April Kepner

"What pisses you off so much, that I chose to go after the thing that I needed to heal or that the thing I needed wasn't you?"

- April Kepner

April Kepner is an attending trauma surgeon at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital who was one of the staff members who joined from Mercy West Medical Center after the merger. She was married to Jackson Avery, with whom she has a deceased son, Samuel, and a daughter, Harriet Kepner-Avery. She was asked to be interim head of general surgery while Meredith was suspended.

Early Life
Much of April's personal life was revealed while she was being held at gunpoint by Gary Clark. She was forced to tell him personal details about herself in an attempt to prevent him from shooting her. She revealed that she was born on April 23rd in Columbus, Ohio and was raised on a corn farm in Moline, Ohio along with three sisters, a pet pony, and a pet duck. Her mother is a teacher, while her father stays home and tends to the farm.

When April told her parents she wanted to become a doctor, they were "over the moon" about it. April has always been very focused on her studies, so other than medical school and various church-related events, she hasn't done much.

Hospital Merger and Firing
April was matched up with Lexie Grey on her first day at the newly-merged Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital. Lexie at first was mean to her, but reconciled with her as she felt bad. April was fired shortly after the merger after a mass hotel fire brought an overflow of patients into the ER. Her patient didn't need surgery, but because of a distraction in the ER, April forgot to check down her patient's airway, which was filled with soot. Her patient couldn't breathe and went into cardiac arrest after many hours thinking she was fine aside from some burns. The Chief interrogated all the doctors on duty and eventually fired April, as she was behind the death.

Rehiring and Crush on Derek
When Derek Shepherd became Chief of Surgery, he rehired April, because he thought she deserved a second chance. April admired his abilities and knowledge in his field of work. She had a small work crush on him but nothing serious developed between them because of Derek's focus on his job and Meredith. For a while, she tended to do more administrative work than medicine, in fear of killing someone again. A push from Derek got her to do surgery again.

Hospital Shooting and Aftermath
April lost her best friend, Reed Adamson, the first victim of the shooting. She ran to Derek Shepherd's office and told him what happened. April was right in front of the shooter when he shot Derek, and she told him her life story, stating she hasn't lived yet, nobody had loved her, the shooter told her to run. She seemed to deal with Reed's loss alone after the shooting.

Religion
April is of Christian faith and always prays for her patients before going into surgery. Although elements of her Christianity are traditionally conservative, she is very open minded – as she is seen attending Callie and Arizona's wedding, and even dancing and taking pictures of the newlyweds during the reception. She has an extremely close relationship with God and remained a virgin a long time for this reason.

April kept her relationship with God a secret from her fellow doctors because she feared they would see her as less of a surgeon because of it. However, when she lost her virginity to Jackson the night before her medical boards, she re-evaluated her faith and stopped caring what others thought about it.

Engagement to Matthew and Feelings for Jackson
Jackson once again said she was getting married. "Unless I'm not," she replied, still asking him to give her a reason not to. When Stephanie came in and started comforting Jackson, April left. While operating on a firefighter who got hurt due to the mudslide caused by the storm, Owen asked April if she said yes to Matthew, whom he helped to prepare the proposal. April said she did, and Owen approved of this, as all first responders are good guys. While her patient's wife said goodbye to her deceased husband, April watched Jackson take his patient to surgery.

Jackson asked April to scrub in with him on a surgery as the interns weren't working due to Heather's death. Suddenly a crying Stephanie appeared and hugged Jackson. April's disappointed look was noticed by Matthew, who then went outside to head back out to the mudslide again. April joined him in the ambulance bay, where he told her that he understood that she wanted Jackson and that he didn't give her a chance to say no because he proposed in front of all these people. He said she wanted to say no. She didn't object to this, and he angrily got in his ambulance and drove off. She scrubbed in with Jackson and tried to talk to him during the surgery, but he snapped at her every time. When they told the patient and her fiancé that her organs were failing and the powerful antibiotics may not work, the couple decided they wanted to get married immediately. As she and Jackson couldn't find any chaplain in the hospital, Jackson got certified online and officiated the wedding. His words touched April, and she tried to talk to him about the wedding afterwards. He snapped again, and she asked why he did. She apologized for having asked the question and said there was no need to beat a dead horse. He said that she didn't want him when he wanted her, and she only wanted him now because she was scared by the real relationship she was in. He told her to make up her mind about whether or not she wanted to make a life with Matthew or not. "None of this has to do with me. This is entirely about you," Jackson said, indicating he had no more interest in her. April did make up her mind and dragged Matthew to the hospital's chapel to accept his proposal in private, without pressure. She then proposed to him and clarified that she did have feelings for Jackson and that it got confusing sometimes. She said she never thought that anybody would ever want her with her difficult personality, but that she really wanted him. "I want to marry you. So will you marry me?" she asked, after which he took her in his arms and kissed her. A few days after having retaken her boards, April was still anxiously waiting to hear about the result. Jackson thought she would pass, and she joked that if she didn't, they'd know it wasn't his fault that she didn't pass the previous year. Callie made her even more nervous with some snappy comments. After surgery, she started thinking that she really didn't pass and they just didn't inform her because it was the second time she failed. Suddenly she got a message, and too nervous to read it herself, she gave her phone to Jackson. He read that she passed, and she delightedly cheered. They gave each other an awkward high five. "Like you said, it's all you," Jackson said. This touched both of them, and they went their separate ways while thinking about what he said.

