Chapter Eleven
Mama (Addie) Knows Best
Addison had dragged both Derek and Amelia to the Emergency room. After everything that had happened recently with the girl, she wasn't willing to play around or take chances when it came to her health.
Amelia had continued to insist that she was fine and didn't need to see a doctor, however her weak tone and inability to walk on her own called her bluff. It wasn't that she truly believed she was fine, it was more that she was terrified of being in the hospital again after what had happened last time.
Derek had made the rare - and wise - decision to keep his mouth shut and follow Addison's lead. She had proved him wrong more than once when it came to his sister, and he knew better than to pick a fight with her when she was like this.
Amelia laid her head on Addison's shoulder while they waited for the doctor to speak to them after her exam. She was sleepy and bored and she wanted to go home.
An ER doctor had completed an exam on the teen when they had first arrived - albeit a rushed one. The bumbling intern had poked her a few times before finally finding a vein and taking some blood from her. Fortunately for Amelia, he had called on an experienced nurse to hook her up to an IV of saline fluids, as well as a dose of Zofran for her nausea.
It had now been roughly two hours since they had arrived, and Amelia's IV had already run through. Yet they were still impatiently waiting for an update from the doctor on her labs. In addition to the haphazard quality of the exam, Addison and Derek had become quickly irritated with this particular doctor's bedside manner, or lack thereof. He had not been very nice to Amelia, who had squealed in pain every time he'd stabbed her with the syringe.
Amelia would have normally complained but she hadn't wanted to push it when she knew people like her social worker seemed to lurk in the halls of hospitals.
Instead she had been waiting quietly, swinging her legs back and forth like a young child. Eventually giving in to her exhaustion, eyelids falling closed as she snuggled deeper into Derek's warm hoodie and became deadweight against Addison's side.
The next thing she knew she was being shaken awake by her brother. She blinked, slowly coming back around to her surroundings.
"Is the doctor back?" she inquired sleepily, rubbing at her eyes with a sleeve covered hand.
"You just missed him." Derek commented dryly, his voice dripping with annoyance.
"We let you sleep, but you didn't miss anything. All that quack said was that your lab results indicated symptoms of oncoming influenza, and he couldn't answer any specific questions for us before scurrying off. We've been waiting for another doctor ever since." He grumbled.
As medical school students and soon to be graduates, he and his wife knew how to read lab results, and they both knew that the intern should have been able to answer the standard questions they had asked him.
"I'm making you an appointment with a gynecologist too." Addison replied, ignoring her husband and charging forward as she always did. Although she agreed with him, they had no time to whine about that right now.
"And don't argue with me Amelia, you do need this. You've never been to one before and you have been sexually active, so you are long overdue for a check up. Also, it's very common for chronic stomach pain in women and teen girls to be related to the menstrual cycle." Addison lectured, happily sharing her knowledge on the subject.
Amelia groaned but didn't fight because not only was she absolutely exhausted, but once again, she didn't want to rock the boat.
"When?" The young brunette questioned in resignation, covering a yawn with her hand.
"Waiting on Lizzie to see if her Attending is available. She's on OB rotation today and is going to join us." Addison replied, completely dampening what little shreds were left of Amelia's positive outlook.
"I want to go hoooome. What is taking so long?"Amelia whined. She was fed up and was envious of Derek who had made his escape to head home thirty minutes ago.
Morning light was streaming in through a distant window and a glance at the clock on the wall showed they had been at the hospital for over five hours now.
The fifteen year old was sitting in a curtained off section of a room, perched on an exam table that was covered in a crinkly sheet of paper. She wore a hideous gown that she was instructed to put on backwards with the front side open, gasping in horror when Addison had explained why. It did help a little that Addison was in the same get up. She had offered to get an exam first to help show it was okay.
Amelia's lack of sleep and increasing panic over the exam had her on edge, but the news that Lizzie would be joining them was the ultimate cherry on top.
