"I am so happy, at this point, nothing can go wrong," I told myself while looking in the mirror and admiring my image.
"Lana, you are living your best life," I told myself while smiling and singing along to my favourite song playing in the background.
I just graduated with my second degree and all I wanted to do was teach at a children's school. I didn't have a hard time finding a job because I was so good at what I did.
I got a job at White Penny Schools where I became their art teacher. It was a high school so there were basically teenagers everywhere. Gosh I enjoy teaching kids. I believe as teachers, you have an incredible opportunity to contribute positively to another human being.
And if you do a good job, you would have contributed to the success of an individual. I never took this opportunity as a teacher for granted.
"Make sure to do all your assignments, see you next week," I said to my students as they all rushed out of the classroom.
Larry and Emily came to see me. They are best friends and they were very close to me.
"Goodbye Lana, we're going to miss you," they said with cute smiles on their faces.
"Aww, am going to miss you too," I replied, gently rubbing their hair simulteneously.
"Have a great weekend and tell me all about it next week okay," I added, while waving at them as they walked away.
I quickly prepared myself and drove out so I wouldn't miss my appointment at the clinic. I've been itching down there so I booked an appointment so I could get checked out.
I arrived a little bit late but I waited for the two people that were there before me. As soon as it was my turn, I went in for the virginal swab that I was told to do, or so I thought.
When I was done, I headed home to unwind for the weekend so I could have fun with my friends. I had a follow up appointment much later but I started feeling sick weeks later. Something was definitely wrong somewhere, so I went back to the clinic for additional tests.
Imagine walking into a clinic after a busy day to find out why you started feeling sick just weeks after your last appointment, only to be told you're pregnant even when you're not dating anyone at the time. Imagine the shock on my face.
"What !!! That can't be", I said confidently.
"Lana Mendez, I am a medical doctor with years of experience and I am telling you that you're pregnant," Dr Evelyn Harper repeated.
Still on the examination table, I clenched my head tightly with both my hands, almost ripping out some strands of hair in confusion.
"How can this be?" I protested. "but I only came in for a virginal swab," I insisted.
It was at this point, that Dr Harper knew that she messed up.
"Oh my God !!! Oh my God!!! she repeated.
She ran out of the clinic before I could demand for answers.
Dr. Evelyn Harper apparently juggles a failing marriage and a high pressure clinic (ClinoWest fertility clinic). She's also struggling to stay composed irrespective of all this chaos.
The cracks in her life are becoming too loud to ignore. She hadn't had a good sleep in almost three days since she catching her husband, Mark Harper with another woman. His silly reason was that she was too busy for him.
Her mother who struggles with dementia mistook her for a nurse yet again on the same day and this made everything extremely difficult for her to handle. She was a good doctor but had one too many issues to handle all at once.
She owned ClinoWest fertility clinic. It was her evidence of had work and she did everything she could to keep it running smoothly.
"Good morning Dr. Harper, you have several procedures today including a virginal swab and an artificial insemination," her assistant, Lucy said.
"Oh great, I'll start immediately then", she responded.
Evelyn had the worse weekend of her life. Her mom was already in the nursing home sick with dementia. Then she walked in on her husband of five years. It was a terrible, yet unbelievable sight for her.
She cried all through the weekend but headed back to the clinic to work. She said keeping her mind busy was exactly what she needed to do. She had other procedures that day including mine, but mine was a little similar to that of the next woman.
I was booked for a virginal swab and the other lady was booked for an artificial insemination. It also didn't help that our names were very similar. My name is Lana Mendez while her name was Luna Mendy.
Dr Evelyn was already having personal problems so she was easily distracted. I was inseminated while the other woman went on with the procedure intended for me. Everything seemed normal until a few weeks later.
I started feeling really sick and I immediately went to the clinic to get checked out. This was when Evelyn told me the shocking news that I was pregnant. I couldn't believe it.
After a little back and forth at the clinic, it was discovered that Dr Evelyn had made a serious mistake. She didn't double check the labels as she should have.
This mistake didn't claim a life, but it created one. She was shocked and devastated. Now she has both family and professional issues to deal with. Oh it was really a bad period for her.
"I am a young teacher who is neither married nor currently in a relationship, how can I explain this pregnancy to my family?" I said, with tears pouring and a headache brewing.
"I am so sorry Lana, I still can't believe this happened," she said to me, looking visibly distraught.
"Sorry is not going to fix this, how can this happen to me? How can you be this unprofessional?" I asked, while shedding some more tears and feeling frustrated.
Being a mother is a lovely experience when one is prepared and ready for it. But this was not how I expected to become a mother.
Another appointment was fixed at a later date few days away so I and the father could discuss what to do next and how we intend to handle the situation.
That night I just couldn't sleep. I kept thinking bout the whole incident. I had mixed feelings. I felt like aborting the pregnancy, suing the doctor and the hospital and many other crazy thoughts.
I was in so much emotional pain, it was as if my whole life was snatched away from me. How can this be? My life was going on so perfectly, now I have to deal with all this? The day for the meeting at the clinic came.
I skipped school to attend this meeting because this was a serious matter.
When I entered the meeting room, I saw a familiar face. It was the lady I saw on the day of the insemination. We saw each other but we didn't really speak.
Dr Evelyn was also in the room.
"Lana, this is Luna Mendy, the lady who was intended for the insemination. Then it all made sense to me. She did my procedure and I did hers. We shook hands and I sat down.
Shortly after, a strong but pleasant scent filled the air. It was so pleasant that I closed my eyes for a bit to enjoy the fragrance. With my eyes still closed, I could hear a deep but calm voice responding to greetings from the staff at ClinoWest clinic.
Next thing I knew, a young man walked in. He had on, the perfume that smelt so nice. I didn't know him but he was good looking, wore a nice suit, soft spoken but in an eloquent manner.
He shook Dr Evelyn and embraced Luna before proceeding to take his sit. I couldn't wait to have a clearer picture of what was going on.
"First of all, I'd like to apologize to all the parties affected in this avoidable mistake of mine. I am truly sorry," Dr Evelyn said with so much regret for what she had done.
"Lana, this is Adrian Cole, the ceo of Cole Chain Enterprise. He wanted the insemination done on Luna but because of my mistake it was done on you. He is the father of your child," Dr Evelyn said to me.
I immediately froze, I was speechless for some seconds.
"He is younger than I thought. Adrian cole, the tech guru? I asked myself quietly.
His name rings a bell but I had never met him in person, it was my first time meeting him. Apparently, he has been trying to have a child through his distant relative Lana, and this would have been their third trial.
"Adrian, this is Lana, the young lady that was inseminated instead. I recently found out she was pregnant so I had to schedule this meeting," she said, directing the statement to Adrian who was staring at me the whole time she spoke.
"Its nice to meet you and am also sorry for what you've gone through as a result of all this," he said to me as he leaned in for a handshake.
"Thank you, I responded while shaking him.
"So what's the way forward I asked? I asked.
"Have you decided to keep the baby or not," Evelyn asked.
"Excuse me !! How can she alone determine that? The child is also mine, I should have a say," Adrian said, feeling sidelined.
Do you know the things I have to go through because of this child? I asked Adrian. Am sorry but this is my decision to make and not your's," I said firmly.
"You're wrong, this child is mine so I do have rights," he responded.
"You're wrong," I said again.s
"Excuse me," he said, looking at me and wondering who I was to challenge him over his own child.
"She's right, Evelyn said, its her body, her time and her life on the line so she's within her right to decide whether to keep the baby or not."
Adrian looked so powerless. With all his wealth, a big decision like this one lies in the hands of a strange girl he just met less than two hours ago.