*Yun pov*

A week has passed since Sena started staying with me at the hospital. I felt very embarrassed after the first night she stayed with me, though I have to admit… I was very comfortable.

The night after she stayed over with me, I told her she didn’t have to sleep with me again since I didn’t want to mess her schedule up. She assured me it’d be fine, but I insisted. 

That ended up being a mistake. Despite nothing going wrong, I wasn’t able to sleep a wink. Every few hours I’d wake up shivering, staring at shadows or straining my ears searching for any out of place sounds. It was not a good night.

Dr. Grey immediately noticed something was wrong. I tried to deflect a little at first, but she cornered me with a devastating move; ‘Yun, if you don’t tell me what’s wrong I’ll have to delay your discharge another week and move your therapy sessions forward.'

Speaking of, I was cleared to leave the hospital later today. I was both excited, and terrified.

The last threat Dr. Grey got me with, involved those nasty drinks they make you have before doing certain tests. The kind that lights up your organs or something. I was tired of those. I doubt I’d ever drink a milkshake again thanks to the texture being similar.

Despite my embarrassment, I ended up telling the doctor what was wrong. I was terrified she’d tell me to man up, or just deal with it… Just goes to show how little I know about Dr. Grey herself. Or maybe that’s just the trauma talking. Realistically, I could never see Dr. Grey being anything but kind.

She told me that what I was likely experiencing was some symptoms of PTSD thanks to my past and that one awful nightmare. Speaking of nightmares, I had one the night I slept with Sena. It wasn’t like the big one though, and when I woke up still being held by my best friend? I calmed right down.

For the time being, Dr. Grey advised me to take some anti-anxiety medications if it got any worse. And after one more sleepless night, she prescribed them. 

At first she was reluctant to give me any kind of medication, but after a certain point during my stay she said I was cleared for most drugs. She’d apparently feared a reaction to whatever inhibitor my parents used on me, so they had to wait until nearly everything was flushed out of my system before giving me anything.

Dr. Grey also said that it was completely fine to want Sena over to sleep with. She even offered to call Lucy and explain the situation. At first I opposed it, but after thinking a little more I decided it would be for the best. Only if Sena wanted to of course.

Thankfully, my friend was ecstatic over her position as sleeping buddy being returned. I even heard her jumping around and being a general nuisance over the phone. 

I ended up thanking Dr. Grey as I felt my face grow hotter, which was confusing. I was just having my friend slash sister(?) stay with me in the hospital. What was so weird about that?

I ignored the slight smirk on Dr. Grey’s face as she finished up with our daily medical stuff. My wound wasn’t hurting anymore, but I still couldn’t do much of anything. Walking around was a chore, if not painful at times. I kept getting worried about if it was truly alright for me to be discharged this fast, but everyone assured me it was fine. The Meyers lived pretty close to the hospital and an emergency clinic so apparently if anything went wrong, I’d be fine.

During the past week, I’d probably been the most at peace with myself as I’d ever been before. I loved my time with Sena, when she’d come over to hang out and then sleep over. She was doing wonderful things to me. Yuki, Elias, and Takuto came over every now and then too. We still hadn’t found my phone, so Sena was the only way for us to communicate unless they were here as well. 

When we got closer to today, my discharge day, Dr. Grey tried to get me to do a little more exercise. And by exercise, I mean generally moving. I’d apparently gotten ‘so close to my bed that I was practically fused to it.’ Though I didn’t mind, it was comfy and the world was scary. So why leave it?

I was then informed that that was a bad mindset to get into, despite how nice it may seem.

I still hadn’t gone to any therapy sessions yet, Dr. Grey told me she’d schedule one after I discharged and got used to my new home and family. 

Speaking of, I was officially adopted by Sena’s parents! Woo! Honestly, I figured it would’ve taken a lot longer with a lot more drama. But thank god it didn’t. Just the fact alone that I had a new family was incredibly calming to me. I actually cried when they gave me the news. Sena did too actually, we were both a mess.

And so, the week passed on like that. I recovered ever so slightly from the attack, and tried to overcome other, more psychological, problems. That part didn’t go the greatest, though I never really expected it to. I’d only been free for a week and a half give or take. Sixteen years of misery and apparent brainwashing would take a lot of effort to overcome, or so Dr. Grey told me.

Interrupting my inner recap, the door to my room slides open and a familiar face peeks in.

