“It’s happening!” Dawn yelled. “It’s for real this time!”
The crowd pulled back, away from her and Melissa. Jarek stood with both hands on Melissa’s shoulders, breathing deeply as he lent strength to his mate.
“Get the wheelchair!” Dawn demanded with authority. “You!” She pointed at a nearby usher. “Find me a spare room.”
No one argued. Sasha edged into the space near Melissa and saw Whelon already there and ready to assist. She reached for his hand and they followed Dawn, Melissa and Jarek down a nearby hall.
This is it, she thought anxiously. This is the moment when it all turns.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Melissa had been doing so well over the last week that Whelon had taken it for granted everything would be fine. Now he chased her down a narrow hallway, desperate to take her vitals and frantic that he had no equipment and no backup.
He needed Chashan, but he had stayed behind to tend to Preor Tower with so many warriors being absent. Even with so many Preor and their mates out at the event, the tower was still filled with males, human, and Ujal, and patients were always in the clinic. It had made sense that Chashan remained at the tower.
But I can’t move her now, he thought in frustration. We’ll end up birthing a dragonlet in evening traffic.
He took deep breaths to clear his mind and hurried into the room where they wheeled Melissa. It was someone’s office, a big mahogany desk taking up most of the room. The others quickly ran around finding pillows and blankets so they could get Melissa comfortable on the floor.
Sasha instructed her crew to wait outside and gave them the camera before locking the door—keeping all others out and so that Jarek, Whelon, Dawn, and Sasha were the only ones in the small office.
As Jarek set himself up behind Melissa for support, Whelon knelt between Melissa’s thighs to check how her body responded to labor. To his relief, her muscles were very loose, and even without fancy equipment for diagnostics, he had enough evidence that the birth canal had opened just as it should.
He looked up as Dawn placed a hand on Melissa’s belly. She closed her eyes for a second and then tore Melissa’s pink dress right down the middle. Both Jarek and Whelon stared at her in alarm, but Melissa answered the unspoken question.
“Thank you, Dawn,” Melissa breathed. “I was being strangled.”
“Don’t mention it.” She smiled and put both hands on Melissa’s bare stomach.
“The dragonlet is well,” Dawn murmured. “She remembers you, Whelon.”
“She?” Jarek’s voice was high, his face tense.
“Yes, Jarek, definitely a daughter. Most of the time, we can’t tell the sex throughout pregnancy by listening from the heart. A fetus doesn’t know what male or female even is. This close to term, though, they know enough to tell me.” Dawn closed her eyes again, a soft smile on her face. “She says you are content now, Whelon. You are where you are supposed to be and that you can show her how to do the same.”
“I will do my very best,” he rumbled as he pulled the remnants of Melissa’s skirts out of the way. Sasha moved to Melissa’s other side so she and Jarek each held one of her hands.
Dawn stayed by her side, both hands on her tight belly as she spoke to the child. “She’s ready, Whelon.”
Whelon took a deep breath and carefully felt around to make sure Melissa was, indeed, ready to push. He was outside of a med bay with nothing he could support her with—no medication for pain. If she had a simple hemorrhage, all he would be able to do was watch her die. He tried to push away his frustration, knowing it would only affect the mood of everyone in the room.
“Try and relax, Melissa,” he murmured gently. “I just need to check things at the baby’s head.”
She nodded and gulped, closing her eyes tightly as he felt around. Whelon inserted his fingers as gently as possible, listening for any signs of distress from Melissa. He was terrified he would find the birth canal closed and he was without equipment to perform a Caesarion.
A successful one, anyway. His mind shied away from the dark thought. He knew the ambulance waited nearby, and its attendants would be on their way, but they wouldn’t have anything that would support Melissa through surgery.
Melissa gasped in pain as his hand finally reached her cervix. He felt around as quickly as possible before carefully withdrawing his hand.
“You’re open,” he breathed in relief. “You’re okay, Melissa.”
“I don’t feel fucking okay!” she screamed at him, her face bright red and sweat peppering her brow. “Nothing about this is okay!”
Whelon looked to his mate. “Go and get the ambulance attendants. We can at least give her something for the pain if they have anything.”
Sasha nodded, dashing away. Dawn had her eyes closed and crooned something under her breath. The lilting melody throbbed through him, as calming as a physical drug. It relaxed him but kept his mind sharp, and Whelon noticed Dawn’s magic working on everyone in the room.
Whelon peered down and saw Melissa’s body blushing deep rose and the outer lips turning a deep red. He only guessed but he assumed her body prepared to push. He placed his hands over Dawn’s.
The sensation hit him in the chest so hard it stole his breath. For a split-second, he was the baby, caught in a dark world where he was being compressed and squeezed. The warm, safe home that he had enjoyed for months had now become a claustrophobic prison and the child was desperate to get out.
Whelon pulled back his consciousness and felt his mind move away from the baby girl’s, but she reached out for him with her young mind. Through Dawn, they could feel each other
