Virtuous Judgments Chapter 1
Oliver Crusher had been sitting in med bay for the past hour with a bloody nose and a black eye watching his mother run back and forth between other patients. He knew that none of them had any serious injuries and that his mother needed only to press a button on one of the various medical devices and he could get out of there and back to being a 13 year old. Oliver also knew that his mother wouldn't give him the satisfaction of escaping without a lecture about getting into fights. Oliver knew that neither his mother nor father would approve of his fighting under any circumstances. Finally Dr. Crusher finished up with her last patient and approached Oliver. "What was it this time, Oliver?" she asked slightly exasperated at yet another instance of his apparent delinquency.
Oliver was staring at his feet now fairly ashamed of himself. "They called me baldy and I-" Just as he began to plead his case his mother interrupted him.
"You just have to ignore them Oliver. You know that you can't just solve your problems with your fists. " Oliver could tell that his mother had entered lecture mode; by now he had learned how to subconsciously respond to his mother while ignoring the lecture entirely. Rather than listen to his mother rant at him Oliver began to sulk about his poor luck having inherited his father's extreme lack of hair. Everyone at school made fun of him even though he was the captain's son. It was obvious to everyone that he had been illegitimately born, as if that didn't make him enough of a target for mockers. On top of everything between his parents, his half brother being incredibly disliked and effeminate, and his bald scalp it seemed like everyone picked on Oliver; everyone but his one friend, Alexander. His mother's endless droning was almost palpable to Oliver now meaning that she was wrapping up.
"-I hope you're going to ignore those students from now on. Your father and I love you too much to let you turn up like…well, like your brother."
Oliver nodded and saw his mother sigh, as if she knew that he hadn't heard a word of her sermon. "Can I go now?" He asked expectantly.
His mother sighed again exhausted, "yes you can go". Oliver was out the door before his mother could even finish her sentence. She couldn't know for sure but Dr. Crusher expected she would be seeing Oliver again shortly.
She often worried about him being bullied too much.
"At least that kid will grow up into a man."