"You Do Know I Can Talk, Right?"

"You're Bleeding, Mrs. Jones!"

Jade stood nervously at the entrance to the hospital, wishing she could fiddle with her fingers. 

"Now, how exactly am I supposed to get you to Ms. Dorth?...I didn't think through your plan this far."

Eli whispered, "Mom told me that not only does she have her private room in the hospital, sorta like a private practice, she also works in the general wing when they are short on staff...like in emergencies or something like that...all you gotta do is say you have an appointment."

"But I don't? Question mark question mark question mark?" Jade pointed out.

"Oh, that's right...then say you are here to see her...to set up an appointment or something like that." 

"Come on, Eli, we gotta do better than this."

He crossed his arms and pouted cutely, "Fine then, you be the brains and come up with a better idea."

"Okay, whatever." 

She was starting to get pretty comfortable with her "pregnancy."

Eli stuck out his tongue at her, "Yeeeess Moooom," he drawled out. 

The hospital was pretty quiet. When they finally entered, they were directly in a waiting room, and a secretary was sitting there. 

"How may I help you?" She asked pleasantly. 

"We are here to see Doctor Lhing," Jade tried to speak, but it came out like a whisper. She cleared her throat and tried again, "We are here to see Doctor Dorth."

The lady typed something on her computer and said, "Just a minute." 

Jade started to count to herself, "One, two, three, five, twenty, four, seven..."

"Okay, the doctor is ready to see you now, just go down the right hall, the third door on your left."

"That was only seven seconds," Jade muttered under her breath. She felt very nervous, but Eli was just calmly sucking his thumb. 

She squeaked out, "Thank you!"

"There's no reason to be nervous," the secretary admonished, "Even if it is  your first pregnancy."

Jade smiled tremulously and rose up. As they went down the hall, she started counting the doors, "There's one, then five, then four, then ....What am I saying?" 

She backtracked, "There's one, two, and three. To think that I don't know how to count."

All the while, Eli offered no word of advice and just clung to Jade who was now holding him against her chest.

She stopped at the door, "Here goes nothing, I feel as if I'm forgetting something" and she knocked. 

"Please come in!" 

She opened the door and stepped inside. She recognized Ms. Dorth at once. Jade did not need the badge on Katharina's uniform that read, "Doctor Katharina Dorth" to know who she was. The striking resemblance of Mrs. Lhing, there was not a shadow of doubt to her identity. 

"Please sit down. What can I do for you?"

Jade took a steady breath in, "You see, my husband and I adopted this baby, but he has been having some problems lately. I heard that you are a great baby doctor, so I came to see you and wondered if you could tell me what's wrong with him."

"It's called pediatrician" Eli couldn't help but mutter. 

Great Jade, your wonderful speech. I came to see you and wondered if you could tell me what's wrong with him? and baby doctor? Seriously Jade

Doctor Dorth did not seem to notice anything wrong with the pair. She had seen plenty of pregnant women under stress turn into an emotional mess; so, not so great language capabilities were not alarming to her. 

"Could you tell me some of the symptoms?"

Oof, I didn't think that far.

Just as 15 seconds of silence started to seem to stretch forever, Eli started coughing violently. 

Ah yes, smart kid.

"He's been having these violent coughs from time to time, and it's making me very worried."

Eli then coughed so hard that Jade was actually getting worried. When the spasm finally "subsided" (Doctor Dorth had her brow furrowed deeply in thought), Jade had another brilliant idea. 

"And sometimes, he's gasping for breath...as if he's having a hard time breathing."

Nothing happened. The doctor kept thinking, "Hmmmmm."

She gritted her teeth and said in Eli's ear, "I said, 'and sometimes, he's gasping for breath...as if he's having a hard time breathing."

She heard Eli say, "Oh, yeah. Right."

And he started to gasp for breath, almost choking. Then he started to shiver uncontrollably. 

"And at times, he just starts shivering for no reason," Jade quickly added. And mentally, Way to go, Eli! 

"Interesting, may I have him?" Doctor Dorth outstretched her hands to receive the baby. Jade gave Eli a "comforting" pat on the shoulder and gently, "reluctantly," laid him in his aunt's hands. 

She slowly stood, "Umm, excuse me, do you know where I could use the bathroom?" 

"Yes, Mrs. ----?"

Drats

"Jones? Yes, Mrs. Jones," Jade struggled to give a proper last name. 

Eli snickered, and Jade mentally stuck her tongue out at him. 

Oblivious to reality, Doctor Dorth continued, "It's actually the door right next to mine. It has the washroom symbol on top of it." 

"Thanks, Doctor Dorth." 

"You're welcome, and please call me Katharina...Doctor Dorth makes me feel so old."

They laughed together as Jade turned around to exit, but she was stopped by the voice of Katharina. 

"Mrs. Jones, how many months along are you?"

"Umm, I don't know, why?" She blurted out before she thought about it, "Oh, I thought you said something else," she chuckled nervously and did a quick estimation in her brain, "Five months and three quarters, why?"

She mentally smacked her head...Who says five months and three quarters? They say halves...

Jade slowly turned around to find Doctor Dorth narrowing her eyes.

"Oof, you need to be examined," Katharina stood up quickly, still holding Eli, "You're bleeding, Mrs. Jones!"

End of Chapter

Author's Question:

This is the title I had been planning on, "Plan A- The Beginnings of Failure"

But then, I thought, "You're bleeding, Mrs. Jones!" might be a better title. Plus, I could put that one at the top without giving anything away....

What do you all think?

Vote and comment, Love you all!

Hugs and Kisses!!!