Chapter 311: I'll Listen to You
Chapter 311: I'll Listen to You
Some distance, no matter how well Zhan Lian treats her and her daughter afterward, can never be bridged.
Of course, Zhan Lian can use more forceful methods, and An Ran can give him Doll, but the emotional distance between them will only grow even wider.
Seeing that time is almost up, An Ran, holding Doll, walks toward the back door of the hospital. Suddenly, she pauses, turns around, and says to Zhan Lian, who is smoking and watching the mother and daughter:
“Smoke less, quit if you can. It’s bad for your health.”
In just a short while, she has seen him smoke two cigarettes in a row. How strong must his addiction be?
Zhan Lian is stunned, looks down at the cigarette between his fingers, his throat tightening. He throws the cigarette away and nods, "Okay, I'll quit. I'll listen to you."
He hasn't been so easy to talk to before. But of course, An Ran has never cared so much about Zhan Lian before either.
Seeing him suddenly become so obedient, An Ran can't help but laugh. She turns around and continues walking into the hospital, holding Doll, heading straight to the third floor.
Outside the doctor's office on the third floor, the soldier that Zhan Lian has found is still standing guard by the door. Little Mint, who has been sitting, quickly stands up when she sees An Ran carrying Doll upstairs and walks over to her side.
The masked nurse follows and says to An Ran: "The results are out. Dr. Zhao said she wants to talk to you."
An Ran’s heart sinks. She nods and asks Little Mint to wait outside. Carrying Doll, she enters the office, closes the door, and smiles politely at the serious-looking Dr. Zhao, who is nearly seventy years old.
"Hello, Dr. Zhao."
“Are you planning to perform surgery on this child?” Dr. Zhao sits behind a desk, a table between her and An Ran. She hands a stack of sorted test results to her.
An Ran is stunned when she hears this. Is Dr. Zhao implying that Little Mint is confirmed to be pregnant? How should she answer? She isn’t Little Mint’s guardian and can't decide her future for her.
Whether or not to keep Doll should be Little Mint’s decision.
But from her experience, An Ran feels that Little Mint is too young. She isn’t even an adult yet—only thirteen years old. Would carrying a child at this age harm her body?
Lowering her head in a daze, she holds Doll with one hand and takes the test results with the other. At first glance, she sees an ultrasound image showing a shadow in the uterus, followed by a line of text: Fetus? Cyst?
What does this mean? Is it a child or a cyst in Little Mint’s belly? An Ran comes to the hospital today for a diagnosis, but the more she checks, the more confused she becomes.
"There’s something wrong with the little girl’s blood," Dr. Zhao says when she sees An Ran staring blankly at the report. She assumes An Ran wants to proceed with surgery. Her expression becomes even more serious as she continues:
"Her blood coagulation function is impaired. Her platelets are very low, and her blood pressure is also low. The conditions for surgery are not good. Forced surgery would carry a high risk of heavy bleeding. But this mass in her abdomen, let’s call it a shadow for now, is already very large and can be felt by hand. We have to operate to find out what it is."
“Ah?” An Ran lifts her gaze from the report and looks at Dr. Zhao. After a long moment, she blurts out, “Does this mean...?”
What does this mean? Can she not have an abortion? Or is the cyst inoperable? An Ran doesn’t even know what term to use.