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Kellan's Room; Corey and Keagan 4/28/20 <3
Topic Started: Apr 28 2010, 06:19 AM (1,041 Views)
Kelly Daniels
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In retrospect, it had been a really, really stupid mistake.

Kelly, at thirty weeks, probably shouldn't have been going out on the negotiation. She had been figuratively demoted to paperwork and cases that were simple complaints needing redirection or a calm, logical assessment to the complainer. However, at the time, the person that they were being called in for was one of Kelly's. She had talked the man down so many times, kept him out of the mental hospitals that they had wanted him sent to and instead sent him to ones that would actually help him...She had serious claim in this man and he trusted her.

Therefore, she got to go. It had made her extremely happy to don that specialized dragon skin vest, it automatically expanding to fit her since the last time she wore it she was only about twenty-six weeks, and she hadn't even been able to go anywhere with it considering she'd been whisked into that other world. Just being able to put on her gear again? It eased the feeling of uselessness, and incapability, and she was completely, and utterly in the zone.

Louis had been released from the mental hospital near his home just a month previous, and Kelly was fully aware that it was his wife that set him up. She liked seeing him break, liked getting the media attention portraying her as the selfless, victimized wife who was just so brave and strong to take care of him...

It really irked Kelly and she'd tried to get them to split up but that wasn't her job.

So she'd gone, unsurprised to find the normal situation. Restaurants were where Louis felt the most comfortable, surprisingly enough. On one hand, he had all those kitchen knives and the like, but on the other hand, there were a lot of people. There were a lot of furniture. Windows, so he didn't feel closed in whatsoever.

"Louis." She'd said softly, once she'd negotiated herself into the room. Just her, unarmed, no one else. Simple enough; like she had said, he trusted her. She always got in there with him and she'd always taken care of him. He'd let her reach him, sitting on the biggest table alone with his wand and his gun at the ready. He'd let her touch him, just a light touch to his arm. She was establishing to his body that she wasn't going to hurt him, because as much as his mind may seem to understand it, when he was like that he was usually extremely irrational. "What happened, Louis?"

Never exasperated, never tired. Every time she treated it just like the first time. She wanted to ask where his wife was, but she already knew. Out there, talking to reporters, was the bleached blonde bitch getting another fifteen seconds of fame. Sometimes she honestly just didn't blame him.

He'd mentioned to her that she was pregnant, and she'd smiled at him, letting him feel the kicking. Twins, she'd told him.

The negotiation team she was working with was not her own; her own too had been put on paperwork duty, because she had been their leader, and most people opted to do said paperwork at home. Clearly, this new group didn't trust her authority and her tactics, because just as she was asking him again what happened, with him almost smiling and his guard lowered, the team had gotten on their loudspeaker. They'd' bloody announced that he was in range to be shot and if he didn't surrender and come out, they were going to take it.

Immediately, his guard went up, and he'd broke once again. There was a crazed, frightened, not entirely all there look in his eyes as he flitted them back and forth, wildly trying to see where they were aiming at him. It was a lie of course; the police force hadn't arrived yet. At the same time though, with people prone to psychotic breaks, it was easy for them to believe that they were in danger. The paranoia was a real, difficult thing to overcome, and it was as gone as she'd ever seen him. Damn them.

"Louis. Look at me. Just at me, Louis."

She saw the words click in his head as he turned to look at her, saw his mind realize that, since he couldn't see anyone else and she was part of the "enemy", she was the one who had aim on him, and therefore would be the one to kill him if it came to that.

"Louis. I'm unarmed. Look...I'm unarmed..." She raised her hands slowly, keeping her voice as calm as possible with his gun and wand pointing at her. Before he'd gotten married, he'd been an extremely powerful wizard, and it was enough to make anyone nervous. Sometimes his paranoia lent him power. She'd seen him break men before she was put on his case, and it was that image that was immediately in her head as she looked down that barrel. At the same time though, she was showing him she didn't have any holsters, nothing in her pockets. No wand, no guns. She trusted her own team that much, and it'd just became her normal behavior despite this team not working with her properly.

Then he told her to take off her vest.

Kelly didn't hesitate; sometimes shows of trust on her part were necessary for them to trust her in return. At the same time, her fingers were slow, unsnapping it piece by piece until it was capable of sliding off her shoulders. She let that happen slow too, but before she could say anything else, a shot rang through the quiet room previously riddled only by whimpers and gasps. The full glass front of the restaurant shattered, and she watched the bullet go straight through his shoulder.

He yelled 'no', his wand still pointed at her, and apparently that was all it took. In his great pain and state, his wand did exactly what his subconscious wanted, and she was hit by the blast.

Off her feet she was thrown, through that now-glassless window and straight into the van they used for contact and machine uses, crumpling to the ground a minute later.

