"Lola dear..." Maureen took Lola's hand tenderly into hers while holding her shimmering gaze. "...l was thinking. How about we conduct a second HIV test on your blood sample in a different hospital?"
"Huh!" Lola arched a brow as though Maureen was speaking gibberish.
"It's just a safety measure to reconfirm the results from Glove clinic."
Staring into Maureen's sparkling eyes and wondering what was going through her mind, Lola replied calmly.
"I don't think there would be any need for that. Remember, I already visited the Glove clinic and they reconfirmed the results earlier sent to my home."
"That doesn't stop us from checking in another hospital." Maureen pushed on.
"I think, my cutie pie is right."
Jamal supported his fiancee, earning him an appreciation smile.
Since the discussion at hand required Jamal to maintain constant eye contact with the ladies, he took a left turn and pulled over his truck by the side of the road. Turning his head backwards to face the two women, he spoke convincingly.
"Thanks to some interesting movies I have watched in the past, some hospitals sometimes make mistakes with such results. Also, some unscrupulous staff may be paid to sabotage a patient result."
"Ha..., my baby and telenovela." Maureen shook her head from side to side causing Lola to giggle. "Is this what you spend your time doing in the coffee shop while I'm at the hospital."
"Come on, my sweet mango...those series are gotten from true life stories. Sometimes they make a full grown man cry." Jamal gestured animatedly making both women crack up with laughter.
"Here I was thinking telenovelas are for women and sports for men." Maureen wiped a single tear drop that escaped her humor-filled eyes.
"No," Jamal shook his head in disagreement. "There is no limit to what a man or woman can watch. All that matters is your interest. Take, for example, a recent episode of my favourite telenovela; Conquered Mistress, an unscrupulous staff of a hospital tried to manipulate Clementine's pregnancy result after he received huge payment from Claudia."
"Huh..." Lola's lost expression stroked another chord of laughter in the pickup truck.
"You will have to watch the next episode of Conquered Mistress with me tonight to understand my drift." Jamal winked at Maureen.
"In the meantime, let's come back to your case. Do you remember telling me that only Chelsea and you were aware of the hospital destination you visited for the test?" Jamal asked.
"Yes." Lola nodded her head.
"Good. Do you also remember not providing your home address to the hospital?" Jamal asked again.
"Yes." Lola's deep blue eyes brightened as realization slowly dawned on her.
"Then how did the delivery guy find his way to your home?" Jamal dropped the final question, grinning happily to himself.
"I have no idea," Lola whispered.
"Wow! I never thought of that. Impressive!" Maureen gave her fiance a thumbs up.
"Thanks, baby." Jamal's lips curled up in a broad smile, as though Maureen had just awarded him a gold medal.
"Allow me to further suggest what might have happened. Somebody amongst your husband's family members, who wants you badly destroyed was probably behind this." Jamal pointed out. "Can you think of anyone in particular?"
Rosemary and Clara's name popped up in Lola's thoughts but she said nothing.
"Don't get me wrong Lola," Jamal said calmly due to Lola's withdrawn behaviour. "This hypothesis of mine is just a speculation. I may be wrong or I may be right. Let's just go to a nearby hospital, redo the test and confirm your status before proceeding to the hotel. Okay."
Lola turned her gaze to Maureen as if seeking her approval.
"Redoing the test won't hurt anyone." Maureen concurred with her fiance.
"Alright..." Lola took in a deep breath to push out the anxiety slowly growing wings in her heart. "Let's do this."
-
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A few moments later, Lola and her friends were seated in the reception room, waiting for the results of the test. They were chatting happily when Lola felt a sharp pain in her lower abdomen.
"Ah..." Lola winced slightly, biting down on her lower lips. She clutched her stomach, her deeply scrunched face expressing her pain.
"Lola!"
Jamal turned to face her while Maureen stood up and crouched before her.
"What is wrong, dear?" Maureen placed her right hand on Lola's shoulder, stroking it tenderly.
