CHAPTER 2 — THE PILLS HIDDEN AS VITAMINS
CHAPTER 2 — THE PILLS HIDDEN AS VITAMINS
The laboratory report arrived at 6:17 the next morning.
Ethan was already awake.
He had spent the entire night staring at the same photograph.
Margaret beside Ava's wrecked car.
Three years ago.
Before the ambulance.
Before the police.
Before anyone had known Ava was still alive.
He had not slept.
He had not eaten.
And he had not called his mother back.
At exactly 6:17, his phone vibrated.
One message.
Results available.
Ethan opened the attachment.
At first, the words seemed meaningless.
Chemical composition.
Dosage.
Metabolites.
Concentration.
Then he reached the final section.
His blood went cold.
The tablets weren't vitamins.
They were prescription sedatives.
And according to the laboratory, the medication had been manufactured in a formulation intended to cause prolonged drowsiness, slowed reaction time, impaired concentration, and physical weakness when taken repeatedly.
Ethan read the sentence twice.
Then a third time.
He whispered:
“How long?”
The laboratory technician had included one additional note.
Repeated exposure is consistent with long-term administration.
Ethan closed his eyes.
Long-term.
Not one week.
Not one month.
Long-term.
He immediately thought about Ava.
The fatigue.
The dizziness.
The headaches.
The confusion.
The days when she couldn't remember conversations.
The times she had apologized for being “lazy.”
The occasions when she had fallen asleep during dinner.
Margaret had always called it weakness.
Ethan had believed her.
That realization hurt more than anything else.
He had been standing beside Ava for years.
And he hadn't seen it.
At 7:05, Ethan arrived at the hospital.
Ava was awake.
She sat near the window in a hospital wheelchair, wrapped in a pale blanket.
Lena was beside her.
When Ethan entered, Ava looked up.
“You came.”
“Of course.”
She studied his face.
“You didn't sleep.”
“No.”
“Why?”
Ethan sat across from her.
For several seconds, he couldn't speak.
Then he placed the laboratory report on the table.
Ava looked at it.
Her expression changed.
“What is this?”
“Those pills from yesterday.”
She stared at him.
“I thought they were vitamins.”
“They weren't.”
Silence.
Ava's fingers slowly tightened around the blanket.
“What were they?”
“Medication.”
“What kind?”
“Sedatives.”
Ava's face went pale.
“For how long?”
Ethan swallowed.
“We don't know yet.”
She looked away.
“I knew something was wrong.”
Ethan's chest tightened.
“What do you mean?”
“I told you.”
“When?”
“Last year.”
Ethan frowned.
“You said you were tired.”
“I said I felt like someone had turned my body off.”
He remembered.
He had been in the kitchen.
He had told her to rest.
His mother had walked in and said:
“She needs to stop imagining things.”
Ava looked at him.
“I asked your mother if she'd changed my vitamins.”
Ethan stared.
“What did she say?”
“She laughed.”
Ava's voice trembled.
“She told me I was becoming paranoid.”
Ethan lowered his head.
“I believed her.”
“I know.”
Those three words hurt.
Ethan called the laboratory.
“I need the complete analysis.”
“You already received it.”
“I need more.”
“What exactly?”
“Everything.”
The technician hesitated.
“Mr. Hale, the preliminary results are clear.”
“I need to know whether the same medication appears in Ava's medical records.”
Silence.
Then:
“We can compare the chemical profile with her documented prescriptions.”
“Do it.”
“We'll need authorization.”
“You have it.”
“From whom?”
“Ava.”
He looked at her.
She nodded.
“Do it.”
By noon, the results came back.
Ethan opened the report.
Then froze.
The same active compound appeared in Ava's medical records.
Not once.
Not twice.
Thirty-seven times.
Over three years.
But there was a problem.
Ava had never been prescribed that medication.
The prescriptions were listed under different physicians.
Different clinics.
Different dates.
Different patient numbers.
But the chemical signature was the same.
Someone had created a medical trail designed to make the medication appear legitimate.
