Dr. Lenore is an attractive woman who seems to take pains not to look attractive. She’s got a closely-shaved buzz cut, she wears no makeup, and her clothes are always baggy and ill-fitted. I met her for the first time over a week ago when she came in to give me a full physical and a blood test—on Yannis Rokiades’s orders, of course. Apparently, he wanted to make sure my body was healthy enough to bear a child.
I’d sat silently through the entire process, refusing to answer the doctor’s questions or engage with her in any way. She’d been surprisingly patient, and after she’d left, I’d regretted my stubbornness. I can’t afford to alienate every person who’s half-decent to me.
“Hello, Renata,” Dr. Lenore greets. True to form, she’s wearing loose black slacks and an oversized blouse in a soft beige color.
The blonde guard pulls me over to the bed and attempts to chain me back to it.
“Is that necessary?” Doctor Lenore asks impatiently.
“Boss’s orders.”
“I need to examine my patient,” she says with barely concealed annoyance. “I’d prefer that she not be chained during the process.”
The guard hesitates. “Well…”
“Wait outside the door,” she insists. “Once I’m done, you can come back in here and restrain her however you like.”
He hesitates for a moment and then shrugs and drops the leash on the plush carpet beneath our feet.
The moment the door clicks behind him, Dr. Lenore walks over and looks me up and down. “You’ve lost more weight since I last saw you.”
“I don’t eat much.”
“Been feeling nauseous lately?”
I shrug. “He forces me to run on the treadmill every day. It’s… grueling.”
She cocks her head to the side. “How long have you been in this house with him, Renata?” she asks.
“Why?”
“Answer the question, please.”
I sigh. “I don’t know… Two weeks, three?”
Doctor Lenore nods slowly. “I asked to speak to you on the pretext that I wanted to make sure you were doing okay. I told him you’d complained of gastric pain the last time I was here.”
I frown. “Why would you do that?”
“Because you have a problem.”
I feel fear snaking up my chest. “Which is…?”
“You’re pregnant, Renata,” she tells me bluntly. “The blood test I took last week confirmed as much. It’s still very early, but the test is indisputable.”
My pulse is thundering in my ears. It’s all I can hear, drowning out Dr. Lenore, the house around me, my own breathing. I just stare at her, my jaw has gone slack with shock. “That… that can’t be…”
“I’m afraid it is,” she replies. “And given the stage of your pregnancy and the number of weeks you’ve been here, I’m guessing Rokiades is not the father.”
There it is. The sick twist I should’ve expected all along.
My knees give way. Luckily, the bed is right behind me, so I sink down into it, reeling.
“Oh God. Are you sure?”
“Completely sure.”
My eyes flash to hers. “Did you tell him?”