The Sacrifice: Fallen | Loki | Book 2

Chapter 23: Frozen

Loki knew something had gone wrong, terribly wrong. When the flames died and cleared the way in front of him, he lost no single second. He ran into the mansion with the mother of his child in his arms, in pain. She held her abdomen, moaned, sweated.

Finally in his library, he placed her as gently as he possibly could on the bed - the one he had transformed her in. It looked different then, it was narrow and actually resembled an Asgardian healer bed. The room itself was bathed in light, despite the outside darkness, and lots of sterile material lied ready on assisting tables. Loki had prepared himself, had taken every precaution he could think of - his pardoning had not yet happened. Although the imagination burnt him, he knew his son might be born on Midgard. Loki himself was a trained healer, but he feared nonetheless. 

This was dangerous, and as so often, Loki secretly doubted himself.

"Caroline." He uttered, the agitation clear in his voice, taking her shaky hand in his. It was cold, white. "Fear not, you are safe." 

"Loki - " She answered, breathing flatly. "Loki, the baby - " 

"I swear to you, on my life, I will never let anything happen to you. Let me just - " He talked fast, so unusually hectic and nervous.

Loki let go of Caroline's hand and exposed her abdomen. The pregnancy had proceeded irregularly, not the length of a human one and yet lacking most of the signs of an Asgardian one. The lack of knowledge scared Loki, more than anything. He felt like a failure all together, as he felt incapable of helping the woman he loved.

He gritted his teeth and forced his mind to focus. There was no time for self-loathing then. His hands started glowing, not the usual green, but an intense blue. He pressed his hands to her skin, it was not much warmer than his, which was all the more unsettling. Loki closed his eyes, focused his inner sight on his hands, detected the injury. Only a bruise could be seen from the outside, where Caroline had fallen on the edge of a rock. 

While he had earned the highest degree a healer could achieve on Asgard, he had never practiced. It had always been more of an academic interest, which he now regretted. If only he had more experience. In another torturous moment, he had it.

"Placental abruption." 

It sounded like a death sentence. Caroline was just awake enough to understand, it sent another thrust of adrenaline though her veins. "Loki - " She screamed, crying. Loki ignored her for a split second in which he took her dark trousers off - she was bleeding profusely. The sight of her blood all over her thighs froze him, more than the biting cold of Jotunheim ever could. 

"No - No, this can't be - " 

Never, not in a god's lifetime, this was impossible. I have failed, failed so miserably and pathetically, in the most crucial moment of my life. 

The weight of his failure crushed him. He had prepared blood bottles for her with his own golden life blood - it was for vain, he could've as well bled to the ground. Caroline could never receive them - she was a shadow after all, mortal, with silvery blood running through her veins. A quick, shocked glance to her pale face revealed that she was slowly fading. 

Loki knew he could only try to stop the detachment of the placenta, but would she stay alive until then? He put his glowing hand once again to her abdomen, sensed the baby's heart beat - it was far too slow for an unborn. He had to act now.

There was one person, only the one, who could be her blood donor. Loki knew it was the sole way, that he had to abandon all his previous plans for the sake of the lives of his family. In another instant, the new dome he had erected for the short time he thought he would spent on Midgard, came crashing down. It left the mansion vulnerable like any other human monument. Then, Loki emitted an emergency signal.