After finishing up in the ER, April dressed up for the gala. When she got at the party, Jackson begged her to go back to the hospital and grab cooling blankets to cool the champagne, and she obeyed. In the supply closet, April found a crying Arizona, but she pretended to be fine. April returned to the gala, where she heard Callie was telling everyone Arizona had died in the plane crash. She then decided to be a good friend and returned to Arizona with two bottles of champagne. Arizona told April how she felt about everyone judging and staring at her for being a cheater and explained why she cheated. April said she could empathize with others, even though others seemed to think she couldn't because she goes to church. They continued talking about their problems while getting drunker, and April mentioned forgiveness is important and that both Jesus and Matthew see her for who she is and accept her even with what she's done. They ordered Leah to get more champagne and snacks. When they got totally drunk, April and Arizona agreed they had been in need of having fun. April then bluntly asked to try on Arizona's leg, which made them both laugh. At the end of the evening, Leah helped April and Arizona get in a cab to bring them home. April called shotgun to sit in the front as she gets carsick in the back, but she had been drinking so much that she got carsick in the front too.

Some time after the gala, Arizona was offered coffee by Leah. She questioned what she did to deserve that, but they both don't remember anything about that night. Arizona was afraid she may have slept with Leah. April said she woke up the next morning in the bathtub with her Spanx still on, so they knew that nothing like that had happened to her. In surgery, Owen and Callie were discussing whether or not Emma was his girlfriend for having baked banana bread for. April said that Matthew brought her breakfast burritos and now they were getting married. "Just saying," she said when Owen gave her a look. She defended Arizona when Callie started thinking about kicking Arizona out of their apartment, saying Arizona needed the elevator and that the apartment was handicap accessible. She explained that she and Arizona drunk three bottles of champagne and puked together, which made them bond.

On Halloween, April and Jackson treated a man who believed he was bitten by a "zombie" and believed that he was becoming a zombie now too. In surgery, Jackson got texts from a panicking Stephanie and he told a nurse what to reply. April noticed how sweet his reply was and said he was never that nice to her when she would spin up. He replied he was trying to be a better boyfriend now, but April said that his behavior to her had helped her to get her act together. She said she was getting married, and Jackson joked that was all because of him. After surgery, April showed Jackson how she shuts down someone who's spinning out of control by calming down their patient. In the evening, Matthew organized a Halloween party and April went there dressed as a Velveteen bunny.

As a preparation for their wedding, Matthew and April took a compatibility test at their church, on which they scored 90%. While their reverend was getting their exercises for the next week, Matthew wanted to discuss an important area of their relationship where they are compatible, but not equal. They both wanted to take care of it before the wedding, but they didn't know they were talking about different things. Just as April said they should get a joint checking account, Matthew proposed to have sex. April later turned to Arizona for advice on the sex issue, but Arizona can only say that her sex with Leah is awesome, making April leave in frustration. She went to Matthew in the ambulance bay, and told him she wanted them to commit to one another before having sex, as she wanted their first time on their wedding night to be amazing. Matthew pointed out that he thought that God already knew that he would love her for the rest of his life, and April then remembered that their reverend told them to support one another, so she agreed to have sex if it was so important for him, which it was. However, in the evening, April remember how she lost herself after having lost her virginity, and she stated that she loved and respected him too much to see him stumble the way she did. She said their first time would be amazing, and if they would have their first time now, he only would have broken a promise, which she didn't want to do to him. They then agreed to wait until their wedding night and lean on each other for support until then, after which they started kissing and hugging.

A couple of days later, April started asking her colleagues' mail addresses to send them invitations to her wedding. All of the guests are allowed to bring a plus one. Stephanie found it out that she was getting an invitation and was allowed to bring a plus one, as she thought Jackson would get an invitation too. She talked to Jackson about this, who then went to April to ask her if she knew he and Stephanie were serious. She did, and then explained why Stephanie received an invitation too. Jackson wasn't getting an invitation, as Matthew didn't want to invite him, but April figured that he would come as Stephanie's plus one. Jackson questioned why he should come to the wedding if sending an invitation is already causing problems for Matthew. April replied he had to come because he was her friend and she wanted him there. He replied he wanted to come, and she then asked for their blessing. Without it, she wouldn't be able to go through with it. He gave her his blessing, but still wasn't sure he would be at the wedding. Jackson went to the wedding as Stephanie's plus one. Near the end of the ceremony, Jackson stood up and declared his love for April. Jackson and April ran out of the church, leaving Matthew at the alter and eloped themselves.

Pregnancy with Jackson
After treating a patient with deaf parents, Jackson and April realized that they had completely different ideas on how to raise their kids. April felt like Jackson wouldn't respect the religious traditions she wanted to teach her kids, and they got into a huge fight. April temporarily moved in with Callie and Arizona, feeling this fight would already end their marriage. When she went home to pick up her iPod, Jackson asked her to end their fight, as the children they were discussing were hypothetical after all. April then revealed they weren't hypothetical anymore, as she was pregnant accidentally.

