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New Ivy - Part 2

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"What time do you think you'll be home?" Antonio asked as he helped his wife make breakfast. 

"Hopefully early, but that could change," Elizabeth admitted as she took some bread out of the toaster. In a few minutes she'd be out the door headed to New Ivy Hospital where she worked as a maternity nurse. "I heard something about a group from the army had to stay the night, and none of them would leave even if they were fine. Must be important."   

She spread some peanut butter on the toast and walked over to the table where their seven year old son sat eagerly. "Do you think they fought some big monster? Or a bunch of Mortals in the Mortal world? Or maybe strays! Or-" 

"Calm down, Ethan, and eat your breakfast," Elizabeth laughed as placed the toast in front of his chair, then grabbing his empty glass to pour more orange juice in it. "It's a big maybe. Okay? Just a rumor that I heard from some people that are already at work. Besides, I don't work in that department."    

"Why would they come to New Ivy?" Antonio asked, taking a drink from his coffee. "Doesn't the military have their own specialized hospital for them?" 

Elizabeth shrugged her shoulders as she grabbed her bag from the counter. "Must have been an emergency. Anyway, bye."

She kissed her husband and her son good-bye before heading out towards the garage. Although, as she drove to the hospital she was a bit curious, why did this small group from the military drop by their hospital? Sure, it was in the first quarter – right by the castle and the military base – but it's not like they ever come there. The last time a military personal was at their hospital was because the main hospital they go to was backed up and they needed more space for patients. It was a little odd, but Elizabeth put the thought aside for the time being.   

Parking her car, she walked up through the main entrance. In the lobby, she found that there were more people in the building than normal. A group of fifteen men and women from the army were gathered at one section of the waiting area, and they looked like they just got back from a mission; dirty and still in uniform. The rest of the building didn't look like there was a crisis going on, but something was different. Everyone seemed on edge. They moved quicker through the halls as if they wanted to get their work done as efficiently as possible. 

"Everyone's so high strung," Elizabeth joked as she placed her bag down on the table. 

Her coworker, Tracy, raised her eyebrows in shock as she turned towards her. Her serpent tail twitching in surprise as it grazed the floor. "You haven't heard. The-" 

"Liz!" The two stopped talking as their boss walked in the room in her floral scrubs, looking down at a colorful green clipboard. "I need you to take care of this one." 

"Take what?" the nurse asked. Taking a quick glance towards Tracy, she could tell that this was big. Tracy's body stiffened up and her eyes grew so wide that they looked like they would fall right out of their sockets. Even her tail slowly began wrapping around one of her legs. 

Their boss, Shannon, flipped a few papers on her clipboard and read it over. "There's a new infant in the nursery and I need to you take over for Jasmine. She couldn't do it." 

Shannon began walking towards the nursery with a confused and curious Liz following her. "What do you mean she couldn't do it?"  

The boss pushed through the doors into the nursery with all the other newborn infants. Elizabeth looked down at all of the sleeping and restless babies as they walked by until they stopped at one bed. A small baby boy laid peacefully in the bed. Liz took a look at the monitors and the clipboard next to the bed. "He's very healthy. What's the problem?"    

"The parent of this one wanted a DNA test to make sure the infant was his," Shannon explained. "And it was, that's what scared Jasmine."   

The boss shook her head, almost as if she was concerned about this problem as well. Elizabeth wasn't exactly sure how to think about it. This type of thing happens all the time, what was the big difference now? That's probably why they went and asked her to do it. Liz was the most experienced out of all the maternity nurses. Before she was a maternity nurse she worked as a labor and delivery nurse and a home health nurse, so she was well rounded in the field. Not to mention the fact that people thought she was fearless; willing to do the job that no one else was comfortable doing. 

"So let me guess, you want me to break the news to the parent?" she asked, already prepared to do the job. She could even take one look at her boss and could tell that's what she was going to do, but Shannon still had that worried uncertain look on her face. "Don't worry, it'll be fine. What's the parent's room number?" 

"C630," she said, and that was all before Elizabeth took the clipboard from the baby's bed and confidently walked out of the nursery. Although it did interest her that the parent was in that room; only patients who had a medical emergency are held in those rooms. Usually the parents to an infant in the nursery would be on the same floor, but she brushed it aside as the elevator doors closed.  

