Pregnant for a stranger.

"Ow! Slow down!" Hayle bit her lip as she gripped the clothes she was wearing. Her anxious face mixed with fear, holding back embarrassment on the bed with her legs wide open. This was the first time she posed like this.

"No need to be too tense, you've done this many times before." A man seemed to smile rather cunningly as he looked at Hayle's still furrowed face.

"Yes, but it's not me experiencing it firsthand," she said somewhat curtly. "Can you do it quickly, Jacob?" Hayle raised her head, trying to look towards the man performing his duty, ensuring he was doing it correctly.

"Patience, Miss Hayle. I also have to be careful." The man sounded quite calm.

"But haven't you done this many times before?" Hayle stared at the unadorned white ceiling. The coldness of the room made her shiver to the point where she had to clamp her lips to hide her chattering teeth. Contrary to before, this place used to be somewhere she frequented.

"Yes, I have done it many times. But not for a virgin." Jacob stood and looked at Hayle's still silent face. "Hayle, I ask you again, are you sure you want to do all this?" He peered to fully see the woman's expression, her body may be in this room, but her mind and heart wandered, far away from this place.

Those beautiful brown eyes gazed back at the man who seemed to look at her with sympathetic eyes between his legs. Somehow her tears flowed freely and her chest tightened. Perhaps it was the effect of the painkillers flowing in her blood. She tried to think of it that way. Even though she knew that wasn't what caused it.

She had to do it. There was no other way. This was the only way she could regain the love of Lucas, her former fiancé who had been with her for 11 years. But, three months ago, he decided to end it, then within a week he announced his engagement to the director's daughter where Lucas and Hayle worked. It was all a reality that still felt like a dream to Hayle.

"Yes! I'm sure. After one month of enduring painful injections. I can't just stop. Just do it quickly." Hayle said weakly. As if her throat had just been choked by something.

Jacob focused his gaze again on the woman's sorrowful face. He took a deep breath, if he wasn't close friends with this woman. He wouldn't want to do something that actually violated his code of ethics.

"You can. You still have a choice, Hayle. Being left by him doesn't mean the sky is falling." Jacob returned to sit in his examination chair. Looking towards his two nurses while nodding slowly. A sign that the procedure would be done soon.

Yes! For Hayle, when Lucas walked away from her life. Her whole world crumbled, the sunshine seemed to be taken away by the man, leaving her in an endless storm. Engulfed in grief and drowned in the pain of a broken heart. Her days were no longer passionate. They had no purpose.

She had become too dependent on him. For a woman who was alone in the world, finding true love and having Vang accompany her through difficult times, growing together, navigating the turbulent world with all its ups and downs. He was everything to Hayle. Her first love that she hoped would be her everlasting love. Eleven years together, how could Hayle let him go just like that especially when they were about to get married?

"Once again, you don't have to do this, Hayle. If you want to have a child from that bastard! why not just sleep with him directly?" Jacob tried to hold back his emotions. Who knows, can love make people this foolish. It's already clear that he was openly betrayed, yet this woman still wants to be with someone like him. Love does make people blind, deaf, and foolish. That's why he vowed not to involve himself in such matters. He was comfortable enough with himself.

"Yes, I have to do it." Hayle sobbed harder upon hearing Jacob's words. She didn't really want to do this, but...

"You're surrendering your virginity to this scalpel. Truly wasting the most important thing for you." Jacob reluctantly proceeded. Tearing the woman's hymen in front of him so he could insert another instrument to create a pathway for insemination.

"I regret it. Maybe that's why he left me."

"Regret what?! Regret not letting him sleep with you for 11 years?! Why regret that? It's the greatest thing I know! You made yourself valuable, Hayle, unlike... Ah! I don't want to mention her name. I'm sure he seduced her with such things and Lucas, I'll say it again, he's not worthy of you. You were about to get married soon, but he chose that woman!" Jacob couldn't hold back anymore. As a friend who understands the path of this woman's life, he knows her qualities. Unfortunately, Jacob feels he is Asexual. Someone who has no interest in men or women.

Hayle took a deep breath, then looked back at her friend. "Jacob, just do it."

"Hah! Alright! Hold on, it might sting a bit. I'll widen the entrance with a speculum." Jacob finally started the procedure to perform artificial insemination by inserting a catheter directly into Hayle's womb.

Hayle squeezed her clothes tighter, trying to endure the pain of feeling something invasive entering her body. It didn't actually hurt much because half of her body had been given painkillers. It just felt strange to her as she had never had anything enter her body before.

"Done!" Jacob's voice sounded loud as he stood up and removed his gloves. "You know what to do, right? Just wait four weeks to see if this works or not."

"It has to work!" Hayle's eyes stared at Jacob, who took a deep breath and exhaled shortly. He has long known how ambitious this woman is.

