Ghost of My Heart

Chapter 16

"Chickenpox?" Dr Tiana's face got twisted. She examined the face before her.

There were no red spots or rashes on the patient’s face. But, she looked very healthy with her glowing skin. In the doctor’s eyes, she looked like a newlywed.

So, Dr Tiana asked kindly, "Can I trouble you to show me where in the part of your body do the rashes appear?”

"It is all over my body!" Jennet replied. Her face was the embodiment of worry. Then, she added, "Maybe it is because I am allergic to something. Last night before bed, I ate spicy noodles. But, I have been eating noodles for as long as I can remember. I have never gotten these red spots on me." She showed her stomach to the female doctor.

Dr Tiana listened attentively to her while looking at the reddish-purple marks on her skin. Her brows furrowed. 'Well, these red spots look weird. It is not even rashes caused by chickenpox,' she thought.

The marks that her patient claimed as rashes looked exactly like hickeys!

Dr Tiana looked at Jennet again, "I want to examine these reddish-purple marks even closer, so can you take your shirt off behind that blind?" She pointed towards an area that was covered by a blue curtain.

Jennet nodded her head as she rose from her seat and went behind the curtain and did as she was told. Dr Tiana took a closer look at her body that was full of small reddish-purple marks that left the doctor to wonder what might have happened to her.

"Is it itchy?" she asked when she scratched on one of the marks near Jennet’s neck.

"No," Jennet replied.

"Is it painful if I touch it?" she asked again as she pressed her finger on the affected area. Again, Jennet replied with a clear 'no'.

"What is it? Is it an allergy rash?" Jennet asked while glancing at the female doctor.

Dr Tiana went silent for a while. She was contemplating whether she should laugh or get mad at her. She glanced at the troubled looking face in front of her.

'Is she stupid or have no idea what these marks are? These are hickeys!' she grumbled in her head. She knew so well what those reddish-purple marks were because her husband always left those on her every time they spent their time together.

Dr Tiana cleared her throat and she asked Jennet to put on her shirt. They went back to their seats. She wrote something in the medical report.

"So, what is my sickness?" Jennet asked again, eager to know the answer.

The female doctor coughed softly. "I am sorry to ask. But, may I know if you are married?" she asked calmly while looking at Jennet.

Jennet frowned. 'What does this have to do with me being married or not? This will be the second time people asked me the same question. Well, let's just say I am married.'

She was a bit annoyed by it, but lying a little won’t hurt, right?

"Yes, I am married," she answered the doctor. “But, what does it have to do with me being married or not? Is it a serious sickness?” she asked innocently, still as oblivious as a baby.

Dr Tiana examined her puzzled expression and she wanted to laugh. But, she held the laughter as hard as she could. “How many time did you spend your time together?” she asked referring to the time their share their intimate moment.

Jennet scratched her neck, confused. ‘How many times? Well, if people are married, they spend their time together all of the time, right?’ she thought, unaware of the real meaning behind the question.

So, she answered with a straight face, “All of the time, I guess.”

Dr Tiana inhaled deeply. ‘Feisty couple!’

Then, the doctor cleared her throat and explained, "Your sickness is not life-threatening. These reddish-purple marks were caused by aggressive kissing or sucking of the soft skin. It caused the capillaries beneath the skin to rupture,” she explained. She hoped for her patient to understand the simple explanation.

Jennet eyed her while smiling puzzlingly; confused, still, at the explanation.

There was silence among them as they eyed each other awkwardly. One hoped that the other to understand. The other one hopes for a much better explanation. But, neither one of the two can pick a better moment to speak.

Finally, Dr Tiana took the lead and spoke. "It is caused by your husband who is being too intense on your body. That is your sickness.” She smiled at last. ‘Ah, I hope she understands.’

Jennet coughed out of the blue. “I am sorry, I don’t quite understand. The sickness was caused by my husband who is so intense?”

‘That is ridiculous. I am not even married yet. Why would the doctor said I have an intense husband? I thought lying about my status would escalate the process of finding out my illness but it worsens the situation with a ridiculous diagnosis,’ she grumbled inwardly.

Dr Tiana smiled apologetically at her. She had no other explanation deemed better to tell to make her understand the main cause of her sickness.

'What is wrong with this woman? Has she not known anything about the bedroom thingy?' she cried inwardly. She hoped to cry but couldn’t do it in front of a patient.

"For how long have you been married?" she asked Jennet another question while smiling warmly.

"Not for long. Just recently getting married," Jennet replied, telling her another lie. Her head was occupied by possibilities that she may get a severe illness that the doctor refused to tell her.

Dr Tiana inhaled a deep breath. 'No wonder. That does explain how intense her husband is.' She cannot imagine and wish not to imagine how intense the couple were when they were alone.

“But, I am still confused about the explanation,” Jennet told her. “Am I going to die?” she asked. She was serious about her health problem because she had planned a lot for her future. In short, she had a lot on her bucket list!

"You are not going to die,” Dr Tiana chuckled, “but, you have to tell your husband to take everything slowly. Your sickness will fade away in one to two weeks or more. After that, remember to come back for a pregnancy test. In short, you are perfectly healthy," she said, concluding it all in the medical reports as she wrote it down with neat handwriting.

Jennet lost the ability to talk as she processed and tried to make sense out of the diagnosis. However, nothing could be linked to the concern she had in mind. ‘Tell my husband to take everything slowly? Pregnancy test? What does this have to do with my sickness?!’

Jennet was still in the blur and was at a loss when she took the medical report and tucked it inside her handbag.

When Dr Tiana handed two small boxes to her, fine creases appeared between her brows. “Um, can I ask what is it for?” she asked while clearing her throat. But, she still took it and exchanged glances between the doctor and the boxes in her hand.

Dr Tiana straightened her back with ease as a wide smile appeared on her face. "These are pregnancy test kits. Judging from the redness of those hickeys on your body, you have 99 per cent of conceiving, unless your husband practices precautions then, just keep these kits for future use," she explained.

Jennet was about to tell the truth but, Dr Tiana had called for another patient to enter the room. So, she left the consultation room with the pregnancy test kit. After a while of staying in a daze, she tucked them inside her handbag.

She stepped out of the hospital, thinking hard about the diagnosis of her illness. "Hickeys? The rashes are hickeys?” she mumbled like a woman who had lost her mind. “Hickeys caused by a husband who does not even exist…”

She chuckled in disbelief and glanced back at the building. “Ah, I think I’m going crazy…” She cried alone. Then, she went home, feeling sullen.

Then, as soon as she parked the car on the porch, she thought of something. "Oh, the frivolous dream from last night. Could that be the cause?”

The dream of meeting the handsome and, at the same time, oddly beautiful man named Hue Hedo must have been the cause of her body getting the so-called ‘hickeys’. Maybe she tossed and turned in bed while dreaming, and hit herself which left all of the red and purple marks all over her body.

Jennet shook her head thinking how absurd her mind had been after coming back from the hospital. She went to the backyard and got her laundry before entering her villa with a muddled mind.

Meanwhile, behind a tree in the backyard, Hue Hedo was squatting while hiding from Jennet that came to fetch her laundry moments ago. His long hair touched the ground because it had grown to his waist now.