Someone Knocks Back

Dk dk...dk dk...dk. Lois Lane knocked on the suspect patch of wall.

Dk dk. Answered faintly but clearly backed.

"Shave and a hair cut...two bits..." She sang to herself.

The reporter looked more carefully at the wall. It looked like a wide, bare patch, at least eight feet wide...but it was framed at either side by two strips of beige plastic, and the paneling at the top and bottom of the section did not quite go all the way to the ceiling and floor. The whole section of wall was some kind of massive door...Lois was sure of it.

It only remained to find out how to open it. Minutes ticked by as the reporter began searching this section of the hallway more thoroughly, one hand on her belly, wincing every few minutes as the pain spread out from her crotch. She could feel a need to pee...and maybe something else.

The reporter resisted the urge to stare at the clock and time the contractions, or to go into the toilet and void herself. She told herself it was because time was still of the essence, but in truth she knew that it was something else. Afraid to be stuck in a toilet while she was giving birth. Afraid to give birth. Plenty of women didn't make it, even with modern medical science. Heart attacks. Seizures. Just bleeding out...

What was more, now that the adrenaline had ceased to flow, Lois was feeling her pregnancy more. Her tits hurt, nipples feeling puffy and bloated, sensitive to every little jostle and bump. The belly was dragging her center of gravity low, putting an unfamiliar strain on the muscles in her lower back, forcing Lois to lean back, belly puffed out to compensate. Even her ankles felt stiff, swollen.

But her mind was still sharp. She could **** herself to ignore these aches and distractions by focusing on the problem at hand. There weren't any handy bits of trim around the section of wall that could conceal a button—but the nurse's desk was within eyeshot. Lois waddled around the corner, noting the empty places where computers and telephones would be installed.

Her hands slipped under the desk and...ah yes. Big round plastic button. The reporter pressed it, and with a little puff of air, the wall almost silently slid inwards. Lois Lane grinned, moved purposefully toward the revealed doorway...when she felt it.