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Post by Skyfire on Sept 15, 2010 7:34:43 GMT -5
The King looked at his daughter for a long moment before replying. “She needs a transfusion,” he said slowly. “Doesn’t she.”
He sighed. “Yes, there have been Tangean halflings in the past, some surprisingly fine men and women.” He rubbed the bridge of his nose. “I couldn’t tell you if any of them had medical problems—I simply don’t know—but I do know that the palace has samples of their blood types.”
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Post by cherryproductions on Sept 15, 2010 12:02:12 GMT -5
Mira nodded solemnly. She wasn't sure if he could see her shake of not, but knowing him he probably already knew. "Yes, she needs a transfusion...she's getting worse since an hour, and if this operation prolongs anymore she....I don't know. The doctors aren't really doing anything. They can't because of the blood situation."
She took a breath, trying to settle herself down.
****
"Really?" She brightened. "W-would you really? Oh father thank you!" She cried, feeling relieved. They might actually be home free.
"Do you think you can make it here? I know you're not exactly....on good terms with Buzz...but I think seeing Cora would do you some good. And I really need you here too."
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Post by Skyfire on Sept 16, 2010 6:02:16 GMT -5
King Nova studied his daughter as she explained the situation, noting her weariness and fear. A touch of guilt and something else he couldn’t identify tugged at his heart. No, he didn’t particularly like Lightyear, and yes, it was difficult to reconcile himself to the fact that he had a half-human grandchild, but… Stars, whether he liked it or not, this was his flesh and blood they were talking about.
“I see,” he said quietly.
***
He blinked. Had he actually said…? Well, it didn’t matter at this point—his child’s… child… was at risk. “Ehm, think nothing of it, daughter. I’ll… comm the palace immediately. It might take too long to send the samples over, though I’ll certainly do that, but I’ll also have the records transmitted to your doctors. They should be able to figure out something.”
He hesitated. “I… suppose I could see Cora, yes. Which room is hers?”
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Post by cherryproductions on Sept 16, 2010 6:15:26 GMT -5
She leaned her head against the wall, looking sideways at the comm. She wasn't sure if King Nova could see her, but at that moment it was either lean against something to fall to the floor from stress and sleeplessness.
"This is getting far too complicated, Father." She closed her eyes and stifled a yawn. Man it was already past midnight. She needed some sleep.
"There's also more news you may or may not want to hear."
***
"Thank you," She said again, feeling the stress fly off her shoulders. "I...can't seem to remember the room number right now....but I'll come meet your at the front doors. What time do you think you'll be here?"
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Post by Skyfire on Sept 16, 2010 6:34:16 GMT -5
“Heh, I’ve been hearing news I haven’t wanted to hear since you hit your teens,” the King shrugged. “What is it, this time?”
***
King Nova frowned. “Hmm… three hours, possibly.”
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Post by cherryproductions on Sept 16, 2010 6:41:27 GMT -5
Mira glared at him, and for the first time that night she felt like herself again. But the sheer impact of what she was going to tell him made her heartbeat faster than it ever did.
"Not only will you have a granddaughter now, you'll also will have a grandson...." She winced, looking away from the screen.
***
Mira nodded again. "Ok. I'll be out there waiting for you by then. And thank you for everything. Again. You don't know how much this means to me."
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Post by Skyfire on Sept 16, 2010 7:02:48 GMT -5
King Nova stared at his daughter for a few moments, then slowly nodded. “Well, I suppose that’s… not as bad as being told you have a future granddaughter in the first place…” He shook himself slightly. “Well, my dear, I wish you luck with your childbearing.”
***
The King pressed his lips together thoughtfully. “You might be surprised at how much I do know, daughter. I’ll be there as soon as I can.” He reached for the switch and ended the transmission.
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Post by cherryproductions on Sept 16, 2010 7:10:38 GMT -5
Mira blinked. Blinked again. And for good measure, blinked once more. Wow, he actually wished her luck to becoming a mother. She never would have thought.
"Thanks....I guess. But there's more. A lot more. You see, there's more to the story than just that." Her voice became very small. "In the next few years after I have him...he...." She couldn't find her voice to finish the sentence. It was too much.
***
Mira said her goodbyes, shutting the comm off herself and walked back to Cora's room. "He's coming in about three hours. He's sending over blood samples and information right now."
She smiled. "Guess my hunch was right after all. So how was your daughter time?"
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Post by Skyfire on Sept 16, 2010 7:19:51 GMT -5
The King’s face softened. “He dies, doesn’t he?” he said quietly. He couldn’t quite feel anything for his as-of-yet-un-conceived grandson, but he could feel for his daughter. He knew what it felt like to lose a child. “Oh, Mira.”
