I was not royal, by any means. No, not a princess, nor a queen. Me? I was more like the village freak. The out cast, the black sheep, the weirdo, find a name for it, you've got a perfect description of the one and only Royal Shepard. But no, no I was not royal. Not in my eyes, anyway. How could, I, be royal? A princess's mother loves her. A princess's mother gets pregnant with her on purpose. A princess is raised in a castle among her father and her mother, loving parents who shower her with presents and love, and hugs and kisses. A princess, once day, becomes a queen. And I? I was not royal. No, not a princess. I was my mothers worst nightmare. My mother was not a queen. She was drunk, and sloppy, and got pregnant on accident with another man that was drunk, and sloppy, at a night gone wild in a bar. I was raised in my dinky bedroom in the attic, all by myself. Only reason I came out slightly alright was my brother, Derek, and my sister, Amelia's problem. I was not raised with loving parents that showered me with presents and love, I was raised with a mother that showered me with blasts of cold water from the hose when I misbehaved outside in the backyard, and then dirt so that my being was covered with mud, and I'd sit that way for hours, crying on the back door step. I'd sit that way until Derek or Amelia came home and bundled me in their arms. I was never showered with hugs and kisses by my mom or dad. I got that from my two siblings. I had three more, that despised me as much as my mother did. They were always kiss asses. And for a moment I was happy, well maybe not a moment. I was happy for three years, but it all felt so fast. Derek said he was going to try to get custody of me, he promised he'd take care of me. But that was three years ago. Today, I'm sixteen. Then, I was thirteen. I was skinny, and frail, and malnourished and dehydrated and hated by my family. My mother hated me so much, that my happiness was her worst nightmare. She sent me away to a boarding school in Canada, hoping to be rid of me for the rest of my life. Little did she know, her youngest daughter, her worst nightmare, was highly intelligent and skipped three grade levels in school. When I was supposed to be in eighth grade I shot my way up into eleventh. I graduated at fourteen, with a full ride into college. Yes, so I started college at fourteen in Washington. I was going to be a surgeon, just like my brother and sister. I didn't have plans on seeing them again, I figured they'd forgotten about me. That was, until a month ago. I'd have fainting spells in class, massive migraines. I needed a hospital. I needed a doctor, and my professor told me about Derek Shepard. I merely laughed. He asked if I knew the doctor, I'd been snarky and told him to bite me. Of course I knew him. He was my brother.
No. I was not royal. I was anything, but royal. But my name was Royal, Royal Shepard. Sister of neurosurgeons Amelia and Derek Shepard, and for the first time in years, I was about to see my brother. My feet were bouncing up and down, the ground of the hospital beneath them. I was nervous. Very nervous, more nervous than I needed to be. He was my brother after all. But regardless, I was nervous. My breath was shaky, my eyes flicking back and forth. So, when I felt a tap on my shoulder I jumped about five feet in the air and squealed. I put a hand to my chest as I noticed it was just a doctor. An attractive doctor, at that. "Oh, I'm so sorry! Don't think I'm crazy."
He laughed heartily. "I don't think you're crazy, I probably freaked you out there, sorry. I'm Dr. Hunt. Are you looking for someone?"
"Yeah." I nodded. "I am, actually. Can you help me find the floor for neurosurgery? I can get to them myself, I just need to know where their office is."
"Sure." He agreed. "Let me take you to the elevators. Might I ask who this surgeon is?"
"Derek Shepard." I responded.
His eyes widened, and then his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. He definitely thought I was insane, although I couldn't quite understand why. "Um...do you mean Amelia?"
"How do you know Amelia?" I asked.
"She's my wife?" He said questioningly.
"Well shit." I crossed my arms. "She got herself a husband."
"How do you know Amelia?" He asked, and began to lead me to the elevators.
I quickly followed. "She's my sister."
"I didn't know Amelia had a younger sister." He mumbled.
