Peter was stunned.
“Seriously, Ryan?" he shot back. "You're actually taking her side now and feeding me crap? Fine. I’ll go to the hospital myself. She’d better actually be dead!”
The line went dead, and with that, Peter stormed off toward the hospital.
But just as he neared my room, Leila clutched her stomach and cried out dramatically,
“Peter, my stomach… it really hurts, all of a sudden…”
Peter’s face shifted. He turned pale. Without a moment's pause, he scooped her into his arms and rushed her straight to the VIP suite.
“Get every available doctor here! Bring in all the medical equipment!” he ordered, frantic. “I don’t want a single thing to go wrong with Leila or the baby!”
Right then, the entire hospital went dark, and the power failed.
...
The ventilator that was sustaining me stopped working, and my oxygen supply was cut off.
“What the hell?!” Ryan jumped up from his seat, his eyes wide.
Someone, probably a nurse, rushed into the room.
Her voice was breathless as she said, “Sir, the hospital’s power grid is overloaded. We’ve had a temporary outage. All emergency power and oxygen have been rerouted to Mr. Young’s VIP suite…”
Ryan’s face fell, and then he replied, "What? This is a top-tier hospital, fully equipped with backup tanks and contingency plans. How could everything be funneled to one room?"
Without thinking, he rushed directly to the VIP suite.
The moment he threw open the door, his stomach tightened at the sight.
Everyone in the room focused on one person.
And there, Ryan realized that the person hoarding all the medical supplies was his brother.
“Peter! Do you even realize Selene is in this hospital, too? Her room just lost oxygen! And you—”
But Peter didn’t even look up.
“It’s just a temporary pause for the other patients,” he said flatly. “She’s not gonna die in a few minutes. Besides, when hasn’t she faked being sick for attention? She always turns out fine.”
That was the last thing I heard before the pain swelled so violently that my ears rang.
I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t move.
But I felt everything.
Ryan’s voice rises again, this time filled with panic. “She’s not faking it! Without oxygen, she’ll die!”
Peter frowned. He knew Ryan had always been calm and measured. This was the first time he’d ever seen him fall apart.
But before he could reply, Leila groaned from the bed, clutching her chest.
“Peter… I can’t breathe. It hurts…”
Instantly, Peter’s attention swung back to her. He jumped to her side, panic rising all over again. An aide stepped forward with a printed document.
Peter shoved it into Ryan’s hands and said, “Take this to Selene. Tell her to stop with the theatrics and sign this release form. Then get her over here to apologize to Leila.”
Ryan let out a sharp breath, half laugh, half disbelief.
Leila, glowing with health and pretending to be breathless, had Peter completely fooled. Meanwhile, Selene was truly hanging on by a thread, and even a breath of oxygen had become a luxury.
Ryan couldn’t watch this anymore. He grabbed one of the backup oxygen tanks from the corner and bolted out the door, running full speed toward my ward.
“Selene! I’ve got oxygen. Hang on! Please just hang on!”
I wanted to respond, to look at him and tell him I was still here, but I couldn’t even lift a finger.
My chest barely moved. The machine had gone still.
Ryan kept calling for help, but no one came because all the doctors had been pulled to Leila's room.
Feeling helpless, he sank to his knees beside me, gripping my hand. Tears poured down his face as he wept, and I desperately wanted to comfort him.
I tried to speak.
I really tried, but no sound came out.
When the nurse quietly explained that all the hospital's critical care equipment had been reserved for Mr. Peter Young's VIP ward, I understood everything.
Peter had never really believed I was sick. Not once.
Every time I brought him test results, Leila would destroy them before he could see them. Maybe he didn’t know, or perhaps he didn’t want to find out. Either way, my body had finally given out. And maybe that was the only peace I’d ever get.
With great effort, I lifted my heavy eyelids and looked at Ryan one last time.
I held on to that.
To him...
To every painful memory...
And then, I took my last breath.
...
Back in the warm, brightly lit VIP suite, Peter paced anxiously until the doctors finally returned with their evaluation.
“Mr. Young,” one of them said, “both Ms. Fields and the baby are in perfect health. There's nothing to worry about.”
Peter exhaled deeply, relief washing over his face.
“Thank God, Leila. You’re okay.”
Only then did Ryan’s earlier breakdown seem to resurface in his mind.
He turned to his assistant, lowered his voice, and said, “Follow Ryan. Find out what Selene is doing. And try to talk her into dropping the charges against Leila.”
