Chapter 1 - The Hidden Device
I stared at the three words on my phone screen while my heart hammered violently against my ribs.
The message from my sister was not a casual request, but a terrifying and absolute command.
I gripped the leather steering wheel tighter and pressed my foot harder on the gas pedal.
I was absolutely not going to turn around.
Something was terribly wrong with my niece, and I desperately needed a medical professional to tell me exactly what it was.
I glanced anxiously in the rearview mirror to check on the girls sitting behind me.
Emma was holding Lily's hand, softly humming a song to keep her younger cousin calm.
Lily simply stared blankly out the window, her small hand clutching the collar of her shirt to hide her shoulder.
When we finally arrived at the children's emergency room, I practically carried both girls inside the building.
The waiting room was almost empty, and a friendly triage nurse called us back into an examination room within minutes.
I explained to the attending doctor that I had discovered a strange, fresh medical dressing on my niece's shoulder at the pool.
The doctor, a kind older man with gentle eyes, knelt down on the floor in front of Lily.
He softly promised that he was just going to take a quick peek to make sure everything was healing properly.
Lily squeezed her eyes shut and grabbed my hand as the doctor carefully peeled back the adhesive medical dressing.
I leaned forward, fully expecting to see a severe burn, a deep laceration, or a serious infection.
Instead, all the air suddenly left my lungs.
There was absolutely no physical wound on her skin.
Embedded just beneath the surface of her delicate flesh was a smooth, metallic disc the size of a coin.
A tiny red light pulsed steadily and rhythmically from the center of the strange metal object.
The doctor gasped loudly and immediately stumbled backward, violently knocking over a silver tray of medical instruments.
He stared at the blinking light with pure, unadulterated terror shining in his widened eyes.
Before I could even ask him what was wrong, he turned around and sprinted out of the examination room.
He slammed the heavy wooden door shut behind him.
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I heard the distinct, heavy metallic click of the deadbolt sliding into place from the outside.
We were completely trapped inside the hospital.
