Several miles down the road, at Dallas Hospital, seventeen-year-old Tania Erres lay on the hospital bed with her feet in the stirrups. She'd been tough, didn't want anything to dull the pain because she needed to feel her baby come out. The adoption papers were in her mom's purse and the birth would be the only time she'd get to have with her baby. 

She had been dating Dallas high school star running back, and 'player' asshole, Trevon Miles. He'd professed his undying love and devotion to her on their third date. On the fourth date, she gave in to his constant advances. He didn't use a condom and she'd been bitch-slapping herself ever since. 

What was I thinking? 

"I'll pull out, nothing will happen, you'll see." 

Idiot. 

Even though the act lasted only a few minutes, the pain would last the rest of her life. A baby? No way in hell. She would put herself back together for her senior year and salvage the gymnastics scholarship to OSU. That's what she thought–-then. Now that she'd carried the baby for nearly nine months, her heart ached for the child within her. She'd heard of mothers forming bonds with their babies, but hadn't known it happened in the belly. She couldn't help but love the little imp who kept kicking her in the bladder and making her pee her pants. Once while she was in line at McDonald's with some friends; super embarrassing moment. 

"How are you doing, sweetie?" Her mom patted her hand. 

Tania's eyes narrowed. 

"Don't glare at me, young lady. You're the one that didn't want any medicine." 

"Yeah...yeah, can I take it back?" Another contraction hit and Tania bit down on her bottom lip. The copper taste of blood filled her mouth. "Holy shit, motherfucker." 

"Tania." Her mom scowled. 

She didn't know how long the contraction lasted, but it felt like a long time. "That one hurt." 

"Oh, baby. Looks like you bit your lip." The nurse looked at Tania's mom. "Give her some ice to chew, should help stop the bleeding."

Her mom took the cup of crushed ice from the rolling cart next to the hospital bed. She spooned out a heaping teaspoon and held it to Tania's pursed lips. "Do what the nurse said. The blood's dribbling down your chin."

 With a second taut glare, Tania took the spoon of ice into her mouth and swished it around. The cold soothed the throbbing pain. 

"That better?" The nurse loomed over her. 

"Yeah, thanks." Tania started to smile. The contraction hit like someone took a baseball bat to her crotch and stomach. "Oomph!" She sat up and almost pulled her feet out of the stirrups. 

The nurse clasped Tania's shoulders and pressed her into the bed. "Look into my eyes and count with me. Ten...nine...eight.... " 

Tania wanted to count too, instead, she grunted and screamed. When the pain subsided, she slurped another mouthful of crushed ice stuffed into her mouth by her mother. 

Dr. Johnson waddled into the room and plopped onto her swivel stool. She wheeled herself between Tania's legs. Tania jerked when Dr. Johnson's cool gloved fingers probed her warm insides. 

"Fully-effaced." Dr. Johnson wheeled over to the sink, removed her gloves and tossed them in a red wastebasket with a biohazard sign on it. "You know what this means, Tania?" 

"Yeah." The dreaded push she'd heard way too much about. She shivered, not knowing if she had the strength left to squeeze something the size of a large grapefruit out of her. 

Dr. Johnson smiled. "You'll do fine." 

Tania looked at her mother, who nodded in concurrence with the doctor's wishes. 

Fuck those idiots who say the push is natural. 

Dr. Johnson had her hands on both of Tania's wide-spread knees. "Bear down, like you're having a bowel movement." 

"Bowel, what?" Tania grimaced. 

Dr. Johnson looked up from between Tania's legs. "Like you're pooping ... push just like that."

"Mommy." Tania squeezed her mom's hand and pushed. The baby kicked back. Tania's stomach rolled. "Not time for your gymnastics tryout yet," she whispered and patted her belly, knowing she'd never get to see or hold her baby.

"God in heaven." Her mom watched her belly. "Is it supposed to do that?" 

"Do what?" Tania looked up. "Move? Yeah, mom, it's a baby." 

Dr. Johnson blinked. She turned to one of the nurses standing next to her. "Did you see that?" she said under her breath, but Tania heard her clearly. 

"I ... uh ..." The nurse backed up her eyes wide with terror.

Dr. Johnson tucked her head as if to get a better look. 

A loud pop came from between Tania's knees. Shocks of pain stiffened her legs; she nearly hopped into the stirrups. 

Dr. Johnson stood and kicked her chair toward the door. Blood and mucous painted her face. She stumbled back and landed on her over-sized rump. 

Another jolt of pain zinged through Tania's abdomen. She screamed, looked down and watched a line of blood blossom from her navel to her left hip. 

The nurse hurried from the room. 

Several more physicians stormed in, each with the same horrified look at first and then bewilderment. 

Dr. Johnson swiped a towel from the nearest cabinet, wiped the blood and goo from her face and placed a handful of gauze across Tania's belly. 

