My eyes fly to him and his hand flashes up in the air to swat the sordid suggestion. "No, that's not at all what I meant. I mean it physically. What happens if he stashed something in you? It would be bizarre, but also… ingenious."
My eyes drop to scan myself dramatically. "I think I would remember if he cut me open and—"
The epiphany strikes so hard it knocks my world off axis. "No…"
"Avara?" he urges.
I lift my hand to inspect the old scar meandering around the groove of my palm. It seems all roads lead back to that day… Botan, my mother, and now my father.
"The accident… but he couldn't have. He would never—"
"There's only one way to figure it out," he interjects insistently. "There's an old war buddy of mine, a medic that was assigned to my unit. He can privately examine you and possibly extract whatever he needs to. Lucky for us, he lives near the city. So why don't you go home and get some rest. I'll call him in the morning and I'll reach out. But…"
