Dennis and the Mysteries of India

The crowd gathered around the bed in the dimly lit room. I tried to look at her face but her eyes were closed, and dark makeup covered her cheeks, making it difficult to see. She was covered with a white sheet that seemed to be made of some kind of rough material.

"Is she asleep?" I asked.

The doctor nodded and pointed at his watch. "Yes, she hasn't woken up since they brought her here."

"And you don't know why?" My sister Maria's voice was calm, but her eyes were red from crying. "There is no reason for this?"

"I wish I knew," the doctor said. He smiled and patted my shoulder. "You can go sit by her side if you'd like."

Maria led me over to the bedside. The nurse pulled back the sheet covering my mother's body and exposed her chest, revealing a large purple mark near her heart.

"What's this?" Maria asked. She grabbed my hand and squeezed it hard enough to hurt. Her fingernails dug into my palm as she stared at the purple mark on my mother's chest. The nurse pulled the sheet back over my mother's body, leaving only her face visible under the white cloth with its pattern of tiny purple flowers.

"I don't know," the doctor replied cautiously. "It looks almost like a bruise." The doctor's eyebrows furrowed in concern as he watched my sister and me stare at our mother's face through the thin white cloth covering most of her head and torso. "It wasn't there this morning when they found her lying on the floor." He looked down at his clipboard, then back up at us again. "Can either of you think of anything that might have happened to cause this? Is there anyone who might want to hurt your mother?"