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What four quotes reveal the relationship between Will and Louise in Medicine River?

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Four quotes in Medicine River highlight Will and Louise's relationship dynamics. First, Louise smiles at Will "the way you smile at a two-year-old," indicating her gentle patience. Second, despite Will claiming they're "just friends," he shows deep care by identifying Louise's baby as his own. Third, Will's reluctance to call Louise reflects his mixed feelings and hidden affection. Finally, Louise's question about Will's past girlfriends affirms their relationship, though she hesitates about marriage.

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In Thomas King's Medicine River, protagonist Will Sampson enters into a relationship with Louise Heavyman. Louise, however, is pregnant with another man's child, though she was not really in a relationship with the child's father. Will has to deal with that complication and with his own insecurities as he tries to make his relationship with Louise work. Let's look at some quotes that tell us about their relationship.

After Will finds out from Harlan that Louise is pregnant, he stops by her office. The conversation is awkward, with Will saying that he has just stopped by to "say hello" and see if Louise "wanted to go out for lunch." Louise smiles at Will "the way you smile at a two-year-old," but she agrees to go with him. Then, they spend a date having dinner at watching a movie. Louise ends up crying and laughing at the same time,...

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telling Will that it's "just hormones," but we can see that she is already getting more comfortable with Will, even with all his awkwardness.

The two keep dating, and Louise lets Will feel the baby kick. Will explains, though, that they are just friends. "Louise was good to be with," he says, "but there was a distance and Louise kept it." Yet Will stays at the hospital when Louise has the baby, and this shows how much he really does care about Louise and her little girl. When a nurse asks him which baby in the nursery is his, he points at Louise's little girl and says, "That one."

Will and Louise don't have a problem-free relationship, though. For a while, Will has trouble staying in touch with Louise. His friends are always encouraging him to call her, but he always says it's "too late to call." What he really means is he has mixed feelings about doing so, and he keeps saying that he likes Louise, even though he loves her and doesn't want to admit it.

When Louise's little girl has her first birthday, Will brings a handmade rattle as a gift. Louise kisses him and asks, "You ever have a girlfriend before me?" She thus establishes what she thinks about their relationship. Yet Louise is hesitant about marriage, saying that it was "always more of a burden on women than on men" and "that women always had to take on extra weight." In the end, though Will, Louise, and the baby end up as a family.

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