I shrugged. "Not surprising. I'm not exactly the family treasure. Although I don't know why she'd bother trying to hide my existence. So anyways, I wasn't looking for Amelia, but she's good too. Bring me to her."
"Will do." He nodded slowly. "How do I not know about you?"
"That sir," I patted his arm. "is not something I tell total strangers."
"I am your brother in law." He said pointedly.
"And you're also a total stranger." I sent him a smile.
Amelia had done well. He was hot. He was nice. But he was a little strange, I must admit, he got all uptight when I mentioned Derek and I thought that was a little creepy. Maybe Derek didn't like him. He never did appreciate any of his sisters boyfriends, mostly just because they were boys, and going after his sisters.
"You got me there." He chuckled, but his face fell, and he looked ahead of himself.
I shrugged in confusion. The door binged and we were on the floor I guess Amelia would be on.
"So what's your name?" He asked.
"The one on my birth certificate, or just what everyone calls me?" I asked.
"Shoot me with both." He responded, figuring it was just a joke.
"Baby, and Royal." I responded.
"I think you got those backwards." He chuckled as we walked down the hallway.
It smelled like a hospital, all sterile and gross.
"Nope. My birth certificate says Baby Shepard." I shoved my fists in my pocket. "That's the outcome you get when your mother regrets your entire existence."
His eyes became sorrowful.
"Sorry. That was a lot to unleash on a total stranger." I chuckled to myself, but it was the truth.
My mother hated me so much, she refused to name me. And one day, when I was crying into Amelia's chest, she'd called me her princess. And I asked her if she could name me Princess. She'd softly told me that Princess wasn't a real name, but we could do something close to that, and she asked me what I thought was pretty. I remembered rubbing my eyes and asking her if Royal was okay. She grinned at me, kissed my forehead, and said to me, "Yes, Baby. That sounds like a beautiful name." and that's how that happened.
"And, she should be," he started to say, opening a door, but continued with another sentence. "Amelia?"
She looked up at the Dr. Hunt and sent him a smile. "Yeah? What's wrong?"
"You have a visitor." He said softly, pressing his hand to my back, and pushing me forward lightly.
She'd changed a lot, her hair was shorter, she'd matured. I was shocked that I was actually standing in front of my older sister.
She looked up at me from her sitting position, her eyes scanning my body and face, and at first I thought maybe she didn't recognize me. That was until her eyes widened and her mouth followed suit. "Ellie?"
I smiled. "Hey, Amy."
She sat up, her bottom lip quivering and she brought me in for a well deserved hug.
I laughed happily and hugged her tightly.
"Oh my G-d. Oh my G-d." She muttered. "Where did she send you, where did that bitch take you?"
"Boarding school in Canada." I replied softly.
Amelia shook her head, her breathing shaky.
"Little did she know I'm actually super smart." I said.
"Yeah, no thanks to her." She pulled away, but still held me close. Her arms linked around my neck.
"I skipped to eleventh grade at thirteen, Amy. I'm in college now." I smiled softly.
Her face softened and she inhaled softly. "How?"
"Full ride. Through a Gifted program." I chewed my bottom lip. "Where's Derek?"
Her face fell and by the look of her face she looked almost in shock.
"Okay what the hell is with everyone making that face when I mention him?" I pulled her arms off of my neck softly and put them by her side. I looked around the room we were in. There was a brunette on the couch, an African american woman next to her, and a very handsome man with blue eyes on the table Amelia had been sitting on. They looked just as confused as me.
"Amelia?" The brunette said softly.
"This is my sister." Amelia said, ignoring my question. "Ellie Shepard."
"Royal." I waved slightly. "Only, Amy, can call me Ellie. Now, if you'd please tell me where my brother is I'd really appreciate it."
"You didn't tell her?" The handsome man asked.
"I haven't seen her in over three years." Amelia scoffed. "Don't judge my actions. I couldn't tell her."
