Son

There were a million stars out tonight. The air was sweet and warm. Insects sang to each other from the forest. Lillian, stargazing with her fiance Harold. Stares blissfully into the night sky; savoring a feeling of love and security. When a flash blazes across the sky. A shooting star? She didn’t have time to find out. Lillian was going into labor. Harold scrambles to get her up and into the car. They grab the bags they prepacked for the hospital. Thankfully the roads aren’t too busy at this hour. They arrive at Bellmonte Creek Hospital and Emergency Care Center. The attending nurse admits them immediately. Her doctor is already at the hospital. Another one of his patients delivered just a few hours ago. Lillian is scared. Her doctor enters the room full of vim and vigor. He’s already delivered one baby tonight and he’s in the zone. His confidence puts Lillian at ease and she can finally relax. Or maybe it was the epidural. 

Staring at the fleet of ships before them. Jolar began punching a sequence into the control panel. He found another viable planet. But, it was 1400 light jumps away. He wasn’t sure the ship could handle that many consecutive jumps at light speed. They’re just about to jump. When an Inosian soldier is beamed onto their shuttle. He stabs Jolar through the back. His blade punctures Jolar’s right lung. Hira sends a whistletone into the soldier's ear. Exploding his brain. When the ship comes out of it’s final light jump it’s a smoking mess. They land on the planet instead of coming out above it in orbit. 

“ Ship, where are we?” Hira asks.

“ We are on planet earth. Located in the milky-way galaxy. Approximately Four-billion, five-hundred million, eighty two thousand, and 1 light jumps from Inosia.” 

“ Jolar!” Hira gives Jolar a knowing look. Her heart beating more rapidly. 

“ It was the only option.Forgive me..” He says wheezing. Blood is starting to pool in his lungs. Jolar is suffocating to death. 

“ Ship! Find me the nearest medical facility.”

“ The nearest medical facility is 3 miles away. Bellmonte Creek Hospital and Emergency Care Center.” 

“ Send the coordinates to my light jump ring.” Hira’s light jump ring pings with the coordinates. Holding her husband tightly in her grip. Hira light jumps them to the hospital. They step out of thin air. The front desk nurse blinks at their sudden arrival. “

How can I help you?” She asks, unsure that she’s actually seeing people in front of her. Hira quickly explains that her husband has been stabbed through the lung and needs immediate medical attention. The nurse calls the emergency room over the loudspeaker. Within seconds, two trauma nurses burst through the door with a gurney. They get Jolar on it and take him into surgery. Hira, knowing that these people won’t be able to save her mate. She lets them take him. She goes to the hospital directory and finds the maternity floor. When she steps off the elevator she’s surprised at how busy it is. It’s buzzing with people. Looking at the babies through the glass. She pauses and focuses on one of them. A tiny pink little wrinkled thing. She leaves this area and heads to the birthing rooms. She sees a family that’s just had their baby. The dad had his arm around the mom. They keep smiling at each other and then at the baby and mouthing the words. “ We did it.” to each other. A couple doors down on the opposite side of the hallway. There’s low voices and the sounds of sobbing. Hira listens outside the door and discovers that this mother has just lost her baby. Hira thinks to herself and then returns to her shuttle. She pulls her egg from its safe hold. Cradling it in her arms. 

“ My son. Please know that your father and I love you. We never wanted to leave you. Our world is changing and it is not safe for you there. I’m leaving you here in the belief that, when you are a man. You will return to us and help us bring back the beauty of the old world. “ 

She kisses the egg and returns to the hospital.

Sitting in bed, thinking about the loss of her first child. Lillian just can’t make sense of it. As she held her tiny, lifeless boy. Stroking his full head of silky black hair. Tracing the delicate features of his face. The air changed in the room. It became warm and sweet. She looks up and sees the silhouette of a giant woman in the doorway. 

“ Can I help you?” Lillian asks. 

“ Yes. You can. And I can help you.” Hira says. Stepping into the room and closing the door. She crosses the empty space. Standing at Lillians bedside, cradling her egg. Lillian is confused and thinks that she is hallucinating an angel out of her grief. 

“ My son. His father and I cannot keep him. Our planet is not safe. I would like you to raise him as your own.” Hira says. Barely containing her tears. 

“ I don’t understand.” Lillian responds. 

“ I don’t have time to explain. Others are after me and soon it won’t be safe. I must leave here before they locate me. Will you love him?” Hira’s eyes searched Lillian’s with a pleading that only a mother could understand. 

“ I will.” Hira took Lillian’s baby and placed it inside the egg with her own. The egg used the baby’s DNA to create a genetic disguise for the child. The egg disappeared and the baby coughed to life. Bursting with joy, Lillian takes the baby from Hira. She’s crying and laughing. Ecstatic at the miracle she’s just witnessed. Her little boy is alive.

“ Protect him. Love him. Make sure that he’s good. Make sure you are good to him. Allow him his uniqueness. If you don’t. I will find you.”

“ I promise you. I will do everything you said.”

Lillian looked down and her new baby boy in awe. Tears filled her eyes as she thought about all that had happened in such a short amount of time. Hira had since taken to the shadows. Satisfied that Lillian would keep her promise. She tapped the home button on her light jump ring and vanished.