The bright light that was falling on her face was making it hard for her to open her eyes, the thought of something not going as good as she thought it was was killing her on the inside. This was her second check up after New Year's and she was kind of hoping that the infection wouldn't be just "partially" gone but permanently gone this time. Having Jennie with her in the same room was only making things more stressful even though she had decided on stepping in for encouraging Lisa more. "So?" Lisa asked with her tongue still sticking out, the woman that was inspecting her throat all this time stepping back and turning the light off , Lisa's heart stopping when she heard her sigh a little bit, Jennie getting up to approach the chair that Lisa was sitting on.
"Is there something wrong? I did everything you told me," Lisa started panicking just by thinking that she would have to push back her treatment even more, all of the plans that she had made with Jennie were now disappearing from her view. "Well, I must say I have both good and better news," The doctor said and sat down on the stool next to the chair, her eyes being able to notice the anxiety that had taken over both Lisa and Jennie, the younger one holding her wife's hand in order to comfort her. "The good news is that the infection is gone and the better news that you won't have to see me every week from now on," The doctor said and she could feel the immediate change of aura in the hospital room, both Lisa's and Jennie's faces lit up and it was times like this that she loved the job that she was doing.
"No offense but I'm really happy that I'll get to see you every other week" Lisa admitted causing all of them to burst into laugher from how natural she sounded. A piercing sound filled the entire room, a ringing sound that could only be described as Jennie's ringtone echoing in the pure white room. "Excuse me for a moment," Jennie smiled at the doctor and leaned down to leave a kiss on Lisa's cheek before she could step out of the room, her phone next to her ear as she waited for whoever called her to speak up. "Ms Kim? It's Evan," Jennie heard the so familiar voice coming through from the other side, her heart sinking immediately. This could either be good news or the worst that she could hear, calling her after all of them knew that she was taking time off due to a personal and important reason she really thought something bad had went down.
"Hey, is everything okay?" Jennie asked and leaned against the wall, her eyes occasionally looking over her shoulder in case Lisa had walked out or if the doctor needed her for something even though her wife was the patient. "Jamie... They need you back Doc," Evan's words hit her like a wall, Jennie's knees buckling a little once she heard the name Jamie and the sentence "they need you," coming from her co-worker's mouth. "What about Jamie? What happened?" Jennie asked slightly panicking, a visual of the girl coming to her mind as she felt her heart beating faster and faster. "She tried escaping the hospital Doc, she tried leaving again and she won't talk to anyone else other than you. That's what she said. I didn't want to bother you because I know partially the reason you are away, but... We've hit a dead end." Evan said and his words hit Jennie one by one, every word feeling like a brick hitting her from behind. Lisa was in the room next to her getting ready and informed about her next treatments and now she... She was being called to return to New Zealand.
"Give me this weekend, I'll get back to you by the end of Sunday okay?" Jennie managed to say before hanging up, her hands slightly shaking since she realized that she would have to leave again. It may not be a long time but... Lisa needed her and she had just accepted the fact that she indeed needs Jennie's help. How was she supposed to get up and leave now? Now that things are programmed to go better than they were going all this time. Her heart was pounding painfully slow against her chest, her eyes closing for a moment as she tried taking in what had just happened out of nowhere. It's not like she would never go back to work not that she didn't want to go back, it's simply the fact that she can't do it now that she has to overlook Lisa and make sure that she is... She is okay, both physically and mentally too.
"Babe?" Lisa's voice startled her, Jennie turning around and placing her phone in her back pocket once again, her eyes looking up to meet her wife's that were so bright for once. "Is everything okay?" Lisa asked and approached her, her hand touching the wall to kind of support herself since she was feeling dizzy now and then, her weak immune system and her exhausted body didn't need much encouragement to react in a bad way. "Yeah, my mom called that's all. Are you good to go?" Jennie lied, a huge empty feeling taking over as she reached out to put her arms around Lisa and be her supporter. "Yeah, thanks for coming with me Jen," Lisa said from the depths of her heart even though she knew very well that there hasn't been one visit that Jennie missed at all.
