Congratulations

Seconds, minutes, and hours had gone by without a word, and everyone was getting restless.

Since doctor Daniel and his medical staff went into Jackson's room and locked the door behind them, all Mrs. Harper, Mr. Harper, Julie, Rose, and Chris had been doing was impatiently waiting inside the lobby.

Suddenly the door opened, and Steven walked into the hallway. Then he stopped with a frown on his face and asked, "What's going on?"

No one responded as they all stared at Rose, and that only further Steven's curiosity. He then walked over to her and softly asked, "Mom, can I get an answer, please?"

"Jackson has woken up," Rose said while studying his eyes as they expressed numerous emotions.

Then Steven's face became expressionless while he processed those words, and once he got done, he angrily stared at Chris, doubtfully gazed at Julie, questionably glanced at Mr. and Mrs. Harper before looking at Rose.

"What! When did this happen?" Steven slowly asked with a sense of annoyance in his tone.

"A few hours ago." Rose calmly, knowing exactly what his next words were going to be.

"So why in the world didn't anyone of you give me a call!"

"Watch your attitude, boy. Also, it's because of behavior such as this that caused me to advise the others not to give you a call!"

"Mom!"

"I know Jackson means everything to you and almost losing him did a number on you. But son, you are behaving insanely."

"It's because I am hurting. Julie broke up with me, and I didn't get a second to process all of them then Jackson went into a coma. How do any of you expect me to keep my sanity after that?"

It grew awfully quiet as the others awkwardly stared around the room to avoid making eye contact with each other.

"That's what I thought," Steven mumbled.

Then he walked over to the bench, sat down, bent over, and rested his hands in his palms.

Since their breakup, Julie felt hurt. But she had never experienced guilt until now, and even though she had a solid reason for leaving Steven, at this moment, it didn't feel valid to her anymore.

However, she didn't have the guts to admit it, even if she felt remorseful as she eyed Steven with a feeling of longing.

Several minutes went by, and finally, when everyone felt completely exhausted from waiting, the room door opened.

They all waited patiently for the other staff to leave. But at last, when doctor Daniel came out, the numerous questions began to flow.

"How's Jackson?" Mrs. Harper inquired while tightly holding on to her husband's hand as she stared at the doc.

"He's way better than we expected." Doctor Daniel happily replied.

For a moment Julie's heart held onto those words, leaving not the smallest room for doubt, and yet her head invited it into her mind and left her with these weird feelings in her gut.

"Is he going to be okay from now onward?" Julie mumbled, striving her best to look hopeful and happy on the outside with all the mixed emotions running through her.

"Yes. I believe so." Doctor Daniel stated, feeling much more assured about his words.

As Chris withdrew his back from against the wall, he could tell from the others' faces that he wasn't the only one who still felt very worried that this felt too surreal, especially since they had heard so many disheartened words over the last month's.

"So, no more high-risk medical issues?" Chris asked, just to clear his doubts.

"From the test we did, that seemed to be the case."

The tears that trailed down Rose's face had numerous reasons behind them. However, there was only one thing her heart so desired in such a moment.

"Can I see my son?" Rose slowly asked, and yet she was smiling with her eyes.

The was a long paused as doctor Daniel stared at Rose. Then he sighed and said, "I am sorry, but the only person that your son wants to see right now is Chris. He asked me to tell the rest of you to go home and have a good rest because he feels guilt for all the months he caused you all sleepless nights."

Those words felt extremely straight to everyone's ears, and yet they all took it in in silence for a moment.

"If that's what Jackson wants, then we all will accept his request. Right guys?" Rose said, hiding her disappointment behind her bright smile.

"Of course. Even though a year had gone by, it's like he hasn't changed a single bit." Mr. Harper joyfully stated.

"Yeah, he's still putting everyone's needs above his. That's the Jackson we all know." Mrs. Harper gracefully uttered with adoration in her eyes.

Steven suddenly stood up, drawing everyone's attention to him. Then he quietly walked out of the lobby, leaving everyone stunned for a second.

"Chris, you should go in," Rose mumbled with gentleness in her tone.

"How about you guys?" Chris absentmindedly asked with hesitation in his words.

"You heard the doc."

"Okay, then. I will update you guys if anything comes up."

"Thank you."

After the others had left, Chris took a second to compose himself before walking into the room.

It shocked him at first to see Jackson without all the tubes on him, then a smile crept onto Chris' lips when it hit him that this was for real.

"You've been doing a lot of talking while I was unconscious. However now that I am awake, I can't seem to remember any of the things you said, but I have this feeling that your words meant a great deal to me. So can you please repeat yourself?"

"How about trying to guess?" Chris teasingly said.

Although he and Jackson started off without a strong bond of friendship between them, he now thinks of him as more of a friend than a business partner.

"I despise guessing games. But for you, I am willing to try. You have been updating me on the status of our project." Jackson mumbled.

"Not quite."

"Then what is it?"

Silence suddenly took over their conversation as Jackson dumbfoundedly stared at Chris's cheerful eyes and bright smile.

"Congratulations! You are a billionaire and the father of a triplet! Ta-da!"