Half Of Rhea

The Homecoming

Sunlight peeked through the hospital blinds of the windows. They did nothing in the way of blocking out any of the bright rays streaming through onto Rhea’s bed. She stirred and looked around to find an empty room. This was strange, she hadn’t remembered the last time she was left alone in this place. She smiled at the thought of her family and friends, finally relaxing and easing up on, ‘Operation Eyes on Rhea-Rhea,’ as Sage liked to call it.

Rhea placed her bare feet on the white linoleum flooring slowly and stood up. For a few hours a day, she would get up and walk around, stretching her muscles and gaining strength back. She made her way to the window and sat down in the black leather bucket chair. It was warmed from the sun and she snuggled into it comfortably.

Her Abdomen was slowly healing, she couldn’t stretch it out completely. It was taut with the healing process and the stitches were still in place. The swelling of her face had gone down, the bandages from her head had been removed and the metal plate and stitches were now slightly covered with a small patch of hair. It had decided to grow back, but too inefficiently for Rhea's liking, she flipped her hair and parted it on the opposite side to hide the scars. Though her body was healing, her memories had not returned.

The hole where her memory used to be was replaced with so much loathing. She barely managed to keep it hidden from everyone. Revenge occupied every cell, every fibre in her body as she welcomed the wave of disgust. The only person capable of doing this to her was a target for her mind. Images of his smile and mocking personality leered out at her and she used that imagery to evoke the strongest feeling of fury.

Her thoughts were quickly brought back to reality. The door was pushed open and a heated, whispered discussion followed her two brothers. They were so engrossed in disagreeing with each other they didn’t see Rhea in the corner.

“We can’t keep putting it off though bro, I have to get back to work and so do you.” Her younger brother Damon looked at Tyrell, and he groaned.

“I know but we can’t leave her yet, she’s not even back home.” Tyrell turned towards the bed and gasped.

“WHERE THE f**k IS…..”

Rhea cleared her throat in time to cut his sentence short, she waved at them both from the seat in the corner of her room.

“Oh thank god… Okay… you’re okay.” Tyrell was mostly trying to convince himself, and he marched over to Rhea, one hand on his hip.

“What are you doing out of bed, Missy?” He glared down at her like a petulant child.

“The Doctors said it was good for me to move around.” She stated calmly, the boys looked at her both disbelieving.

“Yeah well, sometimes they aren’t right.” Tyrell dismissed her.

“Be Quiet,” Rhea stated and pointed to the empty bed. “Both of you sit down, we need to talk.”

They took their places on her bed hesitantly and waited for her inevitable speech.

“I am going home, today. Now…. You are more than welcome to spend another day here while I settle back into a routine with Laken and my physio, but then you are to go home. You both have lives to get back to and I will have Sage to look after my mental wellbeing and Tarns to protect me since you two were adamant she had to move in.” She rolled her eyes at their overprotective behaviour to lighten the mood, but she knew the security measures were completely justified given the circumstances. Tyrell tried to interrupt at this point and she raised her hand to stop him.

“No arguments, my decision is final, I love you both and I will be forever grateful for your love and support through this.” Tears were threatening to drop from her eyes as she took a deep breath and looked at both of their faces. “I promise I am getting better, I will be ok and if I need anything at all, I will be the first person to ring both of you and then the police, Okay.”

The boys smiled and nodded at her, they made their way over and engulfed her in their light bear hug. She giggled at them treating her like a Christmas Pavlova. Neither were renowned for their soft demeanours, but she appreciated the delicacy.

“NOW! Let’s get me the hell out of here!” Rhea clapped her hands in excitement trying to change the sad atmosphere.

She showered and ate her breakfast, her brothers brought a wheelchair to take her down to the car and were careful she wouldn’t injure herself on the way out. The excitement was evident on her face.

“I can’t wait to surprise Sonson and the girls.” She beamed out at them.

The trip home took longer than she had ever remembered, her anxiousness heightened by the fact every car seemed to be going at least 15kmph under the speed limit. She kept huffing at them in annoyance while Tyrell giggled next to her in the back seat.

