Chapter 17 #2
I managed to move the session along and discussed what the patients wanted.
A lot of people that I came across were very private about their fertility problems, especially the females.
They couldn’t help but feel like a failure for not being able to get pregnant.
However, not this couple. They didn’t seem to have any problems sharing their fertility problem with Kai.
I found out that Mrs. Song had been a very successful actress all her life and had decided not to pursue motherhood until later in life.
Now, at age 45, and happily married, she wanted to have at least two kids of her own.
And they also wanted to consider a surrogate after two years of trying without luck.
I left the men in my office section while I led Mrs. Song to the examination room.
Through a translator on her phone, Mrs. Song told me that she had suffered three miscarriages in her life.
That they had even taken two years break on their careers to try to conceive.
Going on holiday after holiday, trying to conceive at a beautiful location while they were most relaxed. Month after month, nothing happened.
That was when they had decided to get medical help. Like a lot of their friends, to avoid paparazzi, they had chosen to come to America for their fertility treatments, where no one knew who they were.
Part of me felt privileged and the other part of me felt like I was holding their fate in my own hand.
“He’s very famous in China. Li Zong.” Mrs. Song said, surprising me when she used English.
“Li Zong?” I asked, not sure who she meant. Her husband was Mr. Song.
“Yes, Director Li. The most handsomest. The most successful. Every lady wants to marry him.” I got it. Mrs. Song was calling Kai Director Li , and I guess that was something they do in China.
“I have no idea.” That was partly true. I had known that he was a big deal but on what scale though, I truly had no idea.
“Like Donald Trump, but better… he’s handsome.”
I chuckled at that. “Well, if you ask around, I’m sure some people consider President Trump handsome too.”
He wasn’t my type, not by a mile, but you never know what people were into.
“Maybe you can have him to lead your country.” I said, referring to Kai.
“Oh, no, no, no. Then he has everything. Money. Beautiful. Sexy. Power.”
Mrs. Song’s English wasn’t as good as her husband’s, but I understood her. In the end, we managed her first examination successfully, without any further assistance from the translator.
I gestured for Mrs. Song to remove her skirt and lay on the table as I drew up the curtain and stood on the other side for her modesty.
“I think his mother is a tyrant.” Her tone turned serious. “Be really careful. I think they think you want his money.”
That was new to me.
I was known to as a lot of things in my life, but gold digger was definitely a first.
“I'm not after his money.”
She was already on the table. Our eyes locked.
“No matter. They are the top richest. The worst.” She added, “I made more money. My mother thinks I want my husband's money.”
I should feel offended, but I wasn’t. It was the way she said those words, her sincerity that made me understand that she was genuinely being kind to me. What she said was advice, and concern, from one non-gold digger to another.
“Does she?”
“Yeah. Every time I buy clothes, bag, she scolds me. Wasted her son’s money. And the media too.”
“That must be annoying.”
She chuckled. “Yes, they say I too princess to give birth. Too afraid I get fat after baby.”
I smiled awkwardly at the woman in front of me with her legs spread wide, while I poke at her privates, looking for anything abnormal.
Suddenly, her words hit me. Was I to be judged by Kai’s mother, Kai’s family and the media of his world? I felt like the roles had reversed, and I was the one lying on the bed, exposed, with strong lights shining into my privates for the whole world to judge me.
* * *
As soon as Mr. and Mrs. Song walked out of my office, Kai walked in with a big silly grin. Kai waltzed in like he was a performer on stage, moving his arms with exaggerated movements, his face animated with happiness.
“Lunch time, princess.” He announced. I knew that. But he didn’t know that I would normally work through lunch, catching up on the paperwork that I never seemed to finish on time.
“I don’t do lunch.” I announced matter of factly.
He frowned with disapproval. “No, that’s not healthy. You must eat.”
That was a misconception. Eating wasn’t necessarily healthy though, especially with the kind of food most people eat.
While eating could make you sick, not eating on the other hand, could make you healthy.
Depriving your body from food makes it recycle old cells and grow new ones.
