Chapter 7
The Girl in the Hospital Photograph
Naledi stared at the hospital file until the words began to blur.
Her name.
Zinhle’s name.
And a date she had spent seven years trying to forget.
She turned the page slowly. Attached to the medical report was a photograph of two young women standing outside a hospital entrance. One was unmistakably Zinhle.
The other was Naledi.
But something about the photograph made her stomach tighten.
She was wearing a hospital gown.
Why?
With trembling fingers, Naledi flipped the photograph over. Written in faded blue ink were six words.
ONLY ONE OF THEM LEFT ALIVE.
She dropped the photograph.
For several seconds, she couldn’t breathe. Her mind struggled to make sense of what she was seeing.
Seven years ago, she had been told that Zinhle died in a terrible accident. There had been a funeral, a coffin and a grieving family. She remembered crying. She remembered Thabo holding her through the worst of it.
But suddenly, one question began to haunt her.
Had she ever actually seen her sister’s body?
Not once.
Her phone vibrated.
An unknown number.
Stop looking through things that were buried for a reason.
Naledi read the message twice. Before she could respond, another message appeared.
Ask your husband what happened to the second patient.
Her fingers went cold.
She looked towards the bedroom door. Thabo was home.
Quickly, she photographed the hospital report and slipped everything back into the envelope. She had barely finished when she heard footsteps approaching.
“Naledi?”
Thabo’s voice made her freeze.
“Yes?”
“Who have you been speaking to?”
She swallowed, forcing herself to remain calm.
“No one.”
The bedroom door opened.
Thabo stood in the doorway, still wearing his expensive watch. His expression was unreadable, but his eyes immediately moved towards the desk.
Then towards the envelope.
For the first time since she had known him, Naledi noticed something different in his face.
Fear.
He walked towards her slowly.
“Did you open that?”
Naledi said nothing.
Thabo studied her for a long moment. His usual confidence seemed to disappear, replaced by something she couldn’t quite identify.
Then he leaned closer and whispered something that made her blood run cold.
“There’s something you need to understand, my love. Zinhle wasn’t the only person who disappeared that night.”
He paused, watching her reaction.
“Neither were you.”
Naledi stared at him, unable to speak.
What had happened seven years ago?
And why was her own husband only telling her now?
END OF CHAPTER 7
