he tests may have reacted to hormonal changes caused by the tumor, — the doctor explained gently. — It happens, although it is very rare.

Later it also became known that throughout all these nine months, the woman had carefully avoided modern examinations, especially ultrasound.

— In the old days, women gave birth without any machines, — she convinced herself. — I won’t let technology harm my baby.

At that moment she felt her world collapse. All those nine months — had they just been an illusion? All the hopes, all the conversations with her “baby”? She placed her hands on her belly and whispered softly:

— But… I believed…