The Rosebud Ch. 03

An uncomfortable silence settled in as Vikki got in the car and they drove off. She already felt awkward enough without trying to make small talk, especially after spilling her guts to a stranger. She prayed for a short ride and was rewarded for her prayer. They arrived at a three storey walk up similar to where she and Sasha lived and Laura revealed that her apartment was on the top floor. Vikki's pulse quickened as she realized this was actually happening, and she thought she felt the baby give an empathetic stir in her belly.

An unusual amount of locks adorned the front door but Laura only had to unlock one of them. A familiar scene opened up to Vikki once the lights were clicked on. It really wasn't all that different from her hole in the wall apartment. The biggest difference she could tell was that Laura was obviously single based on the state of the place. Random dishes, clothes, and bottles littered the place. It wasn't dirty, just "lived in" Vikki thought to herself.

"This is the place," Laura said without much enthusiasm. She tossed her massive keychain on the table and started taking out her earrings. "I'll set you up on the couch. It's not much but I've got clean sheets and a toothbrush you can borrow." Tears formed in Vikki's eyes but she fought them down. She was just grateful that Laura was kind enough to take her in. She was both relieved and disappointed that she wasn't going to try and take advantage of her vulnerability. Vikki didn't think she could handle much more confusion that night.

As she settled in to the couch bed Laura set up, Vikki said the first thing since she got in the car. "I can't thank you enough. I feel so ridiculous making you do all of this for me. I'm terrified of being alone and I just need someone to look after me."

Laura gave a half smile and said, "hey, don't worry about it. Nothing bad's gonna happen to you. Your girlfriend must be crazy to leave you alone like that. Tomorrow I'm gonna ask around and see if anyone knows her. Okay?" She kissed Vikki lightly on the forehead and left her with "Sweet dreams baby."

Fatigue creeped in almost immediately and she fell fast asleep. Something felt wrong though. Her belly cramped up, slowly at first and then wrenching pain shot through her abdomen. She started moaning in agony and looked up to see the doctor from the clinic standing over her. "We're going to have to do a C-section. The baby's coming now. Nurse, please get me my scalpel."

"Wait! This is impossible!" Vikki pleaded. She looked around for support from the nurses standing around her. Their faces were impassive yet vaguely familiar behind their surgical masks. "I'm only 3 months pregnant!"

"I'm sorry, but that baby is coming right now. We have to move quickly." The doctor spoke in almost a mechanical tone and Vikki's eyes widened as she saw her bring the scalpel down.

"No! No, it's too soon!" The doctor sliced into her neatly and strangely Vikki felt no pain. She felt sticky fluid run down her round stomach and stuttered, "wh.. why don't I feel any pain?" The doctor ignored her and retrieved the baby effortlessly. Sounds of a bawling infant filled the room. She used the scalpel to sever the umbilical cord and gave the baby to the nearest nurse.

"Nurse, please take this baby to be destroyed. For now let's get her sewn back up. This was a very successful operation everyone, thank you all for your efforts."

Vikki's arms clambered around, wanting, needing to hold her child, but grasping nothing but air. "Wait, what are you doing with my baby?!" She called out, panicked at first, but becoming more and more hysterical until she was screeching. "Where are you taking my baby?!!"

Her arms were thrashing violently until she felt strong arms pinning her down and she snapped her eyes open. Laura was standing over her with concern etched across her face.

"Hey! Hey! It's all right. Shhhh... calm down. You're safe."

It took a few moments for Vikki to orient herself and realize she had been dreaming. She had never had such a vivid dream before and the scene was still fresh in her mind. Suddenly she remembered all the blood and pushed Laura's arms away. In a panic she stripped the sheets off herself and felt warm sticky fluid all over her midriff. Panic quickly turned into embarrassment as she realized she had wet herself during the dream. Her face flushed bright red and she buried her face in her hands.

It took a few moments for Laura to realize what happened and she let out a long "ohh" as the smell hit her nostrils. "Don't worry about a thing," she said and rushed to get some towels. Vikki felt absolutely mortified. She hadn't wet the bed since she was a little girl, and now she had done it in the most compromising scenario she could think of.

Laura returned quickly and began blotting the mess. Vikki couldn't bring herself to speak but Laura was encouraging the whole time. "Believe me I've seen much much worse given my line of work. You've got nothing to be ashamed of. Why don't you rinse off and I'll get you some fresh clothes, okay?"

All Vikki could do was nod meekly and shuffle towards the bathroom. As she entered the shower, she finally had a moment to think about her dream. She stared down at her naked form and saw her bulging form. She ran her hands along the bump protectively and had a sharp epiphany. She had to have this child. There was no way she was going to let anyone take her baby from her. She had never been more sure of anything. The sheer horror she felt as the doctor tore it from her made her ill. Her body was telling her that she was meant to have this child, and no one could convince her otherwise.

