A/N: Damn plot bunnies. If this gets enough interest I might actually start taking it seriously. And yes, I'm implying that you should review. 8D
"Si vis me flere, dolendum est primum ipsi tibi."
-Horace, Ars Poetica
If you want me to feel an emotion, you must first feel that emotion yourself.
Dr. Damon entered the small hospital room. Nurses clothed in light blue scrubs gathered around the operating bed, very calm and intent with their individual tasks. In the bed was a very young lady… so young that she couldn't possibly be in her twenties yet. The doctor raised his eyes to view her beautiful, yet slightly perspiring face. Her expression was frightened and strained, but defiantly under control. The nurses already had her anesthetized from the chest down, getting ready for the cesarean section- abdominal delivery birth.
The young lady was Hester Leander, a seventeen year old highschool student who was known as the school's whore ever since her belly began to swell with the baby. Of course, she transferred out to another school specifically for other pregnant girls to finish her highschool education. Yet after that, the problems would not go away. Obviously, her parents were none too thrilled about their daughter's early pregnancy… in fact… they hardly cared at all. The father of the still unborn baby had not come forth either, nor would Hester speak of it.
It was one of the reasons why the School had specifically chosen her. No father, no parental support… she was sure to abandon her child (if she survived the birthing process). Months earlier, the School injected avian DNA within her uterus and into the fetus of the baby. Hester didn't know all that, of course. For all she knew, she was going to give birth to a living, breathing personification of her sin… not some mutant winged freak.
Ironic, wasn't it?
Dr. Damon went over to Hester, taking one last look at his clipboard before setting it down on the table. Hester looked up at him nervously, gripping the bedrails tightly. Putting a comforting hand of hers, Dr. Damon smiled gently.
"We're all set to begin, Miss Leander," he said, "Are you ready?"
"Yes," she answered faintly, but the nod she gave was curt and determined. Hester's knuckles shown white for a moment before she let go of the bedrails. However, she let Dr. Damon hold her hand. The girl was all alone and the doctor couldn't help but feel a tinge of pity for her. She was strong… and that wasn't what the School expected.
No, the School expected her to go so far as the abort the baby or put it up immediately for adoption. Hester did none of those. She wanted the baby and it was as simple as that. Well, the School couldn't have that. Little did she know that the baby she was carrying would be the second successfully made avian recombinant. She could certainly not keep the baby she was about to deliver.
"Very well," Dr. Damon replied, giving her hand a final pat. He glanced at the nurses and nodded. They responded silently, triple checking everything. Lifting the face mask over his mouth and nose and pulling on his clean latex gloves, Dr. Damon pulled Hester's blanket down to reveal her large and swollen stomach. The nurses bustled about to clean the area and one of them handed the doctor an incision knife.
"You won't feel a thing, Hester," he intoned soothingly, noting how the girl tensed at the sight of the blade. The girl had been numbed chest down, but it was rare to put a person to sleep during a c-section. The School wanted everything to appear as normal as possible. He made the first cut and started. Hester shut her eyes fast and did not open them.
Dr. Damon did the c-section cut as efficiently as any professional. Soon, he saw the prize. A baby's head, eyes screwed shut like its mother's. A nurse gently pushed against Hester's stomach and the doctor gingerly lifted the newborn out. He could feel a collective breath being held by everyone in the room, save for Hester. She had no idea the baby was out yet.
However, Dr. Damon could only stare at the baby, covered with bright red fluids and its umbilical cord still connected to its mother. Yes, he had delivered countless babies this way, but this one was special. It was ugly, as most babies were when just entering the world… but even uglier were its limp and sodden wings. They were formless and looked like broken limbs protruding out from the baby's back.
My god, thought the doctor, it's beautiful. Wings, the child was born with wings.
And then the breath was released. The nurses moved quickly, cutting off the umbilical cord and stitching up the incision cut on Hester. The absence of a cry was deathly eerie. The baby was utterly silent and Dr. Damon was suddenly scared. Did he fail? Was the baby dead? It couldn't be, for it was moving its arms feebly... as if it knew that it was going to be separated from his mother for good.
Too true. Dr. Damon motioned with his head and a nurse came into the room, carrying another baby. This one was perfectly normal and it was even brawling, an expected reaction after birth. Turning to the new nurse, he looked at both babies, marveling at them.
All babies looked the same, but these two were exactly identical in every way. The same chubby cheeks, round heads, weight, height… everything. Dr. Damon was sure that if he checked the fingerprints, they would have been the same as well. It was flawless, save for the fact that one had wings while the other's back was bare.
The nurse held out the baby in her arms and Dr. Damon held out Hester's. They switched. Bing, bam, boom. It was just too easy. As quickly as she had came, the nurse left with Hester's winged baby. Dr. Damon turned around, finding that the nurses had finished stitching up Hester. Aroused by the squalling clone baby, she had her eyes fixed on the baby the doctor was carrying. She hadn't seen the exchange.
"Doctor?" she asked, her voice soft and almost timid.
Dr. Damon walked over and placed the crying baby in her arms. Hester took up the baby, her eyes misting over. She smiled.
"Congratulations, Hester. It's a healthy baby boy," Dr. Damon said distantly.
Hester did not look up. The baby became quiet, opening its dark eyes.
"Isaiah…" Hester murmured happily.
End Chapter.