"When I said I'll be next to you I meant that for every step of the way." Jennie informed her and pinched her arm playfully quickly noticing how her wife pulled away, am expression of discomfort appearing on her face. There it was, it was coming up again and Jennie could see it. The weight insecurities. You'd think that anyone would love being as skinny as Lisa was, if you just look at her from a distance and you do have a chronic problem with managing your weight immediately after seeing her walk around you'll be jealous of her. But Lisa was feeling exactly the opposite way of that, she could tell that this wasn't healthy and that she could use some extra pounds but sometimes she barely had the appetite to eat even once a day. Jennie didn't blame her and she never pointed out that insecurity simply because she didn't want to show her that she could see it.
Lisa would eventually talk about it but herself, Jennie was a psychologist after all. It was her psychologist once. She could understand better than anyone else. Making their way out of the hospital Jennie made sure to get a hold of Lisa's, intertwining their finger until they reached the parked car that was waiting for them just a few steps away from the entrance. "Babe?" Lisa spoke up and tugged on Jennie before she could let go, the younger woman turning to meet Lisa's eyes again that were looking away from her. "What is it?" Jennie got scared immediately even if she had no reason to do so, her hands now cupping Lisa's face that had sunken in from the amount of weight she had lost. But still, she didn't act like she didn't like it because she did. She could accept Lisa no matter how she looked. "Can we stop by that place near us? The small pub that Mrs Soo owns," Lisa asked and smiled as soon as she saw Jennie nod while wearing a big grin on her face.
"Let's get inside now because it's still freezing outside," Jennie winked and opened the car door for her, seeing Lisa struggle to get in hurt her but she didn't want to help her with that as well. She wanted to make her feel like she could do some things on her own still otherwise that would fuck up her whole mentality and mood. It's the last thing that Jennie wanted or needed now. The car ride was quiet, it always was quiet. The only thing that could be heard was the radio that played in the background and the few droplets of rain that occasionally landed on the windshield. Lisa's hand rested on Jennie's thigh as she drove them to the place that Lisa had so kindly requested. "Do you still want to go to Italy?" Lisa asked all of a sudden, her slim finger drawing small circles on the black pants that Jennie was wearing. "I mean, we don't have to if you don't like it. I know I said it out of impulse without asking you and you may not even like it to begin with so if you want to pick another place we can always do that." Lisa said in one breath surprising both her and Jennie as well, the younger one that had both her hands on the steering wheel laughing a little.
"Are you insecure about something Lils?" Jennie asked in a serious note as she took a turn, her head slightly turning as well so she wouldn't show Lisa that she was still pretty much laughing. "N-No, I just thought that you may not even like Italy because... You're classy and, and you're way more stylish than anyone I know so I figure you may prefer Paris or something." Lisa went on and on with rambling again making it even more funny for Jennie who found this whole conversation too adorable to handle. Lisa's tone was changing every time she would be insecure or she would have second thoughts about something she said. "You're rambling when you're insecure baby, I know that for a fact. But I digress, of course I want to visit Italy with you. I would go anywhere as long as I have your stupid ass with me," Jennie pointed out and pulled up to the parking spot that always seemed to wait for them to park everytime they decided to eat at Mrs Soo's pub.
"I think you wanted it to sound cute but you missed, either way, I'll take it" Lisa laughed and unbuckled herself before she could step out of the car. The cold winter wind hit then instantly, Lisa wrapping her body with her coat even tighter now as Jennie locked the car before walking behind her. As always Mrs Soo was waiting by the door to greet whoever walked in her pub. "Hello Mrs Soo," both of them said and bowed in front of her, the older woman's smile warming their hearts. "Your table is waiting for you ladies," the older woman said and pointed at the far end of the pub, her eyes smiling along with her lips as she saw the two of them walk down the pathway that would lead them there. They had been coming to that pub every time they would be done with a session and Lisa would be feeling well enough to stand and not fall asleep. Other times they ordered food and the delivery guy, Mrs Soo's grandson, would be happy to see them and know that they keep choosing their pub.
