By Lauren S
Previously on Grey's Anatomy, Meredith's mom was brought in as a patient; Cristina was pissed about how Burke broke up with her and she hasn't told him that she's pregnant, but then she collapsed (and the subsequent surgery sorta let that cat out of the bag). Meredith yelled at Derek to stop talking to her, Addison kissed Derek, and then...so did Meredith.
Meredith's VO gets us set to receive this week's Big Lesson. "The key to surviving a surgical internship is denial." Izzie is at the bar looking cute in a pink shirt, and watching Alex play darts while trying to not look entirely like she's watching Alex play darts. "We deny that we're tired, we deny that we're scared, we deny how badly we want to succeed." Alex grins at her and then goes back to his darts, which makes Izzie antsy as Joe hands her a drink. "And, most importantly, we deny that we're in denial."
Izzie joins Mere and George at a table and George eats peanuts while he tells the girls that Cristina said she was okay. Izzie, having a shred of intuition, thinks that no one can go through what she did and just be over it. Meredith, surprisingly, sides with George and they say she's fine, but Izzie maintains that she's TOO fine. George, still dense as to the complexities of human feelings, maintains with awe that Cristina's just hardcore. "She's got ice in her veins." Meredith has stopped chiming in, seemingly somewhere in between the two opinions and with a dash of my-boyfriend-is-married thrown in, and morosely stirs her drink. Izzie reminds them and all of the viewing audience that Cristina lost a baby and a fallopian tube. She's now indignant at Cristina's lack of emotion, clearly ignorant herself of the tendency on the part of people who insist they're fine to break down in spectacular flaming fashion at some point later. Izzie says that Cristina is her friend, but she has no soul. George admiringly adds, "God, she's gonna make a great surgeon." I see this conversation as a good illustration of Callie's comment to come about this hospital being like high school with scalpels.
VO: "We only see what we want to see. And believe what we want to believe. And it works. We lie to ourselves so much that after a while, the lies start to seem like the truth." On cue, Derek walks in. (This is clearly the only place to go for a drink in all of Seattle.) Meredith gazes at him as he bellies up to the bar to Bailey. He wants to talk about the girlfriend-/wife-kissing action, and predictably, she wants none of it. She asks the bartender, "Joe, do I look friendly to you?" He tells her, "Oh. Yeah, you're a tiny little kitten of joy and love." She glares at him and he defends himself, pointing out that Derek saved his life. She tells Derek to sit near someone who cares, and he smiles at her gruff exterior. Meredith's VO concludes, "We deny so much, that we can't recognize the truth right in front of our faces." Derek repeats to himself and Bailey that everything will be fine when Addison returns to New York and, I guess, Meredith comes happily prancing back to him, forgetting all about the little "secret wife" issue they've had. Bailey, the only one who seems to understand how human beings act and interact, tells him, "You so damn stupid." Naturally, he looks confused.
Presumably the day, Bailey is leading the merry band through the hospital and reminding them to be focused since they're one intern short with Cristina gone. Unfortunately she doesn't say what they should be focused on, so as usual, it could end up being anything. Like their love lives. She also tells Alex to go see the chief, but when he asks, she says she doesn't know why. George proposes, "Maybe he gave the chief syphilis." Wouldn't that have been awesomely scandalous?
The first stop on their Magical Medical Tour is to the room of a young blonde woman who has a whole crowd of hospital staff around her listening to some captivating story she's telling. The punchline tells us that she's a doctor, but not a medical one. Bailey cracks on everyone to leave, and we can see that on the table at her bed the patient has spread a scarf and some various carved animals. Because everyone thinks to bring decorations when they are admitted to the hospital. Her name is Kalpana and she's as perky as Bailey is gruff. Izzie seems awed and delighted by her, but at Bailey's glare she acts professional and tells the group that the patient "presents with multiple syncopal episodes and ventricular arrhythmias." (Oh, thank goodness for closed captions.) So, she's been passing out and having heart palpitations. She also has a history of heart disease, including being shipped from Zambia to the U.S. for three months as a child to have her rheumatic fever treated. When Bailey asks Izzie what could cause these symptoms, a voice triumphantly answers from the doorway, where Cristina is standing in a hospital gown and pushing an IV, looking proud of herself. Bailey orders her out and as she finally leaves, everyone is treated to a view through the back of her gown. Alex compliments her undies, and Cristina shows she's returning to form by growling, "In your dreams, Evil Spawn."
