Chapter 156 - Vomit + Mood Swings

They put the trip to Korea on hold. Lu Fang could not leave Andrea behind especially when her emotions were beyond his comprehension and her health was in question. 

Before having admitted to the hospital, Lu Fang had begun a series of food trials, testing which ones his wife can stomach to eat. 

They started with her favorite food and on one occasion; the man brought home a tomahawk steak which they had always enjoyed eating. 

"Hmmm, babe. I love this! I miss this steak so much!" She was happily chewing and slicing on the meat until her portions completely disappeared from her plate. 

"Glad that you like it, babe," he said as he marked the steak from his phone as one protein his wife can eat. 

As they were getting ready to sleep for the night, Andrea started to feel stomach acid go up to her chest. She immediately called for Lu Fang, "Babe, Babe!"

She tried to hold it down but in the end, she ejected on their bed. 

'Oh, boy,' the man sighed in secret. 

Turning to Lu Fang she said, "I'm sorry, babe… Let me clean it up -"

"No! no, babe, sit on the couch and let me clean it up." He could never have the heart to let his wife do the work. It would disgust her even more just by looking at the contents of the puke. 

Although Aunt Rosa was available during the day, at night, it was Lu Fang who did all the work whenever Andrea could not make it to her puking bowl. This went on almost every day at their home and even after staying at the hospital. 

Since Andrea was a meat-eater, they tried other options like fish, chicken, and seafood. However, nothing worked. She would eat happily thinking it would stay inside, but after an hour or two, she would start throwing up again. 

The man explored other meal options such as pasta, burgers, and pizzas or just whatever he could find to help his wife get any form of nourishment inside her stomach, but that too made her sick. 

Gao Rou and Christina also came to aid Lu Fang alternatively preparing lunches and dinners for Andrea hoping they could help determine which kind she could easily digest. Still, she kept getting sick. If not, she was constantly dry heaving. 

The vomiting stage did not only make Andrea lose weight, but the man also went through a series of exercises from cleaning up vomit to hurriedly bringing her puking bowl back and forth. It was safe to say; he was equally affected. 

One time at the office, Lu Fang asked Go Bolin for an urgent research, "Find out whoever named morning sickness, the morning sickness! Now!"

Confused, his assistant asked back, "Master? What exactly do you mean by that?"

"I will sue whoever called it the morning sickness!"

The man stood up to Go Bolin with both hands on his shoulders and said, "Bolin, you don't understand. It's not morning sickness! It goes on an entire day, morning, noon and night!"

Go Bolin gulped realizing where the frustration of his boss was coming from but he thought, 'Do I really need to research on this?'

Despite everything, Lu Fang did his best to help Andrea. He bought her sugar-free candies and various ointments to help lessen the symptoms. If he could only take it all away, he would. If he could take her place, he probably would. He never complained even having seen so much puke in his life. 

Occasionally, he would find her inside the comfort room emptying her gut. Whenever he would try to soothe her, it would backfire on him. 

"Don't touch me! Stay away from me!" Andrea yelled when Lu Fang rubbed her back as she was spouting out the contents of her stomach. 

"I feel so disgusting," she said while sobbing. 

"Help me with my hair."

The man did as commanded and tied her hair with his hand. Unconsciously, he tried calming her again with the other hand on her back. 

"I said don't touch me -"

"Hand up! Hand up! Phew..."

He never understood it. Sometimes she would accept his comfort and sometimes not. It was at that point that he began to notice Andrea's mood swings. She would often seem depressed over her vomiting. Lots of times she would get mad at Lu Fang for no reason. A few times, she would give him some love for putting up with her. 

On the first week of her admission, she called Alfred who was miles away. "Dad," she said while sobbing weakly. "Dad, I don't understand what I'm feeling. I feel so disgusted with myself. I wish you could come and see me."

Li Wen also received multiple calls a week from Andrea often telling about how depressing it was to be in a hospital without nothing to do. 

"Li Wen, why? Why didn't you tell me it was like this?"

"Will, I ever eat normally again?"

Her sister assured her it was just a phase, and this resulted from her changing hormones. Soon enough, she will be a happy pregnant lady. 

Lu Fang received good advice from his mother and from his sister-in-law on how to deal with a sensitive pregnant woman who is suffering from excessive vomiting. 

"You need to understand her."

"She is not rejecting you, she just feels uncomfortable with herself and is ashamed to tell you."

"Never make her feel ugly!"

"You need to give her everything she asks for. Remember, she is always right."

The man agreed to everything, and he did his very best to be a supporting husband to his pregnant wife. 

Coming from the office, Lu Fang ordered some food from their favorite restaurant and brought it back to the hospital. He offered the steak to her but knowing that she would just throw up; she declined. So the man ate it. 

After thirty minutes of digging in, he felt his wife was glaring at him in anger. When he looked up, she yelled at him immediately. 

"I hate you! How come you can be so insensitive?"

"Babe?"

She began to cry. "I - I hate you."

He stood up to hug her tightly and replied, "I know. I'm sorry. I love you too."

"No! I said I hate you!"

"Shh… I know that means you love me. Don't cry anymore," the man said as he rubbed her shoulder. "Why don't we have just one slice? At least you get to eat a small portion of the steak."

After a while, she agreed to have a single slice. She chewed it down. Two hours passed, and she did not vomit. She grinned at the thought and excitedly told the man, "Babe, I did not vomit! Will you give me a hug again?"

"Hmmm…" the man obliged and kissed her on the forehead. 

"I love you. I'm sorry for being so hard on you."

"I love you too, babe," replied the Lu Fang. 

They hugged for a few minutes until… She threw up on the bed helplessly. 

"I hate you!"