Dr. Hawkins explained that Maya needed to stay at the hospital while they completed more tests.
They wanted to understand exactly what was causing the mass and why her blood work was so abnormal.
I nodded at everything he said, but my mind kept returning to one question.
“How serious is this?”
He looked at Maya.
“We don’t know yet.”
Those three words somehow frightened me more than anything else.
Maya was transferred to another room.
A nurse brought her a warm blanket, and I sat beside her bed holding her hand.
She looked so small beneath the hospital sheets.
“I’m sorry, Mom.”
I leaned closer.
“For what?”
“For not telling you.”
I shook my head.
“You don’t have to apologize.”
She stared at the ceiling.
“I thought you would be angry.”
“Why would I be angry?”
“Because I knew something was wrong, but I kept pretending I was okay.”
I squeezed her hand.
“You’re my daughter. You never have to hide pain from me.”
She started crying.
Then she whispered:
“Mom, Dad wasn’t the only reason I stayed quiet.”
I froze.
“What do you mean?”
Maya looked toward the hallway.
“There was something happening at school.”
My stomach tightened.
“What happened?”
She hesitated.
Then she finally told me.
A few months earlier, some girls at school had started making comments about her appearance.
They told her she looked too thin.
They joked about her always being tired.
They even accused her of pretending to be sick to get attention.
Maya had started believing them.
So when the stomach pain began, she convinced herself that maybe everyone else was right.
Maybe she really was exaggerating.
Maybe she just needed to be stronger.
I pulled her into my arms.
“You should never have had to carry this alone.”
She cried against my shoulder.
Then the door opened.
A nurse walked in carrying a folder.
“We have the imaging appointment scheduled.”
I looked up.
“When?”
The nurse checked the paperwork.
“First thing tomorrow morning.”
She paused.
“And Dr. Hawkins wants to speak with you before it begins.”
The way she said it made my heart sink.
Whatever the doctors had seen on that first scan, they weren’t ready to tell Maya everything yet.