"What's happening? Is my baby okay?" Tania searched the doctor's eyes for reassurance. The room inched in on her. A dark-gray haze shadowed her peripheral vision. 

Dr. Johnson's eyes widened. Her mouth opened, but nothing came out. 

Tania glanced down. Four tiny spikes protruded through the back of Dr. Johnson's hand. The little blades zipped from side-to-side, shredding a hole through skin and bone. 

Tania screamed. 

Dr. Johnson pulled her hand away, swooned and fell into the arms of an Emergency Medical Technician who had walked through the door moments earlier. He and another medic whisked the doctor out of the room. 

Tania clenched the sheets as she watched a little hand retract into her stomach. 

Her mother screamed. 

Tania wanted to say something to comfort her. But the words didn't come. Instead, she retched and coffee-ground vomit scattered across the floor below the bed. What the hell are you doing in there?

Tania's mom moved out of the way and for a moment, stopped screaming. 

The rest of the medical professionals in the room had formed a half moon about five feet from where Tania's toes stuck up from the stirrups. 

"We've got to get this bleeding under control." One of the EMTs rushed to her side. The man's thick mustache weaved under his nose like a garden caterpillar on a pale leaf. His beer belly bumped her side as he pressed more gauze against her blooming wound. He then fetched a white blanket from a cabinet and placed it over her. 

Pressure shoved the baby down. A rip deep within her body split her spinal cord. In an instant, she could no longer take a breath, as if someone had piled a ton of rocks on her chest. 

"She stopped breathing." The medic moved around to the top of the bed, he disappeared for a second and when he came back he had some equipment in his hand. 

No air. 

No air. 

No air. 

The medic placed a mask over her mouth and pumped oxygen into her lungs. "That better?" 

She shook her head. 

Another doctor placed the chilly stethoscope on her chest and listened. "I think she has a bilat-tension pneumothorax. I've got to pop her chest." He turned toward the other EMT. "The kits are above your head, toss me one." 

"You got it doc." The spindly kid, not more than nineteen, found the kit on a shelf and handed it to the doctor. 

Tania flailed her arms; a diver swimming to the surface for a breath of air but too deep to make it to the top. 

"I know it's hard ... but try and keep calm." The EMT's steel-blue eyes pierced her waning soul. She read his nametag upside down. Toby. 

"Get ready for a big pinch." The doctor put his hand on her shoulder. 

A quick sharp pain hit just below her right boob. A hiss of air escaped from the wound as the lung re-inflated. Tania still couldn't take a deep breath. Instead, she took in little sips of air, which felt much better than not being able to breathe at all.

The doctor moved around to her other side. "One more and you'll be right as rain." 

After the second hiss of air, Tania gasped. 

"Steady, take a nice deep breath through your nose." The doctor breathed in deep through his nose and exhaled slowly. 

Tania followed his lead, clenched her mouth shut and inhaled through her nose. 

"Better?" Toby removed the mask with the bag attached to it and replaced it with another mask. This one had a cool rush of air blowing into her mouth and nose. 

She removed the mask. "Yeah, I can breathe...but it feels like someone stomped me into the dirt." 

Everyone in the room remained silent except the doctor working on her. "It's because you've lost so much blood. You're fatigued. We'll get some fluids in you and you'll be feeling better soon." The room's lights glared off a prominent bald spot near the back of the doctor's head.

 "The baby's not moving anymore, is it okay?" Tania still had the mask clenched in her hand. 

Toby took the mask and placed it back on her face. "You need to keep this on. Your oxygen saturation isn't too good right now." 

"Okay." Her breath fogged the inside of the mask. 

"Heart rate is still normal." The doctor flicked some buttons on the equipment next to the bed and she heard the baby's heartbeat. Fast, like dripping water from a leaky faucet hitting a snare drum. 

But from what? There's no way this is a normal childbirth. Tania moved as much as she could in an effort to get comfortable. 

Another nurse and several more orderlies came in to help clean up the mess. 

Baldy hung two bags of blood on the stand next to her bed. He grabbed what looked like a huge needle and moved behind her, ushering Toby out of the way. With a quick swipe of something cold across her neck, he came at her with the spike. 

"What're you doing?" She flinched. 

"We need the biggest vein we can get to push this blood into you fast." She felt him pinch the skin on the side of her neck. "There, all done." 

Toby moved around and took her by the right hand. "See. Not so bad at all." 

"I guess." She rolled her eyes. 

Several other people in doctor's clothes listened to her stomach, pushing here and there across her belly.

Her mother stroked her sweat-matted hair and whispered into her ear, "It'll be okay, looks like the worst is over." 

"What's happening, Mom? I don't understand what's wrong with my baby." 

