Chapter Two

Song of chapter: Señorita by Camilla Cabello Ft. Shawn Mendes

Marion's POV;

It was Tuesday, the day of the appointment. Her alarm blared at four-thirty in the morning. Marion rolled out of her bed to the bathroom. She brushed her teeth, gurgled apple cider then hopped into the shower cubicle. After a hot shower, she blow-dried her hair and prepped herself up for work. She chose a turquoise halter neck office dress which accentuated her hourglass figure and paired the outfit with a pair of red Jimmy Choo pumps. She stared at herself for a while taking in her transformation. Marion was ready for the gynaecologist.

Bali was in her office when her assistant informed her of Marion's arrival. She giggled with glee. Today's the day! She concentrated on finishing early so she could accompany Marion to the hospital. She knew way better that Marion would not honour the appointment if force was not applied.

The watch in the car blinked ten o'clock of the sunny morning. Bali's anger rose with every passing second. It shifted from bad to worse. The white Chevrolet Camaro was parked in the hospital parking lot. Bali had driven them to City General Hospital as they had an appointment with one Dr. Daniels. She gave Marion the stink eye when it has been over thirty minutes they had arrived at the hospital. She had forcefully driven seeing that Marion wasn't so determined as last Wednesday about the gynaecologist.

"Get the fuck down, Brizo!" Bali snarled. Marion had been getting on her nerves lately. She used to be the ever confident but now she looked like a high school girl with inferiority complex. "I would not repeat myself again." Bali was ready to kill. "The subsequent events will be brutal and viewer's discretion is advised." Her smile was diabolic. Marion didn't have to be told twice. She had been on the receiving end of her anger before. It was like giving death a handshake.

"I told you, let's call it quits but you wouldn't listen." Marion shouted from the front passenger seat. "I don't want to give birth again."

Bali frowns. She knew about Aunt Teiyo and her verbal beatings. Heck , she had received her share for being a non-believer. "You're whining as if you're in labour. Girl, they are not even orgasmic." She takes Marion's hands in hers forgoing her playful tone. "Can't you for once do something you really want forgetting about the views of others. This isn't a darn magazine or a bloody news report. It's your life. Your freaking personal life. And I'm being a good best friend cheering you on. So be a good girl that you are and get out of the fucking car before I throw you out, personally. 'Cause honey I'll do it with pleasure. Marion shut her mouth keeping her thoughts to herself. She smiled broadly. Her eyes puddled with tears. She was so proud to have a friend like Bali.

"Hey, hey, hey, what's going on? Did I say something to hurt you?" Marion was full blown sobs and sniffs. "God you're not even pregnant yet and your hormones are raging." Leave Bali to ruin the moment. Marion wipes her tears and blows her nose with a car tissue. She let Bali win today.

Bali and Marion hand in hand walk towards the reception after parking the car. The reception nurse was busy with other folders for a short period before she gave them her full attention.

"Uh, we are here for an appointment at 10:00 with Dr. Daniels?" Bali spoke up. She knew Marion wasn't going to. The reception nurse sighed.

"Department C, Room 211, Third floor, ma'am ." She smiled professionally then returned to her work.

"Uh, thank you?" Bali was confused. Were they going to go by stairs? She pulls Marion away. She spots the elevator and she couldn't be more happier.

Marion was moving slowly. Her pace was even worse than a tortoise's. Department C was all about Obstetrics and Gynecology. Already women far into their Pregnancy were waiting for their turn as of 10:30 . "Hurry the fuck up, Marion. Can't you see the line? God this is exhausting!" Other women smiled at them. Some looked irritated at Bali's choice of words. Room 211 had Dr. A. B. Daniels boldly inscribed on the translucent glass door.

They couldn't move in because there were other women in line before them. About five women were waiting to be checked by the doctor. A nurse in pink floral scrubs came out.

"We are sorry your schedules have been delayed and that you might have other appointments." She began. "There was some kind of emergency birth which needed to be taken care of by Dr. Daniels himself. But he will make sure each and everyone of you is seen to before 12 noon. Once again sorry for the inconvenience." She smiled ruefully then returned back to where she came from.

Bali huffed in reply while Marion was taking in her environment. To her left sat a woman who wasn't showing. For once she thought she wasn't the only one here for artificial insemination. She was happy. But that crushed immediately she saw the lean but muscular guy sitting by her side.

"We are six weeks along." He said to her. He had noticed her staring at his partner with a lost look.

"oh…uh …pardon me staring." Marion was flustered. She didn't like being caught. That drew the attention of his partner and Bali.

"congratulations." Bali exclaimed trying to cover up for her friend. "We are here for IVF." They nod. Marion's cheek burns. It was from embarrassment?

