Eww Gross, Anatomy

 

It was the first Monday after school let out. Quinn walked into the kitchen in time to see Daria and Stan putting away the breakfast stuff. Still drowsy, she sat at the table.

 

“Morning Quinn.” Stan said. “So you’re officially a senior now.”

 

Yawning, Quinn looked at him. “Huh?”

 

“Well the school year is over. Last year you were a junior. Now you’re a part of the senior class.”

 

Quinn crossed her arms and thought about it. “You’re right. Cool.”

 

Daria poured a cup of coffee and sat down. “So Quinn. Do you need Stan or me to drop you off?” she asked.

 

Quinn looked at her mom. “Pardon?”

 

“Do you need Stan or me to drop you off?”

 

Confused, Quinn asked. “Where?”

 

Taking a sip of coffee Daria turned and looked at her daughter. “Trent’s guitar shop.”

 

“Why?”

 

While Quinn was an early riser she usually wasn’t completely awake for about an hour after getting up. As she looked at her, Daria thought this was worse then normal. She decided to remind her.

 

“You said you were going to be helping Trent this week while Lane toured with his band.”

 

Quinn finally understood. Mom didn’t know what happened.

 

“Oh. Those plans fell through. Lane’s biggest gig got cancelled so he let the smaller one go. He’s going to be home this week so Trent doesn’t need me.”

 

“Ah.” Daria said. “So what are your plans for your day?”

 

Quinn shrugged. “I don’t know. Probably just hang around here.”

 

Stan spoke up. “I know. Why don’t you go to the hospital with me? It’s going to be a slow day so you can see how things work there.”

 

“I don’t know.” Quinn said. “Hospitals aren’t really my favorite place.”

 

Smiling, Stan said, “That’s probably because the only time you’ve been to a hospital it’s been as a patient. This time you would be an observer. It’s a different experience.”

 

Quinn shook her head. “Thanks but I think I’ll just stay here.”

 

Daria got up and went to the pot to pour another cup of coffee. “That’s fine Quinn. But if you stay here you’re not going to loiter all day. You can vacuum the house and mop the bathrooms and kitchen.”

 

Fifteen minutes later, Quinn was sitting in the passenger side of Stan’s car riding to the hospital. As she looked out the window she wondered what she was going to do all day. Whatever it was at least it didn’t involve housework.

 

When they got to the hospital Stan led her to the pediatric wing. As they passed the nurses station Stan introduced Quinn to the RN.

 

“Brenda, this is Quinn, Daria’s daughter.”

 

Brenda smiled. “Quinn. It’s nice to meet you. Stan has spoken of you often.” she said.

 

This was a surprise. Quinn raised her eyebrows in shock. “He has?”

 

Nodding, Brenda said, “Of course. He says you’re very smart, and he was right, you are even prettier than your picture.”

 

Turning to look at Stan, Quinn asked, “You have a picture of me here?”

 

Smiling, Stan looked at her. “Of course. I have that picture of you and Daria I that took during your spring break.”

 

Quinn remembered the photo. “Ah.”

 

Stan turned back to Brenda.

 

“We’re going to my office for a little while. I’ll let you know before I start my rounds.”

 

“Very good.” Brenda said, and then turned her attention to Quinn. “When he starts his rounds if you would like to come here I can show a little of what we do.”

 

Quinn looked back at Stan. She thought she would be spending the entire day in his office. As he saw her confusion Stan spoke.

 

“That’s a good idea. I can’t take you on my rounds and Brenda knows more about this place than anyone.”

 

Quinn shrugged. “Well okay. If you say so.”

 

Stan put his hand on Quinn’s shoulder. “Okay. Lets leave her alone for now.” Looking at Brenda, he said. “I’ll call you in a while.”

 

Nodding, Brenda said. “Fine. I’ll see you later Quinn.”

 

When they got to Stan’s office, Quinn looked around, “This is your office? It’s not what I expected.”

 

Stan sat down behind his desk. “What exactly did you expect?” he asked.

 

Quinn slumped down in the chair across from him.

