Chapter 32: Drawback

When Yumhee opened her eyes, she saw white all around her. White walls, white floors. Then she heard the sound of beeping machines which caused her to immediately have a panic attack. Her mind unstable, showing things she had regularly experienced during her stay in that damned place. Although it has been months of torturous experiment, she has never adapted to the pain because they somehow made it worse every single day.

The nurses surrounding her tried their best to calm her but she wouldn't listen. Because her body was damaged terribly inside, they had to sedate her to avoid adding more injuries to her battered body.

The doctors have gathered that the patient has undergone too much traumatic experience which eventually caused her to be mentally unstable. The doctors decided to put her in an induced coma to allow her body enough time to heal.

When Yumhee came to herself, it has been half a year. Dr. Erskine felt her hand move under his. "Hey..." He gently greeted her, afraid that she would have another panic attack like six months ago.

When she opened her eyes, she immediately saw Dr. Erskine. "Father?" Her voice cracked at the end, obviously due to not being used for half a year. Dr. Erskine stood and helped her drink water to alleviate her sore throat.

"Is it really you father?" Yumhee asked with misty eyes.

"Yes dear. It's me." He lightly pat her right hand and tuck her hair at the back of her ear. "The war is over my lovely daughter. We're safe now. You can rest comfortably." He genuinely smiled at her daughter.

"How are your injuries? And Stephan, where is he? How about Steve? Does he know we're here? Is he here?" Yumhee can't wait to reunite with the rest of her family.

Dr. Erskine became stiff at the mention of Steve but he immediately changed his expression to a calm and gentle one. "There are permanent deformities where the acid was poured on me, but other than that I'm feeling much much better now after half a year of recovery."

"Half a year?" Yumhee asked, bewildered.

"Yes..." He looked at Yumhee seriously, observing all her reactions before continuing. "Your injuries were much worse than mine." He paused for a moment, finding the right words to explain her condition. "I believe that using any of your...abilities...takes a large toll on your body even with your superior rate of regeneration."

"Then I'll be careful next time." Yumhee reassured her father.

"No Yumhee, you don't understand." Dr. Erskine sighed heavily, closing his eyes to calm his emotions. "With just using three to four of your abilities within an hour or so, your body needs one to two years to fully recover." Unshed tears started to pool in his eyes. "You could have died within another hour or less in that state."

"Then I'll train my body. Find my limits." Yumhee replied, confident. Dr. Erskine only sighed, knowing how stubborn she can be.

The next day, Yumhee can't disperse the knot she feels at the bottom of her stomach like something terrible had happened. So she asked her father again. "Dad...where's Stephan?"

Dr. Erskine smiled at her and replied "He's absolutely fine Yumhee. Do you want me to bring him here?"

"No, no. It's okay, I can visit him when I'm able to move properly. I just wanted to make sure he's okay." She pursed her lips before slowly asking her father what she really wanted to know. "Dad...where's Steve?" She asked anxiously.

Dr. Erskine stared at her for a long moment before averting his eyes. "I'm sorry Yumhee." He almost whispered the words.

"Why are you saying sorry?" Yumhee was starting to panic, her voice getting louder.

Dr. Erskine closed his eyes again then he released a heavy sigh as he opened his eyes. "He's gone Yumhee...Steve is gone. I'm so sorry." He sat on the bed and hugged his daughter gently like she's a fragile glass that would break immediately.

Yumhee hugged her father back while grabbing his sweater tightly like her sanity depended on it. "How...?" She asked quietly, not allowing herself to cry just yet.

With that, Dr. Erskine started to recount all that has happened in the war during their time of captivity and stay in the hospital. Yumhee was a crying mess at the end of it. He knew that if it wasn't for Stephan, Yumhee would have completely broke hearing the news.

NEW YORK. JANUARY 1947.

Dr. Erskine moved back to New York with his daughter and grandson when Yumhee was able to walk properly again. He bought a small white house with a huge garden and playground at the back of the house before she was discharged.

Two years of just concentrating in recovering, Yumhee stayed home all this time doing simple housework and looking after her father and son. This one and a half year was the hardest time of her life, not because of the internal injuries, but because of the depression from losing Steve. She had to constantly win a battle within her head for the sake of his son. Yes, it was hard but she had help from her father and their friends in the former S.S.R.. She was informed that they have created a new agency called S.H.I.E.L.D. when they recruited Dr. Erskine. They extended the invitation to her but she declined. She wasn't ready yet.

One day, Howard Stark, who claimed to be Yumhee's "bestfriend", visited her and Stephan on their lovely home.

"How are you? Like seriously...how are you?" Howard asked after sitting on the couch in the living room.

Yumhee raised an eyebrow while giving him a small amused smile. "Well it's good to see you too Howard."

Howard just stayed in his serious posture while concentrating on Yumhee, looking for any signs of craziness or something.

After sitting beside Howard, she finally released a long sigh. "I'm fine Howard. It's just...I'm concerned...about Stephan."

This broke Howard's serious face, replaced by a concerned one as well. "With what exactly are you specifically concerned about?" They both looked at Stephan sleeping in his crib.

"It has been two years, but Stephan, besides the obvious physical appearance, can't still do anything a normal child of his age can do." Yumhee held Howard's right hand with her left hand "Can you help us determine what's wrong with my son? Please...I can't lose him too."

Howard gave her a reassuring smile. "Absolutely." He gently hugged her, trying his best to comfort his friend. "I'm sure Stephan is alright."