Bramblepoint (M) Old wounds leave big scars

"It's just gas," Towhee hissed between clenched teeth as Rye dropped down beside her, instinctively providing support. "No," she added in reply to his question, even as another pain seared through her. It was worse than last time, though short-lived. It left her panting and shaky. She honestly didn't know how she would bear it if this kept happening the rest of of her pregnancy. There was more than a month left to her due date.

Grasping desperately for a distraction, she leaned slightly against Rye's comforting warmth and said, "Will you? Come back to the caldera? Phox is there. Rue—" Her voice cut off sharply with another gasp. It felt sharper somehow, like a knife in her gut, agony radiating from just past her navel backward toward her groin.

She breathed shakily through it, her heart freezing in her chest when she smelled blood. Juddering against Rye, Towhee bent her head and spread her legs to look between them. There was blood matted there, not much but enough that her heart began to pound and a small scream accompanied a fourth wave of pain.