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Family Emergency	By : Bloodylocks Category: G through L > Heroes Views: 6221 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Heroes, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 11
- 12
- 13
Chapter 12

One week left.
One goddamn, mother-fucking week left. Peter found both fear and relief in that thought. On the one hand, he wanted this unbearable pregnancy over and done with, but at the same time he was mortified at the consequences of giving birth. Being bedridden hardly made matters any more of a comfort to him.
Peter had felt the need to defecate for hours, but he had stubbornly held back, not wanting to make the slow, painful and frankly quite risky trip to the bathroom. Lord, how the mighty had fallen... He had gone from being one of the most potentially powerful meta-humans to not even being able to relieve himself.
This time the pressing sensation was accompanied by an ache in his lower abdomen, and Peter interpreted this as a sign that the need was getting really dire. He struggled to sit himself up in the bed and slowly reached for his walker, which no matter how close he put it always seemed to drift out of his reach.
Peter looked around for his slippers and found only one; the other one, apparently, had skidded in under the bed and had thus become unavailable to him. Barefoot he started the agonizing walk, which could be compared with mountain climbing for a healthy man his age. Christ, he felt like an old person. Despite his embarrassment of even so much as using the walker without an audience, he continued to use it. At this point, pride could be healed faster than an ailing body.
When he finally made it to the toilet and managed to sit down without bursting a blood vessel, Peter realized nothing was happening. He still felt full enough to pop and yet nothing was exiting him. Another fifteen minutes of sitting there produced nothing, and so finally, annoyed to no end, he rocked forward from his seat and stood on wobbly legs.

Halfway back to his bed, Peter felt a peculiar twinge. At first he assumed it was a gas pocket or his bowels finally cooperating, but soon his irritable mood heightened to pain. Knuckles white, he gripped the handle of the walker tightly and stared at the floor for several seconds until the cramp subsided.
Was this it? Already?
But... he had one week left. Cusack had said so. She'd given him a specific date and told him that...
Another cramp, stronger and more painful than the first, jolted through him, and Peter reflexively clamped a hand around his belly, feeling his knees bucking under his misplaced weight. The walker was meant to be held onto with both hands and no longer provided the necessary support to keep him upright. Peter fell to his knees on the floor, gasping and whimpering at the pain coursing through his body. He must not panic...
Nathan... He had to call Nathan. It was five PM; his brother had most likely just recently gotten home from work. He couldn't call his home number; what if Heidi or the kids answered? Nathan's cell phone. He had to dial the number to Nathan's cell.

Now crawling on his hands and knees like a collared dog, Peter headed back for the bedroom where he had his phone.
*
Unfortunately for Peter, Nathan was in the middle of a shower. His cell phone rang on and on without any hope of being answered, and the nurse would have to wait another five agonizing minutes before he could actually talk to his brother. Repeatedly dialing the phone, he curled up tightly on the carpeted floor while those five minutes felt like five hours.
When Nathan finally stepped out of the shower and dried himself off, he strolled right past his phone. In fact he practically ignored it until the next time it beeped out its signal, indicating several missed calls. Somehow he was not surprised to see who the caller was, and he dialed the number back.
"Hey, what's going on?"
"Nathan..." came a frightened moan. "I think... the contractions started."
Even though he knew the day was right around the corner, Nathan was still shocked as ever to hear those words. Here he was, a former Naval officer, who thought he was prepared for anything. He had even been calmer for Heidi both times she had gone into labor. There was, however, a vital difference between Heidi and his brother, and Nathan knew what it was. His wife's pregnancy had been far from dramatic, almost ideal, and there had never been a fear for her life when the time came. The case of Peter was was just the opposite. His brother could very well be bleeding out on the floor of his apartment this very minute.
Nathan threw on a pair of jeans and a shirt from his closet, not bothering to dry his hair. All that mattered was that he got to Peter as soon as possible. Just as he reached for his car keys and prepared to make a dash out of the living quarters he shared with Heidi, his wheelchair-bound spouse appeared in the doorway.
"Nathan?" Heidi eyed him from head to toe, her eyes questioning and disapproving. "Where are you going?"
"Peter just called. He's gotten himself into some kind of trouble again. I gotta go to him."
The dark-haired woman sighed, and when she spoke, her voice was bitter. "Of course... It happens a lot, doesn't it?"
Oddly enough, the tone in her voice made him hesitate, and he turned to face her. "It's the way he is, it's almost like he can't help it."
"Well, maybe he can!" his wife objected. "I swear, the two of you act like he's still ten years old. Why don't you let him deal with his own problems for a change?"
