The villagers of Hanan lived peaceful lives, ploughing the earth that would nourish the plants which they lived on. It was an arduous task to grow plants of varying colours and sizes, yet the villagers still enjoyed the hard work which brought peace to their village. Not only peace but food to place on their plates for their wives and offspring to enjoy.
A man carried a sack of vegetables holstered on his left shoulder, humming happily as he walked over towards his wooden hut. The hut had been built a few years ago by the help of the Hanan tribesmen as an offering for his marriage. The only thing devoid of wood was the door to his comfy house. It was only made out of straw. You ask why? Because the villagers of Hanan didn't feel the need for such protective measures. They lived on top of a hill devoid of any predators but still full with plant eating animals. The village was so peaceful that no one intruded on each others houses, no crime, theft or murder had befell it in over 15 years.
As the man was approaching he heard grunts of pain coming from inside the house. Without any thought he dropped the bag and slammed the door open. His pregnant wife had fallen to the ground and laid in a pool cover in blood.
"Salin...call...Netakwa..." the woman said in a shivering voice.
The man ran outside of the house and took a sharp right turn, heading straight for the house that had smoke emptying from a hole in the roof. He ran through villagers and carriages, eliciting a few displeased words.
"What's the rush for Salin?!" replied an old and gray man.
"Eleanor's having a baby!" replied Salin. As soon as the gray man recieved Salin's words he began repeating them.
"Eleanor's having a baby! Call Netakwa!". The villagers who had heard the old man neglected their work and began running in opposite directions. The women ran towards the house of the crying woman and the men ran behind the worrying husband. After a few minutes of tirelessly running on the uneven dirt path the posse of men had finally reached their destination.
"Netakwa! Netakwaaa! My wife is having a baby!." roared the man. Soon after an old haggard woman appeared at the door carrying a bag.
"Take me to her child!" The woman began running as fast as her weak legs could take her, only to be lifted by the worried man and rushed to the woman-in-labours hut. At arrival the men witnessed a herd of women huddled around the house, peaking through the windows and flooding through the door. The haggard woman was placed down, immediately garnering the attention of some onlookers.
"Make way for the nurse! Make way for Netakwa." screamed one of the men. Not a few seconds had passed and the people of Hanan had already seperated, creating a long pathway towards the inside of the hut. Without further ado the aged woman hustled through the path and entered the house to the scene of a woman being propped up on a bed already drenched in blood.
"Put the child down! We don't have much time until its too late!" beckoned the wrinkly woman. The women surrounding the now crimson red bed stepped aside to make way for the nurse. The nurse stepped closer and began examining the moaning woman. Soon after the worried husband entered the house to stand next to the nurse. She turned around to the man ,shaking her head.
"Your wife has lost too much blood. The probability of her and the child's survival is unknown." The man collapsed to his knees at the heart wrenching words, tears rolling down his eyes. "Please help her Netakwa. I beg you." replied the defeated man with a sliver of hope within his words.
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The nurse pondered his words for a moment and then spoke to the kneeling man. "I will do what I can. I cannot guarantee the survival of either one, but I've helped in birthing many children of the women of Hanan and i will try until the limits of my experience, as I always have." She took out a handful of things out of her bag and began working on the woman.
"If I am to help this woman to the best of my abilities, I require all the focuse I can get. Leave me to my work." Everyone surrounding the house and inside quickly emptied out and headed towards the center of the village. A large, burly man walked over to the worried husband's side and placed his hand on his shoulder. "Don't lose hope Salin, Netakwa has been doing what she does for the last 30 years. All you can do is pray that all is well."
A small smile crept up on the face of Salin and he replied to the reassuring words of the man. "Thanks Rodro. I hope Eleanor will be alright." Rodro guffawed loudly. "Eleanor's the toughest woman in this village, even tougher than my precious Franka. I'll be going back to my forge. Let me know if anything new happens." Rodro slowly walked away towards his forge.
While the people of Hanan discussed the recent events an old woman was working hard. "I can see the child's head but it's too large. I'll have to widen the opening. Bare with me my girl." The woman in labour's moans turned into screams. She wailed like a banshee at the pain and fought hard as to not faint. The nurse placed her hands around the head of the baby and slowly but gently pulled towards her body. After a while a loud cry could be heard from the house. The people of Hanan rushed to the house to see what the commotion was to find a blood-smeared baby in the hands of the nurse.
Salin was now overflowing with tears of joy as he looked at his newborn child. The nurse ordered him to cup his arms and then slowly placed the baby in them. "This is your girl. Name it." The nurse waited for the man to name the baby until he finally spoke.
"I will let my wife name her." The nurse smiled at the man's moving words and turned around to check on the mother, only to notice that she was still in pain. The new father turned to look at his wife and noticed her scrunched up face. "Netakwa! What is going on with my wife? Why is she still in pain?" he panically asked.
"It is normal for a woman to still be in pain after birth, but not to this extent! Step away, I need to examine her further!" The nurse moved towards the opening and looked in, noticing that another head resided within the woman's womb. The baby was alarmingly blue. Without hesitation the nurses hand's dove inside and pulled the baby out immediately, noticing that the umbilical cord had caught around it's neck and was choking it. She grabbed one of her instruments and cut off the umbilical cord. She placed her head on the baby's heart hoping to hear a thud...nothing.
"You have another child, but it's not breathing!" The woman in labour lifted her head up and gazed at the motionless body of the second baby. "My baby! What happened to my baby!" The woman tried to get up from her place but was held down by two women who were standing by. "You can't move Eleanor! You risk your life by trying to move, please lay down!" Said one of the women. The nurse placed two of her fingers from each hand and began applying pressure to the chest of the baby, trying to mimick the rhythm of the heartbeat. By now the nurse was drenched in sweat from the labourous work. She kept pressing and checking for a heartbeat. Just when she thought the baby had passed she suddenly heard a faint beat. The beats then got louder and faster until the baby started crying. A sigh of relief was shared by all in the room and the baby was placed in its mother's arms.
"I don't know how you survived the birthing of two children my girl. You really are the toughest woman out there. I wonder what their names will be, since your husband has given that task to you."
Salin placed the baby that he was carrying in the arms of his wife so that she could see both her children. She looked at them both with eyes full of tears of joy. "The girl will be named Christa, and the boy will be named Korrin."