Surprise! for hesdead_jim

[cadet_amara]

Amara enjoyed the night shift, but she had to admit it made it hard to get out of bed. She wondered why her sleep cycle was so effected. Space was always dark. It shouldn't matter what the clock said. However, when she tried to get up this particular day she felt as if she hadn't slept at all. Every muscle in her body ached, and she felt... well... odd. Something was off. Her stomach felt like it was squirming... and she felt ill.

She looked down and was surprised to see her stomach looked a little bloated. "What the-?" She got up quickly and went to check her appearance in the mirror. Yes, her stomach was definitely not as flat as it usually was. There was a certain roundness... as it she were... no, not possible. She wasn't even going to entertain the thought. First of all she never missed her birth control. Second, if she were pregnant a belly wouldn't have appeared overnight. It simply didn't work that way. It must be something else.

Whatever it was, it felt like something just moved in there. That scared her, and she carefully felt her abdomen, shocked to find there appeared to be something inside her. Moving. Responding to her touch.

Frightened and trying not to panic, she dressed quickly and rushed off to Sickbay, hoping Leonard was on duty. Whatever was going on was definitely going to require his attention.

Comments

[hesdead-jim.livejournal.com]

Leonard was on duty, cursing the fact even now that his shift clashed terribly with Amara's and meant that they hadn't spent a decent hour together in days. Since their shared confession of love for the other, he felt it was important to spend good time together. Seemed the duty rosters weren't thinking the same.

He had his back to the door when they slid open and, because he knew there were nurses there and he was terribly busy going through inventory, he didn't turn to see who it was.

[cadet-amara.livejournal.com]

She scanned Sickbay for him, ignoring the nurses and other medical personnel completely. She didn't want them she only wanted to talk to Leonard. This whole thing seemed so unreal she half expected to wake up any second, and was honestly really wishing she would.

"Doctor McCoy?" She was trying to keep the panic out of her voice, but was failing miserably.

[hesdead-jim.livejournal.com]

He turned when he heard Amara's voice, PADD in hand, speaking as he turned. "Amar-aaaaah?" his eyes immediately fell to her obviously larger stomach and he reached out for her arm, taking a hold to guide her to a biobed. "What on Earth?"

[cadet-amara.livejournal.com]

"I don't know!" She wanted to cry, or scream, or both, and she swallowed hard to try to control her emotions. She wasn't prone to overreacting, but everything seemed to make her want to cry right now. To make things worse for some reason she had a strong craving for something salty... maybe mixed with something sweet.

"I woke up like this, and I swear it's gotten bigger since I left my quarters... and..." She stopped when she felt it moving again, like it was poking, trying to claw out. She got a sudden mental image of some alien exploding out of her belly like on a bad old Earth horror film and shuddered. "And there's something moving around in there."

[hesdead-jim.livejournal.com]

"C'mon, sit down on here," he tried to help guide her up onto a biobed, wanting to run a scan immediately. "How fast has it taken ta grow this size?"

[cadet-amara.livejournal.com]

"I... I don't know. Everything was normal when I went to bed after my shift.... about five hours ago." Her lower lip started to tremble and she wiped her eyes quickly, furious at herself for crying like this. "What is wrong with me?"

[hesdead-jim.livejournal.com]

He quickly reached up to pull a privacy curtain around the biobed, knowing how she would feel about people seeing her cry like this. He leant in to tenderly kiss her forehead, trying to calm her even as he flipped open his tricorder and took hold of it to scan her.

The more he saw, the more his eyes widened. "Yer... pregnant. It's growin' at an incredible rate, Amara. Even in... th' last 30 seconds it's grown. I need ta run tests. See if you've been exposed ta some sort of radiation or... hell, anythin'."

[cadet-amara.livejournal.com]

She was grateful when he pulled the privacy curtain, this was definitely a moment she did not want to share with the rest of his medical staff. Panic started to well up in her again when he said the word "pregnant", and a million worries immediately flooded her mind.

"How the hell did I get pregnant?" She tried her best to keep her voice low, not wanting to have this going around the entire ship. "I mean... I've never missed an injection. Not one."

[hesdead-jim.livejournal.com]

"I don't know, sweetheart. Jus' lemmie have a look at what's goin' on here," he quickly tapped a control panel above her head to set up a scan, taking hold of her hand as he waited for the scan to complete. "It's growin' at such a rate... Amara, this baby is goin' to be born today."

