Fifteen minutes later Lewis limped out into the waiting room. The entire group stood up when they saw him coming and Oswald raced forward to help Lewis into a seat. "How is she?" Oswald asked as he lowered Lewis down.
"She's good," Lewis answered, grunting as he stretched his sore ankle. "Kate's sleeping now and they're taking the baby into the nursery. They're both fine."
"You don't look it though," Jenna spoke up, surveying Lewis.
"Doc?" Lewis asked in confusion. "Are you stalking me now?"
"Hardly, Lewis," Jenna said, shaking her head. "I ran into Oswald in the lobby and he invited me up to socialize." Lewis glanced over at Oswald, who smiled sheepishly. Lewis grinned and gave a nod of approval. "You know you aren't supposed to stand on that ankle for long, but I suppose under the circumstances I can't really berate you," Jenna continued, ignoring the gesture. "Let me see your ankle though."
"Doc, is that really necessary?" Lewis asked. Jenna gave him a sharp look and he instantly relented, lifting his stinging ankle up onto the little coffee table. Jenna unstrapped the walking boot and examined his ankle, which was swollen and slightly purple.
"Definitely bruised, but it doesn't look like there will be permanent damage," Jenna murmured, prodding his ankle gently with her fingertips.
Lewis winced and grumbled, "Yes, it hurts. Do you have to keep poking it?"
"Lewis, quit being such a baby," Drew jibed. "Speaking of baby, what did Kate name her?"
"Leslie," Lewis answered, keeping an eye on Jenna as she continued to examine his ankle. "Leslie Marie."
"Last name?" Oswald asked curiously. It was clear they were still trying to get a clue as to who the father was.
"Just O'Brien," Lewis said.
"When can we see her?" Abi cut in excitedly. Lewis was startled, not having noticed that she was there at first.
"They're taking her into the nursery, so you can go down to the nursery but you have to see her through the window," Jenna said, not looking up from her work. The others stood up but Jenna glanced pointedly at Lewis. "You aren't going anywhere for the moment," she said sternly. Lewis opened his mouth to protest but Jenna silenced him with glare. "You need to stay off this ankle for a while or you're going to do serious damage. I'll get you some ice."
"Yes, sir," Lewis said sarcastically, leaning back in the chair. Jenna stood and walked off down the hall.
"Lewis, we're going to go see the baby," Drew said, patting him on the shoulder. "You going to be alright here alone?"
"I'll be fine, you guys go see her," Lewis said, waving a hand at them. "I've got Dr. Hitler looking after me," he added with a smirk. Drew laughed and then headed off, Abi clinging to his hand and jabbering excitedly. Eugene followed quietly and Oswald had turned to leave but Lewis grabbed his arm. "So I take it you went for it?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah," Oswald said, grinning proudly. "We're going out next weekend."
"Good show, buddy," Lewis said, patting Oswald on the arm. Oswald smiled again and then set off after the retreating group. A few moments later, Jenna came back into the waiting room, carrying a small plastic bag filled with ice. She set this on Lewis' ankle, making him flinch away from the cold, and then sat down.
"They went to see the baby?" she asked, glancing at him and raising an eyebrow questioningly.
Lewis nodded. "Good guess," he said with a smirk. They sat in silence for a moment before Lewis looked up at the doctor again, his smirk still in place. "So, you and Oswald, huh?"
"I don't see how it's your business," Jenna said, her cheeks reddening just slightly.
"He's my best friend, of course it's my business," Lewis said simply. "Besides, it was just an innocent question."
"Innocence is not something I would expect from you, Mr. Kiniski," Jenna laughed.
"You cut me to the quick," Lewis said, placing a hand on his heart as if he were really hurt. "Look, I was just curious. It's not often Oswald catches a girls attention, especially a lady who appears to be mostly sane. I'm just keeping an eye out for him."
"That is surprisingly compassionate," Jenna said, giving him a strange look. "I definitely didn't expect that."
"I get that reaction a lot," Lewis said, laughing.
"Well don't worry," Jenna said, reaching out and patting Lewis' arm lightly. "I really do like Oswald." She glanced at him. "But what about you? I can tell that you like your friend Kate. Why hasn't anything happened there?"
"She doesn't really want anything to happen," Lewis said with a shrug, trying to appear nonchalant. "She's just never really wanted to date me. Besides, I gave up on her years ago."
"No you didn't," Jenna said confidently, shaking her head for emphasis. Lewis looked up with furrowed eyebrows. "You may think you've convinced everyone that you don't care about her anymore but everyone can see that you do. The only person who doesn't get it is you, Lewis."
"I wish that was right," Lewis said. He leaned forward so he was closer to Jenna and then lowered his voice. "I wish that I didn't know how much I love her, okay. But there's nothing I can do about it. This whole relationship business is sort of a two person deal and it doesn't work if only one person is willing to try. She doesn't want to be with me." Lewis paused, his thoughts jumping back to earlier that day. The feel of Kate's lips against his, the way she responded without fear or uncertainty. She had even told him that she did not try to stop him. That there had been so much more to the kiss than she'd expected, making her question if she wanted to forget it. Could she possibly be changing her mind?
