Chapter 45: A Family Discussion
"So, what makes you want to be a neurosurgeon, Dr. Peterson?"
"It's fascinating." She replied as they walked the chart to the nurses station.
"You'll have to do better than that." Meredith rolled her eyes "All surgeries are fascinating."
"Yeah." Peterson nodded "But, well…the heart pumps our blood through our body, our bones hold us up, and our inner organs keep us alive…but the brain, well it makes us who we are."
Meredith felt a smile spread across her face as she handed Dr. Peterson the chart "You are going to make an excellent neurosurgeon."
"You think so?" She nodded "I guess I have my parents to thank, they were hard on me, but I think it's what I needed. It got me here."
Meredith rolled her eyes then, she felt something crash into her and stumbled to catch her balance. She looked down to see a kid no bigger than Madison picking himself off the floor and glaring at her.
"Stay out of my way next time!" he muttered before getting up and rushing off.
Her mouth fell agape as a grown man rushed past her with an apologetic look.
"I'm sorry, kids will be kids right?"
Meredith gasped in horror as she watched the father chase after his son. She rubbed her sore thigh where the kid hit as she started thinking about the predicament with Bella.
Derek walked into the school that Bella attended and saw her immediately after entering the office. She sat there in a chair in the corner with a long scowl on her face. He sighed and gave her a stern look as he approached her and knelt down.
"Bella I…" he stopped when he saw splotches of pink in her light blonde hair and frowned "What the hell did you do to your hair?"
"Me!" she scoffed "I didn't do crap to my hair, dad. Those little idiots who pick on me poured kool-aid in my hair after I walked out of class second hour."
Derek's face fell with anger and remorse "Is that why you got a hold of some super glue?" she nodded "Second hour was…" he looked at his watch "Three hours ago."
"Duh, dad."
Derek stood up and turned to the front desk just as the assistant principal approached.
"Ah, Dr. Shepherd." He said with a slight smile "I'm so glad that you came. I hope you see your daughters punishment as appropriate in this case."
"Certainly." He nodded "And the other children are being suspended as well?"
"No." he frowned "Bella was the only offender."
"My daughter's hair is coated in pink kool-aid." Derek frowned "I hardly call that as her being the only offender, in fact, though her actions were a little harsh she was provoked more than anything."
"Dr. Shepherd." He laughed "It's just a little kool-aid. It'll wash out."
"That's not the point." Derek muttered as he felt his anger rise.
"Your daughter's kool-aid incident is nothing compared to the humiliation of what her classmate had to endure."
"When you're nine, humiliation feels the same!" Derek growled "Unless you want this institution to undergo the humiliation of a law suit, I suggest you reconsider your punishment and selection techniques. "He turned and held his hand out "Come on Bella, lets' go."
She smirked as she took her dad's hand and giggled "And here I thought Mom was the only badass."
"Don't use that word." He muttered, she frowned "You're still in trouble but not as much."
She shrugged as they went to the car and made the short drive to the hospital. He took Bella upstairs and ushered her into the conference room then went looking for Meredith. Luckily, he didn't have to look far as she rounded the corner and nearly crashed into him.
"You were right." They both said simultaneously to each other than frowned "I am?"
"You go first." Derek said.
"You're right. I want Bella to stick up for herself, but she has to know there are limits. And if we don't give her a little discipline, she'll be running wild and knocking people over." She took a breath "You go."
"Bella needs to stick up for herself and we're wrong to tell her to take it up the ass. The kids she did that to poured kool-aid over her head and the school didn't do shit."
"Bastards!" Meredith gasped.
"We have to stick together." Derek said and gestured towards the conference room "Shall we?"
Meredith nodded and they both walked into the conference room and sat down across Bella. Meredith saw the pink in her hair and wanted to spit bullets but took a deep breath and forced a smile for her daughter.
"So." Meredith sighed "Bad day?"
"Yeah." Bella muttered "You could say that."
"Super glue!?" Meredith tried not to smile and narrowed her eyes "Seriously."
"You told me to stick up for myself."
"And I'm glad you did." Meredith said, Derek cleared his throat loudly "What you did was wrong though…creative and genius! But wrong. I want you to stick up for yourself but maybe not so harsh. Maybe try to negotiate first, then retaliate."
"You have to know Bella." Derek said, "There are consequences for your actions and they only get more severe as you get older."
"Well right now all I get is a three-day vacation." She smirked.
"You're grounded." Meredith said.
"What!"
"You'll be spending the next three days doing homework in my office. And when you're done with that, you'll be learning medical terminology until your brain hurts. And if you think you can sneak off think again, I'll hire a door guard."
"You suck." Bella scoffed.
"I know." Meredith smiled "But I love you."
Do you think that Meredith and Derek handled the situation well?