During their first ultrasound, things were awkward as didn't know how to behave because of their fight. They were sure they didn't want to terminate the pregnancy, and both April and Jackson were happy about the pregnancy. Their discussion was resolved when Jackson decided he'd accompany his wife and children to church, as he felt that was really important for his wife. They planned on waiting to share the pregnancy with their families until after the first trimester, but when Callie and Stephanie accidentally found out, they decided it wasn't necessary to keep the pregnancy a secret and they shared it with their colleagues and family. A possible terrorist attack made April insecure about bringing a child into the evil world, but Catherine told her that there's only one way to change that world: good people raising their babies right. That calmed April down and gave her confidence that she would raise the baby right.

When April's mother visited for the first time, April found that her mother meddled too much. Her mother and Jackson decorated the entire nursery, making her feel left out. April mother's told her that she didn't want to take anything from April at all. She was very proud of April when she saw her in her natural environment, the hospital, although she didn't understand a thing from what April does all day. However, she does know a lot about raising babies, so that's why she wanted to help. April then realized she had acted wrong and apologized to her mother, promising her to call her when she needed more help. She went home to Jackson. They agreed she was a jerk. She told Jackson he'd be a great dad, visibly looking forward to welcome their baby in the new nursery.

April and Jackson decided to keep the sex of the baby a surprise as April wanted it to be. After losing a pregnant patient in the OR, April was a little shocked, but she was faithful that everything would turn out right for her, as it was all in God's hands. During a routine ultrasound, Stephanie accidentally revealed to April that the baby was a boy. Unbeknownst to April, she found out there was something wrong with the baby. Jackson found out when Herman and Stephanie were talking about this, so he was the one to deliver the news to April. Unable to deal with it just yet, April dove into work in the busy ER and avoided talking about it, although she lashed out at Stephanie for telling other people about the baby's diagnosis before telling her. After having treated every possible patient, April and Jackson talked. April researched the disease, osteogenesis imperfecta, and found out about the different types of the disease, although she didn't want to know what type their son had. April had difficulties understanding why God would do this to her, as she'd always done everything right for Him. When she finally informed Jackson that they were having a boy, she fell apart and cried in his arms.

As Jackson wanted to know everything they could get to know, they ran a test to find out what type their baby was suffering from. However the results would turn out, she wanted to keep the baby, loving and holding him as long as possible. Her mother came over and they spent the day at church. At home, Jackson and Karen started arguing over whether or not the test results were necessary. April stopped the fighting and yelled that their different opinions weren't helping her at all, actually only making her more sad, scared and feeling alone. After comforting each other all night, April and Jackson discussed the test results with Herman.

Their baby was diagnosed with type II, meaning he'd die minutes or hours after birth. His bones were breaking inside the womb, devastating April. Jackson and April worked out a plan with Catherine, inducing labor and cherishing and baptizing the baby before their son would pass away. They had a difficult moment when Herman pushed the paperwork onto them, including a death certificate. April didn't want to sign it yet, but she did want to continue with the plan. However, right before inducing, April decided she couldn't do it yet, because they hadn't figured out a name yet and mostly because she was still hoping for a miracle, and she returned to the ER to work. There, she helped a grieving woman work through her fiancé's death. While comforting the woman, April reconnected with God and found her faith again, assuring the woman she was strong enough to get through this, indirectly also talking to herself with God's words. This encounter made April feel ready and she and Jackson settled on naming their son Samuel Norbert Avery. Moments later, the labor was induced. Herman delivered the baby and April and Jackson cherished him in their arms. A priest came to baptize the baby and Samuel squeezed April's finger, letting go shortly after. Not long after, Samuel passed away. Jackson took his wife home while both remembering significant events from their lives as a couple. April and Jackson asked everyone for privacy. April felt sad and angry about God and the baby and needed space and time to herself to deal with these feelings. She first returned to the hospital when Dr. Herman had her brain tumor removed, as April wanted to be with Herman on her worst day like Herman had done for her. She later returned to work in the ER.

April was still hurt about losing Samuel and made the decision to go work with Dr. Hunt in a war zone. She initially would be gone for three months but kept postponing her return, upsetting Jackson. She returned almost a year later, appearing more confident but also more distant. Jackson blamed Dr. Hunt for changing her.

After April and Jackson had many fights about her being gone and leaving him behind, they signed divorce papers. The day of the divorce signing, Arizona offered alcohol to April and then joked around, asking if she was pregnant, when she refused the offer. April responded saying that she was.

April and Jackson went out for dinner and discussed plans for their baby. Jackson said he wanted to be in the room for the birth and April replied that she wanted him there. After, they discussed holiday plans. April would be with the child for Easter and Jackson would have the Super Bowl and Halloween. They decided to switch off every year for Christmas.

Giving Birth to Harriet and Co-Parenting
On the day of Owen and Amelia's Wedding, April went back to Meredith's house with Ben to get the rings. While they were there, she went into labor. Ben had to preform a crash C-section on her with no anesthetic. She and the baby were then brought to Grey Sloan Memorial so she could have surgery.