"Besides, she's a mother now," Lewis said in a feeble attempt to keep up his argument. "She's got a child to take care of. I'm not ready for that. I'm not ready to be a dad."
"Especially a kid that's not your own?" Jenna asked.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Lewis asked defensively.
"You aren't ready to try a raise a kid that isn't your own," Jenna said with a shrug. "It's one thing to raise your own children, knowing that you were the reason they were born. It's something entirely different to raise someone else's kid. To feel like its thrust upon you without you having any say in the matter." Lewis narrowed his eyes curiously. "Yes, I speak from experience."
"How so?"
"My sister's kid," Jenna said. "My sister got pregnant by accident during a wild weekend in New York. When the boy was two my sister developed leukemia. After a few years her body stopped responding to the treatments and when her son was five my sister died. The boy was left in my care, and I've been raising him for two years now. I was resentful in a way at first. I was a single woman with a good career. All of a sudden I was responsible for a young boy, and it took him a while to come around to me. He knew I wasn't his mother as much as I did. Still, after the first year we both relaxed and now you would be hard-pressed to guess that we aren't actually mother and son." She gave Lewis an encouraging smile. "It takes getting used to, but it's worth it. Besides, you've got an advantage. That little baby girl has no idea that you aren't her father."
"It's not just that," Lewis said. "I just really don't know if I can be a dad. I've never really been around little kids a lot, and I don't have a lot of experience. What if I'm not a good parent?" He sighed and shook his head. "Besides, what if things don't work out between me and Kate? That little girl would think I'm her dad and then I just leave her. That would really screw her up in the head."
"Lewis, you're never going to get anywhere if you spend all your time wondering 'what if,'" Jenna said with a quiet laugh. They were silent for a few minutes as Lewis pondered over this bit of wisdom.
"You going to tell Oswald you have a kid?" Lewis asked suddenly.
Jenna bit her lip hesitantly. "Yes," she said. "I would obviously have to at some point." She looked up at Lewis. "Do you think it would make a difference to him? I mean, would he not want to date me because of it?"
"Probably won't matter to him," Lewis answered honestly. "Things like that don't seem to affect Oswald the way they do other people. He'll probably just want to meet him, and he'll definitely want to know how you came around to having a kid. I think Oswald has always wanted to have that family scene though. The whole wife and kids thing. Who knows, it may make him want you more," Lewis added with a smirk.
Jenna had opened her mouth to answer, but stopped when she saw Oswald, Drew, Abi, and Eugene coming around the corner towards them. Abi seemed to be talking extremely excitedly and the men were only half-listening, except for Eugene who seemed to not be listening at all and was wearing a rather sulky expression. They all came and sat down in the little area that they had taken over.
"She is a real beauty," Oswald said with a slightly dazed grin.
"You know, Lewis, she has your eyes," Drew said, looking over at his friend with a strange expression. Lewis opened his mouth to point out that it wasn't his child, but Drew cut across him. "I know she's not your kid," he said instantly. "I was just making a comment. Her eyes are the same color as yours."
Lewis was silent for a moment. When he thought back on it, he realized that Leslie's eye really were the same color. Jenna leaned forward, on the pretense of standing up, but in the process she whispered so that only Lewis could hear, "Maybe it's a sign." Lewis looked up at her in surprise but she said nothing more on it.
"Well, sorry to leave, but I need to be getting home," Jenna said with a cheerful smile at them all. Oswald jumped up.
"Can I walk you to your car?" he asked eagerly.
"Sure, thank you," Jenna said with a suddenly shy smile. "Well it was nice to see you all again, and nice to meet you, Abi." She waved, patted Lewis on the shoulder, and then headed for the elevators with Oswald trotting along at her side.
"So, you have other plans, or is it just getting late?" Oswald asked, his voice displaying nothing but childlike curiosity.
Jenna took a steadying breath. "Actually, I need to be home before my son gets home," she said, watching Oswald's reaction nervously.
"Your son?" Oswald asked in confusion.
"Well, he's not actually my son," Jenna said hastily. "He's my nephew. But my sister died a few years ago so I've been raising him."
"Oh, that's nice," Oswald said, his simple smile returning. "How old is he?"
Jenna breathed a quiet sigh of relief. She couldn't believe how calmly he was taking this. Lewis had been right; it really didn't seem to bother Oswald at all. "He just turned seven," she said.
"Isn't it kind of late for him to still be at school?" Oswald asked, glancing at a clock as they stepped out of the elevator. "It's nearly six."
"Well he goes to a friend's house after school and they are on a local basketball team together so they have practice in the evenings," Jenna explained. "It makes it easier on me too, because it gives me time to finish work and get home before he does. Although today we may make it there around the same time." They walked out of the hospital and into the nearby by parking garage and Jenna stopped in front of a small luxury car.
"Well then I won't keep you," Oswald said. "I'll call you tomorrow about plans for next weekend?"
"That sounds good," Jenna said with a smile. "Then I'll talk to you then." She seemed to hesitate for a moment and then she stood on her toes to plant a quick kiss on Oswald's cheek. "Thank you," she murmured and then she hurriedly turned and climbed into the car. Oswald just watched, stunned, as she drove away, and then slowly a goofy grin covered his face.