Chapter 3 - THE MAN WHO KNEW THE MARKJames Hayes had never liked hospitals.
He disliked the smell.
The waiting rooms.
The helplessness.
But now he had spent six days inside one.
Oliver was alive.
That was all that mattered.
Yet something had changed.
The doctors no longer spoke to James with certainty.
They spoke with caution.
They had found the mark.
They had treated Oliver.
But they still did not understand why it had appeared.
And Dr. Vell had stopped answering questions.
Anna noticed.
“What is happening?”
James looked at her.
“I don't know.”
“You're lying.”
James sighed.
“Dr. Vell found something about Eli's sister.”
Anna looked toward the hallway.
Eli was sitting there.
He had become part of the hospital.
Nurses brought him food.
Patients' families gave him clothes.
A nurse had even found him a pair of shoes.
But he still slept in the family wing.
Still woke up every few hours.
Still checked on Oliver.
Anna walked toward him.
“Eli.”
He looked up.
“Is Oliver okay?”
“Yes.”
Eli smiled.
Then looked away.
Anna sat beside him.
“Do you miss your sister?”
Eli's face closed.
“Yes.”
“What was she like?”
“Loud.”
Anna smiled sadly.
“Loud?”
“She sang all the time.”
“What did she sing?”
“Anything.”
Eli looked toward the ICU.
“Sometimes she sang when she was scared.”
Anna touched his shoulder.
“Were you scared?”
Eli nodded.
“Every day.”
Anna felt tears in her eyes.
Before she could say anything, Dr. Vell appeared.
“Mr. Hayes.”
James stood.
“What happened?”
“Your son is stable.”
James exhaled.
“Then what is it?”
Dr. Vell looked at Eli.
“Can we speak privately?”
Eli immediately stood.
“I can leave.”
Dr. Vell shook his head.
“No.”
The doctor held a folder.
“Lily Moore was seen by a private specialist before she died.”
James's face changed.
“Who?”
“Dr. Adrian Cross.”
James frowned.
He knew the name.
Everyone did.
“What does he have to do with this?”
Dr. Vell opened the file.
“Your foundation denied Lily's treatment request.”
James stared.
“I didn't personally deny anything.”
“I know.”
“But?”
Dr. Vell pointed toward the file.
“Your foundation funded the Cross Institute.”
James went still.
Anna looked at him.
“What?”
James shook his head.
“I didn't know.”
Dr. Vell said:
“That is becoming a dangerous sentence.”
James stared at the papers.
His foundation had invested millions into Adrian Cross's research.
If Cross had treated Lily—
if he had studied her—
then perhaps the foundation had not simply denied her treatment.
Perhaps someone had wanted her case.
James looked at Eli.
The boy had heard everything.
His face was pale.
“You knew him?”
Eli shook his head.
“I knew the building.”
“Did you see this man?”
Dr. Vell showed him a photograph.
Adrian Cross.
Eli stared.
Then slowly pointed.
“That man.”
The room went silent.
James stepped forward.
“You saw him?”
Eli nodded.
“He came to see Lily.”
“When?”
“Before she got worse.”
“What did he do?”
Eli swallowed.
“He looked at her neck.”
Dr. Vell closed his eyes.
“What else?”
Eli's expression became distant.
“He said she was special.”
James felt cold.
“Special?”
Eli nodded.
“He said she had the right pattern.”
Anna whispered:
“What pattern?”
Eli looked at her.
“I don't know.”
Then he touched his neck.
“But after that, the mark appeared.”
Dr. Vell's face became hard.
He had spent twenty-six years believing Lily's death had been a medical tragedy.
Now he wondered whether it had been an experiment.
And if Adrian Cross had been studying the mark—
why did Oliver have it?
James suddenly remembered something.
The day Oliver was born.
A man had stood outside the maternity ward.
A stranger.
He had watched the newborn babies through the glass.
James had ignored him.
But now he remembered the man's face.
Adrian Cross.
James turned toward Dr. Vell.
“He was there.”
The doctor stared.
“Who?”
“Cross.”
Dr. Vell's eyes widened.
“What?”
“He was at the hospital when Oliver was born.”
Anna looked at James.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“I didn't know it mattered.”
Dr. Vell looked toward Oliver's room.
“Then this is not a coincidence.”
At that moment, one of the monitors began to alarm.
A nurse ran from the ICU.
“Doctor!”
Dr. Vell turned.
“What happened?”
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The nurse's face was white.
“Oliver's mark is changing.”
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