Vaguely, before she blacked out, she heard another shot, and mustered up enough consciousness to snap, "Take him to Mungo's now."

The intern went to see if Louis was still alive to follow through with her order, but the other members did damage control with the people who had been in the restaurant and the owner, one man picking up their limp leader to follow the intern.

--

It didn't take long for Kelly to wake up again. It was when she reached the hospital and was being placed on a gurney that Kel woke up. Whether it be from the pain or otherwise, her eyes shot open and she sat up, breathing a little harder as she took in her surroundings. Mungo's. Good. Okay.

"Where's Louis? Was he brought in?" She had started to ask, but her words slipped into a quiet gasp as she felt one of the babies kick her, harder than she'd ever been kicked before. She could have sworn her whole stomach shifted when it happened - and then realized that it wasn't a kick as there was a pop and liquid gushed out between her legs. For a minute, she just stared, looking at the unbelievable amount of water soaking into the gurney.

Then, the first contraction hit. Although it should have just been a dull ache in her back, she'd broken a rib or two and therefore it was agony shooting up her spine for a good thirty seconds before it faded.

It was interesting just how unprepared Kelly found herself as she realized that her water just broke and she was having contractions. She was supposed to have ten more weeks before she had to do this, ten more weeks to get the nursery finished and ten more weeks to prepare herself for the idea of having kids and ten more weeks to set up maternity leave... She was supposed to bloody have ten more weeks, not this. Not now.

The panic lent itself into nausea and dizziness as she noticed a thin pink tint mixing into the liquid. Blood. The pressure on her hips was unbelievable, a dark flush already settling itself on her skin, rising her temperature impeccably.

"Uhm." The team member who had brought her in was arguing with the woman at the front desk about paperwork, her eyebrows crunching together as she attempted to slide off the gurney onto her feet. Walking was supposed to be good for labour, right? She just had to move really slowly, as not to jab anything, because getting off actually...really hurt. Hearing that the woman was refusing to call any acolyte or healer until her paperwork had been signed, Kelly slammed her hands on the counter, effectively startling both of them.

"Look, Lady." She was very nearly snarling. "I just got thrown into a van, my water broke, I'm having contractions, and I'm bleeding. Page Healer Clemens right this second or so help me merlin..." The rest of her threat was lost to a high-pitched sound, her bending over that counter for a moment as, seven minutes? later, she had another contraction. By the time it was over, she was huffing slightly, going blank for the moment on how pregnant women were supposed to breathe during labour. There was no question in her mind that she was; once the water broke, that was it, right?

"And..." She continued, a little more breathlessly, "If you could also page Healer Castle, that would be great." At the suddenly timid reply about only being able to provide one healer per patient, she held up her hand. "Declan's the father of my children, Marit's my healer. Page them. Or just page Declan. I don't. care. I'm heading up to my room."

With typical Kelly stubbornness, she refused the wheelchair and, albeit slowly, got on the elevator and made her way up to a room that an acolyte at the nurses' station said was free for her to use. She changed herself, and climbed into bed, propping herself up with the extra pillows she found in the cabinet. The man who had brought her in followed her up just to make sure there weren't any problems, and once she was settled she called him back in, testily quizzing him about the last bit of the episode they'd created.

He was the eldest and most experienced member of the team, and she was ripping him a new one. It gave her something to focus on, a creative way to spill out her pain, and a way to ignore the fact that she was...thirty weeks, and in labour. Kel'd been reading the parenting books, she knew that wasn't good. But what could she do about it? Nothing. So she focused on figuring out what to do about the situation she could control. The poor man's hand was caught into her grip, white with how hard she was holding it. As the contractions hit her, her voice was going higher, and higher, and then calming back down again, albeit breathless, when the contraction ceased.

"I don't care who your leader is! I was on this case, and he was busy. He was not there, and I was in charge. I did not give the permission to shoot! Actually, I'm pretty sure I told you all to let me take care of it. I'm sure your male feathers were ruffled but you know what? Deal with it! He was trusting me until you all spoke, and that is a tactical error. If I don't give the damn sign, if I don't start backing away, there is no reason you have to shoot! The idea of this job is to save people as much as possible, not hurt them. Not shoot them, damnit! Now there are charges in damage for the restaurant, several children are going to need therapy, I don't even know if he's alive - and you know what? That's probably what that stupid bitch wanted. She wanted the life insurance, and you just delivered. This could have all been avoided! Who pulled the trigger? Actually you know what, I don't care who pulled the trigger. Who gave the order? Who undermined my authority? I'm going to have to talk to your usual team leader because this is unacceptable. This is beyond unacceptable. Do you guys act like that for him? Hmm? Well, do you? No, I didn't think so. And what, because I'm a woman? Look bud, I could have had that man out of that establishment and everyone going home in probably ten minutes if you hadn't jumped the gun and shot him. Shot him! That's last re-"

Her word just turned into a scream, face crumpling as her grip on his hand tightened so hard she probably could have broken something. "-sort!!!"
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Declan Clemens
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Declan was in his office researching the different types of curses that could have been put on his Dark Mark when he was paged. When he went downstairs to see what the page was in regards to, he was extremely alarmed to find out that Kel had been brought in, first because of an on-the-job injury and then because... she was in labor.

