Silence
Anonymous Me
In some ways his shoulder still hurt from the surgery, but he had another month before he had to go in for another one. This time Killian had barely finished with one of the shots and he still felt a little tender. Star was beginning to worry him though. She was losing weight instead of gaining it like she was supposed to. Even when he wanted to be sleeping later he would get up and wander down the stairs to get something for Star to eat. After the shot his mother started sending him to bed more often because she was worried he was working his arm too hard since it had been constantly sore after the last surgery instead of having the regular lapse where it felt pretty good.
Still Killian did what he could and Belen would let him. With one week of resting his arm the soreness did leave and he knew not to push it that hard again. Almost hourly he would check on Star to find that she was still sick no matter what they had been trying. What they really needed was a doctor and finally they got one. He was one of the foremost physicians on the planet regarding births and the most accomplished with humans.
Killian watched the doctor like a hawk. He didn't know what all this stuff was and Star was sick enough he didn't think it would take much to put her body out of sorts. When the doctor revealed they were having twins Killian's face lit up. Two babies at one time, it was great! He failed to notice for the time that Star wasn't quite as excited looking. Momentarily Killian's attention was demanded for the button thing and he felt along Star's back like the doctor showed him and then he followed the instructions to push the button onto her. Within a few seconds Star seemed to be feeling much better and that only made Killian feel more at east and a lot more excited about the babies now. They finished up the appointment with a few papers and hand outs on some tips for preparing for twins and Killian didn't really see the difference between having one baby or two. It just meant that you needed to have two beds when they got older.
Once they were outside the doctor's office Killian grinned down at Star. "Twins...that's pretty great." They had a few minutes of walking down the hallways and he figured it was as good a time as any to talk with her about the development.
"I guess." She sounded less excited than she had a month ago.
"So, I won the bet. One of them is a boy. That means I don't have to do tea party right?" Killian winked at her. "And you'll have a girl to dress up."
"If she wants a tea party, Killian. You'll give a tea party." Star replied, her hands on her stomach. Though she wasn't nauseous anymore the thought of having twins was stressing her out. "Ugh...you know what this means right? It means we're going to have double of everything. Double feeding, double, diapers, double the crying..." She paled and moaned, "And two births at the same time. Shi*, i'm going to die..."
"It's not that hard." Shrugging his shoulders he went on, "Just means that what you do for one baby you do for the other."
Star glared at him. "One of these days I'm getting you hooked up to a birthing simulator. THEN you tell me how hard it is."
"Why you getting so hostile?" Killian looked at her a bit surprised. "What's the difference between pushing one or two out? First one gets you all stretched out right?"
"Ok, that's it." She grabbed his hand and marched him right back to Dr. Farren's office. "Sorry to bother you again doctor, but...by chance do you have one of those birthing simulators?" She asked. The doctor raised an eyebrow looking at Killian in amusement. "We do, actually. Are you wanting to try it, Killian?
"What are we doing?" Killian walked along with Star and he didn't see why she was headed back to the doctor's office. "Um...we're heading the wrong way. Star?" She obviously didn't want to listen and instead burst in to ask about a birth simulator. Killian's eyes got wide and he rubbed the side of his head. "I don't....." Glancing at Star when he felt her tighten her squeeze on his hand he looked at the doctor again. "I do?"
It was mean. Star knew. But he was so unsympathetic sometimes. Dr. Farren chuckled. "Alright then." He took them to a back room and had Killian pull up his shirt while he wrapped a tight strap about his hips and lower stomach. "Now even this isn't a very accurate child birth simulator, but it'll give you a pretty good idea of what she experiences for the duration of the labor process, which for Chippequoti can last up to 12 hours." Dr. Faren reached over and pressed a button on the machine, turning it on. "We'll start at the lowest threshold and work our way up the actual birth pain level. If you last that long, this simulation takes about 30 to 50 minutes."
