Bringing it down

Venes: Oh, please, DO get carried away! It makes me happy - to have a devoted reader!

Dee: I´m glad you think I get Riddick right. It´s both important and difficult.

Chapter 17 When you need it the most

The alarm from the washing unit woke her from her daydreams.

Lately Karyn had found herself to be rather distant and having difficulties taking in the outer world. Lajjun said it was her mind’s way of preparing her for the baby's arrival, the baby would need her full attention and therefore she had to shut out everything else.

She was already almost a full week past her due date and Karyn was getting impatient. She felt HEAVY! And she’d had pre-contractions for a couple of weeks now. Her lower back was aching and her legs felt like logs even though they still looked fine.

After placing her freshly made tea on the table, she wrapped a towel around her wet hair. She waddled to the rear of her house to take out the laundry and carry it to the backyard. She always liked to let it dry out in the sun, making it smell so fresh.

Something made her aware of a presence in the house. She hadn’t heard a sound. With a frightening feeling of deja vu, Karyn slowly turned around.

RIDDICK!

Standing in the doorway to the kitchen she'd just walked through was the huge man wearing a black cape and holding his arms crossed over his chest. The bald head and the black goggles were unmistakable and he radiated menace.

Karyn screamed right out in shock and then fell to her knees, holding her hands against her stomach and gasping for air.

She looked up at Riddick, who looked equally as surprised. Karyn was however in no state to notice that.

“Help” she whimpered, as an excruciating pain cut though the lower part of her belly and held her in an iron grip.

Riddick took a step forward. This wasn't exactly how he'd figured their meeting. Sure, he’d planned to shake her up a little. He always did that, played mind games. But she seemed to be in trouble.

As the pain released its grip after a few seconds, she suddenly felt something warm and wet on the inside of her thighs. She looked helplessly at Riddick.

“Have you come to kill me, Riddick?” she asked, still standing on her knees and her voice a bit shaky. She was afraid of the answer, but this was no time for hesitation, she needed to know, NOW!

“Ahh…, fuck Karyn! NO!” was the first words he uttered to her this strange morning.

Riddick still just stood there though, not knowing what to do.

“Well don’t just stand there then!” Karyn snarled “My water just broke! I’m having a baby here!”

Riddick finally came to his senses and pulled her up from the floor. As he held her another contraction hit her with the force of an express train. Karyn bent forward and could hardly breathe, her face turning all red and she was sweating profusely.

“Riddick” she gasped, looking at him with pleading eyes, “help me!”

He unhooked his cape and let it fall to the floor, scooped her up in his arms and carried her to her bed. By the time he laid her down, the contraction had subsided.

Riddick stroked some strands of stray red hair away that had glued itself onto her sweaty forehead.

She smiled weakly at him “This is not at all like I’d have imagined, meeting you again.”

“Had you imagined meeting me again?” Riddick sounded slightly surprised.

“Well…. You and I have some unfinished business… don’t we?” she raised her eyebrows expectantly at him.

She would never know where she got the courage to challenge Riddick like that. There is however something about being in the middle of giving birth, that kind of makes everything else less dramatic.

Karyn´s face contorted with pain as a new, forceful contraction hit her. She moaned and gripped Riddick´s forearm and squeezed it for all she was worth, her nails digging deep into his flesh. Riddick didn’t show for one moment whether it was painful or not.

“Help me, it hurts!” she yelled.

“What do I do?” he asked.

Karyn didn't answer until she could breathe again. “I have to get out of these clothes, they’re all wet.”

He didn't hesitate for one second before he got up on her bed and carefully started to pull off her wide pants, which were now partially soaking wet and blood stained. She wasn't wearing any underwear, and in a moment of clarity she realized that her lower body was now naked in front of Riddick. Her eyes darted up to meet with his.

Riddick could read the worry in her shy gaze and took her hand, squeezing it reassuringly. As he did, she squeezed back and then the pressure of her squeeze just kept increasing and a moan started in the back of her throat and built up to a long high-pitched wail.

Unable to control herself, Karyn crawled out of bed and supported herself against the headboard, starting to move her hips back and forth in a slow rhythmic pattern.

“It hurts, Riddick, it hurts, it can't be right, it can't hurt this muuuuuu……ch” she screamed.

When her features relaxed she looked up at Riddick who stood, helplessly, right by her side.

“I need you to call Jack” Karyn panted “she'll know what to do.”

She noticed a slight hesitation before he nodded and left the room.

A couple of minutes later he darted back into the room as Karyn screamed her lungs out in pain.


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For the first time in his adult life he felt fear when he saw the pool of blood that had formed at Karyn´s feet and noticed that she was a shade paler than when he had left her. Karyn however didn't seem to be aware, as she seemed to be almost in a trance.

“I need you to lie down for me, Karyn, can you do that?” Riddick gently removed her hands from the support and guided her to her bed. “Jack and Imam’s on their way, they’ll be here in no time.”

Karyn moaned feverishly, beads of sweat forming on her pale forehead and upper lip. Riddick lay down beside her, comforting her.

He didn't know how much time passed; he just held her and rocked her through her painful contractions, one after the other, trying not to worry about the blood that kept seeping from between her thighs.

He had believed for several years it had been painful to lose Carolyn on that fucking planet. Carolyn whom he had known merely for one long day… and night, and who had been the first human ever to break through his armor, with her willingness to sacrifice herself for the others. And then, in spite of what she'd said, in the end gave up her own life for his.

What Carolyn had started, Jack had continued with her never ending trust in Riddick. Then it all ended with a major argument between them that night when the mercs came. And Riddick had been so disappointed and felt so betrayed, so sure at the time that Jack had sold him out.

