Red of Berlin

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Sylviane

Michael's point of view:

Just when you think everything is going to be alright, another boulder comes trampling down a hill and slamming into your face. This happened seven and a half months after the incident with Johann and the boys. Adèle was already two weeks over her due date, and she was experiencing deep pains within her abdomen. The doctor told her it was just labour pains soon to come, but something told me there was more to it. She wasn't like this with the boys, and now she was in so much pain that she couldn't even get out of bed.

"I implore you to give a C-section, doctor. She's dying, I can tell. I don't need medical training to believe that she needs surgery," I argued with him as we stood outside our bedroom. Adèle was in there, quiet but turbulent. She couldn't sleep a wink, unlike what the doctor had said. I was getting more and more frustrated the more he resisted the idea of a C-section. He kept shaking his head at me.

"I cannot give her a C-section until she has broken water. She isn't even in labour, Michael. I can't allow a surgery before the baby is ready," he replied. I sighed and ran my fingers angrily through my hair.

"I won't see her die, doctor. You need to induce labour," I replied. He shook his head at me again.

"I cannot just induce labour. All I have are home remedies, and they are hardly accurate. All we can do right now is wait for her water to break, or for her contractions to start," he replied. I had to take this for an answer despite my refusal.

"Then you must stay here. Do not leave until that child is born and out of my wife," I demanded, somewhat with a menacing tone. I was upset that he had nothing to give her, that he couldn't help her. My wife wouldn't die by my child, I would make sure of that.

"I will not leave the premises until the child is born," he replied. I nodded and motioned for him to leave. He left and I entered the bedroom. Adèle lay in bed, pale and vegetative. It was as if she had been lobotomized. This baby was giving her so much trouble and agony, and I wanted to aid it.

"My love, how do you feel?" I asked her in a slight whisper. She took a soft and weak breathe as she turned to me. Her stomach was rounded, bulging out from her nightgown from being so far into her pregnancy. She was so pretty, so light and luminous in her bed, the sheets matching the fabric of her night gown. I wished that I could kiss her pain away, that I could somehow have the child born successfully.

"Pain. That's all I feel. What's is going on, Michael? Is something happening to the baby?" She asked. Knowing she was worried must have added more to the physical pains she felt. I wanted to cry for her, but I wouldn't allow it. We had too much to do, I had to stay as the strong one for her.

"Nothing is wrong, my love. These things happen. I've hired the best of all doctors I could find in Berlin, and he will not rest until our child is born," I replied. I was doing my best to assure her that everything would be fine, but she didn't seem persuaded.

"Talk to the baby, Michael. Please," she requested. I nodded and dipped my head down to her baby bump. My hand caressed her skin as I felt the movement of the fully grown baby in her womb.

"Please, my child, come out. You are hurting your mother, please come out. We want you here, so we can hold you in our arms and love you until we can't love anymore. Come and see your parents, come and visit your brothers and your uncles. You have people here, and we're waiting for you baby," I said to her stomach, whispering as I kissed her skin. She didn't move then, the baby didn't come, but she fell asleep, and that was enough for me for now.

It was close to one in the morning when I felt myself being slapped in the chest. It woke me up instantly, and as my eyes opened I saw Adèle in bed, sitting up beside me. She was moaning in pain, holding her stomach as she closed her eyes tightly. I sat up and looked below to where her legs sat under the covers, parted. Water had seeped through the sheets, the baby was coming. Then I noticed that it was not just water, there was blood as well.