"Asaro, Catherine - Walk in Silence" - читать интересную книгу автора (Asaro Catherine)

"You should come here."

That gave Jess pause. Sandra wasn’t usually this oblique. It might bear checking out. Grudgingly, she said, "All right."

Sandra stood at a bench surrounded by monitors. The doctor was five-foot-six and had gained weight over the years, nothing drastic, but enough to make her round. Her short, stylish hair gleamed silver in the harsh light.

As Jess entered the exam room, Sandra turned and regarded her with a neutral expression. Bland. Sandra never looked bland. Something was up.

Jess stopped just inside the room, even more wary now. "Yes?"

Sandra studied her face. "We need to talk."

"How about some other time?" Like in a century.

"Jess, listen." The doctor cleared her throat. "It’s about the suggestions I gave you."

"Which ones? You give a lot." Sandra’s inventory of lectures was formidable.

"About socializing."

Jess would have laughed if she hadn’t been so astounded. "Is that why you called me here so urgently? To find out if I’ve gone to any parties?"

"No. I just hadn’t expected you to actually take my advice." Sandra laid her hand on the exam table, as if for support. Then she took a deep breath. "Jess–you’re pregnant."

Jess stared at her, at a loss for a reply. It was simply too ludicrous. Finally she found her voice. "Is this some sort of tasteless joke?"

Sandra showed no sign of laughing. "George and I did three independent checks. They all give the same result."

Jess scowled. "Then your procedures have some problem."

"When George saw the result during your exam earlier, he thought it was a mistake too. But we checked. It’s true."

"Sandra, for crying out loud. I can’t be pregnant."

The doctor spoke dryly. "You aren’t the first woman to say those words. Nor the first to be wrong."

"I’m not saying it’s unlikely. It’s impossible."

"No birth control method is one hundred percent effective."

Jess wished she were somewhere else. Anywhere. Discussing her sex life, or lack thereof, was about as high on her list of preferred activities as having a tooth pulled without benefit of modern dentistry. She crossed her arms. "It requires a merger to effect the result you attribute to the sole capacity of my reproductive organs."

The doctor smiled. "Does that have a translation into something I can understand?"

So much for subtlety. Jess felt herself redden. "It means I haven’t, uh–been with a man."

Her tormentor shrugged. "Maybe you forgot."

"Forgot?" Jess couldn’t believe she was having this conversation. "That’s ridiculous. And no, I didn’t go to a sperm bank."