“Overtaking these cars won’t get us there any sooner sis.” He chuckled at her.

“I know, I lost my memory, not my common sense.” She replied snippily back to him, glaring faintly.

He laughed out loud with both his hands up, “Whoa easy tiger.”

As they approached her house for some reason she started to feel nervous and tears started slowly falling. An apprehension gripped her throat, as they parked in the driveway.

“Can we sit here for a little bit please?”

She wasn’t sure why she was hesitating when she was so impatient beforehand. So much had happened here that she wasn’t even sure if she should even continue living in this house. They sat in the car staring at the house for twenty minutes, Rhea trying to gather her composure. Neither of the brothers interrupted her process. They didn’t even look at her, sitting in the back seat, softly sobbing, this was all part of her healing. Rhea needed to take her time being back in the place that had caused her so much heartache.

Tyrell was growing impatient and tried to hide his excitement because they had a surprise in store for her and were beyond eager to get her inside the house again.

“Ok guys, sorry about that, I’m ready now.” She sniffed, her nose slightly red from wiping it, the sclera of her eyes bloodshot.

“Oh thank God! Let’s go, sis.” Tyrell put a hand on her shoulder and pushed her a little bit, she looked at him confused.

Rhea exited the vehicle hesitantly, one foot after the other, she made her way to the front door. Usually, she would go to the back, but for some reason, she wanted to avoid that entrance, she couldn’t figure out why. As she approached her wooden door, it swung open and three ecstatic faces looked back at her.

“MAMA!!!!”

“Oh my mate, you are home!” Sage smiled at her beautiful friend a mixture of shock and pride.

Tarns stood there with a grin but just couldn’t bring herself to say anything. Instead, she walked quickly towards her and grabbed her arm lightly guiding her into the hallway. Rhea leant on her for support while her brothers gathered her belongings from the back of the car.

“Your brothers have a surprise for you, honey.” She whispered in her ear, as she helped her walk timidly into her home.

As she entered the property she noticed a stark difference, it was open and bright the dark, dungy hallway had been painted a very pale green. There were beautifully potted plants and a hallway table with large photos in dramatically oversized white frames. One caught her attention, it was of Sage, Tarns and her brothers, covered in paint standing at the front of her home. Laken was sitting on the step not looking at the camera with chocolate ice cream all over his face.

“This is so beautiful.” She said to everyone and turned to look at her loved ones completely overwhelmed.

They all had the same look of love and pride in their faces. Rhea walked slowly along the hallway feeling the textures, her fingers tracing the photos and plants, the walls, trying to absorb every single detail, wanting to remember everything.

“When did you find the time to do all of this?” She turned back to them unable to fathom the extent of their work. Why would they do something so big and wonderful for just her?

“We had to, my friend. There was no way we could have you come back into the same house with all the terrible things that have happened here, you needed a new beginning, a fresh start.” Sage put all of their feelings and thoughts together. Rhea just nodded in acknowledgement, overcome by how lucky she was to still be here and to have such amazing friends and family.

“There’s so much more to mama!” Laken began dragging his mum towards her bedroom. She allowed him to pull her at a slow pace. Everything had been changed, from a new bed with a beautiful grey linen headboard and big white pillows and turquoise and mustard throw cushions, to the new dark grey curtains that went all the way to the floor. She sat down on her bed, falling backwards onto the new duvets and white bedspread. It engulfed her in warmth and it felt like she was floating. Plants with giant fronds made the air feel fresher and she inhaled deeply. This was a sanctuary, her very own sanctuary.

“I can’t wait to go to sleep,” she smiled, staring at the ceiling and closing her eyes. The five other people in the room seemed restless, she opened one eye and looked at them.

“What?” She looked at them confused.

“There’s so much more!” Sage jumped up and down, clapping, waiting for her to get up off the bed.

“More? You can’t be serious? This would have cost a fortune already!” She started to feel slightly guilty. She sat up and shook her head at her friends and brothers. “I can’t accept any more I will have to pay someone back.” She felt ashamed and speechless. Not only had they looked after her house and her son, but they had also even redecorated it for her. Rhea’s eyes cast downward not feeling in the slightest bit worthy of all this love and attention. Sage rushed to her side.