Even down on this floor everyone was on edge. They briskly moved throughout the halls and stayed clear of that one section of the patient’s rooms. So when Liz arrived on the floor, they stared at the nurse as she daringly walked towards her designated room, almost as if she was a dead woman walking. She would have held her confidence all the way through like she usually does, but that all changed when she walked into that room. Elizabeth was imagining a shaken up man, or perhaps some parent nervous about having a child. Anyone would have been better than what she walked into. 

Opening the door, she found a man wearing the regular patient's gown and had an IV in his arm. Except that IV was pushing a highly-concentrated Natmite solution into that muscular arm, and the man had his purple hair tied back in a pony tail as he blankly stared down at his open palm. But when she walked into that room, his strange gray eyes shot up toward her, and at that moment she understood why everyone was so afraid. Why they made her do this job. 

"D-Derek Gray," Elizabeth stammered as she hovered in the doorway, her hand gripping the door knob tightly. "You're the- uh..." 

This never happened to her. She never fumbled with her words. Liz just supposed that seeing the immortal Creperum in person for the first time was nerve-wracking. She's only seen him on TV or in pictures, but not ten feet away from her, lying on the bed like any other patient in this hospital. 

She didn't even have to finish her statement before Derek sighed and looked back down to his hands. "So it's true then...he's mine..."   

Hearing him say that made her look down at the clipboard. Liz didn't even read the paperwork to see that his name was written at the top. She wanted to slap herself and start over. If she had only known, if someone would have told her, she would have been more prepared for what she had to face. Collecting herself, Elizabeth took in a deep breath and nodded her head as she walked further in the room. "Yes, he is. The DNA test was successful and we found a match." 

She hoped she chose the right words, but at this point she didn't think that any words would have been the right ones. The immortal shut his hand and sighed once more. Liz had never seen their leader look so distraught, especially since this was a happy occasion: a birth of a child. "If you don't mind me asking, Mr. Gray. Who's the mother?" 

"No one," He stated firmly. 

The nurse knit her brow as she placed the clipboard on the counter. "What do you mean no one?" 

Derek hesitated, as if the subject of conversation gave back unwanted memories. "The child's birth was not a natural one. My blood accidentally spilled on a pile of black beads I created. Somehow that was enough..." 

Liz remembered back to when she was in high school and they learned a little bit on Greek Mythology. Pegasus, the flying horse, was born from Medusa's blood and sea foam. This was the exact same situation, except she got the vibe that Derek wasn't exactly up on board with the idea of having a son. "How did it happen?"  

The Commander rested his head back on the angled bed and stared at the ceiling. It wasn't a long story, but it took a while for him to explain it through the constant breaks and pauses he made. He talked about the mission with the Optimum and what went wrong. Elizabeth took a seat in the swivel chair next to the counter and listened intently at his story, interested in every minute of it. "So that's why there’re a lot of military people down in the lobby. It's the Optimum waiting for you." 

"They're still there?" Derek asked, picking his head up and looking towards the door as if they were right outside in the hallway. "Well I shouldn't be surprised. Five members of the team were injured and brought here as well, the other fifteen though? Well I suppose they're all waiting for our recovery as well as any other...news." 

And once again, the Creperum Leader went back into a deep thought. Liz wanted to ask more, she felt that she needed to help him in this situation especially if that was in her job description as a maternity nurse. Sitting up from her chair, she went over and picked up the clipboard from his bed. "You're staying here for three days?" 

"Counting today, yes," he confirmed with a nod. 

Three days. That should be enough time, Elizabeth thought to herself. Placing the clipboard back on the bed, she turned toward the door and asked, "Do you need anything else before I leave, Mr. Gray? Water? Or maybe food?" 

Derek shook his head, still having that far away look in his eyes. Liz nodded and walked out of the room, except instead of going back to the nursery she went down to the lobby where the Optimum still sat. Now focused and fearless, she walked right up to the group and asked, "Which one of you is Michael?" 

The lion hybrid instantly rose to his feet, his feline ears perked upward in surprise. "Yes?" 

"This way please," she directed him as she began walking towards another hallway, away from the rest of the team. Michael didn't ask questions and followed her without hesitation. Then, when they were out of earshot from the team she turned to him. "I need you to help me. Do you have any children?" 

Michael frowned, unsure about her question, but still answered truthfully. "I have a ten year old daughter. Why? Is this about-" 

"The Commander, yes," Liz said with a nod, "And don't worry he's fine, physically at least, but I think he needs some help on the mental side." 

"So, it really is his..." Michael stated, reading in between the lines. 

