"Thank you, Doctor."
"There is one thing, though. She mentioned she'd like to plan something special for you and your wife. A celebration of your marriage, once she's feeling better. She seems very happy about your relationship."
"That's very kind of her," he said. "We'll discuss it when she's stronger."
Lucien closed his eyes. Elena's recovery was assured, but the web of lies they'd woven to protect her was growing more complex by the hour.
As he drove back toward the hospital, Lucien considered the evening's events. Elena was safe and recovering. The immediate crisis had been handled. But someone in his circle had orchestrated this attack, and they needed to be taught a lesson.
---
The morning sun filtered through the hospital windows, casting pale rectangles across the linoleum floor of the room . Lior rubbed her neck, stiff from spending the night in the uncomfortable visitor's chair. The cardiac monitor beside Elena's bed continued its steady rhythm – a sound that had become oddly comforting over the past eight hours.
Elena stirred, her eyelids fluttering open slowly. The improvement from the night before was remarkable. Color had returned to her cheeks, and her breathing no longer seemed labored.
"Good morning," Elena said, her voice much stronger than it had been.
"Good morning. How do you feel?"
"I could actually eat something." Elena attempted to sit up, managing it with less difficulty than the previous evening. "Which is more than I could say last night."
Lior helped adjust the bed controls, watching the monitors as Elena moved. Her blood was pressure stable. The heart rate was normal. The crisis appeared to have passed without lasting damage.
"I should ask the nurse about breakfast options," Lior said, reaching for the call button.
"Actually," Elena said, "I'd rather not have hospital food if I can avoid it. That stuff they gave me yesterday tasted like cardboard."
Before Lior could respond, there was a soft knock at the door. She turned to see Lucien entering, carrying a thermal bag that looked like it came from an expensive restaurant. He moved with the careful quietness of someone who'd learned to navigate hospital environments.
"Mrs. Chen thought you might prefer something homemade," he said, approaching Elena's bedside. "She made congee with ginger root. Said it would be gentle on your stomach."
Elena blinked in surprise as Lucien unpacked several containers, each wrapped in clean kitchen towels to retain heat. The aroma that filled the room was infinitely more appealing than anything the hospital cafeteria could produce.
"You don't haveto take all this trouble."
"Mrs. Chen insisted," Lucien replied, arranging the containers on the bedside table. "She's been working with me at Sterling Heights for many years. She takes feeding people very seriously."
"That's incredibly thoughtful."
Lucien's movements were efficient but tired. Dark circles shadowed his eyes, and his clothes suggested he'd been awake all night. Yet he'd still taken time to ensure Elena would have proper food for her recovery.
"There's also tea," he continued, producing an insulated thermos. "Mrs. Chen said it would help with circulation and stress recovery."
Elena accepted a small bowl of the congee, inhaling the steam that rose from it. "This smells wonderful. Please thank Mrs. Chen for me."
"You can thank her yourself when you're feeling better," Lucien said simply.
As Elena took her first tentative bites, clearly enjoying the homemade meal, Lior studied Lucien's face. The exhaustion was evident, but there was something else – a satisfaction that came from providing care rather than just writing checks.
"How did you sleep?" Elena asked Lior, though her eyes moved between both of them.
"Not bad," Lior admitted. "But that's fine. I wanted to make sure you were okay."
"She monitored your vitals all night," Lucien said. "Made notes of every medication dose and response time."
Elena looked surprised. "You did?"
Lior felt heat rise in her cheeks. "I just wanted to understand what the doctors were treating."
"She also requested copies of your chart and treatment plan," Lucien continued. "Dr. Morrison was impressed with her questions."
"Were you?"
"Your daughter is very thorough,she doesn't do anything halfway," Lucien said, something that might have been pride in his voice.
Elena set down her spoon and looked carefully between them. There was something in their dynamic that hadn't been there the night before – a natural ease that suggested genuine partnership rather than performance.
"Well," she said thoughtfully, "it sounds like I'm being very well taken care of."
"You will recover very soon hopefully," Lucien said without hesitation.
The simple certainty in his voice made Elena smile. Whatever the circumstances of their marriage, her daughter had found someone who understood that family obligations extended beyond legal requirements.
"The doctors think you'll be able to go home tomorrow if your numbers stay stable," Lior said, checking her phone for updates from the nursing staff.
"Home sounds wonderful." Elena took another sip of the tea, savoring the warmth. "Though I have to admit, this level of service might spoil me."
"Good," Lucien said. "You should be spoiled."
Elena laughed, a sound that held genuine happiness for the first time since the crisis began. "You're going to fit right into this family."
Lior felt her chest tighten slightly at the words. The fiction they'd created the night before was taking root, becoming more real with each conversation. Elena was accepting Lucien as her son-in-law, building expectations about their future together.
"I should check with Dr. Morrison about your discharge planning," Lior said, standing up to give herself a moment to breathe.
"I'll come with you," Lucien said immediately.
They left Elena enjoying her breakfast and walked toward the nurses' station. The corridor was busy with morning shift change, doctors making rounds, and the general organized chaos of a hospital coming to life.
