Chances Are

by Abramson, Traci Hunter

  After making sure she had her keys, she left the apartment and crossed through the lobby toward the elevator. She glanced down at her keychain and felt a little guilty that she hadn’t given Ben his key back yet. He probably didn’t even realize she had it.

  She really did plan to figure out someplace else to live before she had to move out of Jessica’s apartment, but Ben’s key gave her a sense of security in knowing that if nothing else, she could go back to staying in the apartment building’s clubhouse if she needed to for a few days.

  She saw someone rush toward the elevator doors as they slid closed, but her reflexes weren’t quick enough to hit the door open button. “Sorry,” she mumbled under her breath, though there was no one to hear her.

  She exited on Ben’s floor but made it only a few steps before she was overcome with a wave of dizziness. She reached out and put her hand against the wall to steady herself. It took a minute before the floor once again looked flat and she felt strong enough to put one foot in front of the other.

  She was nearly to Ben’s door when she heard the elevator doors chime open. Instinctively, she glanced behind her to see who was getting off on this floor.

  Maya’s heart stopped when she looked up and saw the man coming down the hall. He was older now, and he appeared to have gained about twenty pounds around his middle, but she couldn’t miss the familiar arrogance in his bearing. She also remembered well the way he looked at her as though she was a piece of property.

  She couldn’t believe after all these years of hiding that the man her father had promised her to was here, only a few yards away.

  Her face pale, her palms sweaty, she knocked on Ben’s door, praying he would answer quickly. She looked over her shoulder and saw the recognition in Rishi’s eyes. What was he doing here? How had he found her?

  The telephone call with her father replayed in her mind, and she knew in an instant she had made a mistake in asking for help.

  Rishi continued toward her with a determined stride. Maya pressed her ear to the door, listening for footsteps. Ben said he would be here.

  Quickly, Maya dug the key to Ben’s apartment out of her purse. With only a moment to spare, she slid the key into the lock, flipped it open, and slipped inside, quickly locking it again behind her.

  She leaned back against the door and saw Ben coming down the hall toward her. He looked rather indignant when he asked, “What are you doing in here?”

  Before she could answer, Rishi pounded on the door.

  “Don’t answer that,” Maya begged him. “Please don’t answer it.”

  “Who is it?”

  An angry voice called out from the other side of the door. The words were in English, the voice heavily accented. “Maya, I know you’re in there.”

  Ben stepped forward and yanked the door open before Maya could stop him. “Who are you? And what do you want with Maya?”

  “Who are you?” he countered and turned to glare at Maya. “And what are you doing here in a man’s apartment? You have been promised to me.”

  Maya took a step back, the room spinning out of control.

  “What’s he talking about?” Ben asked, looking completely bewildered.

  “Maya is my fiancée.”

  “Is that true?”

  Maya shook her head, the gesture causing a burst of pain to shoot through her. “I never agreed to marry him. My father . . . It was my father who promised to give me to him.”

  Rishi edged forward. “She must come with me now.”

  Ben’s eyebrows drew together, and he looked from Maya to Rishi, clearly contemplating what to do. Finally, he said, “I don’t think Maya is ready to come with you right now.”

  “She doesn’t have a choice,” he said and took a step forward

  “No!” Maya jerked back to stay out of his reach, stumbling in the process. The next thing she knew, she was falling backward. Her head connected with the wall behind her, and then all she remembered was sliding weakly to the floor.

  * * *

  “She must be here,” the man named Rishi said insistently to the woman sitting behind the hospital information desk. Two other men stood to his left and clearly accompanied Rishi. Ben lingered behind them, still not quite sure what to think about this man Maya had been running from.

  “I’m sorry, sir, but I don’t have a patient under that name.”

  Rishi straightened, and his irritation was evident when he continued. “She was brought by ambulance just a few minutes ago.”

  “It’s possible that she is still in the ER. Let me call down there and check for you.” The woman picked up the phone and made the call. After a brief conversation, she hung up and shook her head. “I’m sorry, but they don’t have anyone by that name down there either.”

  Unexpectedly protective of his sister’s friend and well aware that hospital patients could request their name to be unlisted, Ben stepped forward and said, “They probably took her to Georgetown Hospital. It’s just down the road.”

  Rishi turned and gave Ben a disdainful look. The man had yet to speak to Ben and was clearly irritated that he too had come to check on Maya.

  “He could be right,” the hospital volunteer agreed. She then proceeded to give the directions.

  To make it look like he too bought the woman’s story, Ben followed the man outside. He waited for Rishi and his associates to disappear into a long black limo and then followed behind them as though he too was headed for the other hospital. Deliberately, he let himself get caught at a red light to put some distance between them. As soon as the limo made its first turn, Ben circled back to George Washington University Hospital.

  This time, he bypassed the information desk and looked at the directory on the wall. After locating which floor the cancer center was on, he headed for the stairs. He approached the reception desk at the cancer center, not sure where else to go to find out which room Maya was in.

  Unwilling to be stonewalled, he approached the receptionist.

  “Can I help you, sir?”

  “I’m here with Maya. She was brought in a few minutes ago by ambulance, and I need to know which room she’s in.”

