Chapter 5: My Wife Was Breathing
“Stop!””
Marcus pushed past the officers.
A woman's cough came again from beneath the pool.
This time, everyone heard it.
“There's someone alive down there!””
The emergency team immediately returned to the opening.
Officer Brooks raised his hand.
“Everyone back! Give them room!””
Marcus struggled against the officer holding him.
“That's my wife!””
“Sir, you need to stay back.””
“LET ME GO!””
The technician lowered a medical camera into the narrow passage.
For several seconds, the monitor showed only darkness, pipes, and damp concrete.
Then something moved.
A pale shape appeared near the back wall.
The technician leaned closer.
“Detective, I have movement.””
Marcus stopped struggling.
“Can you see her face?””
“Not yet.””
“Then keep looking!””
The camera shifted.
A woman's face slowly appeared on the screen.
Her hair was tangled and hanging over her cheeks. Her skin looked pale, and her eyes were half-open.
But she was breathing.
The technician shouted for medical assistance.
Marcus stared at the monitor.
He recognized the small scar above her left eyebrow.
He had kissed that scar hundreds of times.
It came from a childhood bicycle accident.
“Elina,” he whispered.
The woman's eyelids moved.
Then, faintly, her lips parted.
“Marcus…”
His legs nearly collapsed.
“ELINA!””
He tried to rush toward the opening again.
Brooks caught him.
“Let the medical team work!””
Marcus began crying.
Fourteen months.
Fourteen months of believing he had buried the woman he loved.
Fourteen months of answering his daughter's questions about death.
Fourteen months of sleeping on one side of a bed that suddenly felt too large.
And she had been beneath his own house.
Alive.
The rescue team carefully entered the chamber through the secondary access point.
They found Elina lying on a narrow platform beside a small ventilation unit.
An oxygen cylinder stood nearby.
There were empty water bottles, medication packages, and a thin blanket.
A battery-powered lamp flickered above her.
It was a room designed for someone to survive.
Not comfortably.
But long enough.
A paramedic reached her first.
“Ma'am, can you hear me?””
Elina blinked.
“Where…”
“Don't try to move. We're here to help you.””
“Lily?””
Marcus covered his mouth.
The paramedic leaned closer.
“Your daughter is safe.””
Elina began crying.
“Where is she?””
“She's outside.””
“Please… don't let Vanessa take her.””
The paramedic exchanged a look with the technician.
Then he spoke into his radio.
“We have a conscious adult female. Severe dehydration, possible malnutrition, and injuries. Prepare immediate transport.””
When the rescue team finally brought Elina into the garden, Marcus dropped to his knees.
She was wrapped in a thermal blanket.
An oxygen mask covered her mouth.
Her hands trembled.
Marcus reached for her.
“Elina?””
Her eyes slowly found his.
For a moment, she simply stared.
Then one tear rolled down her cheek.
“Marcus…”
He took her hand.
“I'm here. I'm right here.””
Elina's fingers closed weakly around his.
“I knew…”
She struggled to breathe.
“I knew you'd come.””
Marcus bent over her hand, sobbing.
“I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.””
Elina shook her head.
“Lily…”
“She's safe.””
“Promise?””
“I promise.””
The paramedics began preparing the stretcher.
Lily stood several feet away, holding a police officer's hand.
She had stopped crying.
She was looking at the woman on the stretcher as if afraid that one wrong movement might make her disappear again.
Elina turned her head.
“Baby?””
Lily took one step forward.
Then another.
“Mommy?””
Elina began crying harder.
“My little girl.””
Lily ran into her arms.
The paramedic gently supported them both.
“Careful, sweetheart. Mommy needs a little help right now.””
Lily pressed her face against Elina's blanket.
“I told Daddy you were there.””
Elina kissed her forehead.
“You did so well.””
Marcus watched them, unable to speak.
Then Vanessa's voice cut through the garden.
“This is impossible.””
Everyone turned.
She was standing beside the police vehicle, her wrists restrained.
“You're all making a terrible mistake!””
Elina's eyes shifted toward her.
The change was immediate.
Her body stiffened.
She grabbed Marcus's wrist with surprising strength.
“Don't let her near Lily.””
Marcus stepped in front of his daughter.
“She's not coming anywhere near you.””
Vanessa laughed bitterly.
“You still don't understand, do you?””
Officer Brooks approached.
“That's enough, Ms. Reed.””
“No!”” Vanessa shouted.
“He needs to know what happened!””
Marcus stared at her.
“You have five seconds to tell me why my wife was locked under my swimming pool.””
Vanessa looked at Elina.
Then at the doctor.
Finally, she turned toward Marcus.
“Because she wasn't supposed to survive.””
The garden fell silent.
Marcus felt Lily grip his hand.
“What did you do to her?”” he asked.
Vanessa wiped her cheeks.
“I didn't do everything.””
“What does that mean?””
Coleman suddenly spoke from behind the officers.
“Vanessa, don't say another word.””
She turned toward him.
“Why? You're afraid he'll find out about the payments?””
Brooks immediately faced the doctor.
“Payments?””
Coleman looked away.
Vanessa laughed through her tears.
“You signed the certificate. You arranged the funeral. You made everyone believe she was dead.””
Marcus slowly turned toward Coleman.
“Why?””
The doctor remained silent.
Then Elina lifted her trembling hand.
“Marcus…”
He knelt beside her.
“What is it?””
She struggled to remove her oxygen mask.
“Don't trust…”
Her voice faded.
“Don't trust the man who brought the body home.””
Marcus frowned.
“What body?””
Elina looked toward the doctor.
Then she whispered:
“The woman they buried in my coffin wasn't a stranger.””
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She closed her eyes.
And Marcus realized that the funeral he had attended might have concealed something far worse than his wife's disappearance.