"I'm not sure." Her mother's intense gaze at the doctor went unnoticed. 

Someone wheeled in the ultrasound unit she'd seen so many times before. A slender man spread the cold goop over the upper half of her bulging belly and skated the probe back and forth, watching the tiny TV monitor at the same time. "Looks like a normal baby to me." He rolled the ball around some more. "Wait. She's moving, I think opening her mouth. What the..."

Everyone in the room crowded the monitor. 

"Are those what I think they are?" Baldy pointed at the monitor. 

"Yeah, I've never seen anything like it." The man conducting the exam tapped the screen. 

Baldy's eyes widened. "You think it's one of those ..."

"Shhhhh." The ultrasound man grabbed Baldy and whispered in his ear. 

"What? What do you see?" Tania's mom wedged her way into the group. 

"The baby has teeth." The man pointed to the monitor. 

"We need to get her out now." Baldy looked at his colleagues. "Is Jake here yet?" 

"Who's Jake?" Tania tried to sit up to see what the commotion was. 

"Lay back down." Toby held her hand and placed his other hand on her forehead. She went along with it and laid back. 

Dr. Baldy patted her knee "He's our on-call anesthesiologist. He'll be here any minute. We're going to give you an epidural and get this baby out of you.". 

"You said, she. It's a girl?" The thought of having a girl and giving her up for adoption brought more tears to Tania's eyes and a large lump in her throat. 

The man at the monitor smiled and nodded. 

"Is she still alive?"

"Yes. There are some abnormalities. She's got very long fingernails and for some reason ... teeth." 

Her mother moved back to her left side and grabbed the monitor. "Does this happen often?"  

"There are cases of children being born with baby teeth, though, they're pretty rare." 

Toby packed more gauze on her stomach and smiled. "They'll have you fixed up here in no time. Are you in any pain?" 

"Not really. I can feel the pressure, but the sharp pain is gone and I haven't had a contraction in a while. Aren't they going to stitch up my stomach so I don't bleed to death?" 

Toby scratched his chin. "They may use the cut to help get the baby out. You know what you're gonna name her?" 

Silly boy, trying to change the subject. Tania thought for a moment. "Probably Maleia, after my mother, but I'm not keeping her." 

Toby's eyes sparkled. "Maleia's a cute name." He looked over at Tania's Mom, who smiled back. 

Jesus, Mom. Really? flirting while I'm in labor ... figures. 

"Hi, Jake." The ultrasound man moved the monitor so the young doctor walking through the door could see. "You'll want to take a look at this." 

Jake stared at the monitor like the rest of them had before. To Tania, he gave off a Mathew McConaughey vibe. "Well, I'll be." He pulled his tight blond-curly locks into a ponytail and tied it with a rubber band. "Are those what I think they are?" 

Dr. Baldy moved over to the other two men. "Yep. Those are teeth, my friend."

A nurse bolted through the door, ran up to Dr. Baldy, and whispered something in his ear.

"Really? When?"

"About twenty minutes ago. The news in the lobby is showing this happening ..." 

"Where?" Baldy asked. 

"Everywhere!" The nurse's worried look panicked Tania. 

"We have to get this baby out now!" Dr. Baldy pushed the ultrasound cart to the side. "No time to scrub up. Get the gloves and kit." He told the nurse. 

Another nurse must have heard because she handed something to him. 

"What is it?" Tania's mom stomped up to the doctor. "I demand to know what's going on."

"Mom, what's wrong?" 

"I don't know, baby." 

"It's routine." Jake slid a chair up behind her. Tania looked back and only saw his upside down masked face, his eyes tense 

"There's nothing routine about this?" Her mom's hands were on her hips, which Tania knew wouldn't end well for those being spoken to. 

Dr. Baldy cut in. "We routinely perform a C-section if we haven't seen the baby move in some time. So ... yes, it's routine in that sense." He turned. "Can I get some help over here?" 

Toby and the other medic sank into the corners of the room as a nurse stormed between them. 

Dr. Jake and the nurse rolled Tania onto her side. A prick above her butt sent a twinge through her spine. "Ouch." She reached back and rubbed the sore muscle. 

"Let me know when you can't feel your toes anymore." 

"Why do they call you Jake and not doctor so and so?" Idle chit-chat was her defense mechanism for about everything; her go-to routine as they would say in gymnastics. 

"Because no-one can pronounce my last name, hell, I have a hard time saying it." 

"What is it?" she asked, her interest piqued. 

"Southwickendwire." 

"That's a mouthful." She flinched from the pressure on her spine. 

"Try not to move." 

"You're not the one with the needle in your spine." 

The doctor chuckled. "Well, can you say it?" 

"Southwistishire." 

He laughed again. "Well?" 

"Well, what? "Did I say it right?" 

"Close, but I think that's a condiment you cook with. How are those toes?" 

