Translucent

Kitchen

"How long was I away?" Rhiannon asked, looking around the room at all of the familiar faces.

Her mother, Evelyn, face wrinkled with stress and dull with worry, her wiry, mousy brown curls loose and in need of a perm. She sat beside her.

Her father, Dennis, stoic in his worry and greying at the temples now, something that had only occurred in the time that Rhiannon was away. He was standing in the doorway, almost guarding his daughter against the outside world. He was always protective in this way.

Doctor Laurel Parson, the family doctor of 10 years after her father's retirement (possibly longer now, Rhiannon could never be sure) who looked more cronely than Rhiannon had ever known her, she was relatively young for a general practitioner but also the girl's former nanny, back when Rhiannon's mother worked for the law firm in town. 

They all sat in the kitchen, Rhiannon aggressively insisting on the location after she could coordinate her limbs to move again. It had only taken her a few hours this time around, rehabilitating herself with repetitive movements and exercises. She was still finding it hard to swallow, the action more complex than it was ever given credit for, but she was in swift recovery.

"Only a few months, but that's more than enough time for your muscles to get out of practice" Laurel explained, looking through charts while organised her vials of body fluids that she had extracted from Rhiannon's body over the last 30 minutes. Her blunt, unphased reaction was relieving for the whole family, after some other less calm reactions to Rhiannon's condition.

Laurel's initial response was that of concern, she just wanted to know how she could help her young friend. She was curious and methodical in her approach and kept the research she did into the condition hush within her circles. It was a blessing to them.

"Oh, gosh" Rhiannon replied, her voice croaking under the strain. Evelyn's hands grasped her single hand and rubbed her thumb over her knuckles softly, her skin darkened and freckled with age against Rhiannon's lighter complexion.

"It's okay, birdie" Evelyn muttered these words of comfort to her child, though it was slightly less of a comfort to her. A few months was more than she was ever usually away for. The last time she had been away that long, she was fighting with Jun about the watch. She was so upset that she just phased out and didn't return for 6 months. She wondered if Jun would come to visit her.

"You've not missed much, the St. Ann Boys football team still didn't win the Regional Championship" Laurel laughed weakly, giving Rhiannon more undivided attention. She smiled back, a sharp breath of a laugh escaping her.

"But they were training so hard" Rhiannon sighed.

"I know, but Riverside completely destroyed them at the last hurdle" Laurel explained further "Though what can you expect from a co-ed school, am I right?".

Rhiannon laughed, legitimately this time and Laurel chuckled back.

"Alright, I think I've got all of your samples now, everything that I could check immediately seems good, but I think the real question is" she placed the clipboard down to give Rhiannon her truly undivided attention "Do you remember anything from this time? Anything new?"

Rhiannon hesitated as all three adults looked at her intently, thinking back to the last episode that she had. She never really remembered much from her time in the other place; nothing other than the translucent body and the vacuum of thickness.

"No, there wasn't anything new" she replied, shaking her head shallowly as her body began to adjust to the physics of the world again "It was the same as it ever has been".

"Are you sure?" her mother gripped her hand more in anticipation. Rhiannon looked into her mother's eyes and saw the desperation as her eyes welled with tears. She was equally as desperate to give her another answer, something else that wasn't the monotonous reply that she'd given for the last 3 years.

"Yes," she sighed defeatedly "Nothing new". Laurel sighed, equally unimpressed with the response, though the expression of emotion was short-lived, as she began to pack up all of her equipment.

"Well, at least it's nothing awful" she tucked the vials away into her medical briefcase along with her clipboard and papers. Her glasses tipped down her nose slowly as she did it.

Rhiannon felt her heart rate rise in her chest, something that she was still conflicted about feeling. It was refreshing to feel her body function but her cheeks were also flush with her anxieties.

"That's true, that's true" Evelyn nodded, though the action felt forced. Rhiannon knew that her mother was always a worrier but she was always so worried by Rhiannon. She imagined it was because of how calm Rhiannon was when returned now. She was just happy to be home.

"Mama, I'm fine" she tried to reassure her but her mother seemed less than receptive.

"We know, dear, but we have to be sure" her father chimed in after his entire session of silence. Dennis was never talkative but he knew when to speak. Laurel had risen from her chair, slinging her coat onto her shoulders.

"Well, she seems absolutely fine, just some muscle weakness and dehydration from the... transition" the words stuck in Laurel's mouth as she found the appropriate language "Just make sure that she eats and drink accordingly with her recovery charts that I gave you and she'll be fine". 

Her hands curled around the handle of her briefcase and she turned to face Rhiannon with a sympathetic expression.

"Maybe when you're feeling a little better, you could come and join us for dinner? Jonathan's missed you on Game Night" she smiled in a melancholy curve of the lips.

"Yeah, of course," Rhiannon smiled back, trying to look more sincere even when she was having trouble working her fine motor skills "Who else is going to beat him at Scrabble?".

There was a quiet chuckle that washed across the room.

Rhiannon reached out her hand to pick up the glass of water on the table, partly due to thirst and partly to prove that she was going to properly hydrate her body during this recovery. 

She felt it as her hand gripped the ceramic and lifted the utensil weakly, trying to draw it closer to her lips. She also felt the world collapse over her hands as her fingers phased through the material and the glass passed straight through her hand and landed back on the table with a thump and a tilt that had the water spilling across it.

The moment was humbling, as the water ran towards the floor with the pull of gravity and Evelyn immediately jumped up to clean up the mess. Laurel stopped and watched for an idle moment before turning back to Dennis and patting him on the shoulder.

"Maybe don't let her handle any of her utensils until she's fully recovered, either" she was quiet with her suggestion, but the message was clear. As Rhiannon apologised to her rushing mother with the flush of anxiety still bleeding onto her face, now a mix of anxiety and embarrassment.

Dennis and Laurel shared a look that said how bad his daughter really was and warned of the precautions to take. She was worse than she had ever been.