“Even if you have a child, you can’t raise them properly.”
Mrs. Waters returned to the hospital room and sat next to Carl, tucking in his blanket under his armpit. She glanced at the heart monitor and saw that the lines were fluctuating regularly.
“What did the doctor say when he came in earlier?”
Mr. Waters held Carl’s medical record book and answered while reading it, “He said that the situation is stable but hasn’t improved compared to a few days ago.”
Mrs. Waters grabbed Carl’s hand with concern. “Carl hasn’t eaten for days now, only relying on nutrient drips. Look how thin he is.”
She turned her head to look at the empty coffee table in the room and searched through a cabinet, finding only two pieces of clothing.
“Why isn’t there any fruit here?”
“It’s because you didn’t eat breakfast earlier; now you’re hungry,” Mr. Waters replied.
“I rushed over here to see Carl! Can’t you see that?!” Mrs. Waters turned around and saw Mr. Waters sitting there idly flipping through medical records, making her angry.
“Why don’t you go buy some apples or something? When Carl wakes up later after not eating for so many days, he’ll definitely be hungry! He could use some apple sauce!”
Mr. Waters put down the medical record book seriously and replied, “The doctor said he shouldn’t eat these things after recovering from such a serious illness; he should drink light porridge instead.”
“You…”
He was telling the truth but also made Mrs. Waters speechless with anger since she was already hungry herself plus having encountered Nana who had made her mood worse than ever before. Now Mr. Waters was attacking her like this which really got on her nerves.
“How am I so unlucky? I married someone like you and gave birth to such an unfortunate son! Half of his life has been lost because of Nana’s bad luck.”
“Nana is really a jinx. She brings bad luck to our family. Look at our son, and then look at the grandchild in her belly; she can’t even take care of it properly.”
“Today, the doctor also mentioned that the baby is small. Nowadays, babies tend to develop larger, making delivery difficult. But the one she’s carrying is small.”
Mrs. Waters complained casually, and Mr. Waters sensed that something was off. He asked, “How do you know?”
Mrs. Waters continued speaking next to Carl, “I went down with Linh for a check-up just now and happened to run into them. It seems like Nana and the other girl were undergoing some tests.”
“Anyway, there seems to be a little issue with the baby.”
“A little issue? Are you sure?” Mr. Waters continued to inquire.
Mrs. Waters thought for a moment, “It’s about that, I didn’t hear it clearly.”
The two of them spoke casually, and Carl, lying on the bed, seemed to have overheard.
His fingers twitched slightly, and his head shook from side to side. His eyebrows furrowed, and the monitor above him beeped erratically.
“Beep! Beep! Beep!”
Mrs. Waters panicked, standing up with her hands flailing in the air.
“He was fine just a moment ago, what’s happening now?! Doctor! Call a doctor!”
Mr. Waters remained relatively calm as he pressed the call button on the bed and connected to the nurse’s station.
“The patient in room 903 is having a major issue. Get the attending physician here immediately!”
“The doctor is on their way; do not move or touch the patient until they arrive.”
Carl’s condition worsened; his body trembled slightly as his lips turned pale.
Mr. Waters wanted to reach out and touch him but remembered what the nurse had said and pulled back instead, leaning closer to hear Carl’s murmurs.
“Nana… Nana…”
“Family members must leave.”
The doctor and nurse rushed in, escorting Mr. and Mrs. Waters out of the room before lifting Carl’s blanket for diagnosis.
Mrs. Waters anxiously stood outside of Carl’s room trying to observe through its glass door while an attendant came over pulling down its curtains instead.
“Why was Carl fine just moments ago? What happened all of sudden?”
“Maybe it was because you mentioned Nana; he heard it subconsciously,” Mr. Waters replied slowly.
“What? He’s unconscious. How could he hear me? I didn’t say anything about Nana,” Mrs. Waters responded confusedly.
“Just now I heard him shouting ‘Nana’,” Mr. Waters explained solemnly.
Hearing this statement made Mrs. Waters widen her eyes incredulously glancing at her husband then towards Carl’s hospital room before turning back towards Mr. Waters asking, “Are you sure?”
“I’m positive that I didn’t mishear,” he replied firmly. “Nana is important to Carl right now since he has regained some consciousness so don’t make things difficult for her by letting her come here with him.”
“If you disagree with me, then I won’t allow you to see him during his hospital stay.”
Although usually Mrs. Water planned everything at home, this time around, she knew that this matter was crucial so she took heed of Mr. Water’s words which carried weighty authority over their current situation.
“But every time I think about how Carl ended up like this… forget it, it’s all for Carl. We’ll talk when he gets better.”
Mrs. Waters was now both angry and anxious, angry that her son liked Nana, and anxious about his condition. Helpless, she had to leave.
“Where are you going?” Mr. Waters asked.
“I’m going to find Nana.”
Mrs. Waters first went to the ultrasound room to inquire but got no results.
“Madam, here we only do ultrasounds with doctors accompanying patients or by appointment in advance. And there are many people coming for ultrasounds every day; just describing someone’s appearance won’t help us find them.”
“However, you can go check the outpatient department; maybe you’ll run into the doctor you mentioned.”
Mrs. Waters hurriedly went to the outpatient department looking for Nana but couldn’t find her after searching two rooms in a row.
“Why did they have to go to a private hospital this time instead of staying at the local hospital? Why make me work so hard finding them?!”
“Nana is really causing trouble for our family!”
“…”
As she cursed and searched for her, she finally found the doctor from earlier in a clinic at the end of the hallway.
Mrs. Waters gestured towards her and described what she was looking for, finally knowing where Nana was located.
When Mrs. Waters arrived at Nana’s location, Jane had brought breakfast which Nana was eating while looking down.
She saw a pair of feet stop outside her door and immediately looked up nervously when she saw Mrs. Waters’ face.
“Mrs. Waters… I’m fine; just getting some nutrients through an IV,” said Nana hastily putting down her fork.
“How is the baby doing?”
Nana nodded.
“Okay then come with me; Carl needs you.”
Nana was confused.
She exchanged glances with Jane. What was going on?! Just moments ago Mrs. Waters seemed annoyed by her presence and wanted her gone! Now suddenly calling upon her again. Could there be some sort of conspiracy?
Jane stood up “Hello Mrs. Waters! Right now Nana is getting an IV drip so she can’t leave right away. Is everything okay? Is something urgent happening?”