"I... I can't," Nathan replied lamely, his feet ready to lead him out the door at any second.
But Heidi rolled closer. "I think maybe you should make him take care of himself for once. He's not the only one who needs your help every so often!"
An image appeared in Nathan's brain of Peter lying in a rapidly growing pool of his own blood. His mouth was moving before he could even stop himself.
"Heidi, shut up for once!"
Her eyes flashed dangerously and for some reason the lawyer felt nervous at this.
"That's a funny thing for someone like you to say, isn't it?" she asked coldly.
"Peter might be in danger."
"What, he's going to throw himself off a building again?" Heidi sneered, her voice oozing with venom. "And you're going there to catch him, as usual?"
"You shut your mouth this instant, you stupid bitch!" Nathan yelled back, failing to hold back his rage at her words. "You don't talk about my brother like that. I love Peter! He needs me. And when does, there's nothing in this world, including you, that can keep me from him. Now move, or I'll move you myself."
Nathan took a step toward her, but she steadfastly stood her ground, tears now gathering in her eyes.
"You don't love me," she sobbed. "You probably never did. If you cared half as much about me as you do for your brother, you wouldn't keep feeding me lies!"
"Heidi, this is my last warning." Nathan balled his fists, the car keys cutting into the flesh of his palm. It hurt, but he did not care.
After a short contest of will, Heidi finally lowered her eyes. She had never won an argument against Nathan, and this time was no different. "Go..." she whispered. "Go to your brother."
"Yes," Nathan hissed, pushing past her. //I love him, and he's a much better fuck than you ever were!//
The words were on his tongue, but he did not utter them. Nathan could not help but consider the repercussions if he did.
However, thinking of Peter brought him back to worry each time and he hopped into his car and practically stabbed the ignition with the key which had been cutting into his palm. He could only hope he would not get pulled over for speeding.
*
Peter was in agony as he waited, and he knew the pain was only going to get worse. The carpet was hardly a decent place to wait, and though it caused him pain in every part of his body, he made the small but horrible journey to the bed, where at least he had some cushioning beneath his swollen, aching body. Even then, he still felt the contractions rip through him like shards of glass. The pressure was nearly unbearable and his back and stomach were repaying him for that change of heart he had months ago when he decided to finish this goddamn pregnancy.
He wasn't sure how much time passed between his final phone call to Nathan and his brother showing up in his apartment. Probably just minutes, fifteen or twenty at most. Peter realized that his conception of time was warped by the intense pain and sense of unreality. A part of his mind still had not fully accepted that he was in fact going to have a baby.
When Nathan finally showed up, face red and practically ready to jump out of his skin, Peter tried to give his brother a smile to let him know he was not dying yet, but all his tries resulted in nothing but pained grimaces.
The first thing Nathan did was to check Peter's pelvic area for blood. There was none so far, and he allowed himself to breathe out. Maybe there was still time.
Nathan felt stupid, but he asked the question anyway: "Can you walk?"
Peter tried to speak, but he could only whimper and shake his head. When he did find his voice, he knew what was most important to say.
"We need to leave... now."
"Okay..." Nathan was about to lift his brother up and take him to the car, but he quickly realized Peter was still naked. It must have been much more comfortable, he surmised, and he grabbed a t-shirt and a large pair of sweat pants, hoping they were current sizes. The shirt was snug, but the pants thankfully fit, and once again, Nathan had his arms under Peter and was carrying him towards the door, albeit carefully, as he did not even trust his own arms.
"Gotta... HURRY..." Peter said through a contraction. "Oh god... I can't do this..."
"You can, and you will," Nathan replied firmly, making it sound like an order simply to remind Peter that he was not going to let him die. The apartment building�s elevator was currently out of order, and Nathan had to face the challenge of carrying Peter two stories down.
//Please God, don't make me trip...// He repeated the words in his head until they were out of stairs and then breathed out in relief. Many of the events in the past year had made him doubt there even was a higher power, and if there were, said entity most likely did not favor corrupt politicians practicing incest. The fact that he made it down the stairs with himself and Peter still in one piece made Nathan regret his doubts just a little.
Placing Peter as carefully as could be done in the backseat of his car, the lawyer once again jumped into the driver's seat and tore off, muttering further silent prayers.
Unfortunately, it was still evening and the rush hour traffic had not yet thinned out. Nathan cursed loudly and honked the horn several times until he realized that he needed to calm down before he made things worse, either by doing something foolish or by upsetting his brother even further. He could clearly hear Peter's accelerated breath rate and every few minutes, a groan or sob of pain would ring out.