After a few minutes of letting the water run over her, she got out of the bathroom and wrapped herself in a towel. She noticed a hair drier resting on the sink, but felt uncomfortable using someone else's so she just dried her hair as best as she could and slipped back into the living room. Laura was waiting with clean pajamas and handed them to Vikki who was still in a towel. Vikki turned around and hesitated before letting the towel fall to the floor, and snuck a peek behind her before clothing herself. She noticed Laura watching her, but Vikki realized that she must see naked women all the time at strip club. The thought made her a little giddy and she tried to hide her face by staring at the floor.

"I guess you'll be sleeping with me tonight. C'mon, follow me." She took Vikki's hand gently and led her to the bedroom. She slid under the covers with Vikki close behind. Vikki felt safe and warm and happy for the first time in long time and whispered to Laura, "This reminds me of the sleepovers I used to have when I was a teenager. My best friend and I used to tell stories to each other and talk about what we wanted to be when we grew up. She always said she wanted to open her own salon and that we could work together forever. Then one day her mothers separated and she moved to another town. I never saw her again. I never got a chance to tell her how I felt about her..."

The two womans' eyes met and Vikki's emotions bubbled to the surface. They stared for a moment before melting into a sensual kiss, Vikki longing for that feeling of passion that had been missing for so long. They explored each other delicately, but Vikki pulled away after a short time and nestled into a contented embrace. It felt good just to share a bed with someone again, and she fell into a dreamless sleep in Laura's arms.

Vikki awoke and felt the comforting presence of another body in the bed next to her. She smiled to herself and drew closer to the sleeping Laura. "Hi" she whispered into Laura's ear and she stirred awake. "Hi yourself" she replied. Vikki's face turned serious and she said, "I'm so so sorry for everything. You were so nice to me and I feel so embarrassed."

"You don't have to apologize for anything. To be honest it was really nice to share a bed again. It's been... awhile. You seemed like you were in trouble last night."

"And you came to my rescue." They kissed but Laura cut it off quickly.

"Look, I'm not sure what's going on here. I mean, you're involved with Sasha right?" She placed a hand gently on Vikki's protruding midriff and Vikki put her hand on top of Laura's. She stared in wonder at the life growing inside of her belly. "What's it like?"

"Being pregnant? Amazing, painful, disgusting, scary. But it's something that I've wanted more than anything. It makes it so much harder with Sasha gone so much. I just want everything to work out, you know?"

"I'd give anything to know what it feels like. When I saw you I felt this connection. And I really want to help you."

"Oh my god.. are you..."

"Sterile? Yup. I was devastated when I found out. But you have to move on, you know? Now I'm involved with a group that is trying to help women take back our bodies from the banks. It's not right that they have so much control over us."

"I don't understand. How are they controlling us?"

"Do you not know about pregnancy? This is a classic example of how they've manipulated women. You're not supposed to buy sperm to get pregnant. It's supposed to come from sex with a man. Women used to be able to reproduce just by finding a partner. They were our opposite. But they've died off and a lot of women don't even know that they ever existed."

"Is that what the doctor meant? She said I was having a male baby and they have to kill it! She said it was going to die if I gave birth to it."

Laura's face became deathly serious. She grabbed Vikki's shoulders firmly and stared straight at her. "You're positive that they said you have a male baby? This changes everything. This is what we've been waiting for, Vikki! We need to keep you safe. The bank will do anything to try and take your baby."

"What are you talking about? This doesn't make any sense."

"We have to get you to a safe house. I'll take you back home to get your things but we have to be careful. They're probably monitoring you as we speak. I'll get the car started. Get your things and meet me there in 5 minutes."

"I.. I don't even know you really. I thought you ran a strip club!"

"You're just going to have to trust me. Be ready to go in 5 minutes, okay?"

It was easier for Vikki to go along with what Laura was saying than it was to think about enormity of what was happening. She glanced around the apartment and realized she didn't have anything to pack up. She noticed her soiled clothes and decided to leave them. The next few minutes were a blur. She got in Laura's car soundlessly and stared out the window at the run down apartment buildings as they flew by. They must be over a hundred years old she figured. Laura snapped her out of her reverie to ask her where she lived. She said her address and slumped back into her seat. Everything felt so surreal. It didn't feel like her life anymore.

The car stopped a block away from Vikki's apartment and Laura turned to her. "I'm going to go check and make sure everything looks okay. Promise to stay in the car? I'll be 10 minutes tops."