 

“I don’t know. A skeleton in the corner, anatomy drawings on the wall, the kind of stuff I see on TV.”

 

Stan smiled.

 

“Sorry to disappoint you but this is it. Just a desk, a few chairs, my diplomas, and a bunch of paperwork.”

 

Quinn shrugged.

 

“That’s okay. It isn’t your fault.”

 

Stan raised an eyebrow.

 

“Thanks. I need to do a little paperwork. If you have any questions please ask. I’ll try to answer.”

 

“Okay. Actually I do have a question.” Quinn said.

 

“Yes?”

 

“Why don’t you wear scrubs?”

 

About a half hour later, Stan paged Beverly to come get Quinn. Leaving her with the nurse, Stan said he would return in about an hour. After he left, Beverly and Quinn returned to the station.

 

Sitting there, Quinn looked over at Beverly who was doing some paperwork. “Um, pardon me?”

 

Looking up, Beverly asked, “Yes?”

 

“All I’ve seen anyone do today is fill out forms. I thought doctors and nurses cared for patients.”

 

“We do Quinn. Sadly we also have to fill out a lot of forms in the process. It seems that for every ten minutes we see a patient we have twenty minutes of documents to complete.”

 

“It sounds rough.” Quinn said.

 

“It can be at times.”

 

“Then why do you put up with the hassles of all the paperwork?”

 

Beverly smiled at Quinn.

 

“For the ten minutes we get to spend helping a patient. Now I promised to show you some things so give me a few minutes to complete this and we’ll get to it”

 

Quinn nodded. “Okay.”

 

Beverly soon finished and started showing Quinn around. As they walked through the corridors, she explained what certain rooms were for and exactly what her job was. The more Quinn learned the more she liked Beverly. She was willing to listen to her questions and answered them in a way that Quinn understood without talking down to her. Eventually they returned to the station.

 

“That was really interesting. Thanks.” Quinn said.

 

Beverly swiveled in her chair. “You’re welcome.”

 

When Stan walked by the station he saw the two women sitting behind the counter. Stopping, he looked at Quinn.

 

“So has Beverly shown you around?”

 

“Yes.” Quinn said. “She’s been very informative. She showed me a lot of interesting things here.”

 

Stan smiled.

 

“It’s like I said earlier. Nobody knows this place better than her.”

 

Beverly was blushing. “Thanks.” Turning to look at Quinn, she said. “That’s the problem with him. He’ll compliment you until you can’t take it any more.”

 

Laughing, Stan looked at Quinn. “Well Quinn, why don’t you come with me now.” he said. “I have some things to do you might like seeing.”

 

“Okay.” Quinn said, then got up and walked over to the end of the station. When she got to where Stan was, she looked back at Beverly.

 

“Thanks again for showing me around. I really did enjoy it.”

 

Beverly stood up so she could see over the counter.

 

“My pleasure Quinn. If you ever want to come back you would be more than welcome.”

 

“Cool. Bye.”

 

As the pair walked down the corridor, Quinn asked, “So where are these things you wanted me to see?”

 

They stopped at a door.

 

“They’re right here.”

 

Stan turned the knob and they went inside. When Quinn saw the lab, she was amazed. There were all types of equipment on every counter. She just stood there wondering what all the machines did. Stan saw her astonishment and knew he had done the right thing.

 

“Quinn?”

 

Not taking her eyes off the lab, Quinn said, “Yea?”

 

“Let’s go inside.”

 

Quinn quickly looked up at him.

 

“You mean I can go in there?”

 

Stan looked at her and smiled. “Of course. Follow me.”

 

As they entered, she stayed close behind him. When they got in the room she heard a voice.

 

“Stan. Good to see you made it. I have those results you needed. They’re in the bin on my desk.”

 

Looking toward the voice, Quinn finally saw a woman sitting at a microscope. Hidden behind all the different apparatus on the counter, she was barely visible.

 

“Thanks.” Stan said and walked over to get the results pages from the tray. As he went over to where the woman was, he gestured for Quinn to join him. When she caught up him they were both standing next to the lady.

