Chapter 32 #2
“There’s a lot that people don’t know about orcs,” I sigh. “King Lix’tuk most of all. But that doesn’t change anything. As long as there’s a chance I can get pregnant, he won’t… we’ve never been able to be intimate like that.”
“Give me a moment to look over your chart,” Dr. Zill says, looking down at her tablet. “We’ll find a solution.”
Dr. Zill reviews the information the nurse collected.
I sit awkwardly in my chair, unsure how this is going to go.
Is it as simple as her taking me for surgery immediately, or do we have to schedule it later?
The sooner the better. I’ll need time to recover, and since King Lix’tuk is so busy, he may not even know I’ve had the surgery until I’m fully healed.
“There’s nothing that would prevent me from performing a hysterectomy,” she says. “I usually require someone as young as you to have a few sessions with a therapist before I will agree to it, but you have a special situation, so I don’t think that’s necessary.”
“They’re not going to change my mind,” I say firmly. “I’ve put a lot of thought into it, and this is the only way.”
“Yes, if neither of you want to have children, I agree it’s the only way to guarantee it never happens,” she says. “There’s no chance either of you will change your mind? You’re absolutely certain?”
I start to agree, but I hesitate long enough for Dr. Zill to notice it. “If it was safe… No, it’s better this way. It eliminates the problem.”
“Be honest with me, Clover,” she says. “Do you want children?”
Once again, I hesitate. “I do… but it’s not possible. Especially with King Lix’tuk. Children from his bloodline are different from other babies. Even orc babies. He said humans have weak wombs.”
“Compared to orcs, that’s true,” she admits. “Well, without medical intervention.”
Dr. Zill looks down at her tablet and types a few things. She looks up at me a few times, then takes a deep breath.
“There could be a solution that doesn’t require surgery,” she says hesitantly.
“We can’t use contraceptives. They don’t work for orcs like they do for humans,” I say.
“No, I’m not talking about contraceptives.
I’m talking about something else,” she murmurs, tapping her tablet several times.
“Before the revolution, several reproductive surgeons in Concord City were doing secret clinical trials for President Highton’s administration.
I was brought in as a consultant early on, but I refused to participate after I saw what they were really doing.
They weren’t trying to help women carry babies safely.
They were trying to make pregnancy profitable.
But the trials were quite successful. Too successful, in my opinion. ”
“What do you mean?” I ask, my skin prickling with concern. “What were they doing for President Highton?”
“Well, as you probably know, reproduction is never a guarantee. Some couples have sex for years and never have children,” she says.
“President Highton’s administration didn’t like that uncertainty when it came to second-borns.
They wanted the choice to be firmly in the hands of the buyers when it came to children. ”
“Of course they did,” I mutter, shaking my head.
“Like I said, I didn’t agree with it. That’s why I refused to participate,” she says. “That doesn’t change the fact that they were successful and gave President Highton’s administration exactly what they wanted.”
“I don’t want to have children, though. I don’t need fertility treatments,” I say hesitantly.
“No, but there’s part of the trial that could benefit you, Clover,” she says. “A number of the women who were treated got pregnant with multiple children. Twins and triplets were common, but we had some mothers give birth to more children than that. The record was eight.”
“Eight!?” My eyebrows shoot up in surprise.
“Yes, and as you can imagine, carrying that many children at once means there is significant risk to the mother,” she says.
“But once the senate realized it was possible, they used fertility as a selling point for buyers during the auction. There are some evil people in this world, Clover. I watched a number of them walk through my doors during the clinical trials.”
“That’s horrible, Dr. Zill. Still, I don’t see how this would benefit me,” I let my confusion show on my face.
“It would benefit you because the treatment protocol would significantly reduce the risks,” she says.
“Based on everything in these files, carrying King Lix’tuk’s child should not kill you.
I doubt you would have any complications at all.
Human wombs weren’t built to endure what orc wombs can, but with this treatment protocol, yours would make most orc wombs seem fragile. ”
I’m scared to have hope. Especially if it’s some sort of clinical trial ordered by President Highton’s administration.
