Chapter 154 - Must she take it?

Once the door was closed, Xiao Zhihao looked at his mother for a long time. 

"What?" Xiao Lei asked while looking at her son fondly. Placing a hand on her son's head, she asked, "Is your mum too pretty today, so you are a bit uncomfortable?"  

Xiao Zhihao shrugged. "You're always pretty..."

"Then why are you staring at me like that?"

Xiao Zhihao hesitated for a moment before asking, "Do you like Brother Han Ye?"

"What? No!" She then shook her head and said, "Well... I like him as a person, but none of the nonsense you're thinking about." 

She then quickly went into her room. Well, as quickly as she could while limping anyway.  

"You were blushing earlier..." Xiao Zhihao said while walking into her room. "At the party, and just now, at the lift, and when he patted your head earlier."

Xiao Lei placed the crutches aside and sat on her bed before sighing softly. "Zhihao, don't think too much of it. He was just a friend."

Xiao Zhihao sat next to his mother and asked with a curious expression, "Do you want to be more than friends with him?"

Xiao Lei chuckled softly and placed a hand on her son's head. "Zhihao... You're too young to be thinking about your mother's relationship with her friends." 

Xiao Zhihao looked at his mother with a sad expression. "Mum, if you want to move on, I really don't mind... Dad has been gone for two years, who knows... I want him back, but-"

He could not finish his words because his mother had placed her hand over his mouth. 

"Zhihao, your dad will definitely be back!" Xiao Lei cupped her son's cheeks with one hand and said sternly, "And you shouldn't think of Han Ye as anything else. He has someone else he likes..." 

"But I don't think he really likes that Angela." 

Xiao Lei scoffed, "How can a child like you tell?" 

Xiao Zhihao pulled his mother's hand away before saying, "At the party earlier, he kept looking over at us when we were dancing."

"He's just worried that I'd give him trouble again." 

"I don't know..." Xiao Zhihao shrugged. 

"Zhihao, my heart is with your father. Han Ye is just a friend. Besides, he won't like someone like me," Xiao Lei said with a smile. She suddenly lay down on the bed and put her hands behind her head. As she stared at the ceiling, she said, "That Han Ye, he likes women who are soft and gentle. Your mum is too prone to trouble."

...

The next day, 

Han Ye woke up early because he promised Angela Zhang that he would compensate her for yesterday. He picked her up from her place and took her shopping. Even though Angela Zhang did not need him to pay for her, Han Ye still paid for everything. 

Yet while they shopped, Han Ye found himself wondering if Xiao Lei would look good in this, if she would like that, and when he passed by a sweet shop that was selling snacks from all over the world, he stopped for a moment while wondering if he should buy some candies for her.

He was thinking about how Xiao Lei used to love eating sweet things when he felt a tug. Looking down at his right hand, he saw Angela Zhang holding it. 

"Everything wrong, Han Ye?" 

Han Ye shook his head. With a smile, he asked, "Do you want some candy, Angela? Let's buy some." 

"No, thanks. I don't really like sweet stuff. Too fattening," Angela Zhang said. 

"Erm, then do you mind if I go in and get some?" Han Ye asked. He knew how Angela Zhang felt about Xiao Lei, so he quickly added, "I'm going to pick up Tian Le later, so I might as well buy something for the kids. The twins like those Japanese snacks."

Angela Zhang nodded. "Of course."

He was in the sweet shop for almost thirty minutes, and when he got out, he was holding two large bags filled with various snacks and candies. 

"That's a lot!" 

"Yeah, I'm not sure what Little Monkey can eat yet, so I bought some jellies for her. And the Japanese snacks that the twins like. I'm not sure what Caleb likes, so I bought a few things for him as well..." 

"Do you like kids?" Angela Zhang asked while they continued to shop.  

Han Ye grinned. "Yeah, I guess I do." 

.... 

Meanwhile, on the same afternoon, Xiao Lei and Xiao Zhihao were at Hospital Imperial. They were waiting in Dr. Phillip's room when the door suddenly opened and in walked Dr. Phillip.

The doctor was looking at a file as he took his seat at his desk. "Xiao Lei, everything is fine with your ultrasound report, and there's nothing to be worried about."

Xiao Lei nodded and asked, "What's next?" 

"I'll be drawing some blood to look at your estrogen level, and after this... As mentioned before, since you've been on birth control pills the whole time, we can start giving you some injections to stimulate your ovaries. I'll be teaching you how to self-inject so that you could do it yourself at home," Dr. Phillip said calmly. 

He smiled as he thought, "You're too dangerous for me to inject it for you every day..." 

Putting down the file, Dr. Phillip added, "These injections that you'd be injecting into your body will not only stimulate the ovaries, but it will also suppress your ovaries from ovulating and controls some of your female hormone levels."

"Must she take it?" Xiao Zhihao asked with a serious expression as he took mental notes down. "My mum doesn't like injections.  

Dr. Phillip nodded. "The injections are there to help her ovaries to mature multiple follicles instead of just the one she would usually get during her natural cycle. Do you understand those terms, Zhihao?"

