Chapter 505: Better To Let Him Know Later
Wendy arrived at the hospital. With mixed emotions, she registered herself for a check-up. Afterwards, she arrived outside the clinic and sat down, waiting for her turn to see the doctor.
Looking at the people that went before her, some had smiles on their faces, and some showed worry. The woman who went just before Wendy was accompanied by her husband.
When both of them exited the room, their faces were lit up with joy. The couple looked young, this should be their first pregnancy. The man stretched his hand to support his partner, treating her with utmost care.
"Number Thirty-six," the doctor announced from inside the room. Wendy sucked in a breath, then stood up and walked in.
"Corrine, right?" the doctor said. She then continued indifferently, her voice void of any emotion, "Congratulations, you’re pregnant. You’re about seven weeks along."
The doctor raised her head to look at Wendy. Seeing that Wendy came in alone, with no trace of joy evident on her face, she asked again, "You came here alone?"
Usually, patients who come alone don’t want the child they are expecting.
The doctor had seen too many irresponsible parents, and her face darkened. "Do you want the child or not? If not, you’d better abort it early, it’ll be better for your body."
"Seven weeks..." Wendy mumbled, her eyes drifted low. She had just returned to Lake City about a month ago, and just half a month ago, she and Clement had been together that night. This was the reason why Wendy had been so afraid after figuring out that she was pregnant.
She was afraid that this child would be Clement’s. Although she and Michael had shared the same room many times, she had to face reality. Even though it had just been that one night, the child could still be Clement’s.
"Doctor, are you sure it’s been seven weeks? Could it have been six weeks, or maybe five weeks?" asked Wendy, as she raised her head to look at the doctor with fear.
As long as it wasn’t seven weeks, the likelihood of the child being Clement’s was very low. Wendy would never be able to accept it if the child turned out to be his.
The doctor looked at Wendy and said with a frown, "Medically, the calculation is based on a woman’s last menstrual period before pregnancy. Didn’t you write that the last time you had your period was the third day of the previous month?"
Seeing that Wendy hadn’t spoken, the doctor’s tone became a little impatient, "You’re already in your thirties, surely you have some common knowledge about pregnancies."
"I..." Of course, Wendy knew, but she didn’t dare to think about it. Biting her lip and taking a deep breath, Wendy continued to ask, "Is there any way to know how many weeks the child is, or even better, which day the child was conceived?"
"Wouldn’t you have an idea of when you could have gotten pregnant?" The doctor looked at Wendy with some contempt in her eyes. "Do young people these days play around so much that they don’t even know who the father is? I don’t know what to say. Since you don’t want children or are not ready to have them, take precautions. Whether you abort the child or raise the child in an incomplete home, it’s irresponsible."
A wave of shame rushed over Wendy upon hearing the doctor’s words. She felt very helpless as well. This wasn’t what she wanted.
She knew that the doctors in the obstetrics and gynaecology department have seen plenty of women who didn’t know who the father was and despised them for it.
Even so, Wendy had no other choice but to ask the doctor brazenly, "Is there any way to check the specific time?"
...
"The calculation is based on the last time you had your period. If your menstruation is irregular, the timing may be even more inaccurate. Currently, no test can accurately determine which day the child was conceived. At this point, It’s better to go back and recall the events on your own." The doctor thought Wendy was promiscuous, that’s why she did not know when she could have gotten pregnant or who the father of the child was. However, the doctor’s professionalism made her obliged to answer Wendy’s questions.
However, Wendy didn’t look as if she wanted a child, nor did she look happy at all.
"Go back and consider if you want the baby." The doctor handed Wendy the examination slip. She then called in her next patient. Wendy knew that this was the doctor’s way of chasing her away. She stood, picked up the examination slip, and turned to exit the room.
"Congratulations, you’re pregnant. The baby is six weeks old." The doctor’s voice resonated. Only this time, she was speaking to another person.
"Really!" The pregnant woman and the man who accompanied her sounded elated at the news. Seeing their reaction, the doctor knew that they were expecting a child.
Her expression softened and her tone of voice became gentler. She said, "This is your first child. There are many things you need to pay attention to. Just remember what I say..."
Wendy had already walked out of the room, the voice inside was now barely audible.
Wendy held the examination sheet and walked to a less crowded spot to take a seat.
She then carefully and fearfully looked at the examination sheet. When she saw that the result written on it said she was seven weeks pregnant, she couldn’t hold back her tears.
What should I do? Should I keep this child?
