Joey said with a smile, "I've been here for a while. I'm a little sad that you hadn't noticed."
Vanessa quickly poured a glass of water for Joey, "Have some water, Joey."
Joey took the glass of water and looked into the room. "Is Lawrie asleep?"
Vanessa also glanced over and answered, "Yes, he's been asleep for a while."
"You raised Lawrie on your own without help all this while. That must've been hard." Joey looked young, but she was already a well-known psychiatrist in the field. When she talked to a patient, she would adapt to the patient's current condition. Since Vanessa was apprehensive about topics related to Lawrie's father, Joey had to try another way. She did want Vanessa to put her guards up again.
"Not really. Lawrie is a very mature kid. Unlike other kids who always cry and cause troubles, he has always been considerate." Vanessa's face lit up with gratitude and joy when she mentioned Lawrie. She was glad that she had insisted on giving birth to Lawrie.
Joey asked, "Have you ever thought that it may not be such a good thing for a child to be so mature? After all, kids his age should be playful and naughty."
Vanessa nodded and said, "I actually didn't think so before. But once I realized this, I had no idea how to change him."
Joey stopped asking about Lawrie's character because she knew that this was influenced by his family. As long as Vanessa's issues were solved, Lawrie's problems would also be easily overcome. "When did you find out about this disease?" Joey asked.
"On his first birthday, I prepared something special for him. But he fainted before we could celebrate. At first, I thought it was just a fever, so I sent him to a nearby hospital. But his fever did not subside. The doctor then ran a check and found out about his disease. I didn't believe it at first, so I took him to a better hospital for another check-up... and I got the same results." Vanessa explained grimly, thinking of the past.
Joey patted Vanessa's hand and tried to think about the problem from Vanessa's perspective. "You must have been very scared at that time."
"I was afraid, but I was focused on getting Lawrie cured. That was all I could think about. I had no time to think about anything else." Although it was tiring, it was all worth it as she saw Lawrie growing up.
Joey asked, "Has that man ever looked for the both of you?"
She had already made up her mind to tell Joey everything about the past. However, she was hesitant at this moment. After a brief internal struggle, she slowly said, "To be honest, I don't know who Lawrie's father is."
"If you don't know who Lawrie's father is, then why did you decide to give birth to him?" This seemed to be why Vanessa was so defensive when Joey asked about Lawrie's father. This answer was wildly beyond Joey's predictions, but she did not show her surprise.
Vanessa looked up and took a deep breath. After several attempts, she mustered up the courage to go on and said, "Back then, he had sex with me while I was unconscious. Initially, I insisted on giving birth to Lawrie because I wanted to find that man and get him to take the blame. I've been searching for years but I still can't find any sign of him. It was as if he never existed."
"Stop looking for him since you can't find him. Let's not waste our time on someone who's not worth it," Joey said as she looked towards Lawrie's room, "In the future, focus on helping Lawrie recover and living a good life. Forget about the past and move on."
"Joey, it sounds easy, but it's so hard to do so. It's not that I don't want to, but I just can't forget," Vanessa said. She really wanted to forget about this past of hers, but she just could not bring herself to. As long as the man remained unfound and unpunished by the law, she would not be able to let go of this matter.
"Vanessa, the fact that you can talk about this shows that you have started to let go. Since that's the case, you shouldn't waste any more of your time looking for him. You should put all your time and energy on Lawrie and live a good life." Joey also knew that this was easier said than done, but Vanessa could only start anew once she moved on from this.
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