She looked too small for the adult blood pressure cuff wrapped around her arm.
For six weeks, she had complained of headaches. At first, they came after school. Then they began waking her before dawn. That Monday morning, she vomited during math class and walked into a row of lockers on her way to the nurse’s office.
Her pediatrician told us to take her to the hospital.
“She’s also been developing early,” I told Dr. Lena Ortiz. “She needed her first training bra before most of her friends. I thought she just took after me.”
Dr. Ortiz asked Sophie several questions, then ordered bloodwork and a urine sample.
No one mentioned a pregnancy test.
Twenty minutes later, Dr. Ortiz returned without the easy smile she had worn before.
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