Chapter Text
In the late afternoon of Srinakharinwirot University's in-campus dorm, a young student who was supposed to be stressed about classes is in a dilemma for another reason.
Orm Sethratanapong stared at the thin plastic stick in her trembling hand.
Two lines. Clear. Not Faint. And undeniable.
Positive.
Her dorm room felt suddenly too small, the air too heavy. Outside the window, Bangkok’s evening traffic hummed like any other night. Cars honking, motorbikes weaving, life going on as if her own world hadn’t just tilted off its axis.
“This… can’t be right,” she muttered. Hands trembling.
At twenty-two, Orm was a third-year Business Economics student at Srinakharinwirot University’s International Program. Her days were supposed to be filled with lectures, case studies, and late-night group work. Not pregnancy.
Certainly not this surprising pregnancy, which popped out of nowhere. Orm was sure that it was just a mistake, but with 3 other kits on her table showing the same sign, she wasn’t sure what was true anymore.
She pressed a hand over her flat stomach, confusion tightening her chest.
She was a virgin. That is a fact, as she had never slept with anyone. Orm hadn’t dated anyone nor made a drunken mistake and had a one-night stand. So she was wondering how she got pregnant.
In fact, she only had the pregnancy kit because her friend and former classmate, Lilly, joked about her being pregnant when she was vomiting yesterday’s lunch, and even bought the pregnancy kit as a joke. But now, this is happening. She was really pregnant.
Her mind remembered one of her early classes as a freshman about religions.
Could I be… Orm thought.
It was silly even for her. A Buddhist becoming the next Virgin Mary? Oh, her best friend, Gina, would laugh at her face if she found out what she was thinking. Orm was thankful, for the first time, that she and Gina were studying in different schools.
As Orm continued to think of reasons, her phone rang.
Her phone buzzed sharply on the table, making her flinch. The screen lit up with the familiar hospital number where she goes for her quarterly check-up.
Orm answered as she thought it would be related to her last month’s appointment.
“Hello, this is Orm Sethratanapong speaking.”
“Good evening, Ms. Sethratanapong,” a calm female voice replied. “This is St. King’s Hospital. We’re calling to confirm whether you attended last month’s appointment.”
That’s weird… they never asked for confirmation like this before. Orm thought, but she politely answered anyway.
“Yes.”
“If it is okay with you… We need you to come in as soon as possible.”
Orm’s throat went dry. “What for? I only did my routine OB checkup last month.”
There was a brief pause on the other end of the line, which made Orm nervous.
“Yes,” the woman said carefully. “That is exactly why we need to see you. Please come tomorrow morning. This is very important.”
The call ended before Orm could ask anything else. She sank onto her bed, her heart pounding wildly.
“Very important.” Orm repeated.
Her gaze drifted back to the pregnancy test in her other hand.
Something was terribly, horribly wrong.
One Month Earlier…
The hospital smelled of antiseptic and quiet efficiency.
Orm sat on the examination bed, feet dangling slightly above the floor, scrolling through her phone while waiting for the doctor. This quarterly OB visit was nothing new; her father had insisted on regular checkups ever since she was a teenager, something she still continued to do even after living home.
“Ms. Orm?” a young nurse peeked in. “We’re ready for you.”
Orm smiled politely and followed her into a sterile procedure room.
“You’ll just need to lie down,” the nurse said, busy preparing equipment. “This won’t take long.”
Orm was confused when she saw the new apparatus, different from the ones used in her routine check-ups.
Orm wanted to ask a few questions, but the door opened, and another assistant rushed in, whispering urgently to the nurse. Papers were shuffled. Names were checked. Too quickly, too carelessly.
But before she could ask, the nurse apologized.
“I’m so sorry,” the nurse said, distracted. “We’re running behind schedule today.”
Orm’s unease deepened, but years of being taught to trust authority. And her own exhaustion kept her silent.
During the procedure, Orm felt a small pain in her lower abdomen, something she would usually feel during her periods. After fifteen minutes, the nurse exclaimed that the process was done and that she should continue drinking her vitamins as the doctor had prescribed.
“All done. Please rest well and follow the instructions.” The nurse smiled at her.
Orm left the hospital that day believing nothing out of the ordinary had happened.
Orm dialed Gina’s number, and before Gina could talk, Orm spoke,
“The check-up was freaking weird.”
“What?” Gina’s curious word could be heard on the other line.
“Listen… This is what happened…”
Orm shared everything with her best friend, and Gina listened attentively. What Orm didn’t know was that in another wing of the same hospital, a woman named Lingling Kwong, heir to Kwong Enterprises and CEO of Always Wonder Apparel, was being told devastating news.
Her fertilized embryos were gone.
Back to the Present…
Orm stood frozen in the hospital hallway the next morning, her hands clenched tightly at her sides.
The doctor’s words echoed in her ears.
“Ms. Sethratanapong, due to a serious administrative error, a fertilized embryo intended for another patient was mistakenly implanted into you.”
Her vision blurred.
“And,” the doctor continued gravely, “with further tests, it shows that you are carrying twins.”
Orm’s knees nearly gave out. Twins. Inside her. Implanted.
What’s worse… It’s another woman’s children.
As the weight of it all crashed down on her, she had no idea that the life growing inside her would soon change her whole life.