by Jesse Jordan
When the treadmill beeps I lower the incline and reduce speed to a slow stroll, letting the show in front of me finish before stepping off. I look around the gym as I stretch, seeing everything that’s been sitting around unused since Rick’s disease started really taking a toll on him. “I’m going to change that,” I say to myself. “I’m going to learn how to use all this equipment, and use it right. So that when Rick gets better, I can be right beside him.”
That decided, I go up to my room, where Freida’s last words come back to me. I go over to the righthand of my two dressers, opening the top drawer. What I see brings tears to my eyes, as folded in nice, perfect squares are a pile of Rick’s exercise shirts. On top is one of his favorites, a silly picture of Albert Einstein’s head attached to a bodybuilder’s body. I pick it up and inhale, smelling the scent that is undeniably Rick.
To hell with it, I haven’t cried since Rick went into a coma. I can let myself cry for now.
Su Lin
The hum of the ventilator doesn’t disturb me any longer. After three months of sleeping next to it every night, none of it disturbs me. I know some people might think it strange, or maybe even crazy, to have an entire library turned into a state of the art hospital room complete with all of the sensors Rick had in the hospital, and then later on a bed put in for me. I consider it doing what I can to give him the best opportunity to live.
I’ve even hired two full time live-in nurses to monitor him and make sure he’s as stable as possible. Dr. Gordon didn’t have an objection after the first month, after coming out here and evaluating what we have. He says that Rick’s deterioration is constant, but slowed down, and this room is just as good as staying at the hospital.
Carefully, I swing my legs out of bed and with the help of the railing on my own bed, sit up. I might only be half-Chinese, but the two babies inside me are huge, and my tiny womb is currently overfilled, no more room in this inn. Sitting up is a challenge, and I feel like I have to run to the toilet every half hour sometimes.
“Good morning my love,” I tell Rick when I’m finally sitting up, going over to look at him. He’s shrunken some more, his body thin to the point that I’m glad the nurses cover him with a blanket. They say it’s to keep him warm, I think it’s to keep me from seeing the skeletal condition of his body… but still he doesn’t give up. His heart still beats, his brain is still working in its sleep, and I believe that as I talk to him, he hears me somehow.
“Your children are getting especially squirmy,” I tell Rick, picking up the blanket to take his unmarked hand and place it on my stomach, letting him feel. “They know that it’s a big day, and that they’re going to be able to help their Daddy soon. According to the hospital, they can induce labor in one month, and they’ll be able to say hello to you. And then the other half of the team’s ready.”
I clear my throat, putting Rick’s hand back under the blanket. “Rick, I know you maybe wouldn’t have approved of what I’m doing. Oh, on that… these hospital bills and all, technically you’re not a billionaire anymore. I had Freida check with the accountant, and you’re now officially only worth nine hundred and ninety four million dollars. K-S has seen a slight downturn in the stock price as well, so that’s part of it also. Don’t worry, Harvey’s been quiet. In fact he’s been too quiet, and Freida thinks that we might need to check up on him soon.”
I talk with Rick for another ten minutes before there’s a quiet knock on the door, and the nurse comes in. “Mrs. Kelley? I need to get Mr. Kelley’s food.”
I nod, leaving. I tried watching once, but the feeding tube and the gloop they pump into Rick’s stomach made me want to vomit myself, and I can’t risk that right now. Morning sickness was bad enough back in the first trimester, I wouldn’t want to know what kind of hell it’d be like now. Instead I pull on my robe and leave, walking down the hallway to the main living area, looking for food. With the twins putting so much pressure on my stomach it’s nearly impossible to maintain weight, but I’m doing my best. Freida’s helping too, and since two months ago the only fluids I get to drink are high calorie ones. Whole milk, protein shakes with vegetable powders, and more. Five star living, for sure.
I go into the kitchen where I see Freida already has my breakfast ready. “How’d you sleep?”
“Just fine. My back hurts, but it’s not like I can roll over easily,” I mock complain. “So… egg and weight gainer?”