Kel was in labor at just 30 weeks along. An instant panic immediately gripped him and he froze, his body forgetting to do all those helpful, important things like 'walking.' Kel was in labor. Premature labor was not something to be taken lightly, obviously, and he was instantly concerned for both her and their children. Actually, concerned was probably the largest understatement that could have possibly been used there.

He was bloody terrified.

He had just been Lara West's Healer for the delivery of her son, and from what he heard, their baby had just taken a turn for the worse. It had been an awful experience, having seen that baby being born and unable to be held directly by his mother and father, having had to go straight to the NICU to make sure he could even survive just the one night.

He didn't want that for his children. He wanted them to be born safe, happy, healthy and full term.

But that wasn't the case. The fact was that it was happening right then, and all he could do for them was be with their mother and be supportive and encouraging.

When he reached the maternity ward, he could hear Kel yelling at someone quite clearly down the hall. Despite it all, it brought a small smile to his lips. Only Kel would be yelling about something that sounded almost completely work-related (from what he could make out) while in the hospital in labor.

Reaching the door--he really didn't even need to ask which room to go to--he knocked once before stepping in. If the situation with their babies wasn't so serious he might have laughed at the expression on the face of the man standing there with her, Kel gripping his hand through one of her contractions. As it was, he only managed a smile, but he was trying his hardest to keep a positive attitude.

"Did I miss something, or was I supposed to know he'd be the one in the delivery room?" Declan joked.
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Kelly Daniels
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The knock didn't hinder Kelly at all. She barely took another breath before she was once again starting to speak to him, but the man saw the chance he had and pulled out of her grasp. It felt her fuming, and she made sure to yell after him, "I am not done with you. You tell them all I'm not done with them. I'll see them at work tomorrow. Meeting. 10 am! Anyone not there is going to have severe consequences!"

In, and out. Anger probably wasn't a good idea for this either, right? For a few minutes she just fixed her hands in the sheets and caught her breath from her little rant at her coworker, looking at Declan. There was a smile on his face, though she could see it looked a little strained. His comment didn't go unanswered, but it was a few minutes before she responded. Her focus point was gone. She could think about Louis and what went wrong and what she could have done all she wanted, but it still wouldn't have had a good enough effect. Just seeing Declan reminded her the fact that...she was in labour. Not that the fact her contractions didn't hurt, of course. She'd just been narrow-minded enough not to really pay all that much attention to it.

"No..." She breathed out, "I doubt the receptionist took the time to note that." Probably not, because she was probably just trying to get the message out as fast as possible. After a moment though, Kel also added, with a complete mood change, "I'm sorry, Declan. I'm so sorry. I messed up."

She shouldn't have gone. It was just the fact that she had such a history with Louis, the fact that she'd been feeling so useless...it was selfish, and now they were paying for it. Bloody hell. She wasn't ready for this. She wasn't ready at all.
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Declan Clemens
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Declan raised an eyebrow but otherwise didn't comment as the man rushed past him and Kel said something about being at work the next day. He decided not to tell her that that probably wasn't going to happen. It'd just stress her out more, and he didn't want to add to what she was already going through.

She fell silent right after her co-worker left, and he took the opportunity to cross the room to sit down by her bed. He wanted to take a peek at her vitals and charts and the like, but he didn't think it was a good idea. He'd get caught up in the analytical, Healer side of things and probably work himself up and get too nervous. He was there as the father, not as Kel's Healer.

When she started apologizing to him, he almost couldn't believe what he was hearing. Reaching over, he took her hand in his gently. "Kel, look at me," he said. "This is not your fault. You have nothing to be sorry for."

He leaned over to kiss her cheek. "You know what? I know it's a little early to be having them, but the babies are going to be fine." He had to believe that. He couldn't bear to think otherwise. As a Healer, he couldn't risk the lawsuit that might stem from assuring a patient something was going to be all right and then having it turn out not to be. But as a boyfriend and an expectant father, he'd be saying it as many times as he needed to.
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Kelly Daniels
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The second Declan took her hand, the death-grip was on him instead, her fingers rather cold only because she had been squeezing her coworker's hand so hard circulation hadn't particularly been going through them. Although she looked at him when he told her to, she was trying to remember how it was she was supposed to be breathing anyways. There was a bloody specific way, and honestly Kel was wondering why exactly they expected pregnant women to remember that. She suspected that whoever wrote those books had never had children.