//God DAMN this fucking traffic!//
"It's okay, buddy," Nathan said, though his voice hardly hid a fearful tone. "Just hang on tight for now, keep breathing. It'll all be alright."
Both brothers hardly knew how it could be alright, but Peter felt slightly more at ease listening to Nathan's voice.
"Call... doctor Cusack..." Peter rasped out, both hands pressed to his globelike, pulsing belly. Whatever was in there wanted out really badly. "Call... we have to... Nathan..."

"I'm on it." Nathan dug his cell phone out of his jacket pocket and started browsing through his list of contacts. He ought to have both the number to her clinic and her personal cell phone. She had been very particular about their being able to reach her at any given time.
One hand on the steering wheel, Nathan regarded the hopelessly long line of cars ahead of them while he waited for Cusack to answer. They were not getting out of his jam any time soon.
Thankfully, the call was answered after two rings and the familiar professional voice escaped the phone.
"Doctor, this is Nathan Petrelli," the older brother managed to say. "Peter's in labor and we're on our way."
The response time to Nathan's statement made him wonder how quickly Cusack had realized what the call was about.
"I'll have a room ready and the clinic empty. Just get him over here as soon as possible."
"Okay." Just when Nathan ended the call and closed his phone, he heard Peter yelp, followed by a splashing sound against the floor of his car.
"Peter... did you just piss all over my car?"
"No, you idiot..." the younger man said through gritted teeth. "My water just broke."
Nathan found himself staring dumbly at Peter in the rear view mirror. He hadn't even considered the possibility of his brother having any amniotic fluid before this, but the proof was currently splashed all over his car seats and floor. Damn.
It also meant something else, and Nathan knew this from personal experience. The birth was drawing near. Once the water had broken, the baby itself was not far away. Peter needed medical care as soon as humanly possible, or he'd end up giving birth - and most likely dying in the process - in the backseat of Nathan's BMW.
The lawyer angrily honked at the car ahead of him, frustrated at how slowly things were going. Peter's ragged breaths and occasional moans had progressed into a steady whimpering of pain, and his face was crunched up in a way that did not bode well.

They couldn't remain in this line anymore. Nathan knew he had to act if he wanted to have a chance to save his brother.
"Hold on!" he said, and he swerved the car out of the lane and in between moving vehicles with the precision only a hardened New York cab driver had. Eyes wide and frightened, Peter babbled out a demand to know what was going on.
"I don't care if this car gets towed," Nathan answered, removing the key and opening his door, "we need to get out and get you to the clinic NOW."
Yanking open the back passenger door, he hardly gave himself time to stare at the wet mess covering the leather seats. He remembered voicing his displeasure when Monty had once spilled apple juice on those seats. But he barely cared about his car at present time when that fluid had come from his brother, whose gym pants were now soaked through and clinging to thin, shaking legs.
"Okay, up we go..." he said as he lifted Peter's heavy, wet form and nudged the door shut with his knee. Thankfully, Peter's hair had not been cut since the news of his pregnancy and with his thin limbs and face hidden by long black hair, he more resembled a woman.
They received some perplexed, questioning stares from people passing by the on the street, and Nathan distinctly remembered someone asking if they needed help, even though he was too distraught to accept or decline the offer. He half-walked, half-jogged with Peter into the nearest alley and finally dared to set his brother down onto a dumpster. Peter's face was almost as wet as his lower body, and one did not have to be a doctor to see that he was in a great deal of pain.
"W-what are y-you d-doing, Nathan...?" he squeezed out between whimpers and sobs, hands fisting his brother's long overcoat almost desperately. "W-we gotta... g-get t-t-to cli-nic..."
"That's exactly what we're doing, buddy," Nathan replied, even allowing a small smile cross his lips. "Just hang onto me real tight, okay?
He lifted Peter up again and gazed toward the darkening sky as his feet left the ground.
Peter clung tightly, not just from pain, but a slight bit of fear. In any other situation, he would not have minded flying with his brother. Of course in any other situation he would not have needed Nathan's help to fly.
"We'll be there in no time, kiddo." The older man's arms were firm, but gentle, a reassuring hold. Despite all that he felt at this moment, Peter felt a little safer in Nathan's arms.
The speed at which they flew thankfully got them to the clinic within a few minutes, and the brothers landed gently on the rooftop of the building, their hair rustled and windblown. Another whimper inspired Nathan to tighten his grip only slightly on his baby brother, and he whispered comfort into Peter's ear as he took a door down the stairs into the clinic. Thank god, they had thought to call Cusack ahead of time. She had cleared out the place so that no one would be left but her.
