Tian Yu halted the sports car conveniently at the parking lot, turning off the engine before helping Zhi Xun alight. Since she wasn't feeling very well, she was in her casual home clothes. Knowing her habit of going braless, he had shielded her with a jacket over her oversized cotton tee.
He grasped her hand in his, and guided her to the doctor's office. "Er..maybe we don't have to go there. We could just get some OTC medicine, and it's settled."
"Why are you so scared of going to the doctor?"
She shuddered. "What if it's a more serious issue, like a stomach tumor? I've heard of things like that from Shel, and an endoscope is placed down the throat to examine the stomach. I'm scared."
He stopped and turned to look into her eyes. "Then, all the more you should see the doctor, to prevent the possibility of something like that happening. Do you know that the longer you let a chronic illness sit, it gets worse? A stomach tumour may be small, but wait till it gets cancerous..and imagine..even more pain.."
"Touch wood!" she yelled at him. It was obvious he was trying to frighten her by exaggerating the situation. "Sigh, okay then. Blame it on my poor luck in having too oily food yesterday, that my stomach was affected."
"It will be okay," Tian Yu encouraged her. "You have me and after all, it's Sunday where we don't have to go to work. Even if the doctor calls for an endoscopy, you don't have to be worried. I am here, remember? I'll accompany you, no matter where. Now, I'll go with you to see the doctor, okay? I don't think the clinic has any problem with that. So rest assured, and put yourself in my hands."
She nodded. She wasn't in the position to argue with him and since he wanted to take care of him, she let him. This was after all, the first time they were going to the clinic together. In the past, she had been so frugal that she didn't even go to the clinic for the past few years. Most of the time, she would take over-the-counter medicines to counter her migraines and if she had indigestion, she would send Shel to get her some herbal remedy or Gaviscon from the nearest pharmacy or convenience store.
He helped her sit down on one of the waiting benches while he took her ID to the registration counter to have her registered as a patient. The nurse asked a few questions about the patient, and Tian Yu answered them confidently, confirming the nurse's suspicion that she was his girlfriend.
"Okay, your number is fifteen," the nurse said, giving them as a smile as she registered the next patient.
"What did she say just now?" Zhi Xun asked wearily. "It looks like she had some questions."
"She said that my girlfriend is very lucky to have a caring boyfriend."
Zhi Xun blushed. "Well, I didn't say I will be accepting you as my boyfriend yet, so what did you say to her earlier that made her think that?"
"I didn't say it, she did. She only asked for your blood group, allergies and any family medical history."
"And you still remember?" she asked inquisitively.
"Definitely. Everything about you is etched into my memory, Xiao Xun. Am I that forgetful? I still remember your birthday, when and how we first met, and what you love to eat."
She looked a little hopeful, and smiled sweetly at him. "Are you feeling better now?" he asked.
"I am better, but a little hungry. I just don't know why I can't take your sandwich."
"Don't worry, I can always adjust to preparing some other food," he said comfortingly. "After this, I'll take you for some sushi. Or a meal depending on what the doctor says would be better for you."
She smiled again, looked at the buzzing counter and braced herself. "We are next. Let's head inside."
Inside the doctor's room, a serious-looking woman in a white robe welcomed them before taking out a medium-sized clipboard and reading out Zhi Xun's name.
"Is this your first time here?" the doctor asked. She nodded. The doctor started with taking her temperature and blood pressure, before asking her what the issue was. She stammered, and then Tian Yu explained to the doctor that she was suddenly queasy and had thrown up on her favourite food.
"Any other symptoms?" the doctor asked, after making some scribbles on a paper attached to the clipboard. Zhi Xun told the doctor that she was lightheaded and had been suffering frequent migraines recently, and at times she had no appetite. She didn't mention the nipple discomfort she had, due to embarrassment.
