by Night, H. T.
The waitress put two cups of coffee in front of us. I wasn’t a big coffee drinker. I often burnt my lips trying to drink the stuff. That is why I normally drank iced coffee, as a way to get my caffeine without setting my mouth on fire.
Donya and I finished our cups of coffee. Hopefully, the sweatshirts would help keep her warm on the remainder of the Mani flight home. I decided to let Donya also wear my trench coat, too. I’m not sure what flowed in my veins, but whatever it was kept me warm when I flew. I never got cold. As a matter of fact, I had never thought about it till tonight.
Donya and I slipped outside. When the coast was clear, she held on tight to my body and I flew my butt off. I needed to get to Lena as fast as I humanly and vampirely could.
Chapter Sixteen
We headed over the United States mainland and I continued my accelerated speed to get to Victorville as fast as possible. It was ten minutes from the mainland with the speed I was hauling ass at.
I landed with Donya in the front yard of the house and it was 5:00 in the morning. By traveling east, I was able to make time stop. In other words, it was the same time in the morning that I left in the Philippines than it was in Victorville. We were now in Pacific Standard time zone. The trip had taken a pretty insane toll on both of us.
Donya didn’t talk much as we entered the house, but I knew how grateful she was. I hoped by myself telling her that Atticai had thought she was dead all those years gave her some understanding. I placed her in Tommy’s bedroom and wrapped her in blankets. I told her that I needed to check on my wife and to get some rest.
Tommy, Yomaida and her doctor were in her room. There were nurses outside the bedroom, looking busy. “What’s going on?” I asked, worried.
“Lena has been in labor for the last four hours,” Tommy answered. He was holding Lena’s hand at one side of her bed and Yomaida was at the other side, giving her ice chips. All the while, the doctor was in a very compromising position between Lena’s legs but there was a sheet to guard her modesty. Lena was hooked up to a machine in the room, which beeped out her heartbeats as well those of both my boys.
Lena looked at me with a ‘Thank God’ look on her face.
The doctor peeked out and said, “You’re at 5 centimeters. You’re halfway there. Hopefully we can rock and roll in a couple of hours. Don’t push yet.”
“I know,” Lena said.
“Hi, Sweetie,” I said. “How are you holding up?”
“I’m in a lot of pain, but what are you going to do? I’m delivering twins.”
The doctor looked at her. “The pain meds should kick in soon. We can’t give you a lot, just something to take the edge off.”
She nodded.
Tommy looked at me and asked, “Did everything go smooth?”
“Yes, as smooth as four vampires breaking into a compound and rescuing a prisoner could be.”
“Where is she at?”
“I put her in your room. I wrapped her in some blankets. It was a very cold flight. She is an older woman who was in no position to make that kind of flight. I want the doctor to check her out when he has a minute.”
The doctor looked at me and said, “I can see her right now. Lena should be okay for the next few minutes. Where is she at?”
“She’s downstairs in the room right next to the dining room,” Tommy answered.
“I’ll show you, Dr. Kukoc.” Yomaida got up and she and the doctor got up to check on Donya who was downstairs.
“Do you want to go down with them and make sure she is okay?” Lena asked me.
“No, babydoll. You rest all that you can during labor. You are going to need all of your strength for the delivery. Donya’s going to be okay,” I said. “I know it. The doctor will find that she is just dehydrated and is in some need of food.”
“Why did you have the doctor check on her if you already knew that? You are psychic, you know.” Tommy laughed.
“I’m not psychic. Actually, I’m not sure what I am. I probably could pull off a pretty cool show in Vegas if I wanted to. It’s just good to have a second opinion on her health.”
“Especially when only one of you is a doctor,” Tommy reminded me. There he goes. He liked to raise me up, just to knock me down. That’s a best friend for you. Then Tommy looked down at Lena and said, “I am going to give you more ice chips.”
