Grandpa said he shouldn’t count it yet.”
I felt my whole body freeze.
What is it you shouldn’t tell me?
She remained silent. At that moment, Robert entered the room. Seeing the bag in my hands, he paled.
“You weren’t supposed to find that,” he said.
I took Emily in my arms and immediately left the room.
That night I could barely sleep. Daniel insisted that we should talk to his father before drawing conclusions, but I no longer trusted any explanation Robert could give me.
The next morning I installed a small hidden camera in the living room. It was facing the hallway and the bathroom door was closed. I needed to know what was going on while I was gone.
At work, I was watching the camera broadcast from my phone all day. At 3:40 p.m., Robert took Emily home after school. She didn’t run like before. He walked slowly, holding a hand leaning on one side.
Robert kneels in front of her and asked anxiously:
“Has it started again?”
Shall we tell Mom?
“No,” Robert replied. I have to make sure first.
I couldn’t stand it anymore. I ran out of work and came home twenty minutes later.
As soon as I opened the front door, I heard the water running in the bathroom. I ran down the hallway and opened the door.
Robert was fully dressed by the bathtub. Emily was also wearing all her clothes; only her feet were submerged in the warm water. The grandfather wore protective gloves and carefully examined the red spots that had appeared on the girl’s legs.
Above the sink was a special pharmacy soap, clean towels and a notebook.
In the notebook, Robert had written down when every rash appeared, what clothes she had brought to Emily, and what she had eaten that day.
“What does all this mean?” he asked.
Robert sat down and covered his face with his hands.
“I think Emily has the same illness her grandmother had.”
1 2