The physician herself met them in the lobby. She had already changed into sterile green scrubs, and her shoulder-long hair was tucked up in a traditional surgeon's net.
"Thank god you were able to let me know," she hastily spoke while escorting them toward the examination room which now had to serve as an OR. "He's one week early. That could mean that something's wrong."
"Wrong? What could be wrong?" Nathan snapped harsher than he'd intended. "You promised you'd give him your best possible care! The sooner you get that parasite out of him the better!"
He as carefully as possible placed Peter in the hospital bed, even though his younger brother was unwilling to break the physical contact between them.
"Don't leave me, Nathan..." Peter pleaded, small hands spasmodically gripping the older man's forearms. "I can't do this...!"
"You can, and you will," Nathan replied soothingly, taking Peter's hands in his own. "Doctor Cusack is going to make sure that you do."
"I need to see how his body has adapted," the doctor said. "Help me take off his clothes."
Peeling off the damp layers of clothing, Nathan helped Peter slip into a hospital gown and lift his legs into a set of stirrups. Cusack quickly looked between the young nurse's legs and inspected the area with her gloved fingers.
"It looks like he's on his way," she announced in a professional tone. "His water broke, did it?"
"Yeah, it just poured right out of him," Nathan replied, hands over one of Peter's own, patting gently.
"He's already dilating, so we're making good progress."
"N-nnn..." came a small, stammering voice, and Nathan looked down at a face contorted in vast discomfort.
"Nathhaannn..?" Peter moaned miserably.
"I'm not going anywhere, buddy," the older brother said, trying to smile, though deep down he was terrified for the hours which would soon follow.
"How long have you been having contractions?" Cusack asked.
"I...I d-don't know..." Peter cried, not really in a position to answer questions. He had no idea how much time had passed since he called Nathan's cell and their arriving here.
"About two hours," his brother replied in his place. "I got to him as fast as I could. He was already in great pain when I arrived."
The doctor nodded thoughtfully and continued her exploration of Peter's pelvic area.
"And how do the contractions feel? Are they irregular and sporadic or continuous?"
"It h-hurts... so much..." the nurse panted. Before he could catch his breath to speak another sentence, another horrific cramp rippled through him, and he screamed out loud this time, squeezing Nathan's hand with all his remaining strength. It must have hurt, but his brother did not complain.
"What's wrong?" Nathan asked instead, eyeing Peter with great concern.
"I think he is close to moving into the second stage of delivery," Cusack replied, not taking her eyes off Peter.
"Meaning?"
Finally she looked at him. "The second stage is when the uterus is fully dilated and ready to expel the foetus."
Nathan could not help but give a triumphant laugh as he grinned in disbelief at his brother.
"You hear that, Pete?" he asked the uncomfortable face below him, "This'll be easy!"
"Eat. Shit." Peter managed to say past bared teeth.
"Now Peter, this is when you can push," Cusack stated, unsure of how much her patient remembered from his medical education especially now that he was in such a state of pain and distress. She began to hook the young man up to several devices, particularly one for each of the two heart rates to be monitored. "You can work with the pains and help it go a little more quickly."
She looked up at the elder brother, who looked like he was doing all he could not to panic.
"Your brother can help. Nathan, make sure Peter's back and neck are bent forward. He'll do better when he pushes."
"Aren't you going to give him something for the pain?" Nathan asked worriedly as he watched Peter's normally sweet face crumple up in the most horrid, excruciating grimaces.
"I'm not sure about that," Cusack replied hesitantly. "I could let him inhale nitrous oxide gas, but that might dull his senses and make it harder for him to cooperate."
"There must be something else that you could prescribe," the lawyer pushed. It broke his heart to watch and listen to Peter's agonized cried and whimpers, and the prospect of doing it for many more hours was not something he wanted to deal with. "Give him morphine, or something, for god's sake!"
"I'd rather not give him any opioids. This close to the birth, they could cause respitory depression in the baby."
"I don't care! Screw that thing, and do what you can for my brother!" Nathan bellowed, his face red from agitation and fear for his brother's life. It was also starting to aggravate him that Cusack didn't follow his requests.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Petrelli, but I care," the woman said resolutely. "My obligations are to Peter, but also to the baby. I won't take any measures that will purposely harm the child."
"Nathan... it'sssokay..." Peter said between gasping breaths. "She's right..."
For once, Nathan looked helpless, and he rubbed at his baby brother's hand. "Don't want to see you hurt."
Managing to choke down a pained sob, Peter actually pushed a smile past his uncomfortable grimace.
