Wendy cracked the door against its automatic closer. The hall beyond was dark and the fluorescent light from the stairwell spilled out onto the vinyl flooring in a bright, shiny puddle. After listening again for a moment, they quickly stepped from the stairwell and let the door close quietly behind them.

The light was extinguished with the closing of the door. They waited for their eyes to adjust; there was still a bit of light coming from the streetlights outside. Once they could see again, it didn’t take them long to get their bearings. They were just beyond the main elevators, near the waiting room of the in-vitro unit. This was an area of the clinic the women knew only too well.

Edging slowly down the corridor, they advanced to the waiting room itself. There the illumination was somewhat better.

Marissa and Wendy skirted the receptionist’s desk, making a beeline for the doorway to the main corridor. This gave access to the doctors’ offices, examining rooms, procedure rooms, and the in-vitro laboratory.

The first door they opened was to an examination room. In the dim light spilling in from the hall, the room took on a particularly sinister aspect. The stainless-steel table gleamed in the darkness, and with its stirrups, it appeared more like a medieval torture device than a piece of medical equipment.

“This place gives me the creeps in the dark,” Wendy said as they circled the room.

“My thoughts exactly,” Marissa said. “Besides, there’s no terminal in here.”

“Let’s check the doctors’ offices,” Wendy suggested. “We know there will be a terminal in each of those.”

Farther down the corridor there were a few dim lights from glazed laboratory doors; otherwise the whole clinic was dark. They moved quickly but carefully, Marissa trying the doctors’ offices on the left while Wendy tried those on the right. All were locked.

“They certainly are careful,” Marissa said. “I swear this place seems more like a bank than a clinic.”

“I don’t think any of the offices will be open,” Wendy said, stopping halfway down the hall. “Let’s go back and try ultrasound. I think each of the units has terminals.”

“I’ll try the rest of the offices,” Marissa said. “You go to ultrasound.”

“Oh no!” Wendy said. “I’m not going anyplace by myself. I don’t know about you, but I’m really spooked in here.”

“Me too,” Marissa said. “The idea of coming in here sounded a whole lot better before we got in.”

“Maybe we should go,” Wendy said. “We’re not handling this well.”

“Let’s try ultrasound first,” Marissa said. “At least it’s on the way out.”

The women retraced their steps toward the waiting area. The sharp cry of a siren made them both jump. The siren got louder, then faded. They realized with relief that it was only a passing police car.

“God!” Wendy exclaimed. “We really are in bad shape.”