Serendipity - A Chance Encounter

She felt miserable and extremely heartbroken that she physically felt the pain in her chest, making it difficult for her to breathe. Her thoughts wandered to a few weeks back when she started feeling weak and she could not believe that she had not known that she was actually pregnant for a while. How could she not have known?

Thinking back, she thought that if she knew, she would have probably done things differently. Her mind was so clouded that she could not think straight and all she did was burst in tears on Daniel"s arms.

He did not know what to say to make her feel better because he himself was also sorrowful. A tear that he was not aware had formed escaped from his closed eye and rolled down his cheek. He hugged her tightly as it was the only thing that he could do for her.

"Why do I feel so sad?" She started. "I did not even plan to get pregnant but why am I so disappointed?"

"Daniel, I feel like… a part of me has left and I-" she choked on her words while she tried to mumble her thoughts, "I did not even notice that I was pregnant. I did not even realize that I wanted to be."

"I was so scared yesterday after taking those tests… I understand that my body is still weak and that I don"t think I am ready to be a mother yet. B-but… but why does it hurt so bad in here?" she tapped her chest a few times as she felt the surge of negative emotions overtake her senses.

She could not comprehend where all the pain was coming from but her emotions were uncontrollable, making her weak and vulnerable.

The sound of her crying caused tremendous pain that Daniel never knew he was capable of feeling. He clenched his jaw and kept stroking her back, allowing her to let go of it all.

"And today… today I was both nervous and excited that I will have that possibility. I am not sure why but there was a part of me that was really happy. But then… but then… the doctor told me that I… I…" Samantha trailed off her sentence. She could not even finish it. She did not dare to finish it — she was too grief-stricken.

"Baby…" was all that Daniel could utter.

"I"m having mixed emotions about it because when she told me that I wasn"t pregnant, I… I suddenly... really really wanted to be." Samantha sobbed some more and started to feel very tired.

Lifting his chin up, Daniel exhaled a sigh when he heard her wish. He too suddenly wanted the same thing but that time was just impossible. "Samantha, we can try again. It may not be our time yet right now, but we can try again later."

She pulled back from his embrace and looked up to him. He saw how deeply hurt she was and how awful she felt. "But that"s the thing. I"m sick, Daniel and you know that. If only I have realized that I was pregnant sooner, I could have taken better care of myself. Maybe… maybe if I did, I wouldn"t have lost it, right?"

"No… Don"t think like that," he wiped her tears away with his thumb and made her look at him. "You can"t blame yourself for this, okay?" He placed a kiss on her forehead before he stared at her and continued, "Didn"t you hear what the doctor said? A chemical pregnancy is unavoidable and we can neither stop it nor intervene to hinder it from happening. So it is not your fault and you have to keep that in mind. It"s okay to be sad about it but you can"t blame yourself. Do you understand?"

Samantha covered her face and whimpered, slumping back to his chest as she continued to feel depressed. She knew that she should not blame herself but she could not help it, it was the lowest pit that she had fallen.

Daniel"s phone beeped and despite wanting to ignore it, he had been waiting for some important news all day. Checking his pockets, he took out his phone and read the text message.

Dr. Nathan Yun: [ How soon can you get to the hospital? I need to talk to you. ]

They were still at the hospital but he needed to meet Nathan alone. Very quickly, Daniel Cho replied.

Daniel: [ I will be there soon. ]

Thinking that he might be needed at work, Samantha tried to stop crying and wiped her tears with a tissue. "You must be busy today. I"m okay if you need to leave."

Daniel did not want to leave Samantha"s side but he had to get to Nathan as soon as possible. "Where do you want to go? Hannah"s? I"ll drive you."

Samantha shook her head. Even though she needed a friend right now, there was one person that she wanted to see at that time of grief. "Take me to my brother."

"Okay," he said before carefully helping her back to her seat, starting the car, and driving it towards Seo Joon"s place.

