IJLHTW - 74

The obstetrics and gynecology doctor was accustomed to young women coming in, first dumbfounded after seeing the lab results, and then bursting into tears. The arrival of new life sometimes brought not only joy. The doctor had initially thought Huo Ci’s stunned expression meant she didn’t want the child, but now she was smiling so happily.

So, she couldn’t help but ask, “Do you want this child?”

“Yes, of course I do!” Huo Ci’s voice suddenly rose by an octave, and she instinctively covered her belly with her hand, as if fearing the doctor would do something to her.

The doctor looked at her, smiled slightly, and advised, “Your abdominal pain is caused by the pregnancy. You’ve probably been working too hard and haven’t rested on time, so the fetal position is a bit unstable. If you truly want this child, I recommend you get good rest these next few days. After all, the first three months of pregnancy are particularly prone to miscarriage.”

Huo Ci nodded, involuntarily thinking of her wild night with Yi Zechen yesterday.

How could she have known it would be like this? They usually took precautions, as neither of them had immediate plans for marriage.

“Do I need to be hospitalized then?” Huo Ci asked the doctor.

The doctor waved a hand, “Not necessarily. Hospital beds are tight right now. A couple of days of rest at home should be fine.”

When Huo Ci came out, she was still holding the ultrasound film, which was the little one’s first picture. As soon as she thought of this, she couldn’t help but clutch the bag in her hand. The corridor was filled with people waiting to see the doctor; some were already heavily pregnant, some had flat bellies like hers, some came alone, and some were accompanied by family.

As soon as she thought of family, Huo Ci couldn’t help but quicken her pace back to the inpatient department.

When she entered the ward, Huo Mingzhou still lay quietly on the bed. She walked to the bedside and sat down, the bag in her hand crumpled. As she walked, she realized she had so much to say to him.

“Dad, Dad,” Huo Ci reached out and held his hand, tears suddenly falling.

She sobbed softly, feeling an indescribable mix of happiness and pain in her heart. She said, “Dad, when will you wake up? Didn’t you say you’d watch me in my wedding dress, hold my hand, and give me to the person I love?”

“Dad, I’m pregnant. Aren’t you happy for me? I miss you so much, I want to talk to you, I want you to tell me how to be a good mother,” Huo Ci held his hand, her eyes pressed against the back of his hand, hot tears continuously flowing.

Until his finger moved, poking her eyelid.

Huo Ci suddenly looked up at him, and then his fingertip moved again.

She cupped his hand, overjoyed: “Dad, are you waking up, Dad?”

But she called out twice more, and Huo Mingzhou stopped moving. So she immediately got up to find the doctor. Upon hearing her reason for coming, the doctor said somewhat helplessly, “Miss Huo, we’ve discussed this before. This is a typical characteristic of a vegetative state. Some limb movements do not mean the patient’s consciousness has recovered.”

“I know, but I think this time he’s definitely woken up, because I called him,” Huo Ci was a bit anxious. She didn’t know how to explain it to the doctor.

Yes, she was once a medical student, so she knew that people in a vegetative state would exhibit vegetative characteristics.

But this time, her intuition told her that her father was truly waking up.

The doctor, seeing her anxiety and knowing Huo Mingzhou’s special status, simply rushed her to take a look. But just as they reached the door, they saw Head Nurse Huang hurrying out of the ward. Upon seeing them, she said with surprise and joy, “Dr. Liang, please come quickly!”

Huo Ci walked to the doorway and saw the person lying on the hospital bed, his eyes open.

He still seemed to be in a state of confusion, until his eyes moved slightly, his gaze sweeping towards the door. The moment he saw Huo Ci, his previously lackluster eyes suddenly lit up with a smile, becoming remarkably bright and dark.

“Dad,” Huo Ci tried to go in, but was stopped by the head nurse.

She advised, “Miss Huo, please wait outside for a moment. Let Director Liang examine Mr. Huo first.”

Huo Ci nodded, but then several doctors came over. When Yi Zechen called, she was sitting in the corridor outside, waiting for news.

“Dad woke up,” she said, trembling, as soon as she answered the phone.

Yi Zechen was slightly stunned, then said, “I’m coming over right now.”

When Huo Mingzhou was taken for examination, Huo Ci wanted to follow, but Head Nurse Huang, seeing her pale face, comforted her, “Miss Huo, I think you should wait here. The examination involves running up and down the stairs, and you don’t seem to be feeling very well.”

Huo Ci was very worried about Huo Mingzhou, but then remembered the doctor’s instructions to her just now, so she really didn’t dare to run around.

“Head Nurse Huang, then I’ll trouble you,” she said.

The head nurse smiled, and then Huo Mingzhou was wheeled out of the ward for examination.

When Yi Zechen arrived, he saw Huo Ci sitting alone in the ward. Seeing her sitting there expressionless, he immediately put his arm around her shoulder and comforted her softly, “Huo Ci, don’t be afraid. It’s a good thing Dad woke up. Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid.”

As he spoke, he hugged Huo Ci close.

Seeing that she still didn’t speak, Yi Zechen half-knelt in front of her, asking worriedly, “What’s wrong?”

“Dad, he...” Huo Ci’s tears started falling again as she spoke. Yi Zechen was a bit anxious, but he couldn’t rush her, so he could only hold her hand, patiently waiting for her to finish speaking.

