A Call That Changed Her Entire Life

Emily was getting nervous. She wouldn't deceive him like that. She quickly grabbed his hand asking "You think I am lying to you?
Come! Let's get to the bottom of this."
She didn't want Jacob to misunderstand her or accuse her of lying. So she was determined to find out the problem.
This was the very same hospital where Emily had learned about her pregnancy. So without hesitation, she grabbed Jacob in
search for the OBGYN section.
By this point, it wasn't only what he would think of her anymore; she wanted to get some answers for herself as well. After a short
while, they found the doctor who had diagnosed her; her badge read "Dr Li." Yes, that was her indeed.
"Doctor, do you still remember me? I was in this hospital about two months ago and you gave me a pregnancy diagnosis. Do you
recall?"
Dr Li stared at Emily for a few seconds, trying to remember. Slowly, flashbacks of the bleeding incident from that day were
coming back to her. How could she forget that? With all the details accounted for in her memory, she confirmed,"Yes, I do
remember."
Dr Li then glanced over at Jacob thinking, 'Young people these days! She already found a new boyfriend.'
Relieved, Emily continued to inquire,"You are sure that you detected a pregnancy that day, right?"
"Yes, you're pregnant, and the report also said so," answered the doctor completely convinced. Just to confirm, she had already
started looking for Emily's folder, and indeed, once she checked inside it, everything matched what she was remembering.
Emily quickly glanced at Jacob making sure he had heard all that, then turned back to the doctor continuing to inquire,"So doctor,
is it possible... I just noticed I was bleeding. It looked to me like period bleeding, but that couldn't have been if I was pregnant. So
I thought I had aborted, but the doctors in the emergency room told me there was no child. And now I don't understand anything
anymore."
"But how could that be?" mumbled Dr Li perplexed. "The ultrasound from that day is clearly showing the figure of a child," she
continued while staring at the report.
"Doctor, could it be... that you were mistaken?" asked Emily discouraged.

Since she was not showing any pregnancy symptoms, Emily was beginning to realize that the possibility of her not being
pregnant was turning into a probability.
At that point, Dr Li started doubting it as well. She flipped through the records of Emily's previous visits and looked more carefully
at the ultrasound image of the fetus. "Actually... you are right... I indeed made a mistake."
"Mis... take?" inquired Emily all deflated. She looked obviously troubled. A million thoughts were going through her mind. How?
What was Jacob going to think? What was going to happen now?
Dr Li showed her the report explaining,"This was the fetal image of the woman before you. This is not the same ID number as
yours. But because of the short period between your visits, the system assigned the ultrasound to both of your digital folders.
That is why it was printed on your report too."
"So... I am not pregnant?" continued Emily.
"Well, you could still be actually. The blood test that day did confirm the pregnancy...
I would recommend repeating the blood test." Emily instantly agreed, however, Jacob grabbed her hand holding her in place.
"It's not necessary; let's go home," he addressed Emily calmly.
She wasn't sure what he was thinking but she wasn't going to leave without an answer. Emily slowly pulled her hand out of his,
and with a convinced look turned towards Dr Li reaffirming her decision,"I must find out what's going on. Let's do this."
This time, Emily didn't only check her blood and urine, but did a full inspection including her hormones and vitals.
"Your blood, urine and hormone tests still indicate that you're pregnant." Dr Li looked at the rest of the reports carefully,"However
the ultrasound is not detecting the fetus in your uterus..."
"How can that be?" wondered Emily with an exasperated voice. "Where is my child?" she continued protesting. Her heart had
sank in her stomach. Nothing made sense anymore. Was she or was she not pregnant?
After a few silent minutes, Dr Li was able to give her an answer,"Miss Bai, I understand what is actually going on. You are not
pregnant, in fact. The reason why the blood tests show that you are pregnant is most likely attributed to pseudopregnancy
symptoms."