 

The woman didn’t even notice them. She continued looking in the microscope. Clearing his throat, Stan got her attention.

 

“Yes Stan?”

 

“Ronni. I’d like you to meet Quinn. She’s Daria’s daughter. Quinn this is Dr. Bert.”

 

Dr. Bert turned her attention from her work to her two guests and smiled. “Oh yes. Stan has told me about you.”

 

“He seems to have told a lot of people about me.” Quinn said.

 

“Don’t worry it was all good.”

 

“That’s a relief. So do you use all this stuff?”

 

Dr. Bert nodded and said. “At some time or another. It depends on the type of test I need to run.”

 

Quinn scanned the room.

 

“Well this all looks really cool. I’d like to know what some of this stuff does.” Suddenly she put her hand on her mouth. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to say that. You’re obviously busy and don’t need me poking around.”

 

Smiling, Dr. Bert looked at Quinn.

 

“You didn’t say anything wrong. Actually that’s why Stan brought you here. He said you would probably like seeing what I do so I told him to bring you by and I would give you a small tour.”

 

Quinn looked at Stan. He nodded back.

 

Looking back at Dr. Bert, she said, “That would be great.”

 

“Okay then.” Stan said. “I’ll leave you here for a while. I need to review the results and talk to a patient. When I return we’ll get something to eat. Okay.”

 

Completely distracted by the thought of learning about the lab, Quinn barely heard him. As soon as she realized he was talking to her, she said, “Okay. Lunch, later. Enjoy.”

 

Chuckling, Stan turned to leave. “Bye Quinn.”

 

About two hours later, Stan opened the door to the lab. What he saw blew him away. Quinn and Ronni were sitting at her desk talking and laughing. He wondered which one was having the better time. Deciding that Quinn had been enough of a distraction, he interrupted.

 

“Hey you two. I hate to do this but I need to break you up.”

 

Both turned to look at him. Quinn smiled. “Oh hi Stan. Ronni was just telling me a few stories about some of the funnier moments in the lab.”

 

“Ah. Well I said I’d be back to take you to lunch. It’s pretty late but if you want, we can still get something at the cafeteria.”

 

Quinn nodded. “I am hungry. That would be nice.”

 

“Okay. Well let’s go. I’m sure Dr. Bert needs to get back to her job too.”

 

Getting up, Quinn shook Dr. Bert’s hand.

“Thanks for showing me around. I really liked it and meeting you.

“I enjoyed it too.” Dr. Bert said. “If you ever want to come back, I would be happy to show you more.”

 

Quinn walked over to Stan. Looking at him, she said. “Okay. Let’s go.”

 

As they left the lab, Quinn turned around and said, “Thanks again. Bye Ronnie.”

 

“Bye Ronnie?” Stan thought. “They sure became fast friends.”

 

The rest of the day Stan introduced Quinn around to other members of the staff. While she had never been to keen on hospitals the more she learned the more interested she became in knowing more about how the place worked. When Stan said it was time to go home she wasn’t ready to leave.

 

That evening all three were sitting around the dinner table. Early in the meal the conversation turned to what everyone had done during the day. When Daria asked Quinn about her day, that was it. Nobody else managed to get a word in for the remainder of the meal. As Quinn recounted what she had experienced Daria was pleased that she had done something more productive than merely sit around to the house all day.

 

That night, Daria and Stan were getting ready to go to sleep. As they lay in the bed watching television, there was a knock on the bedroom door.

 

“Come in.” Daria said.

 

Quinn opened the door and looked in.

 

“I just wanted to say goodnight and thank Stan for letting me go to the hospital with him.”

 

Stan smiled. “It was my pleasure. I’m glad you enjoyed yourself today.”

 

“I did. In fact I’d like to go with you again sometime. If that would be okay.”

 

“Of course. Next time I’ll arrange something special for you.”

 

Quinn seemed pleased at the idea. “That would be great.” she said. “Well I’ll leave you two alone now. Goodnight Mom, goodnight Stan.”

 

In unison, both said. “Goodnight.”

