daughter among them. The rest had been seriously
injured.
22 His wife had been taken back up to the ship and flown to the nearest
hospital with the rest of the injured. North's Ship's Doctor was being
briefed on her injuries and would explain them in detail to him.
23 North waited for Doc Astra, and when the Senior Ship's Physician
finally came out, he was still going through the readout sheets. He
took North into a private room and sat him down. "First of all, North,"
he explained, "I want you to know your mother didn't suffer. I've read
the autopsy report. She died instantly, probably never knowing what
happened. I'll tell you right now though, it will have to be a black
coffin."
24 The Doctor was having trouble keeping his composure. "Your wife has
lost both her legs below the knee. They were crushed and burned too
badly to save. And, she's got massive internal injuries. But they're
doing all they can to save both her and the child. They think they've
got a good chance if they can keep her stable.
25 She's in a coma right now, but that's not unusual for Hashons with
serious injuries. They often shut down their body, putting maximum
effort to healing the injuries."
26 Suddenly North jumped to his feet. Something the Doctor had said had
just hit him. "CHILD?" he cried, "CHILD? What child?"
27 The Doctor looked startled. "Good Lord!" he gasped, "You didn't
know? Your wife's five months pregnant!"
28 "No," North stuttered, "no, I didn't know. How long before they can
fix her legs, give her new ones, repair the internal injuries?"
29 "That's just it, North," the Doctor explained, "they can't! In order
to stop her internal bleeding they'd have to shut off the blood flow
for some time. If they do the baby won't get any oxygen....it will die
before they can finish.
30 The only chance they've got is keeping your wife