It turns out she's the patient on the tour, and it's been three days since her surgery. While she tells them all about how well she's doing and that she's totally ready for work, her mom chimes in from the other side of the room that she had a fever. George backs up a grateful Cristina by reminding Bailey of a time when Cristina worked two shifts with a 102-degree temperature. Now, I know doctors seem to do this all the time on TV, but seriously? Isn't it not a very good idea to have someone who is contagious around people whose health is already quite compromised? Ew. Anyhoodle, while Bailey appreciates her dedication she tells her she has to stay in bed until her temperature normalizes. Her mom takes the moment to mutter that she has told Cristina there's more to life than surgery and her career. With her usual grace, Cristina replies, "Mother, go upholster something." Bailey puts an end to it by telling Cristina to relax, shut up, and get better, explaining that she's the patient now so that she can be a doctor again soon. As they file out, Cristina desperately grabs Mere and begs her not to leave, but Meredith tells her she needs time to heal and winks at her as she sashays out of the room.
Today is the day for difficult patients that are all connected to Meredith, as the patient is her mom. O'Malley presents her as "a post-op day three from a tumor resection." The elder Dr. Grey declares that he's got it all wrong and starts giving diagnoses for the patients that exist in her head. When she sees Meredith, she declares that she's a child she does not want on her team, and orders her out of the room, arms folded and mouth pursed. Bailey tells Mere to wait outside and so she leaves, stunned.
Naturally, Derek appears around the corner and after very brief chitchat, he grabs her arm and says her name as she passes. He's awfully big on arm-grabbing, which is good because girls just love it. She again talks about how complicated his life is, what with the wife and all, and tells him, "I don't need complicated. I have complicated all on my own." In a move sure to change her mind and send her straight into his arms, he responds by teasing her. It's a good thing his hair is so luscious, because his actions with the ladies are pretty clunky. He then tells her happily that Addison is leaving, assuring Mere there is no reason at all for her to stay. Speak of the devil, Satan herself walks up and notes how cozy they look. "Can I join in? Or are you not into threesomes?" While Derek's not the poster boy for maturity these days, Addison isn't doing much for her own case. She seems to not understand that needling her husband and his girlfriend isn't the best way to win him back after sleeping with his best friend. Although actually, knowing what's coming, maybe she is the smarter one, since it seems to work. These people are all insane. Meredith leaves, which irks Derek. They snap at each other a while until finally she hands him divorce papers. His lawyer has already said that they're fine, and all he has to do is sign them. Once he does, she'll sign, then leave immediately for New York. He says that he will sign immediately, and that he wants her gone. But before she gets on the elevator to leave this scene, she gives him something to chew on. "Derek, have you ever thought that, even if I am Satan and an adulterous bitch, that I still might be the love of your life?" Mere's watching all this from afar, though I can't tell if she actually heard any of the exchange. And despite all my snarking on her handling of the conversation, the desperate, sad look on Addison's face breaks my heart.