 

After Quinn shut the door, Daria rolled over to look at her husband.

 

“Well you certainly made an impression on her. She’s never been excited at the thought of going to a hospital.”

 

Looking at Daria, Stan said. “It’s the thrill of learning about what a hospital actually does I guess. I’m just glad she enjoyed herself. I hope I can make her next visit as pleasant.”  

 

Daria gave him a quick smile. “I’m sure you will. Are you going to sleep now?”

 

Stan shook his head.

 

“No I think I’ll watch a little news before turning in.”

 

“Okay.” Daria said, leaned over and gave him a quick kiss. “Well goodnight.”

 

“Goodnight.”

 

Rolling over, Daria took off her glasses, reached up and switched off her lamp.

 

Quinn pestered Stan for several days about when she could return to the hospital. Finally, Stan managed to arrange something special for her. That morning as they rode in she looked over at him.

 

“So what’s the surprise?”

 

“Sorry but you’ll have to wait until we get there. But it did take some work to let you do this.”

 

Now Quinn was really curious. If he wasn’t telling her it must be something unique. She decided to just wait until they got to the hospital.

 

“Okay. If you say so.”

 

When they got there, Stan led her down a series of corridors. Soon they were outside a set of double doors. Stopping, he turned to Quinn.

 

“Well this is it. Let’s go.”

 

Walking through the doors, the pair entered the emergency room. Quinn’s eyes grew in size as she looked around. “Wow.” was all she could say.

 

Stan smiled.

 

“I’m glad you’re pleased. After all it is an anniversary.”

 

Quinn looked up at him. “What do you mean?”

 

“It’s one year to the day that Daria brought you in here with appendicitis. That was the first time I saw both of you. I figured this was a good way to mark the occasion.”

 

This was something Quinn didn’t expect to hear. As she looked up at him, she asked, “You remember that?”

 

Smiling at her he said, “It’s an special day for me. That was when I met two people very important to me.”

 

“Sorry, but it’s just a surprise. I didn’t think guys thought about stuff like that.”

 

“Well we’re full of surprises Quinn.” Stan said. “As you get older you’ll discover that for yourself. Now let’s introduce you around.”

 

Walking through the emergency room, Stan introduced Quinn to the staff. After the introductions, Stan told Quinn to observe and ask questions but if things got too busy to stay out of the way and let everyone do their jobs. Quinn agreed, Stan said he would be down later to meet her for lunch and left her there.

 

As usual, things got a little busy and Stan wasn’t able to get downstairs until well after lunchtime. When he finally showed up Quinn was nowhere to be seen. After a few minutes, he finally found her in the same exam room where he diagnosed her appendicitis.

 

Walking into the room, Stan looked around. When Quinn saw him, she smiled. “Hey.” she said.

 

“Hey. Reminiscing?”

 

Shaking her head, Quinn said, “Not really. I was just looking around. Don’t worry, I didn’t mess with anything.”

 

He smiled. “I believe you. So how have you liked your visit so far?”

 

Quinn suddenly lit up.

 

“It’s been great. This place is amazing. One minute things are calm and a second later everyone bursts into action. It’s exciting.”

 

“Glad to hear that. Sorry I’m late but do you still want to get lunch anyway?”

 

Looking at the clock, Quinn suddenly realized it was well past noon. She had become so involved in everything she hadn’t realized it was so late. Looking at Stan, she said, “Yea. I guess I am a little hungry.”

 

“Very well. Let’s go.”

 

As they left the room he looked at her. “I tell you what. It was probably a full day already. Why don’t you just come back to my office instead of back here? Things are slow enough upstairs today that I can show you around a little more.”

 

She didn’t want to leave just yet but decided it would probably be better. She had managed to stay out of the way but still felt she was a small bother to everyone.

 

“Okay. Just let me thank a few people before we go.”

 

Just like after her last visit, Quinn couldn’t stop talking about all she saw. While Daria was pleased she had a good time she had to remind her they were eating and not to be so descriptive. As they continued discussing the day, Quinn dropped several not so subtle hints to Stan she would like the visits to become more regular. After a while, Stan finally had enough of her rather blatant requests and offered to see if he could arrange more visits.

