I’ve never been more terrified of water than I am now

I was at the local swimming baths with my son today, and he asked me to buy him a hot chocolate. He’s only 5, so it’s fair to say I spend most of my time there with other parents chatting, so I was stood at the cafe counter chatting to a fellow mum, who was telling me about her son. He was born 2 days before my boy, and we realised he is in the same year at school as mine.<br><br>Then it hit me. We left the hospital 5 years ago, and I have never seen her son. I asked her, as I thought it was a little unusual. She looked at me, paused, and told me that the night her son was born, a baby went missing. She said that they never found the missing child, and that she has always been worried it was hers. I put that down to new mother paranoia, until she looked at my son (who I had taken out for a swim and now brought over to her). She looked straight at him, and started to cry.<br><br>She then asked me to let her hold him. I was now also terrified, and looked at my son. Seeing my face, he shouted “No! I’m not going to her”. She looked at me, and asked me to ask my son who he is. I did- and he said “I’m Callum”. She fell to the floor. I fell to the floor. My boy stood in the middle of us screaming “Mummy, what’s wrong?”<br><br>I don’t know what the fuck to do.