“And I want to see if you can get a whole eight ounces down,” Freida challenges me. “If not, I’m not going to allow you to aqua walk today.”
I glower at her, picking up the glass of thick white liquid. “Wait, aren’t I the one that supposed to be in charge?”
“Yes,” Freida admits, “but I’m the one that’s supposed to look out for those two in your belly. And there’s no way my little nephew and niece are going to come out looking skinny because their mother can’t man up and swallow the thick white goodness of breakfast.”
“I should make you swallow some thick white goodness,” I grumble, sipping the glass. Ugh, yogurt flavor… I hate this one more than all the others. “Get you a line of strippers, you can get all their thick white goodness.”
Freida smirks, shaking her head. “Please do. I spend all my time with you, people are going to start thinking I’m a lesbian or something. I could use some time with men who don’t work around here.”
I smile slightly, forcing down half the glass before turning my attention to my scrambled egg. “Is there any way I can get some vegetables for lunch?”
“Sure,” Freida admits. “No rice though. Tiny as your stomach is getting, we need to make sure everything going in there is nutrient dense.”
I sigh, knowing I’m not going to win the argument. Still, at least Freida’s willing to mix up a half dozen of these tiny drinks a day, rotating the flavors so I don’t go insane as I try to keep my weight up. The hospital isn’t worried, they say it’s not unusual for a woman with twins to have the problems I am, but still, Freida and I are doing out best.
I finish off the small glass, burping as I set it down. “Oops. Excuse me. Why the yogurt?”
“Supposed to be good for digestion,” Freida says. “Clean digestion means less gas coming out the back end. You’re getting a little… well, you know.”
I can’t help but blush, nodding. It’s not like I’m trying, but with all the high protein foods, vegetable powders, and more, I’ve become somewhat of a gas bag. Thankfully, my huge waist more than explains it to anyone who sees me. “Well, let’s get my morning aqua walk taken care of, and then we can look at anything relating to K-S that we need to take care of.”
I guess it would seem strange that I do a half hour water walk while wearing a daring bikini, but it makes a certain amount of sense. My stomach is growing almost by the day, and having a bottom that ties on the sides while avoiding my stomach is helpful. Extra long strings especially complete the ensemble.
I get to the pool, setting the pace on the current and start my walking. It’s more of a waddle now, even with the relief of the water taking some of the weight off my body I’ve got something the size of a basketball sticking out of my stomach, and I have to deal with that.
“Well, well, well… I didn’t think a woman as advanced as you could still be seen as beautiful, but I must admit, I was wrong.”
I whirl around, reaching for my towel and barely keeping my balance. Harvey’s standing in the doorway, dressed in a sharply pressed business suit and eyeing me like a piece of meat. I half stumble, not used to trying to move this quickly right now, and sit down on the edge of the pool. “What are you doing here?”
“I came to see Rick. I’ve been trying to find out more about his condition for months, but I seem to be getting stonewalled at every turn by his assistant. I guess she’s your assistant now,” Harvey says, ignoring the strangeness of the situation as I reach over and pull my robe on, getting out of the pool. “For years, I thought they were fucking.”
“I’m su
re a lot of people thought that,” I reply, refusing to get baited. “But that doesn’t explain why you’re here, unescorted. This is my house.”
“Not all of the staff is as stubborn as Freida,” Harvey replies easily. “And this isn’t your house. You’re just a paid for piece of adornment. Kind of like the sofa or the paintings on the walls.”
“Excuse me?” I ask, getting angry. “I’m Rick’s wife!”
“You’re a mail order slut who fucked her way to a sweet life,” Harvey says dismissively. “You must be number one sucky-sucky too, considering the shit that Rick’s gotten up to since he met you. Punching out Drew Washington, dropping that million to avoid Amanda Rhett… he made more waves and more enemies since meeting you than ever before. Which, considering Rick, is quite an accomplishment.”
“Your rudeness isn’t helping your case, whatever it is,” I interrupt him. “Don’t make me call for your removal.”