"What are you in the mood for?" Jennie asked while going through the menu, Lisa taking over and pointing only at one dish that was catching her attention more than anything else. "Kimchi stew?" Jennie asked one more time and saw Lisa nod with a big smile on her face, her eyes shining bright even though they seemed like they had sunken in as well from how tired she constantly was. "Excuse me, can we have this one and... And can we have the barbeque you serve?" Jennie asked while pointing at the items on the menu, the young man nodding and turning on the gas burner that separated Lisa and Jennie. "Barbeque? But Jisoo knows how to grill the meat," Lisa said with her eyes glued on the grill, her mouth salivating just in the thought of eating grilled meat. "I can always try, I might not be as flawless at meat cooking as Jisoo but I can always try my best for you." Jennie admitted and reached out to hold Lisa's hand over the table.
"Speaking of Jisoo... Can we talk about their awkward behavior during New Year's?" Lisa asked and made room once the young man was back with all the meat layed out on a platter ready to get grilled. A few side plates with all kinds of kimchi stuff and a whole bowl with the kimchi stew that she had ordered. Her biggest craving out of all. "Would you like some soju?" The young man asked and Jennie looked over at Lisa who shrugged, she could drink just not too much. She was more than sure that if she didn't drink Jennie would make sure to drink for her as well. Her wife had a great alcohol tolerance, the biggest out of all of them. Nodding, Jennie watched him disappear again. Mayhew some soju would make it easier for her to brush off the New Zealand issue for now. "So what were we saying?" Jennie shook her head a little bit, her hand holding the shears ,using it to place a piece of pork on the grill after the other.
"Jisoo and possibly Chaeyoung, something is up with them and I'm sure they don't tell us so they won't frustrate us." Lisa sighed and filled her sleeves up, her chopsticks in hand ready to attack the stew in front of her. And she did after putting thoughts inside Jennie's head, her chopsticks picking up a greedy amount of noodles and kimchi at the same time. Lisa with cheeks full of food can be deadly, deadly in the most adorable way possible. "Huh, they have been acting weird lately that's true." Jennie hummed and kept her eyes glued on the meat, even though she was already married to Lisa she still wanted to impress her with her grilling abilities. "It can't be anything business wise, so it must be something personal that they choose to keep a secret between them. But what could it be that both of them can be hiding at the same time?" Jennie asked and started taking the meat off of the grill and replacing the pieces with uncooked ones. She was so focused that she didn't even notice Lisa's intense stare.
"A relationship," Lisa said and Jennie almost dropped the shears she was holding, quickly looking around to see if anyone was bothered by the loud sound. "What are you talking about? There is no way," Jennie whispered between them as if someone was to listen to them talk about it, Lisa turning even more serious for a split second as she second guessed what she let roll off her tongue. "But think about it, they suddenly decided to live together? We've been close to each other since college and they both lived alone then, why would they live together now that they both have jobs?" Lisa went even deeper into her theory that she must have been thinking since New Year's, those weren't words of someone that came up with something just now. "Okay Sherlock Holmes, let's say that's the deal. Why the hell wouldn't they tell us about it? Why would Chaeyoung keep saying how single she is?" Jennie questioned her wife now, placing some cooked pork on the empty plate next to Lisa so she could try some of it, Jennie taking a bite as well and downing it with some soju.
"Two words. Reverse psychology." Lisa said and winked at Jennie who was left with her mouth hanging open, her mind didn't even go to that place. "Wanna trade jobs?" Jennie joked causing Lisa to laugh a little while she felt another wave of anxiety hit her as she got reminded of the morning call that she got back at the hospital. "No but seriously, what if it is this? What if there is seriously something going on between them?" Lisa asked with the most serious look on her face, as serious as she could look while slurping her noodle soup, the sound piercing Jennie's ears. Jennie paused for a moment to think as she placed a few more strips of meat on the grill, the sound filling her ears as she kept picturing Chaeyoung and Jisoo next to each other. "It could work and it would only be fair if I'm being honest." Jennie answered suddenly, her cat eyes looking straight into Lisa's without even blinking.
"They've been looking after our asses for the longest time, what if that... Brought them close?"