The day after Janus left, it began with someone banging against my door.
Bang, Bang, Bang,
After the third Knock, I was already at the door.
' Please let it be nothing'
Behind the door was the maid who brought me my breakfast every day. She began talking immediately when I opened it.
"Emma needs your help, please!" she said agitatedly.
"What happened? Who is Emma?" I asked, still a bit sleepy. I had no idea who Emma was, but judging from the maid's behavior, it seemed urgent.
The maid, not caring about my nightgown, grabbed my hand and began explaining while pulling me through the hallway and down the stairs. "Emma is my sister." We passed a few corners and descended two more stairs. "She is just eight Months pregnant, but the baby is coming."
' Shit'
When we came outside under the moon, I could already hear a pained scream resounding over the courtyard. I started to move faster. I stopped when Emma's sister was about to drag me past the Clinic and grabbed a backpack, filling it with all the tools I would need. And we were on our way again.
Eventually, we arrived at a half-open door in the Maid's Quarter. The maid who has been dragging me all this way shoved me through the door. I was assailed by a vast crowd of worried Maids and a man at the end of his rope, clinging to a trembling Benjamin. The moment I stepped through the door, all eyes were on me, but before anyone could say anything, I told them commandingly.
"All of you, except for Emma and Benjamin. Leave right now, I need space!"
Not that Emma was in any condition to move.
Thankfully, all the useless people left, but the presumed Father kept crying beside Emma.
"Will she die?" he asked in a choked voice. Emma was lying in the small bed, drenched in sweat. There was a lot of blood between her legs. She must have lost a lot of amniotic fluid. She was barely conscious.
I raised my nose and pushed out my chest, saying confidently, "Dying? Don't be ridiculous. I'm here. There is no way she could die. You should be more worried about the Baby." It's true. There was no way Emma could die with me being here. The Baby, however, could already be dead. Their Souls lack the connections, desires, and relationships that a child, teenager, or adult would possess. They only have a strong desire to be born, so most infant souls will instinctively try to be reborn again if they are about to die.
"I don't care, just save Emma! Please," the man asked in desperation.
I had already started scanning her body with healing magic. I answered, "Good answer, but it's probably a good thing that your daughter didn't hear you."
"What? Daughter!?" he exclaimed.
"She is coming too early, but she can make it. Emma just has to start pushing again." I said reassuringly.
The Birth canal was simply not yet wide enough. Emma must have spent most of her energy getting the Baby this far. She was, however, way too exhausted.
"Emma, can you hear me? You have to start pushing again," I asked her calmly and clearly.
"I can't, I don't I..." Her voice was only a whisper before she fell unconscious.
I cursed "Shit, I needed her." The man next to me, meanwhile, wholly lost it.
"Emma!" he screamed, and the People who had gathered in front of the room began to look through the door. "You said you would save her!"
"She is fine," I reassured again. This would be way easier without him around. "But the Baby will die at this rate," I explained.
"But can't you just heal it?" he asked, close to breaking down.
"The Umbilical cord has wrapped itself around the Baby's throat. Healing magic can't save someone from suffocation. You'd better leave. I have to cut the Baby out." I declared while staring into his Eyes.
"Cut her? What? But she..." he stammered. It looked like this was the final straw for him.
"As long as I am here, she can't die. Just go already," but the man didn't budge.
Fine be that way, and I began to rummage through my backpack before finding a small but sharp knife.
When I turned around, the man stood protectively between Emma's bed and me. "I won't let you through," he declared, spreading his arms.
I sighed. "Please let me through. I will save Emma and the Baby. I have never killed or failed to save anyone." I pleaded, but he did not care.
"No, I-I don't trust you," he stated, coming closer.
I called out towards the door, "Ugh. Get him out!"
Quite a crowd had gathered in front of the door, including a few guards who wanted to know what the commotion was all about. Before the man could continue to protest, the Guards were already dragging him out.
I called after them, "Be nice to him. He is just worried," With the erratic man removed, I turn towards the still trembling Benjamin.
"Are you ready?"
“W-W-W-What?”
"I said, Are you ready, Benni? This will be your first C-section."
He stared at the knife in my hand in panic, but still began to reach for it.
"No, silly. I will do it; you just have to give me the tools from my backpack when I ask for them. Ok? Can you do that for me?"
Still trembling, but not as much as before, Benjamin gave me a firm nod while letting out a sigh of relief.
