The corners of her mouth twitched upwards for a fleeting couple of seconds as Elladora said exactly the right thing. It didn't erase the horror of what was happening nor did she feel suddenly brimming with motivation, but she did feel comforted.
"Now?!" Her face fell like a ton of bricks. She didn't think she could bear the pain for much longer but she'd been imagining a much slower birth, traumatic for sure but not so abrupt. What if she followed just as quickly? Never mind that the only person around to look after her was Elladora and as resourceful as she could be she was no midwife. There would be no dignity in her death if Ella saw everything.
She whimpered as the pain somehow managed to grow worse. "You have to be mistaken!" She then made the fatal error of craning her neck forward as much as she could to try and see what was going on at the other end of her body. Not that it offered her a particularly helpful view. There was so much blood, too much blood. What remained of it in her face drained away and her head flopped backwards. "Ella..." she murmured. Her pupils rolled to the back of her head as she struggled to remain conscious. Incorrectly she thought this was death.
Ursula passed out for no more than half a minute but felt as though the ordeal had been going on for hours when she did come around. It was immediately apparent that Elladora hadn't been wrong about the child's arrival at all. Adrenaline and a sense of violent urgency was enough to give Ursula a brief reprieve from fear. Seizing whatever part of Elladora was closest to her, she blinked back more tears and focused her energy on getting the infant as far away from her as possible. "There are letters in my bureau, promise me you'll see them delivered!" Her voice crescendoed along with the increasing agony.
With alarming ease especially when compared to how much pain she was still in, it was born. She was free of it but the pain wasn't abating in the slightest.
"Now?!" Her face fell like a ton of bricks. She didn't think she could bear the pain for much longer but she'd been imagining a much slower birth, traumatic for sure but not so abrupt. What if she followed just as quickly? Never mind that the only person around to look after her was Elladora and as resourceful as she could be she was no midwife. There would be no dignity in her death if Ella saw everything.
She whimpered as the pain somehow managed to grow worse. "You have to be mistaken!" She then made the fatal error of craning her neck forward as much as she could to try and see what was going on at the other end of her body. Not that it offered her a particularly helpful view. There was so much blood, too much blood. What remained of it in her face drained away and her head flopped backwards. "Ella..." she murmured. Her pupils rolled to the back of her head as she struggled to remain conscious. Incorrectly she thought this was death.
Ursula passed out for no more than half a minute but felt as though the ordeal had been going on for hours when she did come around. It was immediately apparent that Elladora hadn't been wrong about the child's arrival at all. Adrenaline and a sense of violent urgency was enough to give Ursula a brief reprieve from fear. Seizing whatever part of Elladora was closest to her, she blinked back more tears and focused her energy on getting the infant as far away from her as possible. "There are letters in my bureau, promise me you'll see them delivered!" Her voice crescendoed along with the increasing agony.
With alarming ease especially when compared to how much pain she was still in, it was born. She was free of it but the pain wasn't abating in the slightest.
Thanks to Bee for this magnificent set <3