Page 94 of Monster. Me.

"Yes, we’ve got an image," Dr. Lee says, pausing the frame on the screen and turning the monitor slightly toward me. With complete calm, as if he were simply reporting tomorrow’s weather, he says, "In each corner of your uterus, there is an implanted embryo. As you remember, your uterus has a rather unusual shape, like a cat’s," he emphasizes the word in a very peculiar way. "You’re going to have twins. Congratulations, Marlow. Apparently, in your case, the program worked."

He smiles, and his smile is almost genuine, until I wipe it off his face with an angry snarl.

"That was rape! He forced me into it!"

The doctor turns his gaze away and focuses on the screen, as if I hadn’t said anything that should change his attitude at all.

Wow, it feels shitty being ignored like this, like a stab in the back. Squeezing my eyes shut, I let out a loud breath. I sit there for a moment, and my desperate confession still goes unanswered, met with no reaction at all, and somehow that crushes me.

In this facility, among these people, I can’t expect sympathy.

Eventually, I open my eyes and study the doctor for a moment, his expressionless face and eyes moving across the screen. He clicks on the keyboard while I stare at his fingers. Click, click. He's typing something. The keys make quiet sounds for a good minute, click, click, as he writes. And my fucking life is completely changing at this moment…

Crumbling down

A knock at the door.

Dr. Lee stands up, goes over, opens it slightly, and looks outside.

I hear Rupert’s voice.

"Can I come in?"

"No!" I snap.

"Please, Marlow! Please let me in," I hear Rupert’s pleading voice from behind the door held by Dr. Lee’s hand.

"That’s your decision, Marlow," Dr. Lee says calmly.

After a moment of hateful silence, I finally remove the damn probe from my ass and pull up my pants.

Since everything has fucked up so epically, adding another messed-up situation won’t change anything anymore.

I sit down and only then say:

"He can come in."

Crap, it’s such a bad idea. I hate that bastard. I don’t want anything to do with him.

Rupert comes in and looks at me tentatively.

Then at Dr. Lee.

"Is it true? Is he pregnant?"

I throw him an angry look. His face looks like a damn, frightened, lost puppy. I take a deep breath, gathering my strength.

"Yes. And it looks like it’s twins…"

Rupert lets out a sharp gasp, then brings his hands to his face and presses them tightly against it for a moment.

A silence hangs in the air for a while, and then… unbelievably, I hear his quiet sobbing.

"I’m sorry. Forgive me. Forgive me, Marlow…"

I also feel a sudden wave of pain. I press my hands to my face, just like he does, and a dull sob breaks out of my chest. I don't need his fucking apologies!

Why did my life end up on this path?