Farscape: Next Generation

Chapter 9: Baby Crichton #2 (part 1)

D'Argo was with John on command practicing his wormhole making.

"Okay now focus, remember what I told you about concentrating your thoughts and energy onto what you want to achieve."

D'Argo had his eyes squeezed shut trying his best to picture a wormhole to earth. He opened his eyes hoping a wormhole would have formed in front of them. The little boy was disappointed to find nothing but space out the window. D'Argo huffed out his nose feeling like he had let his father down. His dad could have done it. He always saves the day.

"It's okay bud, we can try again later. You're doing great." John gave him a pat on the back like his old man used to do.

"Why isn't it working?" D'Argo asked.

"You're not always gonna get it the first time. Trust me, you wouldn't believe the amount of times I've failed at something before getting it right. Be patient, you'll get it soon. We just gotta keep practicing."

D'Argo corrected his posture and stood in a superhero like stance, "because Crichtons don't cry and impossible is not in our vocabulary."

John chuckled and smiled, "that's right."

Aeryn's voice came over the comm system, "John."

"Yeah?"

"Come to our quarters, now."

"What's up?"

She didn't reply to his question which alerted to John that something was wrong.

"Why don't you take a break D. Go play with 1812 and the other DRDs."

"Ok dad," and D'Argo set off to find his pal 1812.
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"Aeryn?" John walked in to find their room empty.

"Aeryn?" He called out again, this time with a little more urgency and caution.

John's feet picked up speed as he began to frantically, yet somehow at the same time calmly, search the room.

"Aer-," he stopped himself mid-sentence when he saw her laying in a fetal position on their bathroom floor.

"Aeryn!" He quickly moved to her and got on his knees. He brushed back the sweaty hair that stuck to her face. She moaned in pain as he tried to sit her up. Doing so he felt how hot to the touch her body was.

"Baby you're burning up."

"John," she managed to get out in between heavy breaths.

"What happened? Did Scorpius-,"

"No," she voice shaky. "I don't know what's happening."

She was hot and felt miserable. Every few microts she would experience cramps in her abdomen and her head would pound, almost making her lose consciousness.

"Pilot!" John demanded. "Aeryn needs help. How close are we to a Sebacean planet?"

Aeryn closed her eyes, drifting in and out of consciousness.

"C'mon Aeryn stay with me," John muttered while repositioning her in his arms in attempts to make them both more comfortable.

"Closest one is half an arn away, Commander."

"Get us there, as fast as you can."

The last time her body temperature was this high, Zhann put Aeryn in Moya's amnexxus fluids to keep her cool. It seemed to prevent her temperature from rising any further and would have to do until they could get a doctor on board.

John said something to her, but she didn't quite register what it was before blacking out.
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John gently laid Aeryn in the cool water, her eyes barely open. She started shivering. "John...it's c-cold."

"I know baby, but we gotta get your temperature down. Just hang in there."

She grunted in pain as her stomach cramped again. John hadn't felt this helpless since D'Argo's birth. There wasn't much he could do for her but try his best to be there for her.

"Pilot, how we doing?" John asked, keeping his eyes on Aeryn.

"Approaching the planet now. An emergency doctor will be sent your way as soon as we reach the docking bay."

John stroked Aeryn's hot head with his thumb as she shivered. "Just a little longer," he whispered delicately to her.

Then John remembered, oh damn...D'Argo. Where's D'Argo? He couldn't help but think of all the therapy that boy would need by the time all this was over. And he definitely did not want his son to see Aeryn like this. Having experienced the decay and loss of his mother to cancer, he didn't want D'Argo to suffer the same trauma.

"Someone called for a doctor?" A voice peeped into the room.

Oh thank God, or Zhann, or the Hynerian Gods...hell anyone.

The doctor moved over to Aeryn. "What seems to be the problem?"

That was a good question. "I'm not sure I found her collapsed on the floor. She was burning up, so I put her in here."

The doctor began his assessment. "This might have just saved us enough time. Do you have access to any medical facilities or equipment aboard this ship?"

"Yeah, yeah we got something of the sorts."

"Good, let's move her there so I can better assess her condition."
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John waited as patiently as he could for the Sebacean doctor to finish his assessment and give Aeryn an official diagnosis. She was still unconscious, but at least her temperature was coming down and she wasn't in any pain at the moment. He was hoping 1812 was keeping D'Argo occupied well enough.

"I think I have identified your problem."

Well spit it out old man, John thought to himself.

"The fetus in stasis is at risk of miscarriage. This fetus does not appear to be fully Sebacean either," the doctor gave a judgmental look toward John. "Which is why I believe she is experiencing such adverse reactions while in stasis."

This was strange news to John because when D'Argo was in stasis, Aeryn didn't have any of these problems. "Alright, so what do we do?"

"The way I see it, you have two options; either terminate the pregnancy or release it from its stasis."

"Release it," John said without skipping a beat.

"As you wish."

The doctor began gathering supplies to complete the procedure.

"This ain't gonna hurt her...is it?"

The doctor laughed, "no, completely painless. The patient is under a mild sedation anyways. It will just take a few microts."

"And she won't experience anymore symptoms afterward?" John asked.

"That should be the case. Of course, if any of them reoccur, she will need to be seen again...and the fetus may need to be terminated."

Ain't a chance in hell Aeryn would let that happen. John knew she would die before then. If it came down to it, John wasn't sure he could let her follow through with it. He couldn't kill her the first time she asked back when he first came aboard Moya, doubt he could do it now.