Guardian angel

                                          
                                             Guardian angel

He opened his eyes to another morning, though it is very hard to say which part of the day it is, there at the dungeons. He tried to stretch himself and learnt there isn't room for it. He found her lying beside him barely covered. He could see her shoulders slouching and spine curving as she doubled up in to a ball.  Pink as a flower, lithe as a feather and Beautiful like no other. 

wait a sec. Is she a little less pink today? God what is it with her!

He loves her so much that he guards her with his own life and her affection is so intense that her heart bleeds for him. She is his angel and he is her guardian angel.

Get the hell outta here.

He dashes in to the pool of waters which were warm and welcoming thankfully. He kicks an arm and a leg, a foot and a peg. He explores for the dungeons, passages, by lanes, for a secret exit without any luck. On any other day he would have enjoyed the skinny dip but today he feels evasive.

Did I out grow the pool? May be...but I just need to find the way out of this Goddamn rubbish place. There is no way I'm turning back today without my key to freedom.

He throws a butterfly stroke, a dolphin kick, a breast stroke and back stroke until he is exhausted to the point that all he could do is dog paddle. He reaches a recess where he eaves drops a distant conversation between 2 men and a women.

"we have to make a choice before it's too late" a man says with a voice that exudes caution and gives one a chill down their spine.

"Alright. If it has to be done, let it be the girl. DONT HARM THE BOY" another male responds with a kind of finality.

"No. No. We can't do this. We just C.A.N.T.......There has to be some other way" the woman wails.

I recognize the woman's voice instantly.

MOM. Is everything ok?

"I am afraid there are ways but....they could prove far fatal" said the cold voice laced with patience. "It's better that you sacrifice one of them."

"We have been through this for the umpteenth time. Dint we?" the second male made no effort to hide his impatience. Her cries muffle with a thick effort.

"Let's go ahead before she has a change of mind" the second man urges and the men busy themselves in carrying out the task. 

He reels under the weight of this discovery. It takes a couple of seconds before he could place the missing pieces together.

They are going to kill her. I will never let them touch my prodigal sister as long as I am alive.

His reflexes kick in as the same adrenaline firing his mother's blood fuels him. He races faster than his racing heart. He places himself between his sister, who is in a blissful siesta and the advancing needle loaded with death.

The needle retraced. He could not see who or how it is navigated but the needle never charged at him. It waits till he side steps to reach and strike his sister. It snakes a way around him to get her. But he is quicker and smarter for that.

"your son is not making things easier for us" he hears the distant male voice as he focuses. "too bad if we have to see them both dead" the voice declared. Surprisingly It lacked the malice  that is intended.

"My god! What am I to do? errr.... sacrifice him...and..and...save the girl child " the other male doles out distastefully. He sounds choked with emotion.

"Take my advice. It is a lot easier to save the girl than the boy" Mr. Cool killer soothes.

" How is that so doctor? The girl is only 2kgs and the boy is 3.2 kgs....besides he is THE BOY" the other male cries out aloud.

"Sir! As I mentioned earlier your twins are effected by twin-to-twin-transfusion syndrome. This is something like a blood donation we witness elsewhere. The  cliché is it takes place inside the womb. The donor, that is your baby girl, is donating her blood to the recipient, that is your baby boy. So, she appears weak and pale. All that she needs is a transfusion. Though the boy appears well grown and healthy he might die of heart failure. Look at this ultrasound image. His heart is huge for his age. Besides the survival of female foetuses is much better than males in our survey"  says the doctor. "The decision is all yours".

Am I a blood sucking vampire? Is that why my twin sis is growing pale time and again? And wot the bloody hell is this twin-to-twin-transfusion thingy?

Before he could reel out of his thoughts he saw the needle turning to face him. He is totally blown out of his feet. He could not make sense out of it. His killers are actually shedding tears to kill him? WHOA!!! They really don't want to do this?

"I am going to inject this potassium chloride in his cord. It will be a painless death" the euthanasic doc says to ease the anxious parents.

Yes doc! My heart is huge enough to die for the undying love I have for my sister.

He braced himself for the inevitable. He experiences a sudden tug and the pool of waters drain, sucking him in to nothingness.

"oops...that was unexpected. Inadvertent rupture of membranes" the doc cries out aloud. "Nurse! Please inform the paediatrician that an emergency preterm delivery of a twin pregnancy is accelerating".

"Right away sir"....thud thud thud thud.... the nurse takes to her heels.

He gets crushed between the walls of the cave for hours which seem infinite. He is bruised, confused and exhausted.

This must be the real HELL. what am I being punished for? 

He could not open his eyes. The light stings. He could not breathe. The air burns. It's damn cold out here but he could hardly shiver. He cried. He cried out aloud. He cried for his mother and she answered. She takes him in to her arms and gives him a hug. He holds on to her, warm and comfortable, like a baby in the pouch of a kangaroo. His sister arrives and joins him. Her cry is delightfully melodious. Life was never better.

"Thank you for saving my children doctor" his mother says overflowing with gratitude.

"Yeah. We had to deliver them both prematurely due to sudden rupture of membranes. It's risky but let's hope we get lucky. It is mandatory that we shift them to NICU and nurse them" the doctor replies.

"I trust you doctor" his mother confides.

 p.s: Twin to twin transfusion syndrome occurs in monozygous twins (similar twins) where the sex of both the fetuses should be same. But the twins here are a boy and a girl. Kindly ignore this scientific fact for the sake of the plot. Thank you.