Cristina is in bed reading her own chart when Burke walks by and takes it from her, ordering her to act like a patient. He then comments that it's been hard to catch her alone and asks how she's doing, to which Cristina tells him he can read the chart for himself. He repeats the question, clearly to show he's talking about her feelings, but the glint in his eye that I think is supposed to represent caring just looks like anger. And no, I don't think that just because of all that has come to pass with Isaiah Washington; it's things like this that made me never, ever believe or root for the Cristina-Burke pairing. After they stare at each other and she gives him a clipped "Fine," he asserts that he had a right to know. She points out that now he does. God, she's too good for him. When he starts to talk again, she says she's not sure what could possibly be left to say, but we're saved from what I'm sure would be another not-my-fault, holier-than-thou, haughty speech by the arrival of her mom. He greets her as "Mrs. Yang," but is corrected that she is Mrs. Rubenstein. "Dr. Saul Rubenstein of Beverly Hills? The oral surgeon?" It's hard to imagine Cristina growing up with this woman. She explains that she's been remarried since Cristina was three, which seems to be the last straw, and Cristina tries to stop her and dismiss Burke at the same time. Her mom responds by telling Burke he's good-looking and then heaves an anvil onto the bed when she asks, "Why don't you ever bring home a man as good-looking as him?" Cristina is embarrassed and upset; her mom giggles and flirts like a schoolgirl and calls her daughter unpleasant. The two women start to fight, and Burke takes his leave so that they can continue alone.
Meanwhile, Izzie is trying to get Alex to ask her out so that she doesn't have to do all the work on her own. It's like watching my own dating history. He's very graceful about it, smarming, "You are so into me." Busted, she tells him to shut up as he continues on, "The worship, the adoration...I'm so handsome, I intoxicate you." Ugh. I'm sorry to admit that falling for goofy, egotistic teasing is also in my history. When she tells him to forget it, he finally asks her out properly. Well, sort of. "You wear something gorgeous, I pay for food." Once she's sure he's not mocking her, she accepts, and they both beam as they go their separate ways.
Bailey walks into another patient room, having shed all of her interns except for Meredith. She tells him she never wanted to see him again, in that way that shows they know each other and she clearly adores him. He teases her back, and Bailey introduces him as Jeremiah Tate, one of her first interns. They banter cutely, but it's easier to cut to the chase and say he's got cystic fibrosis, but that he's still managed to compete in triathlons and raise over $100,000 a year for CF. Here's an aside-slash-pet peeve, as I used to work in the triathlon industry. There is no "a" in the middle of the word! It's pronounced like "athlete," just with "tri" tacked on in front! There is no extra syllable in the middle! Even if you know nothing about ath-a-letics, you know that I just said it wrong! GAAAAH! Fine, so the ladies mispronounced it throughout the scene, and I had to swallow my exasperation to get through it. Rant over. It sounds like Jeremiah's not doing too well, with a fair amount of pain and seizures that have curtailed his training. They'll do a CT scan and then come up with a plan. Bailey seems upbeat and unconcerned, so Meredith has taken up the concern for both of them and it's all over her face. Bailey then asks Jeremiah where his parents think he is. This is because he doesn't like to bother them until he's well or nearly well, so each time he's hospitalized he tells them he's in another state. I have to think they'd be a little suspicious by now, but as I know that's beside the point, I'll file that thought away with the triath-a-lons. Bailey tells Meredith, "He understands his reality, he just chooses to ignore it. Denial works for him, Grey." Even Meredith, the Queen of Denial (I couldn't help myself), seems to think this might not be the best course of action, but she seems to keep it to herself.
Alex is rifling through the charts until he finds one that both interests and horrifies him: a gunshot wound to the head. He jumps to action, wondering why a trauma team wasn't called and berating the staff on the floor until a nurse points out his patient. There sits a somewhat disheveled guy reading a magazine, no visible wound in sight.
Cristina's mom is painting Cristina's toenails and talking about redoing her living room. Cristina looks fed up and tells her to stop. (I wonder how she even let her mom get to her feet with the polish in the first place.) The new subject Mom picks is the father of Cristina's baby, and she asks if it was someone she works with, "or just sex." Are those two mutually exclusive now? Cristina rapidly tries to get back to the subject of redecorating, but her mom is on a roll, talking about how Cristina makes such a point of not forming attachments. This breaks Cristina, who yells at her mom to give her just 20 minutes of peace and quiet. She responds to say that the daughter she raised would appreciate her help. Cristina: "The daughter you raised is begging for you to go. Now." Her mom protests that she didn't have to come at all and is very busy, and they bicker (some more) but as she walks out, Cristina asks her to bring back a mocha latte. Her mom hopefully asks if it should be nonfat, but Cristina barks, "No, a FAT one." Her mom grabs her purse and leaves.
