A/N: I bet you thought I abandoned this again, right? Nope. Just being a good student and finishing the dissertation. Which is in purgatory right now - but it has been submitted! Huzzah!

Anyway, this is the penultimate chapter. Special guest appearance from a fan favorite included. Please send me some love in form of reviews. (It will help while I await my doctoral fate. - Hey, that rhymed!)

A Change In Me

Chapter Twenty-Four

My grandfather died the second week of March. My mom and grandma were with him, and we had all had dinner together the night before. I was so grateful that our last night with him had been so good. We had played cards and eaten his favorite foods. Mom was actually letting me and Dad take care of the dishes and cleaning up everything. I wouldn't say that any of us suspected that was our last time with him, but something about the evening was special. Grandpa even took the opportunity to give me one last piece of advice.

"You need to forgive Joe," he said softly.

I froze as I was walking out the room. I had thought he was asleep and had just come in to give him a kiss goodbye. "What?"

"The past, the custody," he sighed heavily, trying to catch his breath.

"I know, Grandpa. And I get why he did it, but I have never kept him from her."

He simply raised his brows at me and smiled.

"Okay, I kept him from her. But …" I stopped, catching myself before I started to lie. I just couldn't lie to Grandpa. Never could.

"He's a good man." He gestured for me to come closer. "You're going to be okay."

I crossed over the hospital bed and took his hand. "I want to be."

"Then you will. I love you, Firecracker. Don't ever lose that spark again. Don't ever let someone make you change for them. Okay?"

"I won't." I gave him a watery smile. "I love you too, Grandpa."

He nodded and then patted my hand. "Send your grandmother in on your way out."

~oOo~

The viewing was held at Stiva's Funeral Home, the best in Trenton according to anyone from the Burg. Constantine Stiva was the owner, and I didn't really care for him. Something about him was fishy. Not only did he insist on touching you every time you spoke to him, but he was always checking out women when he thought no one was watching. My sister, newly blonde to better fit in to her California life, even admitted that he 'accidentally' brushed her bottom as he passed by her. When it was time to discuss business, he also almost ignored the women in the family to talk to the men. Even Steve was asked more about how things should run than my mother was!

Other than dealing with Stiva, everything went as well as it could. Grandma was quiet, which was not at all like her, and spoke more about her feelings than anything else. She never broke down into tears, but her eyes were tired and red-rimmed so I suspected she was grieving more privately. Besides, Mom and Valerie cried loud enough for the rest of us. I felt a little like the world was spinning, and Sophia seemed to be responding to my distress.

I hadn't called Joe about my grandpa passing, suspecting he would immediately offer to help. It wasn't that I didn't want him there. More that I didn't want to need him there. Our conversations were fine since that day at the Tasty Pastry, but I could tell Joe was still keeping something from me. We hadn't really been around each other much either. For once, it wasn't me avoiding him. Not really. I mean, I wasn't sure how to be around him now that he knew that I knew he was single. I had tried to ask him once about what actually happened with Heather, but he shut that conversation down pretty quickly. Still, I should have known that he would have been well-informed about what was happening in the Plum house. It was the morning of the viewing when he called me.

"Steph, I'm so sorry. Ma just told me about your grandfather."

"He …uh…died in his sleep. It was all pretty peaceful, but I wasn't there. We weren't really surprised, you know."

"Yeah, but … you could have called me. I would have been there for you."

I stopped and held my breath. I wasn't trying to start anything with him. I had already made a big deal about him not helping out the night Grandpa had his stroke. "Right. I didn't think about it." Lie. "It's been crazy over here. Val and Steve and Angie came in a couple days ago." Truth. That balances out, right?

"How's Sophia doing?"

"She's fine. I think she kind of understands that this is forever, but then she says things about when he's better they can read more. I don't know. I just want to get her through today and tomorrow. She might not be okay when she sees him."

"I'm going to be there," he rushed out. "I don't have to go in until tonight so I can stay with you - or with her - so you can be free to do what you need."

I took a cleansing breath. "Did you just get off work, Joe?"

"Yeah, but I'm okay."

"Get some sleep." I squeezed my eyes shut. I just didn't think I could deal with anything else. And it scared me how much I just wanted him to come over immediately. "I'll call you if I need you."

"No, please. Let me do this for you." He sighed softly, and I wasn't sure if it was from exhaustion with me or with his job.

"I didn't before," he continued. "Let me help you."

