A/N: I wanted to redeem Ellis as a mum, so she never got alzheimers and Maggie doesn't exist. Thatcher is a cunt as usual and the reader has a good relationship with Ellis, a semi good relationship with Meredith and starts to gain a relationship with Lexie.
Y/n's POV
Leaning back in the car seat I try to avoid another coughing fit as mum drives me to the hospital. "N-not S-seattle G-grace, Meredith c-can't see me like this." I pant out before being overcome with a coughing fit that has me choking on more blood as it spluttered out.
"It's the closest hospital to us y/n and Richard is waiting for us baby." Mum says gripping the steering wheel tighter.
"I-I'm okay, I'll be fine. Another surgery and I'll be good as new." I tell her once the coughing fit has passed and wipe away the blood trying to stay calm. I know that this time it's worse, there's nothing that can be done other than get rid of my fucked liver and replace it. It's done nothing but give me trouble for the last few tears which has worried mum nonstop. "Besides unless they have a replacement liver were going to be back in this situation god knows how long down the line."
"He has a liver for you baby and when we get there he's going to take you straight into surgery." She tells me as we pull up at the hospital amd Richard quickly pulls the door open and lifts me out of the car. Carrying me into the hospital he places me onto a gurney and starts to wheel me towards the OR when someone starts shouting and it takes me a moment to realise its Meredith.
"Mum? Is that y/n? What the hell happened?" She asks running over to us looking worried and I groan.
"You didn't tell her!" Mum exclaims and I shake my head weakly as I start coughing again only this time the blood sticks in my throat making me choke on it slightly. "Y/n? Richard, go, I'll talk to Meredith. Make sure my baby doesn't die, do you understand me." She growls and I manage to laugh around the blood as someone turns me to my side. Spitting the blood out into the basin that's held out for me I offer a weak smile to the cute nurse before my eyes roll into the back of my head.
Ellis' POV
Watching Richard wheel y/n to the OR I wring my hands nervously as I turn to Meredith.
"What the hell happened?" She asks me and I don't know what to say. All I can see is y/n collapsing and coughing up blood. "Mum? What happened? Is y/n going to be okay?"
"I need to wash off the blood Meredith, please help me get rid of the blood." I whisper shakily and she nods before guiding me towards the familiar residents lounge and towards the bathroom there. Quickly scrubbing the blood off of my hands I turn to Meredith with a small smile.
"Okay, now can you tell me what the hell happened?" She asks and I nod as we sit down.
"Well, as you know y/n was born with a liver condition that we've managed to keep under control." I tell her and she nods for me to continue. "Well that was until recently. About a year ago she started getting sick but refused to tell me until she collapsed, I rushed her to Seattle Pres where they told us that her liver was failing but that it would take a while before she got a new one so I contacted Richard. He's been helping keep her stable until they could get a new liver for her."
"Okay, but that doesn't explain what just happened." She says as she picks at her nails, a habit she got from me when I'm nervous. Reaching out a hand I take her hands in mine to stop her.
"She was feeling good, for the first time in weeks she was feeling good Meredith and she wanted to go for a walk. I encouraged her and went with her incase she needed me and then we got half way round the block before she started coughing but insisted she could make it home. As we reached the house she started coughing again only this time there was blood and I knew what was happening instantly so I got her in the car and rushed here after calling Richard." I explain squeezing her hands. "I thought that she had told you or I would have told you myself Meredith."
"I know you would have mum but why didn't she tell me?" She asks me and I sigh.
"I don't know, I can only imagine that she didn't want to worry you Meredith. You know how your sister is, she's never wanted people to fret and fuss over her." I tell her and she nods biting her lip, a habit she got off of Thatcher.
"She's still pissed about the fight we had last year isn't she?" She asks with a groan and I look at her confused.
"I still don't know what you two argued about. Y/n refused to tell me after you left." I tell her and she looks shocked.
"I may have accused her of being the reason that dad left. That he couldn't handle dealing with her condition and left. She kept trying to say that it wasn't because of her but I was angry and wouldn't listen." She admits and I'm speechless. "I thought she would have jumped to tell you after I left."
"She didn't, although you're partially correct. Thatcher did leave because of y/n's condition but only because I told him to. There was an incident when she was six and I was preparing to go into surgery. She called me crying because your father was passed out drunk on the sofa and hadn't given her her medicine. You were safe in daycare so I got Richard to take over with the surgery and raced home to get y/n but by the time I got there she had passed out with blood coming from her mouth. It was the first time she needed surgery and it was his fault, I never forgave him for that and a year later I told him to leave. That he could see you whenever he liked but he wasn't to go near y/n without her permission because she was scared and he left." I explain and she sinks into her seat.
