Chapter 54.

Joey and Lauren settled into a more stable routine from that point forward. Joey would spend his morning at physical therapy. Lauren had scheduled all her medical appointments for her consultant's tests to coincide with these times. She'd come back to his room and have lunch with him, which was useful because quite a lot of her tests needed her to be nil by mouth. In the afternoon she'd head over to her college and work on her art while Joey was working on his speech.

On Friday Lauren headed to college early, meeting up with her tutor to discuss her work and classes. "Thank you for seeing me," Lauren said as she took a seat.

"It's what I'm here for, Lauren." She said with a smile. "I spoke to the college head and explained your situation with him regarding your art and your personal life." Lauren looked at her, self-consciously. "I told him how promising your work had been and that I recommended he gave you some leniency. He has agreed to a four week deadline extension so you need to submit them by the end of April." Lauren gasped. She hadn't expected it to be as much as that. "I understand you've been working on some more pieces."

"Yes, I've finished two and I have a couple of them started."

"Are you going to re-create any of the pieces you destroyed?"

"No. I know I could but I want to start from scratch. I've also decided to alter my theme slightly."

"So it won't be about...?"

"No. It's going to be about me now. The way I feel about my drawings; it's like I've put a piece of my soul down on the paper. I've been through so much in the last couple of years and a lot of my issues are because of all that." Lauren took a deep breath, "When I was in hospital, my doctor recommended I speak to a counsellor. I saw one the other day and it was good to talk about it but I didn't really feel better afterwards. When I'd finished I came here and I just drew. It was cathartic so I'm going to use that as my therapy. At least for the time being."

"Put a proposal in writing for what your work will entail and get it to me by Tuesday. I don't see it being an issue but we need to make it official." She smiled at Lauren. "Now, I've discussed with your course lecturers your situation and they've agreed to email you the course notes so you can catch up. Two of the subjects are coursework only based and you've done enough for a decent final grade on those. The other three you'll need to sit a final exam for. The exams are at the end of February but I've arranged for you to sit them a week later so you have a chance to catch up on what you've missed."

Lauren had tears pooling in her eyes, "Thank you so much. I'm so grateful for your support."

"That's okay, Lauren." She smiled at the talented girl before her, "Now I think you have some things to be getting on with. If you have any problems, please get in touch, Lauren."

"I will. Thanks again." Lauren got to her feet and left the office, walking back to room 123 in a bit of a daze. Her work began that day with a renewed fervour. She was more motivated than she'd ever been.

TBC

A/N: So Lauren's course is all sorted. She's still got things to sort but she's well on her way. I know you probably wanted to see more Joey and Lauren but this needed to be dealt with. They'll be back soon... as will I!