“That would be great. Thanks, Tommy,” Lena said, sounding extraordinarily weak. “Thanks to you and Yomaida for all you have done.” Lena squeezed Tommy’s hand and he looked down at her and gave her one of his classic winks.
Tommy walked over to me and gave me a pat on the shoulder. It was an attempt at affection, but he knew I was exhausted and just wanted to be with Lena. He did pull me outside the bedroom however. “You good, Josiah?” Tommy asked, quietly, so Lena couldn’t hear.
“Ain’t I always?” I said, very exhausted.
“I was worried.” Tommy looked at me very seriously.
“Why?”
“Well, once I found out that you’re mortal, it is a little scary thinking about all the crazy shit you do. I thought you were Superman, and now it appears you’re just Batman.”
“Batman is still pretty bad ass.”
“Yes, he is, but...”
“But... what Tommy?”
“What makes Batman so much more interesting is that he can die. One bullet in the chest is the end of him.”
“Don’t forget, Tommy, I’m still Superman. I have all my Mani abilities. I am just mortal in the p... I think that makes me even better than Batman.”
“Maybe, but you’re still not Superman.”
I looked at Tommy and wanted to give assurance that everything was going to be okay.
“Tommy, I don’t have to be Superman.”
“Why not?”
“Because you are. You’re my little Superwolf that can take a bullet for me if I need it.”
Tommy went downstairs and went back into the room to see Lena. I knelt down next to Lena and took a hold of her hand. “Are you sure, you’re okay?”
“I’m okay.” Lena looked at me and she knew that something was wrong. “What happened out there, Josiah?”
“You don’t need to know the gory details. Just know that we all got back safe.”
“Was it more gory than you killing Cyrus in the house we all live in?” Lena sounded very weak and this was not the kind of conversation that a woman who was about to give birth needed to have.
“Lena, I did what I had to do for the safety of everyone. Especially you and our soon-to-be boys.”
Lena looked white as a ghost and I wanted her to stop talking. She didn’t look well.
“Josiah, I can tell something is bothering you.”
“Not now. We’ll talk later.”
Then Lena then touched my heart with her hand. “Josiah Reign, I’m about to have your babies. If I want to know what’s on your mind, you’re damn well going to tell me.”
I sighed and smiled. “I was scared, Lena. It was the first time I felt that kind of fear. I had jolts of fearful moments over the past couple of years, but this was different. I was afraid for myself. I could care less about my own life when it really comes down to it. I was afraid for you and for the boys. When I believed I was invincible, I could do no wrong. I knew no matter what, that I wasn’t going to die.”
“Before you were a vampire, you were a fearless man. What changed?”
“You changed. You being pregnant changed everything. I don’t know if I’m cut out for this. I want to make sure I am here for you and the children.”
Suddenly, Lena started panting heavily. “Here is another contraction!” Then Lena screamed.
“Breathe, baby, breathe. Remember your breathing.” I had no clue what to do.
“I know about my breathing! I’ve been breathing the whole time you were gone!” Lena yelled at me.
That’s my girl. Keep breathing.
Chapter Seventeen
For about an hour, I felt completely h
elpless. All I could do was sit next to her and remind her to breathe and feed her ice chips when needed. Lena was in a lot of pain. I think there was something going on with her body, other than her natural contractions. Also, the doctor seemed to be far more panicky than I would have liked. His body language was telling me something was seriously wrong. Everyone except for Donya was now in the room, giving Lena moral support.
After about ten minutes of doctor and nurses talking in code about Lena’s condition, I finally said, “Everyone, get out of the room. I only want doctor and nurses in here.” I planned on staying. I wasn’t sure what was about to happen. I wasn’t sure if Lena was about to deliver two aliens out of her stomach.
I studied everyone’s face in the room. Something was wrong. There was a lot of blood and I was unsure what to make of it.
“I think we should have done this in the hospital!” Dr. Kukoc said to me.
“It’s a little too late for that,” I said.