"She never told me, I remember her protecting me when he was drunk but she never told me about the incident when she was six." She whispers.
"She didn't want to poison your image of him Meredith, she did everything she could to protect you and she's still doing it now." I tell her with a chuckle. "She was telling me not to bring her here because she didn't want you to see her like that."
"She's going to be okay right? Richard will make sure of that." She asks and I nod with a small smile even though every possible outcome floods through my head and possibly hers as well.
"Yes but you need to get back to work Meredith." I tell her and she starts to protest but I quickly stop her. "We both know that y/n wouldn't want you to sit around doing nothing and I'm not the one dealing with her when she finds out."
"Fine, I'll go back to work but you better warn her when she wakes up that I'll be coming to talk to her." She agrees reluctantly as we get up and start to leave the room. "Oh, word of warning before you run into her yourself. My half sister works here, Lexie Grey."
"Do you two get on?" I ask curiously and she chuckles at that.
"We didn't, not to begin with but then she got under my skin and we get along. I think it helps that Thatcher was a shit dad to her as well. She's not that bad though." She says with a shrug just as she gets paged. "I need to go but please update me as soon as you can." She says before kissing my cheek and running off. Shaking my head with a smile I look around the hospital with a fond smile, part of me regrets leaving the hospital but I'm so glad that I did. I realised how little time I spent with my kids and gave me a chance to fix things before they got to the point of no return. Strolling towards the OR that Richard had take y/n into I head into the gallery to watch how they're getting on amd am happy to see that the liver is in and she's not rejecting it.
"Grey, I'm trusting you to close up so that I can go update Ellis on how it went." I hear Richard say through the intercom as he looks up at the gallery.
"O-of course Sir." The young woman replies and I smile at her when she looks up at me as well. Getting a small smile back she starts to close up the incision in a fast yet efficient way and I'm shocked when I realise that she's using the same technique that I used to.
"She's a decent kid Ellis." Richard says behind me and I jump, apparently I was so focused on this young woman I hadn't noticed Richard leave the room. "There were no complications and she shows no signs of rejecting the liver." He informs me and I smile at him with a nod.
"Thank you Richard." I say and he smiles walking towards me, attempting to pull me into a hug but I step away from him. "Richard, please don't do this. I'm here for my daughter, not any stupid reconciliation with a man that wants me for nothing but a bed warmer." I tell him firmly and he looks shocked.
"You have certainly changed Ellis." He says with a sigh and I glare at him.
"Of course I have! My kids needed me, y/n needed me so I had to change. I pulled my head out of my arse and took responsibility in raising my kids." I tell him angrily. "It's good to see that you're the same old selfish bastard you were back then."
"That's Miss Grey being transferred to a room Dr Webber." The young woman, Lexie, informs the man in front of me and I turn to her with a smile.
"Ah, you must be Lexie right?" I ask and she nods nervously. "It's nice to meet you Lexie, would you please take me to y/n's room?"
"O-of course ma'am." She stutters and starts to guide me towards my daughters room looking tense.
"You can relax, I know that your Thatcher's daughter Lexie and I don't have a problem with you. In fact I'm very impressed, I have never seen someone so young use my technique before let alone it being used on my own daughter." I tell her calmly and she looks at me wide eyed. "I promise you there's no need for tension between us Lexie. Meredith told me a little bit about you but I'd like to find out more, you're my daughters half sister after all."
"Thank you ma'am, I wasn't sure if you'd treat me like Meredith did when she first met me or not." She says ducking her head as we reach y/n's room.
"Thank you Lexie but please call me Ellis, ma'am makes me feel old." I tell her with a chuckle and she smiles brightly at me. "Do you want to come wait with me until y/n wakes up and you can meet her properly?" I ask her and she looks shocked but nods in acceptance.
"I'd like that Ellis thank you." She says and I squeeze her arm as I walk past her into the room. "I better update Meredith though or else she might kill me like she wanted to when we met."
"Meredith has always found it hard to trust people since Thatcher left, before even. It's always taken her time to warm up to people so don't take it personally Lexie." I tell her as she pages Meredith. "Now, come sit down and tell me more about you while we wait for this stubborn girl to wake up."
By the time Meredith is able to get to the room Lexie has been paged to an emergency surgery and y/n has woken up and is sitting up in bed looking dazed. Watching my two girls interact I can't help but smile.
"I'm so glad that you're okay y/n. Please don't scare me like that again!" Meredith tells her and she nods in agreement. "I'm sorry, for everything that I said that day. It was uncalled for just because I was angry."
