“Elizabeth was uneasy when she saw strange holes in her baby’s nose. She took the baby to see a doctor, but what he revealed left her short of words.
On the day that Elizabeth found strange holes in her 10-month-old baby’s nose, she gasped in horror. Just the night before, she had put him to sleep herself, and everything was fine. But by morning, something was terribly wrong.
Normally, her son was a happy, playful baby who never gave his mother any trouble, but that morning, he had suddenly become fussy, restless, and would cry out at random times. His chubby baby hands continually went to his nose as if to scratch a persistent itch.
At first, Elizabeth didn’t see anything on baby Matthew’s nose that might indicate why he was rubbing it consistently. She thought something else might be irritating him, so she gave him a warm bubble bath and changed his clothes. She fed him and rocked him, but to no avail; his hands kept reaching for his nose.
She thought it was a normal itch he was making worse by rubbing, so she covered his hands with baby mittens. Unable to rub the itch and feeling deeply distressed, baby Matthew wailed at the top of his lungs and didn’t stop crying, no matter what Elizabeth did. She finally relented and removed the mittens, and at once, his hands returned to rubbing his nose furiously.
Elizabeth was taken aback. What was it about this nose that kept itching him? She wondered. Then she laid him down in his crib, found a flashlight, turned it on, and directed it towards his nose. That was when she saw unusual dots in his nose. Squinting, she held the flashlight closer to his nose to make out what those dots were and discovered they were tiny holes, and there were many of them. Horror consumed her, and she shrunk back as thoughts filled her head: What were those holes? Where did they come from? How long had they been there before she noticed?
She took a few seconds to catch her breath before she began examining the holes closely. They were shallow, as if they were tiny rashes, but they went inward instead of outward. She touched the surface of Matthew’s nose, and he flinched. She touched it again, and he began to cry.
Elizabeth carried her son in her arms and rocked him until he fell asleep. She was so sad seeing him in this discomfort and in pain. The last time when she felt this scared and nervous was when she lost her husband, Matthew’s father.
Matthew’s father, Craig, had died of a terminal illness. When he met Elizabeth, he had a chronic illness; he had told her about it from the start. But they were too in love and didn’t want to be apart. So they’d gone ahead and got married, bought a house, and went on many trips together. At the time this was happening, Elizabeth was 30 years old while Craig was 32.
It was fortunate that Craig was wealthy; as a Genius app developer, Craig would work from anywhere in the world and make millions annually. A huge chunk of this money went to managing his health judiciously. This helped his health greatly, but it didn’t improve; he was constantly fatigued and nauseous, he would also lose weight rapidly, and was often in pain. Thankfully, the painkillers made the pain bearable.
At 38 years old, Elizabeth found out that she was going to have a baby. Although it was unexpected, it was completely welcome. Unfortunately, following this good news was an incredibly devastating one: Craig had a terminal illness and wouldn’t live up to a year. They were sorrowful.
They took comfort in two things: the happy years they’d spent together and their coming baby. In the months leading up to his son’s birth, Craig wrote a will that left his entire wealth to his wife, whom he trusted to use it well, including to fund the health research facility that they were both supporters of; some of their discoveries had helped Craig cope with his illness for many years.
Craig also wrote letters for his son and made many video diaries; he hoped his son would watch as he grew up. He wanted Matthew to know he was loved in every way and had parents who would move the world for his sake.
By the time Elizabeth gave birth to Matthew, Craig was already on bed rest. He laid his son on his chest and stroked them tenderly. Elizabeth assured Craig that she would always watch over their son. ‘I promise that I’ll raise them to be strong, courageous, and healthy.
You have nothing to worry about,’ she said to him on his deathbed. Craig drew her face in and kissed her forehead; he whispered that he trusted her. Shortly after, he died. Morning her husband wasn’t easy, but Matthew’s presence gave Elizabeth a lot of strength and will to live.
When she wasn’t involved with work at the facility (and this required her presence only four times a year), she was at home playing with Matthew and surrounding herself with his laughter. In light, they hardly left the house, except on brief errands and hikes on popular trails. Mother and son shared a deep connection, such that Elizabeth instinctively knew whenever his diapers needed to be changed, when he awoke from a nap, and when he was hungry.
He was such a healthy, vibrant, happy baby, which made his drastic change so noticeable. A bad thought nicked at her: What if he was gravely sick like his dad was? Quickly, she rebuked that thought. From birth, the doctors had confirmed Matthew was in robust health, so no need thinking otherwise.
Choosing to believe that it might be an ailment that some other babies had faced, Elizabeth went to the mom’s forum she was part of and asked questions, but none of the mothers knew anything about Matthew’s condition; they’d never seen it before.
Growing worried, Elizabeth wondered what this meant, but her thoughts were interrupted by Matthew’s piercing cry. She rushed to him, grabbed the flashlight, and pointed at his nose. She recoiled at what she saw; the holes were getting more pronounced. Quickly, she reached for her phone and called the doctor at the facility. She explained to him what was happening to Matthew, and he asked her to bring him in immediately.
Elizabeth did as he instructed, and within hours, her son was tested, and results were out. This was occurring late in the evening, but the doctors at the facility were willing to stay late for Elizabeth’s sake because she supported the work at the facility. When the doctor saw the test results, fear gripped him, and he asked Elizabeth to move away from him.
She was confused and demanded to know what the result said, but he yelled at her not to come any closer. Frustrated by his reaction and the fact that the holes in her baby’s nose were spreading, she yelled back at him for answers. Coming to his senses, the doctor calmed down and pleaded with Elizabeth not to leave the room under any circumstances. He needed to leave to consult with other doctors, but he’d be back. Left with no choice, she agreed.
The waiting felt like torture. It was only for an hour, but it felt like an entire day. She wondered what could have made the doctor act like that towards her. Next thing she heard thorough cleaning going on outside the room she was in; she overheard the doctor’s instructions that they shouldn’t miss any spot. By the time the doctor re-entered the room, he was in protective clothing from head to toe and was accompanied by two other doctors who were dressed similarly. Elizabeth suspected the worst when she saw them, and her heart beat so fast.
Then the doctor revealed something shocking from the test results: Matthew had been infected by a flesh-eating virus. It was highly contagious and needed to be contained and treated as soon as possible.
They asked Elizabeth questions to know where he might have gotten it; a popular hiking trail that she’d taken with him a few days ago was the biggest suspect. While the doctors retained mother and son in the facility to isolate and treat them, they also contacted the authorities to investigate the trail. Sure enough, they discovered a foreign plant on it that was responsible for harboring the flesh-eating virus. They excavated and destroyed it.
After a month at the facility, the holes were completely gone, and Matthew was back to being healthy and playful. Elizabeth was so thankful and became more careful with where they went. They lived happily together for many years.”
