Love Again

148. The Missing Piece

Niel watched the slow rise and fall of his fated's chest, then his swollen breasts and recalled Stan's uncle's advice.

'It will take practice and soon enough, you'll master the skill to help him. Of course for marked males it will be painful at the beginning however, if you fail to do this, once the infants are able to feed by themselves, there will be more milk available than necessary, the nipples too tight for an infant to attach to the breast. Pumping out excess milk will help his body produce just enough amount needed once the infants are out of the incubator. Additionally, now is the best time to breastfeed for them for nourishment and feeding purposes but since he won't be doing so for now, his breasts will become engorged and painful. Good thing this can be treated at home through the same procedure I've advised you of."

"You're still here?" Stan's uncle walked into the room. "Go take a shower, and some rest. With all that blood on, you look like you came from a blood battle."

"I can't leave just yet, he still needs me..."

"It's alright, you've done well. Moreover, Elric will live to remember you as his hero."

"Elric..." Niel called out softly, turning to look at his unconscious fated. He'd been administered oxygen since they arrived and had been on it for more than four hours already. His eyes still appeared puffy from crying nonstop and Niel's body shivered at the memory of his fated calling out his name repeatedly, begging him to take his agony away.

He'd never seen Elric cry that much and despite sharing in his pain through their spiritual essence and yearning, it wouldn't have compared to what he sensed since Elric was the one physically feeling all the magnitude of how excruciating it felt to have his pelvic bone forcefully expand just so his body was able to bring forth two lives. Furthermore, he'd also lost a lot of blood. 

"He is alright don't worry. Go and take a shower at least. Look at your shirt all tarry. Do you think when he wakes up, he would want to see you like this?"

"He's going to ask about them..." Niel mumbled to himself but his eyes still remained on his fated.

"They are not ready yet to be taken home. Normally, babies delivered as early as yours would be put in an incubator since some of their vital organs haven't fully developed. Unlike the first child, the girl seems to have a very low birth weight and her vital organs are underdeveloped. We have them both in NICU, allowing the hospital to care for them round the clock until they are both fully developed."

"How long will that take doctor?"

"It largely depends on scentimatization and their health condition. I'm quite glad you have been doing a fantastic job at scenting your fated otherwise, he would have had a miscarriage or even worse, other health complications associated with being pregnant at seven months of womb maturation. Anyway, do not fret. As long as they are both able to maintain their body temperature, especially when put inside an open crib, we can discharge them. Be lucky that modern science allows them to be seen as moderately preterm, meaning they are likely to be discharged once they officially clock eight months.

Still, I have to ask, why did you scent him so much to the point of getting them that excited? Aren't you aware how many Naks your scent is?"

Looking up at the doctor, Niel asked what he meant.

"Your scent is very strong. Didn't Yeon brief you of it when you came here with Elric and his mother months back?"

"You mean that test Yeon did?"

"Yes."

"He did, but I didn't think much of it."

"Perhaps you may not know how triggering it can be or how to handle a strong scent such as yours. Your offsprings are taking it quite well, with Elric absorbing it and what not. Now that they are delivered, they may not feel it as much as before but it appears what triggered Elric suddenly going into labour was your pungent scent." Stan's uncle laughed briefly. "One would think they'd wanted to come out and smell it for themselves instead of through Elric."