Patient: Raymond Mendez.
Diagnosis: Severe Oligozoospermia / Microdeletion. Probability of natural conception: < 0.1%. Patient is effectively sterile.
I stared at the paper, the words refusing to register. I wasn’t a father. I had never been able to be a father. Lucy had known for three long years. She had carried the burden of my anger, my insults, and my arrogance, protecting my fragile ego while I blamed her for our empty nursery.
Then I pulled out the second document. It was a series of printed text messages and bank statements, but they weren’t Lucy’s. They belonged to David.
The messages dated back to the exact month I had started my affair with Valerie.
David: Ray is completely hooked on her. He’s already moving money into the shell company for the “investment.”
Valerie: He’s talking about leaving his wife. What about the baby? If the timeline matches, he’ll think it’s his.