 

True to his word, he managed to get Quinn there about twice a week during the summer. With every visit she became more familiar with the hospital and the staff. Before too long it became such a routine that people were worried on the rare times when Quinn didn’t show up.

 

One afternoon, Quinn was sitting in Stan’s office when she heard a familiar voice. “Well Miss Morgendorffer. It’s nice to see you here.”

 

Turning around in the chair, she saw Dr. Willis standing in the doorway.

 

“Dr. Willis?”

 

“Hey Quinn. It’s been a long time. Nice to know you remember me.”

 

Shrugging, Quinn said, “Well it’s difficult to forget the person who took out your appendix.”

 

Laughing, Dr. Willis smiled. “You’ve got a point there.”

 

Quinn smiled at him. “So what do we owe to your visit today?”

 

“I’m here at Stan’s request.”

 

“Really?” Quinn asked, then turned to look at Stan. Stan nodded. Turning her attention back to Dr. Willis she asked. “May I ask why?”

 

Dr. Willis liked the fact Quinn was being so proper.

 

“He said you’ve really developed a strong interest in everything here.”

 

Quinn nodded.

 

“Well since you have become so interested, I was wondering if you would like to observe an operation tomorrow.”

 

This came as a shock to Quinn. She definitely didn’t expect to hear that. With all of her visits, the one place she stayed clear of was surgery. She figured they didn’t need a seventeen-year-old girl hanging around. Now she had a chance to see a real operation. While she was excited at the thought, she wasn’t completely sure she was ready for this experience.

 

“What kind of operation?”

 

“Nothing unusual. We’re doing a routine gall bladder procedure. It should be interesting for you though.” Seeing she was nervous at the idea he added, “But if you don’t feel ready…”

 

Quinn quickly realized this was the moment of decision. Nodding, she said, “Okay. I’ll see you in the morning. As long as you are sure I won’t be in the way.”

 

“Don’t worry Quinn. It will be fine. I’ll see you around eight tomorrow. Okay?”

 

“Okay.”

 

The next morning, Quinn was up bright and early. The more she thought about what she was going to see, the more excited she got. As she rode with Stan to the hospital she grew more and more anxious.

 

When she finally got to the surgical wing, she met Dr. Willis at the nurse’s station. Seeing her, he smiled. “Hey Quinn. Are you ready.”

 

Smiling back, she said, “Ready as I’ll ever be.”

 

Closing the chart he had in his hands, he looked at her. “Fine.” Gesturing across the counter, he said, “This is Nurse Jones. Follow her. She’ll get you dressed and ready.”

 

Quinn didn’t understand. “Dressed and ready?”

 

Dr. Willis nodded. “Yes. If you’re going into the room with us you need to be dressed in something other than that.”

 

She couldn’t believe what she had heard. “You mean I’m going to be in the operating room with you?”

 

“Of course. What did you think?”

 

Quinn shrugged. “I figured I’d watch behind a window or something like that.”

 

Dr. Willis chuckled and said, “Not here. If you see this it’s in person. Now just follow Nurse Jones and she’ll get you ready and explain a few rules you will need to follow while in there. Okay.”

 

Nodding, Quinn said, “Okay.” and followed the nurse down the hall. 

 

The operation was amazing. Quinn’s nervousness was quickly gone after the procedure started and she began to see what was happening. Because it wasn’t a normal thing to have a juvenile in the room with the surgeon, she was required to stay a specific distance from the table but from the angle she was at still managed to see a good bit. When the procedure was done she returned to Stan’s office.

 

Looking up, Stan saw Quinn standing in the doorway. She was still wearing scrubs and had her regular clothes under her arm. Leaning back in his chair, he couldn’t resist making the comment. “Well, if it isn’t Dr. Quinn, Teen Girl Surgeon.”

 

Closing her eyes, Quinn gritted her teeth at the lame joke. “Very funny.” she said.

 

“Sorry.” Stan said. “Well come in and sit down.”

