July had arrived and the dorms were now clean and stocked with the necessary materials to create April’s new home.  On a Sunday morning everyone was back at the dorms except for Henry who was sent to be with April.  On this particular day Henry was chosen specifically for his linguistic abilities.  Because April was now signifying her understanding of words spoken to her and things going on around her it was time to start explaining to her what would be happening early the next week. 

            April was sitting in her chair being entertained by Henry.  It was clear that she was getting antsy in the hospital and it was a good thing that she would be leaving soon.  When Henry spoke to her in English she responded quicker and more assertively.

            “You’re getting bored in the hospital aren’t you?”

            April coyly nodded yes.

            “You hope you can leave soon?”

            April nodded yes again.

            “Do you think you’re ready to leave?” 

            April nodded twice for yes this time.

            “Are you going to be able to do everything on your own?”

             April scrunched her nose up but didn’t respond.

            “So as soon as you leave you’ll be able to cook meals, do laundry and go to the store?”

             April actually rolled her eyes at Henry which was something new that he hadn’t seen before. 

            “Do you have a place to go when you leave?”

             April looked straight up, which Henry had learned meant ‘I don’t know.’

            “Who’s going to help you do everything after you’re out of here?”

            April scrunched her nose again then smiled playfully before lifting a hand and pointing in a small gesture at Henry.         

            “Me?”  He asked incredulously. 

            April looked straight up again.

            “Actually April, all the guys that have been staying with you here are kind of like a family and a lot of them live in the same apartment.  You’re going to be discharged soon, probably at the beginning of next week.  We feel like you’ve become a part of our family and the others as well as myself wanted to know if you’d like to stay with us at least until you’re fully recovered…”  It was an awkward thing to have to sa but Henry tried to deliver it with confidence.

            April listened carefully to everything that Henry said.  She seemed to take her time thinking about it.  Finally she looked at Henry and hen straight up.  Henry seemed to know  what she was thinking.

            “It’s just us living there, but you’ll have your own room.”

            She seemed to think it over again and then shyly nodded yes.

            “Great,” Henry said.  “You’re going to love your room.”

 

            Regarding the new living arrangements Leeteuk thought it would be best to have another group meeting; they’d go about it in a nice organized way.  However, a nice organized meeting never happened, instead there was a lot of hustle and bustle and people moving things without permission.  No one had really wanted to move as they’d been comfortably living in that arrangement for over a year but none the less it had to happen. 

            Kyuhyun wasn’t budging; he stood in the doorway carefully guarding his room and his things.  He had agreed to let the girl stay but he had not agreed to move rooms or have his life interrupted.   Next door the room was completely empty and Yesung’s things were strewn about the living room, lying in limbo for a place to go.  Yesung’s room would become April’s room.

            Eunhyuk’s room was really only meant for one person and he wished he could keep it that way, regardless he was busy rearranging his furniture so that a second person could move in.  Upstairs wasn’t any better, in fact it was worse because Zhou Mi was still living on the couch.  The hyungs expect for Yesung didn’t want to give up their single rooms.  Of course Yesung could have just moved across the hall into Eunhyuk’s room but that would have been too simple.  Instead it was decided that Donghae would move downstairs into Eunhyuk’s room and Yesung would move upstairs and take his place sharing with Ryeowook.

            It was while Leeteuk was observing the slapstick chaos of moving that he realized they had another task on their hands.  There were all sorts of music show trophies and group memorabilia all over the dorm; it was a dead giveaway and something that had to be dealt with immediately.

            Armed with a large box Leeteuk and Shindong went room by room removing any trace of their public lives.  It had been nice being able to look at the trophies and albums and see what they’d accomplished but even Leeteuk thought it was a little weird to have posters of themselves in their dorm.

            It took more time than they’d anticipated clearing all of the group memorabilia out.  It was boxed up, sealed and sent to storage.  Leeteuk took a moment to remind everyone to be careful of what they say about work when around April.

            With the boys rooms all arranged they could now focus on setting up April’s room.  A lot of thought went into how to arrange the furniture.  Heechul gave some tips regarding giving her space to move around in.  It was decided that the bed would go up against the shared wall with Sungmin and Kyuhyun’s room.  Thanks to the somewhat thin walls, someone might hear her if she needed help, though that was a big ‘might’ since she still wasn’t talking.   

            Everything they’d bought for the room was colorful and cheery and came together nicely.  In terms of style it was a girl’s dream room and it came with a fully stocked closet.  The boys were impressed with themselves, the living arrangements they’d created were more than adequate.