The drive did not take very long as it was only fifteen minutes away. Once they parked, Samantha got off the car and headed towards the door of her brother"s house, ringing the doorbell as soon as she arrived in front.

When Seo Joon opened the door, Samantha immediately rushed towards him and buried her face on his shoulder.

Taken aback, Seo Joon"s eyes widened as he looked at Daniel, his eyes wondering what happened. "What"s going on?"

"She wanted to see you. I"ll be back later this evening to fetch her." Daniel replied and Seo Joon only nodded, still confused why his sister became emotional.

…

Spring Grove General Hospital

Daniel drove back as soon as he could and hurriedly looked for Nathan Yun in his office. He did not even knock and just opened the door, anxious at what was waiting for him.

Nathan raised his head in surprise and saw Daniel"s disheveled hair, his appearance was quite different than how he normally looked. But one thing remained the same, Nathan could feel his immense aura, radiating the moment he stepped foot in the office.

Curious, he stood up to meet him, "Mr. Cho, please have a seat. Is everything okay?"

Daniel sat on the sofa and ran both of his hands on his face before he told Nathan about their visit in the OB-Gyne earlier.

Nathan was shocked to hear the news. He went back to his table and rummaged through the pile of papers everywhere on his desk before he picked up one file. His eyes scanned through all the numbers until he found what he was looking for.

His heart thumped upon seeing the HCG level in the blood test which was a little over the normal range. He missed it.

Nathan was too busy cross-checking the data that he got from Daniel a couple of days ago and Samantha"s tests to notice that part. Since he tried to be thorough, he included all the units that he could check from her blood but failed to notice that bit.

"How is she?" He asked but Daniel only shook his head, not knowing how to describe their fresh grief yet Nathan understood what he meant so he just nodded, not wanting to press the topic further.

"What did you want to show me?" Daniel urged, bringing the matter at hand.

Getting his focus back on the subject, Nathan retrieved some papers from the table and gave it to Daniel. "I"ve spent two days going through all of it. And… I"m afraid to say that it looks like she was indeed poisoned."

Daniel went over the files in his hands and even though he was not a doctor, Nathan"s notes made it easier for him to understand that from the tests done for Samantha, it matched most of the symptoms that were listed on the paper that Lucas gave him.

He gripped the paper tightly that it crumpled easily. The wave of rage flooded inside him, mixing with the grief that he was experiencing. He could kill someone right at that moment.

Nathan"s hair stood on end when he felt the room suddenly drop in temperature at the same time that he noticed Daniel Cho"s murderous aura. He swore that he had never been scared s.h.i.+t like that.

Swallowing, Nathan started, "I won"t meddle with your business and I will still remain as a doctor. But I am not going to lie that I am also angry that she is harmed. However, this is not what"s important right now. We need to find the antidote or it may be too late for her."

Daniel"s anger slowly sunk but not totally gone. Trying to calm himself, he looked at Nathan and probed, "Can"t you make the antidote?"

Shaking his head, he sat on the chair and replied, "I am not familiar with this and even if we have to make it from scratch, it will take time – which we don"t have."

Daniel got up and was ready to leave, "Keep digging. I"ll see what I can do." He said before he left the office and headed towards his car. All the while thinking about how he was going to find the d.a.m.n antidote.

Once he got inside his car, he took out his phone and dialed Lucas" number. When his call was answered, he told him every little detail.

"I see. I"m sorry, brother. But don"t worry, I will find a way to get that antidote. For now, you should stay with Samantha." Lucas said.

Their call ended and Daniel stayed inside his car just going through all the events that transpired that day. He sat on the driver"s seat for an hour with his eyes closed before he decided that it was time to go back to Seo Joon"s house and fetch his wife.

Later, when he got inside the house, Seo Joon greeted him with a pat on the shoulder. Then he was lead towards the living room where he found Samantha lying on the sofa with a pillow under her head and a blanket over her body.