Dinah's Breeding Ch. 13

Two weeks later, Ian stood in the hallway of the hospital, making rounds with the Head Nurse. Training for a new job was always nerve-wracking, especially when he was also in school to catch up on the latest techniques.

As it turned out, the hospital had no openings in the nursery as Ian had requested, but would keep him in mind if something came up. He was put on general rounds, which meant that he would float among the floors, working the shifts and departments as need arose. He didn't mind so much being flung from nights to days and back again because he loved this work so much, and Dinah began to notice a definite difference in his demeanor: there was a sense of pride and genuine contentment in her husband now. His relaxed, easygoing personality had finally returned.

The surgical floor would turn out to be his second favorite place to work, next to the obstetrics floor. He enjoyed helping people, making sure their needs were met and trying his best to ease their discomfort after their procedures. He liked being strong enough to lift patients up and help them move about more comfortably.

At 7 pm, Ian came on shift. The first order of business for Ian when floating to a new floor was to look over the patient and medication rosters to get acquainted with who was where, what their surgeries were, and get a general feel for how things needed to be overseen. Every shift brought new surgical patients in, and sent others out, so reviewing the patient list was always an important first step in prepping for rounds. It was that evening, as he stood going over the charts of those in his care, that he saw something that made him go cold in his tracks.

*No!* he thought as he read the name. *It can't be! It simply can't be!*

But there it was, in black and white: Aurora Pritchett. Hysterectomy. Bladder repair. Severe infection caused by trauma. Her chart indicated that she had been there a few weeks fighting a horrific infection, and was just now able to have the corrective surgeries needed. Her surgeries were earlier that day. Her prognosis was still guarded.

His heart was pounding as he filled the med cart. She was on some high powered antibiotics. *I wonder what happened* he thought to himself as he readied the cart for his rounds.

Pushing down the hall, the tile-lined façade echoed the "whickey-whickey" sound that the squeaky wheels of the cart made. Each door had someone behind it who had a story. Each patient was glad to see him, because he mostly dispensed the pain medications that made it possible for them to get a night's sleep. He checked each patient on his rounds with the thoroughness he would want for himself. He gently turned those that needed it, cleaned and redressed surgical sites, checked IVs and offered bedpans or trips to the bathroom. He tried to make small talk with any family members that might be present, made careful notes in the charts of medications, vital signs, and complaints, and then slowly pushed to on to the next room.

When he finally reached room 644, he wasn't sure what he was going to say. Would she recognize him? Would it be worse for him to be her nurse? He readied his walkie-talkie in the event that she refused his help or that he needed additional help restraining her. He swallowed hard, and pushed open the door.

Aurora lay quietly in the hospital bed. An IV was hooked to one arm; the beep of the monitors broke the silence. He stood and watched her for a long time. She was still beautiful, although she showed signs of having been roughly treated. Her breasts rose and fell in a steady rhythm. He almost hated to wake her, for he didn't know exactly what her reaction would be. He removed her chart from the bed and read it: rape w/ severe internal damage. Extensive infection leading to sepsis. Total hysterectomy and bladder reparation performed with today's date and the surgeon's initials next to it.

*I wonder who did this to you* he thought as he looked at her. He once thought he could love her, until she did what she did to Dinah. How innocent she looks now.

About that time, her eyes opened and went wide. She sucked in a loud breath and began to try to scramble to the opposite side of the bed, but the pain medications she was given made it difficult for her to even move.

"Aurora! Aurora, it's okay! I'm not here to hurt you! Take it easy or you will do damage to yourself!" Ian tried to keep her calm, knowing that her tenuous condition left her vulnerable to shock.

"Stay away from me!" she hissed in a voice weakened from the earlier breathing tubes, "Don't you see what you did? You and your uncle? I can no longer have children because of you!"

The air suddenly left the room and Ian felt dizzy. "What do you mean what *I* did?! I had nothing to do with what happened to you!"

Aurora was weak from the surgery, so she slumped back into the bed, wracked with pain, and began to sob long, gulping sobs. "Don't you see, Ian? Your uncle had this done to me. For my cruelty."

Ian could only stare and blink for the longest time. He reached out and touched Aurora, who flinched away.

"Shhhh ... shhhh. It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you. All I ever wanted was to be free and for Dinah to be free. Don't you see that?" He stroked her arm and her hair, feeling her tremble under his hands. "I never meant for it to go this far. I am so sorry. I had no idea."

He walked around to the IV monitor and changed the medication bags. He checked the line and then asked if he could see her surgical site.

"I would rather you didn't," she said quietly.

"Aurora, I'm just doing my job. I'm not here to hurt you. I couldn't do that then, even in anger, and I sure am not going to do it now. Just let me help you."

He watched her visibly soften then, and he checked her stitches for any sign of tearing. He replaced the dressing and made a few notes in the chart.

"I could have your job, you know," Aurora looked right through him. "All it would take is just one word about before and ..."

Ian stopped writing and looked at her – hard. He could see the physical pain on her face, but he looked into her eyes and saw something much deeper. He saw a once-proud woman who had been broken. Then he shrugged.

