Chapter 14 - ROSALIE TRIES AGAINRosalie’s second independent rehabilitation week began with standing.
Not walking.
Standing.
Dr. Chen insisted everyone stop celebrating too loudly.
Especially Dante.
“You are making her perform for you.”
“I am breathing.”
“You are vibrating.”
Rosalie laughed.
Eli sat behind Dante with a juice box.
“Move back.”
Dante looked at him.
“Excuse me?”
“You stare.”
Rosalie nodded.
“He does.”
Dante stepped back.
Humiliating.
Useful.
Rosalie placed both feet down.
Therapist beside her.
Hands ready, not lifting.
She breathed.
No Eli cue this time.
No whisper.
No old ritual.
Rosalie chose.
Shift forward.
Pressure through feet.
Knees trembling.
Lift.
She stood.
One second.
Three.
Five.
Eight.
Then sat.
Everyone remained quiet.
Rosalie looked around.
“What?”
Dr. Chen smiled.
“You tell us.”
Rosalie laughed.
“I stood eight seconds.”
“Yes.”
“Say something.”
Dante looked at Hannah’s sentence taped discreetly inside his mind.
Let standing be enough for that day.
He smiled.
“That was enough.”
Rosalie’s face softened.
Eli jumped up.
“I would’ve said nine.”
Rosalie threw a towel at him.
The next days were harder.
Some attempts failed.
One morning she could not lift at all.
She cried.
“I thought I was getting better.”
Dr. Chen said:
“Progress is not a staircase.”
“I hate inspirational sentences.”
“So do I.”
“Then don’t.”
“Fine. Bodies vary.”
“Better.”
Dante watched.
Old Dante would have demanded explanation.
Why yesterday and not today?
What changed?
Fix it.
New Dante still thought those things.
He simply did not say them immediately.
Rosalie noticed.
“You’re quieter.”
“I’m evolving.”
“Terrifying.”
Eli laughed.
By Friday, Rosalie stood again.
Six seconds.
Then seven.
No dramatic upward line.
But something real.
Moretti’s review widened.
St. Catherine placed temporary restrictions on his administrative duties pending external investigation.
News leaked.
Reporters called.
Dante refused comment.
Moretti called privately.
“I assume you’re enjoying this.”
Dante stared at the phone.
“No.”
Moretti was silent.
Dante continued.
“My daughter lost years of confidence. Hannah lost her career. Claire left nursing for two years.”
“That does not mean I caused all of it.”
“No.”
“And yet?”
“And yet you mattered.”
Moretti exhaled.
“So did you.”
Dante almost smiled.
“Yes.”
“You created pressure.”
“Yes.”
“You demanded definitive answers.”
“Yes.”
“I gave them.”
“Yes.”
Moretti sounded exhausted.
“We were both wrong.”
“Not equally.”
“No.”
Important.
Dante did not accept false symmetry.
Moretti had professional duties.
But Dante accepted his share.
After hanging up, Rosalie rolled into the office.
“What did he say?”
“That I was part of the problem.”
“Were you mad?”
“Yes.”
“Was he right?”
Dante looked at her.
“Yes.”
She smiled.
“You’re getting good at that.”
“At what?”
“Being wrong.”
Dante frowned.
Eli from the hallway:
“He’s had practice.”
Dante threatened to ban both children from his office.
They laughed.
The house sounded different now.
May you like
Less like a fortress.
More like a family.
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