Page 73 of The Call She Made That He Never Answered
I don't know when I fell asleep. A phone ring woke me, 3 AM on the screen.
"Ms. Bruce, your sister's condition has deteriorated." The nurse sounded panicked. "She's in a deep coma. Her numbers are crashing. The doctor suggests you come immediately."
My brain went blank. My heart felt crushed in a giant fist.
I threw on clothes, overpaid for a taxi, and urged the driver to speed the whole way. When I reached the hospital, I was soaked through, hair dripping. I didn't care. I ran straight to the ICU. I stood before those heavy automatic doors, hands shaking as I signed a stack of critical condition notices under the nurse's prompting.
Then I was led to a changing room—blue protective suit, mask digging into my face, goggles. Only then was I allowed into the room.
Maya was covered in tubes. The monitors flashed wild numbers.
My eyes nearly fell out. The goggles fogged with tears.
This was my fault.
If I hadn't brought her away from Manhattan, she could've lasted longer in that top-tier sanatorium.
If I hadn't hemorrhaged, Maya wouldn't have gotten worse from shock and fear.
"Maya, please wake up," I whispered against the glass, tears soaking my mask. I remembered graduation day—coming home with my acceptance letter to find my sister collapsed on the kitchen floor, face blue-purple.
I couldn't imagine her gone. How shattered my life would become.
"Ella."
Someone called my name. I turned. Lucas stood there.
"What are you doing here?" I froze completely, forgot to breathe.
"The hospital notified me." He looked at me with complicated tenderness I couldn't read. "Remember? Your sister's my sister too. When I updated Saint Heart Sanatorium's records, I added myself to Maya's emergency contacts."
I stared into Lucas's bloodshot eyes, feeling something like fate.
"Don't worry. Even if it takes everything I have, I'll make sure Maya gets better." Lucas gripped my hand hard. "I'm always here."
Tears spilled over again.
Why.
No matter how far I ran, my life would always be tangled with Lucas.
Maya was. The child in my belly was, too.
He'd brought me despair before. And when I sank into new despair, he was the one offering company and help.
What was I supposed to do with him?
Chapter Twenty
Lucas
I grew up under Grandfather's tutelage in business, and the most important rule I ever learned was this: never let your competitors see your cards.
But in this nephrology hospital, every second I felt transparent. Everyone could tell my real agenda—winning Ella back.
Last week, after a terrifying emergency intervention, Maya finally pulled through. After endless pleading—enlisting doctors, nurses, and hiring three VIP caregivers for round-the-clock shifts—I finally convinced Ella to leave the hospital and rest at her apartment.
I'd realized one of Ella's greatest flaws: she put everyone else before herself.