Killian was a little bit skeptical at first. "Really?" The belt for the simulator felt a little odd and the doctor told him to lay down on the bed in the room so he laid on it and rolled his eyes at Star. When the first flicker of activity from the belt started he glanced down at it. "That's weird." It kind of felt like a bunch of little needle pricks and after a few minutes the technician running the machine set it to the next level and Killian looked over at Star. The doctor had already left so it was just him and Star with the technician. By the third notch he could feel his guts start to cramp. "Umm...uh...." In many ways it was worse than stomach cramps. "How many notches are on this thing?"
"There's 10." The technician just watched the timer to start into the next phase.
Star had her arms crossed as she looked at him without sympathy. Maybe it was hormones but she was feeling rather irritated with his causality about this. Now he was going to learn otherwise. "Yeah, just remember...no matter how bad it gets, I get to go through 10 hours of this."
All of it got worse by the 5th notch. Even his back started to cramp. Killian adjusted how he was laying on the bed and he sat up a little more. Then the sensation started to creep down toward his legs and he started to panic. "Oh shit no!" Laying back on the bed again he looked at the technician who informed him they had only made it to notch 6. Only a few minutes into the 7th notch he started to pull his knees closer to his chest and he took a sharp breath. It was almost like all the old injuries in his back were on fire with the cramping and then his side and hip had begun to ache from the cramps too. A deep frown came to his face and he tried to stay quiet.
Star's frown softened. She could tell he was in pain and trying not to say anything. She felt bad and almost gave him an out, but decided against it. Only four more notches. If he couldn't handle it anymore, he'd say something.
The little notch progressed through the five minutes of level 7 and the cramping grew increasingly worse paired with being more frequent. Killian pressed his head back into the pillow and he growled. Anytime that there was between the cramps he grasp his side and try to relieve the pain in his back. All of the constant cramping had either gotten suddenly much worse as it crossed over into 8 which wasn't logical cause it was a slow progression, or he was already sore. "Oh aha ha!" Sitting up a little his eyes began to water. Gradually he started to break out sweating and he writhed on the bed. "Ugh...what....." Taking a few breaths he moaned again. "Level?"
"Just barely into 8. Not even a minute." The technician replied.
"Do you need to stop?" Star was feeling increasingly uncomfortable. Part of her thought that somehow he'd be too tough to react and end up saying it wasn't so bad. Even if it was a simulation, she was feeling bad that she's made him do this.
There was part of him that really wanted to tough it out so he could say that he did, but that was practically torture. Laying back in the bed he groaned more. "Augh!" Shifting on the bed he took another deep breath before he started to curse. "Damn it yes...Just stop the thing!"
"Congratulations the baby made it far enough for epidural and you made it to a total of 1/5 of the way through level 8." Smiling the technician started to take the belt off of him. "We do have a recovery period required and I'll get you a little water and after about 15 minutes you can leave."
Star sat beside him, wringing her hands a bit. "You ok?"
After the technician left he set the bottle of water aside and frowned. "My balls hurt."
Star couldn't help but giggle a little. "So, yeah, now you know why I'm feeling a little nervous about doing that with twins"
Wincing he shifted on the bed a little and took a sip of the water while she spoke. "Hell if I had to do it I would only do it once and I'd make it twins or triplets so I only had to do the 10 hours once." Killian thought for a moment. "Actually I just wouldn't do it."
"Does this mean you don't think its not a big deal anymore?" She asked hopefully.
Nodding he agreed with her and winced again. "That thing hurts like hell. Feels like somebody just shot me and tried to crush the family jewels."
Star laughed. "I guess. And you didn't even make it to level ten." She winked. "Well, thank you for humoring me."
"Yeah I know. Didn't see the point in doing it if I didn't have to." Killian rolled to his side and curled his back to loosen the muscles. They were still hurting and he felt like somehow he was bleeding all over the place even though he knew he wasn't.
