “It’s when they operate to take the baby out because a—”

  “It won’t be necessary.” He shook his head.

  “You can’t say that for sure.” She looked at him like he had lost his marbles because, quite frankly…he had.

  “I can!” Shale looked deadpan. He completely believed what he was saying. “Just like I know that no scanning equipment will work on you. Not with dragon whelps inside your—”

  “Please, Shale…don’t!” She put her fingers on her temples, pushing. “The equipment malfunctioned. That’s all! It has nothing to do with anything else. I’m not pregnant with—”

  “I’m not trying to scare you, Georgia. I know it’s a lot to take in, but—”

  Just then the bathroom door opened. They both turned to look. Macy appeared. “How are you feeling?” her friend asked.

  “I’m doing as well as can be expected,” Georgia replied.

  A nurse appeared in the doorway holding a tray with a couple of those plastic cups. She walke
d in and put the tray on the table.

  “I’m Hillary,” she announced, sounding as happy as sunshine and rainbows. “We need to monitor your contractions, as well as the baby’s heartbeat. Doctor’s orders. We’ll use this.” She held up a band with a device attached. Georgia had to lean forward while she attached the band around her belly. “Next, we plug it into this,” she said, plugging a cord into a machine next to the bed.

  The nurse ‒ Hillary ‒ pointed to a cup containing another pill, “I need you to take that in exactly six minutes.”

  Georgia smiled when she caught sight of the image on the machine’s monitor.

  “That’s your baby’s heartbeat. As you can see, nice and strong.” The nurse beamed. She was a really sweet older lady who looked like she had a no-nonsense side to her as well. Georgia couldn’t take her eyes off the moving blip on the screen. Her baby. He or she was doing well.

  “The other medication on the tray is the antibiotic. You can take that now.” She held the cup out to Georgia, and she took it, tipping the pills into her mouth and then drinking the water that was in the small cup.

  “It’s to keep infections at bay.” The nurse smiled reassuringly.

  A beep sounded on the machine and the needle spiked. Georgia felt her belly harden as her uterus began to pull tight.

  “This is what a contraction looks like,” Hillary spoke to Shale and Macy. “I’m pretty sure you’re going to need to chew on the Nifedipine tablet in a couple of minutes,” she added, looking concerned.

  “Does that mean the meds aren’t working,” Georgia managed to ground out, knowing the answer.

  “Meds can sometimes take longer to kick in, sweetie, we’ll know soon enough.” She patted Georgia on the hand. “Take the Nifedipine once your contraction subsides. I’ll be back in a half hour ‒ call if you need me sooner. The button is over there.” She gestured to somewhere behind Georgia, but the contraction was getting too strong to be able to respond. All she could do was breathe. That and pray.