Chapter 1 — One month before the wedding, the doctor gave me a piece of paper

With Less Than One Month Until The Wedding, A Note From The Pre-Marriage Doctor Saved Me During the pre-marital exam with my fiance, while he was going to the bathroom, the doctor suddenly raised his head, looked at me, and said softly:

“Girl, this man can't have it.”

I was stunned on the spot. The doctor quickly stuffed a balled-up piece of paper into my palm, then, as if nothing had happened, bowed his head and continued writing the report. Footsteps sounded from the hallway. Tran Due pushed the door in, smiled and asked:

"What's wrong? What are you two talking about?"

"Nothing."

I clenched the piece of paper in my hand, my nails digging deep into my skin. The doctor pushed up his glasses, his tone calm:

"The usual inspection items have been completed. Come back in three days to get the results."

Tran Due wrapped his arms around my shoulders, bent down and gently kissed my forehead.

“Let's go, this afternoon I'll take you to the Japanese restaurant you like.”

I followed him out of the hospital gate, but my mind was filled with the doctor's words. This man is unattainable. I secretly looked at Tran Due's face. One meter eighty-three tall, with balanced facial features, he is the sales manager of a construction materials company in the city, earning about twenty thousand yuan per month. We have been in love for three years, our relationship is stable, both families have met. The wedding is scheduled for the eighteenth day of next month. Hotel, wedding dress, invitations... Everything is prepared. A strange doctor I've never met, why would he say I shouldn't marry him? Arriving at the Japanese restaurant, I excused myself to go to the bathroom and locked the door. Open the piece of paper. There was only one line written on it.

“Let's check his hospital record for March 2021. Third People's Hospital, Department of Urology.”

My hands started shaking. Department of Urology. March 2021. At that time, we had only known each other for half a year. He once said he was on a business trip for a week somewhere else. I stared at that line for a long time, then tore the piece of paper into shreds, dropped it into the toilet and flushed it. When he returned to the dining table, Tran Due had finished ordering.

“I ordered your favorite salmon dish.”

"Thank you."

I sat down, picked up a piece of fish and put it in my mouth. But I couldn't feel the taste at all.

“Tran Due.”

“March 2021, are you going on a business trip?”

His movements of picking up food stopped. Just stopped for exactly one beat.

"That's right, I went to the province to meet a customer. Why are you suddenly asking this?"

“Nothing, just suddenly remembered.”

He smiled and poured me a cup of tea. That moment of hesitation, I saw it clearly. That afternoon when he got home, Tran Due went to the gym. I sat on the sofa, turned on my phone and searched for the phone number of People's Hospital No. 3. Hesitated for ten minutes. Finally called anyway.

“Hello, can I look up the patient's previous hospital records?”

“May I ask, are you a patient or a relative of a patient?”

“I'm his fiancee.”

"Sorry, hospital records are within the scope of the patient's private information. Only the patient who brings identification documents to look up or an immediate relative who provides documents proving the relationship is allowed to see it."

I hung up. Sitting on the sofa thinking for a long time. Then take a photocopy of Tran Due's ID from the compartment Pulled out the office and took a photo. The next morning, I took half a day off work. Then I went to People's Hospital No. 3. I registered for the Urology department and waited in front of the clinic for nearly forty minutes. Pushing open the door and entering, the doctor on duty was a man over fifty years old.

“Do you feel unwell in your body?”

“Doctor, I want to ask something.”

I read Tran Due's personal information to him.

“My fiance was hospitalized here in March 2021. I want to know his condition at that time.”

The doctor took a look at me.

"You're not a litigant, I can't reveal it."

“Doctor, next month I will marry him.”

“Then you tell him to come and look up it himself.”

I bit my lip.

“If he would come and investigate himself, I wouldn't have to come here.”

The doctor was silent for a few seconds.

"I can only tell you that it's best for you to have a serious talk with him. Before getting married, the health status of both parties should be frankly shared with each other."

“What kind of disease does he have?”

"You've heard it already, I can't reveal it. But as someone with experience, I give you just one advice: for people who hide serious health problems before marriage, you should think very carefully."

Serious health problems. Stepping out of the hospital, the sunlight was so bright that it hurt my eyes. I stood on the steps and sent my best friend Diep Tieu Duong a text message.

“Duong Duong, do you know anyone who works in the hospital?”

“Help me look up a hospital record.”

“Tran Due.”

Diep Tieu Duong did not ask further.

“I'll ask, I'll tell you something later.”

That is a true best friend. No need to explain, she knew I wouldn't investigate my fiance for no reason. When he got home in the evening, Tran Due had finished cooking. Stir-fried sweet and sour ribs, stir-fried cabbage with vinegar, egg soup.

"Are you taking the day off today? Are you not feeling well?"

“I have a bit of a headache, I'm going to the hospital for a checkup.”

“Is it serious?”

“Not serious.”

He gave me a bowl of soup.

"Drink a lot of soup. Don't work too hard these days. You still have to worry about the wedding next month."

I took the bowl of soup and looked into his gentle eyes. If that doctor hadn't given me that piece of paper, right now I would think I was the happiest woman in the world. The phone vibrates. Message from Diep Tieu Duong.

"I found it. Is it convenient for you to talk now? Or maybe we can talk about it tomorrow?"

I typed two words:

“Tran Due was hospitalized at the Urology Department of People's Hospital No. 3 from March 14, 2021 to March 21, 2021.”

“Diagnosis: Azoospermia.”

"Surgical record: Microsurgery to remove sperm from testicles. Result: No usable sperm was obtained."

“Discharge diagnosis: Non-obstructive azoospermia, recommendation to consider assisted reproduction with donor sperm.”

The phone almost slipped out of my hand. He has no sperm. He will never be able to get me pregnant naturally. He knows. Three years ago he already knew.