Chapter 4 - The Poisoned Tea
The harsh words of the CPS worker echoed endlessly in my spinning, confused head.
I had never touched an illegal drug in my entire life, much less while carrying my precious child.
"That is medically impossible," I whispered, shaking my head so violently the room began to blur.
Ms. Higgins stood up slowly, her face a rigid mask of total professional pity.
"The lab results are absolute and entirely undeniable," she stated firmly.
"Until a full psychological and criminal investigation is completed, your husband has been granted full temporary emergency custody of the infant."
A raw, primal scream tore its way aggressively out of my completely shattered throat.
I tried wildly to rip the IV lines out of my arm to go find my baby, but the nurse quickly pinned me down.
"If you act aggressively, we will be forced to sedate you heavily," the nurse warned strictly.
I forced myself to go completely limp, violently biting the inside of my cheek to stop myself from crying out loud.
I desperately needed a completely clear head to figure out how Eleanor had managed to fake a toxicology report.
Then, a highly chilling memory flashed brightly into my racing mind.
Every single night for the last two weeks of my pregnancy, Eleanor had aggressively insisted on making me herbal tea.
She claimed it was an ancient family recipe meant to easily induce a highly smooth labor.
The tea always tasted extremely bitter, but Mark had angrily guilt-tripped me into drinking every single drop to keep the peace.
She had been slowly, methodically poisoning me for weeks to build this exact, terrifying legal trap.
Ms. Higgins left the room, leaving me completely alone with my devastating realization.
I lay quietly for hours, perfectly planning my next crucial, desperate move.
I needed absolute proof of Eleanor's insidious actions, and I knew exactly where she kept her secret stash of herbs.
Later that evening, the heavy hospital door creaked open, and Mark slipped quietly into the dark room.
He looked highly exhausted, rubbing his bloodshot eyes as he slowly approached my bed.
"Sarah, I am so incredibly sorry it had to come to this," he whispered pathetically.
I kept my eyes completely closed, pretending to be deeply asleep while secretly pressing the record button on my hidden cell phone beneath the blanket.
"Mom just wants what is completely best for our family," Mark muttered softly to himself in the quiet room.
"I know she crushed up those pills in your drinks, but she only did it to make sure we could protect the baby from your independence."
He leaned over and gently kissed my forehead, a totally sickening gesture of fake love.
"Once you agree to highly obey her rules, we can all be a happy family again," he whispered into the dark.
Mark quietly slipped out of the room, completely unaware of his massive, foolish mistake.
I slowly opened my eyes and stopped the digital recording on my phone.
I finally had the ultimate confession, completely captured perfectly in his own cowardly voice.
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But as I went to save the audio file, the screen suddenly went entirely black.
A bright red error message violently flashed across the screen, saying the phone had been completely wiped by a remote factory reset.