           

            April’s personality was definitely coming out but it also meant that she was starting to get a handle on the situation.  It was clear that she wanted to be able to do things on her own and that even though she agreed to stay with them she wasn’t really comfortable with the idea.  Although she had grown familiar and even fond of these guys in her time in the hospital she still didn’t know them, at least she didn’t think she knew them.  To her it seemed that even they presented themselves as if they were new acquaintances, so why if they’d only known her for such a short time would they take her in?  April couldn’t figure that out, but that wasn’t the biggest of her problems.  She still couldn’t figure out how she’d gotten here in the first place.  Not just the hospital but Korea in general, she had no recollection of traveling abroad whatsoever.  The last thing she remembered she was at home in New York and it was winter, it definitely wasn’t winter here.  Korea didn’t have different seasons, right?  April didn’t think so, which meant that a lot of time had passed that she couldn’t recall.  She didn’t know how much, she didn’t even know today’s month and date, all she knew is that it was warm outside.  How long had she been in the country?  How long had she been in the hospital?  These questions were beginning to gnaw at her. 

            Little things were starting to bug her and she was getting a little stir crazy.  She wanted to get up and move and stretch but she couldn’t, even if she could she ached too much and was too tired.  The boys that visited were kind and humorous but even their acts now were not always enough to raise her spirits.  Music made her happy but it also made her want to move, envisioning choreography in her head that she couldn’t perform the twitchy desire to dance making her more and more frustrated.  April was also becoming more aware of how her physical condition could have permanent effects though this was never a subject spoken about.  There was a looming fear that her dreams of becoming a dancer were drifting farther and farther away.

 

            The date was set and the hyungs were having one last meeting with the main physician.  April would be discharged one week from today after a two month stay in the hospital.  They discussed the preparations they’d already made and the doctor made suggestions for additional preparations that they may not have thought about.  Because April would be entering their home in a wheelchair the main furniture may also need to be rearranged, doorways cleared ect.  He recommended going through the dorm with a tape measure to see what needs to be moved.  Although April shouldn’t be showering or taking a bath quite yet they’d also need safety equipment for that area.  The doctor also explained that although April would be arriving in a wheelchair he was hopeful that after another week she would be able to make the transition to crutches. 

            Her wrist was healed and they were removing the cast later that day but she would need at least two weeks to build some strength back up before she could rely on it for using crutches.  The same went for her ribs though they weren’t completely healed yet.  Even with crutches she would probably require some additional assistance however it was important that she get moving to avoid weakening or atrophy.  The meeting went on to discuss many other aspects of care finally ending in signing an agreement to the day of release.

 

            April had been in funk but she did seem happy to get the cast off her wrist.  Leeteuk and Ryeowook went with her when she went to have it taken off.  Ryeowook told her where they were going when the nurse came to get her, though he was never quite sure how much she understood and how much she didn’t.  Usually the boys couldn’t accompany her to anything outside of her room so this was a special occasion.  Perhaps April didn’t understand but she showed no emotion either way as they went down the hall, though some of the staff said ‘hi’ she only barely acknowledged them.  Inside the exam room the boys sat next to her on the opposite side of the bad wrist.  April seemed tense and nervous, the boys hadn’t thought about it before but Leeteuk realized that rooms like these probably only held painful and scary memories from her stay.

            “It’s okay,” Leeteuk said.  “This time it’s a good thing.”

            April nodded a little signifying she understood but also shrunk back as far as she could.  When the doctor came in the first tool she took was the rotary saw used to cut the plaster, as soon as April heard the buzz of tool she pulled back and grabbed Leeteuk’s arm in fear.  The doctor backed off as he patted her back and tried to calm her down.  Ryeowook went to sit on her other side.

            “It’s really okay, it won’t hurt.”  Leeteuk tried again.  He gently removed her hand from his arm and held it in both of his.  “We’re both here, nothing bad will happen.”  Ryeowook rubbed her shoulder and the doctor started again.  April was clearly fearful but she didn’t pull away this time.  It only took about four minutes to remove once she stayed still but they could both feel that she was tense as a rock the entire time.

            Once the cast was off and she was back in her room she moved her wrist back and forth and rolled it in circles staring at it incredulously.  She made flow-y movements from her fingers to her wrist and Leeteuk surmised that she must have taken a lot ballet.  She looked happy until she compared how much thinner that arm was to the other, although they were both freakishly thin owing to her overall lack of nutrition and condition the formerly casted arm looked like skin stretched over bone.  She frowned and looked away.