Kill Her Teaser

Well, I'm in the final stages of the final chapter…and I've always wanted to do this.  So, indulge me a little computer play while my kids are getting along (knock on wood, please), and enjoy….

Sometimes I really wished my wife thought a bit more before she played the martyr.

~~~

As soon as the thought came, I banished it. She was simply hormonal right now. I refused to think of the other times she had been…less than cooperative, before the pregnancy. Right now, I had to do my utmost not to let her die in the wake of the blood pouring out of her.

Less than a second after she had begun to scream in obvious agony, everybody around her moved, carrying her upstairs, prepping the operating table, and beginning to lift her onto it. She was panting now, moaning and choking on her sobs.

I began doing what had to be done automatically, like I was on autopilot. I cleaned and disinfected her stomach, ensured my instruments were sterile, that I was wearing fresh gloves—and barked at Rose to bring over an IV for a morphine drip. Glancing at Jacob, I nodded towards the fridge of blood in the corner. He pulled out a bag and followed Rose's instructions for setting up a transfusion.

When everything was in place, I placed the scalpel against her skin and made the initial cut that would allow my child to be removed from its mother's body. The total time from Bella's first scream to my first cut was just under ten seconds.

~~~

I held up my offspring, still damp from her mother's body, and examined her. She had small hands, tiny feet—but a full mop of coppery-brown hair. She looked miniature, even though she'd grown far faster in utero than a human baby. I tapped her skin, finding it soft to my touch, but I knew it was far more sturdy than any other baby's. As I held her, I weighed her in my hands, finding that she was denser than humans, as well. I put an ear to her chest and found a heartbeat, but a very quiet one. Turning her around to check from another angle, I faced her to the rest of the room—and heard a strangled gasp.

…

Well?  Let me know what you think, where this is going, please—and do read the final installment when it gets published!  I'm shooting for the official last day of summer—y'all know I like to put things off!