Secret Sister (Station 19)

Little Secrets

"Mamá! ¿Donde estan mis llaves?" Elle called from down the hall. She hadn't heard the doorbell and didn't see Andy until she rounded the corner and saw everyone silently staring at each other. She recognized Andrea Herrera from the pictures she had seen and realized in an instant that she should not be there.

"On the counter, mija." Elena Herrera answered, pointing over to the kitchen. "Why don't you head to Liam's house? I'll call you later."

Elle nodded and apologized as she slipped past Andy and out the door.

"I... I'm sorry, who was that?" Andy asked, staring at her mother. "Is.. is she your daughter?"

"Mi amor," Andy's mom said as she took a step towards her. "Let me explain."

Andy pulled away, taking a step back from her mother.

"Is that girl your daughter?" Andy asked again, more sternly this time. The fear that she had been abandoned just for her mother to start over with a new daughter was almost too much to bear.

"Not by blood." Elena said slowly, before elaborating. "A few years after I left your father, I met a wonderful man, my husband Eli, and he happened to have a little girl."

Andy cut her off, "And you raised her? She calls you mom?"

Elena tried hard to maintain eye contact with her daughter, but it was hard to face the shame she had over the pain she caused. "Yes," she said, trying her best to be honest. "Please, Andrea, sit. Let me explain."

Andy stepped back toward the door for a moment, deciding what she wanted to do, before following her mother and aunt into the living room and sitting in the chair closest to the door.

Elena explained that her relationship with Pruitt wasn't working, and the situation was made so much worse by her own mental health. She knew she had to get away from him, get some space, and at the time she just thought it would be better for her to disappear altogether. She knew how close Andy was to her father, he was her hero, and with that on top of the depression, Elena thought Andy would be better off without her. So she left, and let Andy think she was dead, because, honestly, part of her felt like she was. And she thought it would be easier.

Once she was out and on her own, she got the help she needed to get her mental health in check. She got a job working as a receptionist at a high school while she went back to school to get a degree in human resources. While she was working there, she met Elian Walsh, an English teacher and they became fast friends. The more they talked, the more they connected. They ended up dating and he introduced her to his young daughter, who happened to share her name. His wife, Elle's mother, died in childbirth and he had been struggling with single-fatherhood for two years. The little girl gravitated toward Elena, and the three of them became a family. Everyone could see that they were perfect together, despite the fact that they all had extremely similar names: Eli, Elena, and Elle. Even so, they didn't care. They were happy and that's all that mattered.

For the past 17 years, they've been married and living happily together in the suburbs of Seattle. Elena raised Elle as her own and Elle has always looked at her as a mother. She explained to Andy that she was hoping that the two of them could reconnect before she told her about Elle, but that didn't quite pan out. Elena tried desperately to explain to Andy that she never wanted to leave her, she just didn't know what else to do. She was never trying to replace her with Elle, it just happened that the child came into her life. She apologized profusely for not reaching out sooner; she was scared and didn't know how.

Andy looked blankly at her mother while she tried to explain the last 20 years. It became too much to process, and Andy got up and left, quietly closing the door behind her. Elena was left staring at the door, heartbroken; this was exactly what she was afraid of.

Andy went back to her house, and the quiet loneliness of it reminded her that Sullivan was still at Grey Sloan. She knew she should go be with him, but she was too overwhelmed to move. She just sat on the couch trying to grapple with the idea that her mother was still alive. Not only that, but she had spent the last 20 years living less than an hour away with a whole new family. The more she thought about it, the more she was flooded with emotions. She tried to call Maya, but she didn't answer, so she just crawled into bed and tried desperately to fall asleep praying that this was all some sort of nightmare.

Meanwhile, Elle called Elena to see how things had gone with Andy, and apologize again for interrupting. She knew that she was supposed to have left before Andy got there, but things just didn't quite work out that way. Andy got there early, and as always, Elle was running late, and it was just bad timing. "I'm sorry mom, I didn't mean to mess things up," Elle said apologetically.

Elena let her off the hook, "No, mija, it's not your fault."

Still, Elle couldn't help but feel bad; she knew how important it was for her mom to make things right with Andy and she didn't want to get in the way of that. She also felt guilty, knowing how wonderful Elena had been to her and that Andy had missed out on it. Plus, she had always wanted a big sister. Elle spent the rest of the night thinking of ways that her mom could try again and reconnect with Andy. Maybe there was a way that she could help.