Debbie had returned the bracelets to Tabitha. And Tabitha had accepted them, which meant that she no longer thought of her as a daughter-in-law.
Elsie was amiable and caring. She had helped take care of Piggy whenever Debbie needed a favor. Now that Debbie and Ivan were married, she could truly call her "Mom."
"I can't reach Ivan. Can you have him call when he gets home from work?" Elsie asked.
"I will," Debbie promised.
"Okay. It's Piggy's naptime. Talk to you later."
"All right. Bye, Mom. Bye, Piggy."
Piggy waved at Debbie happily. "Mommy, bye-bye."
Debbie blew a kiss to Piggy before hanging up.
'Little one, sorry, Mommy can't spend time with you right now, ' she thought sadly.
When she arrived back at the ward, she sat beside the bed. To her surprise, a moment later, Niles walked in. She had forgotten he worked at this hospital.
"Hi, Little Pepper," he said to her quietly.
Debbie raised her eyebrows. "Why do you call me that?"
Niles replied, "Damon calls you Pepper Nian a lot, so I guess it sounds natural."
"Why does he talk about me? He doesn't like me, so I bet he bad-mouths me a lot," she wondered, one hand cupping her chin.
Niles shook his head. "No. He's a hothead, but he's okay. He likes you, you know."
Debbie laughed. "Oh, come on. I'm not dumb. Why are you here? Don't you have some rounds to make?"
"No. I heard you were here, so I came to see you. Don't worry about Mr. Wen. He is expected to recover quickly."
"Thanks."
Niles stole a glance at Debbie as he adjusted Ivan's IV. Then he asked in a whisper, "But you like Carlos. Or am I missing something? Why did you marry Ivan?"
He had been curious about this for a long time. He hadn't lost any sleep over it, but it was a mystery. Debbie used to say she loved Carlos, so why marry Ivan?
Debbie smiled and tucked Ivan's hand under the covers. "Just because I love him doesn't mean I have to marry him, right? We can't control everything. And while we think lovers are supposed to be together, sometimes, they can't be."
Niles disagreed. "I call bullshit. Why can't they be together? Who else should they be with? The people they hate?"
"There are lots of people with happy endings. You'll find the one someday, I'm sure. But not me and Carlos."
Niles sat down on a corner of the bed. "So you aren't afraid Carlos might be jealous? You take care of Ivan day and night." He was sure Carlos was jealous. Actually, Carlos told him that Debbie was here in this hospital. Although Carlos hadn't said it in so many words, Niles understood that he told him this because he wanted him to check on her. That was why he stopped by the ward.
Debbie looked at him and smiled. "Jealous? He has Stephanie. No need to be jealous over me."
"Wait a minute. I thought you guys were an item? What happened? Is it just because he lost his memory?"
"Of course not."
Niles wasn't surprised at her reply. "So what's going on? I might be able to help," he said excitedly, moving closer to her.
"What's going on?" a mellow voice mocked. "Looks like a doctor who's too busy playing matchmaker to attend to his patients."
Debbie knew who it was, but Niles didn't. He got mad. Without looking back, he snapped, "But not too busy to pack you off to the psycho-ward, you meddling brat."
The next moment, the ward suddenly became quiet. When Niles turned his head, both he and Irene were stunned at the sight.
Irene took off her glasses and looked at Niles with wide eyes. "Debbie, where did you meet this handsome young man?"
Hearing that, Niles decided not to be angry anymore. He asked Debbie happily, "Who's this hottie? You know her, Debbie? Why didn't you introduce us before?"
Their abrupt change of tone puzzled Debbie. She shrugged.
"What happened to my brother?" Irene asked. She looked at Ivan and took his hand sadly.
"He's a lot better now. Don't worry," Debbie consoled her.
Something in the back of Niles' memory came to the fore. He remembered when he and Debbie first met, she mentioned a singer named Irene.
That would be Ivan's sister, Debbie's sister-in-law.
"Thank you for taking care of him, Debbie." Irene hugged the young mother tearfully.
Debbie smiled. "He helped me a lot. Time to return the favor." And it was true. Taking care of him was the least she could do.
However, Niles protested strongly, "Only married a couple of days, and already you're getting all mushy! What would Carlos say?"
Debbie wasn't annoyed. "I told you he got engaged. He has no time for me."
Irene was mad. She wiped her eyes and turned to Niles. "Hey, you! Quit trying to break them up! It makes you less cute."
"Fine. I'll go. Bye."
Irene thought about it for a second and then asked, "Hang on. What department are you in?"
"Why?" Niles wondered.
"If you don't tell me what department you're in, how am I supposed to know what's wrong with me?"
Debbie was speechless at her words.
Niles was amused. He laughed and told her, "You don't need an appointment. I can give you my diagnosis now—lovelorn."
Irene rolled her eyes at him and waved her hand with a wry smile. "Off you go."
Niles shoved his hands into the pockets of his uniform and flipped his tongue to make a noise to draw her attention. "Listen up. I'm part of the surgical department. Niles Li."
Irene winked at him. "Got it. I'll come see you."
Debbie asked her, "Did you come to see your brother or to hit on hot doctors?"
Watching Niles' receding figure, Irene giggled. She put her arm around Debbie's and said with an charmed expression, "Debbie, help me. I think I'm in love."
Debbie was lost for words.