"Come on, Lea. It's good for you."
Lea shot a dubious look at the cup of medicinal soup poured by her dad from the thermos bottle.
"It's not that much, just one big gulp."
Her dad coaxed her into drinking the medicinal soup by bringing the cup close to her mouth, or at least he tried to.
Lea turned her head away at the strong smell of dirt and bitterness and said, "No, just give me water."
At her firm refusal, her dad tried a different tactic.
"If you finish this, I'll give you something sweet."
Her imaginary pointy cat ears twitched at the irresistible offer.
"Honey-flavoured candy," her dad sweetly whispered into her ears.
"…Okay."
Lea gave in, tempted by the thought of being able to eat something sweet after only having tasteless porridges and supplements.
Click!
She frowned at her dad taking a picture of her downing the bitter liquid.
"Proof shot for your mom and Alan," said her dad, making her unable to say a word of complaint.
After emptying the cup, she gave it back to her dad and flopped back on the bed with a pout.
"I rather chew something bitter," Lea said, grumpily.
Her grumpy mood didn't last long when her dad gave her the promised sweet - a marble-shaped candy.
Lea slowly savoured the rich sweetness of the honey-flavoured candy in her mouth. If it wasn't for Doctor Timur telling her to focus on gaining back the weight she lost, she wouldn't have drunk that bitter liquid despite how much she hated it.
.
.
.
Five months had passed since Lea woke up from Hibernation Syndrome.
Now, she managed to stay awake longer than half a day without feeling too drowsy and earnestly began physical therapy.
"You're already doing much better than we first started," the physical therapist complimented Lea in the middle of the session.
Considering how long she was bedridden, Lea was doing better than anyone expected.
"Good job, Lea. Take a break and we'll start again in half an hour."
After persisting through one hour of grunting and sweating, Lea slumped to the floor in peak exhaustion.
As if on cue, Dan walked over to her and effortlessly lifted her sweaty body from the floor without saying a word, and carried her to the designated resting area where her mom was waiting.
"Thanks, Dan."
Dan nodded and quietly left.
Despite his outwardly imposing demeanour, Dan has only ever treated Lea gently so she paid no mind to his 'no-talking' persona. In fact, Dan would be the first person she looked for when she needed help.
"You're doing surprisingly well for someone who used to avoid exercising," her mom commented as she helped Lea wipe the sweat off her face.
"Mom, you're the one who shouldn't be overdoing it. Your dark circles are even darker now," Lea pointed out.
"What, really?"
Her mom took out a compact mirror and carefully touched the bags under her eye.
Meanwhile, Lea slowly drank from the bottle of sports drink.
They haven't talked about it, but Lea could just tell that her parents' and her brother's lives were largely affected while Lea was, to put it gently, blissfully sleeping. Even without knowing the details, Lea already felt guilty.
"Sorry, mom."
Her mom turned to look at her.
Without needing to ask why Lea was suddenly apologising, her mom put down the compact mirror and pulled Lea closer into a hug.
As if she reverted back to her child self, Lea leaned her head on her mom's shoulder.
"Lea, you and Al will always be my priority. Everything else comes later."
Lea couldn't say anything after hearing that so she just let herself be comforted in her mom's warm embrace.
After a brief silence, Lea spoke, "Dad is going to be pretty upset that you didn't include him."
Her mom chuckled and spoke in a hushed tone, "Let's not tell him then."
For the rest of the break, her mom updated Lea on the good things that happened to their family throughout the years. Her artist dad who cooks as a hobby, collaborated with a chef friend and published a cooking book with his illustrations, and Alan was promoted to a team leader of an elite group of Awakeners.
Lea laughed, finding it hard to imagine her brother who was prone to be in a hyper mood at random times of the day, as a responsible leader.
'It isn't just about the time I lost but about the moments, the memories that could've been made and shared together with my family.'
Once again, Lea realised the dreadful side of this illness called Hibernation Syndrome.
.
.
.
After the end of every physical therapy session, Lea returned to her hospital room and habitually reached for the voice recorder to listen to her brother's recorded messages, starting from the newest one.
"Lea, do you remember Sapphi?"
'I don't think I could ever forget someone like Sapphi.'
When Alan returned from his first guild training abroad, Lea was at the airport with her parents to pick him up and briefly met a tall, dark-skinned African woman. Lea remembered thinking Sapphi was the most beautiful person she had ever met but what was even more memorable was her vibrant artistic energy.
"She's now in the same team as me as the vice-leader and when she heard about you, she sent her best wishes for your recovery."
There was a short pause before Alan continued, "I wish I could be there when you started your physical therapy."
Lea could imagine him pouting when he said that.
It wasn't like he could be there in person during Lea's physical therapy session.
Only this time was Alan would not be coming to the hospital for a while because he was urgently called away for a mission. It was obviously about a rift so there was no point in asking how long he would be away.
"Oh, I know! How about I record a bunch of encouraging messages and you can play them on the speaker during your session? That way I can still be there for you even when I'm not physically there."
When Lea first heard that, her face scrunched up in embarrassment at the thought of it. She wanted to shout, 'Don't!'
As if he knew she would react to that idea, he simply laughed and then said, "I'll come back and give you that hug I promised and treat you to as many desserts and macarons as you want."