Chapter 20: Rehabilitation

Rose

The two months since waking up in my familiar hospital room, had been filled with pain & hard work. My first month in rehabilitation was set aside for preparing my body, especially my legs for the twice daily sessions to regain full mobility.

The one constant presence in the unfamiliar environment of the private rehabilitation centre was Andrew. His medical training allowed him to communicate with the centre’s doctors making sure there were minimal surprises for me.

I thought back to a particularly bad day.

Start of Flashback

I’d woken up to my lower body screaming at me; TA by Stray Kids rang out. “Hey Ji-ah.” “Are you ok Rose?” She asked in a concerned tone. “Rehab is taking a toll on my body” breathing in and out, I slowly shifted my body to a sitting up position. The next words I heard was “Try to relax and I’ll be there in half an hour.”

Two distinct sets of footsteps coming towards my room woke me up from my nap. My chest felt lighter as she entered the room, despite how my lower body felt. Natural light flooded the dressing area, allowing my eyes to adjust without getting over-stimulated.

Tilting my head, I listened to the bath being filled up and she burst into laughter at my fox-like behaviour. No words were needed between us when my comfiest lounge wear came out of the drawers. The nurse pushed my chair into the room “ready to help your body calm down, miss Lee?” she asked with a respectful nod.

My legs stopped screaming when they hit the warm water and the scents of peppermint, eucalyptus, rosemary and chamomile filled my nose. As my body soaked, I realised it had been a tough month in preparation for starting the physical exercises required to regain my full mobility.

Fifteen minutes later “I have everything set up by the TV, let us know when you are ready to get out.” I stayed in the bath for five more minutes to make the most of the oils {I’m ready Ji-ah.}

I discovered my current nurse was aware of my status, when a milady slipped out in the drying and getting dressed process. {don’t worry, this will be a secret between us}, the relief showed on her face.

I felt more like myself after the pampering session; my adoptive family made it easier for me, with the ups and downs related to the rehabilitation of my legs.

End of flashback

There was a mix of good and bad days during this time so the visits from my loved one helped to keep my spirits up. Another way I distracted myself during my lowest days was listening to Stray Kids. The common message I received was to keep going and never give up when life gets hard.

The second month added more elements of pain, so I hoped all the practice my core did in 1938 & 39 would pay off with the practical exercises. I noticed the staff started to play stray kids during my sessions & I found myself getting less frustrated, even though I was in excruciating pain.

There was a comforting presence along with the music, which seemed to help with the extreme emotions going through my mind. I found relief in the hours I spent with our family and especially my niece.

Our bond was key for her survival once her parents passed on, so I knew it was important to deepen our eternal bond. Despite her young age, Yun had a healthy understanding of emotions, especially how to keep me away from despair in low moments.

One Saturday afternoon I was watching over Yun while her parents went out on a well deserved date. She had decided our activity of colouring in, a thought occurred to me about introducing her to one of my special interests.

I found the right playlist of this year’s performances and removed a few countries to keep it child friendly. I pressed play. Her shoulders started to move on their own when Luxembourg started, so I decided to not call attention to this moment of joy.

The songs from Lithuania, Sweden and Austria extended the movement from just her shoulders to her upper body as she tried to colour at the same time. There were three songs which turned our calm colouring into an mini impromptu dance party were Estonia, Armenia and Croatia.

Her face lit up with joy as she saw the fun and amazing amount of energy they were giving off during the performances. Croatia’s song reminded me of Kpop concerts with the audience participation. Australia’s song was special for me as it showed off one of the surviving aboriginal languages being broadcasted on a global stage.

“Is this spoken in your home city, auntie?” I wiped away tears of joy before answering her, “they were singing in Yankunytjatjara, which is spoken in the north-west of South Australia. The native language from Naarm has been lost.” I heard a new book land on the shelves in her mind library containing this information, placing it in long term storage.

After listening to all the songs, I wasn’t surprised all her favourites were upbeat dance ones. Once she was older, I hoped she would come to love the slower ballads, with her empathy giving her full of emotions with the music.

