Stephanie remains rather vague about herself.

The following few days progressed pretty much the same, and although having the body of your dead mother laying in the bed next to you could be a painful reminder of what you'd lost at times, you were gradually becoming more used to seeing her there, as well as more used to the idea that she was now someone else. The two of you also started to chat a little more, in between the various visits from all the doctors and nurses. On one rather awkward occasion the two of you had to pretend rather briefly to actually be mother and son, after a nurse that was covering someone else's shift came in to administer your medication and noted the name 'Connors' on both your charts. Though you had both tried to laugh it off after she'd left, it had been very weird and you could tell Stephanie was more than a little uncomfortable (as were you if the truth be told).

"I suppose we should be getting used to that," she said, after the faux laughter had died down and you both realized that there would be a lot more pretending to come in the future.

"Yeah. I guess to everyone else we are mother and son now."

"Shit! I never imagined I'd be a mom. Especially not to three kids! If Summer could see me now..."

"Summer?" you asked, picking up on the wistful aside, "Is...I mean, was that one of your friends?"

"Yeah. My best friend," Stephanie told you fondly, her happiness quickly dissipating as reality came a calling once more, "But I suppose as far as she's aware I'm dead now. My old life's completely gone. My house, my friend's, my career...all gone."

This was the first time you'd heard her make mention of her career, and figuring it was as good an opportunity to find out a little more about her without seeming like you were intentionally prying, you decided to ask, "What was it you did? My dad overheard someone say you were a model or an actress..."

This made her ears immediately prick up as she looked at you a little unsure, seemingly startled by the question. "Um...yeah. I guess you could say I was an actress of sorts," she told you, somewhat cryptically.

All you heard was 'actress' though, immediately bringing to mind names like Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. "Wow. Were you like famous? In any big movies or anything."

"Uhm...I, uh...no. Not really no," came her reply, after a few false starts, "I was just in crappy little infomercials and stuff. Nothing you'd ever have seen."

"Oh," you said, a little disappointed. "Still, I guess it was a lot different from my mom's life - being a housewife and a mother."

Her reply to this wasn't quite what you expected, as she gave a little chuckle and said somewhat knowingly, "That it definitely was." as if there was some joke behind it that you weren't privy to.

Ignoring that for now however, getting the feeling she didn't really want to reveal much more about her life and work (it obviously being a rather painful subject for her), you ceased with the questioning and instead started preparing her to meet with your little brother and sister the following day, something she was quite nervous about. She hadn't had much experience with kids as far as you could make out (even though technically David and Tabitha weren't really kids anymore), and the whole close family unit seemed pretty alien to her, so you did your best to try and help make the first meeting with your siblings a little easier on her.

When the time finally came and the two of them appeared, accompanied by your father, as well as Dr. Saunders - who always seemed to be lurking around (presumably to make sure everyone signed their waiver) - Stephanie seemed slightly more relaxed than she had been when first meeting you, but it was still very difficult for everyone. David and Tabitha had a similar reaction to yours, and your father was a lot more quieter this time, leaving it mostly to you and to Dr. Saunders (once again) to keep the conversation going. Thankfully after speaking with Stephanie for a little while and discovery that she was pleasant enough, if a little guarded, Tabitha - who had always been the loudest and most outspoken of your siblings - began firing question after question her way, trying to discover as much about her 'pretend' mother as she could. Surprisingly Stephanie did answer some of these queries, telling her rather vaguely about her work as an actress in infomercials, as well as answering a few 'girly' ones about clothes and music and stuff.

"How'd I do?" Stephanie asked after they'd left, letting out a sigh of relief that it was over.

"Good! I think they liked you. Tabitha especially," you replied with a reassuring smile, glossing over the initial awkwardness, as well as the weird stares she'd received from your brother - who wasn't exactly the most socially adept guy at the best of time.

"Well, I have some good news Ms. Burke," Dr. Saunders announced, walking back in the door a moment later, "Though I suppose I should call you Mrs. Connors now that all the paperwork is out of the way, and seeing as you'll need to get used to hearing it yourself." This made Stephanie's face turn a little pale, having yet another piece of her old life chipped away in front of you, as the doctor then continued. "Myself and Dr. Kerry are obviously more than pleased with how well the procedure went, as well as the surgery to remove the piece of shrapnel leftover from the accident. And seeing as that appears to be healing nicely too, we both think it's about time for you to head home...to your new home that is."

"You're discharging me?"

"Yes. I've just spoken to Mr. Connors outside and he has everything ready for you there. He can come collect you in the morning. If you're ready that is?"

"Well I don't know about 'ready'," Stephanie sighed, resigning herself to her fate, "but I guess now is as good a time as any. Goodbye old me, hello Mrs. Jennifer Connors."

This seemed to please Saunders who gave her an enthusiastic smile. "Excellent. I'll let Mr. Connors know."

Just as he turned and was about to head out the door, and just as you were left sitting there wondering why he'd made no mention of you, Stephanie piped up, asking with a real sense of concern (presumably worried about facing life as a housewife and mom without her most recent ally to help her), "Wait! What about Tim? Is he being discharged too?"