April recovered from the rough experience and Jackson offered her to move in with him to make things easier for her. She started to annoy him by being determined to be a perfect guest, but after a talk with Jackson, she came to realize she was his roommate and didn't have to feel like a guest.

Personality
When April first arrived at the hospital, she was extremely insecure and wrote notes to herself in a personal diary to help cope with her insecurities. She wrote notes telling herself nobody could tell she has had plastic surgery on her nose, and that she could one day be the future of medicine. Although April seems to be a little bit fragile, the shooting at the hospital proved that she is much stronger than she seems.

Since making some new friends at the hospital, April seems to have become much more confident in herself and her abilities, and little by little showed more of her personality. It's been noted by Owen Hunt that although April panics under pressure, she shows promise as a trauma surgeon due to her tenaciousness. Along with being extremely organized, April is also very competitive - refusing to give up until she wins. April's most noticeable quality is her ability to read people. She's extremely receptive and notices things that most people would overlook. Also, unlike most of her peers, April is a morning person. She is also compassionate and understanding. April also cares deeply about her friends and patients. Along with those qualities, she also has some flaws - such as her inability to filter what she says and her extreme anxiety that causes her to come off as annoying. April also has a tendency to push people away and shut them out when she is hurt. April can also become very emotional over little things.

After losing her child, she seems to be much stronger and more serious about everything.

Derek Shepherd
She had a big crush on the married Derek Shepherd following the merger. Jackson said of the crush, "she thinks he walks on water" to Meredith.

Robert Stark
During a time in pediatrics, Robert Stark flirted with her. April didn't want to pursue a relationship with him and declined an invitation to Robert's apartment for dinner. They remained friendly after that.

Jackson Avery
After the shooting at the hospital, Jackson and April became close when she noticed he'd been having nightmares about the tragedy. He then grew very protective over her - claiming she was the only friend he had left. April has always been very close with God, and she says she remained a virgin so long due to her religion - which Jackson respected. However, she decided to sleep with him the night before their medical boards, giving up her virginity and putting somewhat of a strain on their friendship.

When April returned to Seattle Grace Mercy West, she informed Jackson she was "revirginizing". He didn't support this action because he felt she was trying to pretend they never happened, but he promised to help her in any way that he could. However, in the end, no matter how hard they tried to stay away, they couldn't resist each other.

At some point in their relationship, April's period was late. Because she'd never been late before, she thought she was pregnant. While waiting for the results of the pregnancy test, Jackson told her that he was all in and that they would have a wonderful wedding with butterflies and that they would raise the kid together. However, the test came back negative, to which April responded with relief and delight. She said to Jackson that they dodged a big bullet and that they wouldn't have to get married anymore. This hurt Jackson's feelings and he broke up with her - stating that perhaps this was a sign they shouldn't be together.

Soon after, Jackson began seeing intern Stephanie, which first started out as only a sexual relationship. Jackson told April himself, thinking it would hurt her even more if she heard from anyone else. April was glad that he did and thanked him, but confessed she still had some feelings for him and wasn't ready yet to be friends again. However, she soon met Matthew and they both concentrated on their own relationships. Jackson and April did become friends again, however, when April asked Jackson for advice on whether or not she should tell Matthew the truth about her virginity.

During a massive storm near the hospital, a bus flipped and the doctors had to rush in and evacuate as many people as possible. The doctors believed they got to everyone, but Jackson stayed behind because he noticed a small pink shoe. When April noticed Jackson wasn't with them, she began to panic and rushed back towards the bus as it lay there ablaze, but was stopped by Matthew. Suddenly, the bus exploded. Thinking Jackson was in the explosion, April became hysterical. When he emerged from the fire with a small child, she ran to hug him, but was stopped by Matthew - who was trying to comfort her.

When Jackson was being treated by Callie for his injuries, April walked in furious, screaming at him for almost dying, but was quickly removed by Callie and Matthew. Thinking she had lost Jackson made her realize her true feelings for him. When everyone calmed down, she went back in to see him. She told him that she wanted him and not Matthew - which Jackson quickly rebuffed by telling her she was marrying Matthew soon. April then told Jackson to give her a reason not to. Jackson said her reaction had nothing to do with him and that she should leave him out of it; he stayed with Stephanie, she with Matthew.

Although Jackson and April were seeing different people, they remained friends.

On the day of April's wedding, she ran into Jackson at the hospital while searching for Meredith and Cristina. Jackson had previously told April he wouldn't be attending her wedding, but she asked him one more time if he would be there. He asked if she really wanted him there and she said yes. During the ceremony, however, Jackson broke up with Stephanie and told April he loved her and that he always has loved her in front of the entire crowd. It was later revealed that April and Jackson got married.

After working on Jill Kasliner, Jackson and April fought about how they would raise their children. April walked out and ended up staying with Arizona and Callie for a few days. She came back to retrieve her iPod and told Jackson that they couldn't table the discussion about how they'll raise their children any longer because she's pregnant. During her second trimester, April and Jackson discovered that their unborn son had Osteogenesis Imperfecta. After a series of test they soon learned that their son who they decided to name Samuel suffered from type 2, the most fatal type. Their son Samuel Norbert died shortly after his birth.

