Loki's Redemption

Chapter 23

 "Shelia. Wake up," she hears Frigga calling.

"mmmmmm noooo...."she grumbles not wanting to leave the comfort of her sleeping state, warm and relaxed and enveloped in his scent, sure he must be near.

"Dr. Banner is here to check on you. Come on," Frigga insists.

Shelia snaps fully awake at the mention of the Doctor. Remembering her situation. "I'm up," she offers quietly.

"I need to do a full exam and take some blood, ok Shelia? Is that alright with you?" the Doctor asks.

"Of course. Whatever you need," she tells him with a small smile.

The Doctor sets about checking her vital signs, eyes, ears, lungs and throat, then begins asking her a series of questions about her symptoms.

"How long have you been feeling sick?"

"A few days."

"Can you describe what you have been feeling?"

"Mostly tired, but also nauseous for the last couple of days."

"Have you been eating?"

"I try but then I get sick again."

"Have you been exercising?"

"I've been training with Sif for a few weeks."

"Any injuries? Pain?"

"No."

"Shortness of breath?"

"No."

"Any headaches, cough, sneezing?"

"No, nothing like that."

"Dizzyness?"

"A little," she admits.

"How often?" Doctor Banner presses.

"Not too often maybe once or twice a day."

"When you're standing?"

"Mostly when I sit or stand up."

"Ok let me run a couple of scans and get your blood tests going and hopefully we can get some answers. Let's have you lie on the bed so I can run the scans."

Shelia moves to the bed as Dr. Banner begins running the scan.

"This will just take a few minutes and then I'll have them compared against your last set of scans. I should have the results back in about an hour and then we can figure out what we are dealing with."

"Thank you Dr. Banner. I appreciate you coming all this way," Shelia tells him.

"It's no problem. Gives me a nice break from the endless lab work at Stark Towers," he responds with a smile. "Alright. All done. Take it easy and I will be back in a little while to go over my findings. We'll get you fixed up soon," he tells her as he packs up his gear and heads out of the room with Frigga behind him.

Once in the hallway Frigga turns to the doctor. "Do you have any idea what is wrong with her?"

"It could be exhaustion and stress. She has been through a lot lately, but I don't want to rule out any underlying issue. We should know soon. Do you have a quiet room where I can run my tests?"

"Of course, right this way." Frigga tells him leading him away.

Three hours later Dr. Banner knocks on Shelia's door. She answers it right away and indicates for the doctor to come in. The long wait has her anxious.

"Do you have the results? You know what's wrong with me?" she asks nervously.

"Yes, I had to run the tests several times and confirm what I was seeing against your previous scan and also against the ones from when you were first injured." He pauses, not sure how to continue with his diagnosis. "You know that you were transformed to Asgardian in order to acquire an accelerated and increased healing factor." He pauses again to make sure she is following him. When she nods her understanding he continues."Looking at your original scans I can see several old injuries, mostly focused around your abdomen."

At this she unconsciously rubs her hand across her stomach and frowns at the memories that are stirred up. "Based on the second set of scans and now these new ones it would appear that your new healing factor has been repairing the old damage." He takes a deep breath at this point, "In fact most of the damage is completely healed up."

"Wait, what does this mean? I don't understand," she questions.

"I double checked your blood work and it appears you are pregnant," he tells her apprehensively.

"I'm what? That's not possible."

"I know this must be a shock. Here, take a look," he says pulling a piece of paper from his coat pocket. On it she can see a tiny bean shaped spot. "That's a baby."

As the realization hits her she slowly raises her hand to her mouth, eyes wide with shock. "A baby," she whispers as a tear slips down her cheek.

"I'll get you set up on some supplements and a schedule of regular visits. Assuming you want to have it?" he questions as it occurs to him that she may not want to have this child.

"I'm having this baby," she says suddenly with conviction. Everything about it feels right. She had given up on the idea of having a child after Sean, but now that dream is alive and being nurtured within her womb.

"I'll come back and check on you in 2 weeks. I can hopefully get an idea of how far along you are then. If you need anything before then, don't hesitate to ask," he says with a smile as he gets up to leave."I haven't told anyone else, figured I would leave that to you," he adds as he closes the door to her room.

Standing just outside the door is Frigga. "Did you find out what is wrong with her?" she asks immediately.

"I did, but you should probably speak to her about it. I will be back in 2 weeks, unless she needs me sooner.”

"Thank you Doctor," she says and then knocks on the door. Shelia immediately opens it and welcomes her in. She takes a seat on the chair by the window and gestures for Frigga to sit as well.

"Dr. Banner said he was able to tell you what is wrong with you?" Frigga begins.

"Yes he was."

When Shelia doesn't offer any other explanation Frigga asks. "Can you tell me?"

"I think I should wait. I want to talk to Loki about it first."

"Oh ok," Frigga says slightly taken aback.

"Don't take it personal. I just think he should know before anyone else," Shelia responds, unable to suppress her smile

"Oh?" Frigga says with a raised eyebrow. "I guess I can respect that," she adds with a knowing smile of her own. "I'll let you rest. And will have some food sent up for you. You need to keep your strength up. I'll let Sif know you won't be training with her for a while either."

"Thank you. I appreciate that."