Lucía breathed with difficulty, but her eyes were completely awake.
“You’ll understand in a moment,” she said in a low voice. “First tell me something… do you trust your boss?”
Carmen hesitated.
“It’s… a hospital. I just do my job.”
Lucía smiled weakly.
“That means no.”
Carmen swallowed.
“What do you want me to do?”
Lucía closed her eyes for a second to gather strength.
“My husband believes I’m going to die in three days.”
“That’s what the doctors say…”
Lucía slowly shook her head.
“I am very sick, yes. But not as close to death as he believes.”
Carmen looked at her, confused.
“Then why…?”
“Because someone manipulated my reports.”
The silence became heavy.
“Who?” Carmen asked.
Lucía looked straight at her.
“Alejandro.”
The nurse’s eyes widened.
“That’s very serious…”
“I know.”
Lucía took a deep breath.
“And that’s why I need your help.”
Carmen glanced toward the door.
“If someone hears us…”
“No one will.”
Lucía squeezed her wrist with surprising strength.
“My husband wants everything I have.”
“Money?”
“Companies. Properties. Shares.”
“And the will?”
A small smile appeared on Lucía’s lips.
“That’s the problem for him.”
“Why?”
“Because he hasn’t read it.”
Carmen blinked.
“What does that mean?”
Lucía whispered:
“That if I die… everything goes to a medical foundation.”
The nurse froze.
“Not a single cent for him.”
“Then why is he so sure?”
Lucía looked toward the door.
“Because he thinks he can change that before I die.”
Carmen felt a chill.
“Are you saying that…?”
“Yes.”
Lucía interrupted her softly.
“I think he’s trying to speed up my death.”
The nurse stepped back.
“That’s impossible…”
“Is it?”
Lucía slightly raised the arm connected to the IV.
“Check the doses they’ve been giving me.”
Carmen hesitated for a few seconds.
Then she picked up the medical tablet at the foot of the bed.
Her eyes began moving quickly.
Suddenly she stopped.
“This… doesn’t make sense.”
“What do you see?”
“The sedative doses are doubled.”
Lucía nodded slowly.
“Exactly.”
Carmen’s heart began to beat faster.
“This… this could stop your breathing.”
“I know.”
The room fell silent.
Finally Carmen asked:
“What do you want to do?”
Lucía smiled.
A cold smile.
“I want him to believe his plan is working.”
“How?”
“For three days… I’m going to get worse.”
Carmen slowly understood.
“Pretend?”
“Not exactly.”
Lucía spoke slowly.
“But my real test results… will go to someone else.”
“To whom?”
“My lawyer.”
The nurse looked at her in surprise.
“All of this was already prepared?”
“For years.”
“Why?”
Lucía sighed.
“Because I learned something important about Alejandro.”
“What?”
“That a man’s ambition always ends up revealing his true face.”
Days passed.
Lucía seemed to get worse.
Alejandro came every afternoon with flowers.
With fake tears.
“My love… fight…”
The doctors spoke in low voices.
“We don’t think she’ll make it past Monday.”
Alejandro listened with unsettling calm.
The third night arrived.
The hospital was silent.
Alejandro entered the room.
Lucía seemed barely able to breathe.
He leaned over her.
“Finally,” he whispered. “Three days.”
He took something out of his pocket.
A small vial.
“Just a little push… and everything will be mine.”
And then…
the lights in the room suddenly turned on.
“I don’t think so.”
Alejandro froze.
Lucía opened her eyes.
Completely awake.
At the door stood three people.
A doctor.
A lawyer.
And two police officers.
The vial fell from Alejandro’s hand.
“What…?”
The lawyer spoke calmly.
“Everything is recorded, Mr. Salgado.”
The doctor raised a folder.
“And we have also reviewed the alterations in the medication.”
The police stepped forward.
“Alejandro Salgado, you are under arrest for attempted homicide.”
Alejandro looked at Lucía in horror.
“You… you were going to die…”
Lucía looked at him with complete serenity.
“That was your mistake.”
The officer put handcuffs on him.
“You believed that a sick woman was a weak woman.”
As they led him toward the door, Alejandro shouted:
“You ended up with nothing!”
Lucía smiled softly.
“On the contrary.”
She looked out the window toward the illuminated city.
“I just got my life back.”
The lawyer stepped closer.
“Your companies are safe.”
The doctor added:
“And your new treatment begins tomorrow.”
Lucía closed her eyes for a moment.
She breathed deeply.
For the first time in a long time…
the air no longer tasted like betrayal.
