Chapter 2 – What Fell From the Cast
The room fell silent.
Evelyn knelt beside Noah's hospital bed and switched on the small cast saw.
"It won't cut his skin," she said calmly. "It only vibrates through the plaster."
Daniel nodded reluctantly.
Marissa stepped forward.
"You are making a terrible mistake."
Evelyn didn't even look at her.
"I'm making sure a child is safe."
The buzzing sound filled the room.
White dust drifted into the air as the cast slowly opened.
Noah squeezed his father's hand until his tiny fingers turned white.
"I told you..." he whispered through tears. "It's inside."
The final strip of plaster separated.
Evelyn gently lifted the cast away.
For one second...
Nothing happened.
Then a dark object dropped onto the hospital blanket.
It wriggled.
A nurse screamed.
A large beetle, trapped inside the cast, crawled frantically across the sheets before falling onto the floor.
The room exploded into chaos.
Daniel stared in disbelief.
"How...?"
Noah burst into tears.
"It scratched me every night."
Evelyn quickly examined his arm.
Thin red scratches covered his skin from wrist to elbow.
Some had become infected.
She looked toward the orthopedic surgeon.
"There was never an open wound before the cast?"
"No."
"Then the insect was introduced after the cast was applied."
The doctor's face turned pale.
Daniel slowly turned toward Marissa.
She forced a laugh.
"It must have crawled in somehow."
Evelyn picked up the broken cast.
"Not possible."
She pointed to a section that had been carefully resealed with fresh plaster.
"Someone cut this cast open."
The entire room looked at Marissa.
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For the first time...
She looked afraid.