Toby appeared at her feet, off to the left, staying out of Dr. Baldy's way. "This little piggy went to the market." He wiggled her big toe. 

"No, he didn't. He got his ass drunk and stayed home." She smiled. 

"That means you can't feel Mr. Piggy?" Jake whispered in her ear. 

She nodded. 

"What about this one?" Toby checked the pinky toe. 

"Nope." 

"This one?" He wiggled the other foot's pinky toe. 

"Nope."

"I think we're ready to proceed." Dr. Baldy looked at her and winked. 

Tania glanced at the plethora of masked vultures picking at her. But she didn't see her own doctor, the nice old lady who'd been working with her for nine months. "Where's Dr. Johnson?"

Dr. Baldy raised his hand. "Right here." 

Another Dr. Johnson?  "Wait. Is she your wife?" 

"No ... no, she's my mother." He laughed. 

Various giggles and guffaws came from around the room. 

"Is her hand okay?" Tania figured the longer she talked, the longer it would be before they ripped the baby out of her.

"Haven't heard yet. But don't worry about her, she's a tough old bird, she'll get through it." Concern crept back into his voice; he cleared his throat and took a deep breath. "Let's deliver this baby of yours." 

A cloth shield across Tania's chest obscured her view of the hospital staff. Everyone seemed to be all 'routine this', and 'normal that'. But she felt like the humongous spot on the dick in the room no-one would talk about. Her blood boiled. She hated when people kept her in the dark. Jake played classical music in the background as he fiddled with his medical equipment behind her. Tania's eyelids began to droop, but Jake kept talking to her, like one being kept awake after a head injury and she'd seen plenty of those in gymnastics. She would love to stay up, to see her baby born, to hold her and hug her and kiss her before they tore her away forever. 

"Okay, we're ready to extract the baby. Her heartbeat is slowing quite a bit, but she seems fine otherwise." Tania didn't know who had spoken but figured the male Dr. Johnson since he'd been the guy in charge. 

"Relax. It'll all be over sooner than you can say ..." Jake stopped ...his eyes reflected what she could only call terror. As if he'd seen a ghost. She half expected him to run the other way. 

A nurse screamed. 

Jake, who had been tending to her anesthesia from behind, disappeared to the other side of the cloth shield separating Tania from the pandemonium.

Jake stumbled back from the other side and gurgled. "S ... sorry." His throat gaped. Blood soaked the front of his scrubs. He fell to his knees, then face first into the ground. 

Someone pulled the screen off of her. She lost her breath. Gooey entrails protruded from the gash in her stomach. Dr. Johnson lay on the floor with the shield over his torso. Blood seeped through the cloth like a paper towel sopping up spilled ketchup. Someone lunged forward and draped their body across hers. She looked into Toby's compassionate, fearful eyes. 

"Close your eyes. Don't watch. I'm sorry." His body shook. His eyes rolled back and a trickle of crimson fluid seeped from the right corner of his mouth. A spurt of blood flew over his back, splashing across Tania's face. He rolled off her and landed on bald Dr. Johnson's body. A geyser of fluid erupted from a shredded hole in his back. 

Though she couldn't move the lower half of her body, she cranked her torso, searching for her mother. She needed some comfort amongst the terror. Horrific cries from others filled the room. They echoed for a moment as silence ensued. Tania heard metal crunch. The lights in the room went out. Through the dark Tania could barely make out her mother sitting in the chair a few feet away, her eyes fixed on something beyond Tania's field of vision. "Mommy! Mommy!" 

She didn't answer or move.

"What's going on in there?" a man yelled from the doorway. 

Several feet clomped into the room. 

"Hospital security, ma'am, can you hear me? Shit. She's not responding." Tania had no idea who the man spoke too, but a light flung around the room and settled on her mom. 

In her lap, cuddled against her chest, lay a small naked body. 

"She's got a kid in her arms. What the hell happened in here?" 

Her mom's mouth fell open and a trickle of blood spilled from the corner. Tania tried to scream. The baby wriggled in her mother's lap. It looked to be suckling. 

A man in a blue uniform rushed to Tania's mom's side. He knelt at her knees. "Give me the baby, ma'am." She had one hand on the baby's back, the other dangled at her side. Her eyes had rolled back. The man put his hands on the infant and struggled to pull it away from her.

Tania's heart raced. She lay helpless as the man withdrew the child, revealing a massive gaping hole where her mother's left breast should have been. My baby ... my baby. The infant Maleia turned her head, her mouth still full of flesh from Tania's mother's chest. As Tania's life dwindled away, she felt love and devotion to the child she would never hold, never coo at, and never kiss. Baby Maleia tore the rib-cage from the man she attacked. Then Tania saw those gorgeous, deep, black eyes ...

Please comment and vote if you're having fun so far!