Ethan whispered:
“They forged her prescriptions.”
Lena leaned closer.
“Can they do that?”
“Apparently.”
Ava looked at the report.
“Who signed them?”
Ethan scrolled.
Then stopped.
Every prescription carried the name of the same physician.
Dr. Marcus Vale.
The man from the crash footage.
Ava's face changed.
“I know him.”
Ethan looked at her.
“How?”
“He treated me after the accident.”
Ethan's heart sank.
“Did he prescribe the medication?”
Ava hesitated.
“He told me it was a vitamin supplement.”
Ethan closed his eyes.
There it was.
The connection.
The crash.
The doctor.
The medication.
His mother.
Everything led back to the same circle.
That afternoon, Ethan confronted Dr. Vale.
The doctor's office was on the fourth floor of an expensive medical building downtown.
Vale greeted him with a smile.
“Ethan. What brings you here?”
Ethan placed the laboratory report on his desk.
The smile disappeared.
“Do you recognize these?”
Vale looked down.
“Yes.”
“What are they?”
“Supplements.”
“No.”
Vale's expression tightened.
“They were prescribed to Ava.”
“Under your name.”
“Yes.”
“Without her knowledge.”
“I don't understand.”
“You prescribed sedatives.”
“I prescribed medication for anxiety.”
“You told her they were vitamins.”
Vale stood.
“You should discuss medical matters with her physicians.”
“You were her physician.”
“Three years ago.”
“And on the night of the accident.”
Vale's face became still.
Ethan noticed.
“You remember.”
“Of course.”
“You were at the scene.”
“I arrived after the accident.”
“Before the ambulance.”
Vale said nothing.
Ethan stepped closer.
“I have video.”
The doctor swallowed.
“What video?”
“The one my mother forgot to destroy.”
For the first time, fear crossed Vale's face.
Ethan saw it.
And knew.
“Why?”
Vale looked away.
“I can't discuss this.”
“Why were you there?”
“I was called.”
“By whom?”
Silence.
“By my mother?”
No answer.
“By Margaret?”
Vale remained silent.
Ethan slammed his hand against the desk.
“Answer me!”
Vale flinched.
“I was told there had been an accident.”
“By whom?”
“I can't.”
“You can.”
“No.”
“Then I'll let the investigators ask.”
Ethan turned toward the door.
Vale's voice stopped him.
“Wait.”
Ethan looked back.
Vale sat down slowly.
His hands trembled.
“I didn't cause the accident.”
Ethan stared.
“Then who did?”
“I don't know.”
“You were there.”
“Yes.”
“You were treating her.”
“Yes.”
“So what happened?”
Vale looked toward the window.
“When we arrived, Ava was alive.”
Ethan's heart stopped.
“Then what?”
“She was unconscious.”
“Was she badly injured?”
“Yes.”
“But she wasn't supposed to die.”
“No.”
Ethan stepped closer.
“What did my mother do?”
Vale closed his eyes.
“She asked me a question.”
“What question?”
He opened his eyes.
“She asked whether Ava would remember.”
Ethan went completely still.
“What did you tell her?”
“That it depended on the injury.”
“And?”
“She said…”
Vale hesitated.
“She said that remembering would be a problem.”
Ethan left the office without another word.
His hands shook as he called Lena.
“Where's Ava?”
“At the hospital.”
“Stay with her.”
“Why?”
“Don't let anyone in without checking with me first.”
“Ethan, what happened?”
“I think someone may try to silence her.”
When Ethan reached the hospital, he found Ava asleep.
Lena was sitting beside her.
“She was tired,” Lena whispered.
Ethan looked at Ava.
Then at the IV.
“Who prescribed this?”
“A hospital physician.”
“Which one?”
Lena gave him the name.
Ethan checked the chart.
Everything was legitimate.
Still, he didn't trust anything anymore.
He pulled a chair beside Ava.
For several minutes, he watched her sleep.
Then Ava's eyes opened.
“Ethan?”
“I'm here.”
She looked frightened.