  “Maya?” Surprise filled her voice.

  “That’s right.”

  She hesitated for several seconds. “I’m sorry, but can I have your name?”

  “I’m Ben Evans. My sister Kari was letting Maya stay at my apartment while I was out of town.”

  An older man standing to the side of the room with a wheelchair stepped forward. “Where do you live?”

  Ben rattled off his address, including his apartment number.

  The man’s eyes narrowed for a moment. “Wait a minute. I know you. You’re the second baseman for the Nationals.”

  “That’s right.” Ben nodded, now a little uncomfortable that he’d just given these people his address. He shifted so he could speak to the man and to the receptionist at the same time. “Look, I know why she isn’t being listed as a patient here. I was there when that guy tried to get her to go with him.” He spoke with sincerity when he added, “I just want to make sure she’s okay. My sister will never forgive me if I don’t do at least that much.”

  The receptionist and the man looked at each other and seemed to carry on a silent dialogue. Finally, the woman motioned to the man. “Henry can show you where she is.”

  “Thanks. I really appreciate it.” Ben followed Henry out of the waiting area and back out into the hall. They got onto the elevator, and Henry pressed the button for the fourth floor.

  “I’m not sure she’ll be awake yet. The doctor gave her some pain meds when she first got here, and those usually wipe her out.”

  “She only came in about fifteen minutes ago. How did she get treated and admitted so quickly?”

  “I was helping a patient outside when the ambulance pulled up. When I saw the paramedics wheeling her in, I called the doctor to let him know. Dr. Schuster had her admitted right away.”

  Ben fell silent, not quite sure what to
think of the quick treatment and the fact that the hospital staff was clearly so familiar with Maya.

  “She’s a nice girl, that Maya. Said she’s going to make me curry chicken when she gets stronger.” Henry became a bit wistful. “I sure hope that happens soon. It’s hard to see anyone lose the cancer battle, but it really hits home when it’s someone sweet like her.”

  Henry’s cell phone sounded. He pulled it out of the little clip attached to his belt loop. “Excuse me for a minute.” He took the call, then said, “I’ve got to go help someone else. She’s just down this hall. Room 412.”

  “Thanks.”

  “No problem. You let Maya know I’ll stop in on her after I get off work, will you?”

  “Yeah. I’ll do that.”

  Chapter 14

  Maya opened her eyes and saw Dr. Schuster standing at the side of her bed. Then she remembered Rishi, and a sick sense of panic washed through her.

  Her emotions must have shone on her face because Dr. Schuster spoke gently. “Your fiancé isn’t here.”

  “He isn’t my fiancé. Not really.”

  “Henry said he was pretty convincing when he stopped by the clinic looking for you.”

  “He was at the clinic?” Maya asked, panic seeping into her voice.

  The doctor nodded. “Apparently, he told the staff he was here to surprise you. He had enough of your personal information to be convincing.”

  “My father said I would marry him. I never agreed.”

  “I spoke with your father a couple of days ago,” Dr. Schuster told her.

  “I figured as much. He probably called to check up on me to make sure I wasn’t lying to him when I called. He must have told Rishi where I was.” She sighed and winced when a sharp pain pulsed through her.

  The doctor lowered himself into the chair beside her. “You hit your head when you fell. It doesn’t look like you have a concussion, but we’re going to keep you here overnight for observation. Your white blood cell count was a bit higher than I like, and I want to make sure you aren’t getting an infection.”

  Maya thought of the air mattress she had expected to sleep on and immediately decided this might not be such a bad thing, especially if the hospital could keep Rishi from visiting her.

  “There’s one more thing,” Dr. Schuster said. “I just got the preliminary results of your scans.”

  Her heartbeat quickened. “And?”

  “We’re seeing moderate success.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “It means the drugs do appear to be working. We’ve seen some shrinkage of the tumor, but it isn’t as much as we had hoped. At this rate, it looks like you would have to go through a second round of treatments before you could have surgery.”

  A wave of conflicting emotions crashed over her—a surge of optimism that her cancer could be beaten, desperate despair about how she could possibly afford to live without any means of income for another five months, and an overwhelming sensation of loneliness at the thought of continuing here with only the hospital staff to interact with.

  For the briefest moment, she even considered agreeing to the arranged marriage in order to solve her money problems, but she knew she couldn’t really do it.

  “There is one more thing I’m reluctant to bring up.”

  Maya caught a glimpse of movement in the doorway, but she kept her focus on the doctor. “What’s that?”

  “Maya, I spoke with your father again today.” Dr. Schuster took a deep breath and blew it out as though trying to steel himself against the words he was about to say. “I’m sorry, but if you have no means of paying for your surgery, I don’t have any choice but to drop you from the trial.”

  Maya didn’t try to fight back the tears that instantly sprang to her eyes. “Doctor, please. Please give me a little more time. I can come up with the money. I only need another week or so.”

  Dr. Schuster sighed heavily. “I’ve already talked to the board, and they aren’t budging on this.” Before Maya could protest further, he added, “Since it’s the weekend, I can delay the paperwork, but if you can’t come up with some proof that you’ll be able to continue treatment after this trial by Monday morning, I’ll have to cancel your infusion.”

