That night Jaebeom barely sleeps, alert at all times to keep an eye on his mother. She wakes up at times, but she never reacts for more than a few seconds and then she falls asleep again. It's by the break of dawn that she seems to finally wake up, aware of her surroundings and actually looking in Jaebeom's direction when he calls for her. He knows for certain now that she's awake so he hurries to press the button to call for someone, holding his mother's hand and never breaking eye contact. Jaebeom's aunt is there as well, by his side —it was impossible to send her away when she knew her sister was waking up.

The doctor arrives almost immediately, as if she had been waiting for this call. She smiles, it's not warm but polite.

"Patient, can you hear me?" The doctor asks, Jaebeom's mother's eyes are focused on her as she nods slowly. "Perfect. Now, do you know where you are? What kind of place this is?" She continues inquiring and Jaebeom's mother's eyes scan her surroundings before nodding again. "Can you recognise this young man?"

Jaebeom's mother turns to her other side, to him that's watching her intently. Their eyes meet and he doesn't need to hear the answer to know, his mother recognises him. It's evident in the way her eyes soften, her expression trembles and how she tries to open her mouth as if to say something. Jaebeom feels his own eyes pooling with tears, just like his mother's, and his smile hurts like his throat because he's about to burst out crying, just out of relief.

Slowly, painfully, Jaebeom's mother nods her head and he squeezes her hand in reply.

"Wonderful," the doctor speaks again. "Do you remember why you're here?" Her brow furrows as she tries to recollect the events, turning to look at the doctor again. This time she shakes her head.

"That's okay, it's normal. Are you hurting anywhere?" His mother shakes her head again. "Even better. Can you lift your left hand?" The doctor requests and Jaebeom watches his mother struggle to follow the command, he also witnesses how she fails. "It's okay, don't force yourself. What about your right hand? Can you squeeze your son's hand?" Jaebeom pays extra attention to even the slightest difference and he exhales in relief when he feels his mother squeezing back. He nods his head to the doctor. "Wonderful. What about your feet?"

The doctor lifts the cover to watch carefully as his mother struggles to follow this new command. Jaebeom sees only the right toes twitching ever so lightly.

The doctor nods in appreciation then covers the feet again, still smiling at his mother when she looks at her again.

"Okay, one last thing and you can rest: Can you tell me your name, patient?"

Jaebeom's mother closes her eyes, taking a deep breath before parting her lips to speak. "K-k-ka-an-an-g," she begins, struggling enormously to just let out her surname. "J-j-ji-ji-i-in," she continues, not giving up even if it's more than evident speaking is really hard, her voice hoarse and slow, unarticulated as if she had never spoken in her life. "S-s-se-seo-eok," she finally finishes, practically deflating as if that had been the hardest task. It probably was, and for that reason, Jaebeom squeezes her hand encouragingly, smiling brightly and whispering soft praises.

"You did wonderful, Kang Jinseok-ssi," the doctor smiles, patting the other hand of his mother. Then the doctor straights up and turns her attention to Jaebeom. "After the three months in comma your mother is physically recovered. The lesions and bone fractures are healed, now we need to explore the extent of the brain damage."

"I understand," Jaebeom replies, nodding obediently.

"She'll need therapy to strengthen her muscles, but I do predict some percentage of paralysis. She'll probably need speech therapy as well, as it seems her speech was affected. It seems promising she remembers her name and recognises you, and it's not particularly worrisome that she doesn't recall the accident, so don't worry about that."

"When should she start with the rehabilitation?" Jaebeom's aunt asks before he has the opportunity.

"Probably by tomorrow. Today she'll still feel dizzy and uncomfortable. She needs to get a better grasp of reality and stabilise. Try to make her interact the best you can, even if she doesn't speak much. She's far much better than anyone could've anticipated, so congratulations."

Jaebeom's feels such relief at the optimist words, it is the first time the doctor speaks with a positive view and it makes such a difference. He feels his heart lighter and free to beat normally.

"Thank you so much," he replies, bowing as deeply as he can without releasing his mother's hand, keeping his head low and breathing slowly.

"I'll pay her a visit later today to check how she's doing. Have a good day," the doctor says as farewell, smiling and bowing her head slightly. "Welcome back, Kang Jinseok-ssi. Your son is a very devoted child, so now you have to work hard to get better, okay?"

Jaebeom's mother nods her head and then turns to watch her son, a little smile on her lips and weakly squeezing his hand.

The doctor leaves them and Jaebeom's attention is solely on his mother, smiling at her and grabbing her hand in both of his, lifting it to kiss her knuckles tenderly.

"Thank you, eomma; for waking up," he whispers, feeling how his eyes well with tears again, and now when he blinks, some drops slide down from the corners of his eyes.

"A-a-ad-ad-deu-deu-eul," she calls him, an evident effort to call for her son. It sounds foreign, as if it wasn't her voice but someone else saying 'son,' yet Jaebeom knows in his heart, despite the difference, it's his mother calling him.

"Oh," he mumbles, his smile sempiternal when it's for his mother. "I'm here, and things will get better, okay?"

