It seems that Bailey took a few days off after Jackson's case and she comes back to some awesome news -- the Chief wants to make her an Attending as soon as she's done with her residency in July, since he needs someone new in general surgery. She's thrilled beyond all belief and happy to be back as long as she doesn't have to work on a potentially dying child. So she goes to spend the day working with Dr. Dixon… on a young girl with a heart condition. Bailey freaks out and spends the whole day trying to compose herself, but when the surgery doesn't go well she literally walks out. Later, however, she figures out how to treat the child and Arizona points out that she would actually make a great pediatric surgeon, and Bailey is left to contemplate that, along with everything she learned about helping calm down someone with Asperger's. Earlier, Bailey has a joyous outburst when she realizes how to help the child, and all the screaming, heated emotions and hugging causes Dixon to have a meltdown. When Bailey goes to find Dixon to try and help, she winds up hugging Dixon tightly, which she learns helps calm the nervous system. Cristina comes in and participates as well until Dixon is back to normal.
It's good for Cristina, as she needs to use the same thing later to help calm down Hunt. They spend the day flirting with each other, which would be cute if it weren't for the weird, unironic piano music and slo-mo that accompanies their every glance. At the end of the day, however, the piano is interrupted when Hunt sees a blonde woman walk in and he has an absolute meltdown and runs away. Cristina runs after him and grabs him tightly until he finally manages to calm his breathing, and later she settles in to read while Hunt sleeps with his arms around her in the on-call room. She's pre-reading Ellis' diary because she and Mere are friends again, thank goodness, and Mere needs Cristina to pre-read the details of Ellis and Richard's affair. At the same time Mere's freaking out and wondering why Derek is acting weird. She is literally the only person left in the hospital who doesn't learn that he's planning to propose, which he prepares to do that night until he's interrupted by a phone call from Addison to begin the Big Crossover Event. So we'll have to wait, and I'm sure Meredith will get suspicious about his feelings in the meantime.
Mark and Lexie start off the episode doing some Hunt-and-Cristina-like flirting of their own, but in secret as usual. Lexie realizes, however, that she can't handle all of the secrets anymore and tells Mark they have to go public or end it. Unbeknownst to her, he'd been planning to end it earlier, also because of the secrecy, until Callie points out that he's an idiot who should be happy if he has the opportunity. She's a depressed mess, but her spirits are raised at Joe's that night when Arizona kisses her to show that she's batting for the same team and interested whenever Callie is ready.
But the best thing about this episode is what was missing, and that's Denny. At least for now he seems to really be gone, but he's left Izzie trying to figure out in secret what is wrong with her. She has the interns in the clinic that day and winds up getting them to unknowingly run all sorts of tests to check her out under the guise of learning how to do these things on real patients. But for all of her efforts, she can't figure out what's wrong with her. Which oh boy, means that we've got more time ahead of us of her being secretive and idiotic. However, I'm not going to complain since at least it's not ghost sex! Who knew that the measure of a good episode would one day mean not having to recap imaginary sex with a jerky dead patient?
See what qualified for the most annoying moments on this show (dead Denny definitely made the list). Come back week for Lauren S.'s full detailed episode recap.
Welcome to another week at Seattle Grace, where Izzie is still acting like a moron. While I'm thrilled that Denny seems to be gone for now, she has decided to test herself to try and figure out what is wrong. Why go for help in a hospital? Why ask your friends, who are doctors, and who think you've been acting strangely, to discreetly assist you? Well, I guess that actually only leaves George, and having him help would mean giving him actual screen time, so that possibility is out. She's trying to draw her own blood and failing as Mere VO's us into this episode. "Every first year med student knows that an increased heart rate is a sign of trouble." All of the interns shuffle into the clinic like they are hung over and bitch about having to spend the day there with Izzie, thinking it's a waste of time. Izzie quickly tries to get rid of all of the evidence of her activities, and then pulls the curtain back to surprise everyone. I guess this week we aren't pretending that the curtains are sound barriers. "A racing heart could indicate anything."
"From a panic disorder..." Cristina opens the door to an on-call room and wakes up a shirtless Hunt, then stutters and apologizes as each of them insists the other one use the bed and sleep. Hunt eventually wins by saying she's been there all night and needs it, and Cristina is stunned but not unhappy when he tells her he just knew. "...to something much, much more serious." This week is going to be particularly literal, it seems, since his pager then goes off to presumably take him to something more serious. Before he goes he tells her she should wear her hair up more often since it shows off the back of her neck, which he likes. She sits down and with a little shocked smile feels the sexy back of her neck.
