The Sheik and the Slave

Father O’Day entered the room and looked at the women.

“I can’t have anyone stay who fears blood,” he said. “Mother Superior?”

“I will be fine, Father.”

“And you?” he asked Penelope as he laid his instruments out.

“I think I will be okay,” she whispered.

“If she starts to faint, Mother Superior, I want her out. What I’m about to do here is very serious. This young woman may not survive,” he told her calmly.

He moved more cotton between Katharine’s legs to stem the flow of blood and moved her shift up over her abdomen. He moved his hands over the swollen belly and ascertained the baby’s body within her.

He held the razor up for inspection; Mother Superior averted her eyes quickly and shuddered. He made an incision about the size of a hand width to the left side of Katharine’s abdomen to avoid the location of the heart.

Father O’Day then oiled his hands, opened the abdomen to move back the intestines, and opened the uterus. He tilted her body back during the procedure, which allowed easier access to the uterus. He asked Abigail and Penelope to rotate her back to her side.

Penelope vomited, but wiped the back of her mouth with her hand and continued. Abigail placed clean towels around Katharine for the blood loss. Father had the women rotate Katharine again to her side and removed the newborn. He placed the bloody baby in her arms as he quickly produced a needle and silk thread. He closed the wounds with four stitches, leaving sutures. He then covered her wound in a plaster made from eggs, fabric of hemp, and clay.

Meanwhile, Abigail had used warm water to clean the tiny baby boy, and she wrapped him in a woolen blanket. He cooed softly.

“He’s lovely,” whispered Penelope, but both women turned to look at Katharine, who was deathly pale.

“Father O’Day?” Mother Superior asked.

The man’s kind eyes met hers.

“I don’t know how she will fare, Mother Superior. Time will tell. She will have to be very strong.”

He collected his instruments that were now covered in blood. He noticed the bleeding had subsided, which was a good sign.

Abigail snuggled the little boy and turned to him.

“God bless you, Father.”

“And you, Mother Superior,” he replied before he left the room.

Abigail cuddled the little newborn as Katharine slept on. She prayed even in that moment that she would live to see her child.

***

“Please, please. Where is my baby?” Katharine asked the young girl before she had scampered off.

Katharine watched an older woman enter the room but when she repeated the question, the woman just shook her head. Abigail didn’t recognize the language at all and backed away. She knew what would placate the woman.

Katharine sat back on the bed. The pain in her belly was intense and she fought hard to stem the tears. She covered her face and sobbed. Everything was gone. First Mohammed, and now their child.

***

The Abbess entered the room and saw the Irish girl Oona feeding the baby. They had engaged her to breastfeed when Katharine had remained unconscious even after the Cesarean section. Her daughter had been born dead, but her breasts still had milk. Father O’Day had asked for her help. She was a simple, plain girl, and she loved the baby like it was her own. He gave her a reason to live.

He’s beautiful, Abigail thought.

She had never seen a baby like him. He had dark, sun-kissed skin with a small mop of brown hair, but his eyes were blue like the sea.

“Hello, Oona,” Abigail said.

“Hello, Mother Superior,” Oona replied.