"I get it, don't worry." Y/n waves off as she focuses on Meredith. "Mer, you had just found out that dad had a daughter that was what? Three years younger than you? Meaning that he must have cheated on mum and you were angry and lashed out. I get it."
"He has two other daughters. One of them works here." Meredith tells her and she tenses up slightly. "You didn't know?"
"I did, I found out a while ago actually. I didn't say anything because I refused to believe that dad could replace us like that." She admits and I look at her confused. "I found out when I was 18. I ran into dad while I was out with some friends and he was with these two girls that were calling him dad. He introduced me as a friend and left, that was it. I didn't see or talk to him after that."
"The younger of the two, Lexie. She works here, actually she used mums technique to close you up." Meredith tells her and she smiles at that.
"She can't wait to meet you officially and she's nothing like your father. Although she hates him almost as much as you do." I tell her making her laugh before she cringes in pain. "She got paged into surgery just before you woke up but she truly does want to meet you."
"I'm sure she's lovely and it'd be nice to meet her." Y/n admits with a shrug. "It just means there's one more member of our weird little family."
"Why didn't you tell me? About dad and the surgery when you were six or even just about what's been going on recently?" Meredith asks and y/n groans.
"The last time we spoke about dad you lost it, he's a touchy subject for you. And the surgery when I was six, well it was because of that that my hatred for the man started." Y/n explains as she pulls Meredith down onto the bed next to her. "As for what's happened recently, I didn't want to worry you Mer. This is an important year on your career and I didn't want to put any unnecessary pressure on you. Plus, you're worse than mum sometimes when you're worried."
"I am not!" Meredith exclaims as she cuddles into y/n's side. "I'm glad that you're okay though."
"You know me Mer, I'll get through everything life throws at me." Y/n says stroking Meredith's hair gently. "How have you been getting on with your resident year?"
"Fine, I haven't drowned or almost been blown up so it's been pretty good." Meredith says as her eyes slip shut. "Although, there's not been any extra sleep involved."
"Go to sleep then Mer, me or mum will wake you if and when you get paged." Y/n tells an already half asleep Meredith who just nods before her eyes close fully and she relaxes against y/n. Once sure that Meredith is completely asleep she turns to look at me. "I'm guessing that there's a reason Richard is standing outside looking like he doesn't want to come in and check up on me." She states and I sigh.
"I lost it on him. I thought after all this time he would have moved on, he's still married to Adele for gods sake but apparently not. After getting Lexie to close you up he came up to the gallery and just automatically tried to hug me. I snapped and told him I didn't want to be a bed warmer again." I explain and y/n turns her head to glare at the man lingering outside making him flinch slightly. "I'm thankful that he helped you but I don't want to reconcile with a selfish man."
"I understand that mum. Do you want me to request a new doctor? That way you won't have to deal with him." She asks as she looks at me again and I shake my head with wide eyes when I see who else is in the hall. "Mum? What's wrong?"
"Nothing, I'll be back in a second." I tell her before leaving the room and closing the door behind me. "Thatcher? What the hell are you doing here?"
"Dad? What the hell are you doing here?" Lexie growls at the man in front of me as she approaches us and he freezes. "What. Are. You. Doing. Here?"
"I drove Molly here for a checkup for little Laura. We had just arrived when you pulled in with y/n, is she okay?" He asks and I glare at him before a hand comes to rest on my arm.
"Go sit with Mer, make sure she doesn't wake up and see him mum." Y/n pants as she clings to Richard and her IV pole in order to stay up. "Go, I'll use Richard as a leaning post to deal with this."
"I've got her Ellis." Richard assures me and I hesitantly go back to the room to keep an eye on Meredith.
Y/n's POV
"What the hell do you want Thatcher?" I ask him as I grip onto Richard for dear life. "Why now?"
"Like I told your mum I was bringing Molly so she could get Laura checked up when I saw her bring you in covered in bloood. I was worried about you." He says and I scoff while a young woman glares at him.
"Leave, go back to Molly and leave dad." She says and I take mental note that she must be Lexie, my half sister.
"Y/n, you should be taking it easy. Come on let me get you back into bed." Richard says trying to guide me away from my father but I shake my head.