[cadet-amara.livejournal.com]

"What?!" She had a death grip on his hand, the terror quite apparent on her face. "But... it's ok right? I mean... despite the obvious growth rate and everything... it's healthy?" Despite the shock of it all she was still concerned for the child. That was her baby, and she was suddenly feeling very protective of it. "Do you know if it's a boy or girl?"

She paused a second, trying to process all the questions going through her mind. "And.... can I have something to eat?"

[hesdead-jim.livejournal.com]

"I... don't think it's human," the biological data was unrecognisable. He didn't know if that was because of the rate it was growing, or otherwise. He suspected it was simply because it wasn't human.

"'Mara, I'm goin' to give you protien injections. If this baby is growin' so fast, it'll be takin' from you at a rate eatin' won't replace." Even as he spoke he was opening up the nearest drugs store and loading up a hypospray.

[cadet-amara.livejournal.com]

"What do you mean, it's not human?" Her voice rose slightly, and she glanced around and brought the volume back down so no one else would hear her. "You're the only one I've been with in a rather long time, so unless there's something you're not telling me that shouldn't be possible."

She shifted uncomfortably, her clothes were getting way too tight, and she was still sore and ached all over. "Mmph." The baby, or whatever it was, was kicking her hard now, and it was starting to hurt.

[hesdead-jim.livejournal.com]

"I mean entirely not human. There is no human dna in there," he pressed the hypo gently to her neck and unloaded it entirely, eyes scanning up at the readings again to be sure it was having an effect.

"Whatever it is is goin' ta need birthin'. I suggest a c-section so I can be sure it won't do you any damage."

[cadet-amara.livejournal.com]

"It... won't hurt it, will it?" She didn't know why, but she felt protective of this life inside her, whatever it was. Maternal instinct she supposed, even if it wasn't really her genetic child.

[hesdead-jim.livejournal.com]

"I'll do my best ta make sure it doesn't," he reached to touch her arm gently then and let out a breath. "At least th' hypo is helpin'. I need ta get Chris in here. I can't deliver this baby on my own. But I'll get only her. Okay?"

[cadet-amara.livejournal.com]

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "You're going to deliver it now? Already?"

[hesdead-jim.livejournal.com]

"No, no. But I need her ta know what's goin' on so she's ready. We have another hour or so till we need ta deliver," he paused. "I also need ta tell Jim, 'Mara. He hasta find out what did this. Could be an anomoly an' if it's happened ta you, it might to other women on the ship."

[cadet-amara.livejournal.com]

She nodded a little, knowing that when the baby came it wouldn't exactly be a secret anymore anyway. "Ok... In the meantime can you find me something else to wear? I feel like every part of me is swollen."

[hesdead-jim.livejournal.com]

"Of course. Let me go get you a gown an' talk ta Chris," he leant in close then to tenderly kiss her forehead. "2 minutes is all I'll be."

[cadet-amara.livejournal.com]

She forced a smile and nodded, "Ok." She squeezed his hand a little, finally feeling a little calmer. He seemed to have everything under control, and knowing that he was going to be there made her feel more secure. "I'm glad you're here, Leonard."

[hesdead-jim.livejournal.com]

"Wouldn't be anywhere else," he made himself smile at her then and, squeezing her hand gently, exited to go get her a gown, and to inform Christine of the situation.

[cadet-amara.livejournal.com]

She sighed and leaned back, trying to make herself relax. However, not long after he left she felt a sharp pain and felt a gush of liquid. While she wasn't familiar with labor at all she had a feeling that's what this was, and it was happening fast.

"Leonard!" She cried out, biting her lip hard to keep from screaming.

[hesdead-jim.livejournal.com]

"Shit..." he raced back through then with Christine, eyes widening before he composed himself again. "It's okay, sweetheart, it's okay. Christine, get her the damn drugs," painkillers to get her through this. He was quickly getting rid of her clothing for her, aside from her top and moving to pull on gloves and to get everything ready to open her up.

[cadet-amara.livejournal.com]

Christine was probably her new favorite person in the world once she gave her the painkillers. Now that she was nice and numb she was entirely focused on the terrifying situation at hand. It seemed she was about to be a mother... of some unknown alien baby... the thought made her feel lightheaded. Despite her fears, she was still worried about the child.

"Is everything still okay? Is the baby alright?"

[hesdead-jim.livejournal.com]

"It's okay... it's okay," he let out a breath as he gently touched her stomach, looked at Christine with a nod. "I'm goin' ta make the cut now, Amara. Ya won't feel much. Maybe a lil' uncomfortable but no pain. Okay?"