He stepped back from the examination chair and said in a low, heavy voice:

“Ma’am… you’re not pregnant.”
“What do you mean, not pregnant? And the tests? And my belly? And the movements?”
“Your ‘gastroenterologist’ was mistaken. The test gave a false positive. Inside you… there is a huge tumor.”

Larisa froze.

“What tumor?..”
“Ma’am, you have an ovarian tumor the size of a full-term baby. That’s what has been growing all these months. That’s what caused the ‘movements.’ And that’s what is causing your pain. The tumor has already metastasized. This is a critical condition. You need emergency surgery, chemotherapy… and we have almost no time.”