 

Walking into his office, she slumped into the chair. After she was comfortable Stan looked at her. “So did you like seeing the operation?”

 

Quinn’s face lit up. “Oh yea. It was so cool.” For the next couple of minutes she told Stan all about what she got to see. He had seen the procedure several times but patiently listened as she described the operation. He was quietly pleased at how excited she was about learning everything. When she was done he leaned back in his chair.

 

“It sounds like you had a good time this morning.”

 

“I did.”

 

“I just have one question.”

 

“Yes?”

 

“Why are you still wearing scrubs?”

 

Quinn rolled her eyes and explained that Dr. Willis gave her the scrubs to remember her experience and she wanted to wear them the rest of the day. While it was unusual, Stan figured there was no harm as long as she stayed out of sight of the patients so she wouldn’t be mistaken for a staff member. Deciding the safest place for her was in the lab, he got on the intercom and paged Dr. Bert. Ronnie was more than happy to have Quinn join her for the day and in short notice Quinn was on her way there.

 

Later that day as they rode home, Stan spoke up. “Uh Quinn. I know you’re excited about what you saw but I think it would be a good idea not to share as much information about the operation as you did with me with Daria. You know how she feels about shop talk.”

 

She knew he was right. While Daria had put up with a lot of her hospital stories she probably wouldn’t be to pleased to hear all the details of today’s adventure. “You’re right.” she said. “I’ll be careful.”

 

“Thanks. It’ll make things easier on all of us.”

 

That Saturday, Quinn said she had something to do so Stan went to the hospital alone. Around mid-morning Daria went into the kitchen to see Quinn sitting at the table with papers all over the surface. Daria knew what Quinn was doing and sat down to see if she needed any help.

 

“So how are the college applications going?”

 

Quinn looked up from her writing.

 

“Okay. It’s just tough. Now that I’ve finally decided what I want to major in it’s difficult deciding which universities I should apply to.”

 

This caught Daria completely by surprise. For all her junior year Quinn fretted over what she should major in. After months of thought she decided to go with liberal arts to give her time to decide what interested her most. Now it seemed she had changed her mind again.

 

“Really?” Daria said. “That’s interesting. What do you want to major in? If I may ask.”

 

“Sure. I’ve decided on pre-med. I want to try to be a doctor.”

 

Daria was afraid of that. Quinn was a smart girl but it would be a tough road becoming a doctor. She wasn’t completely convinced Quinn would have the commitment to follow the course. After a few seconds, she decided to discuss it with Quinn a little.

 

“That’s great Quinn. I just want to know. Are you completely certain of this? It’s not easy becoming a doctor.”

 

Quinn smiled. She knew her mom was going to be a tough sell on this so she had her argument ready.

 

“At this time I want to try. I’ve talked to the doctors at the hospital and seen a lot of what they have to do. I know it won’t be easy. I don’t know everything involved but it’s something I feel I can do. Plus the first few years of college will be fairly general. Should I change my mind it will be easy to switch majors.”

 

Daria was impressed. Quinn’s argument was good. Figuring she had to decide her own path, Daria stood up, walked over and gave Quinn a hug. “You’re right Quinn. I know you can do anything you set your mind to. If you feel this is what you want to do I know you’ll succeed.”

 

Quinn looked at Daria and smiled again. “Thanks Mom. Now I need to get back to these applications. I might already be too late with them.”    

 

Later that evening, Daria walked down the hall to her room. As she passed Quinn’s room she noticed the door was open. This was very unusual. The only time the door was open was when Quinn was gone or wanted Daria to see her. Since she knew Quinn was home she stuck her head in the door.

 

“Quinn?”

 

Spinning around in her desk chair Quinn looked at her mom. “Oh hi. I was about ready to call you.”

 

“What is it?”

 

“I’m getting ready to transmit my applications to the universities. I’m nervous and wanted you to be here. I need moral support.”

 

Walking into the room, Daria went over and put her hand on Quinn’s shoulder.

 

“Okay. I’m here. Ready when you are.”

