CHAPTER 45

CHAPTER 45
Mila

“What happened to her?” I screamed into the phone again, my voice cracking so badly it barely sounded like my own.

The other end of the line went eerily silent.

My heart dropped straight into my stomach.

“Lance?” I whispered, panic flooding my veins. “Lance, talk to me. Please.”

Silence.

My breathing grew erratic, sharp gasps tearing out of my chest as the worst thought clawed its way into my mind.

“Is… is she dead?” I asked, my chest beating so fast it physically hurt.

For a second, I thought the call had ended.

Then his voice came back, cold, clipped, devastating.

“Not yet.”

The line went dead before I could say anything else.

I stood frozen, the phone slipping from my fingers and hitting the ground with a dull thud. My legs gave out at the same time, and I would have collapsed if I hadn’t wrapped my arms around myself, hugging my own shaking body as if that could somehow keep me together.

Not yet.

The words echoed over and over in my head like a cruel chant.

I scrambled blindly for my bag, my hands trembling so badly I could barely grab hold of it. Everything felt unreal, like I was moving through water, slow, heavy, suffocating.

A shadow fell over me.

“Mila.”

Jade crouched beside me, quietly gathering the things that had spilled out of my bag. She didn’t bombard me with questions or tell me everything would be okay. She didn’t try to force me to calm down.

She simply helped.

She stood, took my hand gently, and guided me toward her car without a word. When I got in, she buckled my seatbelt for me like I was made of glass.

“Where to?” she asked softly once she was behind the wheel.

“The hospital,” I said hoarsely. “Saint Claire’s.”

She nodded and pulled out immediately.

The ride was unbearably quiet. The city lights blurred past the window as I stared outside, my reflection faintly staring back at me, eyes swollen, face pale, lips trembling.

If Mary dies…

The thought didn’t even finish before my chest tightened painfully.

I wouldn’t survive it.

She was the only family I had left. The only person who knew every version of me, the broken ones, the angry ones, the scared little girl who still cried at night when no one was watching.

I couldn’t lose her too.

“Mila,” Jade said gently after what felt like hours but was probably only minutes. “We’re here.”

I blinked, realization hitting me too fast.

“Oh… okay.” My voice came out breathless.

She parked and quickly walked around to my side, helping me out of the car as if my legs might fail at any second, which, honestly, they almost did.

Inside the hospital, the smell of antiseptic hit me immediately, sharp and familiar in the worst way possible. The sound of machines beeping somewhere down the hall made my stomach churn.

I walked quickly, almost ran, down the hallway toward Mary’s room, Jade right beside me.

With every step, my heart pounded harder, dread curling tighter around my ribs.

Please don’t let her look worse.
Please don’t let it be too late.

I pushed the door open.

My gaze collided with Mary instantly.

She lay still on the bed, wires and tubes attached to her fragile body. Her skin looked paler than usual, beads of sweat glistening on her forehead. Her face, usually peaceful even in sleep, was twisted into something that looked like pain.

My breath hitched painfully.

“What happened?” I demanded, my voice breaking as I turned to the doctor standing beside her. My eyes kept drifting back to Mary, terrified to miss even the smallest movement.

“Why didn’t you call me?” I added, the words tumbling out before he could respond. “Why didn’t anyone tell me something was wrong?”

“I’m sorry, Mrs. Armstrong,” the doctor said calmly. “We tried reaching you multiple times, but there was no response. So we contacted your husband.”

I swallowed hard at the word husband and nodded stiffly, moving to sit beside Mary’s bed.

“What happened to her?” I asked again, my voice barely above a whisper this time.

“Her heart rate suddenly spiked dangerously,” he explained. “It was irregular, unstable, but we were able to stabilize her.”

My fingers tightened around Mary’s hand.

“Is she going to wake up soon?” I asked, lifting my head to look at him, hope blazing desperately in my eyes. “She has to wake up… right?”

The doctor hesitated.

That hesitation alone shattered me.

“To be honest, Mrs. Mila,” he said gently, “her condition isn’t improving. At this point, we can’t say when, or if, she’ll regain consciousness.”

I felt something inside me crack.

“Oh,” I whispered. “Okay… thank you.”

I looked away from him, fixing my gaze back on Mary as if she were the only thing keeping me grounded.

I heard the doctor’s footsteps retreat, the door closing softly behind him, leaving just the beeping machines, Jade standing quietly near the wall, and me.

I held Mary’s hand tightly, pressing my other hand over my mouth as sobs shook my body. I leaned closer, tracing her eyebrows softly with my thumb.

“Mary,” I whispered. “I’m sorry.”

My voice broke completely.

“I don’t know what I’d do without you,” I confessed, tears spilling freely now. “But we’ve survived everything else, haven’t we?”

I forced a bitter smile through my tears.

“We’ll get through this too.”

Jade stepped closer and rested a hand on my shoulder, her grip warm and steady.

“You’re not alone,” she said softly.

I nodded weakly, never taking my eyes off my sister.

“I’m sure she would be mocking me right now,” I sniffled. “Telling me how ugly I look when I cry.”

A quiet, broken laugh escaped my lips.

The machines continued their steady rhythm.

Beep.
Beep.
Beep.

Suddenly, the sound changed.

Sharper. Faster.

My head snapped up as Mary’s hand twitched faintly in mine.

“M-Mary?” I breathed, my heart slamming violently against my chest.

The heart monitor spiked.

Jade rushed forward. “Mila..”

Before she could finish, the door burst open and nurses flooded the room, voices overlapping, alarms blaring loudly.

“Her heart rate’s rising again!”

“Get the doctor..now!”

I was pulled away from the bed as someone shouted, “Ma’am, you need to step back!”

“Mary!” I screamed, fighting against the hands
restraining me.

Her body jerked slightly on the bed as the machine screamed louder

And then

The monitor let out one long, piercing sound.

Everything stopped.