CHAPTER 108: PEOPLE ARE GONNA THINK WE JUST BROKE UP

"I’m coming with you," June said the moment the nurse announced the doctor wanted to see me.

"Okay," I nodded.

We fell in step behind the nurse, following her down the long corridor.

As we kept walking, I let out a shaky breath. "Honestly... I’m nervous," I admitted. "I know I’ve been bothering the nurses every hour to hear about Mom’s condition, but now that we’re actually going to hear it... I’m scared."

June glanced at me. "If you’re scared, then I’ll be scared with you," she said. "We’ll hear it together."

My own heart wouldn’t settle...it kept racing as we walked closer to the doctor’s office.

We stopped outside a half-open door.

The nurse pushed the door wider.

I caught a glimpse of Doctor Sean, leaning over his desk stacked with files, and Doctor Sato, standing with a clipboard.

Their expression terrified me the most.

No smiles. No "goodnews" tone. Just... professional faces. I froze halfway to the chair.

"Mr. Rivera," Dr. Sean said, gesturing for me to sit.

June sat first. I lowered myself into the chair beside her, gripping my knees to keep my hands from shaking.

Doctor Sato adjusted his glasses. "We’ve reviewed the post-operative monitoring results from the last twelve hours," he began. "Your mother’s vitals have remained stable. Her oxygen saturation has maintained at ninety percent without supplementary intervention. Blood pressure and heart rate are within target range for her condition."

The words sounded good, but my chest stayed tight, waiting for the "but."

There was always a "but."

Dr. Sean continued, "Neurological responses are positive. Reflexes intact. No signs of secondary complications at this time."

I swallowed hard, leaning forward. "So... what does that mean? In plain English."

Doctor Sato smiled...just slightly. "It means she is recovering. Faster than anticipated, in fact. It has not been a full twenty-four hours since surgery, and she has surpassed several key benchmarks we usually do not expect until later in the week."

For a moment, the words didn’t fully land. Recovering. Faster

. Stable. My brain was used to bracing for impact, not good news.

Then June’s hand squeezed mine under the table, and it all clicked.

"She’s... okay, right?" I whispered.

"Yes. She’s stable," Dr. Sean confirmed. "If her progress continues at this rate, her prognosis improves significantly."

I laughed....one of those awkward, relieved laughs that spill out when you’ve been holding fear in your chest too long.

June turned to me, grinning like she’d been holding her own breath this whole time.

"That’s... that’s amazing," I managed. "Thank you. Honestly, thank you so much."

We left the office feeling lighter than when we’d gone in.

We stood outside the office taking what the doctors just told us. Suddenly, Dr. Sato walked out behind us. I turned immediately.

"Dr. Sato!" I waved at him. "I can’t thank you enough. Seriously. For everything you’ve done. I..." I kept bowing down.

He held up a hand, smiling gently. "You don’t need to thank me, Ash. Your mother is strong. I’m only a guide... her body did the work."

I still said it again. "Really? Thank you once again. And again. "I don’t know how to.. just... thank you."

"It’s fine Mr Rivera. You also helped."

I still couldn’t stop. "No, I mean it. I’ll never forget this."

He chuckled softly. "You’ll have other things to remember ... like the day she wakes up and calls you by name."

I smiled and nodded.

"You’ve said thank you enough times to last me until my flight," he replied with a faint smile.

"Flight?" I asked.

"I’m returning to Tokyo tonight. But Dr. Sean and the team here are more than capable. If anything changes, they’ll respond immediately. You should focus on resting and being ready for her when she opens her eyes.

Recovery is not only physical, Ash.... it’s emotional."

I nodded. "I will."

"Your mother will be fine," he smiled. "Believe it."

Then he walked down the corridor, disappearing into the hospital hallway, while June and I stood there...lighter than we’d felt in days.

"I’m so relieved," I exhaled. "It’s like... they just lifted a weight right off my chest." I laughed again...the kind of laugh that comes out when you’ve been holding everything in for too long.

"Me too," June said softly. "I should let my dad know. He’s been worried."

I jumped up and squealed. "Honestly, I can’t wait to see her. And talk to her. Juney! She’s gonna be okay. She won’t need oxygen anymore, she’ll be able to breathe like everyone else..."

The more I said it, the more real it became in my head, until the images got too bright and I didn’t even notice the tears spilling down my cheeks. I reached for June’s hand without thinking, and when I saw her crying too, that broke me even more.

We both just stood there, crying in the middle of the corridor like kids who’d finally been given permission to cry.

She sniffled, swiping at her cheek. "Great. Now we’re both ugly-crying in the hallway."

I nodded and kept crying.

