Amelia Shepherd

"I am not fragile. I'm a drug addict. I've fallen off the wagon twice and I've gotten back on it. That doesn't make you fragile, Derek, that makes you very freaking strong."

- Amelia Shepherd

Amelia Shepherd is the youngest sister of Derek Shepherd. Just like her older brother, she is a neurosurgeon at Seaside Health and Wellness with privileges at St. Ambrose Hospital and, as well, Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital.

Early Life
When she was 5, she and Derek saw their father get murdered. She said that afterward her world fell apart and she was in a "dark place" for a long time. During her teens she was so wild and out of control that she was called "Hurricane Amelia". To escape her pain she began using pills. She overdosed (accidentally) when she was a teenager and that almost killed her. She was dead for 3 minutes. She had been referred to as the black sheep of her family. She walked in on Mark and her sister-in-law Addison in bed together but kept it secret from her brother. She was apparently close to Derek at some point, but she now tries to avoid contact with him.

Reconciliation with Derek
Despite not having talked to him for a while, when Amelia heard that Derek got shot, she was so shocked by this that she started smoking. Addison took her cigarettes away when they were going to visit Dell's grave, where Amelia mentioned that the world was a crappy place because of the horrible things that happened lately, like Dell's death and Derek being shot. When she got bored at Addison's house, she visited the practice, hoping there was a patient she could operate on. She talked to Addison and told her that she called and e-mailed Derek to find out how he was doing, but he did not return her calls, nor did he reply to her e-mails. Addison then told her that he was doing fine. Amelia was surprised that Derek had talked to Addison, while he hadn't talked to her. "That kinda says it all, doesn't it?" Amelia said. When Amelia later told Addison that she wanted to go somewhere, Addison told her to start in Seattle and convinced her that Derek already hated her, so she had nothing to lose by visiting him. "I'm gonna start in Seattle," Amelia then said. ("Take Two")

Pregnancy and Birth
Amelia had a boyfriend Ryan with whom she did drugs when she relapsed after her best friend commited suicide. One night, they decided to take the rest of their drugs and get sober the next day. Amelia woke up the next morning to discover Ryan dead. She later found out she was pregnant (she thought she was just experiencing withdrawal symptoms). It turned out the baby was anencephalic (had no brain). She decided to donate the baby's organs. There was a lot of debate with the practice about it, though the organ donation ultimately occurred, saving the lives of several other infants.

Getting Her Life Back on Track
After donating her baby's organs, Amelia continued to go to meetings. Soon after she was one year sober, she met the new ER attending James Peterson, who showed off romantic interest towards Amelia. After some struggles, they began a relationship. At Sam and Naomi's second wedding, James promised her that they would get married one day.

Engagement
Somewhere near the end of March 2014, James proposed to her. She accepted, but the engagement made her freak out.

Personality
Amelia has spunk and is always very outspoken and charismatic. She is that "badass" type of girl who doesn't let anything or anyone get in her way. She seems to have slight trust issues also, because of her troubled past. After overcoming her drug problems, she appears to have matured.

Romantic
Amelia has had several romantic flings, but none very serious. She has told Sam that she doesn't have "anything or anyone" so it appears unlikely that she is the mother of any of the 9 nieces and 5 nephews that Derek had referred previously.

Ryan Kerrigan
Amelia got serious with Ryan, whom she met at a club and subsequently slept with. Amelia and Ryan became very close with their common drug addiction, going on a drug binge for twelve days where they slept together and did drugs. After a failed intervention with the Oceanside Wellness Group, Amelia returned to her hotel room with Ryan where they made the pact to "get clean" after consuming the last bit of the drugs they had; Amelia passed out and woke to find Ryan dead next to her. After the ordeal, Amelia checked herself into a rehab facility. After she fully recovered, she discovered she was pregnant with Ryan's baby.

She discovered it quite late, because she assumed the symptoms were withdrawal symptoms. When Addison gave Amelia her first ultrasound, she discovered her baby boy was anencephalic, meaning he would be born without a brain. During the pregnancy, Amelia decided to donate her baby's organs to save other babies all over the country. After some difficulties with St. Ambrose Hospital's lawyers and an ethical disagreement with Sam, the baby's organs were donated.

James Peterson
James and Amelia worked together at St. Ambrose. James kept asking her out, but she rejected him. When they finally went out, he didn't kiss her at the end of the date. He did that twice, which is why Amelia decided to go on a date with someone else. When she was getting ready to go to the date, James showed up at her house and said he couldn't stand the anticipation, and they finally kissed, starting off their relationship. At Naomi and Sam's wedding, he told her they were going to be the ones to get married someday. In March 2014, he proposed to her. She accepted, but the fact that she was facing a new kind of life made her freak out and flee to Seattle, to find out if she could live a life like her brother Derek and his wife Meredith.

Addison Forbes Montgomery
She is very close to her former sister-in-law, Addison Forbes Montgomery and says that she has always been a better sister to her then her real sisters. She has three sisters and one brother. She does not believe in God and does not think that people can change. She doesn't give details but she tells Sam that she has "done stuff... bad stuff". She prefers to try and help other people with their personal problems rather than deal with her own life.

Amelia shut out Addison when Addison informed her that her baby had no brain. When Amelia was in labor she accepted Addisons help and they renewed  their friendship.

Career
Amelia graduated at the top of her class at Harvard Medical School, completed her surgical residency at Johns Hopkins, and followed up with a neurosurgical fellowship.

She is board certified in neurosurgery and was employed as one of Dr. Geraldine Ginsberg's teaching fellows until Ginsberg fired her for discussing with a patient's husband a surgery that Ginsberg did not recommend and considered highly experimental, which was successful.

She is a world-class neurosurgeon like Derek and although talking to her brother about her situation could help her find a new position she does not want to call him because of the "lectures and the "I told you so"s and the "You screwed up again"s that she fears will follow. Amelia takes risks in surgeries and at times appears very confident in her own abilities but when problems arise she can become overwhelmed with self-doubt. Sam had to push her to finish her surgery on Addison's comatose patient after complications arose.

After she was fired by Dr. Ginsberg, Amelia worked as a neurosurgeon at the Oceanside Wellness Group. After this practice was dissolved Amelia continued working at Seaside Health and Wellness, the successor of the Oceanside Wellness Group.

Notes and Trivia

 * She has a freckle that looks like Indiana.
 * Although she mentioned Derek is the only one who can call her Amy, Meredith calls her Amy and has her in her phone address book under the name Amy as well.
 * Amelia was contacted when Derek needed a nerve after the plane crash, but she didn't answer the call and presumably never replied to the message Heather left her.
 * Because Amelia completed a surgical residency prior to a neurosurgery fellowship, she is also board certified in general surgery, but because neurosurgery is considered a sub-specialty of general surgery, Amelia is not "double-board certified", as board certification in general surgery is required to obtain board certification in neurosurgery.
 * Amelia was dead for three minutes after an overdose of pills. She stated that this pushed her get sober after.
 * Amelia was the first person to know about Addison's affair with Mark, but she never told anyone because she was loyal to Addison and considered her a better sister than the ones she had.

Notable Episodes
These episodes are Amelia-centric or otherwise very informative about her life.
 * Superfreak
 * Have You Seen Me Lately?
 * Who We Are
 * You Break My Heart
 * Gone, Baby, Gone
 * Good Fries Are Hard to Come By