"Aww, she's blushing." One woman, who looked ready to pop, cooed. Everyone laughed except Marion. She couldn't stop burning. She was sitting in one of the waiting chairs opposite. Apparently, everybody at the area heard their conversation. They weren't judgy, Marion took note. Only if Aunt Teiyo will be like this. She sighed.

"I know that look, dear." The same woman commented. "I use to get that when I signed up for IVF. But it got better when they saw how brave I was and somehow understood my situation so they stopped. Now my husband calls me superwoman." She smiled broadly as she reminisced. Marion managed to smile. At least the woman had her husband by her side. All what she got was this annoying pest she wouldn't trade for the world.

"I'm Stelle." She was the woman six weeks along. "And this is my boyfriend Louis." She grinned at Marion.

"I'm Bali. Her best friend." Bali nudged Marion's side urging her to speak up and not be rude.

"Marion." She said briefly.

"We know." Almost everybody chorused. How? Her eyes asked.

"We kinda overhead and saw what happened at the elevator. You know we can see it from here, right?" Stelle said amused. Indeed, it was true. The hallway was directly up to the elevator. Marion was red again with embarrassment. Everyone laughed.

Soon it was their turn. Stelle and Louis gave an encouraging smile after they were done. They were here for an ultrasound. Marion breaths in deeply before following Bali into the doctor's room.

"Miss Brizo?" He was flipping through a folder. Probably hers. "you are here for an IUI, no?" Bali and Marion had occupied the visitor's chairs.

"what's that?" Marion couldn't help but ask. The doctor looks at the two women quizzically. It dawned on him that they didn't know what they were getting into.

He sighed. "I believe a short briefing is needed." Marion nodded. She didn't trust Bali's words over this. At least she could trust the doctor, or? He has a license to prove. And what the hell is he talking about? I'm just here for an artificial insemination.

"IUI also known as artificial insemination," Doc. Daniels began. " Is a treatment option chosen by various people for various reasons. It's either there's a low sperm count, the female has some fertility issues or single moms like you are trying to start a family. It is minimally invasive, low cost alternative to in vitro fertilization (IVF) and can be performed in our hospital for you."

"So how does it work?" Bali asked. She was being attentive for her friend.

"During an intrauterine insemination (IUI) procedure, sperm is placed directly into the uterus using a small catheter. The goal of this treatment is to improve the chances of fertilization by increasing the number of healthy sperm that reach the fallopian tubes when the woman is most fertile."

"So that's me. Right?" Marion points herself. Dr. Daniels nods patiently.

"Is it painful?" Bali frowned.

"Absolutely not." Dr. Daniels denied. "but a few women experience mild discomforts in the abdomen but that settles in two days." The two women nod reluctantly.

This wasn't sitting well with Marion. "So how do I know if I'm pregnant?"

Dr. Daniels breathed in deeply. He leaned back into the chair with his hands folded on his stomach. He was spotting a few grey hairs. "Two weeks following your IUI, you will take a pregnancy test to see if the procedure was successful. Ta da!" He grew playful for a minute. He needed to calm his patients nerves down. "If you are pregnant," He picked up pace. " we will monitor your pregnancy closely via bloodwork and ultrasound. But If your test is negative, we will prepare for a new treatment cycle or consider other treatment options."

Bali bobs her head. "okay so what does she have to do?"

"Simply lie back and look pretty." Daniels chuckles at his lame joke.

He coughs to cover up. "Ehm…sorry...We will monitor you closely to determine the best time for your insemination procedure. Once your ovulation window is determined, the anthologists will prepare the sperm sample provided by the third-party agency. We will then perform a special technique called a sperm wash on the samples in the laboratory to obtain the best quality sperm." They take in the information very well.

"So you're going to do all this to me?" Marion looked panicky.

Dr. Daniels gave a good laugh. He always liked to do this. "No." Their expressions were priceless. "Not until have serious medical conditions."

"None that I know of."

"Okay that'll be justified with a few blood tests and oh , is your cycle regular?"

"Yeah." Marion whispers.

"She makes sure of that." Bali teases. Doc Daniels smiled. The soft wrinkles on his face seemed to vanish.

"OK then. When are you next expecting so we can calculate from there."

It was the end of February. "I just finished yesterday."

"so it occurs in the later part of the month?"

"Yes." Doc Daniels bobs his head at the information. Taking note of that.

Marion decided to take chances. Two weeks later she went for the procedure. She couldn't be more happier. Bali chose to be the watch dog. She prevented Marion from overworking herself and overthinking. Doc Daniels had said that she needs to be utmost calm about the situation and pray for good results. He had said that her hormones need not overwork because that could cause a miscarriage.

And that's what exactly happened four weeks later when Marion thought she wasn't pregnant by challenging Vise Co. for a huge gig. She hadn't shown signs. That was her problem.

Marion was devastated.