“Actually, it isn’t, we can get her to the Memorial Hospital in about 20 minutes, 10 minutes by airlift. Those facilities would be far better than a bedroom.”
I looked at Lena, and I knew we couldn’t really deliver these babies in a hospital. If something bizarre happened, or if something went horrifically wrong, we needed to keep this in our house. We couldn’t let the press get a hold of the story. What if the babies came out with fangs? Would our entire Mani culture be revealed from the newborn PKU blood tests? We didn’t really know what to expect. I did know that I didn’t want TLC knocking on our door to do a documentary on us. I felt that we needed to be fiercely private, to protect ourselves, at the moment, from the Tandra media, as well as Krull and his followers, who would dearly love to murder my children if they knew of their existence.
Although the situation appeared dire, I looked at the doctor and said, “We are going to deliver the babies here, tonight, in this room. Everything is going to be okay.”
In my heart, I know there would be a good outcome. It didn’t look great in the present scenario, but I knew this was going to work. I had had too many visions about the future that had both boys and Lena in them for this to go as wrong as it appeared. I had to follow my instincts, and those instincts were saying, ‘Stay put.’
“Do whatever you have to do to get this room exactly how you need it. I want all nurses in here,” I said plainly to the doctor.
The doctor looked at me and nodded his head. “May I ask you to leave for about ten minutes so we can organize the room to the highest of safety standards?”
“Of course!” I stepped outside the room and went downstairs to get a glass of water. This was pretty nerve wracking. I couldn’t even imagine poor Lena, and the kind of courage it took not to bawl her head off and beg for better drugs. When I got to the kitchen, Yomaida, Tommy, and now Donya were sitting around the table.
“How’s it going in there?” Tommy asked, concerned.
“It isn’t going to well,” I muttered.
“Is there anything we can do?” Yomaida asked.
“They want to take her to the hospital. I have a horrible feeling if they take her there, no good will come of it. I am at peace about staying here. I know everything is going to be okay.” I sat at the table and was exhausted. I had been up for 48 hours straight.
I laid my head down on the table. Donya looked over at me and asked, “Who are you?”
I looked at Donya and said, “I don’t even know anymore.”
“What I can tell is that you are many things to many people. You’re going to exhaust yourself to the point where you’re not going to be able to function.” This was coming from a woman who had just spent the last forty-plus years in a prison camp.
My mind was started to feel a bit delirious from all the fatigue. “I’ll rest once the boys are born,” I said.
Tommy walked over to me and sat right next to me. His face was very concerned. “Is Lena going to be okay?”
“She will be, even if I have to heal her myself.” I gave Tommy a wink as if to say, ‘Don’t forget who I am, and what I am capable of doing.’
“No, Josiah, I am quite aware of all your abilities. I just wonder if sometimes you know about them. You hardly use your skills.”
“Atticai showed me thoroughly how to use my abilities when he was Goshi. I choose to not use them because they are too extreme for most situations, but if a situation calls for it, I won’t hesitate to use them.”
“All I’m saying, Josiah. Be aware of who you are. We are all very aware of what you become. You need to trust it, starting right now.”
I stood up and said, “Thanks for your concern, but I better go up and be with Lena.”
“Hey, Josiah!” Tommy yelled I stood up and turned around.
“Merry Christmas.”
I looked at the clock on the wall and it was six in the morning. It was the time I used to open presents with my family when I was a kid. “It is Christmas, isn’t it? My two sons are going to be born on Christmas Day.”
Of course they are, I thought sarcastically.
Chapter Eighteen
Lena continued to scream as she pushed. I sat in the corner of the room waiting for my cue. That cue would be when I felt Lena needed healing. As I sat there waiting for a signal from the doctor, it was the most unusual moments of my life. I was waiting for him to say she was too sick. At the same time, I was prepared for him to tell me she had given birth to one of the two boys.