"You know the success rate of artificial insemination is only 37.9 percent. It doesn't even come close to 50 percent, so what if it doesn't work?" Jacob looked at the woman who had ruined her life just for a man who wasn't worthy at all. It's pathetic.

"We'll try again. We'll try with IVF." Hayle looked away. She didn't want to see the scornful look from her colleague.

"You're crazy, Hayle! Totally crazy! What makes you so sure that if you get pregnant with Lucas's child, he will cancel his marriage to Sonia and marry you? That man has been using you all this time, when he has a mountain of gold elsewhere, he'll jump from you."

"Because I know Lucas loves children very much. He won't refuse and will come back to me." Hayle stood firm in her stance. Hoping desperately that it would align with her thoughts.

She would do anything to get her man back. Even if it meant tearing her virginity on the operating table. She believed Lucas would come back to her! That man! Hayle was even out of words.

"Well, seeing your determination so strong. I sincerely hope your efforts succeed even though I still don't like that man. By the way, everything is done. You'll be taken to the recovery room soon. I'll get ready first." Jacob smiled sweetly at his friend. Patting Hayle's shoulder, which was just covered by the nurse who had assisted in the insemination procedure.

Hayle just nodded quietly, smiling sweetly. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Jacob walked away from his special room in his insemination clinic. He stopped for a moment at the sink outside the room to wash his hands, a mandatory procedure before and after performing a procedure. And suddenly he was attracted by the behavior of one of his nurses who quickly approached him.

"Doctor?! Has Miss Hayle's procedure been completed?" the nurse asked, her face pale and her breath ragged.

"Yes, of course! It's just finished." Jacob furrowed his brow, looking at the nurse who appeared visibly troubled. As if she was cursing herself. "What's the matter?" Jacob asked, curious why his nurse was behaving like this?

The nurse seemed quite afraid to say it. But, reluctantly, she had to say it. She approached Jacob, who seemed to understand the movements of his nurse who approached to whisper.

"Doctor, it seems that the sperm samples got mixed up."

"WHAT!!!" Jacob's voice filled the entire corridor of the clinic, and his face immediately contorted. How could this happen, and unlucky for him, why did it have to be in his hands and also involving his friend?

Damn it! What should he do now?

"How could this happen!" Jacob slapped his forehead hard, his face filled with worry. Of course, he was very shocked; this should never have happened at all. Not only had he violated his code of ethics by using someone's sperm without permission, but to make matters worse, something like this happened.

"We don't understand either. The label said Mr. Lucas's name. So we handed it over as usual. However, when we scanned the barcode, it showed Mr. J's." The nurse, whose face was pale and trembling, looked confused about how to explain it to Jacob.

Although Jacob wasn't a doctor who liked to get angry, the mistake they made was indeed very serious. It was their standard operating procedure to ensure the samples they would use. Just because there had never been anything wrong with the sample labels before, they overlooked this.

"Who the hell is Mr. J?" Jacob furrowed his brow, looking towards the place where they had matched the samples with a photocopy of the labels in their administrative room. It indeed showed the same thing. Jacob was confused. How could the name on the label be different from the one on the barcode?

"We don't know, sir. That's the only thing mentioned here. There's no other information." Another nurse tried to show what was displayed on her computer screen.

The muscles around Jacob's eyes began to twitch and crinkle as he looked at the strange data shown by his nurse. Indeed, there was no information at all about someone named Mr. J. So which one was correct? Whose sperm was this? Lucas's or Mr. J's?

"Doctor, what should we do?" the nurse still looked anxious. Her career could be at risk if something happened.

Jacob took a deep breath, straightening his posture. He held his chin in a thoughtful pose. Calming himself momentarily. "I think this is not our fault either. It clearly says Lucas's name here, but the barcode is different. We don't know if this belongs to Mr. J or indeed belongs to Lucas." Jacob tried to analyze what was in his mind. "Try to find Mr. J's sperm sample, is there any?"

"No," the other nurse said firmly. "I immediately looked for his sample when I found out that this might be mixed up. Mr. Lucas's sample is also not there."

Jacob fell silent again, his face looking pensive. "Perhaps it's just an input data error. Maybe the nurse who received it didn't enter Lucas's data correctly. Who inputted this sample?" Jacob tried to think calmly. This wasn't final yet; there was still a possibility that it wasn't their fault.

"Rosita. But she's not here today." The nurse who had called Jacob earlier answered immediately.

"Okay, then, tomorrow make sure she comes in. Whether there's a schedule or not! She has to meet me. And about this, only the three of us know! Don't let it leak anywhere! Understand?!" Jacob admonished both nurses, whose faces had been pale all along. Their whole bodies felt numb because of this issue.

"Understood, Doctor."