"I'll give you a nice massage tonight." She promised.
"No thanks." Groaning he sat up and stiffly moved toward the doorway when he heard the technician come back. "I'm ready to get out of this torture chamber. Thanks for the lesson." Killian grumbled the last sentence and walked very slowly out of the office. For the time his brain lacked creativity and he could only think of the easiest way out of the building and getting home. His stomach just felt like it did a lot of work and he was ok with that. What really hurt were all the old injury sites that were affected by the cramping. Even the bit of soreness wore out of the private range and that was good. He would have been mad if that lingered for much longer.
By the time they got home all he wanted to do was lay in a bed. There were still things to do though and he told Morgan he would help him move some stuff around the house. Every time he twisted or had to bend over the slow burn that started in his back reminded him of that miraculous process of child birth. Not that he gave birth, but it hurt.
Morgan noticed that Killian was moving a little slow and stiff. "You alright?" The extent of the injuries he didn't know about, but he did know they were pretty serious.
"Tried one of those pregnancy simulators." That seemed to be explanation enough in Killian's mind. There were not words to describe exactly how it felt besides painful.
Raising his eyebrows slightly, Morgan nodded. It was certainly an odd thing to subject yourself to, but if his son wanted to do that then obviously he could. "You want to relax for a few minutes then?"
Eyes widening Killian shook his head. "No. We'll just keep going." He was going to tough it out through the day. Couldn't wimp out now." By the end of the day he was more than ready for bed and he barely got himself changed and he decided not to put on the pajama shirt. Killian didn't want his back to be getting rubbed with a t-shirt all night. Small delicate fingers started to run along his back and he winced. "No thank you."
***************************
Anna stepped out of the house with her things and she grinned shyly at Kato. She couldn't really think of anything to say till they got to the spa and he laid around wondering about stuff. "That's kind of silly question if you ask me. I bet you anything that has to do with heat the Chippeqouti love. You could practically lay them in an oven and they'd just grin and be all the happier. Why do you think there's hot tables to lay on, hot blankets for your bed, hot tubs, hot salt springs to relax in, everything is hot." Chuckling a little she figured that maybe the light bulb would go off now. "I don't imagine that tourists come to a hot planet to experience more hot things."
Still Killian did what he could and Belen would let him. With one week of resting his arm the soreness did leave and he knew not to push it that hard again. Almost hourly he would check on Star to find that she was still sick no matter what they had been trying. What they really needed was a doctor and finally they got one. He was one of the foremost physicians on the planet regarding births and the most accomplished with humans.
Killian watched the doctor like a hawk. He didn't know what all this stuff was and Star was sick enough he didn't think it would take much to put her body out of sorts. When the doctor revealed they were having twins Killian's face lit up. Two babies at one time, it was great! He failed to notice for the time that Star wasn't quite as excited looking. Momentarily Killian's attention was demanded for the button thing and he felt along Star's back like the doctor showed him and then he followed the instructions to push the button onto her. Within a few seconds Star seemed to be feeling much better and that only made Killian feel more at east and a lot more excited about the babies now. They finished up the appointment with a few papers and hand outs on some tips for preparing for twins and Killian didn't really see the difference between having one baby or two. It just meant that you needed to have two beds when they got older.
Once they were outside the doctor's office Killian grinned down at Star. "Twins...that's pretty great." They had a few minutes of walking down the hallways and he figured it was as good a time as any to talk with her about the development.
"I guess." She sounded less excited than she had a month ago.
"So, I won the bet. One of them is a boy. That means I don't have to do tea party right?" Killian winked at her. "And you'll have a girl to dress up."
"If she wants a tea party, Killian. You'll give a tea party." Star replied, her hands on her stomach. Though she wasn't nauseous anymore the thought of having twins was stressing her out. "Ugh...you know what this means right? It means we're going to have double of everything. Double feeding, double, diapers, double the crying..." She paled and moaned, "And two births at the same time. Shi*, i'm going to die..."
