"HIV!" The doctor arched his brow in confusion. He had no knowledge that his new patients came to the hospital for a different business.
"Yes, doctor." the nurse replied.
"Sure... You can give it to her." The doctor gestured while hiding his astounded expression.
"Thank you, sir. Mrs Hart..." The nurse directed her friendly gaze to Lola, stretching her right hand towards the latter.
"Umm...thanks...." Lola took the envelope with trembling hands. She suddenly felt the urgency to use the convenience but her feet seemed to have developed a mind of their own.
"You are most welcome, ma'am." The nurse smiled at her before leaving the office.
Lola felt her heart slam against her chest as she stared at the white envelope in her hands. She was careful to avoid the doctor's scrutinizing gaze as she thought of a way to vaporize from his office.
It felt as though heaven was about to fall on earth and crush only her. She felt cold beads of sweat accumulate on her forehead, while her eye shimmered with threatening tears.
"If only..." She mumbled under her breath.
'If only I didn't let things degenerate to this point? If only I had gone to the hospital back then, for the check-up and saved myself and Brian from all this shame. If only I had paid attention to the chicken sauce and not allowed things to escalate. If only I had never gone to Ian Forde for help.'
Tears slowly trickled down Lola's reddened cheeks.
'How can I give birth to my precious baby as an HIV-positive mother? How am I going to convince Brian to accept me back in this condition? Oh God, I wish I could go back in time and change everything.' Lola lamented.
Having been a general duty doctor for roughly seven years, and seen all kinds of issues, the doctor was empathetic toward the pretty woman before him.
"Mrs Hart, I know that this is none of my business but I can assure you there is always a way out of every challenge as long as you do not give up on yourself."
The doctor's kind words caused more tears to stream down Lola's flushed cheeks.
"Thank you." Lola quickly dabbed at her eyes and face using her colourful handkerchief.
"Would you like me to read the result out to you?" The very observant doctor asked after a moment of deafening silence.
Treating the envelope as though it was hot burning coal, Lola quickly dropped it on the table.
"Yes...please..." She sniffed and blinked severally to push back more threatening tears. She blew our forced air through her mouth and said calmly.
"I'm ready."
"Okay..." The doctor picked up the envelope on the table and tore it open. He slowly unfolded the paper and browsed through it.
Looking up at the visibly fidgeting pretty woman before him, the doctor said calmly.
"Mrs Hart, I'm sorry to disappoint you. The HIV test results show that you are HIV..."
Lola held her breath and closed her eyes.
"Negative."
Lola slowly opened her eyes as the words fell on her ears. Her cute dazed expression caused the doctor to smile.
"Wh...wh....what!" Lola gulped down on her saliva to moisten her patched throat. "C...c...can you say that again."
"You are HIV-negative." The doctor repeated his earlier statement, beaming.
Lola started laughing and crying at the same time like some smoking weed for the first time.
The doctor's forehead furrowed at his patient's awkward behaviour.
"Mrs Hart, is something the matter?"
"Isn't it obvious! How can you say I am negative when another hospital certified me positive? Isn't that laughable?"
"Umm...I don't understand. It says here that..."
"No!" Lola abruptly stood up, putting his right open palm in the air.
"I have had enough of you people trying to mess with my head and my heart. I can't take it any more. Guess what! I was never talking about my friend earlier. I was talking about myself. I had no idea I was pregnant when I was drugged and abused by my boss. My marriage has already been ruined because I was pronounced HIV positive by a hospital. Now, you tell me that I am HIV Negative! Really" Lola half screamed.
"Mrs Hart, please, calm down." The doctor also stood up as he tried to pacify his riled patient.
"I'm very sorry for all you've gone through, ma'am. I promise I will be the last person to take you for granted. As a family man, I can understand what you're going through right now. Nevertheless, I can assure you we are not trying to play a prank on you. This hospital is known nationwide for its integrity, excellence, compassion, and dedication. Every employee knows these principles and abide by them strictly." The doctor emphasized.
"Whenever a patient comes in here for a HIV test, we always conduct such test twice for reconfirmation before releasing the result. Here...take a good look at the result yourself. Your name and all the details you gave us are clearly written on the report." The doctor handed over the result to Lola.
Lola's tears clouded eyes darted suspiciously between the piece of paper being handed over to her and the doctor's compassionate gaze. She paused for a few seconds before she accepted the result with trembling hands.
"Oh my goodness! It is true. But how can this be? Wait, let me show you something."
Lola hurriedly picked up her handbag and rummaged through it. She brought out a folded document.
"Here...this is the result of the HIV test I did at Glove Clinic." Lola handed the piece of paper to the doctor.
"It says over there that I am HIV positive."
"What!" The doctor flashed Lola a look of confusion. "How! This result isn't correct. There is no way you are HIV positive. Like I said earlier, we always conduct our test twice for reconfirmation."
"Oh God!" Lola placed both hands on her head. "How can I tell which of the results is authentic."
"How about you go to another hospital and conduct the test." The doctor suggested confidently. "You can try up to three or four different hospitals to confirm the result. If it turns out positive, feel free to sue me and this hospital to court."
"Umm...okay...I will leave now but I'll be back." Lola picked up both results and put them in a handbag before dashing out of the hospital.
Thanks for reading.
