"How'd the kid do last night, after I left?" Derek asked.
"Slept like a rock, apparently," Bill answered. "I checked in on him a couple of times, and it didn't look like he had even budged."
"So, how are YOU doing?" Bill asked him.
"Okay, I guess" Derek answered. He didn't sound convincing.
"I'm taking today off from work," he went on. "I'm getting a bed delivered for Declan, and I want to be nearby in case Kelly feels like talking to me."
"You haven't heard from her at all?" Bill asked.
"No," Derek admitted. "And after Lou read me the riot act yesterday, I thought I shouldn't try to contact Kelly at Lou's house."
"I've got an idea," Regina offered. "How about you leave a bouquet of flowers on Lou's doorstep with a simple note to Kelly--something like 'I love you, and I'm sorry. I can explain--please call me.' " (Although Regina didn't really think Derek would have an adequate explanation.)
_______________
Kelly had spent the night with Lou, and the two had stayed up for hours talking. Kelly had done a lot of crying, and was exhausted.
Lou was as worried about her friend, and her friend's pregnancy, as she had ever been about anything.
Peter had gotten up early to paint.
"So, how's Kelly doing?" he asked, when Lou came downstairs.
"Pretty bad," Lou answered. "She cried for hours, then tossed and turned all night."
"So, YOU can't have gotten a lot of sleep, either, before your first day of work at your new job," Peter observed.
"I'll be okay," Lou assured him. "I'm pretty motivated, and it also helps that I know that YOU can be home all day with Kelly, and keep Derek from bothering her."
_______________
Everyone at Regina and Bill's house sat down to breakfast, and Declan seemed to like the French Toast that Alice had made.
Derek then walked the boy to the bus stop.
"So," Derek asked, "you okay, buddy?"
"These clothes are stupid," Declan replied. "And I'm NOT your buddy."
__________________
After he put Declan on the school bus, Derek picked some tulips, went back to Regina and Bill's house to get a vase, and left the flower arrangement outside Lou and Peter's house, along with a note addressed to Kelly.
_______________
Lou approached the front desk at the hospital. "Hi, I'm Lou Last," she said. "Where should I go?"
"Hi, I'm Kristine," said the friendly woman behind the desk. "Just go through the double doors to your right. There are 3 patient rooms--just go into each one and talk to the patients, and see if they need food or water or anything like that."
The patient in the first room wanted food,
the second room contained a child who just needed to be reassured,
and the third room contained a guy who delighted in describing all of his symptoms in excruciatingly gory detail.
_______________
Kelly finally awoke well after noon,
"Can I get you something, Kelly?" Peter asked her. "I'm actually a pretty good cook at this point."
"Thanks, Peter," she said, "that would be nice."
Peter was very worried to see how depressed Kelly looked.
Kelly made coffee, and sat down at the dining room table.
"These tulips are lovely," she remarked.
"Yes, they are," Peter said. "Derek left them out front this morning. Plus a note, addressed to you."
"Then please throw them away," Kelly said. "And the note, too."
_______________
Back at the first day of her job, Lou made beds,
which she didn't much like, but it was one of her job responsibilities as a lowly intern.
She researched health reports online,
and mopped up puddles.
And, with the help of a colleague, she also ran the DNA test to see if Derek was really Declan's father.
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