The Price of Love

PART 2 — THE WOMAN HE LEFT BEHIND

Adrian didn’t notice Maya was gone until twenty minutes later.

He was sitting beside Vanessa’s bed, holding her hand while Denise spoke with the attending physician.

“How is she?” Adrian asked.

The doctor checked Vanessa’s chart.

“Her condition is stable for now. We’re arranging the necessary treatment.”

Adrian exhaled in relief.

“Good. Whatever she needs, I’ll pay for it.”

Vanessa squeezed his fingers.

“You’ve already done so much.”

“Don’t worry about that.”

“What about Maya?”

Adrian’s expression changed.

“She left.”

Vanessa lowered her eyes.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t want you two fighting because of me.”

“Don’t apologize. She made her decision.”

Denise looked at her son disapprovingly.

“Adrian, you don’t know what Maya was trying to tell you.”

He sighed.

“Mom, please. Not now.”

Just then, his phone rang.

It was Maya.

He rejected the call.

A few seconds later, it rang again.

He rejected it a second time.

By the fifth call, he switched his phone to silent.

“She’s probably trying to make me feel guilty,” he muttered.

But Maya wasn’t calling.

Someone else was using her phone.

Three floors above them, a medical team was working desperately to stabilize her.

Nurse Olivia had found Maya unconscious near the emergency department corridor. After checking her medical records, the staff discovered her recent diagnosis of severe iron-deficiency anemia.

Dr. Elena Ruiz was called immediately.

When she arrived and recognized Maya, her face tightened with concern.

“What happened to her?”

“She collapsed shortly after refusing a blood donation,” Olivia explained. “Her medical history shows dangerously low hemoglobin.”

Elena examined the results.

“Get her into a monitored room. I want another blood panel immediately.”

Maya’s condition was serious. Her anemia, combined with exhaustion and the physical stress she had been experiencing, had left her dangerously vulnerable.

Elena looked at the nurse.

“Does anyone know whether she has family here?”

“Her emergency contact is Adrian Cole. He’s downstairs.”

“Call him. Now.”

Meanwhile, Adrian was still sitting beside Vanessa.

His phone began vibrating again.

Thirty-seven missed calls.

This time, he answered.

“What is it?”

A calm but urgent female voice came through.

“Mr. Cole? This is Dr. Elena Ruiz. I’m calling about Maya Brooks.”

He frowned.

“What about her?”

“She has been admitted after collapsing. Her condition is concerning, and we need someone here who can make medical decisions if necessary.”

Adrian stood abruptly.

“What? Where is she?”

“Third floor, intensive monitoring unit.”

His face drained of color.

“I’m coming.”

Vanessa watched him grab his jacket.

“Adrian? What’s wrong?”

“Maya collapsed.”

Vanessa’s fingers tightened around the blanket.

“Oh my God. Is she okay?”

“I don’t know.”

He hurried toward the door.

But before he could leave, Denise caught his arm.

“Adrian, what exactly happened to Maya?”

He looked at his mother.

“She fainted. That’s all.”

Denise’s expression turned cold.

“Did you even ask why she refused to donate blood?”

He didn’t answer.

Three floors above, Maya lay motionless beneath a white hospital blanket.

Dr. Elena stood beside her bed, reading the latest test results.

Then she noticed something in Maya’s medical file.

A note from her previous appointment.

Elena’s expression changed.

She looked toward the nurse.

“Has her emergency contact arrived?”

“Not yet.”

Elena glanced at the unconscious woman.

“Then when he gets here, I want to speak with him privately.”

Because there was something Adrian needed to understand.

Maya hadn’t simply been refusing to help Vanessa.

She had been fighting to protect her own life.

And if Adrian had listened to her for just thirty seconds, none of this might have happened.

But the biggest shock was still waiting for him behind the doors of Maya’s hospital room.