I took another deep breath and thought about that. Then I thought about Sophia. She would need him. It didn't matter what I was trying to avoid.

"We're getting to Stiva's at 1. The public viewing is at 2."

"How about 1:30?"

"Okay." I hung up before he could ask me any more questions. I was doing pretty well in keeping it together, but Joe had a way of bringing out my emotions. I couldn't let myself lean on him, but I would let him take care of Sophia.

I had to admit that having Joe there for the viewing and then the funeral was amazing. Sophia was really upset by the time he arrived at Stiva's, and he seemed to be the only one to keep her calm. The funeral home was packed full of old people all day, many who wanted to speak with each member of the family. Yet another reason having Sophia occupied was a blessing. I watched Joe holding her tight, carrying her to the back of the viewing room, and whispering in her ear. Occasionally she would nod and wipe her eyes. She even smiled a few times. It immediately made me think of the way Grandpa could so easily speak you into being calm. I wondered if Joe was going to be that kind of grandpa some day. Whoa. Not ready to go there.

The next day for the service even more people showed up to the church. Harry Mazur was a well-respected man in the community, which I knew, but it was still nice to see it.

What everyone else thought was nice to see was Joe and me and Sophia together. The Burg was in full force watching every move we made. This was the most public display of our little family any of them had seen. Plus, every woman in that church was well aware of Joe's status as a single man. While Joe seemed oblivious, I became more and more jumpy with every raised eyebrow. I almost tripped as Joe gently led me to the front of the church with his hand on my back. Sophia had insisted that he sit with us, and I didn't have the energy to fight with her.

At one point, Sophia climbed over onto Joe's lap and lay her head against his shoulder. I was starting to see more of Joe in her as she was growing up, and I couldn't help but smile at the picture they made. But it did leave me feeling alone once Sophia wasn't snuggled up to my side. I sniffed a few times, but kept it together pretty well. Once my mom made her way up to speak about Grandpa - Helen Plum was made of steel - I felt a few tears escape when hearing her describe how loving a man he was. I wondered if I would ever know that kind of love in my life. The next thing I knew, Joe had shifted closer and put his arm around my shoulder, and Sophia took my hand. In a strange way, the little game I had to start playing to keep me from burrowing into his side worked really well at distracting me from crying.

By the end of the service, Joe looked like he was ready to pass out. He had barely slept the last two days with his night shift at work and then spending the day with us. I insisted he go home as soon as possible once the funeral was over. Sophia seemed to be handling things better, and I felt she could go to the grave without him. I also kind of wanted to have her to myself for a little bit. I needed her in a weird way, and I was beginning to understand my mom's clinginess.

After letting Valerie take Sophia to play with Angie, I pulled Joe into a back corner of the church.

"You need to go home and get some sleep now." I gave him my mom stare, but he wasn't even paying attention.

"I'm …" he stifled a yawn. "Yeah, you're right."

"Wow, I should get a recording of this."

He smirked at me, but it was ruined with another yawn.

"Thanks again for helping out." I started to mention the whole holding me in the service thing, but I didn't want him to think I was misreading his intentions. So I shifted to the one person we could always talk about. "She's doing so much better today, and I know that's because of you."

"I'm glad to help, Steph." He reached forward and squeezed my shoulder gently. "You doing okay? You've been really quiet throughout everything."

"I don't do feelings, Joe." I then smiled as I remembered that conversation with Grandpa.

"Hmm." He leaned closer to me. "What's that smile for?"

Grandpa's last bit of advice immediately played through my mind. "I'm not angry about the custody. I mean, I was. Obviously. But I get it. I really do. It was about protecting her. I can never be mad at you for being such a good father, Joe. I'm so sorry that I ever held it against you. And I'm sorry I was angry about you not putting me first. I know I'm not first. She is. And that's how it should be."

"Steph," he started and then just came closer, putting his hand on my cheek.

A gasp was heard followed by some shuffling. Gently pushing him back, I leaned around the column and noticed several heads suddenly looking away. "We have an audience right now."

"Ugh. I forget about the network sometimes." He backed up to the opposite wall, tilting his head back. "I'm not sure why. It's not like my mother and grandmother aren't active members."

I smiled at that. Angie and Bella Morelli would never admit to being part of the Burg gossip chain.

"Go home. Get some sleep and I'll talk to you soon, okay?" I watched him for a moment, his eyes closed, his long lashes resting on his cheeks. He was so beautiful. "Joe?"

