Page 53 of Used By the Unicorn

He shakes his head. “No. I’m taking you to the grove.”

I don’t argue. A sterile hospital feels like the last place I want to go now, anyway. The thought of the lovely blue-skinned nurses in long white gowns and the tall, thick trees gathering me in is very very soothing.

Boaz hurries up before Stirling can turn back for my clothes. He has on his own shorts and hands Stirling his, and then hands me the dress I wore here.

“Thanks.” I give him a grateful smile before I struggle to get the dress over my head. I wish I had something to put between my legs to stop the blood, but the only thing I’ve got is the bunched skirt of the dress which I sit on. It will have to do.

The two unicorns hurry into the car and Boaz starts the engine. “What about Sapphy and Knight?” I give into the urge to snuggle against Stirling in the back seat. My hands feel cold and sweaty, and I can’t seem to stop them shaking.

“They’ll meet us there.”

I don’t ask any more questions. Instead, I sink into myself a little. The three of us fall into silence. Boaz takes the corners too fast and we speed toward the other side of town.

Stirling won’t even let me walk when Boaz stops the car. He’s out in a flash, opening my door, pulling me into his arms, and hushing me when I complain about the blood. He and Boaz unscrew their horn caps and Stirling trots up the path carrying me, surprising the nurse who comes to greet us.

“Please help my mate!”

The nurse doesn’t waste time with a greeting. “Of course. Bring her to the healing pool.”

We follow the woman—dryad or naiad or whatever she is—to the hot tub in the center of the grove.

“Clothes off, please. Tell me what brought you here.”

“I started bleeding. I don’t know. Is it bad?”

A little tension in her jaw is the only thing that reveals she might be concerned. “Any other symptoms?”

“Uh... not really.”

“Cramping.” Stirling cuts in. I feel silly for not mentioning it.

“Hmm. How long has it been happening?”

I try to think. I guess I’ve had a few times lately when I’ve felt a little achy. I thought it was all part of the pregnancy. “A couple weeks.”

She makes another low sound and I lose my cool. “What? What is it? Tell me.”

Stirling puts his hand on my arm and a little of the buzzing nerves stop zapping at my brain. I sigh.

“How far along are you?” the nurse continues.

“About seven months.”

I pull off my dress and realize there’s still a tiny scrap of river mud stuck to my breast. It’s oddly comforting, so I focus on it as Stirling helps me climb the steps and lower myself into the pool. I’m surprised when I feel better almost instantly. The niggling ache I only half realized was bugging me all day vanishes as soon as the water covers my belly.

“Let me have a feel and see if we can work out what’s going on.”

The nurse slips her hands into the water and cups my belly. She shuts her eyes and nobody says anything for a long moment.

I’m getting impatient. I just want her to tell me my baby is fine. That everyone has overreacted. But the longer she spends like that, the more I start to think that’s not what’s going to happen.

“It’s OK,” Stirling strokes my hair. I almost brush him away, except that would hurt his feelings.

Finally, the nurse opens her eyes. “I’m having trouble finding him. He might be very deeply asleep.”

I stare. We hadn’t found out the gender yet. I try to speak, but my throat is too tight.

“I’m going to go and get my colleague so we have another set of eyes. Please don’t panic. Sometimes this means we need to wait a little until baby wakes up.”

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