Salem opens this week with the biggest shock: Sarah Horton almost died at the hospital.

What started as a normal night shift with a few emergency cases led Sarah straight into a dangerous situation that sent her colleagues into a red alert.

No one knows what happened — but the pieces are leaking out, suggesting it wasn’t a random incident, but a deliberate plot.

Sarah started her shift with a mild headache and unusual fatigue.

She shrugged it off, thinking it was just stress. But a few hours later, Sarah suddenly collapsed in the hallway, clutching her chest, her breathing ragged. What was scary was that the hospital was short-staffed because of “budget cuts” — something Marlena was furious about with EJ.

A nurse found Sarah pale and with a weak pulse. The alarm went off. The shift was in full swing. Many viewers believed that Sarah was suffering from mild poisoning or anaphylactic shock, as she had previously taken the wrong medication from a misplaced tray. But who misplaced it? That was the big question.

The drama escalated when Sarah was finally wheeled into the emergency room, completely unconscious. For those few seconds, Salem held her breath.

And here was the twist: someone was seen watching from afar, none other than Rachel Black — the once bratty kid who had grown up into a terrifyingly scheming character. Rachel had been watching Sarah since the start of the shift, and sources said that Rachel “had her sights set on Sarah all along.” The motive? Maybe she thought Sarah was trying to steal Brady’s affections or get in the way of her plans.