Lola bit down on her lower lips to stifle the pain before speaking up.
"I just felt a sharp pain here..." Lola massaged her lower abdomen.
"Okay, just take a deep breath and relax. There is no need to panic. We are in a hospital and we can quickly see a doctor." Maureen signalled Jamal to assist her with the handbags while she helped Lola up to her feet.
"Alright...deep breath...deep...ah..." Lola winced, tightening her grip around Maureen's neck.
"Gently, baby girl, we are almost there." Maureen non-verbally communicated to Jamal, instructing him to get a standby doctor.
After a few minutes of examination and administration of appropriate medication by a proficient doctor, Lola was instructed to go for an ultrasound scan.
Thirty minutes later, Lola was seated before the doctor, listening to an explanation for the cause behind her abdominal pain.
"Preeclampsia is characterized by pregnancy-induced high blood pressure." The doctor stated categorically. "It may also be accompanied by an abnormal amount of protein in the urine. How often do you check your blood pressure?"
"Umm...you see...I have...umm..." Lola moistened her lips and scratched her head as she thought of the right answer to give.
"Mrs Hart, you don't have to be embarrassed about anything." The doctor said subtly when he observed her uneasiness. "There is no one in this office aside from the two of us. Moreover, the question I asked is a simple one."
"Not regularly." Lola finally blurted out.
"Hmm..." The doctor picked up Lola's ultrasound scan report and browsed through it while tapping a finger on his desk.
"Mrs Hart, I would advise that you regularly check your blood pressure. Preeclampsia can be very dangerous if not properly managed. It could lead to eclampsia; which is a more severe form, defined by seizures. Eclampsia may result in coma, permanent disabilities or even death."
"Really!" Lola raised her right hand to her chest, her heartbeat tripling in its momentum.
"Yes." The doctor answered emphatically. " At ten weeks of pregnancy, you must ensure that..."
"Hold on a second, Doctor. Did you say ten weeks of pregnancy?" Lola asked in confusion.
"Yes, Mrs Hart, your pregnancy is already ten weeks old." The doctor reaffirmed.
"No...you are wrong. My pregnancy is roughly four weeks old." Lola stated confidently.
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FLASH MARRIAGE; CHARMED BY THE RUTHLESS BILLIONAIRE CEO
Perplexed by his patient's claim, the doctor brought out his reading glasses and put them on. He picked up the ultrasound scan report and perused through it for a few seconds.
Looking up to an equally puzzled Lola, the doctor said calmly.
"Mrs Lola Hart, according to your ultrasound scan report, which was conducted a few minutes ago by our highly proficient sonographer, your pregnancy is ten weeks old."
"Ten weeks old! That can't be, doctor. There must be a mistake somewhere. I'm four weeks pregnant and not ten weeks. Maybe the sonographer exchange my result with someone else's results." Lola declared, still doubting the authenticity of the scan report.
"Hmm..." the doctor leaned back and relaxed his back on his seat, his inquisitive gaze on Lola. "Enlighten me, Mrs Hart. Why do you think the result isn't yours?"
Lola paused for a split second to assemble her thoughts. She tried to recall the events of the past three months, before answering the doctor's question.
"Okay...my first reason would be my monthly cycle. I had never missed my monthly menstrual flow until a few weeks ago when I discovered that I was pregnant. Secondly, pregnant women are supposed to experience certain symptoms like morning sickness, fatigue, nausea and so on. I had never experienced such symptoms until recently when I discovered I was pregnant. Lastly, my husband and I recently concluded a failed fertility procedure. We were hoping to resume our trial before...never mind."
Lola looked away from the doctor to hide her pain.
"Hmm..." The doctor took off his reading glasses and put them aside. He rested his elbow on the table while staring at Lola.
"To answer your first interesting point, I would like to let you know that pregnancy sometimes comes with light bleeding or spotting. The truth is that you cannot be pregnant and still have a period. Common causes for spotting during pregnancy are implantation bleeding."
