Free Web NovelChapter 441: Chapter 436: Malposition
Once in the car, Gu’er couldn’t sit still. She leaned back against the rear seat, gripping the side of the car for support, but the pain and discomfort were still overwhelming.
"I’m sorry."
Feng Ling sat beside Gu’er, every inch of her body aching. She knew she owed Gu’er an apology. If she hadn’t believed someone’s lies and done something so stupid, things wouldn’t have gotten to this point. She had harmed another and herself.
"Whatever you have to say, you can tell me after you’ve recovered."
Gu’er looked at Feng Ling, sensing her pain. Earlier, Feng Ling had genuinely risked her life to block Zhou Fugui. Although today’s incident was Feng Ling’s fault, Gu’er knew she hadn’t meant to harm her. She also knew Feng Ling had her reasons, but she didn’t want to hear them now. She wasn’t in the mood. All she hoped for was that her baby would be all right and that Feng Ling wasn’t critically injured. As for their conversation, it could wait until they had both recovered.
Feng Ling said nothing more, the pain causing her to double over.
By the time they reached the hospital and got out of the car, Gu’er felt she could no longer walk. Feng Ling, fighting through her own pain, still tried to help her, but Gu’er just shook her head. Then, someone came and supported them both as they went inside.
Once they were brought to the gynecology department, Gu’er asked someone to fetch the hospital director. Neither she nor Feng Ling had any money, and the kind strangers who brought them couldn’t be expected to front the costs. Gu’er knew the director and the department head, so she figured she could talk to them, get admitted and treated first, and then pay the bill when Sun Jiaming arrived.
Gu’er was laid on a gurney, and the department head was preparing to examine her and arrange for the delivery.
"Help her. Don’t let her just stand there. Make her get checked out, quickly."
Gu’er pointed at Feng Ling. A moment ago, someone had tried to send Feng Ling to another department, as her injuries couldn’t be treated in gynecology, but Feng Ling wouldn’t leave.
Gu’er knew how stubborn people like Feng Ling could be. She probably felt guilty and wanted to wait for news on Gu’er’s condition before tending to her own injuries. But Feng Ling’s wounds weren’t minor, and Gu’er was worried any delay would be dangerous.
"All right, all right. Don’t you worry about it. We’ll have someone take care of her right away."
The department head reassured Gu’er.
After the department head finished her examination, she knew Gu’er’s situation was urgent. The baby was coming immediately. She hurried to make all the necessary preparations for the delivery.
Although the blow to her abdomen had induced premature labor, she was fortunately already more than nine months pregnant. Even without the incident, she would have been due in about half a month anyway.
However, even a natural birth is a brush with death. It has always been an incredibly dangerous and agonizing ordeal, so the situation was far from optimistic.
Everything was arranged and all preparations made. The department head saw that Gu’er was dilated and told her to push. Gu’er felt as if a pair of hands were inside her, tearing at her stomach and grabbing her organs. It felt like someone was beating her, like every bone in her body had been shattered.
The pain and suffering of childbirth from her previous life felt so distant. Even if it had been worse than this, it was a thing of the past. Nothing could compare to the raw, immediate reality of this moment.
She heard someone shouting for her to push, but she was already using every last ounce of her strength. ’Why isn’t the baby coming out? Am I going to have a difficult birth again, just like in my last life?’
"This is not good. I see the baby’s feet. It’s a breech birth, and her amniotic fluid is low. This will be a difficult delivery. If this continues, it’s going to be dangerous."
The department head’s face was etched with anxiety as she looked at Gu’er, who was so drenched in sweat she looked as if she’d been pulled from a river.
"Should we prepare for a C-section? But the family isn’t here. Without anyone to sign the consent form, we can’t operate."
The department head was growing frantic. Gu’er was already premature, and now she had a breech baby with low amniotic fluid. Forcing a natural birth would be agonizing for the mother, and the baby could suffer from oxygen deprivation—it was extremely dangerous. However, C-section technology wasn’t very advanced at the time. Many people would rather endure days of labor than be cut open; they simply couldn’t accept the procedure. On top of that, the baby’s feet were already descending and the family wasn’t here. By the time they were found, it might be too late. She was truly in a bind.
Gu’er’s mind was hazy, but she managed to hear what the department head said. Just as she was about to speak, she heard a young nurse exclaim, "Director, the family’s here! They were told it’s a breech birth, so they went to get help. They said they know a Doctor Cui and have gone to ask him to come assist with the delivery."
’Who is this Doctor Cui? Who arrived outside?’ Before Gu’er could even process it, she heard the department head exclaim, "Oh, wonderful! If they can get Doctor Cui here, that would be perfect! Doctor Cui has the hands of a god! With him, everything will be fine."
From her tone, the department head clearly held this Doctor Cui in the highest esteem.
Gu’er couldn’t think. The pain was so intense it felt like someone was shattering her bones, then ripping them from her body one by one. All she could do was moan and scream.
Gu’er lost all track of time. It felt like a century had passed before she sensed someone else enter the room. She forced her eyes open, but sweat immediately dripped into them, making them sting. Through the blur, she vaguely made out an older man, perhaps around sixty. He had a beard and stood with his hands clasped behind his back, looking as if he were merely an observer.
The old man observed Gu’er’s condition, placed a hand on her abdomen to feel it, and then Gu’er heard him murmur, "It’s fine, it’s fine," and other such things.
He reached a hand inside her, straightened the baby’s arm, and then gave a firm pull. Gu’er let out a piercing scream. It felt as if everything inside her body had been torn out, leaving her completely hollow.
Unable to bear it any longer, Gu’er fainted. Just before she lost consciousness, she seemed to hear people cheering that the baby was out.
While Gu’er was unconscious, someone took the newborn. The old doctor washed his hands and walked out of the delivery room.
"Doctor, how is my daughter-in-law? Has she given birth?"
Cao Qiu rushed to meet him, with Sun Zhuzi right behind her.
Sun Jiaming’s face was grim, his eyes fraught with anxiety as he stared at the old doctor. He wished it had been him in that room, wished he could have been by Gu’er’s side, wished he could have taken all this suffering upon himself. He needed to know how she was, right now.
"Rest assured, both mother and child are fine. However, try not to move the baby’s arm for the next two days. Because the feet came out first, the arm needs a couple of days to recover."
Doctor Cui explained calmly. For him, this was no difficult matter. He had dealt with countless breech births; with his intervention, they were always resolved instantly.
"Doctor, if it hadn’t been for you, I can’t imagine how much more my daughter-in-law would have had to suffer."
Cao Qiu thanked him profusely.
Sun Jiaming finally unclenched his fists, feeling as if he were about to collapse from sheer nervous exhaustion. ’His Gu’er was safe. That’s all that mattered.’ When the nurse had come out earlier to announce the breech position, he had tried to storm into the room. It was his mother who held him back, insisting she knew Doctor Cui, a man she described as a miracle worker who could solve this very problem.
Without a second thought, he had grabbed his mother, rushed downstairs, and driven off to find Doctor Cui. Thankfully, the doctor had agreed to come immediately upon hearing the news. If he hadn’t, Sun Jiaming would have probably knocked him unconscious and dragged him to the hospital.
While Doctor Cui was inside, Sun Jiaming waited outside. No one could possibly understand the torment and anxiety he felt. It was as if a whip were lashing his heart, causing an agony he was powerless to stop.
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Thank you to Dong Hanlele for the peace charm, and thank you to everyone for your support.
