When Peter first noticed the strange holes in his thumb, he completely freaked out. He had no idea what possibly could have caused this or how potentially dangerous this was. But he would soon find out. He went to the doctor that very afternoon, but when that man took a look at it, the message for Peter was not good. The doctor called the police immediately after determining what was going on…  Peter was just left without any explanation. The doctor had done some tests on him, and after seeing the results, he immediately informed the police and ran out of the room, leaving him behind. Peter was slowly starting to panic, as he now started to realize how serious this probably was… And when he found out that the doctor had locked the door on him, Peter started to see red. He started banging against the door with his full weight trying to break it open. And with a couple of hits, it gave way. He was now standing face to face with the doctor that had locked him in… The doctor was now forced to give Peter an explanation as to what he had discovered, and upon hearing it, Peter collapsed onto the floor… But what had the doctor discovered? What were these holes in Peter’s fingers, and why did the police need to get involved here? When Peter woke up, it just seemed like any other morning. He had gotten up and shuffled to the kitchen to make his coffee. Even while he was making coffee, he did not notice anything was wrong. That was until he was about to pour the coffee into his cup. When he saw it, he was ready to scream.  40-year-old Peter was a single man. He had dated in the past, but it had never gone well. He had planned a new date for tonight, and hoped that this time it would be different. He’d spent a lot of time preparing, and he really wanted it to go well. It would be the first time he’d meet the girl in person, but not everything would go according to plan. He’d met the woman online and knew it was a long shot, but he met up with her anyway. The date was nothing extraordinary. She really didn’t seem that interested, and he wasn’t sure yet if he wanted to see her again, but the next morning he was sure he didn’t.  The morning after his date, Peter discovered that there was something strange going on with his thumb. It ached a bit, but it wasn’t until he looked closely at it that he saw exactly why his thumb was hurting, and it scared the living daylights out of him. What was happening to him? Peter’s thumb was covered in tiny holes. He thought that maybe something had stuck to his thumb, but bringing it closer to him, he saw that the holes were digging into his skin. He pressed on it with his other fingers, and it hurt a bit more. Something was very clearly wrong, but what? Peter thought about it for a while. Maybe some insect had bitten him or even crawled into him? Maybe it had latched onto his thumb in the night? But he doubted it… He had never seen a bug do anything like this. Peter searched online and came to the conclusion that no bug had done this. It had to be something worse.  The more Peter looked at his thumb, the more confused he became. These weren’t just tiny holes. There was something inside the holes. He couldn’t make it out, but he was sure there was something else there. The holes were hard, and whatever was inside them, was too. He needed to do something, and he had just the idea.  Peter decided that he was going to try and dig out whatever it was in his thumb with tweezers. He went to the bathroom and pulled out his tweezers, but before he could dig into his thumb, he hesitated. He didn’t really have any idea what he was dealing with. Doing this could make it even worse, but he still had to do something.  Peter didn’t like doctors. He preferred to take care of things by himself. He would rarely make an appointment unless he was feeling really bad. And as much as he hated the idea of going to the doctor, he knew that this wasn’t something he should take care of by himself. So he took the leap and called the doctor.  The doctor’s office set up a semi-emergency appointment for that same afternoon. They told him there would be others ahead of him, but they would definitely see him by the end of the day at the latest. In the meantime, the doctor told Peter that he could already do something to prepare for their appointment.  The doctor told Peter that he needed to think about anything that had changed recently that could’ve caused this. Anything out of the ordinary. It would greatly help the doctor figure out what exactly was wrong. Peter agreed to think about it and hung up the phone. What could have done this? He didn’t really know. Peter thought about the past week. He hadn’t really done anything too out of the ordinary. He had gone on a hike through the forest a couple days ago. He easily could’ve touched something out there before. Maybe a mushroom or a contaminated piece of moss? That could definitely be an option…maybe? As Peter continued thinking, the idea that the hike had caused this didn’t make that much sense. Surely other people had gone hiking on that same trail. It was a popular route, and he wouldn’t be the first person to be experiencing this. There’d have to be other signs. He decided to rule it out as an answer, but there had to be something else. It was difficult to think of anything that was out of routine. Peter was an average guy. He didn’t do much except hike occasionally and go to the local coffee shop. He worked from home and didn’t go outside that much. He really was a boring person, but then it hit him. Something out of the ordinary actually had happened, just the night before! Peter had completely forgotten about his date from the night before. He’d been chatting with the woman online for a while, and they had eventually decided to go on a date. Peter had been excited to try out dating again. He still hadn’t found his soulmate and was hoping that this date would go well. Things would end up taking an unexpected turn.  