Engagement [Book 3: SEKTOR V Trilogy]

Chapter 1: Early Re-Entry

Chapter 1: Early Re-entry

Maddy couldn't believe what was happening, but there was no point in denial. Her experience was both very real and in full color for all to see. Her senses were in overload as she experienced a combination of pain, fear, confusion, and embarrassment. While she accepted the first three as rational byproducts of her current predicament, embarrassment was an unfortunate "bonus" emotion brought on by the fact that she barely had any clothes on and was surrounded by at least ten people who alternated between poking, prodding, and examining her in every way (and place) possible. Even more disconcerting was her realization that nearly everyone swarming about had very little in the way of medical expertise to deal with her current "condition". In fact, things were moving so quickly that it was hard for Maddy to keep track of what each individual was doing and/or saying.

Gus was a part of the cloud of Humanity that was buzzing around her. His facial outline faded in and out between the bright flashes and blurred vision Maddy was now experiencing in full force. A clear sensation she did manage to maintain throughout the craziness was the incredible grip of Gus's left hand. The consistency of his touch kept her calm even though somewhere along the line Maddy had lost all feeling up to her right elbow. Given everything else going on, enduring a bit of needle-and-pin pain was pretty low on her current list of concerns. Somehow, despite her semi-conscious state, Maddy could sense that maintaining physical contact was helping Gus, which in turn was helping her.

"Maddy, stay with me, can you hear me?" asked Dr. Rayleigh in an elevated voice.

Maddy tried, in vain, to focus on Dr. Rayleigh's bearded face. As she looked up she also wondered why he was even here given his advanced age and the fact that his medical expertise was linked to the treatment of colon cancer. Perhaps, not the best thing to dwell on, she thought.

"Yes Doctor, thank you," she weakly replied. "I have no issue with my hearing, so there is no need to yell. My vision is another story, however. I'm still experiencing bright flashes, floaters, and a lot of blurriness."

After hearing this, Gus grasped her hand even tighter, as if that would somehow help the situation.

"That's great to hear, Maddy. For the moment, we have stopped most of the vaginal bleeding", he said much too loudly. And just like that, Maddy's feeling of unease jacked up a notch or two.

"TMI", she said in a low voice directed towards Gus.

"What was that dear?" responded the oblivious Dr. Rayleigh.

"Nothing," replied Gus, who did his best to redirect the conversation.

"Has her condition stabilized, are we, is she, are they going to be all right?" he asked nervously.

This was all happening so quickly, she thought. Understandably, she knew Gus was flustered and genuinely worried. Despite all the pain she was experiencing, not to mention all the other insanity whirling around and inside her, Gus's honest display of concern about her well being made Maddy smile. She wasn't sure how or even exactly when it happened but she truly had grown to love him and felt genuine happiness when they were together, even if being together meant whipping around a menacing supermassive black hole at more than half the speed of light.

"Well, as you know I'm no gynecologist," said the elderly oncologist, " but from what I can tell, there is a very real risk of preeclampsia here and we are not equipped to handle something like that. The multiple symptoms, including your very high blood pressure of 150/100 is quite worrisome. If I am right, and the condition goes untreated, the fetus is at serious risk of placenta abruptio, which is a fancy way of saying the fetus could dislodge from your uterine wall. If that happens, you are likely to lose your child. You would probably lose a lot of blood internally as well. We have to get both of you off this ship, now."