Love gives hope

Chapter 11 "their first date"

Meredith's Point-of-View

"Excellent award Ellis." The millionth kiss-ass said as they approached my mother at our table, "You deserved every bit of it."

"Thank you, George." She beamed as she looked at her shiny trophy, "Hard work always pays off."

"You do a lot of it." Dad smiled then leaned in to give her a kiss on the cheek "You deserve it."

"It'll look nice up on the shelf next to my others."

I tried not to snort, roll my eyes, or hiccup. She looked at me as if expecting some sort of smart-ass comment. I plastered on a fake smile...too fake, her eyes narrowed.

"It will do good to pay more attention and work harder. Then, perhaps one day you'll earn one of these."

"Oh." I hummed with a widening of my eyes, "I've always wanted a fancy paperweight."

Dad let out a rough sigh and shake of his head as my mother turned a few shades darker red.

"See, this is what I am talking about Richard!" she hissed, "She can't take anything seriously, she thinks it's all fun and games. We've taken it too easy on her, she needs to grow up and find out what work really is."

"You don't need to talk about me like I'm not here." I hissed, "For your information, I did work my ass off to get where I am today. If I remember correctly, you weren't there doing my homework and medical exams. I've been pulling my weight; it's a cut-throat program and I've made it this far."

"I haven't seen you in the OR lately." She snubbed.

"I'm an intern." I frowned "In a class of about 25 other interns, you expect me to be the only one ever in the OR?"

"Yes." She answered, I let out a huff and threw my hands up. That's when Dad stepped in, as usual.

"Ellis." He said under his breath, she gave him the look that said they'd fight later so he turned to me "Meredith, your mother has a point. Surgery is the most competitive program in the medical field. If you're not on the floor constantly trolling you're either not going to make it or you're only ever going to be mediocre."

"What makes you think that I'm not doing that?"

"Bailey said you've been skipping rounds all week."

"Then, let me remind, I was assigned a certain patient to work with, aside from my surgery routine." I scoffed "Remember that mother? You were the one to throw that on my already full plate."

She rolled her eyes "Then, wake up early. Go home later. I don't care what you have to do just get it done, get it all done! Hell, when I was in your shoes..."

"I know!" I muttered back "You were the perfect role model intern; you did everything by the book, and everyone looked up to you. I know I'm not as extraordinary as you!"

"Stop!" Dad shouted with a bang of his fist on the table, we both jumped in our seats and looked at our laps in humbled silence, "You two need to stop trying to kill each other. Ellis, your daughter is following in your footsteps, she's just taking her own path to do it. She will be equally a good surgeon just in her own way. Meredith, your mother is just looking out for you, and she wants you to be the best, you need to stop taking everything personally, shut up, and learn from her."

We both sat there for a silent moment before looking across the table with the same twisted lips and pouty expressions. What could I say? I'm a dead ringer for the woman...not my fault.

"Sorry." We both mumbled to each other.

"Ellis!" another admirer said as he stopped by our table, "Congratulations on your award! You deserve every bit of it with all your hard work!"