My 78-year-old mother confessed to me through tears: “Your father forbids me from going to the doctor. Every evening, he forces me to take some of his own medication and tells me not to tell anyone.” I was horrified. The next day, I secretly took my mother to the hospital. But when I saw the test results, my legs gave way beneath me, and I collapsed to the floor…

“Why, Dad? What are you afraid the doctor will discover?”

He didn’t answer.

He simply looked at my mother.

There was something in his eyes that I didn’t understand at the time.

At the hospital, the doctor carefully examined my mother.

Then he asked her which medications she had taken over the past few months.

I took three small boxes of medication out of my handbag. I had found them in my parents’ kitchen.

The doctor examined the labels.

His expression grew serious.

“Were these medications prescribed to your mother?”

“No. They belong to my father.”

He immediately ordered blood tests and several additional examinations.

We were asked to wait.

Two hours later, a nurse called me.

The doctor was sitting in front of his computer.

When I walked in, he said to me:

“Sarah, please have a seat.”

I was terrified.

“What’s wrong with my mother?”