Somebody's Baby

[drownondryland]

Though Meredith neither expects nor needs to fill the empty clinic shifts herself, having more than enough volunteers in need of something to keep them busy, she's still fallen into a habit of taking them on when she's around, and that's more often than not. The schedule's in constant flux, one month nearly full, the next slowly emptying out, and

Comments

[justsookie]

This is mortifying

[drownondryland]

She has to assume the woman means personal for herself, not for Meredith, unless her day just got a whole lot weirder. It's not wholly out of the question here, after all, that it has. The nervousness around her makes Meredith thinks this is something else, though, and she does her best to make the smile that prompts into something friendly as she gets to her feet.

"Of course," she says, leaning back against the counter briefly, stories and paperwork forgotten for the moment. That's the other thing, the reason to be thrilled for the presence of a patient - not the work, but the way it means she hasn't got room in her head to think about her own life, about choices she hasn't made and doesn't know how to make. "I mean, of course you can ask. Don't worry, I'm kind of used to weird."

[justsookie]

On some level, Sookie supposes it makes sense, that a doctor would be accustomed to coming across strange things now and again, if medical dramas are any indication. In Bon Temps, though, most people went in for the flu, some of the jocks for athlete's foot, and anyone else simply stopped by to dip their hands into the plastic jar to grab a handful of free condoms (no one really knew how old or reliable they were, but better than shelling out money, and better than nothing at all). Actually, when she thinks about it, birth control should probably be one of the more normal requests that a clinic gets, a thought that makes Sookie regret calling it 'weird'- how much more juvenile can she make herself seem?

The only reason why it's strange to her is because, well, she ended up giving up hope at some point at the thought of having kids at all. Is it fair for a woman to have children when she knows she'll never be able to keep out of his or her head? Sookie's not so sure

[drownondryland]

It's actually almost adorable, so far as Meredith's concerned. The woman can't be much younger than herself, after all, and it's a topic she'd expect most people to know something about by this age. But then, she amends, life on the island is different from life anywhere else, and they don't exactly have the best publicity.

"There is," she says, nodding, managing to keep her smile friendly instead of teasing. It's a difficult topic for some people, she has to respect that. "There's a pill the lab's developed that's proven effective. It's actually, uh, it's for men, though, so you might want to talk to your boyfriend about coming in for a physical and a prescription. I mean, assuming this is for..." For all she knows, it's just advance preparation or the woman's got better luck with one night stands than Meredith ever had around here. If she got it right the first time, she just has to hope she's got better luck with talking to her boyfriend, too.