From the moment the date began, Peter felt like something was off about the woman. She didn’t really seem interested in him, and it was almost like she despised him. However, as soon as he started thinking this, she did something that showed him that she was actually interested. It had just been a strange date, but that wasn’t all. Thinking back to their conversations, Peter wasn’t sure why she’d even contacted him in the first place. Scrolling through his messages with her, it became more and more clear that she didn’t really like him. And Peter had just been a bit desperate and had not been thinking clearly. But then, a thought crossed his mind. Could she have something to do with all of this? But Peter couldn’t see how his date could have anything to do with this. They hadn’t gotten physical at all, and he hadn’t contacted her since last night. She hadn’t messaged him either. If she had done something, wouldn’t she have said something? Peter wasn’t sure, but it was time for his doctor’s appointment now. He had to go. When Peter left for his appointment, he still had no clue about what was going on with his thumb. He continued thinking about it while driving to the doctor’s office, but he came up with nothing. Luckily, the holes on his thumb didn’t seem to have changed too much. They’d grown a bit bigger and were more obvious to the eye now, but it wasn’t that bad. Right? Peter arrived at the doctor’s office and sat in his car for a second, trying to come up with any other possible answers. He really couldn’t think of anything else. He took a deep breath, walked into the doctor’s office, and signed in. He figured he’d have to wait a long time until he could see the doctor, but as it turned out, not as long as he expected. While in the waiting room at the doctor’s office, Peter was getting a ridiculous amount of attention. At this point, the holes in his thumb were very plain to see, and everyone around him was shocked by the sight of them. Peter didn’t notice that people were staring at him, at least not until their curiosity became very obvious. The other people in the waiting room didn’t try to hide their curiosity. The few kids there wanted to go look, but their parents held them back. Still, it was as if everyone had forgotten why they were there with their own medical complaints. Everybody wanted to know what was going on with Peter, and to be fair, so did he.  Then the doctor came out to call in the next patient. All the patients in the waiting room collectively agreed that he should see Peter first. None of their problems were very serious, but Peter’s clearly was. Peter was a bit put off by this, but he thanked the others nonetheless. He said it was concerning indeed, but surely he could wait. However, the doctor didn’t agree. Once they were inside his office, the doctor was able to take a proper look at Peter’s thumb. He was shocked, to say the least! He had never seen anything like this — he would definitely remember if he had. And, to make it even worse, the doctor hadn’t even seen anything like this in his medical books. He was clueless.  The doctor knew that this was going to take some time. He made a few calls to have his waiting patients sent to other doctors on call. Peter needed his attention the most, and he was going to make sure they would find a cure for whatever was going on with him. The doctor ordered some tests for Peter, and while they waited for the results, he closely studied Peter’s thumb. The strange thing was that while earlier, Peter had felt some pain, he didn’t anymore. His whole thumb had gone completely numb. It didn’t even hurt when the doctor pushed on it. This was a bad sign.  The doctor continued to investigate Peter’s thumb, and when he got the first results back, he was disappointed. The tests he’d ordered hadn’t found anything yet. There were still some others he could do, but he needed Peter’s permission. It would take up a lot of Peter’s time. What was he going to do? Peter agreed to take the tests, and while they waited for those results, the doctor, who still hadn’t found anything helpful, posted a few pictures of Peter’s thumb on a medical forum. He was hoping that some other doctor had seen something like this before. It would take a while before they got any response.  Peter decided that he needed some air and went to use the bathroom. While he was gone, the doctor received a private message from another user on the forum. He opened it eagerly, hoping that it was the answer he’d been seeking. And to his luck, it was! But it was also terrible, terrible news, and everything would have to change fast.  Another doctor had indeed seen this condition before, and if they didn’t do something soon, it could turn into a very big problem for everyone, including Peter. The doctor read the message again and again and knew that if this other doctor was right, he needed to take action quickly.  