"A heart that flutters, or skips a beat." Mark and Lexie ride in the elevator with their hands brushing against each other, and then when the doors open, Lexie takes off past Meredith, who is running to catch up with Cristina. Mere looks after her sister like maybe something's up, but chooses to run after Cristina, who she thought was sleeping. When Cristina says that Hunt was in the room already, Mere jumps to the conclusion that they had dirty sex. Ha! I love that finally everyone admits that's all those rooms are for. Cristina is kind of dreamy and tells her she's not sure what it is between them. Mere's VO picks up, "Could be a sign of a secret affliction."
Callie, looking awesome with bangs, walks up to Lexie and asks how it's going. Lexie, too full of her secret to recognize a rhetorical question, immediately starts gushing about how fantastic things are with her and Mark, even when they're not having sex. Callie delightfully muses, "Yeaaah, I don't want to hear this," but Lexie begs her to listen since Callie is the only one who knows about their forbidden love affair. Callie asserts that, "alone people don't want to hear about the together people," and I fear that she's turning into Clichéd Depressed Callie, even though she adds that even people alone by choice don't want to hear about it. Sometimes, but then again... eh, I'm going to leave it. I have a problem with so many different things on this show that the least I can do is let Callie be depressed about her breakup (even if it's out of the blue and after a few weeks of her seeming pretty okay).
The docs are taking Rob into his shoulder surgery, and Jen's a bit panicky at the idea. Her blood pressure is still too high, so Lexie is tasked with staying there and keeping her calm throughout. Rob dreamily slurs, "Cheeseburgers!" which Callie thinks means the pain medication is working, but he's able to clarify that Jen is calmest when she's eating cheeseburgers. That is a girl after my own heart. Maybe that's what I should do during especially exasperating episodes of this show!
Dixon is telling Stacy's worried parents all about her various problems, and Cristina quietly asks Bailey if she's okay. Bailey just tells her that if Stacy looks for one second like she's going to die, Bailey is bolting. As Dixon explains very technically what's going on, Bailey sees that Stacy is confused and goes over to explain what's happening in kid terms, explaining that they are going to fix the part of her heart that pumps blood to her lungs. Can I have someone come over and explain things to me in this manner each week? It would really help the technical aspect of these recaps, though I also am a fan of the Whatchhoosie Procedure. Bailey compliments Stacy on her socks, and Stacy wheezily explains that she's the best one on her team, which mom says is bragging but which dad says is the truth. Bailey's not above puffing out her chest a little as she answers, "You can't fight who you are, if you're the best, you're the best!" From anyone else, obnoxious but from Bailey, totally awesome. Stacy then asks when she can get back to playing soccer, which cuts right through to Bailey's heart and incapacitates her again.
Derek runs up to Cristina to ask her if she's told Mere anything about the ring, but she just groans that she doesn't want to talk about it. She does add, though, not to do anything big. When Derek reminds her that Mere built the house of candles, Cristina retorts that she did it because Derek likes grand gestures, not Meredith. I really cannot adequately express how glad I am that she and Mere aren't fighting any more. I feel a bit cheated that we didn't get to hear them work it out, but I'll gladly give it up since we get back at least one functional relationship this way.
Anyhoo, Mere comes up and after Derek leaves, she asks how the journal is going so far--is it gross and naked? Cristina tells her not yet and admits, "It's kind of... hot, actually." At Meredith's disgust she quickly amends that it's, "Chastely hot. All stolen glances and loaded exchanges." Mere thinks chaste is good, but Cristina zings her as she walks away, yelling that she'll tell Mere when they do it. Then comes one of the weirdest scenes I think I've ever seen in this show--weird because it's so out of character. A piano starts playing as Hunt comes up and the two of them walk down the hall together, glancing at each other and brushing hands. There's a lot of close-ups of her neck as she stares straight ahead and he glances over at her, and then the piano finishes up and they go their separate ways. Cristina is happy, but my friend and I said out loud to the TV, "What in the hell was that?" Not in the tone of the show whatsoever.
