r/shortscarystories
3 mo. ago
Intrepid_Wanderer
ᴍᴇɴᴛɪᴏɴs ᴏғ ᴘʀᴇɢɴᴀɴᴄʏ
Delivery Room
My grandparents were worried when I said I'd decided to get the tablet.
They're a bit old-fashioned, but they mean well. The thing is, it's 2084.
Most people who can get the tablet just go ahead and accelerate
through all nine months of pregnancy. The baby can be born as soon
as the parents like- no need to endure mornıng sickness or false
warnings for labor. And miscarriages are nearly a thing of the past-
most babies are accelerated at the first warning. Medical technology
is truly amazing.
Not everyone accelerates. Some people worry about those obscure
studies on bonding ability in accelerated babies, some consider a
"natural" course an unmissable experience and some just don't have
access to it. Most of the time, though, people accelerate.
I was so excited to get to the hospital. I didn't even get an ultrasound
done first- the test was positive, and I was about to see my baby
anyway in a few minutes.
There were the occasional horror stories. Most of them were urban
legends, tales of some quack who messed up and made horrific
things happen. Truth was, there was very little to mess up, especially
at a nice clinic like this one. With today's medications, I could
expect to hardly feel the labor and go home with my family on the
same day.
They said I'd feel a tingling in my abdomen, maybe even some light
kicking. At first I did, but it was more uncomfortable than I'd imagined.
It was like a twisting, stretching sensation inside of me. I hated to
imagine what it might have been like if the tablet didn't also act as an
aesthetic.
I tried to close my eyes and breathe through it. Something was
soaking through the bed- must be my water breakıng. But it smelled
metallic, and I was so dizzy. Why didn't I hear crying? Shouldn't it have
worked by now?
Someone started shouting, but I couldn't open my eyes to see why.
The last thing I heard before losing consciousness was a doctor
asking about ultrasounds and the words "ectopic pregnancy."