Warm Moments

The morning sunlight was like scattered gold, filtering through the gauze curtains and casting mottled patterns across the floor.

Lee Stark lay on the soft bed and instinctively tried to turn over, but a faint numb ache in his shoulder made him pause. He cautiously moved his shoulder. Though there was still some discomfort, he could now sit up easily. Helen Cho, who entered carrying breakfast, immediately noticed this subtle change.

"Looks like you're recovering well." Helen Cho's lips curved into a relieved smile as she gently set the tray on the bedside table. On it sat a steaming bowl of oatmeal, several plates of sliced fresh berries, and a cup of honey lemon water wreathed in wisps of white steam.

"But don't rush it. You still need to take things step by step." She wore a light blue apron, the white at her temples faintly visible in the morning light. Her tone was full of an elder's care for a younger person.

Lee smiled and nodded, taking the spoon. "I feel much better. I can support myself and sit up with one hand now. Maybe in a couple of days, I'll even be able to go out for a jog."

He scooped up a spoonful of oatmeal, but his gaze drifted out the window. Pedestrians hurried along the street, while children with backpacks laughed and played on their way to school. The occasional honk of a school bus sounded in the distance. The lively scene made his heart itch, and his longing for school life grew stronger.

Over the following days, the rhythm of life quietly changed. Helen Cho no longer stayed by his side every moment, and his bandages went from being changed three times a day to once a day. His meals gradually shifted from bland, nutritious dishes to the American grilled chicken breast and pan-seared salmon Lee had been craving for ages. In Lee's room, he voluntarily put away his game console and comics, replacing them with open textbooks and club activity schedules.

One time, while flipping through his physics textbook, Lee got stuck on a difficult problem about electromagnetic induction. He could not help frowning and scratching his head. His pencil scribbled across the scratch paper, leaving behind a mess of disordered formulas.

Helen Cho happened to walk into the room and, seeing his troubled expression, sat down by the bed and gently picked up the textbook to examine the question. She adjusted her glasses and began patiently explaining it to him, from the fundamental principles to the approach for solving it. In clear, simple terms, she walked him through the complicated formulas and concepts. Lee listened intently, occasionally raising questions of his own, and the two even launched into a spirited discussion. With Helen Cho's help, Lee finally solved the problem. Excited like a child, he pulled her over to share his reasoning. They went back and forth, and the room filled with laughter.

Another time, Lee wanted to try some simple rehabilitation exercises on his own, so he slowly stretched his body in the room. He carefully raised his injured arm, but the stiffness in his muscles made every movement slow and difficult. Each extra inch he lifted it required him to grit his teeth and endure. Helen Cho was both worried and relieved when she saw him. She quickly walked over, her eyes full of concern. "Don't push yourself too hard." Then she personally demonstrated the proper exercises, explaining the key points while doing them alongside Lee. During the training, Lee was left panting, his forehead covered in fine beads of sweat, yet he still gritted his teeth and persisted. Helen Cho kept encouraging him from the side, cheering him on and occasionally handing him a towel and water.

As time passed, the atmosphere during his bandage changes became much more relaxed. When Helen Cho removed the bandage for the last time and carefully inspected the fully healed wound, she nodded in satisfaction. "You've recovered very well, but you still need to be careful. Don't do any strenuous exercise." Lee immediately stood up and paced back and forth across the room, savoring his long-missed freedom. "I can finally go out. I've almost forgotten what a classroom smells like!"

The night before he returned to school, moonlight flowed into the room like water. Lee tossed and turned in bed, staring at the ceiling as countless thoughts filled his mind. The dangerous scenes of his battle with MODOK kept flashing through his head: the sounds of metal colliding, the glare of bursting energy, all of it seeming as though it were right before his eyes.

Then came the warm memories of Helen Cho's devoted care. He remembered one night when he suddenly developed a fever, his temperature soaring as he lay groggy and weak. Helen Cho stayed awake all night at his bedside, constantly cooling him with a damp towel and taking his temperature at regular intervals, her eyes full of worry and heartache. He remembered how, whenever he grew irritable from the boredom of recovering, Helen Cho would always set aside whatever she was doing to patiently comfort him and tell him all sorts of interesting stories, from strange tales at the hospital to experiences from her youth.

Helen Cho was like an older sister to him. She even gave him a sense of a mother's warmth.

The next day, the sun shone especially brightly. Lee stood before the mirror, carefully straightening his school uniform and adjusting his tie to the perfect angle. The fabric brushing his shoulder no longer caused any pain. He took a deep breath and opened the door. Fresh air rushed toward him, carrying a faint scent of grass. As he walked down the familiar streets, looking at the shops by the roadside and the benches in the park, he felt a deep sense of familiarity. His heart raced with excitement, and his pace unconsciously quickened.

The moment he stepped through the school gates, he heard familiar voices calling out. "Lee!" Gwen waved her arm and jogged over with Wanda. Gwen looked him up and down, teasing in her eyes. "It's been so long, I thought aliens had abducted you!" Wanda smiled, her gaze full of concern. "Your injuries are all healed, right? We've been worried sick about you."

The three walked side by side along the tree-lined path through campus, leaves rustling as if welcoming Lee back. Lee told them about all the "rules" Helen Cho had imposed while caring for him, such as strictly limiting his game time and requiring him to sleep early and wake early. Gwen and Wanda burst into laughter. When they passed the club activity room, Gwen excitedly pushed open the door. Inside were all sorts of new inventions she had made during this time. "Look at this!" Gwen picked up a small Mechanical Spider, her eyes shining with pride. "I upgraded its power system. It's twice as fast as before!" Not to be outdone, Wanda lit up her fingertips with scarlet light and traced a brilliant magical flower through the air. Its petals slowly bloomed, giving off a gentle glow.

Just then, a group of younger students passed by. When they saw Wanda's magical flower, they gathered around, their faces full of amazement. One little girl with twin ponytails tilted her head back, her eyes wide. "Big sister, how did you do that? It's like magic from a fairy tale!" Wanda smiled, crouched down, and patted the little girl's head, patiently explaining the mysteries of magic to them. Watching the children's admiring expressions, Lee, Gwen, and Wanda exchanged smiles, their hearts filled with accomplishment.

Afterward, they went to the classroom. When their classmates saw Lee had returned, they all gathered around to ask how he was doing. Some handed him their class notes from the past few weeks, while others shared amusing things that had happened at school. Everyone's concern warmed Lee deeply, and his eyes could not help growing slightly moist. When the class bell rang, Lee sat in his seat, watching the familiar teacher step onto the platform, listening to chalk scrape across the blackboard, and breathing in the faint scent of ink in the classroom. His heart was filled with emotion.