She obeyed like a baby bird, and the nurse stuck the thermometer into her mouth.

“You slept well, and your color looks good. I need to check your vitals.”

The thermometer beeped. The nurse slid it out, read it quickly, then replaced it in the cart.

“You’re back to normal,” she said.

“Great. Is that what you have to check out on me?”

“No, I just said that to give us some alone time.” The nurse took the blood pressure cuff from a rack on the wall and began wrapping it around her patient’s upper arm. “I wanted to see how you were feeling. Really feeling, I mean. It’s tough, emotionally, I know. I missed once, myself.”

Missed. That must be the lingo.

“You will get through this, I promise. Take your time.” The nurse squeezed the black rubbery bulb, and the pressure cuff got tighter and tighter.

“Excuse us, ladies!” called a voice from the door. A doctor entered, and two interns followed like a flying wedge of white coats.

“You’re early, doc,” the nurse said, her smile fading. She let the cuff deflate rapidly.

“Our chief weapon is surprise,” the doctor said, and the young interns laughed.

“Please, no more Monty Python.” The nurse rolled her eyes, folded up the blood pressure cuff, and stuffed it back in the wire rack. “I can’t take any more.”

“Ha! And now for something completely different.” The doctor approached the bed with a sly smile, and the interns laughed again.

“Get ready to fake-laugh, Mrs. Perez,” the nurse said as she patted her arm. “They’re men, so they’ll buy it.” She handed over a cell phone. “Oh, I almost forgot, here’s your hubby’s phone.”

“Thanks,” she said, not recognizing it as Jack’s. He must have gotten a new one.

“See ya, wouldn’t wanna be ya.” The nurse hustled from the room.

“I’m Dr. Lehmann, and these are my interns, but you don’t have to know their names. Think of them as Palin and Gilliam to my John Cleese.”

She fake-laughed, and the nurse was right. He bought it. Dr. Lehmann had a square jaw and long nose, and he smelled of fresh cologne. His expression was warm—until it changed.

“Well, my dear, you’ve been through hell.”

“Yes.”

“We did get some reports back, which we need to talk with you about.” Dr. Lehmann frowned almost sternly, a pitchfork folding in the middle of his forehead, under steel gray hair like Brillo. “Your blood work shows unusual hormone levels, consistent with certain medications. Have you taken anything we should know about?”

She blinked, confused. “No, not at all.”

“Nothing?”

“Nothing at all. I won’t even take a baby aspirin.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

“Well.” Dr. Lehmann frowned at her over the steely top of his glasses. “I won’t mince words. To be frank, your levels are consistent with someone who has taken RU 486.”

She didn’t understand.