My hope was for this seed to grow into a full blown obsession, maybe leading to both of us attending a future contest in person. I noticed the stress I’d been holding for a few days had disappeared and the Eucalyptus tree had grown into an adolescent tree in our shared hallway. For the rest of the afternoon, we coloured in and chilled with Eurovision music in the background.

Andrew

It had been decided by Lydia as head of the medical department for me to stay with Rose during her time in rehabilitation. Her Korean doctor agreed with the decision and he helped me with a letter of recommendation to smooth over the transition.

Rose’s medical team in the centre accepted me and complemented how fluent my spoken Korean was as an Australian. I looked over the plan for her treatment and saw how similar it was to my own training.

My heart broke a little when I saw how gruelling this would be on her body and mental state. I paused to send a message to the Ancestors asking them to surround Rose with comfort and encouragement. It wasn’t an easy process, but a necessary pain to reach the other side of the tunnel.

This was proven a few days later when I’d heard from the nurses Rose had broken down crying in her morning session. I purposely walked past her room to figure out her current mood and heard Stray Kids blasting from her headphones.

I was a casual fan of the group and had heard on the grapevine about tickets being released for their Australian shows. Making a note on my phone to mention this to Yeon as it might be a nice treat for Rose once she was back home. The dates lined up with the upcoming Melbourne trip.

This was the last painful section of an almost year long saga, so I was looking forward to the day she was no longer chained to a restricted body. I knew Bruce, Lydia, Mia and Matilda shared my feelings in this matter.

Outside of the rehab bubble, the planning for the 2024 part of the upcoming Melbourne trip had begun. The details for the 1923 part of the trip, would be worked out once Rose was home. We had decided to keep her out of the first part of planning, so she could focus on regaining her full mobility.

After July 13th I noticed a hidden inner strength come from Rose, which seemed to help her in this last push. Her mood at the end of each session had turned from exhausted to optimistic. The rest of the team was feeling very positive about her returning home at the end of July.

Sofia

June 1923

My great-grandfather had passed away before I was born, so I wasn’t sure how we would be received. To my surprise, I was greeted with the two kisses on the cheeks. “Great-grand daughter, I saw your arrival weeks ago via my ability.” Without warning I was embraced in his warmth; this was a sensation I wasn’t used to. “Your group is welcome into my close circle. Should you require any assistance, just ask.”

A smartly dressed man in his 20’s walked into the room, “this is one of my best captains and he will show you to your rooms. Rest and prepare to meet everyone else tonight at dinner.”

Our six rooms were on the second lowest basement level, my second & third in command and I had a private room. My captains were bunking in pairs; the two remaining soldiers were in the smallest and plainest room. The rooms were decorated with jewel tones in Edwardian styling of panelling.

The dining room walls were covered in a light green brocade with dark green carpet: his favourite colour. For contrast the tables and chairs were dark red. The way he commanded the dining room showed off his confidence and charisma. He was dressed in a classic styling of a grey pinstripe three piece suit.

The men and their wives were actively listening to every word he spoke. I was too busy observing so I almost jumped out of my skin, when my shoulder was tapped. “Introduce yourself” entered my right ear using a soft, but firm voice from my great-grandmother “Good evening ladies and gentlemen, I’m Sofia Morrttis the Don’s future Great-Grand Child.”

You could hear a pin drop in the room and I didn’t blame them. It was unheard of for a female relative to be in my position by choice. A slow but quiet clapping started from the table closest to the door.

It filled the room until the signal to stop was given, he went on to tell those not in the know, the cover story for our group. In private he had granted permission for my remaining group to stay under my leadership. The ultimate power was held by him, which freed our team to focus on the mission.

We were free to use any resource and personal to achieve success. I vowed to complete my revenge for the loss of my parents. A shopping trip reminded me of my late mum’s classy sense of fashion sense.

I was seeing where my father had gotten his leadership style from. Overall living under the same roof as my great-grand parents was comforting and unfamiliar at the same time.

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Chapter 19: 2 become 1

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Chapter 21: Between Fever and Familiarity