"A little. I've been reading on IVF as well."

Dr. Phillip nodded with a smile.

"Would you be giving your mother the injection?" Dr. Phillip asked while pitying the boy. No doubt, it would be hard for the boy to do the work... especially with his mother's tendency to "hurt" people whenever she was in front of needles. 

As if he knew what Dr. Phillip was thinking about, Xiao Zhihao laughed awkwardly. "No... I'll be at school... Mum's an a.d.u.l.t, so she will do it herself..."

Dr. Phillip looked at Xiao Lei and asked, "You can't skip the injections, you know? Even if you're scared..." 

With a deep, forlorn sigh, she nodded. "I won't. Don't worry."

The whole time Dr. Phillip was explaining the steps to her, Xiao Lei was either sighing or shaking her head dramatically. Seven to ten days' worth of injections, which was to self-inject every night. She also had to go to the hospital every day to get ultrasounds as well as having her blood drawn for more blood work.

"Ah, can I come for the ultrasounds at night, Dr. Phillip? I've started working nowadays, and I don't want to create trouble for my boss." 

Dr. Phillip nodded as he took down her words. "You can come at 8 p.m. every night. I won't be here for the next few nights, so the nurses would help you."   

They continued to talk about the necessary things that Xiao Lei had to do as well as the potential side effects of the injections. 

....

When he got home later in the evening after sending Angela Zhang home, he met Xiao Lei and Xiao Zhihao when they entered the lift on the ground floor. Xiao Lei was still using a crutch, but she only used one today instead of two.

"Evening, Brother Han Ye," Xiao Zhihao greeted politely while adjusting the backpack that he was carrying on his left shoulder. He looked at the bags of goodies in Han Ye's hand and asked, "Do you need help with those?"  

"Ah... This is for you," Han Ye said and passed him two bags of goodies. "I'm not sure what you guys like, so I just put in a mixture of stuff in."

"Thanks," Xiao Zhihao said. While peering into the bags, the boy added, "Mum, there are some foreign candies here as well..." 

Xiao Lei peered into the bags and when she saw some of the candies that she liked, she smiled and looked up at Han Ye. "Thanks. This must be expensive." 

Han Ye shrugged. "Where did you guys go? How's your leg? You shouldn't walk around so much." 

"Hospital..." Xiao Zhihao answered. 

Worried, Han Ye glanced at Xiao Lei's bandaged ankle and asked, "Did your leg worsen?" 

Xiao Lei shook her head. "No... Erm..." 

She felt a little shy all of a sudden, so Xiao Zhihao answered for her, "She got her period last night, so we went to Imperial Hospital for her to begin the IVF process."

"Is that why she looks so down?" Han Ye thought while looking at her face.

Xiao Zhihao looked up at his mother's face before he explained, "Mum got her shot earlier..." 

"Did anything happen to Dr. Phillip?"

Xiao Zhihao looked up at Han Ye and said, "No... He gave Mum a stress ball to grip with." 

"Oh, great. I was worried that your mother might have hurt him."

Xiao Zhihao shook his head. "He warned her that if she were to hurt him or his nurses, he'd refuse to continue with the IVF and that he'd advice Mr. Luo to choose someone else as well." 

Glancing at his mother again, Xiao Zhihao told Han Ye, "Mum said that since she promised them that she would be the surrogate mother, she would definitely fulfill her promise to the end." 

Han Ye nodded. Looking at Xiao Lei, he asked, "Xiao Lei, did you tell Guangying? Why didn't you give me a message? I could've sent you there." 

Xiao Lei waved a hand nonchalantly as she replied, "There's no need to bother anyone. Dr. Phillip told me before that I can just go whenever I want. Even if he's not there, there are some doctors or nurses that can help me administer the shot... Thankfully, he was there earlier!" 

Han Ye nodded.

Ding!

When they arrived at their floor and walking toward their respective units, Han Ye asked, "Zhihao, are you going back to school later?" 

Xiao Zhihao nodded. "Yeah, after dinner."

"I'll send you back then. I'm going to pick up Tian Le later, and we'd be going for dinner first before I drop him off at school. How about you guys just join us for dinner? The more the merrier, and besides, Tian Le likes the two of you."

Xiao Zhihao looked up at his mother. 

"It's too much of a trouble," Xiao Lei murmured. She did not want to trouble him, that was the truth, but she also did not want her son to think that there would be anything between her and Han Ye. 

"What are you talking about? It's not like I'm especially making a detour or anything. I mean, Tian Le has to go back to school anyway, and don't think too much, Xiao Lei, I've seen your eating habits... We are eating at a buffet later," Han Ye said with a smirk.  

Xiao Lei sighed. She glanced down at her son and asked, "Do you want to go?" 

Xiao Zhihao nodded. "Brother Tian Le is quite interesting to talk to." 

"Alright then." Looking at Han Ye, Xiao Lei said, "Then, thanks in an advance." 

Han Ye frowned slightly at her sudden proper manners, but he did not remark on it. Instead, as he watched them keying in the password to their house, he said, "I'm leaving in an hour." 

"We'll be ready by then." 

.....