"You look exhausted," Lior observed as they walked.
"Long night."
"Did you get the answers you needed?"
Lucien was quiet for a moment, considering how much to share. "Some of them."
"And?"
"Someone close to you provided information to the person who upset Elena last night. Someone with access to your medical school records, your family's financial history, even Elena's treatment schedule."
Lior stopped walking. "Someone close to me?"
"Bank statements, scholarship documentation, details about your father leaving – information that specific requires inside access."
The implications hit Lior like a physical blow. Someone she trusted had weaponized her personal information against her own mother.
"Who?"
"We're working on that."
They reached the nurses' station, where Dr. Morrison was reviewing charts with the morning staff.
"Mrs. Pembroke," he said, looking up. "Your mother's recovery has been remarkable. Her cardiac function has returned to baseline, and her blood pressure is well controlled."
"So she can go home tomorrow?"
"If today's monitoring continues to show improvement, yes. Though she'll need follow-up care and stress management protocols."
"What kind of stress management?" Lucien asked.
"Avoiding emotional shocks like last night's incident. Maintaining regular medication schedules. Follow-up appointments with both oncology and cardiology." Dr. Morrison's expression was serious. "Another episode like that could be life-threatening."
Lior felt the weight of responsibility settle on her shoulders. Elena's physical recovery depended on emotional stability. Which meant maintaining the lies they'd told about love and happiness.
"We'll make sure she has everything she needs," Lucien said firmly.
Dr. Morrison nodded. "I'm sure you will. The specialists you brought in last night were excellent, by the way. Dr. Reeves left detailed recommendations for ongoing care."
"Dr. Morrison," Lior said as they approached the nurses' station. "Could I get copies of my mother's chart and treatment plan from last night?"
Dr. Morrison looked up from his computer. "Of course. Any particular reason?"
"I'm a final-year medical student. I want to understand exactly what happened – the timeline, the medication responses, the cardiac readings."
"Ah." Dr. Morrison's expression shifted to one of professional respect. "Oncology focus?"
"Yes. I've been studying stress-related cardiac complications in cancer patients."
"Then you'll find this case particularly educational. The correlation between emotional shock and cardiovascular response was textbook, unfortunately." He pulled up Elena's file. "I'll have the nurses print everything for you."
"Thank you. I want to make sure I can monitor her recovery properly."
Dr. Morrison nodded approvingly. "Your questions last night were quite sophisticated. It's clear you understand the medical complexities involved."
Lucien watched the exchange with interest, noting how Dr. Morrison's entire demeanor changed once he understood Lior's medical background. She wasn't just a worried daughter – she was a colleague who could comprehend the clinical details.
"The cardiac team's notes will be especially relevant," Dr. Morrison continued. "Dr. Reeves documented some excellent observations about medication timing and stress response patterns."
"I noticed she missed her evening beta-blocker," Lior said.
"Exactly. Which explains the severity of her reaction. You have a good eye for detail."
After Dr. Morrison moved on to other patients, Lior and Lucien stood in the corridor, processing the conversation.
They walked back toward Elena's room in thoughtful silence. Through the doorway, they could see her eating steadily, looking more like herself with each bite.
"She looks happy," Lucien observed.
"She does."
"When was the last time you saw her look that content?"
Lior considered the question. "Before the cancer diagnosis. Before everything became about treatment and survival."
"Everything will be alright. "
Lior wanted to believe that. Watching Elena enjoy homemade food and speak about the future with optimism, it was hard to argue with the results of their deception.
But the cost was becoming clearer by the hour. Every lie told to protect Elena bound Lior deeper into a fiction that was becoming increasingly difficult to distinguish from reality.
"There's something else," Lucien said as they paused outside Elena's door.
"What?"
"Last night wasn't intended to be the end of it. Whoever orchestrated this has more planned."
Lior felt ice form in her stomach. "More attacks on mom?"
"More than that there might be more attempts to destabilize our arrangement. But now that we know there's an inside source, it will be solved not long after.
As they entered the room, Elena looked up with a smile that held genuine warmth.
"Perfect timing," she said. "I was just thinking about how nice it will be to go home tomorrow. Maybe we could have dinner together soon? When I'm feeling stronger?"
Lior felt the familiar tightness in her chest. More family time meant more performance, more lies to maintain.
"We'd like that," Lucien said before Lior could respond.
"Wonderful. I'd love to get to know my son-in-law properly when I'm not connected to these monitors."
Elena's contentment was evident in every word and gesture. The crisis had passed, her health was recovering, and she believed her daughter was genuinely happy.
Lior settled back into her chair, understanding that the hardest part wasn't behind them.
It was just beginning.
But watching Elena finish Mrs. Chen's congee with obvious pleasure, seeing color return to her cheeks and strength return to her voice, Lior decided that protecting that happiness was worth whatever complications lay ahead.
Even if she wasn't entirely sure what those complications might cost her in the end.
"Now," Elena said, setting down her empty bowl, "tell me more about this Mrs. Chen. She sounds like someone I'd like to meet."
Lucien smiled, and for a moment it looked entirely genuine. "I think you'd get along very well."