My mom is a doctor, but her patients only come to her for one thing

My mom has always been my idol, the biggest role model in my life. When my dad died shortly after I was born, she raised me on her own, while also maintaining her career as a doctor. My grandmother offered support when she could, but my mom was the foundation. As I grew older, I noticed that I was not the only person who seemed to depend on her wisdom and guidance.

I was maybe six or seven when I began to notice the women. White, black, Asian, Hispanic. Early 20s, late 40s, fairly well on in their 50s. There didn’t seem to be a particular type or requirement to come and see my mother, but whenever they would come, my mom would send me to my room. That was fine with me; I was usually given a snack or something and I kept myself busy with whatever new gaming system or computer I had at the time. Whatever my mom was doing to “treat” these patients didn’t take long; After about 15 minutes or so, my mom would poke her head in my room, her gray eyes bright as she let me know our latest guest had gone.

Mom was certainly making a pretty penny at the hospital, but we lived in a standard two-story, three bedroom house. Our spare room, located right next to my mom’s, was her “medical chamber.” She kept it under lock and key, telling me that there were many instruments I could hurt myself with, or expensive equipment that she didn’t want me to break. I had never once been inside the room before, but I never gave it much thought. By the time I was 15 years old, though, I started to wonder about something. As far as I knew, my mother was an obstetrician, the most renowned in town. And yet, none of the women who visited us, not one, had ever been pregnant…

One day, as I was sitting on the couch eating scrambled eggs, there was a knock at the door. My mom was off at work, and she had taught me never to let anyone into our house, under any circumstance if she was not there. I had grown used to ignoring any phone calls to the landline or unexpected visitors, but whoever was standing outside was persistent; They banged nonstop at the wood, and even began to yell. Annoyed, I trudged over to the door and yanked it open aggressively. There was a woman standing there, sweat running down her round, pale face that was framed by her dark hair. She wore a dirty white dress and was quite obviously pregnant, but her eyes were what drew my attention. They were wide, panicked, full of cold, unmistakeable fear.

“Abel,” she whispered, her chest rising and falling as she seemed on the verge of hyperventilating. “Abel, is your mother here?”

I was more than a little uncomfortable that this woman knew my name, but she was clearly a client of my mother’s, so I didn’t worry too much about it.

“Uhh, no, she’s not. She’ll be back in a few hours, I’ll tell her to give you a ca-“

“No. I need her now, right now goddamnit. You call her and tell her that I need her now!”

I recoiled, startled by this woman’s escalating aggression. There was something wrong, but what the hell was I supposed to do? “Ma’am, I’m sorry, but you-“

“Listen to me boy you call her and you call her now, or else I’ll call the cops and tell them about what she’s got back there.” The woman’s eyes were glowing, as though she felt she had the leverage on me. I wanted to slam the door in her face, but I also didn’t want my mom to get in trouble; I called her and told her about the woman’s threat, and she was pulling into the driveway twenty minutes later. The woman, who was kneeling on the porch panting, sprung up immediately.

“I’ve changed my mind! I can’t do this, I can’t, I’m not fit to be a mother! You take this thing out of me, take it out now you bitch!”

My mother was expressionless as she stared at the woman. She didn’t blink as she replied, “Alright. Come with me.”

She glanced at me as she stepped into the house, and I knew what it meant. I dashed into my room, closing the door behind me. But I was curious now; I put my ear to the door, listening as their footsteps padded down the hall. When I heard the door to the medical chamber close, I stepped into the hall. I listened intently; A few seconds went by in silence. And then I heard a bloodcurdling scream; This was followed by a loud thud, and I retreated back into my room and pretended to play my PS5. It didn’t take 15 minutes this time: My mom, blood on her face, stuck her head in my room. “I’ve got to get back to work dear. I’ll make tacos tonight.”

Call me stupid, but I do have a conscience; I knew that my mother had done something terrible to this woman, and I couldn’t just sit fiddling my thumbs knowing this. That poor lady hadn’t left the chamber, and I couldn’t just leave her there, hurt and pregnant. I watched my mom back out of the driveway, and then I snuck into her room. I went through her drawers, opened her closet, checked under the bed. I couldn’t find the key, so I resorted to brute force. I rammed my shoulder repeatedly into the door; It took a while, but then the hinges finally gave in and the door fell open. Sore and wheezing, I fell to my knees. There was a foul odor, like nothing I had ever smelled before, wafting out of the dark room. I did not belong in here; Still, I had opened Pandora’s box, and now I had to face the chaos.

When I stood up and my eyes adjusted to the dark, the first thing I saw was the woman lying on the floor. Blood was pooling under her head and she was motionless; Yet, her belly seemed to be pulsing, the baby inside seemingly trying to escape. I was horrified beyond belief, but then I felt a sort of pull; It was as though I was a moth, but the thing attracting me wasn’t light. No, this was darkness beyond comprehension.

A great, wriggling, pink and red mass was situated in the middle of the room. It rose about seven feet in the air, and was about five feet wide. It had multiple tendrils, thick and wet and diseased, thrashing to and fro. There were slits all over it, which opened and closed repeatedly, as though it was…breathing. It had a single eye, set in its center near the top, yellow and full of puss. It stared into my own eyes as I stood transfixed; It never blinked, only looked upon me in what I can only describe as…admiration? The cursed eye shifted from me over to the dead woman on the floor. The thing that shouldn’t be seemed to tremble, fluids secreting all over it, and then one of the tendrils suddenly extended, shooting past me and grabbing the woman’s ankle.

It dragged her up close, and I…well, I’d rather not describe what I was forced to watch. I’d probably have gone insane, but my clarity has somehow prevented me from losing it. After the tendrils were finished, they deposited…something…into the woman, and her belly abruptly stopped moving. The eye was looking at me again now, and I found myself moving forward. I knew now….it all made sense. All those desperate women, they had all come here for the one thing they couldn’t get naturally, whether it was the fault of a man or their own body. My mom had been giving them little miracles. I spread my arms and hugged the great behemoth before me, feeling all of its warmth. Slime ran down my face and into my mouth as I whispered.

“Dad.”