Miracle (boyxboy)

Chapter Forty

"Have you made your decision?"

We were in Dr. Sarias' office, and both Ezra and Dr. Sarias were watching me so intently it was uncomfortable. I'm sure I was sweating. The Vicodin wasn't doing enough for the pain anymore, and my guts were engaged in a non-stop sequence of cramps that occasionally brought tears to my eyes. Ezra could feel it too, I'm sure, and his question held quiet gravity. He'd been talking up the importance of the hysterectomy all morning, all during breakfast and the bike ride here, all the way up the elevator. There was no doubt in my mind what he expected me to say.

But...

"I want to talk to Dr. Sarias first."

Ezra leaned back in his seat and indicated that I should go ahead.

"Um. In private?"

His brows went up. I gave him a pleading look, because I could tell he didn't like it. But I'd barely slept last night thinking about all of this. There were things I had to know, and I was pretty sure it wasn't stuff he would appreciate me asking about. Dr. Sarias would give it to me straight, and that was what I needed if I was going to consider removing organs from my body.

Ezra pushed his chair back. "I'll wait outside."

He was irritated, but didn't try to talk me out of it. He stepped out of the office as Dr. Sarias chuckled.

"I'm intrigued. Got some things you don't want daddy to hear?"

I ignored him, my attention on the office door. When I was sure it had closed all the way, I said, "One sec," and pulled my backpack into my lap. I took out a pack of tissues, folded one into a square, and slid it underneath my  smartwatch to block the sensors.

Dr. Sarias folded his arms and laughed again. "Clever little bastard, aren't you?"

Only when I was sure that Ezra couldn't eavesdrop did I turn to Dr. Sarias and ask, flatly, "Can I get pregnant?"

"Ahh. To answer that for certain we'd need to run months of tests. But I'd say it's a possibility."

"Okay." I licked my lips. "Let's say it could happen. Me and my sister had the same Bride treatment, before we were born. Does that mean I could have a Nephilim kid?"

"Isn't that the trillion dollar question?" Dr. Sarias laced his fingers behind his head. "In spite of all our great technology, our scientific advances, the Nephilim race has always hovered on the brink of extinction. The opportunity to learn what your body is capable of? You can't imagine what some people would be willing to do—or pay—for that."

"But if I can have Nephilim kids, it would just make me like every other Elioud out there, right?" That was what I'd been wrestling with most of the night. In the end, what would really be so special about that?

"Oh ho. You'd think so, wouldn't you? But it's a wonderfully complex prospect." He propped his feet up on the desk. "Let me give you a little Nephilim biology lesson, Connor. Do you know how the human sexes are determined, genetically?"

"Chromosomes. Women have two X chromosomes, men have an X and a Y. That's like, seventh-grade science class stuff."

"There are exceptions, but for the most part that's true. However, here's what you don't know. Nephilim have no Y chromosomes. Our DNA is only half human. The other half, the angelic half, mimics human genetics enough to be compatible, but fundamentally it's not human at all. Our differentiating chromosome is neither X, nor Y. In keeping with human nomenclature, we call it N."

A third type? "But Nephilim are all male, aren't they?"

"In utero, the N chromosome engages the same hormonal activity as the Y chromosome does. Nephilim are born with male genitalia, male reproductive systems. But we're not XY individuals. We're XN. Our gametes either carry an X or a N chromosome. When we reproduce with a human woman, our children are either XX, human females... or XN, Nephilim males.