Chapter 2: The Secret Beneath the Cast
The moment Ruth noticed the dark stain, something inside her refused to stay silent.
"Grant, that cast needs to come off. Now."
Marissa stepped forward immediately.
"That's ridiculous. The doctor said—"
"I don't care what the doctor said."
For the first time in twenty years, Ruth interrupted someone in the Whitmore family.
Grant stared at the stain.
It was larger now.
Almost black.
And there was a strange smell.
Not blood.
Not medicine.
Something else.
Something rotten.
Caleb looked up hopefully.
"Dad... please."
The desperation in his voice finally broke through the wall of doubt surrounding Grant's mind.
Within thirty minutes they were at the emergency room.
The orthopedic surgeon frowned the moment he saw the stain.
"Who applied this cast?"
Grant looked confused.
"The hospital did."
The doctor shook his head.
"No."
He pointed at a section near Caleb's wrist.
"This part was opened and resealed afterward."
The room fell silent.
Marissa's face turned pale.
The cast saw began cutting through the plaster.
Caleb squeezed Ruth's hand.
Then the final piece fell away.
Everyone froze.
Attached to Caleb's skin was a small plastic capsule.
Inside the capsule were dozens of aggressive fire ants.
Several had already escaped.
The insects had spent days biting the trapped flesh beneath the cast.
Caleb's arm was swollen, infected, and covered in painful wounds.
Grant felt the blood drain from his face.
The doctor looked horrified.
"What kind of monster would do this to a child?"
Across the room, Marissa quietly backed toward the door.
But Ruth saw her.
And so did Grant.
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For the first time, he wasn't looking at his wife.
He was looking at a suspect.
