The Two Lunas

Chapter 19

I woke up a couple hours later to a feeling of nausea and back pain. My stomach was doing all sorts of weird things. It almost felt hard sometimes. "Aries. My stomach hurts and I feel nauseous. I think something's wrong."he quickly scooped me up and ran to the doctor. We didn't even get dressed we were both in our underwear and nothing else.
I wasn't sure what was going on, but we needed to make sure it wasn't serious. As soon as we got there the doctor came and open the door for us. He began putting little round stickers on my belly and a monitoring belt thing to see what was going on.
Within minutes he determined I had started to go into labor. He gave me a shot to stop it. But it seemed to go keep going on. I was in tears. It was way too early. I couldn't lose my babies. I couldn't! By the time the contractions stopped I was inconsolable. Aries held me tight and talked to the doctor. I didn't hear anything over my mournful cries.
The doctor kept me there a while longer. He continued to monitor the kittens and did an ultrasound to see how they were looking. When he determined that everything was back under control he sent us home.

Soon Aries carefully set me back in our bed and held me as I wept. He rubbed my back and whispered comforting words. But everything seemed muddled and confusing. I had almost lost my babies. I had been minutes, maybe hours away from losing everything.

The next few days I was in a daze. I had almost lost my kittens. I couldn't process it. It seemed beyond my comprehension. I had almost lost my babies. Aries stayed with me for a day, but the pack needed him too.
Aries woke me up and carried me to the bath. I wanted to protest, but it was too much work. I was too depressed to voice my complaint. He washed me and slowly spread lotion over my body and dressed me in some oversized sweats.
I knew he was talking but I didn't hear anything. I wasn't listening. It was too hard. Everything seemed hard. Eventually he gave up and carefully lay me back down on the bed.

It was a few hours before someone sat on the bed next to me. I was just laying on the bed staring at the wall in front of me. I never reacted to the person. With some help they got me propped up and began feeding me soup. Then they lit a joint and handed it to me. I hadn't had any in days. I was too distracted to even think about it.
After smoking I turned with a guarded look.
Niles. Niles came to help me.
Shouldn't he be in school? I couldn't think straight. Did we still have school? I didn't even know anymore.
He scooted next to me and cuddled into me.
"Hey sweetie. I heard you had a hard week. But your strong. If anyone can carry these babies and keep them safe it's you. You can't give up. We all believe you can do this."
I broke down crying. But I needed this. Up until now I had grown distant and numb. I needed to reconnect to my emotions. I sobbed into Niles arms as he hugged me and held me close. He stroke my head and talked quietly to me. He reaffirmed I could do this. That I was going to be okay. That he would be there for me. As would everyone else. He told me how much everyone loved me. And I soaked it all up like a sponge. I need to be built back up. This experience had stripped me of all my confidence. I felt like I was failing my babies, my mate, my pack. and I needed to hear that it would be okay. I knew he couldn't actually know that, but I needed it all the same.
I drifted back off to sleep but it was more peaceful. I felt more whole. And a small part of me was able to hope it would all be okay again.
Niles woke me up a couple hours later to feed me again. This time it was chili. It had more substance than my last meal and somehow it brought me comfort. Maybe it was a comfort food. Not that I had ever heard anyone call it that.
"That's my luna." He smiled down at me. "I'm so glad your coming back to yourself." I gave him a small smile.
"Don't you have school?" I asked. I wasn't trying to be rude but it may have come across that way. "I took my final exams early so I could stay with you. I probably didn't get A's in any of my classes, but I am sure I at least got passing grades. You're more important. As soon as I heard what happened and how down you were, I knew I had to be here for you. This isn't a time for you to be alone." I smiled gratefully. "Thanks Niles. You're too kind."
He blushed. So cute.
"It was nothing. I wanted to help."
"Where are you going to sleep? We don't have any extra room?"
He grinned. "I have a car. I will come every morning. And stay for the day, at least until your mate gets home. If I'm too tired to drive, I can just crash on the couch." I sighed. "Well thank you."
He just shrugged. "We're going to be family. And family looks after each other. I would hope you'd do the same if the rolls were reversed." I nodded. I probably would. How could I not, he was so sweet, and he was my brothers mate. I was sure we would be fast friends. "Probably. I would like to think so anyway."