"Okay, Cupcake, I hear you. Go to bed," he spoke softly and slowly pushed himself off the wall. He stopped next to me and smiled. "This should keep them busy." He pulled me to him and wrapped me in his arms. I stiffened at first, afraid of what kind of show he was putting on. "I'm sorry about Harry." He kissed my head and then let go of me, nodding to the group of women who had dared to stand closest to us, before walking out the side door of the church.

~oOo~

The next few weeks went by slowly, everyone finding their new normal. The biggest excitement in my life was playing referee between my mother and grandmother. Mom was determined that Grandma Mazur should move in with us. Grandma was determined to stay in her house until she was found dead. She actually said that once, and Mom had burst into tears. Dad had stayed completely out of it until that night, when his contribution was telling me I needed to go in there and help them out. Thanks, Dad.

Joe and I were actually slowly becoming friends again. That hug at the funeral seemed to have broken down the wall that had been between us. There were still no movie nights at his house, no playful flirting really, no alone time either, but I think it was for the best. We did have dinner at McDonald's once with Sophia. It reminded of that night at Wendy's so long ago when Joe and Sophia were just getting to know each other.

"Daddy, did you know that I get to go to school next year?" Sophia asked excitedly, hopping up and down in her seat.

Joe gave me a pained look. "Yep. You're a big girl now."

"I know," she replied simply. "I'm going to have lots of friends too."

"I'm sure you are, bug. Finish your fries so we can go."

"You said I could play!" She turned her frown to Joe and smiled sweetly. "Daddy, you want to watch me play?"

I leveled a look at Joe, but he simply smiled right at our manipulative daughter. "Of course, I do."

I sighed loudly, but they were both ignoring me and munching on the last of the fries. Quickly, Sophia jumped down from her seat and gave Joe a peck on the cheek. "Thanks, Daddy!" And off she ran to the indoor playground.

We watched her for a moment, walking up to several different kids and introducing herself. I couldn't tell if they rejected her or she rejected them, but she kept flitting around until she found a little boy in the corner by himself.

"Ugh. Of course she picks a boy to play with," Joe groaned.

"She's your child. She's a natural flirt just like you. I've never flirted as much as she has in the last week probably."

"You so do flirt," he returned immediately with his eyes still trained on Sophia.

"Umm…. No. I am endearingly cute and men think I'm easy. That's all the game I got."

"Yeah right," he turned back to me. "You've got those big blue eyes and bouncy curls. You work both of those to get what you want all the time."

I dropped my jaw. "How would you know? I don't think I could even think straight when you were flirting with me in high school."

"True. You were pretty helpless to my charms." He flashed me a bright smile, but I could still tell he was holding back.

As much potential as this conversation had to go into sexy banter, Joe was keeping it clean. And my gut was telling me that it wasn't because our five-year old could come running back over to us at any moment.

"Well, it worked out in the end." I nodded back towards the playground.

"Yeah," he sighed out, actually leaning away from the table and crossing his arms protectively.

"Yeah?" I stopped myself. I knew for a fact that Joe considered Sophia the best part of his life so there was no point in picking a fight over something that I knew wasn't true. Instead, I changed tactics. "You think we would've had more nights in the Tasty Pastry if you had stayed?"

His eyes widened briefly, and he actually coughed. "Steph, I would've …" He swallowed. "It doesn't matter, does it? It didn't happen that way."

Not easily swayed, I continued, batting my big blue eyes and toying with a curl. "You don't think you would've wanted more of my cupcakes?"

His mouth thinned out. "Cute."

I crossed my arms, pushing my chest up. "What? Me?"

His lips relaxed into a smile. "Mm-hmm."

"I'm just testing your theory. Is it working?" I bit my lip playfully and gave him another doe-eyed look through my lashes, grateful for the extra swipe of mascara I added before we left.

He barked out a laugh and sat up suddenly, leaning his arms onto the table and bringing his face closer to mine. This was starting to feel intimate, and I held my breath I as he clearly was debating what to say.

"I think … you're right. You're cute and appear to be easy." He sat up with a smug smile on his face. "I'm going to go say goodbye to our daughter. Goodnight, Stephanie."

"Goodnight, Joe," I grumbled.