Alex can't believe his patient really was shot, as there's barely any visible wound, and no exit wound either. He thinks it's a burn, but the guy exasperatedly says he shot himself and that it was a mistake, not suicide, while he was cleaning his gun. Alex is skeptical.
Cristina is now the one rifling through the charts. One of the male nurses that we see every once in a while for a bit of variety sees her and asks about her IV, which she removed on her own orders. He snatches her chart and reads that she's to have bed rest and get up only for the bathroom. "Nothing about stealing charts at the nurse's station." A guy passes pushing an empty wheelchair, so she gets in it very delicately -- revealing that maybe she's not quite as ready to go as she claims. The nurse claims he's telling her intern on her, but Cristina knows it's Meredith and counters, "Ooh, I'm so scared." She rolls herself back to her room. She seems quite adept with a wheelchair, but I guess working in a hospital probably lends itself to wheelchair races in empty hallways, much like when my 6'4" friend in college was on crutches and our dorm hallway turned into a sort of crutch-vaulting course. Don't knock it 'till you've tried it -- those were good times.
Dr. Ellis Grey is in her bed, shuffling through papers. When George walks in, she demands some test results and dismisses him haughtily to get them just as the Chief walks in. George tells him that things are better since today she at least thinks he's her intern, but then he quietly asks if he can be moved to another patient, as she is no longer a surgical case. Chief maintains that because of the Alzheimer's and how it affects her mood, she needs stability and so he's depending on George for that. Ellis then hollers through the doorway for him to get her some studies. I think it's easier for the Chief to tell George that since he's been skulking around and avoiding the reality that is Ellis Grey.
In perkier patient quarters, Kalpana pops a pill of some sort, and Cristina sees her and starts to freak out that it's not in her chart, even though Kalpana says it's just her birth control. She then also points out that Cristina isn't her doctor and isn't supposed to be there. Izzie comes in and, rather than agree with Cristina, still seems sort of awed by her patient, and agrees that it's no big deal once Kalpana explains that she was taking the pill now so it doesn't interact with the grapefruit juice she had earlier. I still can't quite figure out what kind of doctor or student she's meant to be, but I realized later that this is supposed to be vague and it's not just my mind wandering to, say, how hot Brady Quinn is just for a moment before snapping back into my TV viewing. Izzie and Cristina bicker a bit until they're interrupted by Kalpana passing out cold. Izzie finally punches her in the chest, and her heartbeat returns and she gasps on the floor. When Cristina offers to help, Izzie orders her back to her room, and again, Cristina visibly struggles a bit to get around.
Meredith and Bailey are looking at the results of Jeremiah's scan and the bottom line is that he's got a whole lot of problems. They debate what surgeries can be done without hurting his lungs or other awful side effects when Addison walks in and begins to ask about him as she looks at the scan. He's 26 and been Bailey's patient for five years. The two confer and Addison says she can help, when a confused Meredith finally breaks in and asks how she can, since she's a neonatal specialist. Addison condescendingly tells her that she did two years of genetic research on cystic fibrosis. Oh. She really can do everything.
Meredith finds Derek, as staying and helping out doesn't really jive with his news that her departure is imminent. He's doing fast talking, saying this doesn't mean she's staying, but Meredith asks what, then, it does mean. When he says that Addison is a good doctor, Meredith wants to know why he's defending her. He says that he's not, clarifies that she was the one who filed for divorce, and that as soon as he signs the papers, they are free. She asks him if he has anything to think about and he says no, that he just has to read through them. I know he's at work but if this is so important to him, I have to wonder why he hasn't yet done so. Run for your life, Meredith!