"Well-" Kel started, "It kind of is. I was having inferiority issues. I didn't have to go on this thing. But for merlinssakes you would have thought that maybe some people would know how to listen when they're bloody backup and I have the track record I did with this man. Did. Oh god, they just ruined that. If he dies..." Her jaw set, Kel glared at the door like she expected the man who had fled to be standing there, but it softened once again when Declan kissed her cheek.

She needed to find some kind of balance. It was either anger or panick that she had to be focusing on and both were emotions that weren't helping her whatsoever.

"They are? Can you honestly say this? I-I'm not ready! It's only April. It's just, it's too early. Declan. I'm not ready. I don't want to have these babies. I can't. Ohhh..." Kel moaned, free hand clutching her substantial stomach as another contraction ripped through her body, not bothering at all to be quiet about it. The thought of being quiet about it actually never crossed her mind, and she came back from it panting. ~censored~. How was she supposed to be breathing?
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Declan Clemens
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Declan was a little unprepared for just how strong Kel's grip was on his hand, but it was obviously just a fraction of what she was feeling, so he really didn't mind. He was starting to wonder when it was the Healer was going to get there. It wasn't like this was just a normal labor: she was having the babies so early, so the situation really did need to be addressed.

Kel was still saying that it was her fault which was completely untrue. "It's not your fault," he assured her. "It's not. If someone hadn't listened to you and that's why things got messed up there, then that's their fault." Was blaming someone else not the right thing to do in that situation? Declan wasn't sure. "It's not your fault that you were just trying to do a good job." From what he was getting based on the things he'd heard about the job she was on, it sounded like she had been doing fine and the people she'd had with her had messed up.

"I'm sure he won't die." Declan had no idea who 'he' was, and he figured that when he got a moment he'd get someone to check on whoever she was talking about so that hopefully they could inform her that everything was all right with the man in question.

"Yes, I can honestly say that," he said. He had to because he had to believe it. "I know it's only April, and I know you think you're not ready, but you can do this. The babies can handle it too. Come on, they've got us for parents," he said, giving her a small smile. "They can get through tough situations, and this is just going to be one of them."

She clearly went into another contraction, and Declan remained calm, although it was much harder to do so when it was Kel in the hospital in premature labor than it was when it was one of his patients, someone coming in whom he didn't know. "It's ok. You can do it. Just breathe..."
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Sean Anderson

[NPC - Healer Marit Castle]

Marit had been in the middle of dealing with an emergency case with one of her patients when she had been paged. She hadn't been able to get to it right away because of the relapse her patient was having on the fourth floor, but as soon as she could she headed to the maternity ward, saving time by reading the file and the intake form as she went. At that moment, it really didn't matter that all she'd eaten that day was an apple, her hair was starting to come out of the loose ponytail she'd thrown it in that morning, and her makeup was...well, nonexistent like usual.

Once she reached Kel's room, she stopped just outside the door to take one, two, three deep breaths. That was all she needed some days to calm down and be the stress-free Healer her patients needed her to be. It was cases like this where she knew she had to remain her calmest: premature births were one of the most stressful things she had seen people go through. Thank Merlin she never wanted to have her own children.

Entering the room, she put on a smile. "Hello Kelly, Declan," she greeted them. "I see we'll be meeting your little ones a bit sooner than expected." She glanced at the machines reading Kel's vitals, jotting some numbers onto the charts.

"I have it noted here that your water's already broken, so unfortunately we won't be able to try drugs to stop the labor. The best we can do is start you on steroids right now to help promote quicker lung growth for the babies so they have a better chance of survival outside of the womb." She had it written in the charts that Kel hated medication, wanted to avoid it at all costs (she suspected the note along those lines may have been put in by Kel's brother), and wanted a completely natural birth, but she was just going to have to deal. The babies needed the medicine.
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Kelly Daniels
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"Twice." Kelly huffed, "I saw one hit. Through the shoulder. I'm not sure how low. It could have nicked something important." Maybe later, when she didn't need Declan to be there for her, she would ask him to go see if she was burying someone or visiting them as they recovered. Or something, really, anything that would settle whether or not he was okay for her so she could stop stressing about it. "We'll see. He was brought in same time I was. Probably isn't settled yet."

Which was the second reason she wasn't actually asking for him to go check on her client for her. It would be a pointless waste of time.

"Exactly. They have us for parents." Kel repeated, slapping her free hand to her face. "Merlin help them." It probably would have been better for him to say that they had him for a parent, honestly. She had no confidence in her parenting abilities. Especially not then, when she sadly enough wanted nothing more than to be anywhere in the world but there.

"I don't remember how to breathe!" Kelly then snapped, pressing her lips together for a moment before it was near hysterical laughter shaking her shoulders. Obviously she knew how to breathe, it was just breathing the specific way. It was her, after all. She was anal in doing things right, and well. This she was already a bloody failure with; she could at least try to do some things right.

