"Did you hear her? The baby's almost out. Just keep going, do your best not to pass out. You can make it, Leena!" Daisy kept talking to her, as if the pain from Leena's grasp meant nothing. She knew all too well that in order to give a successful birth, there was a lot of suffering in the process. All of this, after making it through, was going to be worth it.
"Kevin!" Leena couldn't help but scream as she pushed through the pain, and squeezed the baby out. An immediate silence ensued after her cry and the medical workers' voice. Then, after what seemed to be a long time, a baby's loud cry broke the silence. Everyone had a smile on their face at the sound. Truly, it was music to their ears. Seeing the baby in the doctor's hands, Leena smiled weakly. But before she could manage to say anything, she had lost consciousness.
"Leena? What's the matter? Can you hear me?" asked Daisy, panicking as she noticed Leena's grasp loosening. "Doctor, please," cried Daisy, as Leena started losing color again. "You have to come here and check her at once."
Hurrying over to Leena's side, the doctor checked her pupils. To Daisy's surprise, the doctor gave her a smile and said, "Don't worry," she said, letting out a relieved sigh. "She just fainted out of fatigue. I'm sure she'll come around after having some rest."
"It's a healthy baby boy," said the doctor gleefully while approaching Daisy. "Weighing nearly eight pounds. Congratulation!" Upon seeing the baby, Daisy couldn't help but smile again. It was definitely no easy job to give birth to such an adorable chubby boy.
Meanwhile, the men waiting outside were overjoyed. "Did you hear that?" asked Rain in excitement. "The baby's born!"
"We're not deaf, Rain," Edward said exasperatedly, glaring at Rain. "Just don't make a fuss over it, will you?" Apparently, Rain was the most enthusiastic out of all the men. His scream earlier startled the others, and it nearly drove them mad.
"I'm sorry," said Rain impishly. "I was too happy and I couldn't help it." He then glanced at his boss and lowered his head. Fearing that his boss would have him dragged out of there, he cleared his throat and tried to behave himself.
"I wonder if Leena's all right," Duke asked in concern. He worried about his sister, almost like how parents cared about their children. And it was for good reason. Due to the sensitivity of Leena's health in the past, he was secretly more concerned with how she was doing.
"She should be fine," Tom assured. "The prenatal examinations showed normal findings. There shouldn't be any complication." While accidents could still happen, Tom certainly wouldn't leave it to chance. Especially not with Leena.
"Here we are," said a nurse coming out of the delivery room, wheeling the bassinet towards the men with a bright smile. They all gathered around it. "Say hello to our little prince," she said. Since Daisy was still anxious about Leena, she didn't leave the woman's side and stayed in the delivery room.
"Wow, let me have a look at him!" Rain bent down to look at the baby, and grinned. "So this little guy over here is the one who made Leena suffer?" A typical reaction from him, the others simply shared a look. They were all just used to his antics. He probably couldn't stop himself even if he tried.
"How's the mother?" Duke asked the nurse, ignoring Rain. "Is she all right?"
"Tom, take a look!" Duke asked, directing Tom's attention towards Leena. "What's wrong with her? Why hasn't she come around yet?" It was the worried brother's turn to jump to his feet like a cat on hot bricks.
Tom replied in a hushed voice, "Calm down, man. She'll wake up soon after regaining her strength. You probably shouldn't make such a noise again as you might wake her up, you know." Surprised, he never knew that the cold and distant Duke could act like a nagging old woman. Time and again, Tom was forced to explain to him that Leena would be fine. But Duke, who had a hard time taking his word for it, kept asking the same question around.
"Has Mrs. Gu woken up yet?" asked Lucy, who came with a lunch box. "I brought her some chicken soup." The woman appeared to be in her forties. She was rather well-mannered. She almost seemed like a city-born woman.
"Not yet. You can just put it on the bedside table," Daisy replied, smiling. "She can eat it right after she gets up later." Chicken soup was universally known to be good for women who had just given birth. So naturally, Lucy felt that Leena had to eat as much as she needed.
"I've got work to do at the army base," Daisy said, lifting her hand to check her watch. "Sorry, I'm going to have to run now." Edward, who was listening, happened to notice the scratches on her wrist.
"What are those? Are you hurt?" He grabbed her quickly, and took a closer look at the wounds. Frowning, he found that there were many of them.
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