The doctor then asked for her last period, saying that it was the clinic's procedure to ensure that a female patient of a certain age range wasn't pregnant before they prescribed medicines. As Zhi Xun was 25, she was in that age range that they required verification that she wasn't pregnant. Zhi Xun didn't recall her last period, and upon going to her cycle tracking application on her phone, she discovered her last period had been more than two months ago. The doctor seemed a bit surprised, and asked if it was normal that her period dates were so far apart. She cast a quick look at Tian Yu, who told her that it was fine and reminded her that he did have a little sister, after all. As he and Tian Yin were not very far apart, being six years her senior, he did after all, encounter a few emergencies and accidents, particularly during her teenage years.
"I don't remember," Zhi Xun said. "Can it be possibly stress? But I did recall my period happening, like two weeks ago. But it was on and off. I got it like for two days, but it was only a few drops. Then it stopped."
The doctor looked even more surprised. "For safety reasons, we will perform an urine test. But to answer your question, yes, many factors including stress and change of diet or lifestyle, can affect discharge and period cycles. For the test, just collect your mid-stream urine in this small bottle. You can pass it to the nurse once you're done, then I'll meet you back here later."
"Thank you, doctor," they both said. Zhi Xun had a drink from the water dispenser outside the doctor's room and collected her urine sample, before handing it over without any further thinking to the nurse.
"What are you thinking about?" Tian Yu looked at her laughingly. "You looked lost in your thoughts."
"It's just strange that it was this late," she said. "Perhaps that since I stopped oral contraception, my periods have been fluctuating really badly. But even then, I have never gone past a month without my period. I must have been working too hard that I lost total track of time."
"Then what are you worried about?" he asked. "I trust you when you said you were alone for the last few years." He squeezed her hand, and she smiled weakly. "I suppose it's my indigestion acting up again. I've been feeling queasy for some time, but I never thought it would be as serious as what happened today."
He held her hand more tightly. "Why didn't you tell me that you weren't feeling well?"
"I was at work," she said. "I've been staying away from a number of foods because they suddenly started upsetting my stomach."
"How long has it been?"
"Just a week or two."
"You could have still texted me. I would have gone to you once I have seen your message. Silly girl." He patted her on the head, then she looked emotionally at him. From the way they had behaved when together, who would have believed they weren't in an official relationship? Everything since she got back from Bangkok, had seemed so unreal. Regardless of what had happened in the past, they had developed their relationship so well that she felt at ease whenever he was around. Also, there was the problem of the media. After he appeared with her at Tian Yin's engagement party a week ago, official rumours had spread around confirming that they were dating. As Tian Yu had been extremely low-profile, the paparazzi had assumed he was a third generation heir to a rich family like Su Mo. Zhi Xun hadn't bothered about the rumours as they were no threat to her reputation, but as she didn't like a lot of attention, they only appeared together at neighbourhood areas. The clinic had been a neighbourhood family clinic. Most of the time, they would stay home and be busy with each other.
The nurse informed them that the results of the tests were ready, and that the doctor would see them next. The doctor then casually handed them a business card of another clinic, along with a referral letter for them to go to the clinic. She also told them that she had also made a courtesy call to the clinic, and if they wished, they could go for an appointment there immediately as the doctor there had a vacant slot in the next one hour. Zhi Xun looked at the referral letter curiously and asked why she needed to see a ob-gyn. Tian Yu somehow realised what was going on, but somehow Zhi Xun didn't know what an ob-gyn did, assuming that she had an issue with her cycles instead. He immediately asked if the results of the test had been positive. The doctor said yes and told him that since it was a basic urine pregnancy test stick, she wasn't able to deduce how long it had been. Tian Yu was given the stick to take with him, and after paying the doctor's bill they promptly left the clinic.
Zhi Xun appeared to be in denial as she purchased about five more such sticks from a convenience store, and proceeded to collect her urine sample and test her urine in a public toilet nearby. Seeing her walk out gloomily after ten minutes, Tian Yu asked her what was wrong.
She passed him the bag where she had placed the test sticks. Every single one of the sticks had shown a very dark pregnancy line.
"If it's true, what do we do? I'm not sure if I can do this."
"Let's just go to the ob-gyn and see how we can continue from there, based on her advice," Tian Yu said calmly. While he felt delighted by the fact that she could be pregnant from the positive results of all the tests earlier, he didn't want to make her feel weighed down by the possibility of a pregnancy. She had just embarked on her career journey, and she had attained most of her achievements this year.
