*Wednesday*

"So, I'm cute, huh?" Cosima asks with a ridiculously toothy grin as Delphine steps up to her truck after Wednesday's crop of kids are fully served.

"Ah, so you were able to figure out the meaning. Yes, you're very cute," Delphine admits, "and very cheeky."

"This is true. The usual?"

"Wow, three days in and I already have a usual," Delphine smiles. "Yes, I'll take an Eskimo Pie, se il vous plaît."

Cosima takes Delphine's money and hands her the ice cream, along with a few DVDs."

"What are these?" Delphine asks.

"Um, those are DVDs. They contain movies on discs that you load into a DVD player and watch on your TV."

Delphine sticks out her tongue, "I know that, smart-ass. I meant, why are you giving these to me?"

"I thought, if you ever have some free time, you might want to brush up on your superhero movies. There's Spider-Man, The Dark Knight, and The Avengers. Now, The Avengers might be kinda weird without seeing all the movies that led up to it, but that's a lot to get caught up on, so I thought I'd just throw you into the deep end. If you really like it, you can go back and watch all the individual movies. There are also sequels to the other two, so you could watch those down the line if you end up liking them, too."

"Thank you, Cosima, that was very thoughtful. I will definitely watch them."

"Great. I can't wait to hear your reviews. Wanna head over to our bench?"

"Our bench?" Delphine asks.

"Kinda feels that way, doesn't it?"

"Oui, I guess it does."

Cosima and Delphine settle down on their bench with their ice cream.

"How was work today? Did you have to fire anyone else?"

"No, thankfully, there were no firings today. Actually, it's been a great day. A patient I've been treating for the last couple months finally started responding to a new drug protocol I put her on. I think she has a good chance of pulling through, which is a tremendous relief because she has a two-year-old. Can you imagine getting so sick you may not get a chance to see your child grow up? And the poor child, having to grow up without a parent?"

"No, that's the worst. It's gotta be tough on you, though, dealing with that everyday."

"Yes, it's very hard. Some days I just go home and cry. But others, like today, when something goes right, those are the days I celebrate and which remind me why I do this job in the first place. When I can successfully treat someone, help them live longer than they thought possible when they first received their diagnosis, that's a true blessing."

Cosima stares at Delphine.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Delphine asks, covering her face in embarrassment.

"Sorry, it's just, the passion you expressed for what you do, despite how emotionally draining it is, that's admirable. That's what I hope to have someday."

"You mean you're not passionate about ice cream?"

"Oh, well don't get me wrong, I am extremely passionate about ice cream, especially these Eskimo Pies, but I'm not saving lives here or helping make the world a better place. That's what I want, for my work, and my life, to have some meaning."

"I don't know, I see the way you brighten all these kids' days, and you've definitely given me something wonderful to look forward to everyday. What you're doing has meaning, Cosima, and I'm sure that after you receive your doctorate, you're going to do even more wonderful and rewarding things with your life."

"Yeah?" Cosima grins.

"Absolument," Delphine declares.

"Thanks! Hey, so there's something I have to ask you."

"Ask me anything you'd like."

"You've actually seen The Terminator?"

Delphine laughs, "Yes, my father was a big Arnold Schwarzenegger fan. So, even though he was all about work, work, work, school, school, school, every so often we would have movie nights. The Terminator was a classic in our home. We watched it with French subtitles just so we could hear Arnold recite his lines. Whenever my father left for work, he wouldn't say au revoir, he'd say I'll be back, in the Terminator's voice. And when I left for university and then later when I moved here, I said it to him. Actually, I've never said it to anyone but him until I said it to you yesterday. I truly believe that if you use that phrase, it's set in stone, you will definitely return to that person."

"Wow, I'm honored that you used it on me, I guess my ice cream really is that good."

"It certainly is," Delphine replies with a final lick of her ice cream stick.

Cosima suddenly jumps up on the bench and begins to sing, "My ice cream brings all the girls to the park, and they're like, it's better than yours. Damn right it's better than yours. I can teach you, but I have to charge."

"Cosima," Delphine laughs, "what are you doing?"

"I'm singing, Delphine. Come on, stand up, sing with me," she extends her hand to Delphine, who takes it and lets herself be pulled up.

"My ice cream brings all the girls to the park, and they're like, it's better than yours. Damn right it's better than yours. I can teach you, but I have to charge," they sing in unison, doing a little shimmy to go along with it before collapsing back onto the bench in hysterical laughter, tears rolling down their faces, after they notice a small crowd has gathered around to watch them perform.

"Sorry, folks, we actually do charge for our performances, so if you want to see more of that, it'll be ten bucks each," Cosima announces and the crowd quickly disperses.

"Guess they didn't think we were worth it."

"Clearly not," Delphine concurs. "They obviously don't know the value of true artistic expression when they see it."

"One day 10 bucks will seem like a bargain when we're selling out stadiums," Cosima insists.

"Oui, c'est vrai. What will we call our little act?"

"The Eskimo Pies, of course," Cosima says like it's the most obvious name ever.

"Of course," Delphine chuckles. "You're fun, Cosima. I have fun when I'm with you and I think it's just now hitting me how little fun I've had lately. I don't think I realized how much I missed just being free, letting myself enjoy something, someone."

"I'm glad I could help bring the fun back into your life. But, judging by that little look you just gave your watch, I'd say our fun for today is about to come to an end."

"Yes, I have patients to see. Thank you, again, for the movies."

"Yeah, yeah, no problem, I hope you like them."

"I'm sure I will. Bye, Cosima."

"Hasta la vista, Delphine."

"I'll be back."

"I'm counting on it," Cosima grins.

As Delphine returns to the hospital, she's unable to get a familiar tune out of her head and, while waiting for the elevator to reach her floor, she can't help letting the words escape her lips, "My ice cream brings all the girls to the park…"

Delphine's song earns some curious looks from her fellow elevator passengers, as well as from the doctors, nurses, and patients around whom she continues singing it later.