Proving that no one in this hospital can make a decision without someone else's opinion and/or approval, Derek reports to Mark about the baby comment and concludes that Meredith is ready. Richard joins them and asks what's up, so Mark blurts out that Derek is proposing. Derek is peeved but the Chief lights up like a Christmas tree. Hunt shows up too and after Mark lets him in on the secret, Derek asks if he's going to tell everyone. Mark defends that Derek needs advice. He then asks Hunt if he has proposed to anyone, and Hunt just replies that he's not the type to ask. Let's all keep this in mind for a later date, shall we? Mere walks by the boys so they all start fake-hearty-laughing, which totally weirds her out. Derek then turns to Mark and orders him to keep quiet, accusing, "I thought I could trust you." Mark is all serious as he assures Derek that he can, and then he stares meaningfully after his best friend as he walks away.
While Mr. Kramer cools his... er, heels on a gurney, the interns are all gathered and making, "short end of the stick" jokes. Two tells them to stop laughing, "We're gonna get reamed!" which of course makes things worse. Alex comes up to admonish them but when he tells them, "Enough wisecracks," Two can't control his inner 12-year-old and blurts, "Cracks!" I would like to judge them more harshly but I know that I can't resist a crack joke myself and I'd probably be one of them right now. The Chief walks up and puts a stop to it, telling them that they can watch him act like a professional. He goes up to Mr. Kramer and very technically tells him basically that films showed something was suck, and that they're going to get it out. Mr. Kramer is incredibly relieved to hear it.
After all that big talk about how much the clinic sucks, Sadie can't even seem to stick a patient correctly. After hearing the woman yell, Izzie comes up and asks them if they hadn't all practiced this on each other? She has a very good point, but Sadie's ineptitude turns out to be to Izzie's advantage. Iz pulls up her sleeve and has Sadie try it once on her before she goes back to her poor patient, and then as nonchalantly as she can tells Sadie to run her results as well. With this little light bulb over her head, she makes an announcement that all the interns should see her before they run any tests.
Callie and Mark are working away on Rob and talking like no one else is in the room as she asks him if he's going to get back on the horse now that he's got a clean bill of health. Mark wouldn't use the word horse (that's a change for him, never known for his modesty) and admits that things have changed, and he's probably going to break up with Lexie. Callie is stunned but Mark doesn't have a chance to tell her why since Mere comes in at that moment. Making innocent conversation, she remarks on Jen's hypertension and comments that the surgery is more stressful on her than on Rob. So let's make it stressful on Rob! Alarms start wailing and things get tense, of course when Lexie is calling in to see how things are going. As Jen eats a cheeseburger, Lexie pretends she's hearing good news and then carefully reports that the surgery is taking a little longer than expected. Jen's BP immediately starts to rise so Lexie assures her that everything is okay, and that the doctors are just being thorough, which is good! It's still not great lying, but at least it's better than her horrible conversation with Meredith earlier. Jen's BP starts to drop, which pleases Lexie, but then she collapses into a violent seizure.
Mere asks Cristina to pre-read the of Ellis' diaries as it contains her affair with the Chief. Cristina thinks she means the Chief Resident, but Mere corrects that it's, "OUR Chief." Cristina pauses a moment and then confirms that Mere could go blind reading that and takes the journal. For a secret that Meredith has been hiding so carefully for so long, it was very easy for her to lay it out right there. Maturing, or lazy writing? You be the judge. I think the odds are 50-50.
"Or, it could indicate romance. Which is the biggest trouble of all." And Derek is the picture of romance (and subtlety!) as he pulls a ring box out of his pocket so that Mark has ample opportunity to notice what he's doing and ask about it. Derek shows that he does know his girlfriend pretty well when he tells Mark that he's ready to pop the question but that he has to wait for the right time and way to ask Mere since she spooks so easily. He concludes, "She's not ready. Do you thinks she's ready?" Mark doesn't know, but points out that if Derek doesn't know he might want to wait a bit. Hunt walks up to the two of them and he and Mark nod and peel off towards an exam room and walk in as Mark tells him to make it quick. After just a couple of seconds the door opens up again and as Mark zips up his pants he asks if he's good to go. Hunt tells him yes and warns, "Use it wisely," as he pats him on the back and leaves.
