"That's good. More evidence."
"Mariana."
"What?"
"You're shaking."
I look down at my arms. He's right—they're trembling. Weird. I've held planks for way longer than this.
"Just tired," I say, pushing up to standing.
The room tilts sideways.
What the—
My vision goes fuzzy at the edges, like someone's dimming the lights. My knees feel weird, loose, like they forgot how to work.
"Mariana?" Mikhail's voice sounds far away.
The last thing I see is him dropping the weights, moving toward me with that inhuman speed he has. Then the floor rushes up to meet me, and everything goes black.
I wake up to voices arguing in Russian.
Even without understanding the words, I recognize Mikhail's tone—deadly calm, the kind that means someone's about to die. Alexei responds, equally controlled but firm.
"English," I croak. "Some of us don't speak Russian."
Mikhail's suddenly there, his hand covering mine. "How do you feel?"
"Like I got hit by a truck." I try to sit up, realize I'm on some kind of medical table. The room is sterile, all white walls and medical equipment. Not a hospital though—too small, too private. "Where are we?"
"Dr. Volkov's clinic," Alexei says. "He handles things that can't go through official channels."
Right. Underground doctor for criminals and fugitives. Perfect.
"What happened?"
"You collapsed." Mikhail's jaw is tight, that muscle jumping like it does when he's stressed. "Just dropped in the middle of the gym. You've been out for twenty minutes."
"I'm fine. Just overdid it—"
"I wouldn't say you’re fine." A new voice, accented and professional. The doctor, presumably. He's older, maybe sixty, with kind eyes behind wire-rimmed glasses. "Ms. Castillo, when was your last menstrual cycle?"
Heat floods my face. "I—what? Why does that matter?"
"Please. It's relevant."
I try to remember, and my stomach drops. "I don’t know… I’m not sure."
"And have you been sexually active recently?"
I can't look at Mikhail. Can't look at anyone. "...Yes."
"I see." The doctor pulls up a stool, holding a paper with lab results. "Your blood work shows elevated hCG levels. Surprisingly elevated for such an early stage."
"What does that mean?" But even as I ask, I know. Some part of me already knows.
"You're pregnant, Ms. Castillo. It's still very early—no more than a couple of weeks based on implantation, though the hCG is unusually high. Sometimes we see this with particularly viable pregnancies or multiples."