"It's gotta happen... Nate... I'm really scared right now..."
"I'm here," Nathan whispered, kissing his brother's hand. A moment later, that smaller hand in his tightened its grip on him. Peter�s heart rate spiked.
"Push, Peter!" Cusack exclaimed. "You can do it now, so push!"
Cradling Peter's back against his other arm, Nathan let his brother's head lay against his chest, acting as both physical and emotional support.
"Come on, buddy, keep going!"
Peter pushed with all his might for several minutes - Nathan worriedly observed a purplish, pulsing vein appear on his brother's temple - but nothing came out of it. Cusack once again explored his insides with her gloved fingers, claiming that he was fully dilated now and should be ready to deliver the foetus.
"Why isn't it working?" Nathan demanded to know. Peter's hand, still in his, had already lost much of its earlier strength, and the lawyer was concerned. His brother's pale face was covered with a thin, glistening sheen of sweat. He looked exhausted already.
"I'm not sure," the doctor murmured, hands now applying gentle pressure on Peter's lower abdomen. "Maybe his recently developed uterus is not contracting strongly enough. There's also the problem of his hips not being wide enough..."
"Tell me about it..." Nathan sighed unhappily. Peter was still a man with a man's basic physique and thus not built to deliver babies.
"I could give him oxytocic agents to try to start the contractions again..."
"Do it," Nathan said without a moment's consideration. All he knew was that Peter was quickly losing whatever strength he had left and needed to get this birth over and done with.
As the doctor hurried to inject the drug into Peter's IV, Nathan pushed some of the sweat drenched hair out of his brother's eyes. Already Peter looked as though he did not have much strength left.
"How are you doing?" the older man asked.
Peter looked slightly in a daze as he looked up into his brother's eyes. "My mouth is really dry."
"Sounds like it," Nathan chuckled nervously, and he let go of Peter's hand for only a second to grab a mug of water he had prepared earlier, letting Peter take a few sips.
"I don't know how a woman could do this at all..." the nurse said, panting, "... let alone more than once..."
"Women have higher pain thresholds," Nathan responded, trying to distract his brother from the pain with conversation.
"Ohhh... ohhh!" Peter's grip tightened again as he felt a new cramp swell within him, and Nathan instinctively lifted his torso upward to help.
"Push, Peter!"
"Don't tell me what to fucking do!" Peter screamed.
"I'm not, I'm not," Nathan hurried to say, wincing as Peter once again gripped his hand with the desperate strength of someone in too much pain to bear. Even though it hurt, it was also encouraging to know that his brother had not yet exhausted his power reserves.

A new cry, almost inhuman in nature, erupted from Peter's throat, and even Cusack was startled by it.
"Come on, Peter, that's great," she said in a low, professional voice, and if she was concerned it certainly did not show. "Push, I need you to push. You're making good progress here. I just need you to be strong for a little while longer."
Nathan had stayed at the head of the bed on Cusack's request and knew very little of what really went on between Peter's legs. However, when the woman's hands came into view, he saw to his horror that they were covered in blood.
He had been expecting it in his anxieties leading up to this day, but still Nathan did not want to see that color coating the doctor's gloved hands.
"I can see it crowning," she finally said, though within her serious expression, the hint of fear fluttered forward for just a moment. She was thinking the same thing Nathan was: please, not again. Never again. They had blood ready for him. He would make it. He had to.
Shaking hand covering his tightly shut eyes, Peter sobbed, writhing in agony as Nathan held him. Another contraction came less than a minute later and Nathan shut his eyes too, tormented by the awful sound Peter made. He hated to hear his baby brother in pain like this. As a child, things were different. He could get over any hurts and scrapes as long as his big brother was by his side, but now...
"OWWW GODDD... it hurts! It HURTS..."
"You're doing well, sweetheart," Cusack reassured him. "It's coming better now. Don't give up."
"Come on, that's a good boy," Nathan encouraged more loudly than he had intended.
Cusack did not say anything more in a long time. Her face was tense with dogged determination and adamant focus, and Nathan did not want to disrupt her concentration by asking how Peter was doing. If something worth mentioning occurred, she'd tell him, wouldn't she?
Then, suddenly... "I can see the head!" Cusack exclaimed, her eyes wide and almost glassy. "Push, Peter! Push! I need you to really, really push!"
The EKG monitor that Peter was hooked to started beeping at an alarming rate, and Nathan knew it meant that his brother's heart was racing. Peter screamed, face twisted in agony, and suddenly he went limp in Nathan's arms, his eyes rolling up until only the whites were visible. The young man had fainted.