She was absolutely mortified that her estranged big sister was not only privy to her apparent addiction to hospital visits, but worse, she would be accompanying her during her inaugural visit to the vagina doctor. Which according to Addison, also included the added bonus of the doctor copping a feel of her boobs. This was her nightmare. Surely Nancy and Kate were on their way as well.
The horror and disgust must have been stamped all over her face judging by Addison's response.
"Hey! Knock off the attitude miss." Addison scolded, swatting her on the leg.
"Lizzie has been trying her best, she is trying to hold out the olive branch to you." She prompted.
Amelia started blankly at her, raising an eyebrow slightly to demonstrate that she had no clue what the red head was talking about.
"It means she is making the first move to make amends with you. I know she has a long way to go to earn your trust again, but I feel like you owe it to yourself to try and have a relationship with your sister." Addison explained.
"Amelia, she cares about you so much. She pulled a lot of strings today to get you an appointment with the best OBGYN in this hospital." Addison continued, giving Amelia her signature 'Addie knows best, don't test me' look.
Both Derek and Amelia were well aware that when this particular expression appeared, they had already lost the argument.
The teen huffed, angrily gripping the hood of the giant sweatshirt she wore over her gown and tossing it over her head, covering her eyes in the process. She crossed her arms over her chest and kept her mouth shut, refusing to look at Addison while she waited impatiently for her older sister to show up. She was not pleased, and she was determined to make sure everybody knew it.
"Hey!" Lizzie cheerfully announced, making her jovial entrance into the curtained off area, followed by an older woman, presumably her Attending.
"So this is my attending, Dr Vivian Carlsmith. She's super nice Ames, you will like her, and - " she paused, catching a glimpse of one very angry, bright blue eyeball staring up at her from beneath a bulky hoodie. "- Err, or... maybe not?" She finished with uncertainty, immediately picking up on her sister's mood.
Addison swatted Amelia's leg once again, earning her own glare from the girl's one visible eye.
"She just woke up, she's grumpy, and… I think she's a little nervous." Addison explained.
Amelia rolled her eyes under the hoodie, deciding against complaining but keeping her eyes on the quiet stranger. She didn't like the idea of someone looking at her bits, and feeling her up and whatnot. She was growing more uncomfortable and anxious as the minutes ticked by.
"If you're gonna be looking at my lady parts, the least you could do is buy me dinner first." She quipped sourly, defense mechanisms at an all time high.
"Amelia!" The two older Shepherd women yelled in surprise.
Amelia simply shrugged, rolling her eyes and looking away.
"Don't worry, not the first time I've heard that one." The doctor chuckled.
"Amelia, how about we get out of this madhouse, get you two up to a private exam room, and we can go from there? If it makes you feel more comfortable your sister can hold your hand when it's your turn." Dr. Carlsmith offered, having been briefed on the situation by her intern, Dr. Elizabeth Shepherd. She was aware that Amelia was the purpose of the visit, but also that she was a very skittish first time patient.
It was not the strangest thing she had seen in her career, but it was a first and she appreciated the support the teen was given, more often than not the teenagers she saw were alone, scared and confused.
"Addie." The teen instantly replied, reaching for Addison's hand, no longer able to hide her nerves. Was this going to be worse than she thought? Was it going to hurt?
Addison interlocked their fingers and squeezed Amelia's hand, trying to soothe her. "Hey, it's okay. I'm going to go first, remember? To show you what happens?" She reminded her gently, concerned by Amelia's panicked expression.
'O-Okay." Amelia agreed reluctantly, looking much younger and smaller than she was as she shrunk down, hugging herself protectively.
Addison looked up at the female physician, silently confirming it was okay to proceed.
Addison went first with the relaxed persona of someone getting their nails done at a spa, completely unaffected by Amelia's presence.
"Okay, your turn." Addison encouraged, sitting up and hopping down from the table to grab her clothes.
"I will hold your hand every step of the way, okay?" She promised, smiling softly.