"It's not that hard." Shrugging his shoulders he went on, "Just means that what you do for one baby you do for the other."
Star glared at him. "One of these days I'm getting you hooked up to a birthing simulator. THEN you tell me how hard it is."
"Why you getting so hostile?" Killian looked at her a bit surprised. "What's the difference between pushing one or two out? First one gets you all stretched out right?"
"Ok, that's it." She grabbed his hand and marched him right back to Dr. Farren's office. "Sorry to bother you again doctor, but...by chance do you have one of those birthing simulators?" She asked. The doctor raised an eyebrow looking at Killian in amusement. "We do, actually. Are you wanting to try it, Killian?
"What are we doing?" Killian walked along with Star and he didn't see why she was headed back to the doctor's office. "Um...we're heading the wrong way. Star?" She obviously didn't want to listen and instead burst in to ask about a birth simulator. Killian's eyes got wide and he rubbed the side of his head. "I don't....." Glancing at Star when he felt her tighten her squeeze on his hand he looked at the doctor again. "I do?"
It was mean. Star knew. But he was so unsympathetic sometimes. Dr. Farren chuckled. "Alright then." He took them to a back room and had Killian pull up his shirt while he wrapped a tight strap about his hips and lower stomach. "Now even this isn't a very accurate child birth simulator, but it'll give you a pretty good idea of what she experiences for the duration of the labor process, which for Chippequoti can last up to 12 hours." Dr. Faren reached over and pressed a button on the machine, turning it on. "We'll start at the lowest threshold and work our way up the actual birth pain level. If you last that long, this simulation takes about 30 to 50 minutes."
Killian was a little bit skeptical at first. "Really?" The belt for the simulator felt a little odd and the doctor told him to lay down on the bed in the room so he laid on it and rolled his eyes at Star. When the first flicker of activity from the belt started he glanced down at it. "That's weird." It kind of felt like a bunch of little needle pricks and after a few minutes the technician running the machine set it to the next level and Killian looked over at Star. The doctor had already left so it was just him and Star with the technician. By the third notch he could feel his guts start to cramp. "Umm...uh...." In many ways it was worse than stomach cramps. "How many notches are on this thing?"
"There's 10." The technician just watched the timer to start into the next phase.
Star had her arms crossed as she looked at him without sympathy. Maybe it was hormones but she was feeling rather irritated with his causality about this. Now he was going to learn otherwise. "Yeah, just remember...no matter how bad it gets, I get to go through 10 hours of this."
All of it got worse by the 5th notch. Even his back started to cramp. Killian adjusted how he was laying on the bed and he sat up a little more. Then the sensation started to creep down toward his legs and he started to panic. "Oh shit no!" Laying back on the bed again he looked at the technician who informed him they had only made it to notch 6. Only a few minutes into the 7th notch he started to pull his knees closer to his chest and he took a sharp breath. It was almost like all the old injuries in his back were on fire with the cramping and then his side and hip had begun to ache from the cramps too. A deep frown came to his face and he tried to stay quiet.
Star's frown softened. She could tell he was in pain and trying not to say anything. She felt bad and almost gave him an out, but decided against it. Only four more notches. If he couldn't handle it anymore, he'd say something.
The little notch progressed through the five minutes of level 7 and the cramping grew increasingly worse paired with being more frequent. Killian pressed his head back into the pillow and he growled. Anytime that there was between the cramps he grasp his side and try to relieve the pain in his back. All of the constant cramping had either gotten suddenly much worse as it crossed over into 8 which wasn't logical cause it was a slow progression, or he was already sore. "Oh aha ha!" Sitting up a little his eyes began to water. Gradually he started to break out sweating and he writhed on the bed. "Ugh...what....." Taking a few breaths he moaned again. "Level?"
"Just barely into 8. Not even a minute." The technician replied.