Yet, that died down immediately when her actual healer came into the room, a smile on the other woman's face. "It broke here. Downstairs, ten minutes ago." Kel supplied, surprisingly cheerful in the idea that she wasn't about to be fed drugs to stop the labour. However, the next moment she was being told that she was going to be put on steroids.

"No." Kel immediately responded, shaking her head. "No steroids. That's not natural and I read about it and it can cause cerebral palsy, there's no long term benefit. And, I already have high blood-pressure, and I really don't think trying some kind of quick fix isn't going to help right now. So we can just focus on the... uhm, getting them out thing."
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Declan Clemens
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Declan nodded, internalizing the information for later when he would go find out how the man was doing. He realized that he was probably in Chris' Department, in Emergency, so Chris might know if he came up to check in on Kel later. "We'll find out later," he agreed. "But from what you told me, I just want to let you know that if it was through the shoulder, that significantly lowers his chances of it having hit something vital, so I'm betting he'll be all right." It was an unsafe bet because any bet on a patient's well-being was unsafe, and as a Healer he knew that, but he didn't care at the moment.

"Hey. They could do a lot worse," he commented. "I think we'll be pretty good parents." He knew Kel had her doubts, and honestly, sometimes he did as well. But at the end of the day, he was completely sure that they would be fine with their babies. They just needed to get through this first.

When Marit came in, he greeted her with a polite nod, waiting to see what she would say. Of course, her first recommendation was for the steroids, which would have been his first as well.

He should have figured that Kel would be against it. The fact that she was against it made him nervous, but before he said anything, he looked to Marit, curious to see how she would handle the situation. Perhaps she would have some other solution he wasn't as well versed in. She spent more time on the maternity floor than he did.
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Sean Anderson

Marit wrote down when her water broke, all the while focusing on her breathing because her patient was already not cooperating, and she was in no mood for a patient who didn't cooperate.

However, as a Healer, she had to always be in the mood to deal with many different types of people and find a way to make it work.

It was a bit difficult when the patient was refusing the proper treatment, though. Her eyebrows raised just a little as she put down the chart, focusing all of her attention on Kel.

"Kelly," she began, keeping her voice calm, "I'm well aware of the potential side effects of this medication as well as the others I work with on a daily basis here at the hospital. I'm also aware of the several benefits, and, yes, I'm aware of where you would have read that information." Somehow she managed to keep a professional tone, but some days were definitely harder than others.

"Unfortunately, this labor absolutely cannot just be focused on getting the babies out. They're premature by ten weeks. Our focus needs to not be on the delivery process. Your body will take care of that without any prompting from me or any medication. Our focus needs to be on safety. If those children are delivered into this world without us taking every possible precaution to make sure they're safe to the point of being able to take their first breath, then we are doing them a serious disadvantage," she said.

"Again, I'm aware of things you may have read about steroids and steroid treatment for premature babies, and I'm sorry to note that WebMD and various pregnancy reference books sadly do not take the place of years of medical training and experience in cases very similar to yours." She couldn't stand the age of the internet. Merlin, give anyone a computer or a pregnancy book, and they'd basically think they could put her out of a job or something. Honestly, if they all knew so much, she'd be more than happy to let them just treat themselves and head home for a nice night of relaxation.

"So let's recap: right here, right now, those steroids are, with very low chances of side effects, going to help your babies be able to breathe on their own when they're born.

"What do you think the long term benefit of that might be?"
she asked, managing to keep her cool through the entire thing. She hadn't asked the last question in a sarcastic manner either; she was legitimately asking like she was waiting on an answer, which she was. She wanted Kel to be the one to list the benefits out loud. Maybe it would help her understand how crucial it was.
Edited by Sean Anderson, Apr 30 2010, 06:58 AM.
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Kelly Daniels
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"Right." Kel simply sighed at Declan's comment that they'd be good parents. She just couldn't exactly see it, that was all. And now with this? With this sudden panick, and fear, and talking about drugs in her system... it didn't feel like she was going to be a good parent. Actually, at that moment she was viciously wishing that she had not become pregnant at all. Who really needed to go through all this? Who?

She clenched her teeth as her healer began to - and as much as she hated the terms, school her - on her qualifications and why it was necessary. She didn't like that the woman was making it sound like she had no choice, and she didn't like that she was implying that Kel got her information off some crackpot on-line doctor.

"I didn't get my information from WebMD." She told her, voice low and controlled. It was controlled to the point of it being entirely fake, of course. She was forcing herself not to react to what she felt was a little bit of condescending manner. Honestly, she got that she wasn't qualified and she wasn't the healer in the room. She did. But it was her body, and her children, and she wasn't convinced that putting drugs in her system was going to do anything but get her all worked up, and how was that supposed to help the babies?