He grabbed the trash from the table, threw it out, and headed to the playground. I could have swore I heard him mumbling something about choices under his breath, whatever that could mean. I tried not to look too put out at his playful rejection. Rejection from what I wasn't too sure. We were becoming friends again - finally. I was happy with that. Why was I pushing him to be more? I wasn't sure, even now, I could handle Joe if he pursued me the way he did in high school. And I'm sure his abilities had only increased with time and experience. Ugh. That's what I needed to focus on - who was he dating now? There had been no reliable gossip at all about that for weeks.

~oOo~

I came down the steps one afternoon after hearing a round of screaming from the kitchen. I looked over at my dad on the sofa, but he was resolutely ignoring the drama coming from the other room, eyes glued to the game.

"Mom, Grandma," I said calmly as I entered the kitchen. "You both need to give each other some space," I looked at Mom, "and some time before any big decisions are made."

Completely ignoring me, my mother jumped up and grabbed a bottle she had hidden behind the cookie jar on top of the fridge. "I don't understand why you would want to stay away from me! It's not like Mary is ever going to want you to move in with them. How can you deny me spending more time with my only living parent?" She practically screamed and then poured a good shot-worth of rum down her throat. Wow.

"Your father wanted me to have the freedom to do what I wanted! I can't do that if I'm here, Helen. You wouldn't let me have any fun, and I need to be able to have gentleman callers." Mom and I both gasped at that. Grandma just rolled her eyes at us before continuing. "We hadn't had sex in ages with his health. And he wanted me to get some action before I was too old to find anyone."

"MOM!"

"Grandma," I pleaded.

"He was my husband! And he knew what I needed. You should have seen him, Stephanie. That man was so talented with his hands." Mom took another shot, and I just gaped at my grandmother. Admittedly, I was kind of impressed too. "And his tongue!" She closed her eyes with a dreamy look on her face and then sighed deeply. "There was this one time - Helen, you were home with the flu and Harry had come home early to check on you. Anyway, once you were passed out in your bed, we snuck down to the basement and —"

"Nope. Not listening to this!" My mom yelled with her hands over her ears. Grandma looked at me and wriggled her eyebrows.

"Some afternoon delight, huh?" I asked with a giggle.

"That's right! But the point is I'm not so old I can't find someone else to love." She crossed herself. "Harry, you know no one else will ever take your place." This was said to the ceiling.

"Mother, what is wrong with you?"

"Grandma, maybe cool it on the sex stuff in front of Mom. You know she's an iceberg over there." I smiled, hoping to ease the tension in the room.

"True. Your poor father must -"

"FRANK!" Mom took a violent swig from the bottle and then flung her hand - and bottle - towards the swinging door. "I'll have you know that MY husband is very satisfied!"

"Okay," I interrupted. "Please both of you stop. Joe is bringing Sophia back any minute, and she does not need to know about either of your sex lives, okay?"

They both turned to me, and for the first time I saw a resemblance in the predatory look in their eyes.

"Joseph is on his way over?" My mother asked as if I didn't just say that.

"Ooh, speaking of talented in the bedroom!" Grandma made a lewd gesture.

"Don't even start in on that, Mom." I turned to Grandma. "You're a menace."

She cackled at me and then took the bottle from my mom. "See. She's not going anywhere, so where on earth would I live if I came here? Sophia will need her own room soon enough."

I frowned at that. "I'm still going to move out."

They both laughed at that. Then my father entered the kitchen, finally having convinced himself to leave the game. Or most likely there was a commercial on.

"No one is moving anywhere," he said with as much authority as he ever had.

"Well, if Stephanie would have encouraged Joseph, we wouldn't need to worry about Sophia getting another room." Mom held up her hand to stop me. "No, it's fine. You don't want to be with the father of your child. That's your business. And maybe it's for the best. He obviously doesn't want to settle down. Heather McDaniels is the most lovely girl I've ever met, and she wasn't even enough for him to stick around. In fact, Shirley at the post office said she saw him with some blonde at the China bistro."

I glared at her, and then felt my eyes open wide at that last revelation. She smirked at my crazy face, but I didn't want to open this can of worms up again. There was also an insult in there. Dad sighed loudly. He had heard it too.

"Helen," Grandma started, "Stephanie needs to be home with you right now. Not me. We can discuss this again in 20 years." She giggled and then trounced out the kitchen, letting Joe and Sophia in as she left.

~oOo~

I was working the second shift in the ER one night in April when I heard my name from behind me. There was Joe, handcuffed to a large black woman. She appeared to be a hooker, or her brightly colored clothing had shrunk three sizes since she had put them on. He brought her over to me.

