A Knick In Time

The Midwife

The night stretches on to be the longest of my life. Iduna lies on her furs, sweating and panting, wailing and occasionally screaming in pain. The birth poses multiple complications, or, at least, I strongly believe to those are multiple of the possible complications I have learnt about. Unfortunately, the lack of medical equipment makes it in some cases impossible to be sure. Meanwhile, Iduna's friend - a well-meaning, but pretty much clueless girl when it comes to babies - is hopelessly overwhelmed. Luckily, I have spent a lot of time in the gynecology ward of my training hospital in Whitmore. This particular field of expertise held a special appeal to me, mainly because of the babies. Therefore, I know what to do.

"Hand me the alcohol, please. And keep trying to cool her down with that cloth and water." I instruct.

She looks at me in confusion. "The what? Alkol..."

Right. I guess the word doesn't exist yet. "The Met."

"Why do you want Met? It'll make you tired and dizzy." Her confusion only heightens.

I sigh, not in the mood to explain this now. "It's not for drinking. It's- argh, just get it, ok... just do it."

She does as I say. The Met is not the sterilizer I had envisioned, but it'll have to do. The birth poses many difficulties. For one, there is the obvious high blood pressure which I am trying to fight by having Iduna's body cooled down a bit. Something that helps only a little. Then there is my suspicion about the placenta being misplaced; I have tried to fix that problem and I'm hoping it worked. Her contractions are practically non-stop by now. I was hoping the baby would be here already, but that's not the case.

As the night stretches on, I lose track of time, my sole focus being Iduna and her baby. In my head, I try to talk to myself, saying: 'I can do this. Just keep going...'

***

Several hours later, I finally exit the hut. A dance of yellow, orange, red and purple on the horizon breaking through the grey fog of night tells me that it's dawning. Exhausted to the bone, I slump down with my back against the wall of Iduna's hut. In a minute, I will have to get up and get myself to Tatia's hut, home. To my sister and my nephew. But right now, I am physically unable to even lift a finger. And I don't want to think either, especially not about the chores that have to be done today. A sigh escapes my lips. What a night.

"Elena?" a familiar baritone voice makes me lift my head. Elijah Mikaelson is standing before me, his face wearing an expression of surprise. "Have you been here all night?"

I nod, too tired to speak.

He looks at me, sympathy now showing in his eyes. "You were very noble to try, but you need not wear yourself down like this. Iduna's death has been predicted by Ayana many days ago, there is no fault in accepting her fate. You are not to blame."

Without realizing it, this man provides me with joy. A weak but noticeable smile spreads over my lips as I gaze at him. Standing before me in the light of dawn, Elijah suddenly seems unbelievably beautiful. I mean, he's always been handsome, kind of, but now, he appears to me as absolute perfection.

When I speak, my voice is full of pride. "Iduna is not dead."

His demeanor changes from sympathetic to surprised. "No?"

I shake my head, still smiling slightly. "No, she's not. I managed to save her. Iduna and her child are alright. It's a boy."

Now, Elijah starts smiling, respect streaming through his eyes at me. "Consider me impressed. I've never seen anyone successfully defy Ayana's predictions before and I have lived here for more than thirty winters. You just performed a miracle."

"What can I say? I know what I'm doing."

He exhales in something that sounds like a mix between a chuckle and a huff. "Well how about that?!" He stands there for a minute, observing me in silence. "Forgive me, but if the mother and child have been saved, why are you still here?"

"Exhaustion." I answer shortly.

The smirk spreading on his face now has a mischivous glint. "Is that so? Well, let me help you then."

My tired brain isn't able to see what he means, so I merely make a small noise of confusion. But then, he shows me what he meant. By picking me up and carrying me bridal style through the village, heading for Tatia's hut.

The realization that I won't have to walk now flows through my heavy limbs like a warm, caressing river.
"Thank you." I whisper.

Elijah looks at me. "After what you just did, it is an honour."

Through the metallic heaviness in my body, dulled by tiredness, his words warm my heart. I always did appreciate his nobility, but now, he seems like a gift from heaven. I sigh and close my eyes. Feeling the muscles in his arms carry me further, I let myself doze off. Just for a moment...

"She's still asleep?" a sweet young voice interrupts my slumber. I grumble and unwillingly open my eyes. Haakon is standing next to me, looking down at me.

Tatia stands behind him, stirring a pot of what smells to be dinner. "Yes, she's still sleeping. But she'd better wake up soon."

"What time is it?" I ask, slowly getting up.

My sister raises her eyebrows at me. "Almost sunset. You missed the entire day."

"Wow. I really needed some rest, I guess." Rubbing my eyes, I finally get up, "I'm sorry I didn't get any chores done."

Tatia cracks a genuine smile. "Usually, I wouldn't stand for it, but in this case, it's fine. After all, who am I to blame you for performing a miracle?!"

"I'm not sure I'd call it that. Sure, it was a lot of work, but miracle... seems like too much of a big deal."

The door to the hut opens and a short figure with long dark hair marches in. It's Ayana.

Her eagle eyes find me. "Well, well, well. If it isn't the village's new hero."

I let out a sigh. So much for not making a big deal out of this. "I gather you heard about what happened last night."

"I have indeed. I also remember telling you to blend in without drawing attention to yourself. Now consider me curious: how exactly would you call what you did here blending in? I honestly don't think you could've been any less inconspicuous." the viking witch scolds me.

I bite my lip. "I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking of attention or anything, I was just trying to help."

"If you weren't thinking, then you better start thinking now. This might get you in trouble, girl." she insists.

I open my mouth to respond, but Tatia speaks up before I can. "I actually think this might be a good opportunity."

Ayana and I both turn to my sister, surpised by her words.

She calmly stirs the pot one more time, then puts the spoon away and meets our gazes. "Until now, Elena has been a guest here. People were friendly to her because she was with me. Some people were still suspicious though. But now, she has shown that she can be more than just another mouth to feed. This village needs a midwife. Elena obviously knows how to be one. So I say, let her become our new midwife."

Exhaling slowly, the village witch looks at me in consideration. I register it, but I am actually more focussed on my sister's message. Before I time-traveled, I wanted to be a doctor, maybe a gynecologist. Obviously, that's not possible in these times. I hadn't really thought about this before, but now that I do, I'm kind of starting to like the idea. Helping women give birth would certainly be better than marrying one of those village boys, like some of the women here had started to suggest.

Eventually, Ayana purses her lips and nods. "I suppose that would be the most reasonable thing to do."

And just like that, it is decided. I am going to be the village's new midwife.