My 74-year-old father invited me to dinner and offered me a drink. I accepted, but the next morning I woke up feeling terribly ill and went to the hospital. When the doctor saw my blood test results, his expression suddenly changed. He asked, “Have you suspected lately that you might be pregnant?”

—Have you recently suspected that you might be pregnant?

I almost burst out laughing.

— Pregnant? No! I'm forty-four years old and I haven't even been thinking about that.

He didn't smile.

—Have you taken a pregnancy test recently?

—No. Why?

He turned the computer screen slightly, moving it away from my view.

—One of your blood tests shows an elevated level of hCG, a hormone we normally associate with pregnancy.

I just stared at him.

—That can't be right.

—Sometimes an unexpected result has an explanation unrelated to the pregnancy. We need to investigate further.

Suddenly I recorded the drink that my father had prepared.

The way he kept staring at me. The strange toast. The photograph. And his warning before I left.

My heart began to beat strongly.

—Doctor… is it possible that something I drank yesterday caused this?

He looked at me with concern.

—What did you drink?

—A homemade fruit drink at my father's house.

—Did you notice anything strange about her?