Elizabeth nodded her head and looked down to the ground. "Yes, the infant is his. Mr. Gray is very troubled about the whole idea and I don't want him to make the wrong decision. Can you talk to him and see if you can convince him otherwise?" 

The nurse could see the look in the man's eyes; the look that only proud, loving, and protective father could have. Michael could put himself in his Commander's shoes and see the decisions that he could make, and it's those decisions that Michael wouldn't allow him to make. The Second-in-Command nodded his head. "I'll talk to him, don't you worry." 

"Thank you," Liz thanked with a smile. She then headed towards the elevator to guide him to the immortal's room. 

Being a little more casual about it, Michael got a bottle of water and some fruit before pushing through the door. "Hello sir, I thought you might want some company. I couldn't exactly get you a beer, what with no alcohol being in this building. So I thought water and fruit should do the trick." 

Derek was staring out of the window when his Second-in-Command strode in, placing the items on a moving table near his bed. "Thank you, Michael." 

The lion laughed and pulled up a chair next to the bed. "What? No Mikey Boy? Man, you really are out of it aren't you?"  
 
"That's an understatement..." Derek scoffed, returning his gaze to the window. 

Michael followed his gaze out the window and looked at the green leaves that brushed up against the glass. Even if it was December in the Mortal world, the time in Endralma works differently. It works faster than normal time, so December in the Mortal would equals to June in Endralma. "What are you thinking about?" 

"I'm not even sure myself," he admitted, sighing as some leaves fell to the ground. "I don't know what to think. This has never happened before, at least, not in my family." 

He turned away from the window and looked down at his palm once again, as if he could see the puncture wound from the bullet. The immortal ran through the scenario a thousand times in his head, wondering if there was any way of getting around the situation or if it was meant to be this way. Even a thousand and one reenactments in his head and he still couldn't answer that question.   

"I don't even know what to do when my three days are up," Derek continued. "I desperately don't want to end up like my own father, but at the same time I'm helplessly lost about actually raising another living being." 

Michael nodded his head, at least now happy that he understood his Commander's dilemma. History books give a brief overlook of the horrible conditions their leader had to face in his childhood. But Michael heard stories, stories that would traumatize any child in any generation. So he could understand why he would be so afraid to make the wrong move. But what really was the wrong move in this situation?   

"Hey, I can say that I was in a somewhat of a similar situation," the Second-in-Command spoke up. "When my wife told me she was pregnant, I thought I wasn't fit to be a parent. I thought I would be a horrible father, but all of those thoughts changed when she was actually born. I remember I didn't put her down for a whole twenty four hours, I was so in love. Maybe you should go see him, you never know." 

Michael waited for a response, but Derek was lost in thought as he stared down at his hands once more. At least this was the first day. They had two more days to try and convince him. Standing up from his seat, Michael headed towards the door and held onto the handle, "Just think about it, okay sir?"  

At least the Creperum leader was awake enough to give the slightest of nods before his prodigy walked out of the room. 

 

 

“Good morning, Mr. Gray," the nurse greeted as she walked into his room the next day. She was glad to see that he looked slightly better as he wasn't just staring into space. He actually turned on the TV hung in the corner of the room. "I've got your breakfast made to order: two-egg omelet with cheese, peppers, and mushrooms, some bacon, and orange juice." 

The smell of the food wafted through the room that got Derek to turn away from the TV and smile as she walked through the room. "Thank you, Elizabeth."  

She set the tray down on the table and moved over to the bed, clicking a button to adjust the angle so that it was easier to eat. Then she turned the mobile table so that it hovered right over his lap. Derek grabbed a fork and began to dig in. 

"I thought immortals didn't have to eat," Liz commented as she sat down on the swivel chair. 

"Most don't," Derek admitted as he drank a gulp of the orange juice, "I don't even have to, but I enjoy the taste of food to much to pass it up. I must say, this is very good for hospital food."  

She laughed and nodded her head, "Yeah, I thought so too when I first started working here five years ago. They even have specials around holidays. It's pretty nice." 

The immortal also nodded and munched on a piece of bacon. "Pardon me for asking, but what ability do you have? I can tell that you're a Creperum but that's about it." 

Elizabeth smiled and placed a hand on her chest. "I have a transform ability. I can turn into a few types of cats, both house and big cats. I haven't gotten my True Form though, never got that far."   

"And that's perfectly fine," Derek reassured her as he waved his hand. "I've met good men and women who haven't touched their abilities in years and still do a phenomenal job." 