Today is scannerific. Alex is waiting for the results on his maybe-gunshot patient, and he and the tech talk about how crazy the patient is. While they're discussing the guy's mental deficiencies, a woman walks in looking for a Samuel Lindon. Naturally, they don't shoo her from the room before she sees the guy on the table -- it's her husband, Samuel Lindon. I might suggest that they close the door time. This show is full of casual conversations taking place in the -- I have no idea what to call it, the scan-viewing computer room, let's say -- but whenever I have been in a hospital either as a patient or visitor, the technician has the door closed and goes about his job quietly and professionally. A newfangled concept, but I think it just might catch on. Mrs. Lindon maintains that he shot himself, asking, "What's wrong with you people?" We don't have time for that, ma'am. Alex assures her they'll let her know when they have the results, as she freaks out.
Bailey's in the elevator, and Derek gets in and begins to whine and question why she's trying to drive him crazy. Bailey pulls the emergency stop, to give herself some more time to deliver a richly-deserved perspective-giving butt-kicking. "You think this has something to do with you? You think I'm even thinking about your romantic problems? I'm trying to help a patient very near and dear to my heart. And if consulting with your wife...your ex...your mistress, whatever it is that she becomes, if that's the thing I have to do to save my patient then I'm damn well gonna do it!" I know, patients first in a hospital. It's the work sensation that's sweeping the nation. Properly chastised as to the fact that not every single event in this hospital is about his love life, Derek shuts up. For a second. But when he starts to speak again, she shuts him up for good by announcing, "You have put yourself between two very fiiine women and you're looking for an easy way out. You want to use me, the hospital...somebody to make the decision for you and it's not gonna happen."
True confessions: I gripe because I love. The two of them are one of the pairs I love to see together, and I adore their interaction and relationship. My heart is not actually entirely made of tar. Just mostly.
Burke and Izzie are talking to Kalpana, and she ends up busting Cristina in absentia. Burke is stunned yet amused, and orders an echo. Kalpana is quick to ask about other tests and why they wouldn't perform them too. There's a lot of technical speak that boils down to the fact that even if something bigger is going on, they need these results no matter what. Burke leaves with a charming smile. Izzie says confusedly that she thought Kalpana's doctorate was in neuropharmacology and not medicine. Kalpana is quick to tell her that it is, and Izzie leaves, still looking doubtful.
Cristina has once again escaped her room, and she and Meredith are in the (oddly always deserted) hallway of abandoned beds. Cristina is working on a chart when Meredith mentions the divorce papers, but claims not to be jealous. Cristina tells her she's got every right to be: "It's your territory and she's peeing all over it." Ah, Cristina, our delicate flower. She then mentions that Burke's patient has been in four hospitals this year, and Mere takes her turn to call her out. "Cristina, you lost a fallopian tube, a baby and a boyfriend all in one day. You have the right to be upset." Help me: How did she lose Burke the same day? He'd already dumped her. But I guess that makes Meredith's comeback less snappy, so details are let slide. Cristina merely tells her, "And you're losing McDreamy to his perfect wife. You have a right to be jealous." Blah blah not jealous, divorce papers, blah, I'm not upset, blah. After a moment in which Cristina has Meredith contemplate being stuck in a small room alone with her own mom, Mere asks if they're like their mothers, to Cristina's disgust.
That seems to have spurred Meredith to visit her mother, but she's greeted instead with an empty bed. George is so dead, and he knows it when he walks in and is faced with a missing patient and an angry daughter.
Sure enough, Samuel's scan shows Alex that there's a bullet lodged right in his noggin. He and the tech gape at it awhile until Ellis, who has appeared at the (still open) door, announces it's a bullet and asks them if they'll leave it there or get the guy into surgery.
A few moments later, she's showing Alex certain things on the scan and explaining how the surgery will work when McDreamy is brought in and calmly introduces himself as her neuro consult. Behind him, George calls to her with an empty wheelchair in front of him and says that she's needed upstairs. She calmly gets in while George takes a moment to gawk at the scan. Richard arrives -- this room is getting to be more of a social hub than Central Perk ever was on Friends -- and he asks George if he can't handle his job. George mumbles that he can handle a lot of things, which is really a good way to portray confidence. Way to be strong, George.