"Yes, you could have my job. You could do a lot of things, but you won't because you are afraid of the consequences. I am the only one standing between you and certain death, because it is my Uncle that you are so afraid of. The sad thing is, Aurora, that you used to be such a kind and generous person. I don't know where that woman went. I sure liked ... oh hell, I loved ... that woman."

"But she was never enough for you, Ian. You wanted Dinah. Why?"

"Because Dinah loved me back for the right reasons. When you looked at me, you saw nothing but a means to my uncle's power. I didn't put two and two together until I happened to see the clinic's financial portfolio on your desk one day after you and I had made the pact to transfer Dinah and me to get you pregnant. I saw Jonas' name as one of the big contributors, but that was only for your view, not the public. Those of us who invested individually never knew where the bulk of capital monies came from. I began to see how you were spending and your standard of living, and I figured that you and Jonas had something going. When things got bad, that was the only leverage I had against you to get Dinah and me and the baby away, because I knew that with his political ambitions and all, the last thing he would want is to be publicly linked to an adoption clinic that was a bit, shall we say, shady. I just had no idea it would go THIS far."

"We did, for a while. But then I wanted a baby for my own and he didn't see eye-to-eye with me on that...."

"And what better way to get his goat than to get pregnant by his nephew, right?"

"Yeah," Aurora closed her eyes and turned away from Ian, quietly continuing, "but by then you had fallen in love with Dinah. I knew I couldn't compete with what you two had, so I had to appeal to your more ... shall we say, PRACTICAL, side."

"But why did you give her to Damian? Why would you be that cruel?"

Aurora sighed. "Damian wanted her for himself, but when she wouldn't submit to him, and it inflamed him. I truly had no idea that he was that vicious and cruel, although I had heard rumors to that effect. I was so immersed in my own jealousy that I couldn't be compassionate toward her. I wanted her to hurt as badly physically as your rejection hurt me emotionally, and Damien made that happen for me."

"Were you and Damien lovers?"

"For a time, we were. But he was to deviant for me. I got a taste of who he was more than you know, and I was trying to fire him before the whole Dinah thing came up. I figured I would kill two birds with one stone: I'd get Dinah to hurt and later I would blame Damian and be able to get rid of him as well."

"So what happened to him?"

"Your uncle had him killed. And he made me watch after he raped me himself."

Ian's mind was racing now. Had he invited a demon into his home and into his bed? He would have to be particularly careful as to how he handled this mess.

"Did they perform a rape kit on you when you came in?"

"Yes, I believe so. Why?"

"Would you allow me to have access to that? I think I know of a way we can keep us both safe."

Aurora eyed Ian suspiciously. "Sure, but how?"

"Well, if anything was recovered, then we have DNA evidence. I happen to know all of Uncle Jonas' 'colleagues' because I was working with his election campaign before I came to work here. So that means that if I have access to the info, then we can finger all of them for your rape and Damian's murder. I believe that will keep Uncle Jonas under control if he plans to win an election ..."

Aurora smiled for the first time in along time, and then she sighed and winced. "I hurt so bad, Ian, inside and out. I'm tired. If you can get me out of this, I won't be able to thank you enough."

"Oh, I'm not doing this just for you, but for me and my family. You have a lot of healing to do. So, get some rest."

That next morning after getting home from the hospital, a heavy-minded Ian slipped quietly into the house and into their bedroom. He undressed and eased himself into the bed, spooning against his wife. Dinah felt him against her and rolled toward him and gave him a soft kiss, her mouth warm with sleep. "Hey, baby," she said quietly, "how was work?"

"Um ... I have something to tell you ... Aurora Pritchett was on the floor I was working."

"WHAT?!" The shrillness of Dinah's voice pierced the silence and the air was suddenly filled with the wails of a baby awakened from sleep. She bolted upright, staring at Ian, then Arielle's cry reached her ears. "Hold that thought! Let me go get Arielle, and then you had better tell me this story!"

Dinah disappeared, only to reappear a moment later with a hungry baby latched onto her now-exposed breast. Ian fluffed pillows up so that Dinah could once again join him in their bed, her back against the headboard as she cradled their daughter to her breast.

"Now, what's this about that witch?"

Ian laughed quietly. "Now, now. We had a long talk. Uncle Jonas and his men did quite a number on her. She had to have a hysterectomy. No kids ... ever. She nearly died. Evidently she's been in the hospital for weeks, and just had surgery to repair the damage yesterday. That's how I happened to know she was there. I was working the surgery floor."

Dinah felt her eyes widen and the blood rush from her face as she listened to her husband continue.

"Jonas raped her, too, but wasn't there when the real brutality started. He did, however, make her watch as his henchmen beat Damian to death."

"Dear God, Ian. We've had that man in our home. IN OUR BED!"

"I know. I had no idea he was that capable of cruelty. But I'm working on a plan. Something that just might protect us all from him."

Dinah held Arielle over her shoulder and gently patted and rocked her. "Ian, we have to make it safe for our daughter. What if he ...." She shuddered at the mere thought of that man raping Arielle, let alone herself.

"No! I will NEVER let that happen. Do you trust me?"

"Of course, I do."

Ian kissed Dinah and they all three drifted off to a fitful sleep.