“I remembered something.”
“What?”
“The pills.”
His heart stopped.
“What about them?”
“I remember your mother giving them to me.”
“When?”
“After the accident.”
“Every day?”
Ava nodded.
“She told me they would help me sleep.”
“What else?”
“She said I needed to stop asking questions.”
Ethan's stomach tightened.
“What questions?”
Ava stared at him.
“About the crash.”
Silence.
“She told me I was confused because of the trauma.”
Ethan leaned closer.
“What did you ask her?”
Ava's eyes filled with tears.
“I asked why she was there.”
Ethan stopped breathing.
“You remembered her at the crash?”
“Not clearly.”
“What did you see?”
Ava closed her eyes.
“A red coat.”
Ethan looked at her.
“My mother wears red.”
“I know.”
Ava's breathing became uneven.
“And there was someone else.”
“Who?”
“I don't know.”
“What did he look like?”
Ava shook her head.
“I couldn't see his face.”
“Anything else?”
She thought.
Then whispered:
“He had a ring.”
“What kind?”
“Black stone.”
Ethan froze.
Because he knew that ring.
His mother's lawyer wore one.
But so did someone else.
Someone much closer.
His father's former business partner.
Richard Hale.
A man Ethan had not seen in fifteen years.
A man officially declared dead after disappearing overseas.
Ethan stood.
Ava grabbed his hand.
“Where are you going?”
“I need to find someone.”
“Who?”
Ethan looked toward the hospital window.
“Someone I thought was dead.”
That evening, Ethan returned home.
Margaret was waiting.
She sat in the living room as if nothing had happened.
“You ignored my calls.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I was busy.”
“With Ava?”
“Yes.”
Margaret sighed.
“She needs professional help.”
Ethan looked at her.
“Did you give her medication?”
Margaret's face remained calm.
“What are you talking about?”
“Sedatives.”
“She has anxiety.”
“Did you give them to her?”
“No.”
“You're lying.”
Margaret stood.
“Watch your tone.”
“Why?”
“Because I'm your mother.”
Ethan laughed bitterly.
“My mother?”
“Yes.”
“Then tell me why you were at Ava's crash.”
Margaret froze.
For one second.
Just one.
But Ethan saw it.
Then she recovered.
“I wasn't.”
“I have video.”
Her face went white.
Ethan placed his phone on the table.
The footage played.
Margaret beside the wrecked vehicle.
She watched herself.
Her breathing changed.
Ethan whispered:
“Why did you go there?”
Margaret didn't answer.
“Why were you asking whether she would remember?”
Still nothing.
“Why did you give her sedatives?”
Margaret's eyes hardened.
“You don't understand.”
“Then explain it.”
“I was protecting you.”
“From what?”
She looked at him.
“From her.”
Ethan stared.
“My wife?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Margaret's voice became quiet.
“Because your father didn't die in an accident.”
Ethan froze.
“What?”
Margaret looked toward the hallway.
Then whispered:
“Neither did Ava.”
The room fell silent.
Ethan felt the world shift beneath his feet.
His father.
Ava.
The crash.
The pills.
The forged documents.
Everything suddenly connected to something much larger.
He stepped closer.
“What happened to my father?”
Margaret's eyes filled with fear.
Before she could answer, the front door opened.
A man entered.
He wore a dark coat.
His hair was gray.
And on his right hand was a ring with a black stone.
Ethan stared at him.
The man looked back.
Then said:
“It's time you stopped asking your mother.”
Ethan's blood ran cold.
“Who are you?”
The man removed his coat.
“My name is Richard Hale.”
Margaret whispered:
“No…”
Richard looked at her.
“You've had three years.”
Then he turned toward Ethan.
“And now you have one night to decide whether you want the truth.”
Ethan stared at the man he had believed was dead.
Behind him, Margaret began to cry.
And upstairs, Ava suddenly woke from a nightmare.
She screamed one name.
A name she hadn't spoken in three years.
May you like
“Richard!”
TO BE CONTINUED…
