Beyond The Walls (NOW ON AMAZON!!!)

Expectation

"I didn't know." Axel said, his voice strained. "Brielle and the others didn't tell me."

"They don't know either. I didn't tell them I'm twenty years old." Hadley said. She took a deep breath. "I was hoping you could do a check-up of my baby?"

Axel was a Healer, the Wildling version of a Medic. Hadley didn't have to explain Conception Day to him. She did, however, wonder about his age, about his leg, if he had gone through his Conception Day and what that looked like for him. For men in general. Having been intimate with Teroi several times, she knew they were physically very different from women, so she was even more curious now about the medical science behind male conception and pregnancy, and if that was different too. However, she resisted the urge to drown him in her burning questions. She was a lot more worried about her child's health.

"Oh, Okay?" Axel replied. "How far along are you?"

"Almost three months." Hadley said, a little confused by the question. He should have known that. Conception Day came on the same day every year.

"Well, I can only carry out a simple check of your vitals, which I already have and they're perfect," Axel explained. "But I don't have the necessary equipment for a prenatal check-up. Not here."

Not here.

"Not here?" Hadley asked.

"Brielle tells me that you're a Shelt," he said, his gleaming eyes filled with curiosity and a myriad of questions. "That you lived in one of the vampire Barns then escaped?"

Hadley nodded, pushing down her irritation. She still needed his help. "Yes, I was born in a Compound."

"Wow!" Axel said, his eyes glazing over for a moment. He shook his head and brought his focus back to Hadley. "I have a million and one questions to ask you, but first, I'll tell you a little bit about us. One thing to know is that we forgo all technology while we're in the jungle. That's the Wildling way. It allows us to connect better with the natural world and find our place in it. But it's different at The Caves. I'll have everything I need to examine you both when we get there."

"The Caves?" Hadley asked.

"It's a central place where all Wildling Tribes can meet and stay for a while before coming out here again." Axel explained. "Our tribe will be heading back there soon. I can do the check-up then."

"Is that why you used that improvised, primitive powder cast on Max's fractured arm?" Hadley asked. "I can't imagine how uncomfortable it is, not to mention how unclean it'll end up seeing as he obviously won't be able to bathe his arm with it on. It's an unsanitary nightmare."

Axel chuckled.

"Brielle did say you were a Medic at the Ba... I mean, Compound. And yes, the cast is made from a gypsum composite, an antiquated and traditional medical practice used to set bones long before the Human Error," Axel explained. "When we get to The Caves, his break will be scanned and re-evaluated before a custom cast is printed."

"And your crutch?" Hadley reached out and ran a finger on the wooden shaft. It wasn't a completely horrendous carving, as she'd first observed from afar, but she could do a lot better.

"Oh? This?" he asked, handing the crutch to Hadley so she could examine it better. "It's a gift from Gram Lee, Brielle's grandmother. She's great with a carving knife. She can whittle anything you can imagine. Though she used to be a little better."

"I think I met her," Hadley said, handing the crutch back to Axel. "She's... old."

Axel laughed. "A lot of grandmothers tend to be."