"Peter!" Nathan automatically cried out, shaking his brother. The older brother was already about to lose total composure and the image of his little brother unconscious in his arms and bleeding heavily made him ready to pass out as well.
"Peter, wake up!"
The young nurse moaned against Nathan's chest and he squirmed uncomfortably into him.
"Do something!" Nathan shouted at Cusack, his tone of voice surprising himself.
"He's trying to adapt in any way possible, Mr. Petrelli. He'll be awake by the time the next contraction rolls around."
Sure enough, five minutes later, another contraction awoke Peter from his half conscious state and he cried through it, pushing weakly.
"Don't want it..." he wept, "I don't wanna do this... it hurts too much."
"You only have a little more to go now," the doctor assured him, her hand on his tummy.
"How's he doing?" Nathan blurted out, wanting to look but also afraid to. He had to be strong, for Peter's sake.
"He's too tight," Cusack replied, her voice and face equally grim. "I can see the head of the baby, and we need to get it out of him ASAP. I'm going to have to cut into him."
"What?" Nathan roared. Had he not been supporting Peter's head with his hand, he would have lunged at the doctor and shaken her for even suggesting something like that. "You're not cutting him up!"
"Not much, just the last part of his anal channel. The baby needs room to pass through. If we can't get it out soon, we'll lose both the child and your brother."
Nathan's eyes wandered from Cusack's imploring visage to Peter, who was once again on the verge of unconsciousness. "Fine, do it!" he growled.
In Peter's near constant state of agony, he hardly noticed the sensation of the scalpel against his skin, forcing a slightly wider opening for the baby's head.
"What's happening?" he murmured at his brother. Nathan rubbed the back of Peter's skull, forcing a reassuring smile. He was running for Congress and he was supposed to hide behind a mask of calm in times of crisis, but now he was finding this to be incredibly difficult.
"She's just helping the baby's head go through, buddy. Now it'll get out quicker and easier."
Cusack remained dutifully between the younger man's legs, where she could see a head, covered in dark hair, trying to pass through the slightly bigger opening.

"I want you to push as hard as you can on the next contraction, darling," she ordered. "I think the head will come if you do that for us."
A lot more blood than what should was leaking out of Peter, as well, especially after Cusack's incision. She was starting to suspect that a blood transfusion of Nathan's blood would be needed soon. Peter's heart rate had gone up to 135 beats a minute, and his oxygen saturation was down at 93,6 %. Unless the bleeding could be stopped soon, Peter risked losing his blood pressure and going into a state of shock.
"We need to transfuse him," she told the would-be congressman, whose primary function right now was to act as her assistant. "Bring me two bags of blood from the fridge. They're marked A positive."
Nathan just stared dumbly at her for a moment.
"Now!" she snapped.
Though he felt he could not move any slower, Nathan was at the refrigerator within seconds, his hands flying over the bags and rushing back to where he once stood. He could barely speak and only watched helplessly as the doctor worked her magic. Peter's hand was grasping at the air and without even looking, his older brother reached down and took hold of it. The fingers were slick with perspiration, but Nathan was not letting go, no matter what happened next. He heard a dripping noise hitting the floor between Peter's legs and tried desperately to ignore it.
By instinct, Peter pushed as he felt another cramp seize him, and his spent voice gave a strangled moan. Cusack checked the baby's progress again and lifted his legs further back.
"Keep going, Peter!" she encouraged. "Push, push as hard as you can!"
"You can do it, baby," Nathan urged his brother, and Peter obeyed as hard as he could until he felt something pass through him like the largest object in the world.
"The head is out!"
Cusack decided to aid the delivery with her hands and one swift pull was all it took to free the newborn from its 'mother', who was no longer capable of pushing on his own accord. Just one look at the baby told the doctor that some of Peter's initial fears about deformity had indeed come true. She kept her face straight, however, and worked to quickly sever the umbilical cord that kept the infant attached to Peter. No actual cries were coming from it yet, only half-choked gurgles, which made Cusack suspected the child had phlegm or rests of amniotic fluid stuck in its airways.
Taking the baby aside, she produced a tube that was to be used for clearing a newborn's airways.

//Come on, breathe...//
Nathan watched in absolute shock as Cusack stepped away from Peter in order to tend to the parasitic creature that was killing him instead of the lawyer's brother. The bag of blood she had connected earlier was already empty, and the pulse oximeter clamped around Peter's index finger told Nathan that his brother's saturation was dropping quickly. No longer conscious, Peter's head lay limply over Nathan's forearm.