"Nurse Plum, I have a gunshot victim who is also a witness and under arrest." He frowned at her. "I need her taken care of quickly. Can you work her in so I can get her to the station?"

I looked at her florescent pink and orange flower-print dress. I couldn't see the blood for the flowers. "Where's the wound?"

She rolled her eyes and shifted onto one foot, leaning on Joe to show me her other calf. There was a wad of napkins taped around what appeared to be yellow neon-colored, zebra print something. Not sure how I missed that, other than there was simply so much else to see.

"What is this? Why didn't you let the EMT bandage her?" I huffed and motioned for them to follow me to a room.

"She's a witness. I needed to get her out before they killed her."

"Girl, don't you recognize a pair of one of a kind Valentino tights?" She pointed down to her calf.

I blinked at her. "Are there any other wounds?"

She lifted up one large boob, taking Joe's hand with hers and causing me to smirk at his discomfort. Then she pointed at a bloodstain that was barely perceptible against the print of her dress. "That bastard Ramirez shanked me. Last time I work for that lying piece of shit. Oh, I'll protect you, Lula," she retorted to herself sarcastically. "Bullshit."

I gave her a small smile. "Officer Morelli, you can leave us so I can help her into a gown."

"I don't know." He leaned back and looked her over, meeting her eyes with an intense stare. She batted her eyes at him, and he turned his unamused gaze back at me.

"You can stand at the door," I offered.

He undid the handcuffs and gave her a funny look, a cross between a scowl and a grateful nod. We both watched him cross to the door and shut it firmly behind him.

"So, Lula? I need to fill out this form and then I'll get right on stitching you up."

"Officer Hottie has it bad for you," she teased.

I blushed. "No, he doesn't. Trust me."

"Girlie, if there's one thing I know, it's men. And that fine piece of man wants to play doctor with you." She laughed and then clutched her side in pain.

"Here, let me help you into a gown."

I was almost afraid and yet curious to see what kind of underwear one wore with that kind of get-up.

Apparently none.

She blushed, I think. It was hard to tell underneath the thick layer of makeup she was wearing. "I had those tights on, you know," she explained, probably due to my unhidden shock. "Huh. It's not like I work at a department store anyway. I need to keep things simple. Some Johns don't like to wait for fancy lingerie to come off."

I studied her for a moment. She looked like life had been beating her up more than just whatever had happened tonight. "You could get out," I observed quietly as I turned back to the counter to get my supplies set up on the tray.

"Huh. Nursie, you have no idea what my life is like. Don't judge me for makin' an honest living."

I turned back to her. "I'm not judging you. I … just think that there's better options in life than being stabbed and shot at. I wouldn't choose that if I could help it."

"Options? Ha! What do you know about options other than what fancy college to attend so you can get this fancy job?" She jutted out her bottom lip.

"I know that sometimes it can feel like it would be easier to give up. I know that I wanted to stop caring when I found out I was pregnant at seventeen."

Her eyes widened dramatically. "No shit! You got a baby?"

"I have a child. And I went to the local community college. There's nothing fancy about my life, Lula. I was lucky to have my family help me, but I worked my ass off to finish school and then college. I wanted more for my little girl."

"Huh."

I raised the bed to sitting so she could recline more easily and handed her the form.

She wrote down what she could and held it up for me. "You don't know what you're missing. I felt that body up against mine and, damn girl, that man is all muscle."

I rolled the tray over to the bed, confused. "What?"

"Officer Hot Buns out there. I didn't get to feel his willy or anything so I can't tell you how big that is, but the rest of him was nice and hard." She wriggled her brows.

I bit my lip. I really needed to let Joe back in to hear this. "How exactly did you discover this?"

"Huh! Of course he didn't tell you that I got this gunshot wound from saving his ass."

My eyes widened and my heart started racing. I knew Joe would be in danger as a cop, but to actually hear that he was shot at. It scared the crap out of me. "You saved him?"

"You bet I did. Couldn't let a pretty face like that go to waste. And he was trying to get me out of the building. And I may have distracted him when I refused to go with him. And I may have more or less fell on top of him when I tripped us both. And they may have been aiming for me anyway. But if it weren't for me, that bullet would have definitely hit him."

I crossed over to the door and opened it with a jerk. "You were almost shot?"

Joe glared at Lula behind me and stepped back into the room. "I'm fine, Stephanie."

"You can say that again," Lula chimed in. "Nursie, just look at him."

