Chapter 3 - THE DOCTOR WHO CHANGED THE DIAGNOSIS
Dr. Sofia Conti arrived after sunset.
She was a neurologist from a university hospital in Philadelphia.
Elena had found her through a former nursing colleague of her mother.
Conti entered without an entourage.
No expensive leather case.
No dramatic declarations.
Just a tablet, a stethoscope, and the exhausted expression of a doctor who had spent her life dealing with difficult patients.
She examined me for nearly two hours.
She reviewed my medical history.
Asked about my symptoms.
Tested my reflexes.
Studied the medications recorded in my chart.
Then she looked at me.
“Mr. Castellano, I need to be clear. Your symptoms are real, but I don't see enough evidence to conclude that you have a progressive neurological disease.”
I stared.
“Then what's happening?”
“I can't tell you yet.”
She paused.
“Some toxic exposures and medication effects can resemble neurological disorders. We need independent laboratory testing and a full review of everything you've received.”
My heartbeat changed.
“Could someone be making me sick?”
She held my gaze.
“It's a possibility worth investigating. It isn't a diagnosis.”
I nodded.
For the first time, someone was speaking to me without pretending certainty.
Conti arranged for me to be transferred to a hospital where Bellini had no authority.
I refused at first.
“My men can protect me here.”
She folded her arms.
“Your men didn't notice the unauthorized visits.”
That silenced me.
Elena stood near the doorway.
“She's right.”
I looked at her.
Most people in my house wouldn't have dared agree with someone contradicting me.
Elena did it without hesitation.
The transfer took place that night.
I traveled in a medical ambulance.
Elena followed with Giulia.
Two independent security officers accompanied us.
I did not tell Aldo where I was going.
At the hospital, the staff collected blood and other samples.
They reviewed my prescriptions.
They examined the infusion equipment.
They documented the wrapper Elena had preserved.
By morning, one preliminary finding had raised serious concern.
My blood contained a medication-related compound that did not match the treatment plan Bellini had supplied.
The doctors wouldn't yet say whether it explained all my symptoms.
But they were concerned enough to suspend several medications pending review.
I stared at Conti.
“Am I being poisoned?”
She sat beside my bed.
“There's evidence of an exposure that needs explanation. We are investigating whether it was accidental, inappropriate treatment, or deliberate.”
I closed my eyes.
“Can I recover?”
“Some effects may improve when the exposure stops. But we need time and careful monitoring.”
I nodded.
Time.
Something I'd believed I no longer possessed.
That afternoon, Elena brought Giulia into the room.
The little girl carried a drawing.
It showed a lion lying beneath a tree.
Beside him stood a smaller lion wearing a red scarf.
I smiled.
“Who's that?”
“That's you.”
“And the little lion?”
“Me.”
I looked at her.
“Why are you wearing a scarf?”
She grinned.
“Because lions get cold too.”
I laughed.
It hurt my chest.
But I laughed.
Then Giulia pointed to the sun in the corner.
“That's Mommy.”
Elena smiled.
“Why am I the sun?”
“Because you make things warm.”
The room fell quiet.
I looked at Elena.
She looked away.
That evening, Conti returned with news.
Investigators had reviewed the hospital's medication records.
One of Bellini's claimed treatments had never been ordered by the specialist whose name appeared on the authorization.
The signature had been forged.
I stared.
“Bellini forged a doctor's order?”
“That's what the records suggest.”
My jaw tightened.
“Who else knew?”
Conti hesitated.
“We found evidence that someone outside the medical team requested copies of your treatment schedule.”
“Who?”
She looked at the chart.
“A representative of Manfredi Holdings.”
Aldo.
I closed my eyes.
The man I'd called my brother had been watching my illness develop.
May you like
And now I had to decide whether he had merely been waiting for me to die—
Or helping make it happen.
