Little Shepherd

Chapter 48

The next day the weather is still stormy and dark. Derek, Meredith, and Josie are already at the hospital.

"Hey, I dropped Josie off at daycare annnd I found out I'm on your service today." Meredith tells Derek with a smile. Derek gives her a quick kiss.

"Perfect, I'll take any excuse to spend the day with you." He tells her with a smile. Meredith chuckles a little. 

"Josie's still pretty freaked out about the storm. I had to bribe her with lunch with both of us to even get her to stay. I know today's crazy I just..." Derek cuts her off.

"No..no..it's okay. We'll make it work. Thank you for taking her."

"Yeah, of course."

"How's your mom? Have you seen her?"

"I stopped by right before I came here actually. She's getting discharged today. The nursing home is coming to pick her up at 8." Meredith informs him.

"That's great."

The two of them head to their first patient of the day. A young woman sits in her bed, obviously uncomfortable.

"So what brings you in today Anna?" Derek asks her. They have her chart, but sometimes it's better to hear it from the patient.

"I've had a twinge in my back for a little while. I thought it would go away, but then last night my legs went numb. And this morning my back ...the pain is just too much." The girl explains, squirming in pain.

"Miss Chue, we're going to put you on a PCA pump, give you some morphine which should help control the pain." Derek tells her.

"Thank you." Anna says quietly.

"Ok. But there's a greater problem here. I've just taken a look at your MRI..." Derek starts to explain. He's in the middle of pulling the films out of her chart when a man and a woman walk in.

"Anna! Why didn't you call us before coming down here?" Her father asks angrily. Derek and Meredith look at them confused.

"I'm sorry." Anna says to the man before turning to Derek and Meredith. "These are my parents." The girl tells them.

"Hi." Derek says to them.

"What's going on?" Anna's father asks.

"I was just about to explain that Anna's MRI has shown that she has myxopapillary ependymoma. It's a tumor in her spinal canal. But the good news is that we can operate. You have a 95% chance of fully recovering if we get you into surgery as soon as possible. We can't wait another moment. With a tumor this aggressive even waiting another day puts you at risk of permanent paralysis." Derek informs them. Anna looks to her parents.

"Father?" Mr. Chue shakes his head

"No. No surgery." He replies firmly.

"Mr. Chue, without surgery Anna will be paralyzed, probably within the next 24 hours." Derek tells him.

"There will be no surgery today. We're taking her home." Anna's father insists.

"Anna needs the surgery." Meredith says, her voice full of emotion.

"And she can have it at another time." Mr. Chue continues to argue.

"Look Mr. Chue..." Derek starts to argue back, but Anna's father interrupts him.

"We are taking our daughter home." Derek looks at him and then at Anna.

"Anna, you are over 18. You don't need your father's consent." He tells her. Anna looks at her father