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Dalton pulls back first. Not far. Enough that I can breathe again. His hand leaves my wrist slowly. “Go home, Maggie,” he says.

It’s not soft.

But it’s not cold either.

I nod once because I don’t trust my voice.

Then I walk to the waiting car with my whole body still aware of where his has been.

Chapter Ten

MAGGIE

I’m ready twenty minutes early, which is how I know I’m not fine.

My appointment is at ten. The car is scheduled for nine fifteen. At eight fifty-five, I’m already standing in my apartment with my shoes on, bag packed, hair tied back, and one hand resting lightly on my stomach like I can feel anything this early.

I can’t. There is nothing to feel.

That doesn’t stop me from trying.

The pregnancy still feels unreal. Not impossible, not exactly, because the blood test said what it said and Dr. Acharya’s office confirmed it twice. But unreal. Like someone handed me a role in a play and everyone else already knows their lines.

I haven’t told anyone. Not Nate. Not Simone. Not anyone at the hospital.

Well, except for Marco, but he’s been sworn to secrecy. Medical school is full of exhausted people with no time and somehow infinite capacity for rumors. If even one person hears that I’m pregnant, the whole thing will be on the news by lunch.

Not yet. Maybe not for a while.

My phone buzzes. For one stupid second, I think of Dalton.

Then I see Nate’s name.

Nate: You alive?

I smile despite myself.

Me: Barely. Why?

Nate: I’m near campus later. Food?

I look at the screen for a long moment.

Normally I would say yes. Even if I was tired, even if I had reading, even if I had to pretend not to count how much he spent. Nate asking to eat together is never just food. It’s his way of checking if I’m still standing without making it sound like concern.

Today, I can’t. Not before an appointment. Not with this thing sitting inside me, unnamed and too large to carry into a diner.

Me: Can’t today. Appointment.

The reply comes quickly.

Nate: Doctor?

My thumb pauses.

Me: Routine thing.

Not a lie. Not enough truth to feel good either.