117 117. The Doctor’s Advice

“Sorry.”

Clara looked at Lea with teary eyes. She then opened the questionnaire and asked Lea to answer some of the questions.

“I have to fill out a questionnaire for you. Please answer honestly,” Clara asked in a half-pleading voice.

Clara asked about a lot of symptoms. About Lea’s normal blood pressure, whether her vision is often blurry or not, how many times her blood pressure had been over 140/90, and several other questions.

Almost all questions received a yes answer from Lea, indicating that her health condition was not good at all. Clara then took her smartphone to call someone.

After hanging up the call, that pretty doctor fixed her uniform and took a chair to sit next to Lea. “Doctor Kim is on her way here. Wait! I don’t want to hear why you’re busy or something in case you come here in even worse condition next time.”

Clara then asked permission to open the blanket covering Lea’s feet. When she found her patient’s leg swollen, her eyes burned. She ran her tongue through her lips several times to keep calm. Getting emotional in this situation wouldn’t help at all since it would only make Lea worried even more.

“Nurse Stewart will help you take the urine test.” That was the last sentence Clara said to Lea before she returned to her room to confirm her analysis.

Not long after, doctor Kim came to examine Lea’s condition carefully. She wanted to confirm Clara’s report. Lea underwent a calm examination with doctor Kim. Even though Clara was still with them in the room, Doctor Kim’s presence reduced the tension.

.....

Doctor Kim smiles while doing the ultrasound examination. She turned to Lea and asked kindly, “Would you like to know the gender of your baby?”

Lea nodded enthusiastically. “Of course!”

“A boy!” Doctor Kim said with a friendly smile. Her brows knit together, congratulating Lea.

historical

Of course, Lea couldn’t hide her happiness. She was moved to tears because her guess about the gender of the child was correct.

Seeing Lea’s real joy, Clara’s heart clenched. The baby mentioned was the one Lea would give her later. The baby that was being called was the one she and Dave would raise in the future.

Clara bit the inside of her cheek, trying hard not to cry. The gender of her future baby was mentioned, but someone else felt happier than herself: the child’s biological mother. The baby’s real mom.

Clara’s thoughts stopped when doctor Kim asked her to help record the results of the examination.

“Normal baby size, not too big.” The senior female doctor then turned her attention to Clara and asked, “Is her blood sugar level normal? Did you check your blood sugar too?”

Clara nodded. She opened a file and showed it to the senior doctor. “According to nurse Stewart’s notes, 139 mg/dL two hours after eating.”

Doctor Kim’s brows knitted, then asked for a questionnaire in Clara’s hand. She examined it for a while and, as Clara expected, doctor Kim’s face turned tense.

“Are you sure you answered the question well?” asked doctor Kim to make sure of Lea.

Lea’s nod made Doctor Kim’s face lose its smile. The doctor then also checked Lea’s swollen feet and hands. Her forehead creased, making Lea feel that she was in serious trouble.

Not long after, nurse Stewart arrived with Lea’s test results. Doctor Kim and Clara read the sheet carefully to confirm the levels of protein in the patient’s urine. Clara’s face stiffened as she exchanged glances with doctor Kim and nurse Stewart.

“What do you think?” Clara asked doctor Kim in a bland voice.

“You are correct. The baby and the mom are in danger,” doctor Kim muttered, pointing at the result showing that the protein level in the urine was high.

Calmly, doctor Kim turned to her patient and said, “I am sorry to say this but your pregnancy is not okay.”

“What is it?” Lea asked, in disbelief. “I, I feel fine all along.”

Doctor Kim shook her head. “We regret this. Of course, we hope everyone is healthy. However, the symptoms and test results show that you are experiencing severe pre-eclampsia.”

Lea looked at doctor Kim in confusion. “I don’t feel something wrong with my body. I am fine.”

“Sorry, Lea! However, the results of our checks are more valid than what you feel,” said doctor Kim with a concerned face.

The smile of happiness completely disappeared from Lea’s face. She could only pensively stare at doctor Kim, Clara, and the nurse alternately.

“Then... is this something dangerous?” asked Lea again. She did not have much knowledge about pregnancy. She didn’t even have time to think about that. “I just have to do some diets ... and I can do activities, as usual, right?”

Doctor Kim’s dark eyes looked at Lea with pity. She shook her head slowly, then said, “This is too dangerous. You need to stay in the hospital.”

“Impossible. I have to work.” Lea looked away, her eyes looking blankly at the blanket that covered half of her body.

Clara, who was annoyed, was about to say something. She wanted to blame Lea’s mistake for underestimating the doctor’s advice so that her illness dragged on and became serious. However, doctor Kim, who knew about this, immediately tapped Clara on the shoulder to stop her. Clara backed off.

“A doctor should not be too emotional. There’s no use for you to get angry and make her worse off,” whispered doctor Kim in Clara’s ear. She didn’t know what Clara was thinking. However, she knew that Clara was getting carried away. “Just convey the actual condition so that she understands and follows our advice.”

Clara was silent, letting doctor Kim know that Clara felt she couldn’t do it. It was impossible for her to calm herself down in an instant.

Doctor Kim then turned back to Lea, smiled lightly, and said, “Lea, your current state could put you and your baby in danger. So, I hope, this time you will take our advice.”