“Even in the army?" Elizabeth asked, her eyes wide in shock. Derek, with a mouthful of omelet, responded with a nod of his head. The nurse laughed and looked around the room. "How interesting, I thought everyone in the army used their powers." 

"Not everyone," he said after swallowing. "Many enjoy using weapons now a days so there's no need for abilities. The only exception to that is the Optimum. I require them to have knowledge of both their abilities and weapons." 

The nurse chuckled and looked out the window. "Learn something new every day." 

Liz thought that it was going good so far. It seemed that Derek was back to normal; all of the food on his plate was nearly gone and he was annoyingly tugging at the hospital gown as if he didn't want it on him. When he was all done she moved the table out of the way and beckoned him up. "Come on, let's go."

The Commander raised an eyebrow as he slowly pulled the covers off of him. "Go where?" 

"It's a policy that we have patients who are able to walk, well, walk," she explained as she slowly moved his Natmite IV stand. Derek remembered back to previous times he's been confined to the hospital bed and not once did they make him take a walk around the building. Then again, this was New Ivy and not the regular hospital he goes to when he's seriously injured, so he supposed that this was normal. Putting on the slippers provided for him, Derek slowly stood out of the bed. It wasn't that difficult, but Elizabeth made sure that he wouldn't fall by cautiously holding onto him for balance. She was surprised that even with her 5’ 10’’ height he still towered over her. 

Letting him hold onto his own Natmite IV stand, they slowly made their way out of his room and down the hall. Even if it was a simple walk, the two attracted a lot of attention. Any patient or employee felt the need to greet the Creperum leader as they leisurely walked. It was a little repetitive, but at least it was better than being cooped up in the room. 

If this was a normal walk, Liz would have turned him around already and start their way back to the room, but she had other plans. Instead of turning around, she went and clicked the up button to the elevator. The doors slid open and the nurse made sure the rolling IV stand didn't get caught on the floor as they stepped in.   

"Where are we going?" Derek asked as he watched Elizabeth press the button to the third floor. 

"The third floor is where I usually work," she explained as the doors closed. The floor pushed up on their feet and the elevator began to roll upwards, but it was in a blink of an eye and they were already on the third floor. Without any more questions or explanations, they walked onto the third floor and down another hallway.   

The immortal curiously looked around at the rooms to see what they held, but when he looked over to his left he honestly wasn't expecting to find what Elizabeth planned all along.

Derek found himself face-to-face with a large window pane that peered into the nursery of infants. Babies of all races and species laid in the beds, he could even pick out those infants who were Mortal and who weren't. On that note, it wasn't hard to tell who his son was. The Creperum leader continued to walk along the window until he stopped at the end. In the second row, last in line, his son laid there sleeping in the small bed. Elizabeth stood next to him and looked up, smiling about her surprise. "I thought that you might want to see him." 

Derek leaned forward, close to the glass to get a better look. His memory was still great, so he can tell that the baby shared likeliness with Nickolas when he was born. There was no doubt that they shared a resemblance. Elizabeth even lit up when she saw a smile creep on his face. She thought that her little detour was going well, but that's when the Commander got that far away look in his eyes again and his smile melted away. He sighed and looked down to the ground, pulling the IV stand as he walked over to the bench across the window. He sat down and placed his head in his hands, his fingers combing through his bangs.   

Elizabeth frowned and joined him on the bench. "Please, Mr. Gray, I want to help any way I can but you have to at least talk to me about this." 

His grip on his hair tightened as he continued to look at the floor. "I don't know if I can be a father..."  

At least this was something she could work with. It was regular parenting anxiety that she had to deal with, and besides, it was her job to help new parents out of that anxiety. "Talk about it. Why don't you think you can't be a father?"  

"Fear of many things," he admitted, lifting his head and pushing his bangs back so no hair blocked his face for once. "I fear that I will screw it up somehow, end up like my own father. That fear makes me think that I shouldn't even try to raise him and give him to another family, but even then I feel I'm not doing the right thing. For that, I fear that it'll make me look as if I do not care but I in fact do. It's because I care that I did what I must."

Derek sighed and let go of his hair, the three long bangs flopping back in front of his face. "I'm at a crossroad at this point and I cannot make up my mind on my next course of action." 

Elizabeth nodded her head and looked back towards the window. "You do have good points, and it's good that you're thinking about what's best for him, but not being there at all won't help. You might think that you're giving him his best chance, but with him – especially with his genetics – he needs to be with his father." 

