Chapter 4 - Grant’s Foot Had Been Moving for Six Days
The black component yielded data faster than expected.
Grant did not care about the technical details.
He wanted dates.
The specialist gave him exactly that.
The device had been installed seven days earlier.
The first recorded movement appeared the following morning.
Small.
Barely measurable.
A brief pressure change beneath Grant’s right foot.
Another appeared that afternoon.
Then several the next day.
By day four, movement events were occurring repeatedly.
Grant stared at the timeline.
Six days ago.
Five.
Four.
Three.
He had been moving before the party.
Not consciously.
Not strongly enough to stand.
But his body had been changing.
“Could I have missed this?”
“Yes.”
Grant hated the answer.
“But whoever had access to the logs?”
The specialist looked toward him.
“Would know movement was occurring.”
Grant leaned back.
That was the real purpose.
Someone wanted a private record of his recovery.
The device did not belong to his medical team.
Dr. Moore had never ordered it.
His physical therapist had never seen it.
The manufacturer confirmed the unit was normally used for basic movement monitoring in rehabilitation settings.
Nothing inherently dangerous.
What made it suspicious was concealment.
Grant returned to the mansion and requested every appointment from the previous week.
The pattern was immediate.
Monday:
Home physical therapy.
Possible right ankle movement noted.
Tuesday:
Follow-up canceled.
Wednesday:
No therapy.
Thursday:
Derek told Grant the therapist was sick.
False.
Friday:
A replacement appointment was arranged.
Canceled again.
By Derek.
Saturday:
Grant complained of tingling in the right foot during breakfast.
Derek said:
“Probably nerve spasms. Don’t get excited.”
Grant remembered now.
He had believed him.
Why wouldn’t he?
Derek had been sitting through medical appointments for weeks.
Taking notes.
Asking questions.
Helping Grant into bed.
Handling the chair.
Grant’s first instinct had been gratitude.
Now every helpful act required reexamination.
He hated that too.
Not everything Derek did had to be fake.
That would be easier.
A person could care and still lie.
Grant summoned his home therapist, Melissa Hart.
She looked nervous when she arrived.
“You asked me about the ankle.”
Grant nodded.
“What did you see?”
“Your right foot pulled slightly against resistance.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I did.”
Grant’s face hardened.
Melissa frowned.
“I said, ‘That’s new.’”
Grant remembered something.
Derek standing behind him.
Then Derek answering:
“He does that when he’s in pain.”
Melissa had said she wanted to repeat the test.
Derek replied:
“He’s exhausted.”
The session ended.
The next day, Derek canceled her.
Melissa assumed Grant requested it.
Grant thought Melissa stopped coming because there was no progress.
One sentence from Derek sat between both assumptions.
Grant looked down at his right foot.
He tried moving it.
Nothing.
Then, after several seconds, the shoe shifted slightly.
Melissa smiled despite herself.
“There.”
Grant looked at her.
Then toward the empty doorway.
Derek had known before Grant.
May you like
That fact was now almost certain.
But Grant still did not know what Derek feared would happen once he started walking again.
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