Peter’s doctor waited for the results, which came in almost immediately after he’d read the message from the forum. This was it. He had the results, and it chilled him to the bone. The other doctor had been right. Peter’s doctor left his office, and soon the whole place was upside down.  Peter returned from the bathroom. His thumb was not looking good. The holes were starting to spread to the rest of his hand. He was getting really scared now, but he knew he had to show the doctor. There was just one problem. The doctor wasn’t in his office when Peter got back. What did he have to do now? Peter was just deciding what to do when he heard something happen behind him. The door he’d just come through had been locked from the outside! He had been trapped in here. And to make things even worse, he could hear the doctor telling others that he had called the police. What was happening?! Peter banged on the door and begged for an explanation, but no one would talk to him. All the nurses and doctors were frantically talking to each other, and nobody was answering his questions. All he was told was that he needed to stay calm until the police arrived. But this was not enough for Peter.  Peter was nervous and scared, and the staff’s reaction to his thumb was really starting to worry him. Why was this such a huge problem? Was he going to die? A million thoughts were running through his head. He tried to stay calm, but that was becoming impossible. Peter did not want to die! Soon enough, Peter’s fears turned into anger. Why would nobody talk to him? With no other idea, he began kicking at the door. He was desperate to get out. The doctors on the other side were yelling at him to stop, but Peter couldn’t hear them over his own banging. He was determined to get out.  After a few kicks, the door lock broke, and the door swung wide open. The people on the other side started screaming, and Peter’s doctor stood back. Peter stood there panting hard. It hadn’t been easy to kick the door open, but he needed answers, and someone had to tell him what was going on right now. Peter’s doctor ordered everyone else to get away and told Peter to stay back. He shouldn’t get close to anyone right now. The fear on his doctor’s face told Peter everything he needed to know about his fate, but Peter was determined. He told them that he wouldn’t stay back unless they gave him answers.  Before his doctor could speak, 3 armed officers came into the building and spotted Peter. The doctor pointed at Peter and started screaming, “It’s HIM!” All three officers took out their pistols and aimed them carefully at Peter, who was feeling faint now. What on earth was going on?! Peter quickly threw his hands up into the air as the police turned their attention to him. He almost had tears in his eyes, and he begged them all to just tell him what was going on. Seeing that the holes in Peter’s thumb had now taken up almost half of his hand, the police told him to stay back.  One of the officers calmly explained to Peter that they would tell him everything, but he needed to be isolated immediately. Peter agreed to the terms but firmly told them that he wouldn’t hesitate to break open another door to get answers. He was terrified, and no one was telling him anything.  Peter went back into the doctor’s office, and the door was closed after him. Peter could see the staff coming in with heavy cleaning materials, and they started cleaning everything, the floors, the walls, the door, you name it. Finally, the doctor came to the door to tell Peter what was going on.  His doctor first apologized for not telling Peter what was happening. He’d been very scared. It wasn’t every day that a person with an awful flesh-eating virus came in, and he had to follow procedures that he’d never had to do before. He felt awful, but there was more to it.  He discussed with Peter what he’d been doing the day before. Peter had taken a hike and then had gone on a date that night. Luckily for Peter, the awkward date hadn’t been the cause of all of this. Instead, it was more likely that he’d touched some infected plant while out on his hike. But which one? Peter wasn’t sure what to tell them. He told the police and his doctor which route he’d taken and what he’d seen that might be helpful. He didn’t know what else he could do. He was focused more on what the treatment plan was. Could they even treat him? Or would this virus eat his hand off?  Luckily for Peter, the hospital had the medication he needed, but he’d have to be in isolation for a while. The police had gotten involved because they needed to talk to Peter about his hike, but when they’d seen him outside of the isolated room, they had panicked because his doctor had panicked. It was a big mess, but that wasn’t everything.  They also had to make sure that no one else would get infected. Peter was transported safely to a better hospital where he could be in isolation and get treatment for the virus, eating his hand away. Fortunately, the medication paused the virus from spreading, and within a few days, it started reversing the problem. But what about the plant? The officers had kept everyone off of the trail, and after some heavy searching, they found a plant that wasn’t native to the area. It was tested and found to be the cause of Peter’s problem. It was uprooted and disposed of. There haven’t been any cases of infections since, and within a month, Peter was completely better and ready to go on dates again.