Winifred Dawson underestimated Leland Burns’ lack of boundaries. She thought he only wanted to take wedding photos and use the engagement to bind her. She never expected he would want to freeze her eggs to trap her with a child.
She was allergic to anesthesia, so the egg retrieval was aborted. When Winifred Dawson woke up, two hours had passed. She was still in the hospital, probably restrained to prevent her from struggling and escaping.
Neither Leland Burns nor Winifred Dawson knew about her allergy to anesthesia. For the first eighteen years of her life, she had been well protected. The worst illness she had was a fever or cold, which was easily treated with medicine. She had never even needed an injection. She was always carefully watched by servants, and accidents like falling and bleeding never happened.
She rarely visited hospitals, so how could she know she was allergic to anesthesia, just like you wouldn’t know you’re allergic to mangoes if you’ve never eaten one?
After her eighteenth birthday, Winifred Dawson fell ill that night and never recovered…
Upon waking up, Winifred Dawson instinctively struggled but found herself tightly bound and unable to leave the bed. Exhausted from struggling, she lay back down, panting.
Leland Burns entered the room. “Awake? Are you hungry? Thirsty?”
Winifred Dawson remained silent.
Leland Burns knew she was still angry with him. He poured a cup of hot water, tested the temperature, and then used a straw to feed it to her.
“I want… to go back…”
Leland Burns gently stroked Winifred Dawson’s sweat-dampened hair as if trying to soothe her anxiety. “Be good; drink some water first, and then we’ll discuss it.”
Winifred Dawson stared at him for a while before reluctantly drinking from the straw. The water soothed her throat significantly, and she drank the entire cup in one go.
“Do you want more?”
Winifred Dawson shook her head. “Can we go back? I don’t want to stay in the hospital.”
“Winifred Dawson,” Leland Burns said calmly as he sat on the edge of the bed, “when I said we would discuss it, I didn’t mean whether we could go back or not.”
“What do you mean?”
“This time, you were allergic to anesthesia…” It was strange; when Winifred Dawson had a severe hand injury before, anesthesia during surgery wasn’t an issue. But now it was.
Was it different medication or psychological? Some psychological reactions can indeed affect the body.
Allergic to anesthesia meant no egg retrieval? Winifred Dawson still tried to think positively but once again overestimated Leland Burns’ limits.
“So we’re discussing doing the egg retrieval without anesthesia. The doctor will give you painkillers instead. Don’t worry; it will be quick. The needle looks long and scary but doesn’t hurt at all; it’ll be over in no time.”
Winifred Dawson almost lost it. If she were truly out of her mind, she might have believed Leland Burns’ words that such a long needle wouldn’t hurt. If it didn’t hurt, why would doctors use anesthesia? The egg retrieval process isn’t quick; it’s not like getting an injection.
Her body trembled as Leland Burns spoke in a negotiating tone that belied his true intentions-he wasn’t asking for her opinion but informing her of his decision.
Leland Burns acted quickly; when today didn’t work out, he rescheduled for tomorrow.
March turned into April; April 1st-April Fool’s Day-felt like the universe’s cruelest joke on her.
Winifred Dawson was taken directly to the egg retrieval room. Her body was restrained, legs held open by doctors in sterilized clothing and gloves.
The entire process was humiliatingly painful for Winifred Dawson. Forced to undress under such clear-headed conditions while being scrutinized by others with Leland Burns beside her in a room reeking of disinfectant made her dizzy.
This time there was no anesthesia. The pain was indescribable-an ice-cold sharp needle slowly piercing through flesh-a depth Winifred Dawson had never imagined. She barely dared breathe deeply for fear that any movement might cause the needle to pierce through her abdomen.
The egg retrieval needle was about 35cm long-roughly the length of a forearm.
Winifred Dawson took shallow breaths and bit her lip until Leland Burns forced a sterilized towel into her mouth to prevent injury while soothingly saying, “It’ll be over soon; just endure a bit longer, and we’ll have our own child-you wouldn’t want that?”
He kept saying it would be over soon-but how long is ‘soon’? Tears streamed down Winifred Dawson’s face uncontrollably as each second felt like an eternity-a crushing despair overwhelmed her.
She didn’t want any children-not hers or anyone else’s-why did Leland Burns impose this on her against her will?
Sweat glistened on Winifred Dawson’s forehead and soaked through her back where restraints cut into her flesh.
The doctor spoke softly: “Breathe slowly; try thinking about something else.”
The doctor retrieved ten eggs from Winifred Dawson’s body-a high number affecting her health significantly-but fewer eggs might mean empty follicles without cells inside them. To avoid this risk, ten to fourteen eggs are usually retrieved depending on individual health conditions.
Without anesthesia for Winifred Dawson-the pain combined with fear-the doctor opted for minimal extraction; ten eggs were quite good under these circumstances.
After sealing the eggs in specialized equipment and cleaning up instruments-the doctor sighed with relief: “It’s done-you can leave now-rest well-I’ll prescribe some medication-keep your mood pleasant during recovery-and pay attention to diet…”
Leland Burns removed Winifred Dawson’s upper restraints and held her weakened body close-silently comforting while listening intently to medical advice-afraid he’d miss anything important.
Regarding diet-he asked for a meal plan from the doctor-to have chefs prepare meals accordingly once they returned home-to restore Winifred Dawson’s health quickly because their wedding was scheduled for the fifteenth.