Sewing Broken Hearts

Here's what the first book of Iron Hearts is like! 

Talia roused with surprise. She was stunned and a bit scared when she realized that she was still in the doctor’s room. It was a scary place on its own. Knowing that she had fallen asleep there was not comforting. She had grown scared to fall asleep anywhere, plus it was surprising to know she had managed to fall asleep.

“Oh good, you’re awake,” she heard Peter say. She turned to see him smiling at her from across the room. “You’ve healed up well,” he added.

“Did…I…I’m still here?” she looked around, concerned and frightened, “Did I fall asleep? Did someone touch me again?! Did you touch me while I slept?!”

“NO NO NO!” he exclaimed, throwing his hands up defensively.

His face turned beet red at the accusation. He even took a couple of steps to get farther away from her. He seemed to expect her to physically lash out at him.

“I did no such thing! You were just tired from the surgery…so I let you sleep!” he exclaimed.

“Oh…well…I…herm…” she cleared her throat and hid her blush, trying to cover herself with her rags, “Sorry…Peter. How long was I sleeping in this chair for? Feels like a week…”

She felt a bit embarrassed about being mostly nude, despite already having been seen by him before. He already knew what she looked like, but in this dirty hell hole, she felt she needed more protection than these rags.

“Just a couple of hours,” he replied, “I usually let patients sleep anyways.” He paused, scratching the back of his neck. “I have some good news…your baby…is growing well,” he finally added.

“My…” she looked down at her belly, it was starting to become slightly more round. She rubbed it, and blushed. “Peter?” she bit her lower lip, as her heart started to race, “You really didn’t do anything to me while I was sitting in this chair? I mean…you could have…easily.”

His face was red hot as he avoided her gaze, “No ma’am. I only checked your blood pressure and hormone levels…and used sound waves to check on the baby. Besides, I’m…a…”

He cut off with embarrassment. He muttered something inaudible to himself. He looked like he might become permanently red, from how embarrassed he was.

“Wow that’s…you…you’ve impressed me with your integrity Peter,” her smile grew across her pink lips as she laid a hand on her belly, “Most wouldn’t have second thoughts.”

He cleared his throat nervously, “Well…um…hey! Do you want to see what it looks like right now?”

“See what it looks like? What are you talking about?” Talia looked clueless as she stared at him blankly.

“The…the baby,” he fumbled through his words.

Talia blushed, her eyes widened with excitement, “You…you can do that?”

“I took some pictures…” he paused to pull out some sheets.

He turned on a light that looked kind of like a decorative piece on the wall. He laid the sheets on top of this light, so that it shined through to show shades of black and gray.

He put his finger on an area of darker gray, “You see this here?”

Talia winced a bit, her eyes having to adjust suddenly to the new source of light. She looked up and she was utterly bewildered, “I…I see it…I see it…my baby…that’s my baby isn’t it?”

“That’s it right there,” he nodded, as he let his hand fall, “Hasn’t even grown into its form yet. It’s just a…big headed sea monkey or something.” He chuckled at his comment.

Her eyes glistened, as she covered her mouth. She tried to suppress whimpers, “I-I don’t know what to say. It’s my baby! Peter, it’s my baby!”

Her eyes filled with all the hope in the world. They were glistening gem stones of amethyst, catching all light within the room. Peter had done something magical for Talia. A debt that could never be repaid, a sense of peace and hope in a world gone dark.

When she looked at him again, he looked more relaxed. He even smiled a bit. The smile seemed a bit foreign though, as the lines on his face had long since become accustomed to anything but a smile. He was pleased to have brought this wonderful news to her, to have shown her the life she was carrying.