"So you care now Thatcher? What about when I was six and you got so drunk that you passed out without giving me my medication? I had to call mum who rushed home to find me in a pool of blood! Said mother had to rush me to the hospital for emergency surgery knowing exactly what complications could arise. You sure as hell didn't care then, nor did you care for either me or Meredith for a year after that! It was mum that cared! She left a job that she loved more than anything to look after us! She sacrificed everything for us while you ran out like a coward to live with your new family. So how the hell do you expect me to believe you give a fuck about me now?" I growl at him and he looks shocked. "Leave, before my little sister wakes up and sees the man that abandoned her time and time again and before Lexie calls security to have an unwanted visitor thrown out because here'sthe thing Thatcher. You'renkt welcome here, not by me, not by Meredith and I don'tthink you'rewanted here by Lexie either. So do us all a favour and go crawl back under your rock." I add and he doesn't even try to fight back just turns and walks away like he did when we were kids. Feeling my legs starting to shake I sink into Richards side a bit more and he holds me securely.
"Well, this wasn't how I thought we'd meet properly but it's nice to meet you y/n." Lexie says and I smile at her softly.
"It's nice to meet you properly too Lexie." I tell her before turning to my leaning post. "You stay the hell away from my mother Richard Webber, you will not break that woman's heart again because if you do I will break you in a million different ways, starting off with telling your wife everything I knkw about you. Now, if you would be so kind as to help me back into bed it would be very much appreciated."
"Of course y/n." He says after clearing his throat before helping me back into my room and bed, after moving Meredith a little bit. Pulling my sister back into my side I stroke her hair for my own comfort.
"He left?" Mum asks and I nod as I look down at Meredith while Lexie sits beside mum.
"Yes and it better stay that way. No one tells Meredith that he was here." I tell them and mum nods in agreement while Richard hesitates. "I mean it Richard, no one tells her. Meaning you better go tell both Shepherds to keep their mouths shut. I will not let that man hurt my sister again."
"Fine but I'm not happy about it." He says and leaves.
"I don't care if he's not happy about it! He has no damn say in our lives!!" I exclaim making Meredith stir before she settles back down. "You had to bring me here mum? Really?"
"You know that this is the best hospital." Mum says and I nod with a sigh. "What did you say to make him leave?"
"I asked him how I was supposed to believe that he cares now. After the incident when I was six and the year that followed, how he could possibly expect me to believe he gives a damn about me now. I also threw in his face that you sacrificedso much for us while he ran away to his new family, nk offence Lexie." I explain. "Then I threatened to have Lexie there call security and he left, the only thing he's good at."
"What the hell is going on here?" A man shouts suddenly making me jump then groan. "Why the hell is Meredith cuddled up to this woman? Who the hell are you?"
"Would you keep it down! My sister is trying to sleep!" I growl at the stupid man while mum administered more morphine to ease the pain from the sudden movement. Looking down at Meredith I sigh when I see her looking up at me confused. "Shepherd." Is all I say when she raises an eyebrow at me and she groans burying herself back into my side.
"Go away Derek!" She says without moving from my side.
"No! Who the hell is this and why is she making decisions about whether or not you should know something?" He demands to know and this time Meredith turns to look at him.
"If you must know she's my big sister and if she doesn't want me to know something then that's none of your damn business! Addison, would you please keep your husband away from me!" She snaps and the woman she spoke to enters the room.
"I tried to stop him Mer, I really did." She tells Meredith who nods at her. "Get out Derek, what happens between Meredith and her family has nothing to do with you."
"Your sister? You never told me you had a sister!" Derek exclaims and I roll my eyes at that, although it did hurt to know that Meredith hadn't mentioned me before.
"I didn't see a point in telling a married man that I met in a bar my whole life story." Meredith replies squeezing my arm. "Besides if you ever actually listened to anything I've said while I've been here you'd know that I talk about y/n quite a bit. Ask Addison if you don't believe me."
"It's true Derek, Mer has talked about y/n quite a bit." Addison says and Derek storms out. "Sorry about him Mer, he's still got his head in his ass."
"It's not your fault Addie, don't worry about it." Mer says and Addison smiles in return before excusing herself. "Remind me what I saw in that man."
"No idea but I know what I see in his wife." I tell her making her laugh as she settles back into me.
"What did you not want me to know?" Mer asks looking up at me and I sigh.
"Dad was here. Apparently he was bringing Molly in with Laura for a checkup and saw me and mum. Somehow he found out where I was and came up to see if I was okay." I told her and she buries her face in my shoulder. "He's gone though, so you don't need to see him."
"Thank you." Is all Meredith says before she falls asleep again and I chuckle at that. Feeling my own eyes start to slip shut I turn to see mum talking quietly to Lexie which makes me smile. I never thought mum would get along with any of my other siblings so it was nice to know that there was no tension between them. Tightening my hold on Meredith I let myself fall asleep happily.