Lexie heads out to the ambulance bay to work with Mere for the day, and her big sister asks what's up with her and Mark. Lexie panics, denies it, stutters a lot, and demands to know why Mere would think something is up? And yet, rather than just saying, "Well, I guess I have my answer," Mere points out that Lex has been on his service for a week, and only raises an eyebrow when Lexie stutters that she's really interested in plastics. I guess it's the exchange -- people can hear through the exam room curtains now but they're back to not reading obvious body language. An ambulance pulls up with a man inside whose shoulder is mangled, and who is trying to calm his hysterical pregnant wife. She explains that she ran him over with the car and then in all the excitement, she faints.
Her name is Jen, and she berates her pregnant brain for making her so forgetful that she left the car in drive. Callie confirms that her husband Rob's shoulder is dislocated and has fractures that will require surgery, but Mark can come in and take care of the burns at the same time. Lexie notes quietly to the other docs that Jen's blood pressure is really high, while Jen and Rob joke and act generally cute with one another. Meredith and Derek walk out to the hall ostensibly to talk about Jen's blood pressure, but really it's an excuse for Derek to comment how cute this couple's kids will be and for Meredith to joke, "Yeah, not as cute as ours." Derek is shocked and Mere demands to know what's up with him (as if she wouldn't know that a comment like that would surprise her boyfriend) but he smiles happily.
Bailey heads in to see the Chief and begins to babble as soon as she steps through the door, assuring him that after three days off (her only vacation ever taken other than her maternity leave) she knows she's behind and is ready to go. He assures her that it was fine and that he knows Jackson was a really hard case. She asserts that she doesn't want to work on a dying child but otherwise she's ready. Well golly gee, I wonder what kind of case she might get today? But that's not what the Chief wants to talk about. He tells her that he needs another attending in general surgery, so he's recommending to the board that she be promoted as soon as her residency ends in July. She's absolutely elated, and when he mentions that he thought she might be getting tired of appys she interrupts to assure him she wants to do nothing else. Her voice is cracking and she seems about to fall over, and it's nice to see her happy again. He reminds her that it's subject to board approval but he's not worried about it, and then he tells her that she's working with Dixon for the day. Bailey is finally silent and the Chief comments that she's got less to say now. She bites her lips together and he sends her out; she finally lets out a little snort and positively skips out of his office.
Cristina is explaining to a couple that they should avoid eye and physical contact, and make no disruptive noises when the doctor arrives. The man worriedly asks if she's okay and a good doctor, and Cristina assures them that she's an amazing surgeon and that she just wants them to be prepared. I assume that they must not be able to explain that she has Asperger's because I would think that if they could, they would. I imagine that it would be easier to explain all of these constraints if they were put in the context of her condition, so it seems to me that they probably can't do that. Dixon marches in with Bailey behind and the couple step aside to show... a little girl in the hospital bed. How utterly surprising! Bailey's face falls as she's told that the patient is a 9-year-old named Stacy, who has pulmonary hypertension and other bad things, which fade out as Bailey starts to look faint.
A couple is waiting at one of the stations but when Ryan walks up, the husband immediately cuts in to say, "Not him." Just as I start to worry that this is going to be another race issue, Alex walks up and the man dismisses him as well. The wife is a little nicer and explains that they'll wait when the Chief walks by, and the husband grabs him, saying, "We need to talk to a grown-up."He's not entirely wrong in his assessment of these doctors, though it's more an emotional issue than a physical one. Alex is offended and starts to cut them off but Richard is happy to help. The couple then begins to haltingly explain that their kids are now in college, so they decided to try something new from a magazine, and... "something slipped." The wife pulls out a magazine and shows the doctors an article entitled, 20 Techniques to Reignite Your Nights. She explains that they did #9, which causes all eyebrows belonging to the doctors to raise. Alex forces a straight face as Richard asks her to put on a gown but she corrects that her husband is actually the patient. Richard is a total professional and tells the man, Mr. Kramer, to have a seat but the man opts instead to stand. Alex snorts, Mr. Kramer lets his embarrassed gaze travel to the ceiling.
The docs are taking Rob into his shoulder surgery, and Jen's a bit panicky at the idea. Her blood pressure is still too high, so Lexie is tasked with staying there and keeping her calm throughout. Rob dreamily slurs, "Cheeseburgers!" which Callie thinks means the pain medication is working, but he's able to clarify that Jen is calmest when she's eating cheeseburgers. That is a girl after my own heart. Maybe that's what I should do during especially exasperating episodes of this show!