But she kept crying, until she said, “He’s too biased. For over a month, I’ve been talking to him, and he wouldn’t acknowledge me, wouldn’t respond to me, wouldn’t wake up. But when I told him I was pregnant, he woke up.”

“He’s too biased.”

Huo Ci angrily wiped her tears with her sleeve.

Yi Zechen smiled, looking at her and saying, “You’re acting like a child, still...”

He stopped speaking.

He just stared intently at Huo Ci, blinked once, then blinked again. After Huo Ci wiped her tears, she also looked at him, their eyes meeting.

Until his voice was soft as a whisper, he softly asked, “Huo Ci, what did you just say?”

“Dad is too biased,” she sobbed, full of grievances.

Yi Zechen suddenly grabbed her hand, shook his head, shook his head violently, “Not that sentence.”

He took a deep breath, somewhat cautiously, then looked at her and asked, “Did you say you’re pregnant?”

Huo Ci then remembered that she hadn’t told him yet. Looking at the man in front of her, he was so cautious when asking that question, as if afraid to startle her.

Finally, she slowly nodded.

He didn’t speak, nor did she. The ward was eerily quiet. Outside the clean window behind them, warm sunlight streamed in. Today was a rare day of clear blue skies in Beijing.

“I’m going to be a dad?” Yi Zechen asked again.

Huo Ci nodded.

“I’m going to be a dad?” Yi Zechen asked again, this time a gradual expression appeared on his face, a joy that overflowed from his heart. His cool and handsome features, at this moment, were tinged with a silly cuteness.

Huo Ci reached out and hugged him, softly saying, “Congratulations, Daddy Yi.”

He held her tightly, and for the first time, his body trembled.

When he finally released Huo Ci, he stared intently at her and couldn’t help but say, “Huo Ci, you’re too biased.”

Huo Ci: “...” What had she done?

“You should have told me first,” Yi Zechen was right in front of her, his eyes fixed on her lower abdomen. Her waist had always been slender, and it still was.

But now there was a child there?

When Yi Zechen was a Doctors Without Borders member, sometimes, due to the lack of dedicated pediatricians, he would also care for newborns. Although he appeared aloof, he was always very patient with patients, and also with children.

He had never once thought about what he would do if he had a child someday.

After all, he wasn’t someone who liked hypothetical questions, but this time, it wasn’t a hypothesis, not an “if,” but a reality. In ten months, no, perhaps in nine months, he would become a father.

“I’m sorry, I only found out today,” Huo Ci looked at him apologetically.

He reached out and stroked her cheek, “It’s okay.”

After he spoke, the two seemed to fall into silence again. Even the usually calm and steady Yi Zechen was a bit restless at this moment.

Huo Ci remembered what the doctor told her and said, “I had severe lower abdominal pain today, so I went for an ultrasound examination and found out I was pregnant. The doctor said I need good rest.”

“Do you need to be hospitalized for rest?” Yi Zechen immediately asked her.

He suddenly thought of what happened last night and felt some regret. As a doctor, he naturally knew that quiet rest was needed during early pregnancy. He held her hand and said apologetically, “I’m sorry, I didn’t know last night.”

Seeing his apologetic look, Huo Ci was about to comfort him when she saw him stand up, saying hurriedly, “I’m going out to make a call. Wait for me.”

Outside, he took out his phone and dialed Xu Di’s number.

Xu Di was getting a beauty treatment; a friend had dragged her along, insisting that this particular treatment was best done in the morning for optimal results. With a mask on her face, she answered the phone, her voice a little muffled, “Chengcheng, Mom’s getting a beauty treatment, what’s up?”

“Could you lend me Sister Qian for a few days?” Yi Zechen immediately asked. Sister Qian was a Cantonese woman, excellent at making soups, and had worked for the Xu family for twenty years. She was very skilled at taking care of people.

Xu Di was a bit surprised, but it was her son’s request, so she readily agreed: “Alright, are you not eating well outside and missing Sister Qian’s cooking?”

“No, Huo Ci is pregnant. I want Sister Qian to help take care of her and help her nourish her body,” Yi Zechen said, feeling a little angry with himself. He should have asked Sister Qian to help earlier. Huo Ci never had a very good appetite, but he didn’t want anyone to disturb them, so he hadn’t hired an auntie at home.

The person next to Xu Di smiled and asked her if it was her son calling. She replied, then smiled, “Oh, I see. Then I’ll...”

Then she suddenly sat up, and the beautician who was massaging her face behind her almost poked her eye.

“Yi Zechen, what did you just say?” Xu Di’s voice was so loud it almost startled her friend nearby.

Yi Zechen, of course, knew which sentence she was asking about, and repeated with a smile, “Huo Ci is pregnant, I’m going to be a dad.”

Xu Di gasped excitedly, then said, “Where are you two? I’m coming now, I’ll be there right away.”

“Aren’t you having a beauty treatment?” Yi Zechen asked, suppressing a laugh.

Xu Di repeatedly said, “No, no, no, I’m not doing it. I’m coming to find you two now. Wait for me, definitely wait for me.”

After he finished the call, Huo Ci asked him a little shyly, “Were you talking to Auntie?”

Yi Zechen smiled and nodded, softly saying, “She’s overjoyed.”

Then he whispered, “I’m overjoyed too, especially overjoyed.”

So happy that he didn’t even know what to say, only wanting to pamper her, and ideally give her the whole world.