The Wisdom of Womby
Sumas had reached a point where they knew they had to find a quiet place to empty the contents of their stomach. They planned on returning to bed as soon as they felt confident they'd stop wretching, but it was taking much longer than they anticipated. Womby had been tagging along since they'd left the merkingdom. She gently rubbed Sumas's back with her paws. "Womby don't worry so much. I'm fine. You know me, this happens a lot." Sumas said curled up in a fetal position.
Womby's sense of smell was quite advanced, and she knew what was up with Sumas. She knew she needed to get Suraci. She called another squirrel-like creature named Rose to watch over Sumas while she went to find Suraci.
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Suraci was a little panicked that Sumas was missing. Reluctantly, after looking around, he went to find Cire.
"You're seriously back? I don't know if you noticed, but I'm not a sex therapist..." Cire was interrupted.
"Sumas is missing." Suraci blurted out.
Cire whistled to call his squirrel-like friend Red. Red jumped down from the trees and stood on his hind legs on Cire's shoulder. Before Red could even leave to look for Sumas, Womby dropped down from the branches above Suraci. She chattered quite frantically beseeching him to follow her.
Cire, Red and Suraci followed Womby into the depths of the forest and then into a cave underground where Sumas was lying on the ground, covered in sweat. A very worried Rose looked up at the 4 of them as they arrived. She updated Womby on Sumas's condition while Suraci immediately went to work scanning Sumas.
His face changed to a very worried expression as he told Cire to fetch several plants from under water and Red to grab one from the trees. Womby and Rose were sent to be look outs.
When everyone was gone he gathered Sumas up in his arms and began stroking their hair out of their face. "Why didn't you tell me you were pregnant?" He quietly asked.
Pregnant? The idea had never even entered Sumas's mind. A cascade of emotion rushed over them. First was denial.
"What are you talking about? How could I be pregnant, you were using contraceptives." Sumas said weakly.
"I wasn't using them. I thought you were." Suraci was only half lying. He really hadn't bothered to think with anything other than his dick when it came to Sumas. Using contraception couldn't even be classified as a thought that ran through his mind. He really wasn't capable of thinking of anything other than how good it felt in the heat of the moment. Afterwards, like a drug, he could only think about how he was going to get his fix again. If he had devoted any amount of thought to the consequences of having sex he would have just asked if they were using some method to prevent pregnancy. "And you are not currently pregnant, you were pregnant, but now you are sick because you miscarried improperly. The herbs will help, but I need you to not hide things from me. You need to tell me specifically every time you are feeling sick. Your health is very fragile. We can change plans to accommodate your sickness, but nothing will be worth it if you die. I don't want to stress you in this delicate time, but these next few days are going to be crucial to your recovery and I need to know immediately of any changes in how you feel. Your health is very complex and unique and while I might have sophisticated diagnostic tools, my supplies of medication are severely limited out here. I can do a limited amount of things with my field lab, so please tell me every little thing. Don't write any symptoms off. Also, I'm sorry and please know you can talk to me."
What did he mean 'were pregnant'? Those 2 words kept tumbling around Sumas's head as they started to feel more delirious. Suraci's face became more concerned as Sumas began to shiver.
He had Cire hold Sumas when Cire and Red had returned with herbs. Sumas was going into shock, there wasn't a lot of time. Suraci began processing and combining herbs with his field lab that he had been given by the merfolk and quickly administered several different refined chemical cocktails he had synthesized from the herbs. Sumas started to come out of their delirium only to fall asleep from exhaustion. Cire and Suraci took turns sleeping shifts with the squirrel like creatures.
By daybreak Sumas's condition was more stable. Suraci was overwhelmed with feelings: in the span of moments he had found out he had gotten Sumas pregnant, and that they had miscarried and almost died too. How close Sumas came to dying wasn't new to Sumas, but for Suraci it had been a rollercoaster. He didn't even know how to process how he felt about the miscarriage, too many feelings had hit him all at once.
Sumas, by contrast, never really processed anything, they never had the luxury, they just had to keep moving. All of the solemn faces surrounding them when they awoke in the morning irked them. Brushes with death were a way of life for them. It was precisely why Leira was always so worried about Sumas. Likewise, because Sumas hated worrying others and reviled being treated like glass, they often hid their physical symptoms. The secrecy and neglect was Sumas's own way of denial as much as it was their shielding others from worry. Sumas wanted to tell everyone they were fine, but they knew that wouldn't be believable at this point so they instead let their friends dote on them. Womby brought her favorite seeds thinking Sumas might like them. Rose gently rubbed Sumas's back and tummy. Red brought some shiny crystals he thought Sumas might like. Cire and Suraci took turns fetching whatever Sumas felt hungry for or needed for entertainment. And Sumas for once took it easy hoping this would speed their recovery. The sooner they felt better the sooner they could forget this ever happened.