After nearly two hours of anxious waiting, the emergency room doors finally opened. A doctor walked out, his face calm but serious, prompting everyone in the waiting room—Arka, Rifana, Nara's parents, and Arka's family—to rise at once.
"Nara Calistha's family?" the doctor asked.
"I'm her future husband." Arka quickly stepped forward, his voice thick with worry. "How is she, Doctor?"
"Her condition is stable for now," the doctor replied, pausing briefly before continuing. "But I think it would be best to discuss this somewhere quieter before I explain further. There are several important things I need to tell you."
A sense of dread immediately settled over everyone in the room. They followed the doctor to a small consultation room and sat in a row, their tense faces waiting for the explanation to come.
"Nara is suffering from extreme exhaustion triggered by a fairly serious medical condition," the doctor began, choosing his words carefully.
"Based on the medical records we found in her bag, and after confirming with the doctor who has been treating her, Nara was diagnosed with kidney cancer several months ago."
The room fell silent. Nara's mother covered her mouth with both hands, her eyes instantly filling with tears.
Arka sat frozen, as if time had stopped moving around him. His thoughts spun as he tried to process the words he'd just heard, words that felt impossible for his mind to accept.
"Kidney cancer?" Arka's voice was barely audible, filled with disbelief.
"Since when? Why didn't anyone know?"
"According to her medical records, Nara has undergone a series of examinations and regular checkups on her own over the past few months," the doctor replied.
"It seems she chose not to tell anyone."
Nara's mother began to sob, held in her husband's arms as he, too, looked deeply shocked. "Why didn't she tell us...? Why did my daughter keep all of this to herself...?"
Arka remained silent, his jaw clenched, his eyes fixed blankly on the floor. A tangle of emotions churned inside him—fear, sadness, and anger beginning to rise, anger at being lied to by the person he trusted most.
Rifana, sitting in the corner of the room, was silent too, trying to process what she'd just heard. All the odd things she'd noticed—the pale face, the repeated hospital leave, the brown envelope she'd almost seen—now made sense, forming a picture far heavier than anything she'd ever imagined.
"Can we see her now, Doctor?" Nara's mother asked, her voice still trembling.
"Yes, but one at a time, and try not to make her too emotional for now. She still needs complete rest," the doctor replied.
Arka was the first to enter Nara's room, though his legs felt heavy with every step. He saw Nara lying weakly on the hospital bed, an IV attached to her hand. Her face was pale, but her eyes slowly opened when she heard approaching footsteps.
"Arka..." Nara's voice was faint, and her eyes immediately filled with tears when she saw his face. "I'm sorry..."
Arka stood in the doorway, looking at Nara with an expression he couldn't explain even to himself—a mixture of relief that she was conscious and deep pain over the lie that had just been exposed. He didn't approach her right away. He simply stood there, trying to steady his breathing before he could finally say anything.
"Why, Na?" Arka finally spoke, his voice soft but full of hurt. "Why didn't you ever tell me?"
Nara could only cry, unable to answer at that moment, while Arka remained where he was, caught between wanting to hold her and the pain he couldn't simply soothe away.
Several seconds passed in heavy silence before Arka finally stepped closer and sat in the chair beside the bed, though he didn't immediately reach for Nara's hand as he usually did. He just sat there, staring at the pale face of the woman he loved so deeply, trying to understand his own tangled feelings—relief, anger, and a wound that ran far too deep.
"I don't know where to start," Arka finally said, his voice hoarse. "But one thing's clear: we need to talk. Later, when you're stronger."
Nara gave a weak nod, tears still streaming down her cheeks, while outside the room, her mother and father continued waiting their turn to enter, carrying both gratitude that their daughter was safe and deep concern about what would happen next.
To be continued in Chapter 11