"Come back here, you stupid bitch!" he yelled at the green-clad figure bent over the foetus. "Screw that thing and save my brother! He's crashing! Do you hear me?! He's fucking dying here, so you come back and do something!"
"Mr. Petrelli, this is your daughter!"
"I don't give a fuck, you PROMISED nothing would happen to him!" Nathan screamed. "Now help him!"
As though his shouts had awoken her, the infant shrieked, finally drawing breath. Cusack took this as the opportunity to obey Nathan's commands, though she glared at him as she hurried past to tend to her unconscious patient.
Nathan tried not to pay attention to the wailing cries of the newborn. He wanted nothing to do with it, yet he did not know what else to do as he waited for the doctor to finish her work. Curiosity getting the better of him he walked towards the flailing bundle.
It was as he suspected. She was noticeably deformed. The cleft palate divided her upper lip twice like some alien visage and despite the legs being obscured by a pastel colored blanket, Nathan could see the outline of a club foot. Some of her fingers were missing too.
"Mr. Petrelli," he heard behind him, and he was more than glad to look away from the newborn.
"Your brother's taking the second bag, but I fear it may not be enough. You're going to have to give him more."
Nathan nodded, thoughts still going back to the appearance of the child. "... you said she was my daughter."
Cusack suddenly looked away, realizing her error.
"You know about the two of us."
"Let's save that discussion for later," the doctor said, glancing at the unconscious form of Peter still hooked to the IV, the second bag of Nathan's donated blood quickly going into his system. Even though a surgery sheet obscured the view between Peter's legs from Nathan, the older man could tell he was losing a lot of blood from the puddle that formed on the floor under the bed. He dreaded to even think what Peter's backside might look like after this. Taking a seat on his chair beside the bed and watched as Cusack hurriedly produced the required equipment.
"Do you know the procedure, Mr. Petrelli?" she asked while tying a rubber band around Nathan's upper arm in preparation for puncture of a vein.
"We did this not too long ago," the lawyer replied tersely. It annoyed him that she wasted precious time by asking him dumb questions; couldn't she see that Peter was slipping away?
"Good, then you won't take any offense if I'm not incredibly gentle," and she quickly jabbed the needle into his arm. Nathan of course grunted in reaction to the pain of the quick intrusion, but he found he could care less at present time.
As he sat there, he observed the doctor going back in between Peter's legs. "What are you doing?" he asked her.
"Checking the afterbirth," Cusack replied, not looking at the lawyer. He knew her irritation to his response at the infant, who was still making noises of discomfort on the table nearby. Nathan still could not look in the newborn's direction. He almost found himself hating it, even if it was a baby. The tiny girl was the reason Peter was being given blood so that he had a better chance of surviving from exsanguination. Instead, he decided to look at his brother's motionless face, but it hardly helped. Peter's face was ashen gray from the exertion and the lack of blood. His lips were slightly parted and he looked more dead than alive.
If not the EKG monitor had been steadily beeping and showing the sinus rhythm of his brother's hard-working heart, Nathan would have believed Peter was dead already. There was barely any sound from his breathing, and Nathan felt forced to hold his hand over Peter's nose to make sure he hadn't stopped altogether.
Cusack momentarily left Peter and went to her supply table to prepare another injection. Nathan's eyes immediately narrowed with suspicion, and he barked out a demand to know what she was doing.
"Your brother is not entering the third stage, and I have to give him more oxytocin to initiate a placenta expulsion," she replied, tapping her syringe to get the air out.
"Do I look like a fucking doctor to you?" Nathan snapped. "What does that mean?"
There was a weary sigh from Cusack, but otherwise she did not display any negative feelings toward Nathan's behaviour.
"The afterbirth, Mr. Petrelli. The uterus has to undergo a physiological separation from the placenta in order to get rid of it, and this drug is going to help Peter do that."
"Can't you just... pull it out through the cord or something?"
The doctor gave Nathan a glance that almost declared him a complete idiot. "If I pull it before it has naturally detached, it will cause severe hemorrhage."
Nathan covered his eyes with his hand, showing the emotional and physical exhaust which threatened to overwhelm him at every second now. But he resisted it, and just continued his watch over Peter. He was happy his brother was fully unconscious now as the new drug was injected, because if he never saw Peter suffer again, he would be the happiest man in the world.
When the placenta finally came out in a quivering, glossy mass, Nathan seemed to breathe as though he had not done such in years. His relief could only be greater when he knew Peter would survive.
In the back of his mind, he felt just as lost and panicked as he did years ago when Peter was lost in the department store. Nathan now mentally ran through a scenario where the staff never did find his brother, and he was sitting alone, waiting for some kind of news from authorities while he had no idea where the hell Peter was, or what was happening to him.