So, I sat there, waiting. The waiting was making me nuts. Then, suddenly, I became highly aware that I could heal whatever was bothering her at any given time. Why couldn’t I? Healing is healing… it doesn’t matter when the person needed it. I popped up and made my way over to Lena. I knelt down on the floor right next to her head. “Lena! Baby! Look at me!” I said, almost screaming. I needed for her to hear my voice over her own screaming. “Honey! Look at me,” I continued. “I’m going to heal whatever is happening to you.”
“Where have you been?” Lena screamed at me.
“I’ve been right here in the room.”
“Josiah,” Lena’s voice was weakening. “Josiah, something is very wrong with me.”
“I know. I’m going to heal you. Close your eyes.”
Lena was in so much pain. She could hardly process what was happening to her.
So, I placed my hands over her upper body. I focused on the healing of her body. I closed my eyes and tried to have as many power come out of me as possible and go directly into her. I did this for about a minute. But... there was a problem. Nothing was happening. I looked at Lena and she screamed like she was in even more pain.
What the hell was going on?
This was the first time I was afraid. For whatever reason, I couldn’t heal her. I touched her again, this time on the head. I put my hand on her moist forehead. I tried to summon power from the Triat like the way I did that night with Goliath. Again, nothing happened.
My heart sank to the floor. This couldn’t be right. Had I lost the ability to heal? When Goliath was beating me up, I gave myself to the Triat. I offered myself up. Maybe that was the only way that Lena could be healed. We needed to offer ourselves up. Lena needed to release herself to the Triat.
“Lena” I said. “Open your eyes and look at me.” Lena’s eyes didn’t open. “Holy shit! This can’t be happening!” I yelled out.
“We are going to have to do a Caesarean section!” Dr. Kukoc called out to the nurses.
“Do what you got to do. Please make sure each of them is safe!” I said to the doctor.
The doctor looked at me and sighed. The nurses got in position to get the C-section going.
Within minutes, they had administered a general anesthetic and moved Lena to a position to slice her open and to remove both my boys from her uterus.
Then just like what happened when I got into a fight, time began to go still. They first removed my first son from her opened belly.
“That’s Joshua,” I said.
One of th
e nurses cut the cord and removed my son from the room. I looked at my child as he left through the door in the nurse’s arms. I didn’t get the chance to feel the magic of the moment. There were so many things going through my head. Lena was passed out and I wasn’t sure if she was dying, and I’m pretty sure the doctor wasn’t sure either. All we could go on was we all could hear her heartbeat on the machine as well as my son who was still in her stomach. I looked down and noticed there was a problem getting the second child out.
“His umbilical cord is wrapped around his neck two times,” one of the nurses yelled out.
I looked down as I watched as the two nurses undo the cord around Jason’s neck. As they were removing Jason, something phenomenal happened. As Jason was being picked up, his tiny hand touched the inside pelvic area of Lena’s body; right on the outside of her body. As my son touched his mother, something supernatural started happening in that room. A tiny, glowing light glowed off my son’s hand. The shot of light ignited off his hand and lit up Lena’s body like a Christmas tree.
No one quite knew what to do. The nurses tried to remove Jason from Lena’s body, but they couldn’t move him.
“Let him be!” I yelled out. “He’s healing her.” This went on for another twenty seconds and then the glow from Lena’s body went off just as if someone turned off the light switch.
The nurses finally removed Jason from Lena’s body. Within seconds, Lena’s entire body was healed. Even the C-section incision had magically disappeared. Her body was free of cuts, bruises, incisions and scars. This was truly a miracle.
I took a step back, trying to take in what had happened. My baby boy, Jason, not even 20 seconds old, touched and healed his own mother. His accidental touch was able to heal her? Or was it accidental? Could a baby who was a few seconds old even understand the severity of the situation? This was blowing my mind.
I looked down at Lena and her eyes opened. “Josiah, what happened?”
“You’re okay, that’s what happened. Something miraculous occurred in this room and you have your youngest son to thank for it.”