Chapter 1 - The Diagnosis
The doctor’s words echoed in the sterile emergency room.
“Call the police.”
My heart slammed against my ribs as I looked from the doctor to my unconscious wife.
Emily lay on the hospital bed, her skin a terrifying shade of translucent gray.
Beside her, a team of nurses was frantically hooking tiny IV lines into Noah’s fragile arms.
My seven-day-old son was barely breathing, his chest rising in shallow, uneven gasps.
The fever had nearly consumed him.
I grabbed the doctor’s sleeve, my hands shaking uncontrollably.
“What is wrong with them?” I begged.
Dr. Evans looked at me with a mixture of pity and deep suspicion.
“Your wife is severely dehydrated and suffering from a massive infection, but that is not the worst part.”
She pulled back the blanket covering Emily’s arm.
“There are puncture marks here, consistent with heavy sedatives.”
I stepped back, the room spinning around me.
“Sedatives?” I asked.
“Someone has been drugging her,” the doctor said firmly.
My mind instantly flashed to the empty pizza boxes, the dirty house, and my mother and sister asleep on the couch.
They were supposed to be taking care of her.
They were supposed to be family.
Two police officers rushed through the emergency room doors, their hands resting on their utility belts.
I pointed them toward my address, explaining that my mother and sister were still there.
“Send a squad car immediately,” the taller officer said into his radio.
I sat by Emily’s bed, praying for her to open her eyes.
Thirty minutes later, the officer returned with a grim expression on his face.
“Mr. Miller, my team breached your house.”
I stood up quickly, asking if they had arrested them.
“The house is completely empty,” the officer replied.
“But they left something behind.”
He handed me an evidence bag containing Emily’s personal diary.
“We found this on the kitchen counter, open to the last page.”
May you like
I stared at the familiar handwriting, but the words chilled me to the bone.
The final entry read: "Ethan, if you are reading this, I am so sorry, but they made me do it."