There’s no way to check if the child was Clement’s or Michael’s.
When she was pregnant with Leah and Jake, she fell into the sea and had suffered a lot physically. The doctor had told her that her chances of getting pregnant again were slim.
That was why when Michael told her that he wanted another child with her, she didn’t have much of a reaction. Wendy didn’t think that she would be pregnant again.
She was already contented with having Leah and Jake, who were sensible and well-behaved children. She didn’t think that she would once again get pregnant.
If the child was indeed Michael’s, Wendy would be overjoyed. Michael liked children very much, and so did she. But...
Droplets of tears fell onto the examination sheet and Wendy’s vision blurred. Taking in a deep breath, Wendy willed herself to stay calm. After thinking for a while, she took out her cellphone to search online.
She wanted to know when she could take a paternity test. Wendy took a closer look at the search results. The earliest a paternity test can be done during pregnancy is at eight weeks. Wendy was now seven weeks along. In other words, if she were to wait another week, she could have Michael do a paternity test with the child.
As she read further, Wendy saw that doing a paternity test in the first trimester would cause great harm to both the child and the mother, and could also result in a miscarriage.
Generally, it was safer and more accurate to do a paternity test around the four- to five-month mark. Four to five months... Wendy couldn’t afford to wait four to five months.
By then, if the child was not Michael’s, would she go for an abortion? Wendy couldn’t guarantee that she would be able to bear aborting the child if she were already four to five months along.
...
At the hospital, Wendy sat alone on the bench for a long time. Her mind was a mess.
She felt as if she had thought through a lot of things, but ultimately her mind drew a blank.
Her cellphone rang. Wendy was startled by the ringing. She felt her heart beating fast when she saw that it was Michael. She clutched her cellphone tightly, not daring to take the call. She was afraid that if she were to take it, Michael would be able to tell by the sound of her voice that something was wrong.
And if he were to persistently ask about it, she wouldn’t be able to keep it under wraps. Although she knew that she couldn’t hide the fact that she was pregnant, she had no clue as to how she should break the news to Michael. So, it’ll be better to let him know later. At the very least, this would give Wendy time to calm down and figure out what to do next.
Michael grew a little worried when Wendy did not take the call. He wondered if Wendy did not hear her cellphone ring, or was it inconvenient for her to take the call?
Under normal circumstances, Michael wouldn’t have been worried. But now, an inexplicable feeling of uneasiness was creeping up on him. When he thought of Wendy retching and feeling sick in the morning, Michael grew a little concerned.
After some thought, Michael decided to make a call home.
Zess had answered the call, "Mr Lucas..."
"Is Wendy at home?" asked Michael.
"No, she isn’t," Zess replied. She was a little confused. "Earlier this morning, when we took Leah and Jake to school, she said that she will be going to the office since she had nothing else to do."
"She said she’s coming down to the office?" Michael gripped the cellphone tightly and realized that something was wrong. Wendy never came by today. If she did, how would he not have known?
"Yes, that’s what she said," Zess’ voice grew increasingly anxious, "What happened Mr. Lucas? Is Wendy not with you? Did something happen?"
"She didn’t come to the office. As for what happened, I’m not sure either. I called her, but she never answered." Michael was growing increasingly anxious as well.
"Was there anything unusual about her when you two brought the children to school? Did she feel uncomfortable, or say anything strange?"
"It didn’t look like she was in discomfort, nor did she say anything strange," Zess recalled and said. "But there is something that was indeed not quite right."
"What was it?" Michael asked immediately.
"Wasn’t Wendy retching this morning? I saw that the both of you have been getting along very well, so I thought she might be pregnant. When I asked her about this, she told me that it’s impossible for her to be pregnant," Zess said. "I didn’t think much about it at that time. After all, it’s between the two of you. I don’t know if Wendy not answering your call has anything to do with this matter."
"Pregnant?" Michael’s tone became noticeably heavier when he heard these two words. That’s right, how could he not have thought of that? He and Wendy had been at it frequently, and they hadn’t been taking any birth control measures. It would be possible that she was pregnant.
At the thought of this possibility, Michael was instantly filled with joy, and said with a smile, "If she is really pregnant, it will be something worth celebrating. I’ll go check if Wendy is at the hospital."
"Okay." Hearing the happiness radiating from Michael’s voice, a frown formed on Zess’ face. Wendy was obviously upset when she heard that she could be pregnant.
But with Michael, it was the exact opposite. These two people were really strange.