She later left to serve as a trauma surgeon in the Army, causing stress on her marriage with Jackson. When she returned from her first tour, she and Jackson seemed to be in a good place; however, when April revealed that she would be returning to Jordan, Jackson told her that he would not be there when she got back. When April returned from the Middle East, she was eager to rekindle and fix her relationship with Jackson. However, Jackson was deeply hurt as he felt that she abandoned him and he did not wish to get back together. April declared that she would fight for their relationship until her death. Jackson suggested that they get a divorce and he moved into Ben and Bailey's house to stay separated from April as she would not leave on her own. Jackson and April had a nice dinner in hopes of talking about their relationship, but unfortunately she was paged and they never got to the real conversation. April and Jackson later slept together. Afterward, April was avoiding a conversation with Jackson while he was eager to talk to her. April told Jackson that she knew what he was going to say about the fact that they had sex. He exclaimed that she had no idea. While Meredith was in the hospital, April and Jackson had an argument because Jackson served her divorce papers.

They later signed the papers shortly after April found out that she was pregnant with Jackson's baby. April refused to tell Jackson about the pregnancy. However, Arizona and Alex were worried about her, so Arizona ended up telling Jackson, shocking April. Jackson was furious with April for not telling him herself. He went to her, asking to be involved and suggesting that she was waiting until it was too late for an early abortion. She said it was her body and therefore her decision.

Matthew Taylor
A new paramedic at the hospital, Matthew has recently caught the attention of April, as he awkwardly asked her on a date after confessing to watching her for some time but he assured her he was not a stalker.

They are later seen bonding in an ambulance, when Matthew receives a call about a nearby trauma. April rides along with him and they come across a hit and run accident involving a nine year old boy. April saves his life by assembling her fellow doctors to operate although Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital was no longer a trauma center at the time. When the doctors were eventually caught operating on the boy, Meredith Grey protected April by claiming him as her patient and "accidentally" deleting incriminating evidence from the new system. Alex Karev and Jackson Avery also defended April during a meeting with Owen Hunt about the situation.

When all is said and done and the young boy is stable, April runs into Matthew on her way home from the hospital. He tells her she is the bravest, strongest, and most beautiful woman he has ever met. He tells her whenever he's around her, he loses all thoughts. April, flattered and somewhat shocked, kisses Matthew - much to the dismay of a jealous Jackson as he passes by with Stephanie.

When April turns to Jackson for advice before a date with Matthew, Jackson reveals to April that his relationship with Stephanie is purely sexual and they're not romantically involved with each other. April then confesses to Jackson that she is unsure how to explain to Matthew that she is no longer a virgin, but still wishes to wait until marriage before having sex again. Jackson jokingly responds by saying he's going to think she's mentally ill, but April takes him seriously and her feelings are hurt. He later apologizes, however, and tells April to be honest with Matthew, stating that once he gets to know her, he will want to follow her anywhere.

When April found out Matthew was saving himself for marriage - like she intented to do before sleeping with Jackson, she told him she was saving herself for marriage, as well - leaving out the fact that she was no longer a virgin. When she finally confessed to Matthew that she had lied, he was hurt, but accepted her for who she was.

April and Matthew were engaged to be married. He proposed to her via flashmob and she said yes, smiling from ear to ear and crying tears of joy.

They had a few bumps before the wedding, but they made it through. At the wedding ceremony, Jackson stood up in front of everyone and told her he loved her and he always loved her. April didn't respond. Mathew looked angry. Then she decided to run away with Jackson, leaving Matthew at the altar.

Reed Adamson
Before the shooting at Seattle Grace Mercy West, April and Reed Adamson were best friends and roommates, as well. When Reed was tragically murdered during the shooting, April was the first to find her. Finding her best friend shot to death at the hands of Gary Clark sent April into shock, but she quickly recovered and reported what she found to Derek Shepherd. April often still mentions Reed, indicating that they were very close friends.

Charles Percy
It's unknown just how close April and Charles really were, but they were seen on several occasions laughing and joking around. April often disapproved of his crude humor, but overall seemed to get along with him.

Lexie Grey
When Lexie and April first met, Lexie found April annoying because Derek Shepherd seemed to take shine to her. Her jealousy caused her to steal April's diary and then read it. While reading the journal, she noticed tear drops on the pages - indicating that April was crying while the notes were being written. Feeling immediately guilty, Lexie returned the diary and apologized to April.

They had another run in when Meredith opened up to April about her miscarriage and not Lexie. Lexie, again became jealous and tried tricking April into annoying Meredith with her idea of a chore wheel. However, Meredith approved of the idea - much to Lexie's dismay. Lexie then blew up at April infront of Meredith - who quickly ended the confrontation and explained to Lexie that the only reason April knew about the miscarriage is because she was there when it happened. Lexie then apologized to April for treating her the way she did and gave her Izzie's room as an apology.

Lexie and April no longer had any negative feelings towards each other, and even developed a friendship of sorts. April even went to Lexie first for advice when Robert Stark asked her on a date.

Meredith Grey
April and Meredith didn't really start talking until the shooting at the hospital, when April kept her company during Derek's emergency surgery. Meredith was annoyed at April for crying during his surgery because she felt April had no right to cry, but April explained to her the reason she was crying was because her best friend, Reed had been murdered earlier that day. Meredith then held April's hand for the duration of Derek's operation.

