Chapter 5 - The Doctor Who Had Barely Seen Margaret
Dr. Leonard Price was real.
That fact made everything more complicated.
He was a concierge physician based in Washington, D.C., with a license to practice in Virginia and a wealthy clientele willing to pay for remote access and private consultations.
Evelyn had used him before.
When Anna contacted his office, she learned that Margaret had supposedly participated in a telehealth consultation.
Margaret denied it.
“I spoke to some man for maybe five minutes,” she said. “Evelyn told me he was calling about my arthritis.”
That was not how the chart described it.
According to the preliminary note, Margaret had complained of anxiety, insomnia, agitation, and “increasing cognitive distress.”
Anna nearly laughed when she read that phrase.
Margaret was irritated because her daughter-in-law kept hovering over her.
That was not cognitive distress.
The prescription itself was not some exotic poison.
It was a sedating medication sometimes used for severe anxiety and sleep disruption.
In an older adult, especially one already taking other drugs, it could cause drowsiness, confusion, weakness, and increased fall risk.
Exactly the symptoms Evelyn had begun reporting to Daniel.
Anna stopped giving it immediately and contacted Margaret’s primary doctor.
Within forty-eight hours, Margaret was noticeably sharper.
That was when Anna understood the danger.
Evelyn might not have been trying to physically harm Margaret.
She might have been doing something more calculated.
Creating symptoms.
Then pointing to those symptoms as proof Margaret could no longer manage her own affairs.
Anna told Margaret what she suspected.
Margaret became very quiet.
Then asked one question.
“Has she asked me to sign anything?”
Anna remembered the papers on Evelyn’s desk.
May you like
That afternoon she found out exactly what they were.
---
