Page 8 of LeX

Chapter Four

LEX

Ifindmyself absorbed in the words.Thetree is a good distance away from the house and the whispers seem to be getting louder the closerIget.Oddlyenough, it appears to be lit up from the inside.Duckingunder the long limbs which are hanging clear to the ground,Iwalk into a wonderland of lights and floating blooms that are swaying back and forth.Smalllights appear to be coming from each individual flower.

Movingslowly to the base of the tree,Isit down just likeIalways did withNana.Gazingup through the branches at the lights,Iinhale the sweet scent of the cherry blossoms.Allof a sudden, the whispers start to fade, and the lights start going out one by one.Itis dark inside the tree within a matter of seconds, except for one lonely little light.Asthe darkness settles around me,IswearIhear a sneeze.

Lookingup toward the top of the tree, one of the blooms starts to fall.It’sspinning slowly down to me, a slight glow within.Reachingmy hand out,Icatch it softly when suddenlyIhear a sneeze coming from within the flower.Glancingaround with a bewildered look on my face,IknowIjust heard a sneeze.Thismust be a joke, butIdon’t see anyone else around.Bringingthe flower up closer to my face soIcan see it better,Inotice movement inside.Gently,Ipull back one of the petals and lying inside of the flower is a little hand.

Oh, my goodness!Thereis a miniature person in this thing, andImean tiny!Likethe size of a large bean.Ican’t believe thatNana’sstory was really true.Inmy hand, a baby fairy lies curled in a flower, shivering.Ican see the glimmer of its small wings that seem to be attached to the petals on the bloom itself.Idon’t know what to think or what to do, butNanawould have loved this.Theteeny thing is so small thatIcan’t just leave it out here; there is no way it will make it.Mymind drifts back to all the thingsNanasaid, … the little fairy must have fallen too soon!

Thealarm on the machine jerks me out of those words so fastIalmost throw the holo pad.Settingit down,Istop dead whenIsee the results on the screen.Rylie’sbrain waves are all over the place from within moments of me starting the story.Unhookingthe lines from my own arm,Irun the stats again, making sure that my blood is not harming her in any way.Ifeel theDestroyer’sfloor vibrate lightly under my feet only moments beforeViNcomes barging in the door withEmberin his arms.

“Emberneeds to be scanned immediately!Shecan’t keep any sustenance down and is feeling weary.”

“Layher down on the bed.Howlong have you felt like thisEmber?”

“LeX,ViNis just panicking,Ihave told him the last three mornings this is normal.Allgirls get sick when pregnant.”

“AndIlistened, but this is no longer early rising.”

“Iwould be acting the sameEmber; this is the first known youngling born outsideViN’srace.Weknew you were going to have to be monitored more than usual.Imay see ifSCOUTcan put a remote scanner in your rooms so that theDestroyercan watch you and the fetuses’ heart rate at all times.Allright, enough of that, lie back and relax.Iam going to lay this scanner over your stomach, but you shouldn’t feel anything.”

Raisingher shirt slightly,Imaneuver the device around her already rounding stomach.Itdoes not take long to find the youngling.Hoveringin place,Ihit a few commands on it so thatIcan see the weight, size, and health of the fetus.Whenthe machine beeps,Igo to lift the wand only to notice some discoloration on her side.

“Ember,Iwant you to turn over for me for a tic.Haveyou fallen?Orbumped into anything really hard?”

“No,ViNwill barely let me do anything.Oweeee.”Themoment that sound is out of her mouth,ViNhas a death grip on my arm and a growl on his lips.Shakingmy head,Imotion for him to come around to my side.

Reluctantlyhe drops my arm and is leaning over me in two steps. “Ember,Iam not going to touch these bruises, just feel around them.Youlet me know if this bothers you.ViN,Ineed you to hold her still so thatIcan see if this is anything we need to be concerned about.”

ThemomentIgive him something to do he stops growling at me.WhenIcan find no damage on the outside,Ihave to assume the youngling is actually damaging her from the inside. “Ember, have you felt any sharp pains or aching in your side?”

“Nowthat you ask, yeah.LastnightIcouldn’t get comfortable on that side, but it seemed to ease up whenIrolled over.”

“Ember, you can lay back now; just let me check something.”Grabbingthe medical chart that is updating all her stats, right awayInotice the youngling is larger than it should be this quickly.

“Didyour intolerance to certain foods just start?”

“Yes, just a couple days ago.”

“Well, this is just an educated guess, butIdon’t think the little one likes your diet and she is making it known.”

“SHE!” they both say at the same time.Thesmile shared between them makes me feel likeI’mintruding.

“Itmost definitely is a female; the blood work is positive on that account.ButIneed to review the test we performed a few risings back.”

“Canwe see her?”Emberrubs her belly with a huge grin on her face.

“Hopefully, the next time you come in; you will be able to.Thisscan seems grainier than the previous one andIneed to recalibrate the unit so that we can see her clearly.Rightnow, it’s just fuzz on the monitor.

Ifyou continue to see more bruising or feel discomfort, let me know.Inthe meantime,ViN, she needs to be up walking and doing as many normal activities as possible.Herbody will only weaken if not used and she will have to be strong to deliver this little one in a much shorter time thanIoriginally accounted for.Itappears that you were further along than we previously thought.

Theyoungling is growing rapidly, but you have gained very little weight.Thismight account for some of your nausea, as the child is absorbing more of your essence than you are.Ihave ordered a diverse meal for you to eat this rising.Youneed to understand not all this sustenance will be favorable to you, butIneed you to consume as much protein as possible.Thisyoungling will and has taken on more ofViN’sdominant genes than yours, so she will need meat.Itwill take several tics to reset this machine, so unless something happens you thinkIshould know,Iwill see you late next rising.”

ViNhastily picks her up. “Sheneeds to walk.”

“Shecan do so at a later time.”Emberjust shrugs andIwatch as they walk out of the room.

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