The car's tires screeched as it rounded the corner. It bounced into the hospital parking lot, its driver frantically searching for an empty slot.
"Hurry...John!" Liyana gasped, clutching her bulging stomach. Sweat trickled down her face as she groaned, leaning her head back on the car seat.
"I'm trying, okay?" John turned, pulling into the 'expectant mother' parking place. He stopped the car, and yanked the key out of the ignition. He flung his door open, and rushed to help his wife.
He pulled her door open, helping her to stand. He held her hand, and wrapped his arm around her waist. Both began to walk toward the maternity section of the Medical Center.
Minutes later, John and Liyana were at the front desk. The secretary was contacting some nurses while Liyana clutched the desk, trembling.
"They're coming," the secretary said briskly, hanging up the phone. "Go in there and lie down on that bed. Just hang in there."
Liyana managed to nod through her tears of pain. John helped her into the birthing room, gently fanning her flushed, sweaty face.
Several nurses came bustling in as Liyana laid down. They were wearing face masks and cream disposable rubber gloves, with white scrubs and slippers to complete the ensemble.
"Okay," one of them said. "Just take a deep breath, and push when you're ready. Good luck, you'll be fine."
Liyana nodded. She sucked in her breath, and closed her eyes.
**--**--**
John could still Liyana's sigh of relief when the birth was over. He could still see the stunned faces of the nurses and doctors when they saw his baby girl, and the terror in Liyana's eyes when the doctor told her. He could still remember her final, tired words ten years ago as she cradled her daughter.
"Take care of Starre, John."
He shook his head, as if that would rid him of the memories. He placed his dirty, wrinkling hand around one of the many metal bars that covered the entrance to his cell. It was wrong. It was just so wrong.
John curled up in the corner, wrapping his dark violet wings around his body for warmth. There was no use in hiding the weak, tattered things anymore. Everyone knew now.
He had always been told that the humans feared what they didn't understand, and that they chose to destroy what they feared instead of learning about it, and trying to understand it. Apparently, having wings and a tail was beyond standard comprehension. The Kin were consequently barred up and left to die. That, or they were pitted against lions and tigers in great battles. Normally a simple task for Kin, a battle like that was impossible with slashed wings and tendons. The sick thing was that the humans actually enjoyed this, and they would gather in great numbers to watch the event.
Liyana's family had been no different, taking her to the "Dragonfight" tournaments and teaching her that the Kin were bad. But Liyana didn't understand why anyone could inflict such pain on another being. He loved her for that....
She was gone now. Weak ever since childbirth, she was pretty much doomed after she got malaria. He was left to care for Starre, but she was taken away from him, too. He didn't know where she was, and he feared for her every day.
She would turn 13 today. Perhaps she was somewhere far away from Europe and Asia where the Kin were so tortured, celebrating with friends and family. He involuntarily imagined her laughing, shaking her black hair out of her face as she blew out the candles on a cake. Tears stung his eyes.
John climbed onto his bed, facing the wall. It was over for him. Perhaps Starre would have a better chance at life than he did. He closed his eyes, and lay there.