After years as a single mom, I found love again. Thomas quickly became part of our lives, bonding with my son Toby, and we married a year later. For the first time, our little family felt complete.
A month in, Toby got a fever. I had to work, but Thomas stayed home. Hours later, Toby called me, scared: “Mommy… new dad’s acting weird. Like a robot.”
I rushed home to find Thomas pale, sweating, barely responsive. On his phone was a half-written message: “Fever came on hard. Something’s wrong…”
At the hospital, tests revealed it wasn’t a virus—it was poisoning.
I remembered a strange tea Thomas had been drinking, a gift from a coworker. Tests confirmed it contained foxglove, a dangerous toxin. Police discovered the coworker had been obsessively infatuated with Thomas and tried to poison him out of jealousy.
Thomas survived, though recovery was long.
Toby was the one who saved him.
Six months later, Thomas is healing, the attacker awaits trial, and Toby—brave and observant—now dreams of becoming a doctor… or maybe a detective.