The doctor''s footsteps halted. He looked down at the little boy before him.


    "...Is there something else?" Keen gently closed the door behind him and asked, "Doctor, I was asleep when the other doctor came to check on Mommy this morning, so I don''t know if she''s fully recovered. I wanted to ask you, is Mommy really getting better?"


    The man paused, then hedged. "She should be."


    "So, are there any special precautions I should take when looking after her?" Keen pressed. "Mommy doesn''t have much of an appetite right now because she''s sick. What should she eat to get better faster?"


    Silence descended.


    Keen waited for a moment. When the man didn''t speak, he looked up at him in confusion.


    "Doctor, why aren''t you saying anything?"


    A few secondster, the man''s muffled, hoarse voice emerged from behind the mask.


    "...Have some water."


    Keen looked bewildered. "That''s it?"


    Ignoring the question, the man said, "You should go take care of your mother. I''m leaving now."


    Without waiting for Keen to react, the man turned and walked away withrge strides. Keen called after him a few more times, but the man paid him no mind.


    Keen scratched his head, baffled, and muttered to himself, "That doctor was really weird."


    ***


    The next day, at Ste''s insistence, she was finally discharged from the hospital. Neville and Haynes came to pick her up.


    Foreman, who had been repeatedly thrown out of the hospital by Abby, shamelessly tagged along with Haynes.


    Unlike Abby, Ste showed no disgust or animosity toward Foreman. She was polite and courteous, as if they were merely acquaintances.


    That quiet distance between them made Foreman feel even worse. He would have preferred Ste to scold and me him like Abby did father than treat him with such detached indifference.


    Abby''s harsh words at least showed she cared. But Ste''s calm, cid demeanor made Foreman panic.


    Real indifference wasn''t dodging someone; it was being able to face them calmly, without so much as a flicker of feeling.


    Keen and Marvin had alsoe for


    Ste''s discharge. Their arrival


    helped to break some of the awkward tension. The two boys were no longer at odds with each other and could now coexisto peacefully.


    Since both Neville and Haynes had helped out while she was in the hospital, Ste invited everyone to a meal. Of course, Foreman shamelessly followed along.


    Abby made a few sarcastic remarks, but Foreman ignored thempletely. With so many people present, Abby couldn''t exactly kick him out, so she had to let it go.


    At the restaurant, the seats next to Ste were upied by Marvin and Keen on either side. Abby made sure to push Haynes and Foreman to the seats farthest away from Ste.


    Haynes looked helpless. It wasn''t that he wanted to bring Foreman, but he was worried about what schemes Foreman might puff left unsupervised. It was better to keep him in his sight.


    After the meal, Ste got up to pay the bill.


    However, the receptionist informed her that someone had already paid.


    Ste was surprised.


    Could Neville or one of the others have paid? But she didn''t recall seeing anyone leave the private room.


    As Ste stood there wondering, the receptionist pointed to a spot not far away. "It was that gentleman who paid."


    Ste followed the receptionist''s gaze and was, once again, stunned.