Chapter 6 - The Shadow of Sickness
Spring didn't bring the usual joy,
as the news came in April that Evelyn had collapsed.
It was a stroke,
sudden and devastating,
leaving her trapped in a body that no longer obeyed her.
Daniel was a wreck,
spending every waking moment at the hospital,
holding her cold,
lifeless hand.
Nora went too,
but she couldn't bring herself to feel the same grief.
She looked at the woman in the bed,
the once-regal queen now reduced to a shell,
and all she could think about was the box.
Evelyn couldn't speak,
but her eyes were active,
darting around the room,
searching for something.
When Nora approached the bed,
Evelyn’s eyes locked onto hers,
intense and pleading.
She tried to form words,
but only a low,
gurgling sound came out.
Nora leaned in close,
her heart hammering against her ribs.
"Do you want me to open it?"
she whispered,
so low that Daniel couldn't hear.
Evelyn’s eyes widened,
and she gave a tiny,
almost imperceptible shake of her head.
Not yet.
Not until the end.
Nora felt a chill of terror.
The woman was dying,
and she was still guarding the secret with her last breath.
The hospital room felt like a tomb,
smelling of antiseptic and fading life.
Nora spent the nights alone in their house,
the box beneath the floorboards feeling like it was glowing.
She started hearing things,
whispers in the hallways,
the sound of a small brass clasp clicking shut.
She knew it was her imagination,
the stress of the situation playing tricks on her mind,
but she couldn't shake the feeling that she was being prepared.
The old man,
Thomas,
appeared again,
standing across the street from the hospital.
He didn't say anything this time,
he just watched,
a silent sentinel of the past.
Nora wanted to scream at him,
to demand answers,
but she was too tired.
She felt like a character in a play,
waiting for the final act to begin.
Daniel came home one night,
his eyes red and his spirit broken.
"The doctors say it's just a matter of time,"
he sobbed,
burying his face in Nora’s neck.
Nora held him,
offering the comfort he needed,
while her mind was miles away,
in the closet,
under the rug,
beneath the wood.
She felt like a monster,
waiting for her mother-in-law to die so she could satisfy her curiosity.
But it wasn't just curiosity,
it was a need for freedom.
The box was a tether,
and the only way to cut it was to see what was inside.
The nights grew warmer,
the flowers began to bloom in the garden,
but inside the hospital room,
the air remained frozen.
Evelyn lingered,
fighting a battle that no one else could see,
holding onto the world by a single,
fragile thread.
And Nora waited,
May you like
the guardian of the dark wood,
counting the seconds until the end.
