«What was your gynecologist thinking?!» the doctors shouted during the birth of the 56-year-old woman..

«Oh, Lord, what’s happening to me?» Claudia Thompson exclaimed, barely straightening up after planting seedlings in the garden. «Ouch!» she yelped again from the pain in her lower abdomen, the fifty-six-year-old woman writhing between the rows. After catching her breath from the latest attack, the woman thought in horror. «This has never happened before. That’s it. I’m dying. And I so want to live a little longer, very much, to babysit my grandchildren!» Claudia whispered. Tears streamed down her flushed face like hail. She barely finished the work in the garden and trudged home.

Her mood was darker than a storm cloud. «What’s for lunch?» her husband Mike asked sternly as soon as Claudia crossed the threshold. He was a good man, but he loved order in everything too much.

And if something deviated from the schedule, Mike’s mood changed instantly. «Soup in the fridge,» the woman said faintly. She sank onto the couch and burst into sobs.

Mike, frightened, ran to his wife and took her hand. «Claudia, what’s wrong? Did you lose something?» «I’m dying, Mike, I’m definitely dying.» «What?» Mike was surprised, his eyes widening.

«Where did you get that idea?» Attacks of severe pain in the abdomen and back have tormented me, I can barely drag my feet. «P-p-probably, it’s a fatally incurable disease,» Claudia stammered, swallowing tears. «Oh come on, Claudia, that can’t be!» Mike wasn’t surprised at all.

«Remember, our neighbor Taylor had cancer discovered, she wasted away beyond recognition. Skin and bones left, but you’re swelling up like a river in flood, what kind of fatally ill are you!» «That’s true,» Claudia thought. «My husband is right, I’ve really been bloating like yeast in recent months, I don’t know why, but I’m not a girl with a wasp waist, I’m 56 years old, probably age is catching up.»

Claudia calmed down a bit, and the attacks seemed to stop. «But it wouldn’t hurt to go see our paramedic Lucy, maybe she’ll refer you to a surgeon in the city,» added the sensible Mike. «Calm down, and let’s go eat lunch.»

«Thanks, Mike, for the advice, I’ll do that.» Claudia kept her promise and the next day went to the local clinic to see paramedic Lucy Miller. The charming and kind young woman treated all the residents with kindness and attention.

She greeted Claudia like family. «Claudia Thompson, hello, it’s been a while, come in, make yourself at home and tell me what happened?» Lucy said with a sunny smile. She liked the local residents, simple, straightforward, sincere, real.

When Claudia shared her worry, Lucy tried to stay calm and chose good words to cheer up the upset woman. «Claudia Thompson, let’s not jump to conclusions, I’ll order some tests for you, you’ll take them, we’ll get the results and talk specifically, if needed, I’ll prescribe treatment, agreed?» «Yes, Lucy, you’re our bright little person, thank you from the bottom of my heart,» the woman thanked. «No need yet, Claudia Thompson, be healthy.»

Claudia would never forget that Saturday morning. She was tidying up the house as usual and wanted to go to the garden when the phone rang. «Claudia Thompson, this is Lucy, the paramedic, your test results are in, can you come see me today?» «Yes, Lucy, of course I can,» Claudia agreed immediately.

Suddenly, an anxious pause hung in the air, as if Lucy wanted to say something but hesitated. Claudia’s heart sank, intuition told her something was wrong, and the paramedic spoke with poorly concealed excitement. «What’s wrong with me, Lucy?» the woman asked as soon as she crossed the threshold of the medical office.

«Am I dying?» «No, Claudia Thompson, what are you saying, no, you…» Lucy hesitated. Then she blurted out in one breath, «pregnant.» Hearing these words, Claudia sat down on the chair and froze in place like a wax figure.

Only after a few seconds did the meaning of Lucy’s words sink in for Claudia. «What?» the woman paled, her eyes widening in horror. «That’s not true!» she screamed hysterically, scaring the paramedic so much that she jumped aside.

A few seconds later, it dawned on the woman. «My tests got mixed up with someone else’s, that’s for sure, I can’t get pregnant at fifty-six, that can’t be.» «This is some nonsense, check again, Lucy, there was a mistake.»

Lucy just shook her head. «Claudia Thompson, there’s no mistake, these are your tests. Yes, you’re at an advanced age, it’s very rare to get pregnant at such years….