  Maya lifted her hands to cover her mouth as she bit back a sob. Her mind raced with possibilities, but she knew that even if the credit card came through with a high limit, she would need at least one more to afford the additional living expenses to make it through an extra three months here.

  Dr. Schuster clenched his teeth for a moment and then shook his head. “I’m sorry, Maya. I really am.”

  “If I can’t come up with the money now, would I be able to get into the trial again in a few months?”

  She sensed the doctor’s discomfort as he shook his head again. “If you were responding more quickly, I might be able to get you in, but the truth is that your cancer is probably more aggressive than we first thought for the results to be so slow. If you have to stop now, medically speaking, your survival rate wouldn’t be high enough to readmit you to the trial.”

  Tears continued to run freely down Maya’s cheeks, and she could no longer form words. The doctor put his hand on her shoulder and then took a step back. “I’ll check back on you in the morning. The nurse will be in to give you something for the pain in about an hour.”

  Maya watched him make a quick exit and swiped at the tears on her cheeks. Sliding farther down into the hospital bed, she curled up beneath the blankets, silently praying that somehow God would give her a glimmer of hope, some indication that her life might still have meaning.

  * * *

  Ben’s throat closed as he thought of his first conversation with Maya in his apartment. Guilt gouged through him, piercing even deeper now that he had overheard the doctor talking to her a few minutes ago.

  How could he have known his sister had handed over his apartment to Maya in an effort to save her life? He kind of caught the gist that it was because of her illness that Kari had helped her, but he hadn’t fully comprehended that without the help, she might actually die.

  After hearing the conversation between Maya and her doctor, Ben hadn’t been able to bring himself to go into her hospital room, so he’d returned home. Even if he had been brave enough to face her tears, he didn’t think he could handle his own conflicting emotions. He had always worked so hard to keep his body in top shape, recognizing that his career depended on maintaining his health. Listening to the doctor give Maya what appeared to be a death sentence hit Ben low in the gut and left him floundering to understand exactly what he was feeling.

  He remembered what Maya had been like less than a year ago. She too had been an athlete, with aspirations of going professional.

  It could have been him, he realized suddenly. Maya had been just as diligent as he’d been last Christmas about staying in shape, and he suspected she had been equally determined to succeed. More than once, they had gone on their morning runs together, and he remembered being impressed that she hadn’t scoffed at the five-mile distance he went each morning. Admittedly, he had slowed his pace to match hers at the time, but it had seemed a minor trade-off to have someone to keep him company during his workouts.

  He let himself remember the time he had spent with Maya now, suddenly realizing his time with her had been one of the factors that had prompted him to break up with Cassie, his old high school girlfriend. The easy camaraderie during those morning runs had made him notice the lack of such a friendship with Cassie, despite the fact that they had dated for more than three years.

  He looked around his apartment and wondered what would have happened if he hadn’t come back to DC. If things had worked out with Heather, he would still be living in LA, oblivious to Maya’s struggles, and she would be living in his apartment pretending everything was all right. Or at least she would have been, right up until Rishi showed up to claim her as his bride.

  Ben shuddered at that. The idea of a forty-plus-year-old man with a girl less tha
n half his age was positively creepy in his mind. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that this was clearly a one-sided arrangement. Just the thought of Maya marrying Rishi made Ben feel sick.

  He fingered the letter that had come for Maya, knowing he really needed to go back to the hospital to give it to her. He needed a little time first to make sure he had his own emotions under control before he had to face her.

  Someone knocked on his door, and he braced at the idea that Rishi might have returned in search of Maya. Half tempted to give the guy a piece of his mind, Ben dropped Maya’s mail onto the coffee table and strode to the door. His jaw dropped when he yanked it open and saw Heather standing on the other side.

  “Surprise!”

  He was so stunned by her presence that he didn’t think to stop her when she leaned in and kissed him in greeting and then breezed through the door.

  “What are you doing here?”

  “I had planned to surprise you so you’d have a date for Shawn’s wedding—”

  “The wedding was yesterday,” Ben interrupted.

  “I know. I was supposed to get here yesterday morning, but my flight was canceled, and I couldn’t get another one until this morning. I’m so sorry I missed it.” She dropped onto the couch, and the mail on the coffee table caught her attention. She picked up the letter Ben had just been holding. Instantly, her cheerful smile disappeared, and accusation filled her voice. “Who is this Maya Gupta? And why does she have mail coming to your apartment?”

  “She’s a friend,” Ben answered automatically before he remembered he didn’t need to explain himself to her.

  Heather’s face reddened, and her voice lowered in anger. “Have you been cheating on me?”

  Ben crossed his arms and prepared to make sure Heather understood exactly where their relationship stood. “We’d have to still be a couple for me to be cheating on you, but for the record, I’m not dating Maya.”

  “Who is she?” Heather asked, completely glossing over Ben’s insistence that they were through.

  “She’s one of my sister’s friends.” Ben shook his head and forced himself to get the conversation back on topic. “Heather, I don’t think you are hearing me. I’ve tried to be a gentleman about this, but the truth is, I don’t want to date you anymore.”