"When will she be discharged? I'm a surgeon, I know how to look after her." Ellis spoke to Richard.
"Ellis, you're barely home, Meredith needs to be watched closely." He responded.
"I can stay home with her for a week, she'll be fine." She argued.
"There's no way you can function away from the hospital and we both know it, do you really think leaving Meredith at home on her own would be beneficial? At least if she stayed here people will be monitoring her and keeping her company."
"She wants to go home and that teacher needs to go back to work. The longer Meredith's here, the longer that woman will stay."
"From what I can see she's helping Meredith, and she seems to like her."
"I don't need some stranger pretending to be her mother."
"I think you're overreacting a little, she's just trying to help."
"I don't care." She lost her temper.
Ellis sighed rubbing her forehead. "Just discharge her Richard." She walked out of his office.
Walking back to Meredith's room she prayed the teacher wasn't there, god she found her annoying. At the beginning she was glad to see that Meredith got on well with her but now as she just sat beside her bed babying her all day she was beginning to annoy her, she was practically begging for sympathy playing the doting teacher role. If Ellis would have been able to spend some time alone with her daughter maybe she would have been to visit Meredith but she couldn't bare to be interrogated or judged by someone who has no idea how to parent or apparently how to teach seeing as she chose someone else's kid over her job, something Ellis would never do. Meredith had never even spoken about her so she couldn't be that good.
"Meredith." Ellis greeted as she walked in to a half asleep Meredith.
"Mommy." She woke up quickly, wincing as she sat up.
"Careful." She snapped quietly as she helped her sit up in bed.
"My head still hurts."
"It will. You have a haemorrhage." She rolled her eyes.
The silence filled the room because Meredith didn't know how to talk to her mother, she felt like she barely knew the woman and every time she spoke, she seemed to say the wrong thing. Ellis also didn't know how to speak to her, what conversation do you have with a 6 year old? They don't know anything about surgery.
"How's your leg?"
"I can't really feel anything." Meredith told her truthfully.
Ellis frowned and quickly checked under her cast with her pen torch just to check her leg wasn't infected but it all looked good, well not good but good for the beginning of the healing process. The cast must either be a little tight or her medication was working correctly.
"Are you going to stay with me mommy?" Meredith asked as she twiddled her thumbs.
"No. I have surgery soon, I was just checking in." She nodded, "actually I should get going." She took up looking at her watch.
"Stay awake for Richard. He'll be coming in to discharge you soon." Ellis spoke before walking out.
Part of Meredith didn't want to go home, it sounded weird but she enjoyed being in the hospital because it meant she got to be around people who would talk to her and keep her company and she knew that once she got home it was more thank likely that that company would no longer be there or that the company there wouldn't be so great. The time she did spend at home with her mother she would be forced to sit and watch surgery tapes with her and the only doll she was allowed to play with was anatomy jane. Ellis believed that Meredith would amount to nothing if she wasted her time on false fantasies and princesses because that wasn't how to real world worked, Meredith recalled her once saying "if you don't grow up now, you never will", when she asked for a barbie castle for Christmas. Obviously she didn't get that barbie castle and instead she got play doctor kits, however Richard Webber had gifted her a dollhouse from him and Adele which she still played with everyday and was one of her favourite things.
Going home meant that she wouldn't see Mrs Adams until she went back to school, she didn't know how long that would take but she guessed it would be a couple of weeks. She prayed that she would be back before Richard came to discharge her so that she could say goodbye until she went back to school but if Richard came before 4pm, she wouldn't get the chance. Looking to the bedside table, she saw it was currently 2:31pm so there was still hope, she decided to go to sleep to make time go faster. When she woke up she smiled as she saw Mrs Adams, and also Dr Webber.
"You're back." Meredith smiled.
"Hi Mer, sorry I was gone so long." She smiled.
"It's okay." She looked at Richard expectedly.
"Your mom told you huh?" He smiled and Meredith nodded, a giggle coming from her.
Seeing Meredith smile and hearing her laugh made Kathleen smile, she hadn't saw it for a while.
"Ok Meredith, so your mom is going to take you home today and she's going to stay with you for the week, maybe longer, you just need to rest for this week." He said writing in her chart.
"She's being discharged already?" Kathleen asked him in a surprised tone, she had only been in the hospital for a little over 48 hours.
"On a normal occasion she wouldn't be but Dr Grey is a pioneering surgeon, she can look after her daughter from home." Richard told her.
"I understand that but.. I just don't think she should be going home yet. She's still in a lot of pain."
Meredith sat quietly watching the two.
"It's not your decision unfortunately. As for her pain, we will prescribe her oral medication for pain relief, it's not a big deal." He said closing her chart quickly.
"Meredith, your mother will be here in about 15 minutes, is all you're stuff packed?" He asked.
Kathleen frowned behind his back once again, how could her stuff be packed when she was unable to get out of bed and had been alone all day? What kind of hospital was this? She watched as Meredith bit her lip and shook her head no.
"I'll help you Mer." She stepped forward.
"That's fine. I'll be on my way, I'll see you soon Meredith when you're all better." He smiled.
"Bye Rishard." She said, not quite getting his name right. He turned back and waved.
Once he was out of the room Meredith looked to Kathleen almost awkwardly, she felt bad that she had to help her but she couldn't refuse the help. Kathleen began to pack up her dolls and the play doctor tools, every now and then looking up to check on Meredith who was watching her pink bag intently.
"You okay Meredith?" She asked stopping.
Meredith carried on staring at the bag.
"Meredith?" Meredith looked up at her.
"Yeah?" She answered.
"I asked if you were okay."
"Oh. Yes."
"Are you excited to go home?" She tried to engage a conversation.
"I guess." Meredith mumbled.
"Ready to go home Meredith?" Ellis arrived suddenly.
"Yes." She sat up straight, wincing as she did which caught Kathleen's attention.
"I packed her bag for you Dr Grey." She said with a tight smile. She hated the woman.
Ellis nodded without saying a thank you and stood there waiting. Kathleen realised that she wasn't going to help Meredith get dressed so she took out some clothes and helped her to get dressed, the girl whispered a thank you and smiled at her before hugging her, she then helped her into the wheelchair that Ellis had wheeled into her room.
"Okay Mer, you're all set!" She said trying to look enthusiastic for the girl.
"Bye Mrs Adams, see you soon." Meredith waved and smiled. It was a sad smile.
"Get well soon." She held her small hand.
Almost instantly Meredith was wheeled out by her mother and was gone.