Addison is talking to Jeremiah, giving him her surgery recommendation with Bailey behind her to answer questions. It boils down to the fact that it's a long, hard surgery and his lungs don't do well with anesthesia, but on the other hand he's at a risk for multi-system organ failure. Bailey tells him there are no guarantees, which he knows, and his response is, "Yeah, but I'm me." She repeats, "But you're you," with the teeniest of cracks in her strong veneer while Meredith watches it all quietly. He sums up, "So if we don't operate, I die. And if we do operate, I may die." That's the gist, so he decides to go for it, thinking he'll either get lucky, or he can at least know he lasted 26 years, which is "awesome." He takes Bailey's hand and tells her, "It's been sweet." She orders, "It's gonna stay sweet." He (and Cristina, Meredith, Derek, and Addison) isn't the only one staying afloat via denial.
Derek tells Samuel they'll have to do a psych evaluation, and his wife protests that he wasn't trying to kill himself. The two of them bicker (that's just as much a theme this week as denial) until Derek finally has a thought other than about his two-woman problem and asks where she was when the accident occurred. She and Samuel sort of trip over themselves to tell the story, and Derek tells her that she'll have to give her report to the police, which unnerves them both. Alex explains that this is the law, to report gunshot wounds. The wife looks stunned, and Samuel looks woozy.
George happens upon Cristina in the hallway invisible to everyone but our lovable gang of interns. She's still trying to "figure out the crazy woman on 4." He replies, "YOU are the crazy woman on 4." Actually, between her, Kalpana, and Ellis, I'd say 4 could pass for the psych ward about now. George starts complaining that everyone has better cases than him, and whines like a baby about how he's a big strong surgeon. It's really a compelling argument delivered in this manner. George: "I'm getting fake labs for fake patients so she can do a fake surgery." With that, Cristina's got her light bulb moment and says, "She's faking it." George says it's real to her, thinking she's talking about Ellis, and showing that maybe he does have a shred of compassion despite his tantrum, but Cristina explains that she means the missionary, and heads back to her room. She does have the courtesy to thank George before she bolts, which I think of as her own small human moment.
Cristina shuffles in and Izzie yells at her about the chart, but Cristina's response is to guess that the test results came back negative. She tries to convince Izzie that she knows what's wrong and it's the pills Kalpana took, but Izzie brushes her off and sends her away. Instead, she stays to explain that she thinks Kalpana has Munchausen's, and Izzie finally takes notice. She tells Izzie to tell Burke that the pills could be inducing her symptoms, but Burke happens to be right behind her. Ooooh, busted. I don't care how old you are, I dare you to try to say "busted!" without the taunting "Oooooh" in front. No, seriously; try it out loud. ...See?
Alex hands Derek Samuel's chart and tells him surgery will be in 30 minutes. As they talk, the couple's arguing gets louder until Samuel finally yells, "You shot me!" Ooooh, REALLY busted.
Cristina tries to convince Burke of her diagnosis, but he maintains that they have to rule out all physical reasons first, and when Cristina finally calls the woman a liar, Burke again displays his maturity: "I've been lied to before." Cristina isn't talking about them, though he wants to, so she tells him she didn't lie. When Burke clarifies that she withheld the truth, she points out that he broke things off with her and wasn't upset about it. She continues to point out how this is all a fake display of drama now, and when he tries to yell at her, she voluntarily becomes a good patient and says she's supposed to be in bed.
Meaningful Moment Montage: Derek and Meredith exchange deep glances, as the police come in to speak to a scared-looking Mrs. Lindon. Addie breaks it up by observing, "Nothing like a domestic dispute to liven up a pre-op, huh?" Seeing her in the salmon scrubs and not in the nursery, I'm reminded of just how much I hated them and how glad I was when she went to the dark blue like the other docs. It's a little bit hard to take her seriously, though her awesome red hair and commanding presence make up for a lot of the wretched shade of pink. She goes into Jeremiah's room, where Bailey is handing him form after form to sign, including a DNR. He seems to be in a lot of pain and tells Bailey it's time to call his parents. She refuses by telling him he'll call them himself when he leaves the hospital, and they smile. I'm sad in anticipation of what everyone can see coming.