"Tell me what?" I raised my voice. "Why is everyone avoiding the conversation of Derek?"
"Ellie, Derek's dead." She said, her voice monotone. Not sad, or angry. Just, flat.
My breath didn't hitch, and I didn't feel the urge to cry, like most might. I'd taught myself years ago not to cry when bad things happened to me, because my life was a bad thing. I think I was more confused than anything, but I refused to allow anyone to know how I was feeling. "Oh."
Amelia took a stance, telling me she was ready to envelope me in her arms and allow me to sob into her chest like I've done so many times in the past, but I didn't. I couldn't.
I nodded slowly. "How?"
"Car crash." The brunette mumbled. "I'm Meredith. Meredith Grey. Your brothers...I was your brothers wife."
A small smile came to my lips. "So you're the famous Meredith? Derek told me about you...you made him really happy."
She smiled lightly.
"Are you...okay?" Amelia asked, confusion written all over her face.
"I'm fine." I smiled. "So. You work here now?"
I could tell that everyone in the room was confused about my reaction to learning Derek was dead, but Amelia, somewhere in there, remembered this is how I reacted to any bad news I received, and this was no different. On the inside, I was grieving, and maybe a while later, I'd grieve outwardly. But not now...not yet.
She smiled and nodded. "Yeah. These are my co-workers...Meredith, as you know. Maggie Pierce, she's head of cardio, and that's Jackson Avery. Head of plastics."
"Jackson Avery as in?" I gasped.
He groaned, making everyone in the room chuckle.
"Sorry. I just, really love your work!" I said.
I'd heard of Jackson Avery before. He was one of the best plastics surgeons in the country, and of course I'd heard of his family. But his family wasn't him, and I wasn't going to stamp him as fantastic until I'd see it for myself. You learn that when you grow up in a family that's terrible, and you come out decent.
He looked up. "Really?"
"Of course." I giggled. "I'm not stupid. I've heard of your family, but you're a nobody in my eyes until you're a somebody, regardless of your mother. So. Yes. I really admire your work, and I'd probably ask you to mentor me if I wanted to go into plastics."
"What do you mean?" Amelia wrapped her hand around my arm lovingly.
I raised my eyebrows at her. "Your little sister is going to med school."
"Three neurosurgeons?" Hunt asked.
I shook my head. "No. I like the brain, it's a great thing. I just don't feel comfortable enough holding it in my hands and operating on it every day." I laughed lightly. "I'm looking at PEDS, actually."
"That's hard stuff." Amelia said. "You up for that?"
"Kids are great, it's pretty general." I shrugged. "It's my thing."
"It's weird." Maggie says, "You look nothing like Amelia."
I nodded. "Same mom, different dad. Amelia and Derek looked more like their dad...I also do. Go figure."
Maggie was right, me and Amelia weren't similar in the slightest, except for our hair color. I had wavy brown hair, and bright green eyes. Freckles dusted my cheeks and the bridge of my nose, and I was taller than my sister, finally.
"Ellie." Amelia breathed. "I love you."
I smiled down at her. "I love you too. Also, good job."
"On what?" She asked.
"Your husband." I looked over to Hunt, who was watching us from the doorway. "He's a good one. Not sore on the eyes, either." I joked."I never pictured for you to get married."
"Why?" She laughed.
I shrugged. "Dunno...I mean. When I left...you were half way off the deep end."
Amelia had been quite the drug addict, the last I saw of her, she was trying to sober up. I guess it worked.
"That's true. I didn't give you much of a reason to look up to me, did I?" She mumbled.
"But I did anyways."
She smiled.
"But...there was a reason I came." I took a deep breath, rubbing my palms against my jeans.
"What's that?" She asked.
"I think I have a brain tumor."
Hi everyone! I'm here with a new fanfic. I hope you guys enjoy this. How do you feel about Royal? I wonder if there's another reason she showed up in Seattle. Hmmm...
-Sam