My name is Ellis Shepherd and I have a lot to live up to.
"Ellis!" Zola hissed, shaking her younger sister who still lay in bed, the covers pulled up around her head in a little cave all of her own. Ellis groaned and pulled in the covers tighter around her. With one swift tug, Zola yanked the covers off of her little sister, who whined and curled up into a small ball, her eyes closed tightly. "Ellis! You start your first day today. You can't be late!"
Ellis rolled over, opening one eye to look up at her sister who was already dressed in her dark blue scrubs. Her dark, curly hair was pulled up into a tight bun on top of her head. Ellis loved Zola. Zola was the voice of reason. She had guessed this was because she hadn't inherited any of their mom or dad's genes. Lucky for her, people didn't tend to believe Zola when she said she was the oldest daughter of Meredith Grey and Derek Shepherd. That was until Zola made them realize it with how incredibly smart and focused she was.
"Who's going to be pissed? Mom?"
Zola frowned, leaning over and grabbed a hold of her wrist, yanking a floppy Ellis out of bed. "C'mon, Ellis. That's the one person you don't want pissed. Mom won't favor you because you're the baby. You're going to have to work extra hard to show people you aren't just a name."
This woke Ellis up. Zola was right. She had to show them what she was made of, not her mom or her dad. She sat up and groaned, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand. Zola patted her on the head and grinned. "Good. Now get ready. I'll see you there, okay?"
Ellis stood in the doorway of Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital, staring up at the big cement building as people rushed in around her. She grew up here, with Zola and Bailey (who was now studying at John Hopkins), and she knew everyone, every place in the hospital. She saw death before it was best for her, sneaking into a room where a gun shot victim had gone into cardiac arrest. She watched nurses and doctors come and go but her 'family' was always there. Even Cristina, though she was so far away, and now she was here. Ready to start her internship at Grey Sloan, ready to face gossip and whispers and how people believed they just felt sorry for her because her dad, the famous heart surgeon had died. And then people would feel pity on her because her dad, the famous heart surgeon had died.
Taking in a deep breath, she stepped into the hospital lobby and made her way further inside.
The group of interns gathered in an empty lab, wandering around it, staring at all the instruments and bright lights and sterile equipment. Owen came walking briskly in, he still had that same quickness about him that Ellis remembered when she was younger. He glanced around the room and they all fell silent. Ellis took a deep breath in. She loved the smell.
Owen opened his arms as he greeted them all, "I'm Dr. Hunt, your chief of surgery," he started, "You are all starting on a great journey! Some will fail, some will leave, change your mind on what you thought suited you.." his arms had dropped by now and he looked at each of the interns, "Be good doctors. Save lives." The interns all began to shuffle out of the room, Ellis following behind. "Ellis!" Owen called after the last interns had left. He met with her just outside of the room and they began to walk down the hall, "Your mother said she'd be around soon to see how you were doing. Zola already said it was a struggle to get you awake this morning."
Ellis let out a laugh, shaking her head as they turned a corner, "Does the whole hospital know my business this morning?"
Owen flashed her a grinned as he stopped, one hand on a door, "We've known your business since you were born, Dr. Shepherd!" he said before disappearing behind the swinging door down another hallway.
Ellis continued ahead, stopping at the nurses station where there was a group of interns waiting in a circle. Ellis filed into the circle, looking around at each of them. As she did, a few of them turned their heads away, whispering to each other and staring back at her. Ellis couldn't help but flash them a fake smile and they turned their heads away quickly.
The interns were filed into smaller groups with residents leading them around, spewing rules at them as they all hurried down the hallway, flipping through patient charts and answering questions the resident asked them as they went from patient to patient. Ellis began to notice a trend, though, and when she tried to speak up with an answer she was passed over. It was frustrating but she took it. She didn't want to be favored here, but she also didn't want to be hated because of her name.
Ellis was glad when it was time for a break. She was even more glad when she was able to find Zola and plopped down next to her with a heavy sigh, her head sinking down to the table. "Rough day?" Zola asked through a grin. Ellis lifted her head back up, running a hand through her hair, "I know all the answers, but they pass me over like.."
"Like you don't deserve it" Zola asked, her eyebrow raised.
"I was going to say 'like I'm a Grey-Shepherd because we do know everything' but yes."
Zola shook her head, patting her sister on the shoulder, "You have to work for it, El! My first day I was ignored so bad I didn't have a surgery for a month!" Ellis mouth dropped open and Zola laughed, "They know your name, but they don't know you," she motioned between the two of them, "The nurses and residents go in and out of here like it's going out of style. We know who our family is here, and they know us, but we still work our butts off because we're good doctors, El." The two of them shared a smile between them and ate the rest of their lunch in relative silence.
Ellis said goodbye to Zola as she finished her lunch and got up from the table, her foot catching on the edge of the chair as she got up. She started to fall forwards, her tray flying out of her hands. But someone caught her by the shoulders, yanking her back up and an arm wrapped around her back. She looked up to see a man with dark brown hair and grey eyes smirking down at Ellis as he held her there in the middle of the room. It took Ellis a few moments to regain herself before pushing away from the man and cleared her throat. She tried not to look around the room as she was sure people were staring. Her face felt hot as she quickly and awkwardly bent down to pick up the tray and placed it on top of the trash can. "Er..thanks for the catch." she said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.
Ellis quickly began to walk away from him, but he followed, grinning as he caught up to her, "No name?" he asked as he walked in quick steps with her. Her blushed returned and she cleared her throat, glancing over to him, "Uh..Ellis."
"Ellis?" he repeated, "Relation to.."
"Yeah," Ellis replied, grabbing a patient chart off of the nurse's station, all by trying to ignore him, "I mean, yes," she stopped, finally turning to face him once again. Now she was able to get a better look at him and boy, was he nice to look at. She cleared her throat, "Ellis Grey..grandma, Zola Shepherd..sister, oh, and my mother is Meredith Grey. Yes, I am that girl."
He flashed her a smile and she wanted to faint, now knowing the meaning of 'if looks could kill.'
"Ellis!" her mother called, coming up next to her, "I've seen you've met Dr. Bowen." Ellis looked up to Dr. Bowen and forced a smiled, extending her hand to shake his.
Dr. Bowen flashed another toothy smile, taking a hold of her hand and shook it. "Luke Bowen, the new head of neurosurgery." Ellis dropped her hand away from his quickly, shoving her hands into her pockets,glancing back and forth between him and her mother as the two began to talk. Luke would glance over to her every now and again and finally, Ellis held up her patient chart, "Well, nice to meet you. Mo-I mean, Dr. Grey, Dr. Bowen." The two of them smile and nodded to Ellis as she quickly walk away, and as Ellis glanced over her shoulder and saw Luke looking towards her as she walked away, she could only think: history doesn't need to repeat.