Chapter 2 - six days after a dead man’s prescription
Amber’s attorney arrived before midnight.
After that, she stopped answering questions.
Detective Miller did not appear surprised.
Sarah was.
“You nearly killed your son and now you need a lawyer?”
Amber looked at her through the conference-room doorway.
“I did not nearly kill anyone.”
“Caleb stopped responding in the park.”
“He had a bad reaction.”
“To sedatives and alcohol.”
“I gave him a small amount of something I was told was safe.”
“By who?”
Amber’s attorney touched her arm.
Amber went silent.
Sarah wanted to scream.
Instead she returned to Caleb.
At 1:36 a.m., his eyes opened.
Only briefly.
“Hey, buddy.”
Caleb looked toward her.
His lips moved.
Sarah leaned closer.
“Aunt Sarah?”
“I’m here.”
“Lily?”
“She’s safe.”
His eyes closed again.
But the fact that he knew her name felt like oxygen.
Dr. Collins smiled.
“That’s good.”
Sarah sat beside him until Detective Miller returned.
“The pharmacy is twenty-four hours.”
“What did they say?”
“The prescription is real.”
Sarah stared.
“Real?”
“Electronically issued through Dr. Pike’s prescribing account.”
“To Adam.”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Eight days ago.”
“And filled six days ago.”
“Yes.”
“Who picked it up?”
Aaron placed a still image on the bedside table.
A man in a dark baseball cap stood at a pharmacy counter.
His head was slightly turned.
Face partially obscured.
Sarah’s heartbeat changed.
“He looks like Adam.”
Aaron watched her carefully.
“Could it be?”
“No.”
She looked again.
Same height.
Similar shoulders.
But grainy surveillance created ghosts wherever the mind wanted them.
“Adam is dead.”
“Did you identify his body?”
Sarah froze.
“What?”
“At the time of death.”
“No.”
“Why?”
Amber had told her not to.
The hospital physician said Adam’s face had been injured when he collapsed beside a glass coffee table.
The family chose a closed coffin.
Sarah had identified him through belongings.
Wedding ring.
Watch.
Wallet.
A scar documented in medical records.
She suddenly hated how much of death depended on paperwork.
“He was cremated?”
“No. Buried.”
Aaron nodded.
“Then there is still a possibility for confirmation if necessary.”
Sarah felt nauseated.
“You think my brother might be alive?”
“I think someone used his name to obtain controlled medication last week. I’m not deciding why before we have evidence.”
That restraint again.
She needed it because her mind was racing ahead.
Dr. Leonard Pike answered his door at 2:20 a.m.
Police questioned him voluntarily.
He denied prescribing anything for Adam.
“Adam Reed is dead.”
“Your credentials issued it.”
“Then my account was compromised.”
“Has that happened before?”
“No.”
“Who has access?”
“Myself and two medical assistants for administrative work. Neither can legally prescribe.”
“Can they enter drafts?”
“Yes.”
“Who finalizes?”
“I do.”
“Did you treat Adam?”
“For anxiety and insomnia.”
“Did you prescribe the medications involved in his death?”
“One of them.”
“And the alcohol?”
“Obviously not.”
“Was his death investigated?”
“Medical examiner classified it accidental.”
Aaron requested Pike’s device logs.
The doctor became defensive.
Then agreed after being reminded a child had nearly died.
Back at the hospital, Lily finally spoke privately with Sarah.
She had been unusually quiet since the park.
Sarah sat beside her.
“Tell me exactly what happened.”
Lily twisted the sleeve of her sweatshirt.
“Mom bought drinks.”
“What kind?”
“Lemonade.”
“For all of you?”
“Me and Caleb.”
“Did you drink yours?”
“No.”
“Why?”
Lily looked ashamed.
“I was mad at Mom.”
“About what?”
“She took Caleb’s tablet.”
“That’s okay. Keep going.”
“Caleb drank his.”
“How fast did he get sick?”
“Maybe ten minutes.”
“Then?”
“He got sleepy.”
“What did Amber do?”
“She laughed.”
Sarah’s jaw tightened.
“What did she say?”
“That he was finally quiet.”
Lily began crying.
“Then he fell over.”
Sarah hugged her.
“Did Mom call an ambulance?”
Lily shook her head.
“She said he’d wake up.”
“So you called me.”
“Yes.”
“Why not 911?”
“Mom took my phone.”
“The smartwatch.”
Lily nodded.
Sarah kissed her forehead.
“You saved him.”
Lily looked toward Caleb’s room.
Then whispered:
“Mom knew the bottle had Dad’s name.”
Sarah stopped.
“How?”
“I saw it before.”
“When?”
“At home.”
“Where?”
“Mom’s dresser.”
“How long ago?”
Lily thought.
“Maybe two weeks.”
Before the prescription was supposedly filled.
Sarah stared.
“That exact bottle?”
“I don’t know.”
“What did Mom say?”
Lily’s face changed.
“She told me Dad still helps us.”
Sarah felt cold.
“What does that mean?”
“I asked why his name was there.”
“And?”
“She said grown-ups can keep things going after people die.”
That sentence bothered Sarah deeply.
Before she could ask more, Caleb moved in the bed.
His eyes opened.
He looked at Lily.
Then Sarah.
And whispered:
“Dad’s medicine.”
Sarah leaned closer.
“What about Dad’s medicine?”
Caleb swallowed painfully.
“Mom said…”
His eyes closed.
Sarah touched his shoulder.
“Caleb?”
He opened them again.
“Mom said Dad wanted me to take it.”
Sarah looked through the glass toward the police conference room.
Amber had not merely given her son an unknown sedative.
She had used his dead father’s name to convince him it was safe.
Then Detective Miller entered holding another pharmacy still.
This one was clearer.
The man picking up Adam’s prescription had finally turned toward the camera.
Sarah stared.
It was not Adam.
May you like
It was Dr. Leonard Pike.
👉 The doctor who denied issuing Adam’s prescription had personally collected the bottle himself—and then somehow it ended up in Amber’s purse beside her poisoned son.
