Chapter 3 - What the Hospital Found in Kai’s BloodKai hated hospitals.
By midnight, Celeste hated them too.
Not the doctors.
Not the nurses.
The waiting.
The fluorescent lights.
The machines.
The questions she could not answer.
How much did he receive?
She didn’t know.
How often?
She didn’t know.
For how long?
She didn’t know.
What exactly was in the bottle?
She didn’t know.
Every answer felt like an accusation.
Dr. Moreno kept reminding her it wasn’t.
“We’re establishing exposure.”
Celeste sat beside Kai’s hospital crib.
“He was under my roof.”
“You trusted someone.”
“I should’ve known.”
“You had unexplained symptoms and brought him to doctors.”
“I left him with the person causing them.”
Dr. Moreno didn’t argue.
She also didn’t allow Celeste to disappear into guilt.
“That is exactly why people who manipulate caregivers create confusing symptoms.”
Celeste looked up.
“You think Opal did this intentionally?”
“I think we wait for facts.”
Tessa slept on a small couch nearby.
She refused to go home with Celeste’s sister.
“I’m staying with Kai.”
Celeste didn’t force her.
At 1:43 a.m., Dr. Moreno returned with a hospital toxicologist.
Celeste stood.
“What?”
The toxicologist sat.
“The preliminary screen found a prescription compound in Kai’s system.”
Celeste stopped breathing.
“What kind?”
“A medication with sedating effects.”
“Is it dangerous?”
“In a child his age, any non-prescribed medication can be dangerous.”
Celeste’s knees weakened.
“Is he going to be okay?”
“At the levels we’re seeing, and based on his current condition, we expect him to recover.”
Celeste covered her mouth.
The doctor continued.
“But this was not an ingredient in the supplement he was prescribed.”
“What about the bottle?”
“Testing is underway.”
Celeste looked at Kai.
He slept peacefully.
Too peacefully.
She had once thought the deep sleep meant he was exhausted from being a baby.
Now she wondered how many nights had been chemically forced.
Tessa stirred.
“Mom?”
Celeste crossed the room immediately.
“I’m here.”
“Is Kai okay?”
“He’s going to be okay.”
Tessa sat up.
“Was it the bottle?”
Celeste hesitated.
“We think something was in it that shouldn’t have been.”
Tessa looked down.
“I should’ve told you.”
Celeste felt pain behind her ribs.
“Told me what?”
“That Ms. Opal gave it when you weren’t there.”
“You didn’t know it was wrong.”
“I didn’t like it.”
“Why?”
Tessa twisted the blanket.
“Kai would get sleepy really fast.”
Celeste’s heart sank.
“How fast?”
“Like… before his bedtime story.”
“Did Opal ever tell you what it was?”
“She said vitamins.”
“Anything else?”
Tessa hesitated.
“She told me you forgot things after Dad died.”
Celeste froze.
“What?”
“She said you were too sad to remember medicine right.”
There it was.
The beginning of another story.
Opal had not only been giving Kai something.
She had been preparing Tessa to believe Celeste was responsible.
“What else did she say about me?”
Tessa looked frightened.
“Mom…”
“You’re not in trouble.”
“She said sometimes grown-ups get sick in their heads after someone dies.”
Celeste’s stomach twisted.
Nolan had died eleven months earlier in a highway accident outside Santa Fe.
His death had shattered all of them.
Celeste had gone to therapy.
She had cried in grocery stores.
Forgotten appointments.
Left laundry sitting wet overnight.
Normal grief.
Opal had noticed every weakness.
Apparently saved them.
“She said if something bad happened to Kai, people might think you made a mistake.”
Celeste looked toward Dr. Moreno.
The doctor’s face had gone still.
“Tessa,” she asked gently, “did Ms. Opal ever ask you to tell anyone that your mom gave Kai the bottle?”
Tessa nodded.
“Who?”
“A lady on the phone.”
Celeste’s blood chilled.
“What lady?”
“I don’t know.”
“When?”
“Last week.”
“What did she ask?”
Tessa tried to remember.
“She asked who gives Kai medicine.”
“What did you say?”
“I said Mom and Ms. Opal.”
“And then?”
“Ms. Opal got mad.”
“Why?”
“She told me next time say only you.”
Celeste stood.
She felt nauseated.
This was not improvisation.
Opal had been building a narrative.
Celeste—the grieving widow.
Celeste—the overwhelmed mother.
Celeste—the woman who forgot doses.
Celeste—the person responsible if something happened.
Her phone rang.
Detective Mara Keene.
“Ms. Mercer?”
“Yes.”
“We interviewed Ms. Reed.”
“And?”
“She says you instructed her to give Kai a calming medication when he became difficult.”
Celeste almost laughed.
“That is a lie.”
“She provided screenshots.”
“What screenshots?”
“Messages apparently from you.”
Celeste stared at the wall.
“I never sent anything like that.”
“We’re verifying.”
“What do they say?”
Detective Keene hesitated.
“One reads: ‘If he won’t eat, give him a little of the night medicine. He settles faster.’”
Celeste’s skin turned cold.
“I didn’t send that.”
“There are several.”
“I DIDN’T SEND THEM.”
Tessa woke fully.
Kai stirred.
Celeste lowered her voice.
Keene said:
“I believe you understand why we need to examine your devices.”
“Take everything.”
Another call came through.
Celeste’s attorney.
Then another notification.
Her home security app.
ADMINISTRATOR LOGIN.
Someone had just accessed the camera system remotely.
Celeste opened it.
A deletion request appeared.
KITCHEN ARCHIVE — ERASE ALL.
Her heart started pounding.
“Detective.”
“What?”
“Someone is trying to delete the camera footage.”
“From where?”
Celeste looked at the login name.
She knew it.
Not Opal.
NOLAN-MERCER-ADMIN.
Her dead husband’s account.
May you like
Someone had been using Nolan’s credentials.
And that meant Opal was not doing everything alone.
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