"Besides, the success rate is low. We also don't know if this insemination will be successful or not. Hah! Hopefully fertilization doesn't occur." Jacob took a deep breath. It seemed that doing something wrong always felt very heavy. Strangely, why could people outside there easily commit sins? Just like that, his heart already wanted to detach.

"And find out who the man labeled Mr. J is?!" Jacob said again with all his emotions.

Ah! Even though he already had a reason not to be afraid, why was his heart still uneasy?

***

The almond-shaped eyes with dark brown retinas and eyelashes as delicate as doll's lashes were still open. Staring blankly upwards, timeless even though the day had changed. In the silent midnight, all those memories came flooding back.

Hayle would never forget. Her last dinner with Lucas. It was a peaceful night, not even the rustle of the wind could be heard, but the lightning struck her so hard.

"Let's just end our relationship." Those words slipped out so gracefully, smoothly, as if the man decided to end their 11-year relationship effortlessly.

Hayle, who had just wanted to cut into the medium-rare steak in front of her, suddenly froze. Honestly, her whole world stopped, maybe even her heart at that moment. It felt like a hard object had struck her head, leaving her feeling empty. She forgot to breathe.

"You want to surprise me, huh? Come on, I'm really hungry, two C-section surgeries today have drained my energy." Hayle could still think that Lucas's words were just a joke, even though she had been with this man for 11 years, she knew he wasn't a humorous man.

"I'm not joking. Hayle, we're done." Lucas took a deep breath and stood up abruptly.

Leaving Hayle still silent as if she had received a second wave of tsunami. Her body remained intact, but everything inside her felt numb. Numb, before the incredible pain attacked her body, as if a thousand needles were being pierced into her, every inch of her hurt, and she couldn't even cry, Hayle was incapable.

That night until the next night was a tormenting hell for Hayle. She never knew what the problem was, nor could Lucas explain it even though she asked repeatedly. He just avoided her, and as if a pile of trash from the past, Lucas was disgusted with her. As if those eleven years were just dust.

Until suddenly, on the hospital's anniversary of the day Hayle and Lucas worked together, exactly one week after they broke up. Hayle had to swallow the bitterest pill again. Lucas and Sonia, the daughter of the company's director where they worked, got engaged. At that moment, Hayle almost fainted, and luckily she managed to leave, even though afterwards she really could only collapse weakly in the empty room next to the hall where the man celebrated his engagement with great fanfare. After that, Lucas was like something that had never existed in Hayle's world.

He was happy, and Hayle was devastated, sinking to the lowest depths of pain:

The sound of the door opening made Hayle return to the dim, quiet clinic room. She frowned as she looked at the wall clock ticking slowly, accompanying her night. Almost 2 in the morning. Who suddenly opened the door that was previously closed? She intentionally didn't lock it, because usually some nurses would come in to check on her at the time she should be sleeping, and besides, she shouldn't move too much now.

But the sound of the creaking door was no longer heard. However, Hayle clearly saw a gap in the door. This immediately made Hayle's heart beat faster. She even had to sit down to look towards the door in the dim light of the ward.

"Who's there?!" Hayle shouted hoarsely.

Why did Hayle suddenly feel uneasy?

"Hey! Don't mess around!" Hayle shouted with held breath, wiping away the tears that remained. She slowly slid her feet off the edge of the bed, hanging them above the examination table. With a tense expression and her hair standing on end due to the thoughts racing through her mind, Hayle dared to slide down even though the middle part of her thighs still hurt. "I-I-I'm not afraid of you! Show yourself!" Hayle shouted again.

Although if someone suddenly appeared behind that door with the images now in her mind, the first thing Hayle would do would surely be to faint. As strong as she was in facing strange things as a doctor, she was still afraid if a woman covered in blood without a head or with hollow eyes suddenly appeared.

"Hey! Hayle!"

"AAAA!!!!" Hayle screamed with all the surprise, fear, and heart palpitations in her voice. Even when the figure in white showed itself, Hayle immediately closed her eyes. She didn't want to see who was actually in front of her.

"Hayle! Hayle! Calm down! Be quiet! It's me!" Jacob immediately caught Hayle's trembling, still screaming body. Her eyes closed, indicating immense horror. It took several shakes for Hayle to finally calm down. "Hayle! Snap out of it! Don't make me slap you!" Jacob threatened, somehow managing to calm the woman.

Hayle slowly opened her eyes, and with a face that instantly turned angry, she felt like scratching Jacob's face. "Jacob! Damn you! I almost died standing there."

"Technically, with your age and the results of your heart examination showing no problems, that's not possible. At most, you just fainted," the baby-faced man said with a small laugh, as if he felt no guilt for making Hayle's heart almost jump out of her chest.

"What are you doing here?! It's already two in the morning? There's no night shift in this clinic, right?" Hayle asked, slowly returning to her bed. Forgetting that she needed to rest.

