This will be the last chapter posted unless or until someone reviews. Obviously it's ok if no one wishes to read or review but my point in posting this was to receive feedback. Therefore if this isn't an appropriate forum for that its rather counterproductive for me to continue to post. At any rate enjoy--and have a wonderful day.


Derek did call that evening and they made plans to go out on Wednesday since neither of them had early classes on Thursday. They went dancing at DUNBARS one of the local college hangouts slightly north of Pembroke. They went out a few more times and Lucy was starting to tell people about her boyfriend Derek.

Friday 2 weeks after their first "date" Lucy sat next to Derek in psychology giggling before lecture. "Please, Megan said it was a lot of fun," Lucy begged. She had planned them to go for a picnic on the beach in Pembroke off the PALMIRA RIVER. Although it was the first weekend in October it was still warm.

"I'm sorry I really can't. Adam is coming home this weekend and my parents are having a party after the orchestra concert Saturday night so I really need to be home all weekend," Derek explained.

Lucy pouted. Derek stroked her cheek, "Come on don't be mad, why don't you come to dinner at my parents house tonight and maybe we can still catch a movie or something after dinner."

"Well ok," Lucy resigned herself as Dr. Howell began to lecture about ADHD.

After class Derek and Lucy parted she would have liked to go with him but she was supposed to be meeting with her advisor at 11:30 she hoped he wouldn't consider it a lunch meeting.

Derek arrived home surprised to see Kristin sitting in the kitchen chatting with Jenny. He had presumed she'd be coming later in the day; it was only 9:30.

"Oh I have today off, so I took the train this morning. Paul will be driving up later tonight after he finishes at the hospital."

"I invited Lucy to join us for dinner," Derek said opening the refrigerator and pouring a glass of milk.

"Good I'll finally get to meet this woman of mystery," Jenny said jokingly.

"Yeah I guess you were pretty sick the first weekend Lucy was here."

"Don't remind me!"

"No problem. It's hard to believe that was 2 weeks ago and Laurel still isn't feeling better," Derek pondered aloud.

"From my experiences it's sad. But it's believable, malnutrition just kills your immune system," Jenny commented.

"I know. I feel bad for mom though, it was cruel fate for things to get worse when she was on call," Kristin said. After attempting outpatient treatment of her pneumonia for several days without improvement Laurel's pediatrician had hospitalized her. Slowly her condition had deteriorated further until Tuesday night while their mom was on call she had needed to be emergently intubated and transferred to the Intensive Care Unit. The intubation and subsequent placement of the arterial and central venous lines were all done by her foster mother. Since Tuesday she had remained on the ventilator without much improvement.

That evening Derek picked Lucy up around 6 since they were supposed to be sitting down to dinner near 6:30. Of course all of this depended on Danielle and Kati being done with soccer practice, his mom not getting caught at the hospital, and Adam actually arriving. As usual Lucy was ready when he arrived and they walked out to his jeep hand in hand.

When they reached the Stewart residence Lucy saw a new Honda accord in the driveway and noticed a tall slim gentleman with sandy brown hair and blue eyes unloading items from the trunk. "Is that your brother?" she asked as Derek pulled up behind him in the driveway.

"Yes that's Adam," Derek said simply. He wondered if things would be less awkward however he doubted they would. Kristin said that he and Adam had "creative differences" which was the diplomatic way of expressing that they didn't get along.

Adam turned from unloading the trunk as they walked past, "Derek," he called and Derek braced himself for that handshake that turned into a hug. He supposed it came in handy with parishioners but he found it annoying. Adam then turned to Lucy and extended his hand, "I'm Derek's older brother Adam it's wonderful to meet you."

Lucy looked awkwardly at Derek who still seemed to be recovering from the hug onslaught, "I'm Lucy Camden." She said hurriedly following Derek into the house through the front door.

As they walked through the parlor and dining room into the kitchen Lucy said, "Uh is your brother always that uh friendly"

Derek chuckled. "I think he forgets he's not greeting people after the benediction."

"I guess my dad has that problem as well. Although usually I'm seeing him with some guy who is about to date one of his daughters. He becomes a little aloof and territorial at that point," Lucy said as they climbed the stairs to Derek's room.

"How much does your father know about us?"

"Not much I tend to approach discussing relationships with him on a need to tell basis and that usually only happens when I'm facing the Camden inquisition."

"I see," Derek said as they sat on his bed listening to a Blues Traveler CD.