Then Karyn came along, with her attitude and spirit. She'd taken him by surprise. At first it was mere lust, he’d only wanted to fuck her. It had been such a long time and she'd been way too sexy for him to be able to keep his hands away. But then a strange form of slow and quiet friendship had started to form… and then SHE came to HIM!

He'd fucked up royally after that…

But now, here they were… and the thought of losing her, this time for good, was more than he could handle.

Lost in his thoughts, he hadn't heard the knock on the door and now he swung around as the open doorway to the bedroom suddenly was filled with people.

Imam was there with Lajjun… and Jack.


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Jack and Riddick stared at each other for endless moments, then her eyes wandered towards Karyn who lay lost in her pain on the bed. Jack saw all the blood and was suddenly all action again.

She gestured towards Riddick to move away and quickly told Imam to get some hot water and lots of towels. Opening a big bag she'd brought, she rapidly displayed several items on the floor in front of her; blood replacement units, IV insertion material, scalpels and scissors and an advanced body scan system.

Lajjun had immediately gone to Karyn and patted her forehead, whispering something in her right ear; meanwhile Jack prepared an injector and then gave Karyn a shot in the thigh.

“What are you giving her?” Riddick asked.

“Partaphine to ease the pain and Octastim to lessen the bleeding” Jack replied in a voice telling everybody she was totally in control.

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Riddick had to smile inwardly; same old Jack, cocky and full of self confidence.

With towels brought to her by Imam from the kitchen Lajjun wiped Karyn´s sweaty forehead and continued to talk soothingly.

Jack had examined Karyn with the scanner and concluded:

“OK, she's fully dilated, that went really fast from what I understand” she nodded towards Riddick who looked like someone had hit him.

Karyn lifted her head and joined in, relieved from her pains as she finally was:

“I had a lot of contractions during the day but I thought they were just stronger pre-contractions, I've had plenty of those these last weeks… then my water broke…” Karyn looked at Riddick but didn't say anything about how he’d scared her.

She lifted her right arm and looked at it: “Why do I have this infusion, Jack?”

“Well…” Jack felt uneasy. “Your placenta is placed partly in front of the opening…. You're bleeding a little.”

Karyn looked from Jack to Riddick to Lajjun and back to Jack.

“IS THE BABY OK JACK?” then her face contorted as a new kind of pain set in, one that the pain killer was designed not to kill, since it was these you needed to feel to be able to push the baby out.

“AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH” Karyn roared with new power in her voice, her head lifted from the pillow and her face all red.

“All right” Lajjun said in a demanding tone “all men leave the room now, this is women’s business.”

Riddick, who hadn't said much during these last events, tried to catch Karyn´s eyes. She looked back at him with a helpless and scared expression on her face.

“I'm staying” Riddick growled and took Karyn´s hand in his and gave everybody his best `don't fuck with me or else`- look.

Karyn roared again and squeezed Riddick´s hand for all she was worth, “Iiiiiit huuuuuuuurts.”

Jack had climbed up on bed and sat between Karyn´s thighs. “Karyn, listen to me! Don't push yet, do you hear me? Don't push yet!”

Karyn gritted her teeth and bent her head forward, grunting through the next contraction.

Riddick could see Jack and Lajjun exchange, what he interpreted as, worried looks. Lajjun raised her eyebrows and Jack barely visible shook her head. Riddick looked at Jack with murder in his eyes, what were they not telling him?

Jack quickly got up and set the second bag with blood replacement.

Meanwhile Karyn roared through her next contraction “I hate meeeeeen, nnnnnngghhghh! You and your fucking diiiiicks!!!” she grunted.

Riddick could only feel happy at the moment that at least he was not to blame for this one, and Jack and Lajjun exchanged a rather amused expression in the midst of it all.

Karyn suffered through yet another contraction, and suddenly Jack turned totally serious again.

“I can see the baby's head! Next contraction, Karyn, is where you push!”

Riddick got to his feet and darted towards where Jack was sitting, by Karyn´s feet, to have a look. He did see some dark hair peeking out between Karyn´s parted thighs but he also saw an impossible amount of blood.

Now, Riddick knew enough about human physiology, through his many years of advanced field studies, and he could tell at once that Karyn was in serious trouble. He gave Jack a worried glance and she gave him a warning eye, telling him not to worry Karyn.

When the top of Karyn´s belly peaked again as a sign that the next, and maybe final, contraction was on its way, Riddick jumped back to Karyn and put his big arms around her back for support as she tightly squeezed her whole face together and screamed and pushed for all she was worth.

Jack and Lajjun just kept repeating `push, push Karyn, push´ and Riddick and Karyn pushed, sweat streaming down their bodies, not aware of anything else.

Suddenly Karyn´s head fell back against the pillow and her body went limp. From the lower part of the bed you could hear a small grunting noise and then the very healthy first scream from an infant.

Imam came rushing in; he had nervously been waiting and praying out in the kitchen. Jack tied and cut the naval cord and smilingly placed the baby on Karyn´s chest for her to hold.

“You did it, Karyn, congratulations!” Jack gave Karyn a broad smile, then she received another injector from Lajjun, placed it on the inside of Karyn´s thigh and shot.

Karyn managed only to look slightly surprised and then she fell unconscious. Riddick caught the baby from Karyn´s limp body and burst out at Jack.

“What the fuck are you doing?”

“Saving her life” Jack replied between her teeth, totally focused at her task. “Imam” she said “take him out of here.”

“NOW!” she yelled, making both men jump and flee out the door, Riddick still holding the infant in his big arms.