"You have proof that by putting steroids into a labouring mother somehow makes the baby's little lungs suddenly become developed enough to work outside the womb, in a few hours." There was intense disbelief with that, ignoring that dramatic urge to just say hey, women used to do this all the time without being injected with crap and being in a hospital and she could probably just go home and deal with it herself. However, even with her overly hot temper fueled by how much pain she was in, that was a stupid, stupid idea. She didn't need to hurt these babies more than she already was.
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Declan Clemens
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Declan did completely agree that Kel needed to take the steroids because it was the best way to do it. He did not, however, agree with the way in which Marit was presenting the matter.

She was being completely condescending, and it was really frustrating. "Look, I'm sure Kel understands the benefits," he tried to reason, "but she's uncomfortable with it. Is there anything..." He trailed off. He had to. He already knew there was nothing better to be done during the course of labor.

And, sighing, he realized with Kel's next comment that she apparently didn't get the benefits or at least seriously doubted them. He did have to wonder where she had gotten her information on the steroids... It could have been from Chris, but he doubted her brother was dumb enough to just give her risks of side effects and not explain how it might help.
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Sean Anderson

Of course, Kel refused to answer the question. Marit shouldn't have been surprised. The woman was clearly prepared to ignore all logic just to twist random stats that she had to have gotten from some book (because she was clearly pointing out that it wasn't a random website) so that she wouldn't have to take the steroids.

The problem was that she did have to take them. Her boyfriend wasn't arguing that either, which was good because he was a Healer and should no better.

"I have proof that in premature births before 34 weeks, a 'rescue course' of steroids given during labor actually helps reduce the risk of respiratory problems and serious complications both immediately and down the road by 31%. So basically, yes, your babies' chances will improve by about a third, which is a significant amount, if you take them. It's not a 100% guarantee. Unfortunately, nothing is. But it is the best chance your babies have. You're also not going to be the one experiencing the side effects: you'll be taking them for your babies' benefit."

She took a breath. "If you choose to take them, tell me now, and we'll proceed from here."

This whole situation was extremely frustrating. She had watched women come in here facing much worse and willing to die themselves as long as their babies stayed safe. This one wouldn't even get on a round of steroids. If she didn't take those drugs, and those babies died, she was going to feel extremely guilty, and Marit wasn't actually sure why she was even having a conversation about this as opposed to just giving her the damn drugs.

Apparently Healer Clemens wasn't going to do much in the way of helping her out, and the mother herself was trying desperately to refuse getting her babies the help they needed. But there were two very small children waiting to be born who, even now, had that survival instinct and wanted, even if it was on the most base level, to live. There were two very important people in that room who needed her help and did not need her to be wasting time arguing with Mommy.

Merlin, couldn't she just give her the steroids now and then get sued later? At least Kelly'd be planning a lawsuit instead of a burial, and she could deal with being sued as long as those babies were somewhere in the world, healthy, breathing, and all right.
Edited by Sean Anderson, Apr 30 2010, 03:05 PM.
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Kelly Daniels
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Uncomfortable? That was an understatement. She was terrified.

Kel was listening at least. She was listening to her healer tell her that the benefits outweighed the risks, and basically implying that she would be a horrible person if she didn't do it for them. Well, she already felt enough like one, what's a little more, right? Just thinking about taking the steroids were causing goosebumps to rise on her arms, yet raising her temperature impeccably. At least, it felt like her temperature was rising. It was bloody hot in there, and she couldn't breathe, and...and...

It was true sign to just how uncomfortable Kelly felt that this time when the contraction began to hit her, she was dead, silent. Somehow the pain felt like a weakness and she was tired of the way the healer was making her feel already. Her eyes just closed, her grip just tightened, and her skin rose in colors to go along with it's feverish feel. Even through the contraction, it was an inward battle. It was drugs that killed her first chance at being a mother, and now she was being told that it was drugs that was going to improve her second chance of being so. It was drugs that ruined so many years of her life, and now they were supposed to help. She didn't believe that.

Even after a few minutes of the contraction being over Kel was silent, trying to regain her breathing and blink the tears from her eyes. She removed her hand from Declan's to wipe under her eyes, double checking for the moment that it was just her feeling clammy, not that water had spilled over her eyes. "Well if you have proof," Kel eventually said, ashen at her words underneath her flush, "-then I guess it's worth a try."

Her fingers twisted around the fabric of her hospital gown, and then just let go, leaving them still on her lap. "But I would also appreciate if, as my healer, you would stop being such a bitch. This is hard enough as it is."
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Declan Clemens
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Declan was so, so nervous that she wasn't going to take the drugs. He wanted to make sure the babies were safe, and this really was crucial. His mind kept flashing back to Lara's labor and everything she had been through. He kept thinking about her son, so small and un-ready to greet the world. That was going to turn into Kel, into his children, and he wanted to give them every chance they could possibly get.

