Chapter 68

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Their first week at Yuri's passed by quickly, and then the second. Lisa was slowly adjusting to being home, and being with Jennie all day every day, and her bones were slowly mending as she spent all day resting. Under normal circumstances, Lisa would've been ecstatic and her usual bubbly self, but her return brought problems with it, and every night she woke screaming from a nightmare of a memory. Jennie would quickly scramble away from Lisa, more for concern about what it would do to Lisa if she accidentally hit Jennie again, rather than for her own safety. She would talk to her until she calmed down, and then Jennie would hold Lisa as she cried herself back to sleep, quietly whispering nonsense to her until the sun came up. It was taking its toll on Jennie, and she got little sleep over those two weeks, but she didn't care – she had to look after Lisa.

At the end of those two weeks, Rosé and Jisoo had to go back to work in National City, and Yuri went back to work too. Jennie and Yuri planned to keep Lisa in Midvale for another week, just to give her a bit more time to recooperate in the countryside, and so they said goodbye to Rosé and Jisoo that morning. The house was quiet with just the two of them there, and they both found themselves on the front porch, watching Kuma run around with a stick in her mouth as they drank their tea in the early morning sun.

"What do you want to do today?" Jennie asked Lisa. "We could go out somewhere. To the diner maybe. Or we could go to the bookshop – I've been meaning to buy some new reading material."

"I don't care," Lisa mumbled, shrugging indifferently. She brushed her short hair out of her face as she squinted at the bright sunlight. It was starting to get warm, and the flowers were beginning to bloom. Jennie was hoping that Lisa would be well enough to go for a hike soon – she wanted to go back to that meadow and see it filled with Lisa's laughter and the beautiful flowers, just like the first time Lisa had taken her there.

"Well, what do you feel like doing?" Jennie asked, brushing Lisa's short hair out of her face. "Whatever you want to do, we'll do it."

"I don't want to do anything," Lisa snapped, trying to scratch beneath the cast on her arm as she watched the dog playfully run around the garden. She sighed in frustration, unable to reach the itch, and crossed her arms over her chest as she frowned.

"Fine," Jennie said after a moment, knowing better than to try and force her to do something she didn't want to. Taking Yuri's advice, Jennie just sat on the porch swing, silently staring at Lisa, waiting for her to decide what she wanted to do. She knew Lisa didn't mean to snap – it was just a symptom of her PTSD – but Jennie felt useless. As soon as they got back to National City, Jennie was going to find a therapist to help Lisa, and she was hoping that Lisa wouldn't put up too much of a fight, because Jennie couldn't do this alone.

Jennie's thoughts were interrupted by the buzzing of her phone in her pocket. She pulled it out and stared down at her mom's name on the screen. Chaerin had phoned a few times a week, just to see how everything was going and to make sure Jennie was handling it okay, and Jennie was grateful for the opportunity to talk to someone who wasn't personally involved in Lisa's life. She knew that she could talk to Rosé, Yuri or Jisoo, but Jennie didn't want to make it harder for them too, so she kept most of her thoughts to herself.

"It's my mom," Jennie told Lisa, who had shot her a questioning look. "I won't be long."

Standing up, Jennie placed a kiss on the top of Lisa's head and walked down the front porch steps as she answered the call. "Hi mom," Jennie said, pressing the phone to her ear.

"Hi, how are you?" Chaerin asked.

"Good," Jennie assured her, wandering further into the garden.

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