And I began my bloody task. "First, for a C-section, we have to numb the pain by blocking the Pain receptors by removing a bit of their vitality with healing magic. Then, you must cut through the skin, subcutaneous tissue, fascia, and muscle until you reach the abdominal cavity. Then the peritoneum, the membrane lining the abdominal cavity, is opened…" Despite his obvious Disgust, Benjamin Gaze was fixed on my Hands, doing his best to remember every single word and cut.
Half an Hour later, a small cry came from the room, the sound of a newborn baby.
It looked like a bright red, naked, wrinkly monkey. It even managed to wake up the tired Emma. I quickly covered the still cut-open belly with a cloth and laid the little girl right next to Emma, the umbilical cord still attached.
"It's a perfectly healthy little girl. She is a bit small, but she will make it." I told her with a beaming smile. Out of all my memories since I came to this world, this one is by far the best. But suddenly I was overcome with a strong sense of nausea. My hands still bloody, I grab for the chamber pot before spewing out my stomach contents. What is with me? Even Benjamin didn't throw up, and his face was as white as snow.
Slowly, Emma woke up fully and asked,
"Why is she so red?" She looked a bit scared as if her daughter was ill. I looked up from the chamber pot, suppressing the urge to throw up again, and reassured her,
"All babies are like that right after birth. And don't worry, she will soon have a normal skin tone." Seeing all this, I'm again reminded how difficult my life as a woman will be. Many People forget about it, but every Human in this world has to be born by their mother.
Suddenly, there was a quiet voice coming from the door. "C-Can I come in?" It was the hysterical Father from before. He sounded a lot less angry and quite sheepish. So, I asked Emma,
"Can he come in?" Emma was still staring at her whimpering Baby. The little girl was grabbing onto Emma's pinky Finger.
"Peter, just come in and see our Daughter," Emma said, crying tears of joy while chuckling. She seemed amused at him for acting so docile. The door opened with a quiet creak, and Peter slipped inside. He was looking at the ground while saying,
"I'm sorry if not for you, Emma would... I would..." he didn't seem to take it well that he lost his cool an Hour ago.
"It's alright. I was also on the verge of losing it. After all, this is the first time I did a C-section."
Benjamin stared at me in shock and disbelief before grabbing the chamber pot from my hands for himself.
"But...I"
"Just forget about it. Everyone is…" I trailed off a bit, staring at poor Benjamin still hunched over the chamber pot. "…safe, and you became Father and Mother of a healthy little girl," I said while slowly picking up the Baby.
"Do you want to hold her?" I asked. But before he could answer, I had already put his daughter in his arms. "You have to put one hand on her butt and use the other to support her neck, be careful it is still fragile." Throughout this whole conversation, the Baby had been screaming bloody murder. Still, when Peter held her in his hand, she quieted down.
Both Parents were fascinated by the spectacle and couldn't look away. My gaze lands on the Umbilical cord that has already turned white.
"Good, she seems to like you, and it looks like all the remaining nutrients have gone through the Umbilical cord."
I clamped a small part of the cord close to the Baby's belly and cut off the rest with a wooden clamp and a pair of scissors handed to me from Benjamin. With the cord removed, I lift the cloth covering Emma's open belly and reach inside Emma once more to take out the placenta.
"Please look away for one more minute, I will take out the afterbirth and close the incision."
Everyone but Benjamin gave their best not to look while I removed the bloody sack that had nourished the Baby for eight Months from Emma's Womb. I threw it with the rest of the Umbilical cord into the chamber pot. I closed all the incisions I made, making sure to show and explain every step to Benjamin, "... and be sure that you have all the tools and equipment before you close up. If you forget anything inside her, she may get ill again. And don't forget to disinfect the wound with magic before you are done." I wiped my hands clean and said as I walked towards the door.
"I'll be going now. If you need help again, don't hesitate to ask." I said while yawning. It may seem cold, but there were a lot of mothers among the maids who knew more about this than I did, and it was still the middle of the night. However, I couldn't leave the door before Emma asked me, "Can you pick the Name?"
Did I hear right? She wanted me to name her child. I couldn't believe it, so I pointed at myself and asked like an idiot, "Really, you want me to pick the Name?" Peter and Emma nodded. "If it weren't for you, she wouldn't have made it, and I wouldn't have made it. It would make me very happy if you picked it."
I felt put on the spot, but if they are sure, then why not?
A name, huh?
"Mmmh, fine, how about Teresa?"