Meeting You Was Fate

Mandy arranged for Fiona's examination, having been acquainted with the director of the department of obstetrics and
gynecology.
Dr. Cai was a female doctor in her early forties with a calm demeanor. She wore a pair of glasses and exuded an elegance
befitting of her white coat.
"Doctor Zhou, oh sorry, I mean, Mrs. Jin," Dr. Cai greeted as she lifted her eyes and pushed the frame of her glasses.
In spite of the doctor's amicable air, Fiona remained uneasy. The lines of her face were stiff as she and Mandy entered the
doctor's office.
"Long time no see, Doctor Cai," Mandy returned the greeting warmly.
"To what do I owe this pleasure, Mand? There must be something important," the doctor inquired. Dr. Cai picked up a cup of tea
and took a slow sip. She had been working in this hospital for eighteen years and had witnessed how it had grown to one of the
most reputable institutions in the field of medicine.
Being a doctor was an honorable job, but it had many demands. There were patients day in and day out, each with their own
needs and concerns.
In her long career, Doctor Cai had always been faithful to her oath. She did everything she could for her patients, but she had her
own principles. There were two things that she refused to do, no matter how much money was on the table. The first was early
cesarean for pregnant women who wanted their children to be born on a specific date. Second, abortion.
With her experience, it only took one look at Fiona's face for her to know that the woman was pregnant.
"My sister vomited last night. We guessed that she might be pregnant, and we came here to make sure," Mandy explained.
"I see. Have a seat, please." Dr. Cai beckoned Fiona with a friendly smile.
Fiona wordlessly sat across from her.
The doctor reached out and took Fiona's hand, feeling her pulse. At this, Fiona looked on curiously. 'She doesn't seem like other
doctors. She can check it just by feeling my pulse?' she wondered.
After a moment, Dr. Cai asked, "Miss, how have you been feeling lately?"

Fiona thought her question over, remembering the past few days. "I haven't had much of an appetite, and I often feel heavy and
exhausted. These days, I've also been sleeping a lot more than I used to."
Dr. Cai let go of her hand and said with a smile, "You are indeed pregnant. It's a boy."
"What? Can you really know all that from just feeling her pulse, Dr. Cai?" Mandy asked in puzzlement. She had never heard of
this method before for checking a woman's pregnancy, not to mention that Dr. Cai also identified the gender of the child.
Dr. Cai's words echoed in Fiona's head. She looked at the doctor with a blank expression and stammered, "Am... Am I really
pregnant?"
The doctor's words about the child's gender did not fully register to her. All she could hear was the confirmation that rang
persistently in her head. Pregnant. She was really pregnant.
Dr. Cai looked at her and said, "Yes. You can have a blood test if you want to, but from what I had gathered, you have been
pregnant for about five weeks now. I assume this is your first pregnancy? It was probably why you didn't notice."
Fiona pressed her lips tightly. On the outside, she was breathing normally, but her mind was in tangles.
Five weeks. 'No wonder my period hasn't come. It turns out that I'm pregnant, ' Fiona thought as her head raced with incoherent
musings.
There were a plethora of emotions that surged inside her. Surprise, fear...and other feelings she couldn't even name in her
muddled state. They roiled around one another, twisting into a whirlpool of half-confusion and half-disbelief.
Dr. Cai took a furtive glimpse at Fiona, looking her over from head to toe. The woman in front of her was quite young, in her
twenties at most. If her deductions were correct, she was around the age of a college student. The color had drained from her
face, and her eyes betrayed her perturbation. "You're on your first trimester, which the most important stage of development for
your child. There are many things that you need to pay close attention to. You have to avoid eating crabs and seafood, and you
have to limit spicy food too. Instead, your diet has to be rich in folic acid. I advise taking calcium tablets as well. It takes three
months for the fetus to stabilize. During this period, sexual contact is not allowed."
Fiona's face flushed at Dr. Cai's words. All of a sudden, a wave of embarrassment flooded her like she was a child caught with
her hand in the cookie jar. It was irrational, she knew. Dr. Cai was a professional, and she was looking at the situation from a
clinical standpoint. However, reason did not work against Fiona's shame. She shifted uncomfortably in her seat as she tried to

absorb Dr. Cai's words. There were so many things she didn't know about pregnancy, and the worst thing about it was that she
and Ethon weren't even married yet.
"Thank... Thank you very much, doctor," Fiona stuttered.
"You're welcome," Dr. Cai replied calmly. She quickly went on to the next topic to divert the young girl from her embarrassment.
Opening a drawer, she took out a small red notebook. "This is a pregnancy manual. It would be a great help for you. You can
read it after you go back. Even better, let your boyfriend read it as well."
Fiona's eyes evaded the older woman's as she gingerly took the booklet. She was unsure of what to do next.
'What now? Should I tell Ethon that I'm pregnant?' she thought.
She had resolved to tell him today, but now that the undeniable truth was right in front of her, she was seized by a fear of the
consequences.
Fiona remained lost in her own thoughts as Dr. Cai kept typing on the keyboard. After a while, she told Fiona, "You can have a
blood test and a B-mode ultrasound test, but don't tell others that I felt your pulse."
Fiona nodded in half-understanding.
It was not until Mandy nudged her that Fiona came back to her senses. "What?" she asked.
"Don't worry, young lady. I have seen many pregnant women who are even younger than you. It is the natural reaction to be
shocked. How is your relationship with your boyfriend?" Dr. Cai asked.
Fiona bit her lip as she thought of Ethon. "How...How do you know that I have a boyfriend?" she asked.
Mandy gaped at the exchange. Fiona was a smart girl, but right now, she was tripping all over her words and wasn't making any
sense. Perhaps it was from the shock. Still, she could almost not believe her ears as she listened to her talk.
Dr. Cai's ever gentle smile did not falter. "Well, don't you have one?"
Mandy stepped in to stop Fiona from making a bigger fool of herself. "Dr. Cai, it seems that my sister is really surprised by the
news. It is her first pregnancy, after all. Please don't mind her," she explained.

Dr. Cai could tell that the child wasn't planned. Fiona's sigh of melancholy was proof enough. In her years of practice, she had
met many young girls with the same expression as hers. In their naivete, this situation was surely a huge weight.