How to Raise a Baby in an Apocalypse - Chapter 8 - I Will Order Takeout For You
“Beep beep, beep beep, beep beep beep!”
The call was made a few more times, yet each time it would always be a busy tone. An Ran waved her phone at the woman in bed number 17 and said, “Busy tone. I guess either the signal isn’t good, or that your husband and mother-in-law are doing some sort of checkup. What do you want to eat? I will order a takeout for you.”
She had a feeling that there would be takeout still at this hour. Even though it was still dark, takeouts should be available at any time, regardless of the hour!
Should the delivery guy arrive, that would prove that getting in and out of the hospital wasn’t difficult, and that the situation might not be as severe as she had imagined. In that case, An Ran would get the delivery guy to go to the information desk on the first floor to find a doctor and tell them that there was a widespread disease on the fourth and fifth floors, and that the babies would need to be transferred as quickly as possible. Should the delivery guy fail to enter, however, then would that mean the hospital was already under lockdown?
Truth be told, it wasn’t that An Ran was too pessimistic, but rather, if there was truly a widespread disease in this society, it would be logical to seal up the source of the disease first thing to prevent it from spreading further.
So if the delivery guy could not come in, then that meant An Ran would not be able to get out either, no matter what. This method of testing out her theory might be a little childish, but she was actively thinking of a plan. An Ran was doing everything she could within her capability and her understanding of cognitive science to communicate with the outside world.
“Thank you, but I have food. Seeing that I can’t move while lying down like this, do you think you can help me retrieve the bread from the cabinet drawers beside the bed?”
The tears finally rolled down the cheeks of the woman in bed number 17. Giving birth to a child was like going in a circle at the gates of hell, especially when she had a cesarean section, where her abdomen was cut eight layers deep. Such a long incision must have caused her excruciating pain after her anesthesia had worn off. But at this very moment, her husband and mother-in-law were nowhere to be found.
An Ran was also aching everywhere, but she had a natural childbirth. Before she decided on going natural, she took the time to check the resources online and found out that increased walking could be beneficial for the discharge of lochia after childbirth. However, she had walked too much today, which far exceeded the normal amount of activity a postpartum woman should perform.
The lochia discharged from her lower body was like opening a faucet in the sink; gushing down in large clumps at the slightest movements. It was sticky too, which caused An Ran to feel extremely uncomfortable.
She went back to her room and just stood beside her bed. She was scared of lying down, because she was afraid that she would not be able to get up once she laid down on her bed.
But when she looked at the woman in bed number 17, she genuinely felt sorry for her. An Ran then went to retrieve the bread from the drawer, and the woman, being polite, even profusely thanked An Ran. Because of that, An Ran did not mind helping her out.
She went around her bed and moved over to open the drawer at bed number 17’s headboard. When she looked inside the drawer, she was surprised. Turning her head toward the groaning woman lying in bed number 17, she asked, “Why do you have so much bread? And there are chocolates, candies, and woah, instant noodles too!”
“When I was still pregnant, I didn’t have any strength left. These are from my husband and my mother-in-law so that I can eat as much as I want and push out the child in one go. In the end, I didn’t get to have one bite and immediately went for a cesarean section instead.”
There was pain apparent on the face of the woman in bed number 17. She seemed like she was thinking of the child delivered via cesarean section before finally showing a faint smile on her face. She laid on her bed and raised her hand to take the loaf of bread that An Ran handed to her. As she opened the packaging, she took out an oval-shaped bread with meat floss on top, which she then handed over to An Ran.
“I see you’re always alone. You must have not eaten anything since last night. Come eat with me.”