"You know," she sniffled again, "if we keep crying like this, people are gonna think we just broke up, or I beat you up."

I choked out a laugh in between sobs, shaking my head. "You use to beat me up when we were kids."

Without thinking, I pulled her into a hug, burying my face into her shoulder.

"Ash," she whispered into my shoulder, "I love you so much, I don’t think I could take it if you were ever in pain."

That made me smile even as I kept holding her. I pulled back just enough to see her face."You love me more than Ren?" I grinned.

She froze for half a second, then shoved me lightly in the chest. "Don’t push it." She laughed, and I laughed too, both of us were still sniffling, as she wiped her face with her sleeve.

We both stood there for a moment, wiping our tears, taking a few deep breaths. Then we started walking back down the hall together.

"This," I said, still sniffling, "is the best news ever."

As we cornered the first hallway, June broke the silence.

"Dominic gave you a new phone? Ash, you’re so lucky." June grinned at me.

"Yeah," I said, trying not to sound too smug. "That day Alia went missing, he just... handed it to me. Said he had spares."

Her eyes went wide. "Spares? Like...with an s?"

I nodded, and she gasped and slapped a hand over her mouth. "Bro is so rich. He can literally pass as your sugar daddy." She burst out laughing.

As June spoke, my eyes flicked to the top of my phone. Dominic’s name hovered in a little unread bubble. ’Don’t forget to eat something’. I didn’t open it. Not yet.

I smirked. "He says that all the time."

"Oh my god, Ash! You’re so lucky," she said again, shaking her head like she still couldn’t believe it. Then she lowered her voice a little. "Does he know I know about you guys? Tell him I said no pressure, and that I’m happy about it."

I gave her a quick nod as we turned the corner toward my mom’s room.

We were only a few steps away when she asked casually, "So... are you gonna tell Marcus about it?"

"Tell me what?"

We froze.

Marcus was right there... leaning against the doorframe, hands in his pockets, like he’d been waiting for us the whole time.

My eyes went wide as we walked into the room.

"Ughhhh...Nothing." I turned to him.

Marcus’s gaze flicked between us like he was interrogating two suspects in a crime drama. "Are you guys hiding something from me?" he asked, squinting his eyes at us.

"What?! No," June said immediately, pointing at me. "Don’t look and me. Ask him."

I pointed right back at her. "No! Ask her."

Marcus’s gaze bounced between us, suspicious. "You guys are acting weird. You’re both terrible liars."

"We’re not weird, you’re weird." June snorted.

"Anyway..."I said loudly, stepping forward before he could grill us any further. "The doctor said Mom’s okay! She’s recovering really faster than expected. Like... miracle fast."

June jumped in, nodding enthusiastically. "Yeah! They said everything’s stable and it’s not even twenty-four hours yet. Her oxygen’s stable, vitals are good, and she might not even need the breathing support soon."

"Yup," I cut in before she could circle back to the topic we were avoiding. "Best news ever."

Marcus’s expression softened, his detective act faded immediately. "That’s... really great to hear. I’m so happy."

June’s obvious excitement seemed to distract him just enough.

Before I could react, he pulled me into a hug. It caught me off guard, but I hugged him back, feeling his excitement like it was my own.

"That’s amazing, Ash," he said.

"Thanks," I muttered, a little awkward but smiling all the same.

Then he turned to June and wrapped her in a hug too. It wasn’t just a quick hug like mine... Like he was hesitating to pull away.

When he pulled back, he reached up and gently tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

June froze. "Uhmmm.. You’re acting all weird. What’s wrong? Why are you looking at me like that?"

Marcus smirked. "Ughhh. Can’t a guy just be happy to hug his friends?"

She narrowed her eyes. "Not when you’re staring at me like I got something on my face."

He snorted, holding his hands up. "Chill. It’s just that you just look... different today. Not in a bad way.. in a less bad way. And you smell nice. Which is shocking, considering it’s you."

Great. Here I was, third-wheeling my own life, standing there like some extra in a romance movie no one invited me to.

She scoffed, flipping her hair. "Thank you very much. I got a new skincare set yesterday. And a new cologne. Since I’m going to Ren’s house tomorrow, I figured I’d look good for it."

Marcus just rolled his eyes. "Ohhh." He scoffed.

"Also, Ash also snorted all over me in the hallway minutes ago. It’s probably it’s snort." June laughed at her own comment.

I glanced between them, feeling like I’d just walked into the middle of a weird conversation I wasn’t supposed to hear.

"Ash! You’re disgusting," Marcus said, shoving me lightly. Then, he walked away without another word.

I couldn’t help it.....I burst out laughing again. What in the name of weirdness just happened? Nope, still can’t explain whatever that was.