I’ve seen the results of their cruelty. They were obviously using this to profit off second-borns.
Owning them wasn’t enough. They also wanted to turn a profit by selling their children.
But if the clinical trial was a success, how can I ignore it? Not only could King Lix’tuk and I finally be intimate, but I might also be able to give him an heir.
“Are there any risks with the treatment protocol?” I ask hesitantly.
“Every form of medical treatment has risks,” she says.
“But during the clinical trials, the serious complications they anticipated simply didn’t happen.
No miscarriages. No stillbirths. No maternal deaths.
No emergency removals. The protocol did what it was designed to do.
Would you like to see the statistics? I have them right here. ”
I’m still concerned, but there’s a flicker of hope inside me.
“Yes, I’d like to see them,” I affirm, trying not to get excited.
Dr. Zill is the best reproductive surgeon in Concord City, so if she believes this could help, then I need to know more.
She links her tablet to the screen on the wall and starts showing me all the data from the clinical trials.
There’s a lot I don’t understand, but the numbers support everything Dr. Zill says.
“There were hundreds of participants,” I say, still scrolling through the information. “Not a single miscarriage. Not a single stillborn. Every pregnancy was a success?”
“That’s correct,” she confirms. “Most of these pregnancies would have been extremely high risk outside of the clinical trial. Some would have been completely impossible, especially the women who had a half-dozen or more children at one time. They didn’t even require bedrest during the pregnancy, and they were able to deliver the babies naturally with no complications. ”
For a second, I forget why I came here. All I can think about are women in white rooms, women with names no one bothered to write down properly, women whose bodies were treated like fields someone else owned.
“Officially, this was called the Gestational Exploitation Project. They didn’t even bother pretending it was benevolent,” she sighs “I’d hoped to one day go through the research and adapt it to help couples in Concord City. At least get some good out of everything those poor women went through.”
“That’s a terrible name,” I gasp, still thinking about all the women who were brought here against their will. Every new thing I learn about the Highton regime appalls me more than the one before.
“Yes, I agree,” she says. “But the name doesn’t matter as much as the data.”
As much as I hate it, that part is true.
The data proves it works. I go through every single patient’s file, searching for anything that would concern me, and I can’t find anything at all.
The first three patients had a few issues, but they made several adjustments, and that turned a horrifying experiment into yet another way for wealthy people to profit off the futures of second-borns.
“So many children. They didn’t even name them. They just made the mothers give birth and sold the children,” I sigh. “Just when I think I’ve seen the worst of President Highton’s administration, I find out it’s even worse than I imagined.”
“Yes. President Highton destroyed most of the data for projects like this when the revolution got to the Presidential Palace. Luckily, the data for this one was archived on a different server, so I was able to download everything before it was wiped.”
After I finish reviewing the patient files, I lean back in my chair.
It’s a lot to take in. A lot to consider.
If it works, then there would be absolutely nothing that would prevent King Lix’tuk and I from being intimate.
And if it results in an heir, then the orcs will no longer be restless about his bloodline ending.
They won’t go to war over a prophecy as soon as their king is gone.
“As you can see, the treatment protocol is even less risky than a hysterectomy,” she says. “It won’t require surgery at all.”
“One injection. That’s all?” I ask, reviewing some of the notes.
“It wasn’t like that in the beginning. It used to require daily treatments for several weeks. But as the trials progressed, so did the treatment protocol. Now, everything is handled by nanobots,” she explains, pulling up charts and pointing out several things while she does.
“How long would it take you to prepare the treatment protocol?” I ask hesitantly. “I know medical supplies have been scarce since the revolution.”
“Yes, it’s been a struggle, but it’s getting better now,” she replies. “Thankfully, I won’t need anything for this. There are still several vials locked in storage.”
“And after the treatment protocol, how long does it take to work?” I inquire with composure I don’t feel, daring to let some hope bubble in my stomach.
“It takes a week for the nanobots to finish the protocol,” she replies.
“A week? Wow! That’s really fast,” I exclaim, sucking in a breath.