A work of Fiction...

This is obviously a work of fiction; I was standing doing the dishes from last night, and I began to wonder what a woman like Rosemarie would be thinking right now, after all she had been through; after, I came down and began writing, and with a couple of interruptions, I finished this (with tweaking ;) in about 4 hours. I don't know for certain that any of this is real, only their situation, but I do believe and hope that the outcome is... if you enjoy it or not, let me know and why... I haven't written fiction in decades, and it would be nice to get some input...
***************************************************************
She sat in front of the fire place, staring at the emptiness. No need for a fire today, she mused. July already, and the days were warm and sunny. Another summer you have survived to see Rosemarie, she said to her self. Not outloud of course. Not in this house, she smiled inwardly. The look on her face, belied the humour she felt. The clinic staff may not understand if she were found talking to herself. Oh, some of the Doctors did. Herr Dr. K., that handsome man. The thought just came, she paused, shocked and shivering in fear, wondering where that had come from. She was getting too comfortable. Letting the guard down was not an option. But then she remembered where HE was. And relaxed. Just over 2 months. They said she would have to work at it. So work she would, and she would have her revenge. She began the exercises the Dr's had given her, to mentally and emotionally deal with the day. Another guard, or a path way out of the nightmare of 51 years of marriage.
Getting up she walked to the window, with it's sunshine flooding through the thin curtain. Looking out on the grounds, she could see in the meadow area, her children playing. The late afternoon sun slanting in over the trees. She thought of them as her children, when in reality they were her daughter's, Elisabeth's and Gabriele's, playing like they didn't have a care in the world. It was a blessing that Gabriele was able to come so frequently. And being a younger sister, it helped Elisabeth's and Kerstin's recoveries. She felt so old, and worn out, her young and pretty Elisabeth. WHY!! and she couldn't answer!! Always the question, WHY!!
Last week, she and Elisabeth had an argument, a first. Such a silly thing to argue over, Kerstin and Monika's music. When Gabriele had come in on them and started laughing, they were about to turn on her, when they realized what was happening. And they both burst into tears, and held each other for what seemed like hours. Gabriele drawing them in together, with her slender arms, the youngest of the family, now grown wise and strong with age.
Later when talking to the Doctor about it, she knew that she and Elisabeth had crossed a boundary in their relationship. But what. They disagreed a bit more now, but never with the same feeling. They had been given coping tools for that too. The 4 women loved each other with an intensity that few would understand. Kerstin with her years of growing up alone with Elisabeth; Rosemarie, now having found her grown grand daughter, and daughters; and Gabriele having found the sister she had lost, a niece or stepsister she never knew she had and a mother who was coming out of the shadows. They all had bonds that drew them together, if they didn't let the past keep them apart. Soldiers that had been at war, reminded of it by each other's presence.

Elisabeth looked up from her book; she still could not get enough of reading. And the sun, that glorious sun, feeling it's warmth on her skin. She had lost the pallor of whiteness, and her skin was taking on a darker complexion. Not tanned, as they were concerned that it might be too much for her skin. The green of the trees, so many of them. Having tossed her shoes to the side she could feel the grass on her bare feet as she swung them about, the coolness of it. Leaning back she looked up at the blue sky, and the wispy clouds, coming over the hills that surrounded Amstteten. The light breeze, caressing her face and arm, keeping the skin from feeling too warm. Closing her eyes for a moment, she basked in it's glory.
From her seat in the sun, she turned her head, and saw her mother at the window. She lifted her hand to wave to her, and instead made a come on out gesture. Her mother moved from the window, and then she saw her at the door, walking steadily. It always amazed her, how strong her mother appeared. No one had known, what a small little girl hid inside. Brutalized by her father, even before they were married. But it had been what she had expected of life, as a woman. And she too, had come to expect it, until she met her one boy friend. How that had changed her image of herself and life. Love, she shrunk from the memory, not wanting to explore that side of life again. Feeling the weight of the years on her. Lydia said that it would come. But she blocked it out. Too much, just too much!

Coming to herself, she saw her mother standing a few feet away from her, looking in that quizzical way, mother's had. She smiled up at her, and patted on the chair next to her. 'No, Elisabeth. You know the Doctor's want you moving about. You have to keep those muscles exercised and strengthening. We have 3 – 4 weeks. If we go into this unprepared, and break down, HE will have the victory, no matter what the courts decide. THAT must not happened. WE MUST GROW STRONG!'
Elisabeth got up, with the help of the cane that they had given her. Struggling to standing erect, before her mother, she smiled broadly and saluted, 'OK, Frau Kapitain, where to now?? Perhaps we should saunter over to the gate and say hello to the men with the cameras!!' and they both cracked up laughing at the image that that action might provoke. Men and boys scrambling to get to their cameras, tripping over themselves to get the first picture. Before they turned their backs on them.
The sound of their laughter spread across to the meadow. Gabriele, Stefan, Monika and Kerstin made their way over, the children left to be watched by the supervisory staff. Elisabeth could see that again, today, there was a change in Kerstin. She was not sure what it was. A bit less of the timid, and more strength, but where was it coming from. She was between Gabriele and Monika, holding their hands as she walked toward her. A bit more upright, but her legs holding her up now, without shaking, as when she had come to her from the hospital. Still bent over like herself but getting stronger. Stefan, her beautiful Stefan, how she ached for the shield he had in his eyes. She moved toward him, and with tears welling up in her eyes, drew him to her. 'Mommy, are you alright??' He had wanted to be her shield. Men were born to protect, and he couldn't protect the ones that mattered most to him against, the monster. Now she was holding him, his bent frame, leaning on her shoulder.
'I am fine Stefan, just a bit teary eyed now and again. It is all so overwhelming to see us out here after all.....,' she let the sentence drift off into silence. Looking around at each other, the 5 of them, knowing that there were no words to fill in that gap.
'Come,' said Monika, breaking the silence, 'Gabriele's Kurt, has taught Felix a new game, and Alexander and Lisa, are setting up the boom box.' Rosemarie's groan, eliciting laughter from Elisabeth and Kerstin. 'But Grandma, it isn't like rock music!' said Kerstin as she twirled around, a bit unsteady, between the two girls. 'But Kerstin, you have it too loud!!' responded Rosemarie in the long suffering tone of the elderly. Gabriele spoke up with,' We will keep the volume down Mama. But you have to remember, Kerstin, there are other singers besides RW.' ending on a girlish laugh.
Rosemarie sighed, before adding, sprightly, 'The clinic is sending out a picnic dinner for us,' looking over at Elisabeth, with a twinkle in her eye, ' so no cooking tonight Elisabeth! Hurrah!!' breaking the tension and getting more laughter from them all. So the 5, arm in arm and hand in hand, made there way over to the meadow. The sun touching the tops of the trees with a golden glow.
From the Clinic's office windows, a Doctor stood watching them, and wondering what the future would hold for them. Shaking his head, as he turned back to the pile of files on his desk, he mused, and how much longer can we protect them from that future.