"I'll do it," Mary said simply. Brother Sebastian/Snakefoot nodded. In the days that followed, Mary's emotions were on a roller coaster. Relieved, that the decision was made. Agony -- was it the right decision? Fear. Fear. What would it be like? Would there be pain? Brother Sebastian wasn't interested in her internal misery. He was growing more demanding. "What's for dinner?" he barked when she tried to talk to him about her thoughts. Mary had slowly taken over the functions of a wife, although there was no clear understanding between them.
----
Glubwart was fuming. He was desperate. He was scared. He had been using all his powers to find them after Snakefoot and Mary disappeared. Glubwart knew Screwtape was behind it. Screwtape could say Glubwart muffed an opportunity to turn the girl; had let her slip through his fingers, and Screwtape had to salvage the situation by sending in his pinch-hitter. Screwtape would make it look good to the Boss; take all the credit; Glubwart would wind up on the menu. All of Glubwart's devices had proven ineffective. Screwtape must be using cloaking demons to deflect Glubwart's search.
The phone rang. It was Screwtape, of course. "Yes, Mr. Screwtape?" Glubwart offered into the receiver.
"How's it going, Glubwart?" Screwtape asked.
"No problem, sir. Situation's in hand."
"Are you sure? Can't afford to let this one slip away too." It was maddening. Screwtape was baiting him.
"I'm on it."
After an interminable interrogation, Screwtape finally let his victim squirm away.
---
Mary was dreading. "What will happen to me? I want to meet my baby! What will happen to her? Him? What am I doing? Is there a God? What does He want? Why won't anybody tell me? Why don't I know anything? Why did my mother...? Who is my father...? Who is the father of my baby? My body...my right. Her body? Her right? I'm here. I'm older. My choice."
It seemed like an interminable wait. But when it came, it seemed impossibly soon. Mary felt like a condemned criminal walking to her death. Everything was swimming. She felt faint; light-headed; nauseous. She seemed to be in a dream -- no -- a nightmare. Then again she felt as if she were playing a part in a movie. Her feet were moving by themselves. She was being drawn inexorably toward a dingy low building. The sight of the gray building terrified her. The smiling face of the nurse did not ease Mary's fear. The face of the doctor loomed over her. She could not make out distinguishing features. It was as if he had no face at all; just a hideous whiteness. He took her arm.
Suddenly Mary knew. It had to stop. She twisted out of his grasp. "No!" She screamed. Out of her vision, the doctor nodded to the nurse, who grabbed Mary from behind. The doctor ripped off Mary's clothes and threw her onto the operating table. "This is the same treatment I would give my own daughter," the doctor yelled at Mary. The nurse strapped her down and injected a powerful anesthetic into Mary's arm. Mary had time to scream once more before she lost consciousness.
[Mary was staggering down a long, black corridor. The walls were close and wet. Something was sucking at her feet. Long, sharp claws slashed her sides and arms. Slimy strands brushed horribly against her face. Suddenly she was thrown down into the muck. She was unable to move. She screamed, but no sound came out. Her huge belly was a knot of unbearable pain. "Oh, Lord, just get me through this," she prayed. There was no end to the pain. It came in waves, each more excruciating than the last. She couldn't breathe. She felt as if she would pass out. Then she saw its face -- an evil, angular, tongue-licking face with fangs so close to her face. She screamed again, noiselessly. The snake's powerful body coiled around Mary, squeezing the life out of her. "Oh, God, save me!" she cried. Then came a horror worse than death. Finally, the agony reached a crescendo as the snake gave a crushing squeeze. Her body gave up its contents. She tried to pull at it, to see it, caress it. She struggled with tubes and arms and legs. Everything was bound up tightly. At last, Mary clutched her offspring to her -- and screamed. She was staring into the face of a monster.]
Mary's babies were sucking their thumbs when the doctor injected a saline solution into the womb to poison them and burn off their skins. The babies reacted violently. They screamed in silence. The doctor picked up a pair of scissors to sever the spinal column of the first. "Hmmf. Two of them," he snorted. He raised the scissors, but never made the cut.
The scissors were knocked out of his hand and he was shoved aside. Joe released the straps binding Mary and glared at the doctor. "No killing today," he said.
Recovering from his astonishment, the doctor demanded, "Get out! You are contaminating the OR!"
Joe refused to budge. "No killing today," he repeated.
"This woman is under my care! Who are you? How did you get in here?" the doctor sputtered.
"A friend," Joe said. "We're going now." He started to lift Mary off the table.
"She is my patient! This is her wish! She came to me for treatment. Now get out!" the doctor yelled, his voice getting louder.
"Then why did you have her tied down?" Joe asked. He glanced at the nurse, who looked at the floor. "I -- we changed our minds. We're leaving."
"Out of the question," the doctor said. "They are ready to come out. It's too dangerous to move her."
"They?" Joe asked in astonishment.
"There are two of them -- twins."
"Then deliver them," Joe said.
"Impossible! The procedure has already begun! Get out! Nurse, show this young man out!"
When the nurse hesitated, he added, "What are you waiting for? Show this young man out!" He turned to look at the nurse, and found himself staring down the barrel of the .32 caliber revolver Joe's father kept for intruders.
"Deliver them," Joe repeated.
"They're already dead!" the doctor shouted; but the look on his face said he wasn't sure. Joe jabbed the gun in the doctor's soft stomach. The doctor turned back to Mary. "My God!" he exclaimed. "Conjoined!"
Joe couldn't process the information. "What do you mean?"
"They're joined at the chest cavity. No chance."
"There's got to be...otherwise, he wouldn't have sent me here."
"Who sent you?" the "doctor" said, growing visibly nervous.
"Never mind. Just do it."
"I can't," the "doctor" said. "It's beyond my field of specialization." He saw the determined look in Joe's eyes. "You'll have to take her to the hospital."
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