"Well I'll tell him before I marry you, otherwise what he doesn't know is really much better for his blood pressure trust me."

"I'll keep that in mind," Derek said as Kati came in to tell them it was time for dinner.

"What are you keeping in mind?" she asked innocently.

Lucy smiled. "That Lucy's dad isn't a big fan of surprise," Derek suggested.

"Oh well then we shouldn't throw him a surprise party," Kati agreed.

"Yeah been there, done that, and hated every minute of it," Lucy said.

"You threw your father a surprise party?"

"Trust me it was so not my idea. One of the trustees at the church thought it would be fun. My dad's kind of the paranoid type too which didn't help," Lucy said as they reached the bottom of the stairs. She followed Kati and Derek into the formal dining room and sat down at the long mahogany table beneath the crystal chandelier. To her displeasure she found herself sitting across from Kristin and Paul.

Derek introduced her to Jenny who in turn introduced her boyfriend Chris and the 11 of them sat down at the table. The family joined hands and Adam led them in prayer. Over dinner Adam informed his family that he would be taking over for Reverend Gilmore in January.

This wasn't much of a surprise, in keeping with the tradition of the original circuit riders Methodist ministers never stayed with one congregation for much more than 5 years. Reverend Gilmore was just finishing up his 6th year and was ready to move to a new church. The only thing that was a little surprising was the timing of the transition, which usually occurred during June.

After dinner Derek escaped to the movies with Lucy. Adam went with Kristin to visit Laurel. Paul, exhausted from a long day in the OR and the drive up from the city was grateful to Adam for going with her so he could sleep. As they were walking out of the hospital later that night Adam suggested they get caramel rolls and Kristin knew he probably wanted to talk.

They went to UNCOMMON GROUNDS on the square, and Kristin secured a table while Adam placed their order. He returned with two caramel rolls and his coffee. He slid a caramel roll across the table to Kristin and took a sip of his coffee.

"When did you start drinking coffee?" Kristin asked.

"When I had to drink several cups every Sunday so as to not offend Miss Tilly or Mrs. Bomme or whoever was hosting coffee hour. I'm surprised you don't drink coffee with all the hours you try to work."

"No, that's too much caffeine. I used to occasionally drink caffeinated soda but now with the pregnancy I'm avoiding even that."

"Is that going any better?" Adam asked.

Kristin was silent, thinking. She was trying to choose her words carefully, she didn't want to lie to her brother but she also didn't want to scare him either. "The baby is growing well," she finally said with a genuine smile at the prospect of possibly having a healthy child in spite of everything.

"But you aren't," Adam replied.

"Well I think it's getting better. The Zofran has been helping a lot with the nausea and vomiting. Jenny's been joking we should name the baby Zoe," Kristin laughed

"How is Paul handling this?"

"He's scared, we both are. But I just keep thinking that I must have gotten pregnant for a reason. God will take care of this."

"You know you'll always be in my prayers."

"I know. I was pretty lucky to get such a great older brother."

Adam blushed. "Is Derek dating someone?" he asked changing the subject.

"Lucy Camden she was at dinner. They met in psychology class."

"Hmm that's positive it implies that Derek is going to class,"

"Adam!"

"Well dad told me he was taking school more seriously. I have to admit I was a little skeptical but good for him then!"

"He's really changed a lot," Kristin started

"I'm sure he has, I'm glad he's trying to be Kati's older brother. I just still remember what you and Danielle went through years ago. I don't blame Derek as much as I blame myself."

"I don't understand."

"Well maybe if I had been around, I could have protected you more. Maybe I could have helped Derek, I don't know. We can't relive the past but let's try to save the future."

Meanwhile Lucy and Derek were leaving one of the theaters at the mall. Derek wondered if Lucy was still mad at him about not going to the beach, it was unlike her to be silent through an entire film. He had even bought popcorn hoping to cheer her up but she had merely said she was still full from dinner.

As they walked back through the mall after the movie Lucy was still thinking about dinner. For the most part she had moved food around on her plate but twice she had felt like Kristin was watching her and had been forced to take a bite. The small amount of rationality she still had reminded her that two bites of dinner wouldn't make her fat, but the larger part of her brain was sure it would. Life had been so much easier when she was younger, when Mary was still good, before her parents got so weird, before horrible things happened.

Derek noticed the tears glistening on her lashes, he pulled her closer to him as they walked and kissed the top of her head. "Lucy what's wrong? Please talk to me."

