April still wasn’t steady on the crutches but she was getting the hang of it.  For the last two weeks Sungmin had been working with her just on getting up and down from the bed.  The first day she stood up once, the second day twice and so on, slowly building up strength in her supporting leg.  Now she could lean on the crutches getting up and standing on her own.  The next task was walking with them but her wobbly-ness made everyone nervous. 

            Henry, the most enthusiastic had been visiting more regularly.  He always brought with him a lot of DVDs of western movies and other bits and bobs of things from Canada and the States.  He would wave the DVDs around excitedly every time he came and while he always said they were for April the others weren’t so sure that he was just excited to have someone to watch those movies with that wouldn’t complain.  He more than anyone was eager for April to get moving on her own.  He went as far as to set up a runway for her to practice, each side flanked by pillows and couch cushions.  Obviously he wasn’t going to let her fall as that would be a disaster, the pillows were just an added precaution.  April tired easily and Henry encouraged her a lot and gave her a lot of praise.

            Aided especially by Sungmin, Siwon and Yesung who all had experience using crutches before April gained steadiness in about 2 weeks.  Now that she was starting to get around by herself Mi-Hi and the sisters didn’t need to come by as often. 

            The thing that confounded the boys the most though was that even though she now had the ability to get around more, she barely used it.  She often needed to be reminded to get up and move around. 

           

            The group was spending another evening in a broadcast station waiting room sitting around waiting for the recording.  Usually they would monitor their juniors and meet and greet friends but they were all tired and restless.  It was Donghae who spoke first, “What are we not doing?”

            “What do you mean?” Yesung asked.

            “There must be something more that we’re supposed to do that’ll bring her around.”

            There were furtive glances from a few other members.  It was their dressing room but there were eyes and ears everywhere in a broadcast station and no one was really comfortable talking about this there. 

            Siwon patted Donghae on the shoulder, “there’s nothing more we should do, we just need to be patient and encouraging.  God will guide her path as much as he has guided ours.”

            “She’s made good progress and everything will happen in its own time,” Yesung added.

            The conversation ended there, it was their turn to go up onstage.  They gave a great performance despite their exhaustion, it was who they were, consummate professionals.  Donghae gained strength from the performance and came back in higher spirits. 

            In the van on the way back something dawned on Leeteuk.  “Music,” he said out loud.

            “What was that hyung?”  Donghae asked.

            “Music, remember when we were played music for her in the hospital?  Remember how much it affected her?  We haven’t really been playing with her much; we’ve been so busy with comeback.  We should play more, sing more, whatever, I think that’s what we were not doing.”

            Donghae nodded slowly, absorbing what Leeteuk was saying. 

            “She was a trainee after all,” added Ryeowook.  “We can’t know exactly what she’s feeling but I would be depressed if I couldn’t make music, it’s possible she feels the same way.  She was a dancer.” 

            An idea started forming in Donghae’s head.  “Kangin hyung can you come over for a little while tonight?”

            “Any particular reason?”
            “I want to do something for April.”

            Kangin rubbed his dongsang’s with his knuckles.  “Sure kid.”

            Donghae knew there wouldn’t be a lot of people home tonight.  Henry and Zhou Mi were already there hanging out with April.  Heechul would be in his room playing Starcraft which left him and Kangin.

            When they got in, April was resting in her room.  Donghae was getting hyper thinking about what he wanted to do.  “Hey guys!”  He said as soon as he got through the door.  There was a sparkle in his eyes and Henry recognized it right away. 

            “What’s going on hyung?” 

            “There’s something we need to do,” he said. 

            Donghae pulled the others into a group huddle and told them his idea.

            “Let’s do it,” said Henry.  “Let’s jam!”

            Donghae lent Kangin his guitar and he used Sungmin’s.  Henry called Ryeowook to ask if he could use his keyboard which of course was totally fine with Ryeowook.  That is after a fair warning, “You are going to owe me SOOO much money if you break that.”

            “Hyung, Henly-i-yeyo,” he said with a smirk, “K-pop’s musical prodigy.” 

            “You’re also a klutz,” said Ryeowook dryly.

            “I promise not to break it.”  Henry said before hanging up.

            Once they were set up Donghae called April out of her room.  He knocked softly, “April I have something to show you, why don’t you come out to the living room for a little while.”

            She sized him up before reaching for her crutches, slowly following him out.