Chapter 3 - The Medicine in the Toilet
Elena came home three days after surgery.
Dr. Shah wanted her to remain hospitalized another night, but Garrick insisted that the mansion was quiet, comfortable and fully prepared.
It was none of those things.
Miriam had moved into the guest suite and filled the house with visitors from her church committee. Florists carried arrangements through the foyer. Caterers tested equipment in the kitchen. Music played from the terrace while workers prepared for the foundation benefit.
The event had not been postponed.
Elena stood inside the front entrance, gripping Garrick’s arm while every movement sent pain through her body.
“You said the benefit would be somewhere else,” she whispered.
“It’s only for a few hours on Saturday.”
“There are forty people here now.”
“They’ll stay downstairs.”
Miriam crossed the foyer.
“You’re home early.”
Elena looked at her.
“The doctor discharged me.”
“I assumed they would keep you longer if the situation were truly serious.”
Garrick guided Elena toward the staircase before she could respond.
In the bedroom, he helped her into bed and placed the hospital bag beside the nightstand.
“I have to speak with the caterer,” he said.
“Please stay for a few minutes.”
“Elena, there are people waiting.”
“I’m scared.”
His face softened for a moment.
Then Miriam called his name from downstairs.
“I’ll be back.”
He was gone before Elena could answer.
She fell asleep from exhaustion and woke two hours later to find Miriam standing beside the bed.
The hospital bag was open.
Prescription bottles, dressings and medical instructions were spread across the nightstand.
“What are you doing?” Elena asked.
Miriam lifted one of the bottles.
“Reading.”
“That is private.”
“You are living in my son’s home.”
“It is my home too.”
Miriam’s smile was thin.
“Legally, perhaps.”
Elena pushed herself up carefully.
“Put the medication down.”
“Do you know how many families are destroyed by pills like these?”
“They were prescribed after surgery.”
“That is how dependency begins.”
Elena held out her hand.
“Miriam.”
The older woman walked into the bathroom.
Elena tried to rise, but the movement pulled painfully across her healing body. She reached the doorway in time to see Miriam emptying the medication into the toilet.
“No.”
Elena grabbed the counter.
Miriam flushed.
The pills disappeared.
For several seconds, Elena could not speak.
“What have you done?”
“I removed temptation.”
“That was my prescribed medication.”
“You can manage discomfort with prayer and discipline.”
Elena looked toward the bedroom door.
“Garrick!”
He entered moments later, annoyed rather than alarmed.
“What happened?”
“Your mother destroyed my medication.”
Miriam lifted her chin.
“I saved your wife from becoming dependent.”
Garrick looked from his mother to Elena.
Then he sighed.
“Mom, you should have discussed it with us.”
Elena stared at him.
“That’s all you’re going to say?”
“I’ll call the doctor.”
“Call her now.”
“The benefit team is waiting downstairs.”
Elena felt disbelief give way to something colder.
“Your wife is standing here three days after cancer surgery, and you are worried about flower arrangements.”
Garrick’s jaw tightened.
“Lower your voice.”
“Call my doctor.”
Miriam moved toward the hospital bag again.
“What else did they give her?”
Elena stepped between them.
“Do not touch anything.”
Miriam picked up a sealed package of medical dressings.
“This is wasteful. Clean cloth has worked for generations.”
Dr. Shah had specifically instructed Elena to use only the sterile materials provided by the hospital.
Elena reached for the package, but Miriam dropped it into the wastebasket.
Garrick caught Elena’s arm when she moved forward.
“Stop making a scene.”
“Let go of me.”
“You’re emotional because of the medication.”
“She destroyed the medication.”
His grip tightened before he released her.
Miriam began gathering supplies from the nightstand.
Elena watched her carry them into the hallway.
Something inside Elena became very still.
On the far side of the room, her old tablet rested inside a cabinet drawer. It was connected to the home security system. Months earlier, Elena had activated bedroom recording after jewelry disappeared during a party.
She wondered whether the system was still running.
When Garrick and Miriam left, Elena waited until their voices faded down the hall.
She crossed the room slowly and opened the cabinet.
The tablet still had power.
She selected the security application.
A small green symbol confirmed that the bedroom camera had recorded everything.
Elena saved the file to a private cloud account Adrian had created years earlier.
Then she sent him a message.
Miriam flushed my prescribed medication and discarded my medical supplies. Garrick refused to stop her.
His reply came almost instantly.
Are you safe right now?
Elena typed yes.
Three dots appeared, disappeared and returned.
I am coming to Texas.
She looked toward the bedroom door.
Not yet, she wrote.
Elena did not fully understand why she stopped him.
Perhaps she was ashamed.
Perhaps she still wanted Garrick to prove there had been some terrible misunderstanding.
Perhaps she knew that once Adrian arrived, the marriage would never return to what it had been.
I need to know how far this goes, she added.
Adrian called immediately, but Elena rejected the call and switched the phone to silent.
Downstairs, laughter rose from the foyer.
Elena returned to bed and listened to strangers celebrate inside her home.
That evening, Garrick finally called Dr. Shah.
He did not mention that the medication had been deliberately destroyed.
He claimed Elena had misplaced it.
May you like
Elena heard the lie through the half-open door.
She opened the security application again and pressed record.
