After Maya was moved to the ICU, Ella resumed her almost self-punishing vigil.
I tried to get her to rotate shifts with the nurses. She was stubborn. All I could do was upgrade the VIP room facilities—softer blankets, handmade down pillows. Even so, she slept terribly. The circles under her eyes grew darker, her face more haggard.
A week later, Maya's condition finally stabilized completely.
The doctor said the rejection was under control. She could eat some soft foods now, could even prop herself up on pillows and use that hoarse, weak voice to urge Ella to leave this cramped space.
"You can't keep treating yourself like this," Maya said, a helpless smile on her pale face. "Go out, get some fresh air, or your face is going to scare me."
Ella opened her mouth. "But—"
"No buts," Maya interrupted, glancing at me. "Ella, you need to think about your own condition."
Ella turned to look at me, expression complicated. I nodded reassuringly. "Go on. I'll take care of her."
She hesitated a long time before finally pulling a folded paper from her bag.
"This is the schedule," she said, handing it to me, fingertips trembling slightly. "Maya has to take her anti-rejection medication every six hours. Absolutely cannot be more than fifteen minutes late, or the consequences could be catastrophic."
I took the paper and glanced at the schedule. "Got it," I said quietly.
"You're sure you've got it?" The doubt in her eyes was like a thorn. To ease her almost obsessive anxiety, I recited thecomplex drug names and precise times back to her word for word.
Only after confirming I was flawless did she relax her shoulders slightly, though she still warned me anxiously: "If there's any problem—I mean any problem at all—you call me immediately."
"I will. Don't worry."
She repeated herself several more times until I solemnly promised again. Finally, she turned around and left the room, hesitating with every step.
The room fell quiet quickly, only the rhythmic beeping of machines. Maya leaned back against her pillows, those eyes made enormous by illness now bright with understanding.
"She loves you, Lucas." She spoke suddenly.
My hand paused while organizing pill bottles. I turned to look at her, feeling an unfamiliar nervousness rising in my chest. "Really? Most of the time, I feel like she's reached her limit. That she doesn't want to continue with me."
Maya slowly shook her head, a bitter smile touching her lips that seemed to see through everything. "Ella is simple. And simple people are terrifyingly stubborn. She'd made up her mind to leave you. But now she's broken her own principles for you. I don't think even she realizes yet how much she loves you."
A shock ran through me, sour and sweet emotions colliding in my chest.
"I made unforgivable mistakes before," I promised Maya. "From now on, I'll use everything I have to make it up to her."
Maya's expression softened, her voice quieter. "And thank you. For everything you've done for me."
"You're Ella's sister. That makes you family." A simple answer. In my world, this kind of protection was only natural.
When the time came, I gave Maya her medication on schedule. The pills had a sedative effect. She fell asleep quickly.
I called the nurse to confirm all her vitals were normal. Then I opened my laptop.
If I slacked off for even a day or two, work piled up like a mountain. The company was running smoothly enough under Grandfather's management—those old dinosaurs on the board had fought alongside him in the business world for decades and were willing to follow his lead. But Grandfather was elderly. I'd already gotten several warning calls from the family doctor. So, unless Grandfather absolutely had to step in himself, everything else that could be handled remotely, I took on myself. Obviously, this wasn't sustainable long-term, so the priority was finding several professional managers.
HR had narrowed it down to two final candidates. This afternoon was the last interview. I needed to make the final call.
I put on my headphones and dove into an intense video conference.
"Mr. Rockefeller, good afternoon."
"Afternoon," I kept my voice low. "Let's get started." To avoid disturbing Maya, I spoke quickly and efficiently.