“Oh, I’m not worried about it at all,” Harvey says. “You see, I know that pretty soon, I’ll be untouchable.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” I ask, walking towards the door to the swim room. I have a weird feeling about Harvey, and I don’t trust being alone with him. Harvey though moves in front of me, blocking the door. I stop, trying to keep the stutter of concern out of my voice. “Let me pass.”
“I don’t think so,” Harvey growls. “You see, I had a team of lawyers go over a couple of documents, and you don’t have any power.”
“I have enough to shut you down,” I retort. “I can make sure that you’ll never, ever be able to twist Rick’s ideas into death machines.”
“I’m not worried,” Harvey says. “Rick’s dying, he’s not going to last more than a month or two. And you only have power as long as he’s alive.”
“I have enough to make sure you retire wealthy but impotent,” I growl back. “And don’t try to bullshit me, Harvey. I’ve spent the past three months studying Rick’s designs. Sure, it took a little bit of help, but let’s be honest, I can afford the best explanations Cal Tech, Stanford, MIT and more can give me. And Rick was right, so many of his inventions could be twisted to evil ends. I’m going to make sure that doesn’t happen.”
“No… you won’t,” Harvey says, smirking. “You see, once Rick dies, the real power goes to two people… the twins inside you.”
Before I can do anything, Harvey strikes, his foot catching me in the stomach. Immediate, giant pain flares through me and I drop to my ass, holding my belly. I look up, but Harvey kicks again, a custom made Italian leather shoe catching me under the chin and sending me sprawling backwards. I can taste blood, and in my stomach I feel the babies cry out inside me. Harvey steps forward, and I try my best to curl up. “No….”
“No heirs, no power,” Harvey says before kicking me in the low back. The pain makes me scream, straightening out, and the next thing I feel is Harvey’s heel stomping my stomach again… and then the blackness.
Su Lin
“I need blood over here!”
“What’s the status of the babies?”
“Goddammit Jenkins, get your head out of your ass and scrub up!”
The words fly around my head in a flurry of noise and light, pain pulsing between my ears as I try to make sense of what’s going on. I’m in a hospital, I can tell that much, but everything around me seems to be chaos.
“The babies… what about my babies?” I mutter, looking around. I can’t feel anything below my midchest, and trying to look down I can barely move my neck. “What’s going on?”
“Mrs. Kelley, my name’s Dr. Valentine. The head of OB is coming in, but she’s still an hour out… we need to move now.” I look and see a doctor, already wearing scrubs and a mask, his blue eyes wide with focus. “Don’t worry, I’m a surgeon as well as an OB/GYN.”
“Why?” I ask, panic starting to set in as I remember Harvey kicking me. “The babies!”
“Mrs. Kelley, we need to do an emergency Cesarean section,” Dr. Valentine says. “You were assaulted, and we need to get your babies out now.”
“It’s still early,” I protest, my head ringing. “They’re not due for another month.”
“Either they come out through C-section or at least one of them is going to die,” Dr. Valentine says. “I need your permission.”
“Do it… wait, call Dr. Gordon!” I blurt out, grabbing Valentine’s hand. “The cord blood, they have to preserve the cord blood!”
Valentine nods, and turns to a nurse. “Get Gordon on the phone, tell him we have Su Lin Kelley on the table. Something about cord blood. And preserve both of those cords!”
I lay my head back, letting myself drift away. Maybe I’ve got a concussion, maybe they’ve just doped me up with some really good drugs. But either way, I don’t have the strength to keep my eyes open much longer.
“Hey… hey, wake up Mommy.”
My eyes flutter open, and I blink twice as I see Freida standing next to me. I try to reach for her, but my left arm’s stopped and I have to look over, seeing that I’ve got an IV in my arm. “What the hell happened?”
“You were bleeding internally,” Freida says softly, taking my other hand. “You won’t be sitting up much for the next few days, but they were able to fix you up pretty well. Your hoo-ha’s hideously disfigured and wrinkled, but nothing that’s any different than before.”
She clears her throat, and I can tell that whatever happened, it obviously is worse than she’s letting on. “How bad?”