While Cusack was busy suturing Peter after the ordeal the young nurse had gone through, Nathan dutifully stayed by his brother's side, holding his clammy, limp hand and murmuring quiet words of comfort to him. Closing his eyes, he allowed himself to simply feel the soft, smooth texture of his brother's hand, realizing what a sharp contrast it was to his own, that were covered in dense, crisp hair almost up to the knuckles.
He was drawn abruptly from his musings by a strong, beeping sound that cut into his ears like a knife. Jerking up in terror, he tried to find the source of it and noticed that Cusack was already standing across him, putting an oxygen mask onto Peter.
"What's happening?" Nathan wailed in panic.
"His saturation has dropped below ninety and his blood pressure is still dropping. He needs your blood, now, or he'll go into cardiac arrest!"
In an instant Nathan was on his feet and practically thrusting his arm into her face, saying "take it! Just take it!"
Cusack knew the value of time in the situation but for Nathan, distressed as he was, it would never be quick enough. He sat as still as his anxious body would allow and tried to be patient as he could as the blood traveled at an agonizingly slow pace through the tube.
"If you don't mind, I'll see to your daughter now," Cusack said quietly as Nathan sat next to the bed. Somehow the words on his mind could not escape his lips as she exited the room: "she's not my daughter."
If Cusack picked it up, she didn't show it. It worried Nathan to see her leave, but he was also relieved to get a moment alone with Peter, even though his little brother was not awake to know it.
"Hey, little buddy..." he murmured, stroking Peter's hair with his free hand that was not hooked up to the blood transfusion. Watching his own blood flow from his veins straight into Peter's was slightly unnerving, although he'd give up all the blood in his system to keep Peter breathing.
"I don't know if you can hear me, but I'm going to say it anyway," Nathan continued.
Peter's face remained lax and unmoving.
�You're everything to me. I love you more than I've ever loved anyone, and I... I don't think I could exist without you." He made a brief pause, wiping the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand. "You mustn't leave me, Peter. I'd die for you, baby. Do you hear me? I'd die for you..."
Chin quivering, his once soft eyes were replaced by an angry frown.
"I never should have gone with your decision. You were too scared to have an abortion and I just went with it. And now look at you... I wanted you to live then, but not so that you could die now..."
He wanted to be angry. It was in his character to follow the anger with logic... place the blame on anyone but himself... even Peter... Even Peter?
"I'm so sorry," Nathan said, his voice weak again and his glare gone. "God, Peter. I am so, so sorry. I don't want you to go. I'm nothing without you."
He stayed there for quite sometime in solemn silence until Cusack returned from next door.
"That's enough blood for now, Mr. Petrelli."
"No..." he said, his voice a twin to his weary state. "No, I have to give him more."
"You'll die if you stay longer."
"I don't care," he responded, caressing the motionless young face.
//He would// a voice said in his mind.
Sluggish from the blood loss, Nathan slowly turned to gaze at her through watery eyes. "Did you just...?"
"I got your attention," the woman replied, now speaking the words out loud as she approached the two brothers. "I'm disconnecting the transfusion," she told him, her tone of voice making it very clear that it was a statement, not a question. "I suggest you go into the adjoining room to get some rest. You look like you need it."
Nathan wanted to object more when the cannula was withdrawn from his arm, but his energy resources were dried, and suddenly the idea of sleep, even in a brightly lit room such as this, was very appealing.
//No... I must stay awake... watch over Peter... He needs me... I can't leave him... This is my fault, I caused this...//
"Punishing yourself will not help Peter," Cusack said gently, laying a hand on his shoulder. "You're the most important person in Peter's life. But in order to take care of him, you must also take care of yourself."
"I can't... sleep now... I have to..."
"Come on," Cusack said a little louder, though her tone was still kind. She was trying to encourage him. "I'm a telepath, not telekinetic, so carrying you out of here is going to be a problem. I'll get a wheelchair."
In the short time that the doctor was gone, Nathan wondered if he could somehow reattach himself to the needle once inside his flesh. But he decided against it when he looked at his shaking hands. He would do more harm than good right now. He was already half awake taking the few steps required to get into the wheelchair.
"Ihaveto..." he slurred as he was helped onto a bed, sleep tightening its grip on him, "... have... needsuhh be alrighhht..."
"You've done all you can," Cusack said. "Let Peter use what you've given him."
Sleep was without dreams for Nathan, at least without those he could remember. The moment he was awake, he tried to stand thoughts of nothing but his brother.
TBC...
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Family Emergency