Chapter 6 - Poison in the Tea
An hour later, I sat in the private trauma waiting room at Mount Sinai Hospital.
The orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Aris Thorne, stepped out through the double doors, holding a clip-board and an X-ray folder.
"Ethan?" Dr. Thorne asked, removing his surgical mask.
"How is she, Doctor?" I asked, standing up immediately.
"The fall caused a severe hairline fracture across her previously repaired left femur," Dr. Thorne reported grimly. "We've stabilized her, and she'll need a revision surgery tomorrow morning. But... Ethan, while running her pre-op blood panel, we found something else."
I frowned. "Something else?"
"Your mother's blood toxicology report came back positive for high concentrations of Digitalis," Dr. Thorne revealed, leaning in closer. "It's a cardiac glycoside used to treat heart conditions, but in high doses, it causes severe muscle weakness, dizziness, and loss of balance."
My blood ran cold. "My mother doesn't take cardiac medication. Her heart is completely healthy."
"Then someone has been slipping it to her," Dr. Thorne said sternly. "In small, cumulative doses over the last few months. It's the exact reason her legs have been giving out lately."
My mind raced backward through the last six months.
Every Sunday afternoon, Claire had insisted on visiting my mother's home alone. She always brought a tin of imported "organic herbal tea" that she personally brewed and served to my mother, insisting it would "help her joint pain."
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Claire hadn't just tripped my mother today.
She had been systematically poisoning her for months—weakening her body, making her appear frail and mentally unstable, paving the way for Richard to claim legal conservatorship over my family's remaining assets.