"Pregnancy what? What is that? I don't understand. I am bleeding, and I'm also feeling pain in my stomach," answered Emily in
search for a logical explanation.
"That's a stress response you get when you're too nervous," clarified the doctor. "Have you been under a lot of stress lately?"
Seeing how Emily couldn't connect the dots, the doctor paused trying to rephrase her explanation,"Pseudopregnancy is a false
pregnancy. You believe you are pregnant, and because of that, your psychological responses and consequently, your hormone
levels adjust to a state that can accommodate a fetus. That's why your period was delayed. But in reality, you are not pregnant
since there is no child showing in the ultrasound."
Jacob's disgruntled expression was making Emily even more nervous. He was obviously not happy with the news, but more than
that, he was not happy about Emily's stress level. With eyes narrowed slightly, he kept shifting looks between her and the doctor.
He couldn't believe that the reason for her pale face just then was fear. All of her symptoms were just because she was anxious?
"I see..." answered Emily on a resigned tone. Almost as if dizzy, she turned towards Jacob whispering,"I am not pregnant."
In fact, that was good news given that she was bleeding. If she had truly been pregnant, that would have signaled a serious
issue.
Jacob, who had not spoken yet, looked at Dr. Li and eventually said softly,"Do you need to prescribe her any medicine?" It was
clear he wanted to leave.
"I can prescribe some herbal medicine and vitamins to help her de-stress," affirmed the doctor. Then, directing her eyes towards
Emily, she added,"You should just take it easy; the best way to have a child is to let nature take its course." Emily gently nodded.
Then, Dr Li wrote down a few natural supplements, gave her some instructions on how and when to take them, and went back to
her work.
However Emily had not listened too carefully to her, and was truly not interested in the medicine. She couldn't snap out of her
shock,"So, we are not..."
It wasn't so much the disappointment of not having a child, as it was the concern of what Jacob would think of her. She made
him believe that he was going to be a father, but now... She felt embarrassed, guilty.
After paying for the medicine, the two of them went back in their car. Emily was not sure whether Jacob was angry or not. So she
didn't dare to initiate any conversation, wallowing in her thoughts the entire way home.

When they arrived at the Tyrone Mansion, Zola was waiting for them at the gate. She was surprised to see Emily back so soon,
as she had been bleeding and that couldn't mean anything good. So she had to ask,"M.. Miss Emily, are you all right?"
"I am okay," said Emily trying to avoid explanations.
But Zola was not satisfied with the curt answer,"Then ... what about the child?" Realizing she may be stepping on her toes, Zola
changed her tone to a more serious, worried one.
Emily gripped her medicine bag and answered in a snappy manner,"I am not pregnant."
Shocked and in disbelief, but also happy on the inside, Zola impulsively began asking,"What! You are not..."
But she didn't get a chance to finish her thoughts, when Jacob abruptly interrupted her,"Enough with all the questions!" He then
threw an arm around Emily, as if to protect her from Zola's nosy attitude, and went inside the room.
He was more private than Emily; he didn't particularly care for sharing his life with others.
In response to Jacob's statement, Zola zipped her mouth, and bit her tongue. However, her shock was not fading away. Unable
to hide her expression, she quickly left to contemplate the situation alone.
Emily was not pregnant!
No wonder she didn't look like a pregnant woman at all! It was also obvious to her that Jacob had just found out about it. So was
Emily deceiving him and others all along, on purpose?
The nerve of that woman!
After changing her dirty clothes, Emily came out of her bedroom and found Jacob standing in front of the window, with a look on
his face that she couldn't quite read.
She swallowed nervously and went over to him, trying to figure out his thoughts. "Jacob, are you angry?"
He didn't respond. A few seconds later, he let out a short "Hmm."
He was indeed disillusioned. Even though unintentional, Emily had played with his emotions for quite a while.

"I didn't mean to deceive you," she excused herself again,"I didn't know either..." Emily felt like nothing she would say was
enough at that point. She didn't want Jacob to misunderstand her, though. So she continued,"I don't know how things turned out
like this..."
"So," Jacob interrupted her out of nowhere.
"Ss...so?" asked Emily reluctantly. She couldn't understand where he was going with that. Why was he looking at her like that?
His eyes seemed mischievous, as if he was planning something, and that made her apprehensive.
She knew she had wronged him. She realized that he must be hurt; no sane person could just accept such a hoax however
unintentional, especially after such a long time in which they both had gotten attached to this non-existing child.
Emily was feeling quite responsible for all that trouble. If only she would have been more careful. Both of them took the doctor's
first diagnosis without even double checking. If only they had had an earlier examination; they could have avoided all the hassle
and embarrassment.
Poor Jacob... The disappointment must had been killing him.
"So, how will you make it up to me now?" he added after a short pause. Emily was not understanding his question, though.
Eventually, Jacob turned around. He ruffled her soft hair lightly and pinched her red, tiny cheek.
"Uhm," interjected Emily extremely confused. She then backed away, with an awkward, fake smile while investigating his
reaction,"What exactly do you have in mind?"
Jacob closed the gap that she had put between them, and with a tantalizing voice, he whispered,"Well, you could make it up to
me by giving me a real child. So far it's been a false pregnancy but it doesn't have to remain like that; let's make it a real
one."