"But even so, how can I manage that?" the immortal countered. "I have no knowledge of raising an infant." 

"Don't worry. Most parents go through this," she reassured him, hesitantly giving him a pat on the back. "And that's where I come in. I can teach you all the essentials of what to do when you take your infant home; what to buy for food, what you need for sleep, even things like how to give him a bath. As long as you follow all of the things I can teach you it won't be a problem." 

"And what after that?" Derek asked, his voice raising a little. "My problem is not only settling in, but for the long-term as well. I know not of what this generation's childhood should be like, how they should grow up. I'm pathetically lost on everything regarding raising a child." 

Liz would have loved to follow that up with another claim, but he did have a point. If the Commander's only experience with children was back when he was a child, parenting has changed drastically. It would be hard for him to adjust to this time period's way of teaching all by himself. Derek frowned and leaned back on the bench, staring at the ceiling in thought. Even the nurse paused for a moment as she tried to come up with a reasonable solution. 

"Perhaps..." he mumbled, but he shook his head and discarded the idea, “No, never mind."    

"What is it?" Elizabeth asked. "I'm open for suggestions." 

Derek paused, wondering if he should even say the idea out loud. "Well...you seem very knowledge of the subject. Correct?"  

Liz shrugged her shoulders and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. "I suppose. I've been doing this job for five years and I've got a seven year old back home." 

"I see...well I was– hmm," he stopped himself once more, still thinking the idea over. "Perhaps you would like to help me?"   

"Aren't I already?" she questioned. 

"Not just after I take him home, um, hypothetically at this moment. I was thinking that it could be a potential job...a nanny of sorts. I believe that's an appropriate name to give it." He frowned and looked toward the ground, as if embarrassed he even brought it up. "It was just a thought. I only offered because you're trying so hard to convince me to raise him. I feel that you are truly trying to help, not just because of my status. I get the impression that if I go and hire some other caretaker they would be in it for the money and fame of the job rather than for the purpose of caring for the child. Then again, perhaps I am just paranoid, but I feel that's not exactly a bad thing." 

If Derek was tentative about even offering the job, Elizabeth was extremely unsure about the idea. It wasn't that she didn't want to work for the Creperum leader, it was that she wasn't sure if she wanted to leave New Ivy hospital. This was the first and only hospital she's worked for and the staff was like family to her. Would she give that up for this new job opportunity? Then on the topic of family, will working for the Commander financially ensure her own family? Liz assumed that to be so with him being rich and all, but she never knew unless she took the job.  

The nurse rose to her feet and folded her hands. "I believe it's a good idea, and thank you for the offer, Mr. Gray. Of course, I would like to think about it, if that's alright with you." 

He nodded understandingly and carefully got to his feet as well. "But of course. As long as I get an answer by tomorrow, it will be fine. All I am asking is for a consideration at this point." 

Besides, it was a bit of a big decision that she had to make. Derek wasn't expecting her to make up her mind right then and there. In fact, he wasn't even sure if it was a good idea in the first place. At least it was relatively early in the day, so Liz had enough heads up about the job offer. Turning his head, the immortal took one more look at the infant before the two made their way back to his room.  
Well this is fun, I mean, not necessarily the tone of the story but just me writing it. For one I'm actually writing in third person with multiple character's perspectives, and the other is that you never see this side of Derek before. It's kind of fun exploiting that soft side :aww:

Now this part of the story required some major research. Clearly I've never had a kid of my own and I've never physically been there to see how that process works. What the baby does when they're at the hospital and what do they do when they leave, not to mention all of the people who help out with all of that. So in a weird way I'm slightly more knowledgeable about that stuff, but if you know more than me then feel free to call me out and correct me. I'm just taking info I got off of google and youtube. Also regarding knowledge stuff, I had to do some major math on the whole different dimension thing. At first I wrote it where in Endralma it was cold and wintery but I realized that they live in a different dimension. Three days there equals one day in the Mortal world. So after a lot of calculating I figured that that there's four months for every one month and it would actually be summer instead of winter. That wasn't exactly the funnest thing to do at eleven at night. 

Like last time, if you have any questions or maybe even grammatical corrections just let me know. 

Comment, fav, and eat some mini peppermint waffle cookies. 

Part 1 - New Ivy - Part 1
Part 3 - New Ivy - Part 3

Don't steal or anything like that 'cause I own everything
© 2014 - 2024 FlareSiram
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PsylanceSimons's avatar
Can I just say that I really like Elizabeth? Cause I do.... :D