“They… I had to take down Harvey, already talked to the DA. He took one look at the internal security cameras and said he’s going to charge Harvey with attempted murder. You…,” she clears her throat again, blinking furiously, and I’m touched at how hard Freida’s working to keep herself under control. “They had to put you under for quite a while.”
“The babies?” I ask. “Are Alexander and Roxanna safe?”
Freida’s glimmering eyes clear and she smiles. “Safe, sound, and loud as hell. I think it’s because they’re worried about their Mama, and they hate the fact the nurses keep trying to shove rubber nipples in their mouths.”
“Get them,” I say. “I’m sure they just need a little bit of comfort.”
Freida leaves, and in the few minutes of silence I close my eyes, giving myself a quick self evaluation. My midsection feels like that time in high school when a wushu sparring went ‘street,’ as some of us used to say, and I didn’t realize the girl I was sparring with was also versed in the harder contact styles and could throw knees like a Muay Thai artist. If I roughly triple that amount of pain, I think I’d be close to how I feel right now.
“How in the world am I going to get to the toilet?” I wonder quietly as I open my eyes. The rest of me feels more or less in one piece, I guess Harvey was obsessed with only my womb, although my low back isn’t exactly happy right now either. I know I should feel slightly offended, but more than anything I feel grateful.
I hear the approaching sound of screaming babies, and a squeaky wheel that would probably have me screaming too if I were less than a week old and had to listen to it all the time. The door to my room opens and Freida comes in with a nurse. “Look who we have!”
The screaming, if anything, gets louder, and I open my mouth. “Alexander… Roxanna… shhh, it’s okay. Mommy is here.”
I repeat myself in Mandarin, and like a light being turned off both screams stop. The nurse, who looks like she is ready to gouge out her eardrums, looks down with absolute shock. “They… those two haven’t stopped for the past two hours. How?”
“They know their Mama,” Freida says with a smirk, reaching into the clear plastic cradle and lifting out a baby. As soon as I see the small, pink wrinkled face, my heart melts and I reach out with my arms. “Su Lin, say hello to Alexander, born at exactly four nineteen PM. Alex, this is your Mommy.”
Alex fidgets as Freida carefully puts him in my arms and lets my bed recline a little bit more. Alex seems to immediately know what to d
o though as he wiggles and adjusts himself, guided by instinct until I feel his tiny mouth fasten around my right nipple and he starts sucking hungrily. Freida watches in absolute wonder as the nurse brings Roxanna over, and I’m soon holding both my children as they nurse for the first time. “Hello little ones. So Roxanna, when were you born?”
“Four twenty,” the nurse says, giggling. “Sorry… we always have a laugh whenever a baby is born at four twenty.”
“Huh?” I ask, but Freida waves it off, she’ll explain it to me later. I nurse my babies, knowing that they’re the first focus right now, stroking their tiny little heads with my thumbs. As I do, I let them bond with me, knowing they need it. “I’m glad they got my hair.”
“Well, black is kinda one of those dominant colors,” Freida says with a smirk. “I can already tell, we’re going to have to be careful with both of them when they get to their teen years… you know how to use a shotgun?”
“Nope. But I think my swords will send the proper message,” I note. Roxy squirms a little more and lets go, and I see her yawn before closing her eyes. “That’s it baby, you just rest right here. I’ve got you.”
The nurse steps forward to take her from me but I look up, backing her off with a light growl. Freida lays a hand on the nurse’s shoulder, giving her a small shake of her head. “I’ll help out. Don’t worry, these are two of the safest babies in the world right here.”
The nurse shrugs, and makes a note on the clipboard attached to the end of the twins’ crib before leaving, closing the door behind her. Once we’re alone, I lean back, letting Alexander drink his fill. “Were they able to save the cords?”
Freida nods, biting her lips in worry. “I’m still worried, Su Lin. But Gordon says they’re going to get the treatments started within twenty four hours. He said that in some ways the early delivery could be a blessing in disguise. The team didn’t think they’d be able to start treatments for another few weeks. But with the extra time, they can get a head start, and that means less deterioration that they have to overcome.”