Dixon is telling Stacy's worried parents all about her various problems, and Cristina quietly asks Bailey if she's okay. Bailey just tells her that if Stacy looks for one second like she's going to die, Bailey is bolting. As Dixon explains very technically what's going on, Bailey sees that Stacy is confused and goes over to explain what's happening in kid terms, explaining that they are going to fix the part of her heart that pumps blood to her lungs. Can I have someone come over and explain things to me in this manner each week? It would really help the technical aspect of these recaps, though I also am a fan of the Whatchhoosie Procedure. Bailey compliments Stacy on her socks, and Stacy wheezily explains that she's the best one on her team, which mom says is bragging but which dad says is the truth. Bailey's not above puffing out her chest a little as she answers, "You can't fight who you are, if you're the best, you're the best!" From anyone else, obnoxious but from Bailey, totally awesome. Stacy then asks when she can get back to playing soccer, which cuts right through to Bailey's heart and incapacitates her again.
Derek runs up to Cristina to ask her if she's told Mere anything about the ring, but she just groans that she doesn't want to talk about it. She does add, though, not to do anything big. When Derek reminds her that Mere built the house of candles, Cristina retorts that she did it because Derek likes grand gestures, not Meredith. I really cannot adequately express how glad I am that she and Mere aren't fighting any more. I feel a bit cheated that we didn't get to hear them work it out, but I'll gladly give it up since we get back at least one functional relationship this way.
Anyhoo, Mere comes up and after Derek leaves, she asks how the journal is going so far--is it gross and naked? Cristina tells her not yet and admits, "It's kind of... hot, actually." At Meredith's disgust she quickly amends that it's, "Chastely hot. All stolen glances and loaded exchanges." Mere thinks chaste is good, but Cristina zings her as she walks away, yelling that she'll tell Mere when they do it. Then comes one of the weirdest scenes I think I've ever seen in this show--weird because it's so out of character. A piano starts playing as Hunt comes up and the two of them walk down the hall together, glancing at each other and brushing hands. There's a lot of close-ups of her neck as she stares straight ahead and he glances over at her, and then the piano finishes up and they go their separate ways. Cristina is happy, but my friend and I said out loud to the TV, "What in the hell was that?" Not in the tone of the show whatsoever.
Proving that no one in this hospital can make a decision without someone else's opinion and/or approval, Derek reports to Mark about the baby comment and concludes that Meredith is ready. Richard joins them and asks what's up, so Mark blurts out that Derek is proposing. Derek is peeved but the Chief lights up like a Christmas tree. Hunt shows up too and after Mark lets him in on the secret, Derek asks if he's going to tell everyone. Mark defends that Derek needs advice. He then asks Hunt if he has proposed to anyone, and Hunt just replies that he's not the type to ask. Let's all keep this in mind for a later date, shall we? Mere walks by the boys so they all start fake-hearty-laughing, which totally weirds her out. Derek then turns to Mark and orders him to keep quiet, accusing, "I thought I could trust you." Mark is all serious as he assures Derek that he can, and then he stares meaningfully after his best friend as he walks away.
While Mr. Kramer cools his... er, heels on a gurney, the interns are all gathered and making, "short end of the stick" jokes. Two tells them to stop laughing, "We're gonna get reamed!" which of course makes things worse. Alex comes up to admonish them but when he tells them, "Enough wisecracks," Two can't control his inner 12-year-old and blurts, "Cracks!" I would like to judge them more harshly but I know that I can't resist a crack joke myself and I'd probably be one of them right now. The Chief walks up and puts a stop to it, telling them that they can watch him act like a professional. He goes up to Mr. Kramer and very technically tells him basically that films showed something was suck, and that they're going to get it out. Mr. Kramer is incredibly relieved to hear it.
After all that big talk about how much the clinic sucks, Sadie can't even seem to stick a patient correctly. After hearing the woman yell, Izzie comes up and asks them if they hadn't all practiced this on each other? She has a very good point, but Sadie's ineptitude turns out to be to Izzie's advantage. Iz pulls up her sleeve and has Sadie try it once on her before she goes back to her poor patient, and then as nonchalantly as she can tells Sadie to run her results as well. With this little light bulb over her head, she makes an announcement that all the interns should see her before they run any tests.
