Trials and Tribulations [Chaelisa]

Chapter 63

Chaeyoung stood outside Lisa’s front door, her eyes fixed firmly on the white plastic panelling as she shifted her weight from side to side impatiently. It was Sunday morning, four days after she’d taken Lisa down to the hospital to be checked over by a doctor and the weather was bright, the warm spring air heating her face as she stood beneath the slowly rising sun in the sky above. Chaeyoung lifted her gaze to her girlfriend’s front door and knocked on it softly again, her previous attempt obviously going unheard. Chaeyoung glanced up and down the street distractedly for a moment whilst she waited for someone to answer, only returning her attention forwards again when she heard the lock click noisily and the hinges of the door squeak as it opened. She watched as a small gap appeared between the door and the wall to reveal a shy looking Jules, who stood biting her bottom lip in the same way that her older sister often did. The youngsters’ eyes were fixed firmly on her feet which were crossed over one another and she swung the door back and forth bashfully as she avoided meeting Chaeyoung’s gaze. Chaeyoung smiled at the sight of Lisa’s younger sister and crouched down low in front of the girl.

“Hi Jules,” Chaeyoung greeted smiling kindly as Lisa’s sister finally lifted her eyes.

“Hi Chaeyoung,” Jules returned timidly, tilting her head a little so that her ear was almost resting against her shoulder her dark eyes dropping to the floor again.

“Are you alright?” Chaeyoung asked her gently, her tone soft and encouraging. Jules nodded her head in response and looked up at Chaeyoung again, a bright smile appearing on her face. “Is Lili here?” Chaeyoung asked her and Jules nodded her head once more enthusiastically.

“She’s upstairs.” Jules informed Chaeyoung as she turned her head to look over her shoulder and back in to the house. “She went to the hospital earlier.”

“I know,” Chaeyoung responded smiling, her tone light and playful. “She had to go and have another checkup.”

“I don’t like the hospital.” Jules told her making a face. “It smells funny.”

“I don’t like it either,” Chaeyoung agreed quietly, her voice low as though they were sharing valuable secrets with one another.

“It made Lisa sick…” Jules said thoughtfully, trying to find the right words to express her meaning and struggling. “She doesn’t play as much anymore. She always drops things…” Chaeyoung frowned at Jules’s words realising that despite everything she’d been told about Lisa’s accident she still didn’t understand what had happened to her sister, not properly.

“The hospital didn’t make her sick Jules,” Chaeyoung explained patiently, reaching a hand forward and placing it on the young girl’s shoulder. “She was in an accident. The hospital and all the doctors there…they helped to make her better.”

“Then why does she have to keep going back?” Jules asked, pushing on the door slightly and opening it further as she forgot her shyness.

“They’re still trying to make her better,” Chaeyoung told Jules, squeezing her shoulder reassuringly. “Do you know why?”

“Why?” Jules asked, leaning forward a little so that they could conspire together, believing that everything that Chaeyoung was telling her was top secret information.

“It’s because she wants to be able to play with you again properly, like she used to before.” Chaeyoung shared with Jules, moving her hand to rest on the side of the girls’ neck. “She’ll keep going back until she can do that.”

“But…she doesn’t like hospitals either,” Jules said confused. “They make her sad.”

“I know,” Chaeyoung acknowledged, “but sometimes you have to do things that you don’t like because they’re for the best.”