***
Relief washed over Buzz. “Really? That’s great!” He paused briefly. “Well, apart from the machines, it’s been pretty quiet. Maybe we ought to enjoy this—it’s probably the quietest we’ll ever see her. …Bad joke, I know.” He squeezed his daughter’s hand affectionately.
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Post by cherryproductions on Sept 16, 2010 11:56:08 GMT -5
Mira didn't cry, not now. But she did have the saddest look planted on her face, probably the same look of loss and anger at the world when she was told she couldn't see her mother ever again.
"Then do you understand my desperation for Cora? I never met my son yet, but I know Cora now and she's become my world. And I understand more of what you've been preaching to me since I was fourteen."
***
Cora moved a bit in her bed, kind of like her disagreement with her father's words.
"Cora?" Mira asked gently, stroking the hair out of her eyes. "Can you hear me?"
She opened a fraction of her eyes before closing them again, falling back asleep, the drugs slightly more stronger than they were on Buzz.
Mira looked disappointed when Cora didn't respond anymore than that, but was deeply relieved to know that she was partly with the world and not in any sort of coma.
"See Buzz, you were able to get through to her," She smiled sarcastically. "You're the only one that can peeve her off to the extent of waking her up from a drug-induced slumber." She joked playfully, glad she was on the other side of the bed and he was in too much pain to do anything else.
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Post by Skyfire on Sept 17, 2010 6:45:11 GMT -5
King Nova knew that look—more than ten years later, but it was the same look she’d worn when he’d had to tell her that she couldn’t see her mother again. His chest suddenly ached.
“Oh, darling,” he said quietly, his blue eyes soft and very sad. “It’s horrible, isn’t it? For your own child to be in danger…” He suddenly felt very, very old. That… he’d been through that far too often.
***
Buzz cast a glare Mira’s way, then bent over carefully and kissed Cora’s cheek. “Good to know that I can. And if she doesn’t know by now that I love her so much that I’m crazy about her, she hasn’t been paying attention.”
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Post by cherryproductions on Sept 17, 2010 6:54:01 GMT -5
Mira looked at her father and saw another man. A much older man, and for the first time she saw all the creases and lines printed into his face that came with age and worry.
She felt like a little girl again, guilty and responsible for most of her father's worry.
"Yeah...it is horrible. No wonder you're always angry with me all the time. When Cora vanished from my sight earlier I was so angry that all I could think of was a perfect way to punish her beyond belief."
***
Mira shrugged, feeling out of place all of a sudden. She didn't know why, but it tugged at her heart a bit.
"Maybe she doesn't want to see it," She said quietly. "Like in the future she said she was raising herself, right? Maybe if she got close to us, like really close, she might be unable to deal with going home again. To an empty house and parents that aren't ever home."
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Post by Skyfire on Sept 17, 2010 7:30:56 GMT -5
The King couldn’t help a short laugh at that. “With your temper, I’m not surprised.” He sighed. “Mira, I’m not ‘always’ angry with you—not most of the time, not even half of the time. Most of the time, I’m far too afraid for you to even be decently worked up. It’s not easy to be a single parent with only one child who—however capable she may be—is constantly putting herself in harm’s way.”
***
Buzz’s face contorted, then hardened. “When she goes back, she’s going to go back to a very different life. We’ve already failed her once—we can’t fail her again.”
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Post by cherryproductions on Sept 17, 2010 7:40:26 GMT -5
She nodded, understand it more than she did before. She had to learn to bite her tongue more often, or be stamped a hypocrite because now she was the same way with Cora.
***
Mira looked at them for a long time, silently wishing that they had the power capable to stop all the pain and sorrow that the world was giving them, to stop it from collapsing.
"Yeah, we'll make sure of that."
She took her seat next to him again, a silent thought flouting around in her mind as she looked at her daughter's sleeping form.
What if we can't? ***
Three hours later Mira was outside the Hospital, pacing back and forth, party to keep herself warm from the chilled early morning air, but mostly to keep herself occupied before her father arrived.
She saw a limo pull up towards the hospital, turning in and around to the front to where her father was just getting out feet away from her.
"I'm so glad you made it." She hugged him, flinging her around his neck.
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Post by Skyfire on Sept 17, 2010 13:32:47 GMT -5
King Nova had seldom seen a better depiction of abject misery than in his daughter as she paced just beyond the visitor entrance to the hospital.
He returned the hug, patting her back gently. “Of course, I made it. Now, let’s see about this girl of yours, hmm?”
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