Callie and Mark are working away on Rob and talking like no one else is in the room as she asks him if he's going to get back on the horse now that he's got a clean bill of health. Mark wouldn't use the word horse (that's a change for him, never known for his modesty) and admits that things have changed, and he's probably going to break up with Lexie. Callie is stunned but Mark doesn't have a chance to tell her why since Mere comes in at that moment. Making innocent conversation, she remarks on Jen's hypertension and comments that the surgery is more stressful on her than on Rob. So let's make it stressful on Rob! Alarms start wailing and things get tense, of course when Lexie is calling in to see how things are going. As Jen eats a cheeseburger, Lexie pretends she's hearing good news and then carefully reports that the surgery is taking a little longer than expected. Jen's BP immediately starts to rise so Lexie assures her that everything is okay, and that the doctors are just being thorough, which is good! It's still not great lying, but at least it's better than her horrible conversation with Meredith earlier. Jen's BP starts to drop, which pleases Lexie, but then she collapses into a violent seizure.
Bailey gets a page that I assume must be bad, because she looks like her knees might buckle. She walks out to the hall but once there, seems to have actual physical trouble getting her legs to move for a moment. She composes herself enough to make it to Stacy's room where alarms are blaring and the girl is fighting for air while her parents look on, terrified. Bailey talks to her calmly and assures her that she's okay as she pulls out a comically large needle. Well, comical if you don't think about that being stuck in your chest. She tells the parents to turn around or leave and talks calmly to Stacy about what is happening as she walks Cristina through the procedure of sticking said giant needle into the girl's chest. It does the trick, though, and she's able to breathe again.
Arizona has joined Stacy's other doctors and Dixon tells them she's moving up the surgery, and she'll see Bailey there. Once Dixon leaves, Arizona compliments Bailey on her actions but Bailey tells Arizona in a shaky voice that she should stay since Bailey's not going to be in on the surgery. Arizona rah-rahs that Bailey can handle it and I love that Bailey gets her usual swagger back as she agrees that of course she can handle it. What she can't handle is another child dying. Arizona assures her that most children survive these things and that Jackson's case was special--but then again, even he ultimately survived. She reminds Bailey that kids are resilient, and most likely this will be a routine surgery, which probably means that for sure this won't be a routine surgery. Arizona concludes that Bailey would be giving Stacy back her life, and as they look into the room at the girl and her parents, Arizona assures her she will want to be there for that.
In the OR, Hunt has joined Callie and Mark and is able to stabilize Rob. Lexie runs in to tell Meredith about the seizure, so she takes off, giving Callie and Mark more private time to talk about their sex lives. In the company of all of the various other doctors and nurses. Callie tells Mark he's an idiot, but Mark defends that with Derek proposing, that will make Lexie his little sister. "And I can't sleep with any more of his sisters." Okay, fine: hee! He points out too that she's young and he's her boss, but Callie breaks in with, "And I'm celibate." What does that have to do with the price of tea in China? But she uses it as a convenient way to move her story forward, er, I mean, to tell Mark not to spend time worrying, but to just be happy when he has the chance. "Before you find yourself alone. And celibate." She seemed to be getting better but now is doing worse with the breakup she never mentions (like maybe we'll forget Hahn ever existed) and it all feels almost like it's out of order.
Izzie is walking Sadie through a chest x-ray and doing her own bad job of acting breezy. Sadie wonders why they would be doing an x-ray on a woman with the flu, but Izzie bullshits that they need to rule out pneumonia, and then walks Sadie through the procedure. She's to be quick and efficient, smile, and, "make stupid happy small talk to keep them distracted, and not panicky." Sadie asks a bit pointedly if she should make the small talk now, but I have a feeling I was supposed to read that as her being snide rather than her suspecting that Izzie is feeling panicky. Izzie brushes her off and takes a deep breath so that Sadie can get the film.
Richard seems to be getting ready to perform the (thankfully) mystery extraction while at the same time excitedly asking Derek how he's going to propose. He thinks it should be a grand gesture, and won't take no for an answer when Derek meekly tries to say that Mere isn't really a "grand gesture" kind of girl. Richard argues that he has to, since the proposal will set the tone of the marriage and he should go all out, including, "Flowers, candles, exotic foods, live musicians and a rowboat!" All at the same time, that just sounds like a recipe for a stomachache. He adds, "Skywriting is not out of the question..." but cuts himself off when Mere comes to get Derek for a consult. She's again kind of wigged out since she realizes she interrupted something, but she and Derek head off to the patient while Richard heads in to surgery.