“Hey mate, come on now, hey look at me.” She turned Rhea’s face upwards to look at her. “You have been to hell and back my friend, this is what loved ones do for someone who has been through as much as you. And you don’t need to pay anyone back, we all put in the hard Mahi (work) but Tyrell paid for it and we all know he’s rich as f**k!” She giggled and Rhea whacked her arm softly.

Tyrell rolled his eyes at Sage, “You know, you really f**k me off sometimes Sage.” He crossed his arms staring her down.

Rhea and Sage started giggling, as Rhea stood up and walked towards her brothers giving them both a hug. “I don’t know what I would have done without you both.” She gave them slight squeezes.

“Come on girl, Damon did all the heavy work, I, of course, picked the colour scheme and accessories, these fools wouldn’t have a clue about the on-trend summer vibes.” He waved his hand at the others making them move out of his way and guided Rhea through the lounge and kitchen/dining area. It was like parting the Red Sea with royalty, his nose was up in the air and he dismissed everyone out of their way. Rhea laughed at her flamboyant brother.

Everything was immaculate, from the fresh paint to the soft furnishings. All tied into the grey, white, turquoise and mustard palette. It couldn’t have been more her taste if she had picked everything out herself. The soft grey L-shaped couch with a giant grey ottoman was the complete opposite of her old, heavy, black leather lounge suite. The cushions were muted pinks and yellows with a cream fluffy throw. She then lay down again. Tyrell huffing in annoyance, as she felt every texture taking in more details.

“You’re taking too f*****g long get up.” He insisted.

“If you wanted me to rush, you shouldn’t have made everything so comfortable.” She teased lying down on everything exaggeratedly to annoy him further.

Her heartfelt light and she walked through the rest of the house oohing and aahing at every detail and every colour. By the end, she was exhausted but felt nothing but immense happiness. She literally couldn’t cry any more happy tears.

They sat in the lounge drinking tea, coffee and chatting, it felt beautiful. Tarns had set up an amazing room in one of the spares. This was a comfort she never thought she would have needed, but it was one of the greatest things to come out of all of this. Her very own live-in bodyguard. She wouldn’t have to feel scared in her own home anymore.

~~~~

Zane sat on the hill, glaring at the house he once called home. He had seen Rhea return and saw her mates and brothers surrounding her. There was no way he could get near without one of these f*****g idiots getting in his f*****g way. It had been hours and none of them had left the property yet. He would just have to wait them out he thought. If not today then tomorrow, if not tomorrow then the next day. Eventually, they will get complacent and that’s when he would grasp his opportunity to get what was his in the shed, but also have a long-awaited chat with the woman who ruined his life.

“I’m so sick to death of sitting here staring at Rhea’s f*****g house. Can we go already Zane please?” Chantelle’s annoying voice filled his eardrums and he then turned his glare towards her face.

“We will go when I’m ready to go. You want the gear, don’t you?.... Yeah, of course, you f*****g do, so shut the f**k up and be patient.” Chantelle looked down at her feet afraid of angering the beast further.

“Fine.”

They sat for what seemed like hours, still, there wasn’t enough movement in the house or people leaving, that would have made a recovery of the methamphetamine possible. Sighing in defeat Zane stood and walked to their beat-up Nissan, Chantelle followed without a word being spoken between the two.

“We will keep looking out for the next couple of weeks, when she is there alone we will know.” Zane didn’t look in her direction as he spoke.

“We should have gone in and taken it before she had left the hospital as I suggested earlier, now it’s just going to be harder,” She sighed.

“I know what I’m doing.”

“Pomare won’t be sitting there waiting for the timing to be right, it wouldn’t surprise me if he is watching this house too, waiting for you.” Chantelle looked at Zane imploring him to see reason.

Zane wanted Rhea to be home, so he could grasp the small window of opportunity to speak to her but he was feeling the pressure of time and it weighed heavily on his mind, Chantelle had convinced him to move up the timeline. He would have to abandon the idea of speaking to Rhea and focus on retrieving his property.

“I’ll come back by myself tomorrow night and get it done.”