After the shooting, Meredith invited April to move into her home because April had been previously sharing an apartment with her deceased best friend, Reed. Meredith defended April when her peers were joking about April's virginity, and even told April she was beginning to like her when she stuck up for herself and put everyone else in their place.

Since Meredith and Derek adopted Zola, April has played babysitter for her on several different occasions. Meredith is also a bridesmaid at April's wedding.

Alex Karev
Like he is to everyone, Alex was very rude upon meeting April, but it didn't take her long to notice this was only a defense mechanism he used to prevent people from getting too close. He continued being rude to her for quite some time, but she still treated him as a friend - doing his laundry and sharing her groceries with him.

When Robert Stark stole Alex's idea during a surgery, April defended him to the chief and made sure Alex received credit for his idea. She later met up with him in an on-call room and made sure he knew he was appreciated, and that she noticed all the good he's been doing. This prompted Alex to kiss her, but being a virgin she asked him to slow down - which frustrated him to the point that he screamed at her. He felt guilty, but left the room without saying a word.



April avoided Alex for some time after that, but they reconciled over a slice of pizza on the way home from the hospital one day. When April failed her medical boards, Alex comforted her and reassured her that hospitals would still want her regardless of not being board certified.

Callie Torres
In April's office, she has a photo of Callie & Arizona from their wedding day. She also made a onesie for baby Sofia during Callie's baby shower that had a pie drawn on it accompanied by the words "Cutie Pie" decoratively written above. She was also seen dancing with both Callie and Arizona at their wedding reception. After April had a fight with Jackson, she came to Callie's and Arizona's house for a while.

Arizona Robbins
After Arizona was outed by Callie as being a cheater, April found herself relating to her in a weird way. Although April had never cheated, she did almost end things with Matthew to be with Jackson. After April overheard Callie tell everyone at the fundraiser that Arizona died in the plane crash, April took two bottles of champagne and met Arizona in the hospital storage closet to share a drink and comfort her. They soon became very open with each other and discussed their relationship problems together, bonding them. Arizona was also a bridesmaid at April's wedding. After a fight with Jackson, April came to Arizona's and Callie's house and stayed there for a few days. Arizona also comforted April after Jackson told her he wasn't going to be there if April left again.

Arizona was the first person to find out that April was pregnant again. She offered April drinks after she divorced Jackson. April refused and Arizona jokingly asked her if she was pregnant, to which April turned to her and replied "According to the test I took this morning, yeah actually. I think I am."

Cristina Yang
Like many of the other doctors, Cristina found April to be somewhat annoying upon meeting her. Although April sometimes disapproved of Cristina's rule breaking, she considered her a friend. When April was let go by the hospital for making a mistake in the ER, Cristina defended her to the other residents, claiming that everyone made mistakes that night and April was only fired because she was caught. During the race for chief resident, April and Cristina were assigned a case together and April often spoke out to Cristina about her habit of bending the rules, much to Cristina's annoyance. She was so annoyed by April's "goody-two-shoes" behavior that she exploded at her saying that no matter how hard she tried or how many charts she made, she would never be chief resident, but they later made up. After April failed her boards, Cristina showed kindess to her by comforting her after all of the hospitals turned her down. She even answered April's phone (pretending to be her) and told the hospitals that they were missing out because April was "an amazing little surgeon." Cristina was a bridesmaid at April's wedding. After the wedding failed because April ran off with Jackson, Cristina said, "I was on the fence about Kepner, but now I'm not only a friend, I'm a fan."

Owen Hunt
After the shooting at the hospital, Owen met with Richard Webber - the current chief of surgery to discuss a trauma training program he thought would benefit the hospital incase another emergency situation like the shooting arose. During this training, Owen was extremely impressed by April Kepner's determination and tenacity while caring for her "dummy" patients. He was even more so impressed when April refused to allow her patient to die, and accept the message Owen was trying to get across to the doctors - that trauma was unfair, and sometimes no matter what you do, your patients die. After the trauma training was over and all the doctors were certified, Owen mentioned to Cristina how proud he was, and although she didn't look like one, there was a trauma surgeon in that girl.

Since the training exercise, Owen has taken April under his wing and even comforted her before her medical board exams - telling her that "she was a soldier." When she failed and was let go from the hospital, he flew out to Moline - her home town, and hired her back saying he should never had taken her job away from her.

On April's wedding day, Owen went through the entire hospital making sure everyone knew they had to be at the ceremony. Moments before April walked down the aisle, Owen told her she was beautiful, well-loved by the hospital, and kissed her cheek.

Owen and April's friendship grew stronger during her second pregnancy, when Owen consoled her as she was breaking apart from stress and fear that the pregnancy would end in another disaster. Later, she became his best man at his wedding to Amelia Shepherd, though she managed to lose the rings for a while and ended up missing the ceremony because her water broke while she and Ben were looking for the rings at Meredith's.

Career
April was always top of her class in medical school, and has received numerous heart felt recommendations from her professors. During a meeting with Richard Webber, he stated he has no doubt she is an excellent surgeon because she has the recommendations to prove it.