The lanky brunette nodded. She had paled considerably, and was visibly trembling with anxiety as she climbed onto the fresh sheet of paper covering the exam table.
Addison held Amelia's hand as Dr. Carlsmith began, pleased at the way the woman gently explained things to the teen. She moved slowly through each step, stopping at various points during the exam to make sure her patient was as comfortable as possible before continuing.
Amelia had remained tense and rigid the entire time. She had kept her eyes shut tight, only nodding or shaking her head when she was prompted.
"Okay, the hard part is over now, you can get dressed." Dr. Carlsmith finally announced, much to Amelia's overwhelming relief.
"I'll just need to collect another blood sample, as well as a urine sample so we can run complete labs and rule out any abnormalities. Then the two of you can be on your way." She explained smoothly, not wanting to share her suspicions until she had all the facts in front of her.
Thirty minutes after completing the physical exams, an exhausted Amelia and Addison were trudging towards the car, finally heading home. Lab results wouldn't be processed until the following day, so there was no longer a reason to hang around the hospital.
Amelia really needed sleep. She felt completely drained by the entire ordeal that night, both emotionally and physically, and her anxiety was not going away.
She was irrationally nervous that drugs might show up in her system even after all this time, and if not lingering effects from her drug abuse, then she was surely dying.
Of course, like most things Amelia wanted, sleeping had proved impossible even with the freshly washed sheets and blankets Derek had put on her bed.
She tried to keep distract herself by moving over to her desk to catch up on some studying. German was a language she had picked out for her foreign language credit. She really liked it so far, she hoped to become fluent.
She jumped in surprise when her bedroom door suddenly flung wide open. She watched as Jo flopped herself down onto her bed, Megan perching on the desk beside her.
"Cool room, little Amy." Megan decided, visually inspecting it for anything overtly embarrassing and framing it acceptable.
"By the way, what's the story with that scruffy blue eyed hottie that let us in?" Megan probed with a smirk, doing a good job of hiding the instant crush she had developed at the sight of him.
"Ugh, not you too. This always happens." Amelia grumbled, rolling her eyes.
"That was my brother Derek, who is 10 years older than me, and married. Please do not be weird about him, and more importantly don't gross me out by calling him a 'hottie' in front of me." Amelia requested, grimacing at the idea that her brother could be 'hot.'
"Have you seen your brother? He's hot." Megan challenged playfully, undeterred.
"Have you seen yours? I think he's ridiculously sexy. I'd love to tell you more about it if the topic doesn't bother you." Amelia bantered back, burying the truth in her words with her sassy tone.
Megan responded with a dramatic display of putting her finger down her throat and gagging with disgust, before ultimately catching Amelia's eye and chuckling.
"What are you guys doing here anyway? I'm surprised Derek even let you in while I'm still grounded." Amelia questioned, closing her textbook and propping her legs up on the bed.
"Addison made him let us in." Jo explained nonchalantly, lazily rising from the bed and fiddling curiously with the items on her friend's desk. "She said you could use some company."
"Wait, you're studying German? Seriously? That seems so hard." Jo noted, raising an eyebrow.
"It seemed interesting." Amelia replied. "Better than French like the rest of my siblings."
"Wait, you have more siblings? Are they all hot like Mr Good looking?! Any brothers close to my age?" Megan questioned, abandoning their brief 'brother talk' truce and wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.
Amelia wasted no time hopping up from her chair to grab a pillow from her bed, launching it at the red head.
"Stop fantasizing about my family members in front of me!" She scolded with an incredulous laugh.
"Megan, Derek is married, you can't have him; or Mark! They're too old for you. And yes, besides Derek I have three older sisters, or maybe three wolves? It depends on the full moon."
"Dang, your mom and dad were busy. Must be superheroes to raise five kids. Sounds like a lot of work." Megan mused.
Amelia shrugged, diverting her eyes and focusing on a pattern of light beaming in from the window.
