Stella nervously fidgeted as she sat in the exam room. When she had devised her plan, somehow she hadn’t thought it would land her with a court-ordered summons to present herself at a doctor’s office. After a few minutes, the door opened and the doctor entered. She had hoped for a male doctor as he would be easier to cajole, but this one was a woman.
She was middle-aged with her short hair now taking on a gray sheen, but she still looked sharp. Smiling at Stella, she introduced herself, “Hello, I’m Doctor Maia Darman. I’ll be your attending physician today. Looks like you are here for a pregnancy test and general health check.”
“Yeah,” Stella nodded, her knee shaking erratically and betraying her nervousness.
“All right, so we’ll start with a blood sample, then we’ll have you change int
