Recurrence

Miya was still a bit shocked about everything as she and Chris silently walked down the hallway.

"Are you okay?" Chris asked with his eyes focused on her.

"Umm?" She mumbled confusingly before looking up at him.

Miya could see the concern in his eyes, and that brought her out of her thoughts. She then softly smiled at Chris for a second and said, "Yes. I have come across a lot of broken people, but I have never seen so much hurt in someone's eyes before like your friend. He looked so destroyed."

"Yeah, neither have I. That's why I don't mess around with love," Chris mumbled.

"You have never been in love before?"

"Nope. I'm a bachelor, and I plan to keep it that way."

Miya couldn't believe her ears, and yet her expression remained calm since she didn't want Chris to think that she was being judgemental about his lifestyle.

"It's true that love can be scary, and yet it can be beautiful when you are with the right person," Miya mumbled with a soft smile on her lips.

"Jackson thought that too and looked where he is now. I am sorry, but love isn't something I plan on experiencing. Even though I feel bad for all the ladies missing out on all of of this, but this dude is going to remain single to his last breath." Chris gently said.

As Miya gazed away from him, she faintly giggled to herself over Chris's last remark. Then her smile suddenly faded, and Miya immediately stopped in her tracks.

"Hey, is everything okay?" Chris asked while staring down at her.

With a frown on Lucas's face, he didn't break eye contact with Miya as he approached them, and each time he took a step towards her, she could feel her heart pumping aggressively.

At that moment, an elderly lady walked up to Miya and Chris with a cheerful smile on her face. Then she grabbed both of them hands and sweetly smiled.

"Congratulations to you two love birds. My husband just told me that your wife is pregnant." The elderly lady happily stated while pointing to an aging man standing not far from them.

For a moment, Chris awkwardly gazed at her with an uncomfortable expression on his face, then his eyes caught a sight of Lucas glaring at him, and he finally understood why Miya's hands were trembling.

"Your wife! Is this some kind of sick joke, Miya! What did I miss out on? Is the something going on between you and this dude that I don't know about, huh?" Lucas shouted with rage expressed on his face.

The hallway got crowded pretty fast with nurses, patients, and visitors all staring at them in curiosity and whispering words to the next person beside them.

"Please don't." Miya shakingly cried while striving not to make eye contact with those gazing at her because she felt too embarrassed.

Trembling with anger, Lucas took a few steps towards them until he was face to face with Miya.

"Let's go!" Lucas coldly said.

Out of fear, Miya couldn't move a single muscle in her body and that only enraged Lucas even further. So he tried to grab Miya by her wrist, but Chris hastily stood between them, shielding Miya behind his broad back.

"I don't think she's ready to go with you, man. So why don't you back off a bit and give her space to breathe and put herself together." Chris said with calmness in his voice.

"Step aside!"

"I can't do that."

Barely able to control his anger, Lucas swung his fist at Chris, knocking him in the jaw and bruising his bottom lip.

Then he threw a second punch. But this time Chris saw it coming, and before it could hit his left cheek, he blocked Lucas's vicious punch before striking him in the nose.

"You are the first person to lay their hand on me. But try it again, and you might just end up staying here for two weeks." Chris firmly said with his hands in a tight fist.

"Please don't hit him again." Miya cried while staring at the blood dripping from Lucas's nose.

Hearing her shaking voice, Chris's fingers loosing up and his expression softened.

"I am sorry for putting you in such a situation," Miya mumbled beneath her breath as she walked past him.

Then Miya stood by Lucas's side with a faint smile on her lips while calmly staring back at Chris. But when Lucas held her hand, the fine hair on her neck rose and the color in her face faded.

"Fine yourself a new hospital. We are not coming back here again." Lucas said with hate in his eyes while glaring at Chris.

"But, but…" Miya cried as Lucas dragged her away.

A long sigh escaped Chris's lips. Then he ran his fingers through his hair and mumbled, "This is a mess. If she doesn't come to this hospital, then how am I going to keep tabs on Jackson's kids?"

"Who's kids?"

Chris slowly turned around and stared at Steven curiously looking at him.

"No one. When did you arrive here?" He awkwardly mumbled with a smile.

"Just now, and I thought I heard you mentioned Jackson's name." Steven doubtfully asked.

"No, I didn't."

"Huh."

Suspicion was still in Steven's expression, but he played it low and said, "I am heading home. I don't think Jackson is in his right mind to do any paperworks, so let's allow everything to die down before bringing the contract to him. Is that okay with you?"

"Sure. Jackson's health matters more than any other thing." Chris said with the utmost seriousness in his voice.

A smile made its way to Steven's lips. Then as he was about to turn around and leave, he stopped in his tracks.

"What happened to your mouth?" Steven mumbled while questionably staring at the bruise Lucas's punch left on Chris's lip.

Since he didn't want to get into detail about what happened between him and Lucas because it will lead to further questions, Chris calmly said, "it's nothing to worry about."

"If you say so," got stuck in Steven's head when he opened his mouth to speak and saw a bunch of nurses rushing past him and Chris.

Then Steven gently grabbed a nurse's arm to stop her, and when he had her attention, he asked, "What's going on?"

"One of the patients has fallen back into a critical condition. I don't know the full details about why or how he's back in such a state."

"Who's this patient?"

"Mr. David,"

"No, no, no!" These words kept replaying in Steven's head as he let go of the nurse's arm and began racing to Jackson's room with worry shining in his eyes.

"Please don't give up. All hope is not lost yet. Your kids need their father when they come into this cruel world." Chris thought as he chased after Steven who was almost recklessly bumping into everything and everyone that stood in his way.