When Dr. Lee finally returned, her face was serious enough that Taylor stood before she had said a word.
“Just tell me,” he said.
For one terrible second, Maya thought everything they had built had been wishful thinking. That bodies kept their own resentments regardless of effort. That maybe hope was only another form of humiliation.
Then Dr. Lee’s expression broke into a smile.
“She overdid the workout this morning, under-ate this afternoon, and forgot that improvement does not mean invincibility,” the doctor said. “Low blood sugar, exhaustion, and a minor blood pressure drop. That’s the immediate answer.”
Taylor stared. “And the bigger answer?”
Dr. Lee looked at Maya first, then at him. “The bigger answer is that her cardiac function has improved significantly. Her blood pressure is better controlled than I’ve seen it in months. She’s lost just over fifty pounds in a way that is medically meaningful, not cosmetic. The strain markers are down. If she continues like this—with common sense, which seems in short supply tonight—her prognosis is very good.”