The doctor paused briefly for his words to sink into the doubting woman before him.
"Nevertheless, bleeding and spotting from the vagina during pregnancy are common. Up to one out of four of all pregnant women have some bleeding or spotting during their pregnancy. Bleeding and spotting in pregnancy don't always mean there's a problem, but they can be a sign of miscarriage or other serious complications."
"Really...wow! I didn't know that." Lola confessed."
The doctor smiled.
"Secondly, as regards experiencing early pregnancy symptoms, this sometimes varies amongst different women. While it's uncommon, it is possible to go through pregnancy with few or no symptoms. But most pregnant women – 90 percent of them, in fact – have pregnancy symptoms by eight weeks."
"Interesting!" Lola was impressed by the doctor's knowledgeable statistics.
"Finally, I had no knowledge that you were under some sort of fertility treatment. There is a possibility that the treatment was successful without you realizing it."
"Yeah..."
Lola's memory flashback to approximately eleven weeks ago.
It had been a challenging month for her with several bills to settle. Also, she visited the hospital again for another dose of ovulation injection. Afterwards, she endured a series of loveless sex with her husband.
On that fateful evening, she remembered crying her eyes out, when she realized she was having her monthly flow again. This only spelled doom for her expensive fertility procedures.
Lola and Brian were hoping that this last month of trial would yield results but alas, it was the same old story.
Brian left home that night in a fit of rage. The following day, he declared he was done trying to have babies with her.
Due to Brian's rejection, Lola didn't bother going back to the hospital for a follow-up or check-up. She just assumed that the whole procedure failed.
Thinking about it now, Lola was beyond perplexed. She couldn't believe that she had been pregnant all this while without realizing it.
"Does this mean that I'm pregnant for...Oh my goodness...I... Wait a second. Doctor, umm...I would like to ask a sensitive question about a pregnant friend of mine."
"I'm listening." The doctor smiled.
"You see...umm...this friend of mine never knew she was pregnant just like me." Lola gulped down the lump in her throat while avoiding the doctor's curious gaze. "She umm.... somehow...umm...got drugged and sexually abused by a total stranger."
Lola whispered the last few sentences, causing the doctor to chuckle.
"And you think your friend might be pregnant for the stranger?" The doctor read Lola's mind.
"Yes. But is it possible?"
"Medically and scientifically, no. It is impossible. A foetus is already developing in her womb and freshly injected sperm have zero effect on it."
Lola breathed out the anxiety overwhelming her as happiness slowly crept into her heart like a peaceful flowing river. She felt tears well up in her eyes as the thought of carrying Brian's child overwhelmed her.
"However..."
Lola raised her face up to meet the doctor's worried gaze.
"...violence against pregnant women is of particular concern to us because of the additional risk to the unborn child. Violence and drugs can harm a child through direct injury, causing placental damage, premature contractions, membrane rupture, or fetal death. Studies have documented significantly increased risks of preterm birth and low birthweight among infants born to abused women."
"Really!" Lola's heart sank. "Is my unborn...I meant to say is my friend's unborn child, at risk."
"Well for your friend, I can't say for a fact because I haven't examined her. But for you, based on the ultrasound scan and physical examination we have conducted, your foetus is developing just fine. All you have to do is ensure you stay away from the stress that would spike your blood pressure, adhere to the diet plant we'll be drafting for you, and regularly take your vitamins and blood pressure medication. Also, I would suggest you register for antenatal sessions."
"Okay doctor, I w..."
Lola was interrupted by a gentle tap on the doctor's door.
"Come in." The doctor called out.
The door knob turned and a pretty looking lady in a white nurse tunic stepped into the office, holding a white envelope.
"Sir, Mrs Hart's HIV test result is ready."
Keep the support coming.
FLASH MARRIAGE; CHARMED BY THE RUTHLESS BILLIONAIRE CEO