He would have jumped in, would have tried to present it to Kel in a better manner, but he was having a hard time even finding the words to say. The truth was, he was scared out of his mind about something going wrong, and that fear was keeping him silent. It was odd how he normally felt so comfortable in the hospital, able to take charge, give out orders and know with an innate confidence that what he was doing was right for his patients. But right now being in the hospital had him entirely wrong-footed, unsure of what to do, and desperately looking to someone else for guidance.

He couldn't help but breathe an audible sigh of relief when Kel said that she would take the drugs, then grinned just a little when she told off the Healer. That was his Kel, and he didn't blame her: Marit was being a bitch. Yes, he knew that Marit had no idea what was fueling Kel's desire to refuse the steroids and to her it probably seemed ridiculous, and he knew that, when it came down to it technically, she was only stating facts, but still.

Instead of addressing Marit, however, because Kel seemed to have that under control, he looked down at Kel, speaking directly to her. "I know how hard this is for you," he said. "And you are so amazing for doing this."
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Sean Anderson

Marit was definitely relieved when Kel chose to take the steroids. "All right, then that's what we'll do." She was aware the woman wasn't happy about it, but at least she was agreeing, and that was all that mattered.

Her eyebrow raised, and she nodded to Kel's last statement. "Sorry." That one word was never easy for her to say. Actually, she hated it, but she managed to say it sincerely: part of her job was interacting well with the patients, and if she wasn't doing that, then she was doing something wrong.

Declan was saying something to Kel, and she didn't really want to intrude on private conversation--although, she supposed since he started it with her in the room it'd be something that was all right for her to hear--so she just went about her business getting together the IV and the round of steroids to administer, managing to tune out what he was saying.

She asked Kel to hold her arm straight out and make a fist, then tying off the upper part of her arm. Luckily, with the amount of blood flowing through her veins, the vein was easy to find. Marit had the IV in quickly and what she hoped was painlessly, and then she injected the steroids.

"Ok, so right now I'm going to get a heart rate on the babies and do a quick ultrasound to make sure they're moving into position correctly," she said.

It took a few moments, but she set the machine up, first strapping the fetal heart rate monitor to Kel's stomach, positioning it so that they could clearly hear the heartbeats. "All right. They're a little fast but strong, so it looks like we're in fairly good shape." Well, the babies were doing as well as could be hoped, she supposed.

"And now for the ultrasound..." After squirting the gel onto Kel's stomach, she soon had a clear picture of the babies on the screen. "If you see here," she said, gesturing to it, "it looks like the babies are starting to move into the correct position for delivery, so it seems like you're in good shape. I'm going to shut off the ultrasound but leave the heart rate monitor on so we can keep track of that," she said.

"About how far apart were your contractions when they first started?" Having been in the room since Kel's last one, she was waiting for the next to determine how far apart they were.
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Kelly Daniels
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Kel glanced over at Declan when she heard his sigh, but her eyes were back on Marit once she saw his grin. She figured it was probably good that he wasn't pressing on her the steroids either, because he knew...but it kind of told her just how important they were if there was no saying that she didn't have to if she didn't want to. Sacrifices, that was normal right? For mothers, that was.

However, when Declan told her that she was amazing for doing this? She frowned and pointed out, "I don't have much choice. Just...don't leave, okay?"

It was definitely an annoying fact to have your mental state and your body on two different wavelengths. It was a mental battle, telling herself that it would work, that everything would be okay, that the drugs would help. So far, it was doing alright. The logics were fine, and comforting. However, when the healer told her to hold her arm straight out and make a fist, Kel refused to close her eyes. Just feeling it, and not seeing it? That would have been the fastest way to trip into memory lane. So she watched as her upper arm was tied off, clenching and unclenching her fist to get her veins into view like she knew would happen, and held her breath as the needle was injected. Then she closed her eyes.

She just needed to breathe. Just breathe, because she was in a hospital, and Declan was right there with her, and even if the healer was not doing anything at all to make Kel trust her, everything was going to be fine.

Having the heartbeat monitor and the ultrasound did a good job of distracting her though, so she gratefully focused on that, shifting into sitting a little straighter against those pillows as she looked at the machines. The heartbeats did seem really fast, though she knew they would be beating faster than hers. Marit told her that they were a little fast but then followed it by saying they were 'fairly' in good shape. Fairly, what did that mean? Adequate? Passable? Somewhat?

Fantastic.