Actually, for ordinary patients, after the procedure and being declared okay, they would be allowed to go home immediately. But because Hayle was a special patient and she had just intentionally injured herself in her genital area, Jacob himself requested observation. Afraid of unwanted bleeding even though he was very sure it wouldn't happen.

"Uh, I can't sleep."

Yeah! Jacob couldn't sleep thinking about what he had done to Hayle earlier. Somehow, it haunted him. And, as his spiritual advisor said, if something bothers you so much in your mind even though you already have the answer, it means something bad will happen. Jacob believed in all of that.

"Why?"

"You're not sleeping either!" Jacob tried to change the subject.

"Yeah. I'm not used to sleeping in a new place," Hayle sighed.

"Just say you're still thinking about that jerk again."

Hayle remained silent with a thin but melancholic smile. What else could she say? She shouldn't have hidden it from Jacob. This man, even though he worked in a different place from her, knew everything.

Somehow, Hayle felt more comfortable talking to this man than to her female friends.

"By the way, Hayle!" Jacob suddenly raised his voice again. In the middle of almost touching dawn, the man sounded very enthusiastic.

"What is it?"

"Uh, if I may ask...." Jacob seemed to look away, his feet moving like someone operating an old sewing machine. Seeing that, Hayle furrowed her brows; she knew he always did that when he was nervous. "Where did you get Lucas's sperm sample? I'm just curious. Didn't you say you never had relations with him, and you've been broken up for months now. So... how? Did you...?" Jacob squinted his eyes while touching his lips.

"What are you thinking?! You pervert! You claim to be asexual, yet you're thinking such inappropriate things!" Hayle exclaimed, equally spirited in the middle of the night like this. Fortunately, there were no patients being treated near Hayle's room. Just a few people who wanted to give birth on the Jain side of the building.

"So what? You couldn't just come and say, 'Hey, Lucas! I need your sperm so I can conceive your child!' and then what?!" Jacob wasn't about to back down.

"I took it when he submitted a sample for a health test."

"And then you brought it here?"

"Well, of course. Where else would I take it? You're the only one willing to help me, right?" Hayle said, slightly puzzled.

"Oh, right! Then, when you handed it over, did you give it to Rosita?" Jacob's face looked wrinkled, his tone of voice was already like a police officer interrogating a witness.

"Uh, I think the nurse's name was Rosita." Although Hayle had been here several times, she wasn't sure who Rosita was.

"When you handed it over, was she handling other sperm samples? Maybe at the same time as Lucas's?" Jacob seemed a bit fired up.

"Well..." Hayle paused for a moment to wrack her brain. "Maybe yes, maybe no. I don't really remember. Why?"

Jacob let out a very audible sigh of disappointment. Moreover, he immediately grabbed his head in frustration. Of course, that made Hayle immediately suspicious of her friend's behavior.

"What's wrong?" Hayle narrowed her eyes at her friend, who sometimes seemed fidgety. A fitting style for him as an obstetrician.

"Oh, nothing. Hayle, what if we just call off this insemination for now and try again next month? I think I may have inserted the wrong sperm earlier. The success rate is also very low, so what do you think?" Jacob asked with a smile that was becoming increasingly suspicious.

"No! You know how much I've struggled with those hormone injections every day. They've been messing with my mood so much that I can't even eat. And after going through all of this, even tearing my hymen, you want to call it off?" said Hayle, who was clearly getting emotional. Ever since she started taking hormones to mature her eggs, her emotions had been more volatile.

"But we can start again next month. It's better with IVF. And for you, it's all free!" Jacob tried to sweeten the deal.

"No!" Hayle replied firmly, shattering Jacob's hopes. "What's really going on? I'm starting to suspect you! You know, you're terrible at hiding things."

"What?! There's nothing! No problem at all. I just sympathize with you. If this fails, you'll be very upset. So instead of hoping for this slim chance, why not just start the IVF program right away?!" Jacob tried to come up with a reason, although it didn't make much sense.

"No need. I'm sure this time will work. I just know it!" said Hayle, looking at her still very flat stomach and gently caressing it. Somehow, her confidence felt deeply ingrained.

Jacob could only grin. "Well, I hope so."

I hope it doesn't happen, Jacob continued in his mind. Because until now, he didn't know which one was wrong. The label or the barcode. And hopefully, Mr. J never existed.

In the deserted hallway of the clinic, someone stood not far from Hayle's open door where Jacob had been. He listened to the entire conversation with a blank expression and narrowed eyes. After feeling like he had gotten what he needed, the man in the all-black suit slowly left the place with determined steps.

After walking a few steps, he took out his phone from his pocket and made a call.

"Sir, I think I've found it."

At the other end of the phone, a man with a palpable aura sat, his eyes sharp.

His facial expression was as cold as the Antarctic ice. Freezing the courage of anyone nearby. With a single grunt, he ended the call.