The waiting room was quiet, not peaceful, just suspended. People are sitting with their own reasons, not looking at each other.I was very much inside my own head.My foot was going against the floor without my permission, a small, rapid tap that I noticed and stopped, and then started again without noticing. The skin beside my thumbnail was raw. I had been pulling at it since I sat down, and I made myself stop, flatten both hands on my thighs, and look at the wall across from me.They called my name.The doctor was a woman, somewhere in her fifties, with reading glasses pushed up into her hair and the manner of someone who had sat across from a lot of people in this room. She had already gone through my sample results before I came in.She put the gel on my stomach, turned the screen toward herself, and looked at it for a moment longer than I expected her to."How far along do you think you are?" she asked."Around a month. Maybe a little less?"She nodded slowly. "Just past four wee
Last Updated : 2026-06-09 Read more