What Happens Now? (1 of 3)

Writers: Miriah, Heather
Date Posted: 13th November 2013

Characters: D'hol, Jeyme, Druzella
Description: There's an unexpected loss.
Location: Dolphin Cove Weyr
Date: month 4, day 5 of Turn 7

D'hol

Jeyme

It had been nearly two sevendays that Jeyme had been living with
D'hol, and she actually found it to be more comfortable than she had
previously imagined. For whatever reason, she found it rather easy to
just be herself with D'hol, and the tenuous relationship that she had
known with him before still flowed naturally. The best part was that
after she woke up in the morning she didn't
have to scamper back to her own weyr for clothes. Now, everything was
simply all in one place.

Jeyme smiled sleepily as she thought about the small bump along her
abdomen. It was so small that she was sure it was unnoticeable to
anyone but her. She knew her body. Snuggling into her pillow in the
dark, with the sound of D'hol's breathing beside of her, all felt
peaceful, and hopeful.

The greenrider's eyes fluttered close, but almost immediately they
shot back open. A sharp, intense stabbing rippled through her abdomen,
and she groaned as she doubled with the pain. Blindly she fumbled with
the basket on the bed side table, unshuttering the glows to their
brightest.

"D'hol!" The name was ground between her teeth as she flipped back the
furs, her eyes going to the crimson that was blossoming on the bed
between her thighs.

D'hol instantly awoke at the unusual cry and sat up blearily, turning
to look at the woman beside him. "What is it?" He looked down, paused
only a moment before barking out, "Yumath!" He slowed only enough to
pull trousers on before he whirled back to the bed and with a grim set
to his jaw, scooped Jeyme up in his arms. The large bronze had
immediately hunkered as low as he could and not even bothering to
strap themselves in, D'hol gave the signal to fly as soon as they were
settled.

The large bronze had already alerted the Infirmary, and the moment
they landed, D'hol slid off of the dragon, still carefully cradling
Jeyme.

A rather severe looking healer woman met them at the door of the
infirmary, "Lay her down here." She ordered D'hol.

Tears coursed down Jeyme's cheeks as she was place down on the table.
She had been around enough women at the Hold to know what was going
on.

The healer gave a shrill whistle and two more healers appeared, "Now,
sir, go wait." The woman's voice brokered no room for argument as she
drew a curtain around the bed, effectively separating Jeyme and D'hol.

The curtain was ripped back just as quickly as D'hol stalked back in
with a snarl. "The hell I will. She carries my child and I'm not going
anywhere." He tugged it behind him and stood by Jeyme's shoulder, his
hand light, but firm on her upper arm. He looked down at her, saw the
tears, and the muscles in his jaw jerked. "I'm not going anywhere,
Jeyme."

"Dragonriders." The woman muttered the word beneath her breath like it
was something vile and profane.

Jeyme reached out with her other hand and put it on top of D'hol's,
where it rested on her upper arm. Having him there with her at least
helped her calm her nerves enough to answer the few basic questions
that the healers were asking of her. How far along was she? When did
the pains start? Had she ever been pregnant before?

"I am afraid she doesn't carry your child anymore." Druzella, the
hardened healer, told D'hol, meeting his eyes before she shooed one of
the journeymen out of her way, "Let's get this mess cleaned up." She
said grimly as she began rolling her sleeves up over her forearms,
while one of the other healers instructed Jeyme to spread her knees
apart.

D'hol kept his silence as they asked questions, but the veins throbbed
in his temples as the healers worked. He too knew what the blood and
pains meant, but the brusque nature of the healer did far worse to
snap his already splintering control. His eyes flared with fury,
stepped forward and with a lightning fast jerk of his arm, he gripped
Druzella's shirt in his hand and half lifted her. His voice was icy
cold. "That _mess_ was our child. I don't give a bloody damn what
you've seen and how you feel about it, but you will treat this with
respect or I swear by Faranth that I will haul you to the Weyrwoman by
the hair. " He let her go, his lips baring his teeth in an almost
feral snarl. "Now do your job."

Druzella's face was no longer the stoic, harsh mask from before, but
not her bottom lip was being held very tightly between her teeth, her
wrinkled cheeks paler as she wisely went about her job, with no
further comments.

Jeyme was still shocked by the calloused treatment she was receiving
from the woman. Perhaps the old healer had seen many a miscarriage in
her day, but this was Jeyme's first. Although the child had been an
unexpected complication to life, a part of Jeyme had still really
enjoyed the idea of raising a child, and especially sharing that with
D'hol.

Once Druzella had "the mess" cleaned up, she spoke again, but her eyes
did not meet D'hol's, "We'll be moving you to a clean bed now. You
will be monitored for a bit to make sure that your body is recovering
properly." And with that the old healer promptly excused herself,
leaving behind the journeymen who carefully lifted Jeyme and placed
her on a more permanent bed with clean white linens.

After Jeyme was laid on a clean cot, D'hol pulled the journeyman aside
and murmured quietly, asking the man to give Jeyme something to help
her sleep. As the journeyman left, D'hol ran a hand through his hair,
mussing it into curls as he looked down at Jeyme. His face was taut,
but calmer now, his fury locked back inside his customary walls. He
spoke quietly, "That woman will not be back in here and if she is, you
let me know." His sat at the chair beside Jeyme and leaned back
rubbing his eyes with his thumb with a soft curse.

Jeyme felt exhausted, bone-achingly, weary in a way that she had never
felt before. Along with it came an intense feeling of being empty..
hollow. When the healer came with a cup of wine laced with fellis, she
didn't even have the strength to raise her head to drink. Once the
liquid was resting warmly in her belly the effects began to take hold
almost immediately.

"I am sorry." She whispered to D'hol.

He looked up and frowned. "It's not your fault, so don't be sorry.
It's not anyone's fault, Jeyme. This happens when you're a rider." He
sat forward and touched her chin. "It may happen again. It's hard for
a greenrider to be with child, even with precautions and I knew this
was a possibility. But there is no fault and no blame, not from me."
The loss had already settled into a deep ache into the pit of his
stomach, but he showed little of it, except perhaps a slight strain
around his eyes.

His thumb stroked her jaw, just a little. "Rest, I'll handle whatever
notifications need to be made. I'll be here when you wake."

Jeyme's eyes closed, comforted by the bronzerider's familiar touch.
There was a confusing swirl of thoughts blossoming through Jeyme's
mind as the thick blanket of sleep began to curtain around her. Did
this mean that she had to move out of D'hol's weyr? He had only
invited her to live with him because of the baby. Would she wake to
find that her stuff had already been moved back to the tiny weyr that
she and Quinneth had lived in before? Would this effectively cut the
fragile thread that had held her and D'hol together?

Last updated on the January 17th 2014

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What Happens Now? (1 of 3)