"That's right, eonni," Jaebeom's aunt speaks up, going to his mother's other side, also taking her hand. "We won't leave you alone and I know you'll get better. You've always been a strong woman, you'll make it through this, too."

His mother smiles so gently and tired, Jaebeom notices and he realises this has probably drained her. Even if she's been sleeping for almost three months, this must be exhausting for her. For that reason, he decides not to ask too much from her and let her just rest. Carefully, he pulls her bed in a more upright position so she is sitting instead of lying, and then he turns on the television to have some noise in the room.

Like that, the day goes by slowly and carefully. Everything is tentative with his mother, and she stays awake all day, although she's silent the whole time. She manages to eat a bit, but her diet is still very liquid and unappetising.

With his aunt, they take turns to leave and go eat and then come back. Because his aunt insists so much, Jaebeom sleeps but he can only fall asleep if he's holding his mother's hand.

For the first time since the accident, Jaebeom has a nightmare-free sleep.

However, he feels sick to the stomach when his father arrives after dinner. In these three months Jaebeom has barely seen the man, spending most of his time at the hospital and his father always busy working. It was easy to never coincide when they were at home, and if they happened to run into each other, Jaebeom just bowed his head and went to lock himself in his room.

Seeing the man that barely showed his face in these three months, with a bouquet of roses, makes him feel like he wants to throw up. The hypocrisy and shamelessness are sickening and infuriating. Jaebeom's shakes with rage, his fists balled so tight his knuckles are white and his nails leave dents in his palm, cutting through the flesh and pouring blood.

His aunt notices that, also resenting the man, so she discreetly takes him away while excusing them: "We'll leave you two alone. She cannot really speak yet, so keep your question to yes-or-no answers."

The man nods and Jaebeom wants to scream he doesn't have the right to even ask questions to his mother, but he's taken out of the room before he can do that.

"I know, I know, Jaebeomie," his aunt speaks, looping her arm around him ever so gently, leading him away, to the cafeteria to get something to eat, most likely. "I know you're angry with him, I also am. He did wrong and doesn't deserve eonni's love, but you know she does love him despite everything he can do. Seeing him will make her happy, and that's all we care about, isn't it?"

Jaebeom cannot deny that. His father has always loved his job more than anything else, even his wife or family. He doesn't know if the man has ever been unfaithful, and he prays he hasn't because his mother has always been devoted and loyal, loving him even when he barely acknowledges her. His father doesn't treat her badly, he's never raised his voice or insulted her in any way, he just ignores her and doesn't appreciate her as he should. He's neglected her. For that reason Jaebeom has always loved his mother for the two of them, acting cute for her, showering her with cuddles and kisses even when he's a grownup boy, because his mother is a beautiful soul who deserves to be openly loved. Giving her a comfortable lifestyle isn't the only or the best way to show her she's appreciated or loved, Jaebeom thinks.

Jaebeom could forgive his father's attitude before the accident, even justify it saying he worked hard for his family. But after the accident, with his almost noninvolvement in the situation, barely coming to see his wife or actually caring about her while she hanged in there for dear life... that Jaebeom cannot forgive so easily.

"At least he showed up today," Jaebeom mumbles, trying to see the bright side. "And she'll be happy."

That's all he needs to worry about: his mother's wellbeing. He'll deal with his father later, whether he ever forgives him or not. As of now, all he cares about is his mother.

"Exactly. And now that she's with him, why don't you go home and shower and change? Take a break?"

"What about you, imo?" He asks, feeling guilty for taking a break if she's not.

"I'll go to a sauna. I feel like a lot of tension has left me now that I know eonni is awake and well, so I need a good scrub to feel renewed and ready for the next stage." Jaebeom nods, approving of her decision. "Go home, call your friends to tell them the good news. Also your classmates to catch up on what you missed today, okay?"

Jaebeom chuckles, amused that his aunt is nagging him about his studies.

"Your mother is awake, so you need to focus on graduating for her. She'll work hard if she sees you doing the same."

"I understand," Jaebeom chuckles, smiling kindly. "Thank you, imo; for being here for us. It would've been a lot more difficult without you."

"No, thank you, Jaebeomie, for loving your mother so unconditionally. I know for sure she woke up for you, because you never gave up on her." Jaebeom feels so touched with his aunt's words, the kind and warm smile and the comforting touch. "You did well."

He smiles, grateful and tired. He doesn't say much and just lets his aunt lead him to the cafeteria where she buys him a coffee before sending him home. The relief is what makes him feel sleepy and exhausted, so the caffeine is most needed as he walks to the subway station.

Despite how he feels like he's floating instead of walking, like he wasn't exactly there with everyone, Jaebeom is overall happy. His mother is finally awake, the future isn't as dark as he feared so things should continue getting better.

Relief is the best feeling, Jaebeom decides.

∞

I swear I've been busy and I don't even realise how time keeps passing by. I wan to be more focused on my stories, but it's hard. Besides, I am recovering from a cold so I was even more exhausted than usual. That for excuses, I am sorry for the long wait. I'll update the next chapter in a few minutes to compensate.