“Hello, dear,” she said gently as he stepped into the room. “It feels a little warm in here… Would you like to take off your hat?”

The boy flinched, his hands clutching the hat tightly as if he feared it would be taken from him.

“No, thank you,” he mumbled, his voice barely audible. “I… I need to keep it on.”

Sofia didn’t press the issue. She continued with the check-up quietly, but a growing sense of unease filled her. The boy seemed stiff, his body rigid, flinching with each small movement the hat made. It was as though something dreadful was hidden underneath it.

When the nurse finally removed the hat, she was horrified by what she saw 😱😱
Continue reading in the comments below 👇👇

Later that afternoon, at lunch, she spoke with the boy’s teacher.

“I’m worried too,” the teacher confessed. “He’s been wearing that hat every day since spring break, but he never did before. During gym, when the coach asked him to take it off, he had a meltdown. We decided to stop pushing him about it.”

Sofia nodded, her mind racing. That evening, she called the contact number on the boy’s medical record.

“Good evening, this is the school nurse,” she began.

“He’s not sick,” a man’s voice quickly interrupted. “We don’t run to the doctor for every little thing.”

“I’ve noticed he wears the hat all the time, even in the heat. Could it be that he has scalp sensitivity or some other issue?”

There was a long pause before the man spoke again, his voice cold.

“It’s a family decision. It’s none of your business. He knows he needs to wear it.”

“I also saw a stain on the hat, something that looks like blood. Was there an injury?”

“Just some minor scrapes. We’ve handled it ourselves. Don’t call again.”

A week later, the class teacher rushed into the nurse’s office, visibly concerned.

“He’s been complaining of terrible headaches,” she whispered urgently. “He holds his head, staggers, and barely speaks.”

The boy sat on the examination table, his eyes lowered, his hands pressed to his head.

“Sweetheart, listen to me,” Sofia knelt beside him. “I need to check. We’ll close the door so no one can see.”

He didn’t answer but trembled, whispering, “Dad told me not to take it off. He’ll be mad. And my brother said… if anyone finds out, they’ll take me away. It’ll be my fault.”

Sofia sighed deeply, donning gloves.

“You’re not to blame. Let me help you, okay?”

He closed his eyes and nodded silently.

Carefully, Sofia lifted the hat, and the boy screamed.

“It’s stuck… it hurts…”

Sofia worked slowly, using antiseptic and bandages with great care. The hat came off with difficulty, as though it had been glued to his skin.

When it finally came free, both women froze.

Underneath the hat was no hair—only burns. Dozens of deep, round, oozing wounds. Some fresh, some healing. Cigarette burns. Torn, inflamed skin.

“My God…” they whispered, both hands covering their mouths in shock.

The boy remained silent, eyes closed.

“Dad said I was bad,” he whispered. “My brother bought the hat so no one would see… He said it would pass…”

That evening, the police arrived to take the boy’s father into custody. Doctors examined the boy and placed him in a safe environment, away from harm.