 

Quinn gave her mom a nervous look. Turning her head back to the screen, she grabbed the mouse and moved it to the transmit button on the screen. When she had the arrow in place she closed her eyes, gritted her teeth and clicked the button.  A second later, she opened her eyes when she heard the ping indicating her applications had been sent.

 

Taking a deep breath, she looked up at Daria again.

 

“Well it’s done. Now I wait.” Reaching up she took Daria’s hand off her shoulder and held it. “I hope I did the right thing.”

 

Daria took her other hand and wrapped her arms around Quinn.

 

“I know you did Quinn. I’m sure everything will be fine.”

 

As she sat there with Daria’s arms around her, this was the most certain and calm Quinn had felt in days. She knew her mom would be there whenever she needed support and this was one of those times.

 

“Thanks Mom.” she said. “I love you.”

 

Daria leaned over and kissed Quinn on the cheek.

 

“I love you too Quinn.”

 

The summer was quickly coming to a close. Quinn managed a few more visits to the hospital with Stan but after school began she started becoming involved in activities related to her new status as a senior. She still managed at least one visit to the hospital each week but they were usually after school or on the alternating Saturday when Stan went in. In spite of her reduced presence there, she was becoming more convinced that she had finally chosen the right career for herself.

 

One evening, a few weeks before spring break, Daria got home from work. As she opened the door she immediately had a pair of arms wrapped tightly around her. As she hugged back she heard Quinn crying. Immediately she became concerned.

 

“Quinn? Is everything okay?”

 

Letting go, Quinn stepped back to look at her mom. Wiping her eyes, she said, “I got home and there was a letter from the university.”

 

“Oh no. She didn’t get accepted.” Daria thought. Walking with Quinn into the living room she asked. “What did it say?”

 

They both sat down on the couch. Quinn was still worked up so she just handed Daria the envelope. Daria slowly removed the letter and read in a low voice. “Dear Ms. Morgendorffer, It is our great pleasure to…” after a few more words Daria dropped the letter and hugged Quinn again. “You got in. Congratulations. I’m so proud of you.”

 

Quinn closed her eyes and hugged Daria back. “Thanks Mom.”

 

Sitting back, Daria looked at Quinn. “This is a time to celebrate. You call Grandma and Grandpa and I’ll call Stan. We’re going to go out to dinner. Since you’re the guest of honor, you choose the place.”

 

An hour later, all five were sitting around a table at a seafood place Quinn really liked.

 

After the waiter took their orders and left they started talking to pass the time. Helen reached over and hugged her granddaughter.

 

“Sweetheart. I’m so proud of you.

 

Jake joined in. “Yea Kiddo. We’re both proud of you.”

 

Quinn smiled at both of them. “Thanks.”

 

Stan spoke up. “Quinn. I’m very happy for you too. Now I have another surprise for you.”

 

Looking at Stan, she wondered what he had for her. “Yes?”

 

“Well Quinn. When I learned you were planning on majoring in pre-med I started talking to the administrator. He has been very impressed with your interest in the hospital and wants you to come in sometime soon. He wants to talk to you about a part time job this summer.”

 

Quinn perked up even more than she already was. “Really? Doing what?”

 

Stan gave her a quick smile. “I don’t know, but it will be a good foot in the door to your new career.”

 

“When can I talk to him?”

 

“I’ll make an appointment for after school next week. Okay?”

 

Quinn nodded.

 

“That would be great. Thanks.”

 

That evening, Daria and Stan were getting ready to call it a night. As they sat there in bed watching the news, Quinn stuck her head in the doorway.

 

“Mom, Stan. I just wanted to say goodnight and thank you for dinner.”

 

Daria lowered the volume on the TV. “You’re welcome Quinn. You earned it. We’re really proud of you.”

 

“Thanks. Well goodnight Mom. Goodnight Stan.

 

Daria said, “Goodnight.”

 

Stan smiled. “Goodnight. Dr. Morgendorffer.”

 

Quinn laughed. “Goodnight.”

 

The End

 

As usual, Daria belongs to MTV. This was written for my own amusement.