"May I stay at your house tonight?"

"Sure, we can stop at school and you can get some things. Why don't you just stay for the whole weekend because I have a feeling the party tomorrow night will go pretty late," Derek suggested.

Lucy nodded but didn't speak more until they reached her dorm. Derek followed her inside noting that she already had a suitcase mostly packed. As she was adding a few things on the top Derek noticed that the messages light on her answering machine was flashing. She zipped her suitcase, which Derek picked up, "You have messages, do you want to check them before we go?" he suggested.

"Nah, it's probably just Mary or my parents," Lucy said

Her response surprised Derek, although Lucy didn't speak much about her family he had just presumed that she was close to them but something in her response made him wonder if that was the case. He thought about that as he drove back to his parents' home.

Once they reached the Stewart residence Lucy wondered if spending the night was a mistake. Part of her wanted to spend time there and almost become part of their family. It reminded her of what her family used to be like before. But another part of her knew that spending time there was dangerous. The Stewarts seemed much more savvy than her own parents and she was afraid of them catching on and figuring out her secrets. But maybe they would help her, something she knew her parents couldn't or maybe wouldn't.

She started to cry again as she closed the door to the guestroom she had stayed in before. Why did life have to be so difficult? She got ready for bed making faces at her reflection in the bathroom mirror as she brushed her teeth and then climbed into bed and huddled under the covers. Her teeth chattered and she shivered even under a blanket and quilt.

Finally though Lucy did sleep. She slept through Danielle and Kati's 4 am rising for swim practice, Kristin getting up at 6am to teach water aerobics and even the entire family sitting down to breakfast at 830 am Derek among them.

After breakfast while he was loading the dishwasher with Kristin he asked if she was planning on going to Kati's game.

"I had planned on it why?"

"Well Lucy spent the night last night, and she's still fast asleep so I don't want to wake her. But I have a dentists' appointment so I don't want her to wake up alone," Derek explained. As Lucy came down the kitchen stairs.

"Excellent timing," Derek said.

"What?" Lucy wondered

"Oh I had forgotten to tell you I had a dentists appointment and I didn't want to wake you."

"Oh"

"In that case would you like to come with us to Kati's soccer game," Kristin offered.

"Sure," Lucy said forcing enthusiasm into her voice. She and Kristin left for the game alone as Paul had some dictations he needed to catch up on and review. The less glamorous side of being a surgeon as he put it.

As Kristin drove to COMMUNITY COMMONS where Kati's game was held Lucy debated talking to her. A small piece of her still held tight to the possibility that Kristin could help her. They reached the field and Kristin got a blanket out of the back hatch and slammed the door shut. Lucy jumped at the sound and it was then that she decided that couldn't risk telling Kristin.

She sat through Kati's soccer game, pretending to cheer in the right moments and pretending to be happy that they had won. When they returned home after Kati's game she told Derek she had a paper she had forgotten about and she needed to go back and work on that. She was really sorry about missing the party.

Again Derek was puzzled as he drove her back to campus. For the next month they continued to date but Lucy seemed reluctant to join him for any family activities and seemed upset when he chose his family over her, and sometimes he needed to do that.

October turned into November and Derek and Lucy became closer. Derek still didn't understand her reluctance to be around his family. He and Kristin had discussed it and Kristin had suggested perhaps she had a secret she wasn't quite ready to share.

Kristin didn't reveal what she thought that secret was. She also didn't tell Derek about the anonymous package containing the Teddy Bear she had seen Lucy admiring when they went to FAO SCHWARTZ, two calling cards, and contact information for 2 internists and 2 therapists who dealt with eating disorders that she had sent. She wanted to be wrong. From watching Jenny and Laurel's struggles she desperately wanted to be wrong.

Lucy sat in her room trying to study, it was early November and hard to believe that the semester was more than half over. But it was and she was doing so well in all her classes she didn't want to ruin it. Lucy was reading about personality disorders a rather interesting topic but then she started feeling the pain come back. She'd not been feeling well since the day before but things had seemed to get worse overnight. She had vomited three times gross green disgusting stuff completely without trying. Suddenly she knew she was about to be sick again and ran in the direction of the bathroom.

Unfortunately Lucy didn't quite make it to bathroom collapsing at the end of the hall. When her RA found her a few minutes later he called 911 and she was transported to PEMBROKE REGIONAL HOSPITAL.