"Come take a picture with us, doctor."
A nurse pulled Doctor Timur over for a group photo with Lea standing in the centre.
'I should've checked with Mom about these clothes.'
Lea regrettably thought while maintaining a smile on her face with both arms full of flower bouquets.
Thanks to the flowers, it helped cover the dress she was wearing. The dress was obviously picked out by her mom from her mom's closet.
Just because she was physically older, doesn't mean her fashion sense also aged.
"Sorry Lea, this was the only clothes I could find that fit you," her mom reasoned, looking not really apologetic while wearing a matching blouse.
At least, she no longer has to dress as a patient.
After a dozen or so pictures were taken, tears were once again shed as Lea hugged every one of the nurses who took some time out of their busy duties to say their final heartfelt goodbyes.
"Congratulations on your discharge!"
"On behalf of the hospital, we wish you the best moving forward."
Amidst being showered with congratulatory and encouraging words, Doctor Timur interjected, "Alright, that's enough. This isn't the last time we'll be seeing each other."
"You still have to come for a routine check-up," Doctor Timur reminded Lea.
On the side, her mom checked the time on her phone.
"Lea, we have to go now."
The flower bouquets in her arms were taken by her dad and exchanged it with her walking cane.
"Thank you for looking after me for the past six years."
Lea bowed her head in gratitude to Doctor Timur and the nurses who were still there to see her off.
Then, she slowly turned around towards the entrance and walked out of the hospital to a car that was already waiting for them.
'I'm not gonna cry, I'm not gonna cry, not gonna cry…'
For the last time, Dan assisted Lea to the back of the car.
Right before he closed the car door, Lea smiled at him and said, "See you next month, Dan."
Dan quietly nodded, as usual.
"You ready to go, Lea?" Her mom asked from the driver's seat.
"I'm ready to lie down in my own bed."
From the front car seats, her parents looked at each other and smiled after hearing a very Lea-like response.
When the car finally drove out of the hospital, Lea looked out the window while gripping the voice recorder on her lap.
.
.
.
"This isn't home," Lea stated with obvious confusion on her face.
"No, it's not."
Her dad spoke with glee as he wrapped his arm around her shoulder.
"I told you that there's one place we're stopping by first."
That only made Lea wary of her dad.
If it was not related to his work, troublesome things usually followed whenever her dad was in high spirits.
"I thought you meant we're going to eat at a restaurant or somewhere," Lea said as she got herself out of her dad's hold and leaned closer towards her mom.
While they were talking, someone came out of the tall, intimidating building.
"Welcome to the Awakeners Association."
"The association person with the pretty name," Lea blurted and soon felt embarrassed.
"Congratulations on being discharged from the hospital, Miss Carter."
Bella pretended not to hear it but her cheeks were evidently flushed.
"Thank you but how did you know?"
Lea looked suspiciously at her parents who avoided her gaze.
"Let's head inside first."
Bella cleverly delayed answering.
Since the main lobby was constantly crowded with Awakeners and employees, Bella guided the family of three inside through the side entrance where there were fewer people.
Even though the precaution was no longer necessary, Bella was instructed to minimise contact with other Awakeners as much as possible to avoid any incident that may occur.
.
.
.
They were led into a private meeting room.
Lea purposely chose to sit across from her parents and began her questioning.
"So, why are we at the Awakeners Association?"
At that moment, she recalled something and raised her second question.
"Is this about the examination Daniella talked about?"
"There's that too."
'Too?'
Lea caught her mom elbowing her dad who then hurriedly pressed his mouth together when he realised what he had just said.
She narrowed her eyes at them with suspicion.
Her mom noticed it and spoke up to explain, or rather, to defend themselves.
"I promise it's nothing like the time Dad brought home a molecular gastronomy kit or when he wanted to build a pizza oven. He may have planned it with good intentions, but Mom made the final confirmation."
Hearing her mom emphasised that last part reassured her, not completely but it was enough for her not to be too concerned.
Bella, who had remained quiet since they entered the room, glanced at the watch on her wrist at the new message notification.
"They're ready for you, Miss Carter. Please come with me."
It hasn't even been an hour since she was just discharged from the hospital, and now she was brought to this intimidating place for an examination without being told beforehand.
Lea helplessly sighed.
Then, she demanded compensation, "There better be bubble milk tea after this, large size."
"We'll buy you three, one for every meal."
Her dad was already on the food delivery app to make the order.
Bella stifled a laugh at their interactions.
.
.
.
The walk to the examination room felt longer than its actual distance.
Bella considerately matched her walking pace with Lea who still needed the support of a walking cane.
"Your balance has gotten better since the last time we met, Miss Carter."
Bella struck up a conversation to make Lea feel more comfortable before they arrived at the examination room.
"Please just call me Lea, we're about the same age."
"Alright, Miss Lea."
'She didn't drop the 'Miss'. Are all association employees this rigid with formalities?'
In response to what Bella said earlier, Lea said, "When you're stuck in a room with no access to Wi-Fi or TV, there is nothing else to do but practice walking every day."
"You must've suffered."
As the generation that grew up with high-speed Wi-Fi, Bella empathised with Lea greatly on that part.
"By the way, what kind of examination am I taking?" Lea enquired.
"The examination is no different from the Awakener's assessment. We're going to do a full body scan, it's like doing an X-ray scan to check if your broken bone is healing perfectly except your broken bone is mana particles," Bella explained in a way for Lea to easily understand.
Shortly after, they arrived at a room with even more high-tech equipment than the one she'd seen at the hospital.
"I brought Miss Lea, ma'am."
Bella informed Daniella, to which the Awakener responded with a light nod.
"Thank you for coming today, Miss Lea and once again, congratulations on your discharge."
"Thank my parents, they brought me here without telling me," Lea spoke with grievance while wearing a smile.