"It could also be what I think it is, and if it is, we need to know now."
Dr. Popov comes in carrying a clipboard and a pair of latex gloves, whistling. He glances up at me with a smile and nods at Bogdan. I'm not naive. I know he already told the doctor what's going on and why we're here. He would've been forced to in order to set up this clandestine appointment. It's even more humiliating that I can't just be here on my own.
"Zora," he says, setting the clipboard on the counter. "Your brother tells me you've been experiencing nausea."
Before I'm even able to open my mouth in response, my brother chimes in with his two cents. "She needs a pregnancy test. And can we make it quick? I got stuff to get done."
"I can speak for myself," I hiss, glaring at him. He scowls and leans against the wall, pursing his lips at me.
"Then speak." Bogdan looks at me. "Tell the doctor what you've been feeling."
I stand there awkwardly until he nods at the chair across the room, so I have a seat. "I've been a bit nauseous in the mornings. Sometimes in the afternoons… Kinda tired, not really much of an appetite when I know I'm just going to throw up again."
Dr. Popov nods and makes a note on the clipboard. "When was your last menstrual cycle?"
"I don't remember exactly. It's not like I track it." Heat rises in my neck up to my cheeks. I picture them glowing red, which seems to make Bogdan giddy with power.
"We'll draw blood," he says, setting the clipboard down and pulling on the gloves. "The results will take about fifteen minutes, but then we'll have an idea if it's pregnancy."
"What if it's not?" I'm still fighting that edge of food poisoning, which goes against all rational thought.
"Then there are a few things it could be." He ties the tourniquet around my upper arm and I look away while he finds a vein. "Electrolyte imbalance could be the culprit, or dehydration. Sometimes women's hormones get unbalanced, a thyroid condition or something." He smiles as the needle goes in and I feel the pinch.
Anger thrums in my chest, making my palms sweaty and my body too hot. Dr. Popov is professional, though, not belittling the way Bogdan is. When my eyes rise up to meet my brother's I can tell he's already trying to spin this to figure out a way to use it against me or Kazimir. It's disgusting.
"What are you staring at?" he asks when I realize I've been glaring at him for more than thirty seconds.
"You're an ass," I grumble, and he chuckles at me.
"You just now figured that out?"
Dr. Popov eyes me for a second before he removes the needle and presses a cotton ball against the puncture. I fold my arm up, pinching the cotton ball in place as he labels the vial and excuses himself without commenting on what he's heard. Dr. Popov has been listening to Volyn family members bicker during checkupsfor decades and he's learned that the safest place to be is outside the room.
The door closes and I sigh and look to my brother. Regardless of whether he's a total jerk or not, he's family, and I know he has my back even when he doesn't like the situation. Mom and Dad taught him to be this way. "What if it's positive?" I ask him, and he pushes off the wall to walk over toward me, handing me a bandage from the counter that the doctor neglected to give me in his haste to get out of the room.
"Then we figure out how to use it."
"Use it?" I shake my head, not believing what I'm hearing. "You're talking about a baby, Bogdan."
His dark eyes hold mine without blinking. "A Kuzin heir born to a Volyn woman… Do you understand what that means? The access that gives us? The control?"
I can't even respond to him. My head drops as I apply the bandage to my arm and toss the cotton ball in the trash and Bogdan resumes his inner world which is probably concocting ways to manipulate any Kuzin family member into giving him what he wants all over this baby. All I can think about is what Kazimir will say when he learns he's going to be a father.
My heart feels like it could explode any second, and I know that can't be good for an unborn baby. If smoking and drinking fucks them up, surely, excess cortisol is just as bad. It makes me feel sick to my stomach again, but there's no way I'm throwing up in front of my brother.
Dr. Popov comes back thirteen minutes later—seven hundred and eighty seconds. I know because I counted every one of the agonizing breaths while my head spins and my anxiety rises. Hecloses the door and stands in front of me with the clipboard, and I can read the answer on his face before he opens his mouth.
"The blood test is positive," he says. "Your HCG levels are elevated, which confirms pregnancy. To determine how far along you are, we'd need to schedule an ultrasound."
"Can we do it now?" Bogdan asks, and I am immediately on my feet.
"No." I look at Dr. Popov and shake my head. "I will not do that with him in the room."
"Zora—"
"I said not today," I say, cutting Bogdan off mid-sentence. "I'll schedule the ultrasound on my own time."
I don’t even waste time waiting to see if my brother is following. I storm out, stomping up the hall and through the waiting area out the door. The sun feels warm on my skin, but I'm so angry, I can't enjoy it. I pace on the sidewalk for a few minutes while Bogdan finishes up with the doctor and when he finally comes out, he says nothing.