April spent most of her residency at Mercy West Medical Center, but later moved to Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital during the merger. When April arrived at Seattle Grace, Derek took a shine to her because she was full of intelligent and creative ideas. When Richard Webber was forced to let her go for making a mistake in the ER, Derek later rehired her because he felt she was unfairly fired and deserved a second chance. After being rehired, April decided to stick to more administrative work because she believed she wasn't a good surgeon anymore. She felt constantly guilty for losing her patient and couldn't handle any more losses. With a little encouragement from Derek, however, she finally began doing surgeries again and went on to become an excellent surgeon.

April Kepner was later chosen as Chief Resident of Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital when she impressed Owen Hunt with her patient checklist. She had a rough start, but later got a handle on things and became an excellent chief resident.

However, nervousness got the best of her during her medical board exams causing her to fail. Although April was not a board certified surgeon like her fellow doctors, she remained at Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital as an attending trauma surgeon, with the intent of retaking her medical boards the following year, confident that she would pass the second time.

It has been noted that although the new interns refer to her as "the dud", she is one of their favorite surgeons and is the most willing of all her fellow attendings to teach them. Also, unlike the other doctors in the hospital, April doesn't hold grudges against the interns for making mistakes.

When the trauma center at the hospital closed, April worked night and day with Derek Shepherd to hatch a plan to keep it open. They succeeded in receiving donations from the other departments, but were devastated to find out all of their hard work was wasted. They found out the trauma center wasn't closing due to budget issues, but instead because trauma centers aren't a good selling point.

With the trauma center back in place at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital, April finally feels she has her career headed in the right direction, and becomes even confident that she will "kick ass" during her medical board exams. She did ultimately pass and become a board-certified surgeon. When Meredith was suspended, April was asked to step in as Head of General Surgery.

Notes and Trivia

 * April was the first of the residents to be seen wearing navy scrubs, during the hospital shooting.
 * Growing up, April had terrible acne and wore braces and glasses until college; landing her the cruel nickname of ducky ("the ugly duckling") given by her sisters.
 * April took years of physical therapy as a child to correct pigeon toes (a condition in which a person's feet face inwards instead of straight ahead).
 * April watches Oprah.
 * April cries at weddings.
 * She wears contacts.
 * As a child, April had a fish tank, two hamsters, a pet pony, a pet duck, and two dogs named Buster and Pickles. Pickles was a Schnauzer. She says the pet duck lived in their house.
 * April is a bit of a photographer. She is seen taking pictures at almost every social event she and her fellow doctors attend.
 * In order to be able to communicate with the children from Alex's African program, April learned a bit of Swahili.
 * April used to Facebook Jackson's mother, Catherine Avery, but removed her as a friend at Jackson's request.
 * She used to have a red journal with motivational messages to get her through the day, such as, "You are the future of medicine".
 * April was a virgin until the age of twenty-nine.
 * April lost her virginity to her ex-husband who is her long time best friend, Jackson Avery, about two years before they got married. He remains the only person she has ever had sex with.
 * When she was little, she had a pony named Sparkle.
 * April has fasted (abstained from any food or drink for a period of time for religious observation).
 * April has a dimple on her right cheek.
 * She is the only doctor who has been seen driving an ambulance.
 * April has had plastic surgery on her nose. It is unknown whether this was reconstructive or cosmetic.
 * April dreams of being married in a field full of beautiful flowers with butterflies that are released when she says "I do" and mints that have the phrase "mint to be" on them.
 * According to Richard, she is a terrible driver.
 * When April becomes nervous or upset, her voice becomes noticeably higher than usual. She also often waves her hands when trying to make a point.
 * According to Jackson Avery & Cristina Yang, April is an excellent cook.
 * April is very talented when it comes to numbers and statistics. She even claims to become overly excited when numbers and statistics are mentioned.
 * Her period might be on the 6th of the month as I Was Made for Lovin' You.
 * She's the first character of whom a pregnancy that led to birth lasts for more than one season. All other pregnant characters gave birth in the same season they got pregnant in. Cristina's pregnancies lasted for two season as well, but those never led to birth.
 * April can sometimes become too emotionally involved with her patients. She will often cry when she loses a patient, and will go above and beyond to make sure her patients are comfortable.
 * April once cooked a special porridge for one of the African orphans Alex Karev brought to the hospital, prompting Robert Stark to give her a glowing review for chief resident to Owen Hunt.
 * During her residency, she was interested in neurosurgery.
 * According to a patient at the hospital, April looks identical to the fictional Dothraki Princess from the "A Song of Ice and Fire" series.
 * This is a curious comparison since in "A Song of Ice and Fire" the Dothraki Princess, Daenerys Targaryen, is a teenager with violet eyes and white hair, traits which April does not possess. Neither does she look like Emilia Clarke who plays Daenerys in the HBO adaptation "Game of Thrones".
 * April has been let go by the hospital on two different occasions, but was hired back each time.
 * April loves the song "Sexy and I Know It" by LMFAO.
 * Although she was not a board certified surgeon, April was still hired as an attending trauma surgeon at Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital/Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital.
 * According to Cristina Yang, April has virgin superpowers and she knows everything.
 * As of Everybody's Crying Mercy, April is board certified after passing her exams.
 * She named a pig after Jackson.
 * April prefers to do her own laundry as opposed to sending it out because she claims to have a perfectly good washer and dryer at home. After she ran out of clean underwear and didn't have a chance to do laundry, she had to wear a Speedo which Jackson jokingly teased her about.
 * April wanted to wear her mother's veil at her wedding.
 * April holds a rank of Captain in the U.S. Army. This is because doctors are given a special commission when joining the Army, starting at a higher rank.
 * She is allergic to peanuts and loves fortune cookies.
 * Her daughter was born on the kitchen table of Meredith's House.
 * Although a trauma surgeon, April has been known to act as a general surgeon in some cases.
 * When she was initially hired back as an attending, April answered general surgery consults.
 * During a severe hernia case, April was the general surgeon on-record before it was transferred to Richard Webber.
 * Her pager number is 206-555-0176.