"Do you need to stop?" Star was feeling increasingly uncomfortable. Part of her thought that somehow he'd be too tough to react and end up saying it wasn't so bad. Even if it was a simulation, she was feeling bad that she's made him do this.
There was part of him that really wanted to tough it out so he could say that he did, but that was practically torture. Laying back in the bed he groaned more. "Augh!" Shifting on the bed he took another deep breath before he started to curse. "Damn it yes...Just stop the thing!"
"Congratulations the baby made it far enough for epidural and you made it to a total of 1/5 of the way through level 8." Smiling the technician started to take the belt off of him. "We do have a recovery period required and I'll get you a little water and after about 15 minutes you can leave."
Star sat beside him, wringing her hands a bit. "You ok?"
After the technician left he set the bottle of water aside and frowned. "My balls hurt."
Star couldn't help but giggle a little. "So, yeah, now you know why I'm feeling a little nervous about doing that with twins"
Wincing he shifted on the bed a little and took a sip of the water while she spoke. "Hell if I had to do it I would only do it once and I'd make it twins or triplets so I only had to do the 10 hours once." Killian thought for a moment. "Actually I just wouldn't do it."
"Does this mean you don't think its not a big deal anymore?" She asked hopefully.
Nodding he agreed with her and winced again. "That thing hurts like hell. Feels like somebody just shot me and tried to crush the family jewels."
Star laughed. "I guess. And you didn't even make it to level ten." She winked. "Well, thank you for humoring me."
"Yeah I know. Didn't see the point in doing it if I didn't have to." Killian rolled to his side and curled his back to loosen the muscles. They were still hurting and he felt like somehow he was bleeding all over the place even though he knew he wasn't.
"I'll give you a nice massage tonight." She promised.
"No thanks." Groaning he sat up and stiffly moved toward the doorway when he heard the technician come back. "I'm ready to get out of this torture chamber. Thanks for the lesson." Killian grumbled the last sentence and walked very slowly out of the office. For the time his brain lacked creativity and he could only think of the easiest way out of the building and getting home. His stomach just felt like it did a lot of work and he was ok with that. What really hurt were all the old injury sites that were affected by the cramping. Even the bit of soreness wore out of the private range and that was good. He would have been mad if that lingered for much longer.
By the time they got home all he wanted to do was lay in a bed. There were still things to do though and he told Morgan he would help him move some stuff around the house. Every time he twisted or had to bend over the slow burn that started in his back reminded him of that miraculous process of child birth. Not that he gave birth, but it hurt.
Morgan noticed that Killian was moving a little slow and stiff. "You alright?" The extent of the injuries he didn't know about, but he did know they were pretty serious.
"Tried one of those pregnancy simulators." That seemed to be explanation enough in Killian's mind. There were not words to describe exactly how it felt besides painful.
Raising his eyebrows slightly, Morgan nodded. It was certainly an odd thing to subject yourself to, but if his son wanted to do that then obviously he could. "You want to relax for a few minutes then?"
Eyes widening Killian shook his head. "No. We'll just keep going." He was going to tough it out through the day. Couldn't wimp out now." By the end of the day he was more than ready for bed and he barely got himself changed and he decided not to put on the pajama shirt. Killian didn't want his back to be getting rubbed with a t-shirt all night. Small delicate fingers started to run along his back and he winced. "No thank you."
***************************
Anna stepped out of the house with her things and she grinned shyly at Kato. She couldn't really think of anything to say till they got to the spa and he laid around wondering about stuff. "That's kind of silly question if you ask me. I bet you anything that has to do with heat the Chippeqouti love. You could practically lay them in an oven and they'd just grin and be all the happier. Why do you think there's hot tables to lay on, hot blankets for your bed, hot tubs, hot salt springs to relax in, everything is hot." Chuckling a little she figured that maybe the light bulb would go off now. "I don't imagine that tourists come to a hot planet to experience more hot things."