The consult is for Jen, who is surprised by having a seizure but still cheerful. Derek tells her they might need to do an MRI and asks to look into her eyes; when he tells her to look down she notices the ring box and squeals. Derek immediately sends Meredith away and then asks Lexie and Jen if they can keep a secret, showing the two women the ring. There are few things I hate more than the plot device where literally every single character learns a secret except for the one that it impacts. It's cheap. I feel dirty. But I feel better watching Jen, who is kind of too cute for words. She asks how he's going to propose and he mentions the possible grand gesture, but she assures him that it will be special anywhere. Rob proposed to her in a supermarket, since that's where he saw her for the first time. "So I said yes between the cat food and the tampons." Did they literally call it the "cat lady" aisle? What store are you shopping in that has those two items in the same vicinity? Anyhow, the moral of the story is that anything can be romantic, and Lexie just beams listening to the conversation. Derek gets back to medicine and tells Jen she needs an MRI just to be safe, and she asks if she should be scared. He tells her no and asks, "Should I?" Jen assures him not, Lexie raises an eyebrow that I still don't know the meaning of, and Derek leaves.
All this excitement, and it's only now lunchtime. Everyone is gathered around reading 20 Techniques to Reignite Your Nights. Sadie is of course announcing how she is a fan of just about all of them, while Meredith muses that she'd try 15. George and Izzie immediately jump in to warn her against it, and then shrink back, embarrassed. I hope you like those two scenes with George, because that's all we get of him this week. Izzie saves herself by saying she'd try 16, which pleases Alex--he looks at his watch, and they both get up and hurry out of the cafeteria for some afternoon delight. Lexie calls after them that they should be careful, "You can get hurt! Badly, I've heard..." Everyone gawks a moment but then Cristina turns to Mere and asks if she knows who likes #12, then taps the journal knowingly. Mere scrunches up her nose in disgust as Cristina gets up to go. She passes Hunt and asks him saucily if he's on call. He is, and she tells him she is too as she plays with her hair. I offer up a short prayer of thanks that this was done with no sappy piano backing.
Dixon seems to still be in Stacy's room with her worried parents, but it must be later since Cristina had time to go eat, flirt, and read some more of Ellis' journal since last time. The parents are in quite a state at the thought of their daughter having to spend potentially the rest of her life in bed when Bailey happily runs in and announces that there's another way. She shows them a backpack with a portable pump that can disperse the medication, so that Stacy can play and have a normal life. As she is excitedly giving them the info and the parents ask questions, Dixon starts to twitch and tries to tell Bailey she would have liked to discuss this beforehand. No one listens to her though, and after asking a lot of questions, a mention of a program to learn how to use it, and Stacy asking for a prettier pack, everyone else erupts into craziness. Stacy's dad shakes Dixon's hand, which is bad, but then Mom gives her a big hug, and Dixon loses it. She screams and flees from the room.
Dixon is hyperventilating and unbuttoning her lab coat; when Bailey finds her she has the coat pulled tight around her protectively. Bailey asks what she can do, and even Dixon takes a moment out of her personal hell to be sassy and tells her that she could have observed protocol earlier and that she was going to say something but then everyone's emotions became too much. Bailey turns to leave her alone but Dixon cries that she needs pressure. "I need my nervous system suppressed. I need constant deep tight pressure across large areas of my body." Bailey is confused so Dixon shrieks, "I need you to hold me!" Confused, Bailey hugs her tightly from one side. Dixon comments, "You're a very tiny person. I need a bigger person." It's scary when Cristina is your bigger person, but in she walks and Bailey orders her to come over and join the hug. Cristina says she was thinking more along the lines of a shot of Thorazine, but Bailey just yells at her to come over, in that way that you know not to screw with her. Confused, Cristina starts hugging Dixon from the other side, so that they are essentially making a Dixon sandwich.