"I wouldn't know, my dad is dead." She answered almost robotically. She had a lot of practice turning off her emotions when it came to this subject.
"He died when I was five, my siblings are 10 plus years older than me, and I don't live with my mom anymore. It's not that interesting so let's drop it." She deadpanned, still staring at the sun pattern on the wall.
Megan and Jo made eye contact briefly, feeling pained and a bit awkward after their friend's casual confession.
"Pizza for dinner?" Addison offered the teenage girls as they entered the kitchen.
"Derek and I aren't up for cooking tonight. I'll give you the money if you three want to go pick it up, otherwise we can order in." Addison continued, stopping as she waited for a response.
Amelia had her head angled slightly towards her friends, giggling as she continued to participate in their hushed conversation. The blue eyed brunette had her body facing Addison, attempting to pretend she was listening. In her defense, her friends hadn't even bothered to pretend.
Noticing the silence in the air, Amelia immediately registered that Addison had stopped talking about dinner and was waiting for a response. Although Amelia was starving, that could wait for a minute while she asked more important questions.
"Addie, can Jo and Megan sleepover tonight? And can Derek move the tv into my room again so we can watch movies?" Amelia asked promptly, clasping her hands together and smiling angelically.
Addison smirked and stared back at her sister, amused by her tenacity.
"Pizza for dinner, yes or no? Picking it up or having it delivered?" She repeated, ignoring Amelia's subject change and raising an eyebrow that reminded everyone who was in charge.
Amelia rolled her eyes playfully and nodded subtly as she blushed, aware that in the midst of her excitement she had rudely ignored Addison's question.
"Yes please to pizza, and definitely order in. I want pepperoni, bacon, and… Oh! Do we have any of that spray cheese? That sounds so yummy." Amelia practically drooled, temporarily casting aside thoughts of a slumber party to focus on food. She ignored the looks from the three other women, happy to discover that she was actually hungry for once.
"No, we don't have any 'spray cheese.' If you want it, put it on the grocery list." Addison answered, slightly grossed out.
"And yes, your friends can sleepover, Ames. But you have had a long 24 hours without sleep, so please don't stay up too late." She added with a knowing look as she gave her approval.
Addison was unwilling to deny Amelia any fleeting moments of happiness these days, and truthfully, her sleepover request had never been in doubt.
"Megan, you are welcome to stay over anytime, but like with Jo, I will need to speak to a parent or guardian and clear it with them first." She explained, simultaneously digging up pizza menus from a kitchen drawer.
"I do realize you are a few years older than these two, so this is probably very uncool. In our defense, even when Amy is a senior like you we will still worry about where she is at night. I assume your mom does too." Addison continued, feeling the need to rationalize.
Megan promptly agreed with a shrug, not bothered by the request since her mom already knew where she was.
Amelia had tensed up immediately after Addison had asked, cheeks flushing with embarrassment. Megan felt a pang of sadness at the sight, noticing once again how deep her younger friend's insecurities and trust issues truly were.
While waiting for her turn on the phone, Megan leaned against the kitchen counter beside Amelia, both girls watching Jo and Addison in silence. Without turning her head, she playfully knocked her hip into Amelia's.
"You will now be my mom's favorite friend of mine, by the way." She teased, turning towards her friend with a smile on her face before facing forward again.
Amelia grinned big, noticeably trying to downplay it as she bumped her hips back in return.
Megan assumed that would be the end of the topic, until Amelia broke the silence.
"I thought I was already her favorite?"
She turned back to see Amelia smirking proudly at her witty response.
The redhead gaped for a moment in surprise before tossing her head back in cackling laughter.
That right there was a glimpse of the real Amelia Shepherd. She was more than met the eye.
End Chapter
Song Title: Mama Knows Best-Tangled soundtrack.
This wasn't the original chapter title but along the way I Couldn't get this song out of my head because it seemingly was the overall theme of this chapter.