The gel felt amazingly cool against her skin, though she remembered previously that it had been ice-cold. Kel watched the screen, noting what they looked like. She saw that they didn't look filled out, like babies were supposed to be. They looked...tiny. It was different, knowing that you were ten weeks early, and being able to see them. Being able to see that they were woefully unprepared for life outside of the womb. She hastily turned her gaze away from the monitor, nodding gladly when Marit said she was going to turn it off. She didn't need to see that. Merlin, she'd screwed up majorly. They were going to have to have a miracle or something for these babies to be born and be able to survive. The steroids? As bad as the needle felt, and as bad as it was knowing she had drugs going into her system, she realized just how horrible the situation was. Seeing it? That was scary.

Kel was then being asked a question, and her slightly widened eyes looked up at her healer for a moment as she struggled to get herself back into that calmer control. "M-my water broke and then I had one that lasted about thirty seconds, and then...there was one about twenty minutes later, and then another in about the same time." She paused for a moment to think about how much time it was between the one she had with her coworker and Declan coming in, and guessed, "Maybe about...fifteen minutes after that I had another, and then that last one was probably a little less."
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Declan Clemens
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Marit checked how far along she was and the next contraction came. They were still fifteen minutes apart, and she wasn't that dilated, so there was a ways to go.

Once she was out of the room, Declan pulled up a chair to sit beside Kel. "I promise I'm not going anywhere," he said. "And I'm sorry about Marit. She's...not usually like this." Yeah, he knew she could be a little too clinical or cold for some people, but that was ridiculous.

"Do you want me to get someone else to take over?"

He knew Kel didn't want him to leave, but he felt so useless, and he wondered if there was anything else he could do for her in that moment. "Do you want me to contact anyone for you, or...?" He didn't know if she wanted either of her parents or any of her siblings there. He'd be more than happy to just sit there with her if that's what she wanted.

"Or can I get you...anything?" Wow he was doing an awful job at being helpful. He was still so nervous, and it was making it difficult to think clearly.

"I'm sorry about the whole steroids thing," he said. "I wish you didn't have to take them." He did wish that for her sake, but at least she had them now, and the babies would have a better chance. It calmed him to hear the heart beats because he knew that, right then at least, the babies were ok.
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Kelly Daniels
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There was so much about pregnancy that was uncomfortable, Kelly decided. For one, those ultrasounds. It was gross feeling that gloopy gel all over her skin. For another, checking how dilated she was? It didn't hurt, obviously. It was just...awkward. She was only thanking some unknown deity for remembering to shave. Not that she tended to forget, and as odd as that was, it would have made things much more weird. Somehow. Was that vain? Probably, but it was the little things at the moment that were irking. Not that they were looking at her legs anyways...

Ugh.

Once Marit left the room, Kel piled her hair up on top of her head and pulled her wand out from underneath the pillow, a little more relaxed that it was just her and Declan. "Don't worry about it, she's just doing her job, and she's more concerned about the babies than some...irrational fear." It wasn't irrational fear, of course. There was just a kind of calm sluggishness that had overtaken her, and she couldn't particularly find herself to...care. Perhaps it was resignment, perhaps it was because she was burning up, but either way getting worked up over it all again over something she couldn't change was...well, she needed her energy. These contractions were just a taste of what she had coming up, and she needed to conserve as much as possible.

Didn't mean she couldn't start writing her report, of course. Her things were neat over in the corner out of the way, but now she accio'd it to herself, fully aware that she wasn't technically supposed to have a wand (more because pregnant women tended to lose themselves in the pain), but she was in control. The parchment was in her hand when she realized that Declan was still asking her questions, and she set it down for a moment to actually look at him. "I think...just letting my family and Sam know is a good idea, but Declan..."

Was it really horrible that she wasn't feeling as anxious as he looked? Yes it bloody hurt, and she wasn't exactly a fan of that at all, but she wasn't looking past the right then and right then the babies' heartbeats were 'strong'. So right then, they were safe. She had no doubt that as soon as the contractions started getting closer and she actually had to deliver she'd be a mess, but right then she was just using the time she had between contractions to try and relax.

"I just want you to stay with me, that's all I need." She answered his question softly, answering them one at a time. Him being there calmed her. "It's just..."

It was a punishment. She put herself in a dangerous situation, resulting in this premature labour, and the steroids were the result of that. For a moment she was speculative as she realized it, realized why she was so suddenly calm about it, and ended up just shrugging a shoulder to finish. "Are you okay?"
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Declan Clemens
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Declan was a little surprised when Kel just brought her work over to her after Marit left, but he supposed it'd be a long wait. He didn't really know what he thought they'd be doing. It wasn't like they could actively do anything. Maybe he should get some work to do too. It was probably going to be a long day.

"Ok, well, we could contact them or have Chris paged and he could contact them..."

He paused and offered her a smile. "I'm not leaving."

When Kel asked if he was all right, he paused. "I'm nervous," he admitted. "I'm trying to be hopeful, but I'm...really worried about the babies." He figured that was pretty obvious.
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