Surprisingly, the ob-gyn was waiting for them when they reached the clinic, thanks to the general practitioner earlier. Tian Yu handed over the referral letter containing her personal details to the reception and accompanied her to be checked up by the ob-gyn. Due to the fact that she could have been still very early in her pregnancy, the ob-gyn informed her that a transvaginal ultrasound had to be conducted. She squirmed on realising that the probe would be inserted into her cavity, and Tian Yu had a laugh, seeing her so anxious.
She was glad when the ob-gyn finally took out the probe and gave them an estimated gestation age of nine weeks. She then explained that the gestation age was calculated based on her last menstrual period, which had been two months ago. The date of conception had to be roughly seven weeks ago, and she knew that meant conception had happened when they had been in Bangkok. She knew conception had to have been when they were secluded in the castle with no means of escape, as clearly Tian Yu had used protection when she was living with him in his accommodation.
The ob-gyn reassured her that it was normal to have morning sickness or throw up during the early stages of pregnancy, and she could only respond with a few nods. Tian Yu on the other hand, could now no longer contain his excitement, and asked what was allowed for her to eat and drink. The ob-gyn could only heave a sigh and answer all the questions that was bombarded to her by the father-to-be. After she was finished with the question-and-answer session, she gave them a pregnancy care booklet for him to bring home and read, and gave them a follow-up appointment for a dating scan on the estimated twelfth week of pregnancy.
As he drove Zhi Xun's sports car, Tian Yu noticed that she was speechless throughout the entire journey. In contrast to his excitement, she was strangely silent. When they reached her apartment, she burst into tears.
He held her, and whispered in her ears, "You're not alone. We're in this together. It takes two to make a baby. It's my fault, and I will take responsibility."
"Will you stay with me?" she asked.
"Definitely. That's such a silly question," he replied. "How are you going to get the clothes washed, the lights changed, the apartment cleaned, and any work done by yourself in this state? Who is going to cook for you? Someone needs to take care of you, you know."
She stopped crying, and stared into the galaxy within his beautiful eyes. "What about us? We aren't even together as a couple. What are we going to do when the baby comes?" The next words he said gave her hope. "Xiao Xun, you know that I will do whatever you want. If you want me to be in a relationship with you, I would. But I've been thinking of this very long, and I want to give you happiness. I told you three months, but because of the change in circumstances, I have to bring up our wedding plans earlier."
She couldn't believe what she had heard. Wedding plans? Had he already figured something out?
He produced a small object from his pocket, and then knelt down on one knee. "I know this isn't much, but I promise to give you the happiness and bliss I can. Xiao Xun, I've wanted to marry you for a long time. Would you give me that honour of taking your hand and protecting you forever?"
A tear rolled down her cheek, and Tian Yu gently dried it with his sleeve. "Don't cry, Xiao Xun. I want you to be happy at all costs. Just take my hand, and trust me. I will bring you a life of happiness, even at the cost of my own li-"
She placed her hand on his mouth, before pulling him to his feet. "Don't say inauspicious words. I accept your proposal, but if you ever hurt me again, I'll-"
He stopped her with his mouth, and kissed her deeply. "I'll never ever," he said gently in her ear. "From now on, you and me are together as one. I am yours, and you are mine. Never mind what our relationship used to be and what happened in the past. You just need to focus on the present. Remember that our world revolves around us, and only us. I will give you all the love you can never ask for. Even if we pass into the next lifetime, know that I will be with you. You will never have to be alone again." His words had seemed so soothing, and took away her fears. With the news of her sudden pregnancy, she had not known how to handle the reality before her in such short notice, but as he was with her now, she would face each day courageously and positively.
She took the gift in her hands, and opened it. It had been a gift box, and he had readied an expensive-looking diamond ring for her. He took her hand and put it on her ring finger. "I love you," he said.
"I love you too," she said. "Thank you for being at my side all this while." He kissed her again. "I should be the one to say thank you," he said. "Thank you for being in my life for me. You are the greatest gift to me."
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