“Sena!”

“Yun!” 

My best friend and new sister, Sena Meyer, has appeared. She quickly ran up to my bedside and slithered on in. 

“So, you ready?” She giddily asked while hugging me from under the blankets.

“Yep!” Noticing a shake in my gaze, she tilts her head. “I’m actually pretty nervous…” I admit.

Over our time together in the hospital, Sena had gotten really good at telling when something was bothering me, or when I was outright lying. My tells, she called them.

“Aww.” She coos. “You don’t need to be. You liked me staying with you here, right?” At my nodding, she continues. “Well, it’ll be just like that. Just at home, and not here.”

“I get that,” I said while scratching my cheek. “But it’s just… different? Y’know?”

“I, in fact, don’t know.”

“Look at it like this; You’ve only ever lived with, uh, unpleasant people all your life and in one spot. You then get out of that situation and get used to another living spot. So noooow…”

“You’re nervous since you’ll be moving spots again… I see.” Detective Sena has figured it out.

“Yeah… I’ll also miss Dr. Grey.” 

“Well, she’ll still be your primary doctor. So you’ll see her pretty often, especially since you have to meet with her once a week at the minimum until you’ve fully recovered.”

“Yeah, but still.” I whine. “She’s so nice. Like a big s-sister, or something.” 

“Hehe. Why’re you blushing, Yun?” Sena notes my flushed cheeks and immediately pinches them.

“H-hey! I am not blushing!” Playfully swatting at her arms, I try to argue back despite knowing full well how red my face is.

Another person enters the fray, much to my embarrassment. “Oh my~. Little Yun’s blushing quite hard. She almost looks like a tomato.”

“See, Yun? Even mom thinks so!” Cue Sena bursting into giggles.

“C’mon, m-mo-” Despite my best efforts to call Lucy ‘mom,’ I just can’t. It’s like something inside me won’t allow it. At least Sena quiets down when she notices my struggle and subsequent mood dropping.

“Hey there, don’t worry about something small like calling me something else.” Lucy stepped over and took one of my hands in her own. “We don’t expect you to be able to anyway, not after what you went through.”

“... T-thanks, Lucy.” 

Before I can say anything else, she gently combs a stray hair out of my eyes and stands up. “Alright, we can talk about other stuff later. For now, how’s the newest member of our family feeling about her discharge?”

“Nervous… Sena and I were talking about it before you came in.” I figure being straight up with Lucy would be best, stalling will get me nowhere anyway.

“She’s gotten used to the hospital now, and she’s gonna miss Dr. Grey.”

“D-despite that, I’m still glad that I’m moving in with you guys…” I fidget a litte.

“Aww.” Sena’s mom looks like she’s about to cry. Hopefully from tears of joy. “We’re glad you’re coming to live with us too, Yun. Thank you for letting us be your family.” 

At that, I nearly start crying again. Which definitely would’ve had Sena and Lucy in tears too. Thankfully, Dr. Grey shows up in time to cool us off.

“Hey, Yun. Looks like you’re ready to head out, huh? How ya feeling?”

“Good,” I try not to sniffle. “It’s gonna be hard, but I think I’ll manage…”

“What she means is she’ll miss you doctor.” 

I gasp at Sena’s betrayal, but Dr. Grey just laughs it off while Lucy suppresses a giggle.

“I’m glad you’re as attached to me as I am to you.” The gray haired doctor says, I swear I could see a hint of melancholy in her eyes too…

“I’ll still see you again, though, right? Like, you’re still gonna be my doctor?” Even though Sena confirmed it earlier, I have to ask.

“Yep. My position will change a little here.” 

“U-uh, a-are you quitting because of m-me?” Nonchalant delivery aside, what does that mean? Is she giving up her career just to make me more comfortable..? No, I can’t let her do that! “Y-you don’t have to quit because of me! Y-your career is m-more importa-”

Cutting me off, Dr. Grey chuckles. “No, silly. I’m not quitting or throwing my career away. In fact, I’m moving to a better position. At least in my opinion.”

Answering for me, Lucy seems equally as invested. “What exactly are you going to be doing? Don’t you have the best position available?”

“Mmm.” She ponders for a moment. “Yes and no.”

“What’s that mean?” Sena asks.