That was why intermittent fasting had become such a big thing.
Not all doctors received the memo on this though.
A lot of them still worshiped the textbooks that got them their medical degree centuries ago.
And that was why the opinion on the subject was so divided.
People are entitled to believe what they want to believe, and I never really bothered trying to change anyone’s mind about it.
“It is. Trust me. I’m a doctor.” Ha! That was right. I used that to my advantage whenever I needed to. And right now seemed fitting.
“If you come to lunch with me, I’ll let you have dessert.
” His cheeky smile indicated that he didn’t mean sweet fluffy things covered in whipped cream and sugar.
Though the thought of him covering me in whipped cream and sugar sent a shiver down my spine…
I pushed the thought away and looked up at him.
His dark brown eyes were so mesmerizing as he pleaded with me. “Please?”
Right away I regretted looking into those eyes of his. I couldn’t say no to those eyes.
“I only have an hour.”
“An hour is exactly what we’ll need.” To see his big silly grin again made my heart sing. “Come with me. Your lunch is already waiting for you.”
Right.
He was one of those guys who ordered for their women.
Personally, I thought that was so disrespectful.
Was asking such a hard chore, was it really that hard of an effort?
What if I was a vegetarian? Or allergic to garlic or something like that?
I normally judge a date very quickly based on that.
If they ordered for me, assuming that they knew my taste, I would mentally check out of that date and the evening would be ruined.
The thing was, when it came to Kai, all my principles seemed to become non-existent. I was kind of excited to see what he had in mind for me. How much he thought he knew me, as if knowing my food taste was the greatest test of winning my heart.
I followed him out of my office like he knew this hospital better than me.
Like he was the one who had been working here for years.
He greeted every staff member that walked past us, using their first name.
Some of them, I shamefully only knew by their last name, and I’d never bothered to learn their first name.
When he led me out of the hospital, I started to think that I had made a mistake.
“Kai…” I pleaded with him. “We can’t go anywhere. I really only have an hour, well fifty-five minutes…”
He hushed me gently. “I know, we’re here.”
We stood in the middle of the parking lot, but his car was nowhere to be seen. Even if I had agreed to eat out at a restaurant, it would have to be fast food. And a very fast one, at that. As in, grab a hotdog from a food stall fast.
“Kai! I have three procedures scheduled this afternoon and I cannot be late for them.” My neck felt warm, and I was afraid of what was coming next. A rash that surprised me when I least expected it – and I noticed that stress often seemed to be a factor when it came to visit.
Being professional was what I shot for in my career.
I couldn’t risk being too sloppy with my work.
People often wondered if I pulled any strings to get where I was.
My father being the director of a medical group obviously made people wonder.
My brother, also a successful doctor, could obviously put in a good word for me if I had asked him to.
Not to mention the uncles and aunties of mine who were very influential in their careers – also in the medical and drug industries – and could easily send me to high places without me even trying.
I could have accepted their help and had an easy life. I could have sat back and called it a day.
But that wasn’t me.
I always picked the hard route.
So no, in short, I have to be good at what I do. I couldn’t bear people talking behind my back – saying that I was a shitty, incompetent doctor, and that I was the head of Bennet Fertility Group because I was a nepo-baby, and not because of my own hard work.
The door to the RV parked in front of us opened up and interrupted the insecurity demon chipping away at me. A tall, bald man in a white shirt, with black pants, and a red apron wrapped around his waist appeared. “Welcome Mr. Li and Dr. Bennet. Your lunch is ready.”
I stared at the guy and then back at Kai. I couldn’t mutter a word to say in this situation.
“What on Earth are you doing now?”
“Come inside and have a look.” Kai said with a happiness that invited me to come play with him. Truth to be told, I was excited to see what trick he was about to pull out of his sleeve.
Inside the RV was decorated with soft lighting.
At the front was the usual section where the driver and passenger would sit while the vehicle was on the road.
The rest of the space was bare apart from one long table on one side of the wall, and a medium size table that could be removed for seating on the other side.