Reformation

12: Contractions

I expected him to lunge out of his wheelchair at her. I expected him to scream and curse and hit her, but instead, his eyes welled up with tears and be pressed his lips together. "Thank you for trying," he croaked. He looked down at his nonexistent legs and a tear dripped down his cheek and he wheeled himself into his section, I heard quiet sobs from in there.

"Please, are you sure you can't figure it out? We can ask Michael to go on a run if you don't have the parts." I pleaded. I was heart broken. Jack didn't deserve this, it didn't make sense. He saved Ryan's life, he never hurt anybody, everything was being taken from him as he gave the world everything.

She shook her head. "We have other engineers, but they weren't as medically experienced as Dom was."

"Let me fix it." I turned towards Ryan, rage filled his eyes.

"Ryan, do you even know-"

"In the army, one of my officers had to have his leg amputated. One night, he showed us how his prosthetic worked. I still remember most of it, let me try to fix it."

I put my hand on the side of his face. "Ryan, if Kessler can't fix it, you really think you can?"

"I can try."

I figured I shouldn't argue with him.

"I'll bring you Dom's notes and some tools. Good luck." She gave him a weak smile and walked out.

"Get some rest."

***

For the rest of the week, Ryan worked day and night trying to fix the prosthetic. Jack acted like there was no hope left for him as Ry quarreled with the strange machinery. Clara was devastated, seeing her son give up.

It was at least midnight, Ryan was still tinkering away and I just closed my book for the night.

"Ryan, you've been at it all day. You need to rest. There is always tomorrow." I slid into bed next to him and kissed him on the cheek, moving tools off of my pillow.

"I need to finish by tonight. It's Jack's birthday."

I sighed. He wasn't going to take no for an answer. "Fine. I'm not going to argue. Just try not to accidentally drop a tool on my face, okay?"

He smiled and kissed me on the forehead. "Okay."

I was asleep before my head hit the pillow.

***

"Ok, listen, it's just a little bit further. Hang in there." Ryan tried to sound calm.

"Don't tell me to hang in there!" I snapped back. The back pains were getting more intense. I screamed in agony and my knees buckled, Ryan caught me before I fell.

"We're here. Come on," He helped me into the infirmary. A few nurses met us at the entrance. "She's going into labor." his voice was shaky. Another contraction came on. The nurses helped me into a wheelchair and wheeled me over to bed.

Ryan squeezed my hand and Kessler rushed in. She pulled my pants off and I sat up.

"How far apart are they?" She asked Ryan, who was sweating nervously.

"Five."

"She is ten centimeters dilated. Alright, this next big one you are going to push, ok?"

I nodded. My chest was heaving and I had a pounding headache. My uterus felt like it had been ripped to shreds. Was that normal? Everything seemed to hurt so much. I just wanted to get it out.

I felt the next back pain come on and I screamed, squeezing Ryan's hand.

"Come on, Arizona!" Kessler demanded.