George walks into Ellis's room and once again she's gone. In response to his muttering, "I am a surgeon. A surgeon," the nurse observes, "Well yeah, you won't be when Dr. Webber finds out you lost Ellis Grey again." I like the cut of that nurse's jib. It's a shame we don't see more of him, as it's nice to see a funny, well-adjusted, normal (-seeming) male once in a while.
Burke and Izzie are in surgery working on Kalpana when a nurse interrupts them to note that her urine is blue. Izzie seems surprised, but Burke has his own light bulb moment. Finally.
As predicted, the Chief is supremely pissed at George and screams that he told George to take care of her. As whiny as George has been, I think that by now it's just unfair to hold him solely responsible for keeping track of such a patient. Richard quietly tells George to leave, bitterly telling him, "You're free. I'll take care of her." George punctuates his exit by slamming the door.
In Samuel's surgery, Alex makes cracks about giving the guy a spine while they're operating. Derek points out that he cheated, but Alex counters by asking if that justifies him taking a bullet to the head. Derek thinks relationships are built on sacrifice, but Alex doesn't think they're built on that kind of sacrifice. Derek just replies self-indulgently, "Sometimes a bullet is worth it." Well, Derek also doesn't have a spine so of course he'd see it that way. The only reason he's still in his own situation is because he's keeping himself firmly there.
Ellis is scrubbing in for surgery when Webber finds her. She smiles at him and saucily tells them they have some time, and kisses him. He pulls away and she looks stunned, seeming to realize that the situation isn't right. Ellis: "I don't think we're supposed to be here." Richard sadly replies, "No." He takes her face in his hands, then leads her gently back to her room. She looks both terribly sad and also relieved.
Jeremiah's surgery is not going well and all of his organ systems are shutting down. As various beeps start up to illustrate just how wrong things are going, Bailey begins CPR despite Addison's reminder that he is DNR. She tries to justify her actions as good, not extraordinary, medicine. As she rather tragically continues, Addie and Mere exchange a worried glance over their masks.
Kalpana is stunned when she's told of her blue urine, genuinely so, and insists against all of Izzie and Burke's reasoning that she's really physically sick. Burke firmly tells her, "You're manufacturing things that aren't there. Seeing only what you want to see." He then adds a little dash of classic Burke cruelty by growling that she's wasting their time and resources while ruining her own life, and that they'll transfer her to psych. Of course, as this has turned out to be psychological, that means she really believes that she's sick and yelling at her isn't the most effective way to fix her head. But yelling is what he does best, so there you go.
Bailey continues to desperately administer CPR until Meredith takes over. Bailey, however, is unimpressed with her effort and takes back over, begging Jeremiah to fight. Everyone looks worried, rightfully, as this is one of their most unflappable doctors losing it in a rather public manner. Addison tries to stop her and points out that he's been down for 10 minutes, and that it's her call. Bailey stops, and after a moment calls the time of death. She then tears off her mask and storms out as the rest of the staff watches her go.
She's scrubbing her hands desperately as if that might wash off what just happened, and watches as they wrap up his body. Addison and Meredith join her and she silently leaves. Addison announces, "It's hard to accept the end when you're too close," as she puts on her wedding ring. And while that statement could possibly apply to either one of the women, the tone certainly sounds like she intends it for poor, dumb Meredith. Addie: "Look, I don't want someone who doesn't want me, Meredith. But if there's the slightest chance that he does, I'm not leaving Seattle." Mere stares after her as she leaves, and I think she knows full well that Addie's got a fighting chance of getting what she wants.
Samuel has come to from his surgery, and Alex and Derek tell him that his wife told the cops that he cheated on her, she was drunk, and he was cleaning his guns in the kitchen. I might have picked a different task after that particular conversation, but when the guns need cleaning, what are you gonna do? He says that he won't press charges but Alex tells him it doesn't matter since she confessed. He tells the doctors, "Nothing will make you feel more stupid than cheating on the woman you love." Derek pauses. That statement was a half-anvil -- Derek being stupid is there, cheating is there, but it's confusing since his wife cheated on him which started the whole chain of Seattle-trailer-girlfriend.
