Bill did not at first see the changes in her face. He poured some water in a cup and placed it in front of her. Then he searched the cupboards. There might just be some liquorice root in the house. "Ye should 'ave told us, lassie. We could 'ave gotten ye sum't from t' chemist," he said in reply while he searched.

Concluding that there was none, he finally turned around and noticed her face. She looked miserable... "I'll be right back," he said and he went to fetch water from outside and rinsed the vomit away as well as he could. It nearly made him gag, but it had to happen anyway and at least he could give her a moment to calm down without him potentially saying anything that would make it worse.

When he returned, however, she looked like she was even closer to tear. Bill rubbed his lip nervously. Suddenly, his daughter-in-law got up, apologized and ran upstairs. He let her, for he stood there dumbfounded for a few seconds. Then he followed her up and knocked on the door of Joe's room. "Pearl? What's wrong, child?" He was very confused.