Chapter 143: The risks of awakened unborn babies.
"Is this one of those bad news and good news situations?" Rosario asked Sunshine.
Sunshine pursed her lips. Was there any good news in the circumstances they found themselves? She had seen such a situation once before, in the apocalypse before her rebirth.
A woman whose baby had awakened in the womb. That was not the only woman to meet such circumstances, but she was the only one Sunshine had seen with her very eyes.
Stories about such children spread from one base to another. The children were different; their neural activity began at utero. They emitted signals and manipulated the outside world by controlling their mothers that carried them.
Because they were young, reacted according to instinct, causing problems and danger. They could not be contained and the more their powers grew, the more dangerous it was for the mothers because the children sought to get out of the womb which was a prison to them.
Their birth was even worse. Some literally ripped their mothers apart just to be born.
Some people saw the children as weapons and the market for them was huge. One such baby could be sold for thousands of gold or supplies. If it was cash, they could fetch millions.
The wealthy loved to adopt and collect them because they were considered to be the future. They were born with superior genes.
But that woman that Sunshine saw, her baby had burned her to death from the inside. The mother died and the baby lived. The poor child was not even aware of what they had done.
Sunshine wanted to help but drones and other superhumans had charged in. One group had taken the baby.
Looking at Rosario now, Sunshine was worried that she would suffer the same fate as that woman. Of course, this also depended on the powers the baby had awakened.
As she thought, the room remained quiet, the faint hum of machines filling the silence with a fragile calm. Outside, footsteps echoed faintly along the corridor, but inside the air felt dense, as though the room itself was holding its breath.
Everyone could tell that something was making Sunshine anxious and they were also becoming anxious in turn. Rosario lay on the bed, beads of sweat glistening on her forehead. She looked small, vulnerable, her hands clutching her swollen moving belly as though she sought to shield her baby from whatever Sunshine was about to say or what was scaring her. Her eyes darted around the room, searching, pleading, terrified.
Hades wondered who should be defending who from whom. It was likely that they were the ones in need of protection, not the baby Rosario was trying to shield in her womb.
Major Elio stood by the window, wondering when Sunshine would spit out what was on her mind. He had already tried looking into Rosario’s womb and he could not see anything. His super sight still lacked x-ray abilities.
But what he had observed was that the baby seemed to be kicking in patterns that were not random. For him, that was enough to freak him out.
Nimo’s stomach rumbled meanwhile. But she was determined to table the hunger for later. This was more important.
Sunshine took a deep breath her expression as mix of calmness and seriousness. She wished she did not have to be the one to make the tough decisions but who would? None of these people had seen the real apocalypse. This was a matter of life and death, both fragile, both intertwined.
"Rosario, your baby has awakened." Sunshine said softly, but her voice carried the weight that pressed on everyone present.
Nurse Kendall froze in her step, her hand clutching the tray of instruments so tightly that the metal rattled. "Awakened?" Her voice cracked. "At seven months? How is that possible? Are babies allowed to awaken?"
Hades shifted uneasily from where he was seated, eyes narrowing. Even his hardened composure faltered. "How is that even possible! This is an unborn baby!"
Nimo who was quietly standing by the monitor, turned sharply, her jaw tightening. "How? Does it mean that Rosario also awakened?"
She was panicking. It was bad enough that teenagers were awakening but unborn babies too! One tantrum and it would set the base of fire or drown them in water.
Focusing her gaze on Rosario who was trembling, Sunshine said with strength in her voice. "Rosario is there something strange that you ingested? That is the most likely possibility behind this. You ate or drunk something that caused this."
Breathing in mist was a possibility but there was no mist inside the base. Even if there was, it was not enough to affect the baby.
Rosario pulled her breath together, a gasp escaping from her lips. "My baby...what..." She looked at her stomach, panicking.
Sunshine shook her. "Concentrate Rosario, we need to find out what you ate. If it is one the base, we must uproot it."
Rosario shook her head as she thought, tears forming in her eyes. "I have been eating that same thing everyone eats. But, on the way here, Poncho picked some wild berries that I kept and ate last week. They were still fresh; I didn’t think that it was an issue. Oh no... what have I done?"
Major Elio mumbled curses. He wondered how Rosario never stopped to ask herself why the berries had remained fresh for over a month.
"They must have been mutated wild berries." Sunshine spoke with certainty.
Nimo raised her hands to her head. "Damn it! So now what happens? Rosario looks like she’s in pain and the baby won’t stop kicking her. Look at those movements."
They all looked at Rosario’s belly and saw the obvious up and down movements. One, then two...one again...then four. It was like the child was playing soccer in there.
"A c-section." Sunshine declared. "We must take it out."
"What!?" Rosario forced herself up. The crying she had been doing was paused because she was in shock.
Nimo shut her eyes. "Suni....surely there has to be another way. The baby will die.... right?"
Sunshine shook her head. Her gaze did not waver. "The baby won’t die; it will live. Remember that it is different from ordinary babies. Rosario on the other hand, her body cannot contain it. The longer we wait, the more danger she is in. We have to operate. Now."
The words sliced through the air like a blade.
Rosario gasped, her trembling hands sliding over her belly as if searching for reassurance. Her lips parted but no words came out, only shaky breath. Then her eyes filled again and, tears streamed down her cheeks. "No....no, please. I can still carry to full term. I don’t want to take any risks."
Sunshine sat beside Rosario, taking her cold hand into hers. She looked into the woman’s eyes and said gently. "Rosario, listen to me. I know this sounds frightening, but it’s the only way to save you and your child. This might sound cruel, but I am not giving you a choice. You just have to trust me, and do as I say because I know what is best for the both of you right now."