Cristina is pacing the room in her bathrobe as her mom chatters away and tells her that she should be in bed. There's more "I'm fine," "I shouldn't have come," et cetera, until Cristina tells her that she's sorry that she's not that person, but she doesn't need her mother there to take care of her. Izzie comes in just then and tells Cristina she was right. Cristina repeats this, but the triumph finally breaks her down completely and she bursts into tears, sobbing that she was right.
Alex has gone to see the Chief, who breaks it to him that his exam results have just arrived, with some contrived explanation about him taking the test later than the others so they just got them now. Due to the awkward pauses, Alex guesses that he didn't pass. Webber tells him that he is still an MD who can practice and that he gets four months to retake the exam. Alex asks what will happen if he doesn't pass time; he'll no longer be a resident. The chief tells him that failing is not an option.
Derek stares at the divorce papers and keeps moving his pen towards them, but can't bring himself to sign. Seriously (ignoring the fact that we all have seen two seasons' worth of episodes since this moment), was anyone surprised by this turn of events? Let the mega-waffling of Season Two commence!
Mere has been summoned, and runs in to find Cristina sobbing and Izzie and George watching, rather terrified. They freak out, not knowing what to do, but when Mere goes to hug her they all shriek and tell her that touching makes it worse. Her mother, still defiantly perky even when she's upset, announces, "I knew she'd break sooner or later. It was just a matter of time." Cristina growls that she will kill her, and Meredith quickly ushers Cristina's mother from the room. "We don't do well with mothers here." Cristina begs her to make it stop, culminating in the well-known Grey's moment where she screams, "Somebody sedate me!" Aw, it's like me while watching a lot of Season Three. Who knew this was actually foreshadowing?
Meredith voice-overs, "Sometimes reality has a way of sneaking up and biting us in the ass." The Chief is in with Ellis. "And when the dam bursts, all you can do is swim. The world is a cage. Not a cocoon. We can only lie to ourselves for so long." He's holding the soft restraints, and George comes up to him and gently places them on Ellis's wrists. I applaud George for helping and not using this moment for an "I told you so" dance. Of all the times to be bitchy, this could have been it. Good man.
VO: "We are tired. We are scared. Denying it doesn't change the truth." Bailey rests against one of the magical glass railings (giving me and others with a great dislike of heights some palpitations) and calls Jeremiah's parents while trying to control her tears, telling them she's so sorry. Cristina is in bed, finally not crying. Her mom is futzing with something on the sofa, and Burke walks by. He looks quite dashing in his street clothes. He sees her and does a double-take when he sees Cristina's tears, and walks in. Her mom looks surprised, but he just smiles and reaches out. Her mom says that she doesn't want to be touched and he pulls away, but Cristina finally turns to look at him, totally despairing. He takes off his jacket and climbs into bed with her and holds her while she begins to cry again. I have to take a moment off from my severe Burke-dislike to get a little bit misty myself.
VO: "Sooner or later, we have to put aside our denial, and face the world. Head-on, guns blazing." Alex finds Izzie in a great dress waiting at the bar; she's certainly fulfilled her end of his definition of a date. She's obviously excited, but when she goes to kiss him, he pulls away. She asks if he's okay, and he says he's fine and that they should go. Despite her saying he doesn't seem like himself, they go. And I get a little bit misty AGAIN knowing what awfulness lies ahead for these two, since Alex can't seem to handle actual feelings for a woman, and because I loved the two of them together.
VO: "Denial, it's not just a river in Egypt, it's a freaking ocean." Mere and Derek are in a bar and she looks actually happy. He offers to get her a drink but when he turns to go, he knocks his things to the floor. As she bends down to help him get them, she finds the unsigned divorce papers, and her face falls. VO: "So how do you keep from drowning in it?" Misty. Again. Not just for what's happening to these characters that I love(d), but because this was when Grey's could somehow tap into your own painful experiences and hit on something that you had experienced firsthand to make these stories seem all the more real.