FLASH MARRIAGE; CHARMED BY THE RUTHLESS BILLIONAIRE CEO
It was one thrilling and crazy race against time as Lola, Jamal and Maureen visited four different hospitals and redid the HIV test.
They were unperturbed by the gradually darkening sky and the distant rumbling thunder.
Like a super detective trying to unravel the mysteries behind a brutal crime, all three friends passionately sought the authentic HIV result.
Surprisingly, all four test results were the same as the first hospital Lola had visited earlier.
This left Lola in complete shock. She felt utterly betrayed by whoever was behind the falsified result responsible for her public disgrace and broken home.
Nonetheless, Lola was grateful for the new result. All her initial fear of having to give birth to a child as a HIV-positive mother was now a thing of the past.
"I can't believe that I'm not just pregnant for my husband but I'm also HIV negative." Tears of victory and joy welled up in Lola's eyes.
"Yeah... I'm so happy for you, sweetie. After all, you've been through, It is such a relief to know that you are not pregnant for that sick prick you call a boss."
"Exactly!" Jamal interjected. "That bastard should consider himself lucky because he's rich. If he wasn't, I would have given him the beating of a lifetime."
"Hmm... I trust what my baby can do." Maureen smiled.
"I can't believe I almost terminated this precious seed growing inside of me." Lola stroked her stomach lovingly while beaming.
"You know, if I weren't an advocate against abortion, I would have recommended termination of your pregnancy. From the way that man humiliated and disgraced you publicly, he does not deserve to be called a father. It's just hurt me so much that he got away with the whole crime."
"Don't worry, honey." Maureen patted her fiance on the shoulder. "The fool will get what coming to him in due time."
"Wait until I tell my Ellen the good news," Jamal said excitedly.
"Yeah... She will be over the moon with joy." Maureen chirped happily.
"Guys... Please..., I will like this truth about my pregnancy to remain a secret between the three of us present here, until I'm ready to make it public knowledge." Lola pleaded.
"Umm...okay. But what about Chelsea?" Jamal asked. "You know you two are inseparable besties."
"Yeah...but I don't want to burden her with such truth. You know how much she wants Brian and I to settle our differences. I don't want her to use such information as a bargaining chip on my behalf. If Brian must know that I'm carrying his child, I want to be the only one telling him that."
"My lips are sealed." Jamal gestured zipping his lips shut, locking it and throwing away the invisible keys.
"Oh, Jamal!" Lola chuckled.
"You can also count on me. I promise, I won't tell my mum." Maureen swore.
"Thanks guys." Lola motioned for a group hug.
"Aww...you ladies are going to make a gentleman cry." Jamal dabbed at his dry eyes, striking a chord of laughter amongst them.
"You know, I can't stop wondering how a licensed hospital or clinic could do something outrageous as giving falsified results."
Maureen pondered out loud as the trio walked out of the last hospital towards the car park.
"Didn't I say that there was something fishy about this whole HIV scandal when it first came up?" Jamal asked his fiancee.
"Yeah, you did." Maureen nodded her head slowly.
"I also felt that way too when I first saw the result." Lola concurred. "Even though my boss is one disgusting bastard, he is not the type to joke about his health. However, when I got in touch with the clinic and got a confirmation of the result from them, I was forced to accept the bitter truth."
"Such heartless humans." Maureen sighed.
"It's just a pity that we were all deceived by that retarded clinic."Jamal gritted his teeth in rage. "But don't worry, ladies, somebody is going to thirst the wrath of my vengeance today."
Jamal folded the sleeves of his shirt in readiness for a fistfight as he got behind the steering wheel.
"Calm down baby. There is no need to act aggressively for now. We have to use our brains first before our fist." Maureen cautioned. "There is no smoke without a fire. I don't think anyone in that hospital knows Lola or has a personal vendetta with her."
"I don't think so either." Lola concurred. She was still lost in thoughts on who and why someone was bent on destroying her marriage.
"Here is what I think," Maureen said after a brief moment of silence. "Someone in that clinic was paid to falsify Lola's test result. The question is who and what does that person stand to gain."
"Let's go find." Jamal started the ignition and drove off in the direction of the Glove clinic.
Some minutes later Jamal, Maureen and Lola arrived at Glove clinic.
They first visited the clinic's laboratory where Lola deposited a fresh blood sample and another HIV test was conducted on the blood specimen.
Under Maureen's hawkish gaze, the analysis of the blood samples was computed and handed over to Lola.
"Interesting!" Lola chuckled grimly. "See guys, it's s now negative and no longer positive."
Lola handed over the test result to Jamal.
"Someone has got an explaining to do." Jamal clenched his jaws.
"Who is in charge of this goddam facility." Jamal thundered angrily, causing some of the laboratory scientists to shudder in fear.
"Is there a problem, sir?" The head laboratory scientist came out of his office to address the aggrieved patient.
"Problem!" Jamal chuckled bitterly. "You have no idea. Gross negligence, falsification of results, unscrupulous staff members...should I continue?
"No, sir."
"Good! It's either I see the hospital executive officer now or we discuss it in court."
"There won't be any need for that, sir."
A grey-haired dainty woman in her mid-fifties, walked up to Jamal, wearing a polite smile on her face. She was just on her way out of the clinic when she heard the angry man yelling.
Thanks for reading.
FLASH MARRIAGE; CHARMED BY THE RUTHLESS BILLIONAIRE CEO