Chapter 4 - The House in the Woods
“What blue house?” I demanded.
Daniel looked away.
“Mom, it isn't important right now.”
“Your wife may be in danger, and you're telling me it isn't important?”
He rubbed his forehead.
“It's an old family property.”
“Whose family?”
“Sarah's.”
“Why would she tell me to ask you about it?”
Daniel remained silent.
I had raised three children.
I knew the difference between a confused child and one who was hiding something.
Even at fifty-six, Daniel couldn't conceal guilt from me.
“Tell me the truth.”
He finally sat down.
“About eleven years ago, Sarah and I bought a small property outside town. It belonged to her uncle.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“We planned to renovate it, but we never did.”
“Then why are you afraid to talk about it?”
He stared at the floor.
“Because Dad had been there.”
A strange coldness spread through me.
“Robert?”
Daniel nodded.
“Before he died, he asked me to visit the property with him. He said someone had been using the basement.”
“For what?”
“I never found out.”
He stopped speaking as Dr. Collins entered.
“Margaret, we're ready for your scan.”
I looked at Daniel.
“This conversation isn't finished.”
He nodded without meeting my eyes.
The CT scan took less than half an hour.
But lying inside that machine felt endless.
I stared at the white ceiling and thought about my husband.
I remembered his warm laugh.
His steady hands.
The way he always brought me yellow roses on our anniversary.
Had the man I loved knowingly allowed strangers to experiment on me?
Or had someone deceived him?
When the scan ended, Dr. Collins asked me to remain in the hospital.
That frightened me more than anything else.
“Am I that sick?”
“We want to monitor you closely.”
An hour later, she invited Daniel and me into a private consultation room.
She placed the scans on a monitor.
“Margaret, your abdomen contains a very large, complex cystic mass. There's also an unusual structure near its center.”
Daniel leaned forward.
“What kind of structure?”
“It appears to be made of more than one type of tissue. We need surgery and laboratory testing to identify it.”
I felt dizzy.
“Is it alive?”
Dr. Collins hesitated.
“It receives some blood supply, but that doesn't mean it's a living organism. We are not seeing a baby.”
I closed my eyes.
For the first time, someone had clearly told me that I wasn't pregnant.
Yet the relief lasted only a second.
“Then why does it move?”
“Large masses and fluid collections can shift. They can also transmit normal bowel movements.”
Daniel stared at the screen.
Then Dr. Collins enlarged the image.
Something near the outer edge caught her attention.
She leaned closer.
“That's unusual.”
“What is?” I asked.
She pointed toward a tiny metallic shape.
“There's an object embedded near the mass.”
Daniel stood.
“An object?”
“It may be an old surgical marker or implanted device.”
My chest tightened.
I had never undergone abdominal surgery.
Not once.
Dr. Collins looked directly at me.
“Margaret, I need you to think carefully. Did anyone ever tell you that an implant had been placed inside your body?”
I shook my head.
She glanced at the old Bellwether document.
Then she whispered something to Dr. Mercer.
Daniel heard her.
May you like
So did I.
“It's the same device described in the Bellwether records.”