Notable Episodes
These episodes are April-centric or are otherwise very informative about her life.
 * I Saw What I Saw
 * Moment of Truth
 * Get Up, Stand Up
 * Take It Back
 * Change of Heart
 * Don't Let's Start
 * Risk
 * Where Do We Go From Here
 * The Bed's Too Big Without You
 * All I Could Do Was Cry
 * The Me Nobody Knows
 * Unbreak My Heart
 * I Am Not Waiting Anymore
 * It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)
 * Family Affair
 * It Only Gets Much Worse

Memorable Quotes

 * (When Mr. Clark is pointing the gun at her) "My name...my name is April Kepner. I'm 28 years old, and I was born on April 23rd in, in Ohio. I'm from C-Columbus. Columbus, Ohio. Um, my mom, my mom is a teacher, and m-my dad is a farmer. Corn. C-corn. He, he, he grows corn. Their, their names are Karen and Joe. (crying harder) I have three sisters! Libby's the oldest. I, I'm next, and then there's K-Kimmie and Alice. I, I, I haven't done anything yet. I haven't...I've barely lived! I, I'm not finished yet. No one's loved me yet. Please. Please. I'm someone's child! I'm a person! I'm a person!"


 * “Stop! Okay just stop. I’m a virgin, yes. So what? It’s not something I talk about, okay? We all have things we don’t talk about. Alex, you’ve been afraid of the elevator for like a month, but I never said anything because it’s none of my business. And Jackson, you wake up every night screaming because you have nightmares. And, Meredith, you don’t talk about Cristina because you’re afraid she’s never gonna be the same Cristina again. And Lexie, for God’s sake, Mark never thought you were a psycho. He loves you. That’s why he stares at you. Because he can’t keep his eyes off the woman he loves. Of course, he’s never gonna say anything cause he doesn’t feel like he can. Well, we all have stuff we don’t talk about! I am a 28-year-old virgin. Mainly because I wanted my first time to be special and then I waited too long and partially because I’m pretty sure guys find me annoying. I’m a virgin! That doesn’t make it drinks conversation! We all have stuff we don’t talk about!"


 * “Hey, here’s a question. Whatever happened to good, old-fashioned romance? No stuffing of turkeys or disinfecting sofas. But you know, what about nice, normal dates, where people talk, share a meal, get to know each other? And then wind up together. Not because they’re monkeys but because they have genuine feelings in a committed way. I mean what is so wrong with that, huh?”


 * "I guess I have to believe that everything happens for a reason. It’s all part of some plan; you’re supposed to learn something. You lose a patient because you forget to check their airway, you don’t make that mistake again. You fail your boards ‘cause you’re too busy sleeping with your best friend, maybe you stop doing that. The hospital you call home shuts down just when you’re starting to feel like you’ve got your life together..."


 * "There's a thing we say when someone dies. We say it to the patients's family. We say, 'I'm sorry for your loss.' It's a pat little phrase and an empty one. It doesn't begin to cover what's actually happening to them. It lets us empathize without forcing us to feel their devastation ourselves. It protects us from feeling that pain, that dark, sinking, relentless pain. The kind that can eat you alive. And every day, I thank God for that. We can't get too close. If we felt even little of the joy and the hopes that our patients are saying goodbye to, we'd never be able to function. So we say, 'We're sorry for your loss.' and we hope it offers something. Some little bit of support. Some bit of peace. Some bit of closure. Something good. Some little piece of beauty in the midst of some place dark. An unexpected gift, just when it's needed most."


 * In trauma, we're concerned with one overriding question. How did this happen? What was the mechanism of injury? How do we see past the mess and confusion of trauma to figure out what the damage actually is? Infinite possibilities put the patient on the table in front of you. Now you have to figure out, will they live? Will you be able to save them or are they a lost cause? Every part of a trauma tells a different piece of the story and until you look at each and every injury, you can't see what went wrong. We talk about the mechanism of injury, about where it all started, but the truth is, it's sort of a myth. We can't boil every injury down to one single blow. What hurts us is cumulative. It happens over time. We absorb blow after blow, shock after shock, painful hit after hit. But even then, even if we know exactly how we got here, it doesn't mean we can fix it. we can't heal every wound and that's okay. I have to believe it's okay. I have to believe that even if something seems like it cannot be fixed, it doesn't mean it's broken.

Appearances
April Kepner April Kepner April Kepner