“My position here is quite high, but not the highest as I don’t look like the CEO or a president now do I? I was offered a seat with the vice presidents that oversee each department, but I declined. Right now, I’m just a very highly paid doctor.”

“But you’re throwing that away… For me..?” My question comes out like a whisper, guilt eating into me.

Dr. Grey sighs, but not in an annoyed or angry way, but in some tone I can’t get. She walks closer and puts a hand on my shoulder, despite Sena being in the way and now under her arm. “I’m not giving anything up, I’ve wanted to have a slower day to day for a while now.” She smiles. “Besides, I’ve got enough saved up to last me quite a long time. So the new job will basically be retirement hobby work.”

“W-wha? Wait, how old are y-” A stern look shuts me up.

“Yun. Never ask a woman her age.” She looks much more doctor-y, and scary right now. So I just nod along vigorously. “Hehe. I always wanted to do that. But to answer your question, I'm just in my thirties.”

Sena picks up this time. “But your hair..?”

“Haa.” Dr. Grey removes her arm and rubs the bridge of her nose. “Most of it’s dyed, but a surprising amount of it is naturally gray. Whether that’s actually natural, or just from my incredibly stressful job… Who can say?”

We all leave it at that, not wanting to get on her bad side right before my departure. She speaks up again though before we start talking about anything else.

“By the way, have you guys bought a wheelchair yet?”

“Huh?” Sena and I tilt our heads at the same time.

“Yep, it should be here today or tomorrow.” Lucy replies with a cheerful tone. “The one we chose is very cute, I think she’ll love it.” 

I’m even more confused now. I think Sena feels the same as I do, if the blatant curiosity on her face is anything to go off of.

“Um. What wheelchair?” I shoot a hand up like I’m in class.

Both adults turn and stare at me. The one lying in a hospital bed, the one who also hasn’t walked or really moved around much more than using the bathroom and sometimes going on a small stroll to the food court before getting placed in a wheelchair to get pushed back to my room. 

“Ah. My wheelchair.” The little bit of heat settling on my cheeks betrays me.

“Yes… I feel like that was obvious, but we’ll let it slide.” They mercifully don’t fall into giggling fits in front of me… I’ll ignore Sena who is definitely not trying her hardest not to laugh.

After we all recompose ourselves, Dr. Grey and Lucy decide it’s time for me to check out. The doctor rolls a standard wheelchair in and has me sit in it. I don’t know why I can’t just walk to the car myself… Though that could be because of my room being on one of the upper floors.

“So what’s the wheelchair you guys bought look like?” I ask while Sena pushes me down the hall.

“That’s a surprise~.” Lucy covers her lips with a finger and gives me a wink.

“Aw.” Is both Sena and my response.

“Don’t you worry, you two. You’ll see it soon enough. Besides, it’s not like you’ll have to use it for that long or all that often anyway.”

“... Then why did you guys get one? Isn’t that a waste?” I can’t imagine a wheelchair is cheap… Why is this family so nice to me?

“They got one because, despite technically being able to move around, it’s not really good for you to.”

“This isn’t me trying to stay here longer, but why am I being discharged then..?” 

“People don’t typically stay in hospitals until they’re completely well. Most go home and finish their recovery in their own environment.” She smiles, and a part of me gets scared at the word home… But the other can hardly suppress its excitement.

“I see…”

I think Sena noticed my conflicting feelings as she reaches over my wheelchair and hugs my shoulders. 

Yeah. I love these people. I think I’m ready to head home.

YulaYulna

Happy Saturday! ʕ ´•̥̥̥ ᴥ•̥̥̥`ʔ We're finally out of the sterile all white building that is the hospital! 19 chaps was all it took... woops. Felt a time skip was the best play, who'd want to read about our Fl, er, Main FL sitting in a bed for ten more chapters? Unfortunately that did mean this chapter was a bit weak on plot and really anything interesting, but it had to be done. Finally, the poll: The results will likely affect which one I'll be working on in an effort to release faster. Space exploration and Urban Magic (Unnamed) will have 2k to 4k words each chapter, while the hero/villain has 5k a chap. I am the furthest along in the hero one currently, named [From the Outer], but the other two are coming along as well. I haven't decided when to release them, but as stated on a previous chapter; I'd like to be able to post 5-10 chaps then do a weekly release. Though a mass release of all chapters might not be bad either, then go on hiatus similar to irl books. Info rant over; Have a good weekend all!