He glared at both of us. "Are you almost done?"

"Just starting. Thought you might want to keep an eye on your witness."

He closed the door behind him and leaned against it, arms crossed. He stayed silent while I cleaned and stitched up Lula, who wailed in pain even though I had numbed her up really well.

I finished my work and said I would need a doctor to prescribe her the pain meds.

"How long is that going to take?" Joe asked.

"I don't know. It's the ER. She's not necessarily an emergency case."

"Fine. I'm going to call the station. I'll be right back." He tilted his head down and gave Lula a pointed look before leaving.

"You think he uses those handcuffs during sex?" she asked, a mischievous smile on her face.

"What?" Great. Now I would wonder about that too.

"I'd let him cuff me anytime. I mean for like sexy stuff, not like tonight."

I giggled. "I'm sure Officer Morelli would be flattered."

"Well, I bet he'd tie you up real good. You should have seen the way he was watching you work on me."

"How did you even notice with your death scene going on over here?" I asked her with one lifted brow.

She laughed lightly, to avoid hurting her side again. "I like you, Nursie."

I smiled, but then I remembered that Joe could have been shot if not for this woman. "Thank you, Lula," I said seriously.

She tilted her head. "For liking you? Girl, you need to get out more if having a 'ho for a friend is making your day."

"No, I meant for saving Joe. No matter how it happened. Thank you."

"Joe? …. Oh! Officer Hottie? I knew it! There's something going on between you, isn't there?"

I shrugged. "Not really."

"Mm-hmm. Not really, my ass."

I opened up my locket and showed her my sweet little Sophia. "This is all that is going on between us."

She reached out and pulled me to her to better see the picture. "Well then. I guess you do know what you're missin'." She smiled at me and released the locket. "She's real pretty, Nursie."

"Thank you." I closed the locket and placed it back underneath my scrubs. "I know some people through the hospital that would help you start over. Get a new life. A better life. One that doesn't make you have to hide in police custody."

"I'm not gonna testify! There's no way Lula's gonna put herself out there to be a target. I just need to lay low until they realize I'm not ratting on anyone."

"Not even after they tried to kill you?"

She stared at me for a moment. "You ever been scared of having something good?"

I felt my breath whoosh out of me. What was that about? "Yes."

She smiled sadly. "I ain't never had anything really good, Nursie. And anytime I thought I did, it turned out different."

I clutched her chart to my chest and fingered my locket. "I know what you mean. But you can't give up, Lula. You have to keep trying to find what's out there for you." I did a mental eye-roll. Mary Lou had been giving me the same speech for months. "I've been hurt really bad, but I … I don't want that to define me." For the first time, I think I realized that had been exactly what I had been doing.

She huffed. "You think I really can change?"

"Absolutely. I think anyone who is strong enough to go out and do what you do, never knowing what kind of trouble you could be getting into, is more than strong enough to make a clean start."

She shook her head a little in mock humility. "I am pretty tough."

I smiled as I thought of her reaction to her stitches. "Yeah, you are."

"Will you … will you help me?"

"I will. And you know you can call me Stephanie if we're going to be friends."

"Friends?" Her eyes widened, and I think I detected a hint of a tear.

"Girl, you need to get out more if being friends with a nurse is making your day."

She laughed again, and then scowled at me. "Ouch! You gotta stop making me laugh, Nur- Stephanie."

"Sorry," I said sheepishly.

"Was it Officer Hottie that hurt you?"

I blinked at her. "No." Then I frowned. "Well, kind of …it was a long time ago."

She nodded. "So it was someone else who hurt you real bad?"

I smirked. "Yep. My ex-fiancé."

"And Buns of Steel out there is your baby daddy?"

I blushed bright red. "Yeah."

"Girl, you need to get with that! That man out there wants you – and I mean wants you wants you – not just for a little pickle tickle. Besides, he could get that anywhere. That man looks at you like you're his …" She smiled. "Like he loves you."

I gaped at her. "I don't –"

"Nurse Plum," Dr. Mason addressed me as he walked into the room. Joe came in behind him.

Once we had Lula set up to be discharged, Joe quickly took her and left. He didn't say much to me other than he'd call me soon. But I couldn't stop wondering if Lula had seen something I had been refusing to see.

A/N: Thank you so much for reading! Would love to get some feedback before I wrap this up. I am hoping to tweak the last chapter a bit before posting.

Oh yeah, let me know what you thought about Lula!