Chapter 3 - THE BLOOD TEST
Lena refused at first.
“No.”
Dr. Reed did not argue.
He simply stood beside the hospital bed and waited.
“No,” Lena repeated.
Eli looked up at her.
“Mommy?”
Lena held his hand.
“I’m not letting anyone turn my son into a laboratory experiment.”
“This is not an experiment,” Dr. Reed said calmly.
“Then what is it?”
“A medical test.”
“Why?”
“Because his grandmother is sick.”
“Margaret is not his grandmother.”
The words came out before Lena could stop them.
The room became quiet.
Daniel looked at her.
Lena immediately regretted saying it.
But Margaret heard.
Her eyes opened.
“Exactly,” she whispered.
Lena turned.
Margaret's face was pale.
“What did you say?”
Margaret looked at Eli.
“I am not his grandmother.”
Eli's face fell.
Lena stepped between them.
“You don't get to say that to him again.”
Margaret's eyes narrowed.
“You want the truth?”
“You've made your feelings very clear.”
“No, you don't understand.”
“Then explain.”
Margaret looked at Daniel.
He stared at the floor.
Lena noticed.
Again.
The same silence.
The same fear.
She turned toward Dr. Reed.
“Do the test.”
Daniel looked up.
“Lena—”
“Do it.”
The nurse took Eli to a nearby room.
Lena stayed beside him.
She held his hand while the blood was drawn.
He barely cried.
“Am I sick?” he asked.
“No.”
“Then why do they need my blood?”
Lena looked at the nurse.
Then at her son.
“To help the doctors understand something.”
Eli frowned.
“Like a puzzle?”
“Yes.”
“Can I help?”
Lena forced a smile.
“Yes, baby.”
When the test was finished, Eli received a small bandage.
He examined it proudly.
“Can I show Grandma?”
Lena felt her chest tighten.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because she's resting.”
Eli nodded.
Then he whispered:
“Maybe she will like me tomorrow.”
Lena turned away.
She could not let him see her cry.
Two hours later, Dr. Reed returned.
His expression was different.
Lena knew immediately.
“What did you find?”
The doctor closed the door.
Daniel stood beside the window.
“What is it?” Lena demanded.
Dr. Reed placed a report on the table.
“We compared Eli's blood markers with Margaret's.”
“And?”
“They are not compatible with a biological grandparent relationship.”
Lena stared.
“What does that mean?”
“It means Margaret Whitmore cannot be Eli's biological grandmother through the family line you believed.”
Daniel's face went pale.
Lena looked at him.
“Explain.”
Dr. Reed hesitated.
“Genetic testing would be more accurate than blood markers alone.”
“Then do genetic testing.”
“Mrs. Carter—”
“Do it.”
Daniel suddenly spoke.
“No.”
Lena turned.
“What?”
“No.”
“You don't get to say no.”
“He is my son.”
“And I am his mother.”
“This is private.”
“Your mother has spent four years denying our son.”
Daniel flinched.
“Don't make this about that.”
“It is about that.”
Dr. Reed stepped between them.
“We don't need to make any decisions tonight.”
Lena looked at Daniel.
“Yes, we do.”
She picked up the report.
“Why is the hospital asking questions about my son?”
Daniel did not answer.
“Why does my name appear in a sealed file?”
Nothing.
“Why does your mother look terrified every time she sees me?”
Daniel's eyes filled with something Lena could not identify.
Guilt.
Fear.
Or both.
“I don't know,” he whispered.
Lena shook her head.
“You keep saying that.”
She walked toward the door.
Then Margaret spoke.
“Lena.”
Everyone stopped.
Margaret's voice was weak.
Lena turned.
Margaret looked at her.
“Don't take the test.”
Lena's heart began pounding.
“Why?”
Margaret closed her eyes.
“Because some truths cannot be undone.”
Lena stared at her.
“That sounds like a confession.”
Margaret opened her eyes.
“You have no idea what you're asking.”
“I am asking why you rejected my son.”
Margaret said nothing.
“Why?”
Still nothing.
Lena stepped closer.
“You told him not to call you Grandma.”
Margaret's face tightened.
“Because I am not.”
Daniel turned toward his mother.
“Mom.”
Margaret looked at him.
For the first time, Lena saw something strange between them.
Not mother and son.
Something more complicated.
Something broken.
Margaret whispered:
“Don't make me do this.”
Daniel's face went white.
Lena looked between them.
“What does that mean?”
No one answered.
Then a nurse entered the room.
“Mrs. Whitmore?”
Margaret looked up.
“There is a visitor.”
“Who?”
The nurse glanced at the paperwork.
“An elderly woman.”
Margaret's face suddenly lost all color.
“What is her name?”
The nurse answered:
“Eleanor Price.”
Margaret whispered:
“No.”
Lena heard the name.
Eleanor Price.
The same name appeared on the corner of the sealed file.
Lena looked at Daniel.
He had seen it too.
The elderly woman entered the room.
She was small.
Thin.
Her white hair was pulled into a neat bun.
She looked directly at Margaret.
Then at Lena.
Then at Eli.
And her eyes filled with tears.
“Oh my God,” she whispered.
Lena stepped forward.
“Do I know you?”
The old woman shook her head.
“No.”
“Then why are you looking at my son like that?”
Eleanor stared at Eli.
Then she whispered:
“Because I knew the baby.”
Lena's blood ran cold.
“What baby?”
May you like
Eleanor looked at Margaret.
“The one you said died.”