It turns out that Jen has an aneurysm, and that they were only able to detect it because of the seizure, given that all of her forgetfulness and headaches are also symptoms of pregnancy. Did every pregnant woman watching this just have a tiny momentary freakout right there? They'll do her surgery in the morning, Derek explains, once Rob has recovered from the complications. Jen flips out when she realizes that Lexie lied to her, and isn't having any of it when Lexie genuinely apologizes but tries to explain that she didn't want to worry Jen unless it was necessary. Meredith adds that Jen will be fine too, and needs to stay calm. But she has hit her limit and is done being nice, instead replying that they just told her she's got a time bomb in her head, which means she's certainly not going to stay calm.
Cristina and Bailey are still hugging Dixon in silence, so for conversation Dixon explains, "Cows are squeezed tightly in a chute before they're slaughtered." Cristina is disgusted, but Dixon goes on to explain how it applies increased pressure, and Bailey finishes that it then calms the cows down. It's the same thing now for Dixon (minus the slaughter, which is a relief) and she tells them that a hugging machine is sometimes used to relax the nervous system and slow the heart. Seriously, a hugging machine? I need to get me one of those for when I've had a hard day at work. Or after having to watch particular episodes of this show. Dixon is happy that the hugging is working, but they aren't allowed to stop yet.
Richard, Alex and Ryan are working on an awake Mr. Kramer, and are artfully posed so that we can't see what it is that they pull out, though we can hear it make a loud clang in a pan. Aaaaaaack. Relieved, Mr. Kramer promises to never try and spice up his life again. Alex, though, actually acts mature and jumps in to say that it's great that he tried to step things up, adding, "Anything above #5 deserves props." The Chief also tells him they are doing a good thing, "Bending over backwards to try and find ways to make each other happy." Later, when they're scrubbing out, Alex finally lets out a laugh at the Chief's choice of words. After a moment, Richard can't help it and he starts laughing too. Ryan still looks to terrified to laugh until the Chief looks at him directly and they both crack up, the Chief laughing until he cries.
Cristina and Bailey seem to have calmed themselves with the hugging, because they both look dreamy and need to be told twice by Dixon that they can let her go. Once they do, Dixon composes herself, looking pleased.
Sadie walks up to Izzie like she's going to a funeral, and glumly announces that she has the test results, and... Izzie is anemic. Despite the look on her face I totally figured it was a fake-out and I couldn't get excited that we might get some sort of actual diagnosis and real progression with this excruciating storyline. Izzie is totally relieved but then yells at Sadie for coming to her with that look. Izzie finally asks about the actual patient, and it turns out that is why Sadie looks so down--it looks like she has cancer. Izzie immediately softens and offers to go over with Sadie and tell the woman together.
Lexie walks into an on-call room to meet Mark, who jumps up and rather sweetly grins and says hi. Unfortunately she's about to wipe the smile from his face. She announces with no preamble, like you do on TV when you have something important to say, that she doesn't want to keep secrets. That day alone she kept secrets about Rob's surgery, Derek's proposal, and Mark, and that's the one she doesn't want to keep. She points out that what they have is an actual relationship, and if they are going to continue she wants it to be in front of Meredith and Derek. If it can't be, she adds, then she's not going to continue. Poor Mark looks like someone just shot his dog.
Oh, for the love of little green apples. The piano starts up again and Cristina and Hunt walk in slo-mo towards each other in the hall--she's got her hair up, of course. But this time things end differently than just some secret hand-touching. He sees a blonde woman walk in behind Cristina and speak to someone, and his face falls. He literally runs away, while Cristina stares after him, confused.
He runs into a room and there are a lot of quick cuts so that we know for sure he's on edge. (They hyperventilating might not have been enough.) Cristina runs in to find out what just happened, and he tries to send her out of the room, saying he doesn't want this and can't do this now. I suspect the first "this" is the blonde and the second "this" is Cristina. She learned something that day, though, and grabs him in a hug from behind. It's a little like she almost jumps on his back because he's so much taller than she is. He tries to shake her off but she holds tight and explains how he's going to try to resist but eventually his pulse rate will slow and he'll breathe more easily. He does, and then he starts to sob.
In another Stacy surgery, Bailey apologizes to Dixon for her outburst. Dixon agrees that it wasn't appropriate, but she's come to expect that from pediatric surgeons. Wha... What? What a fantastically unexpected twist! It does seem to be a genuine surprise to Bailey, who counters that she's not a pediatric surgeon. Dixon lists all of the evidence, as is her way: "You touch the child whenever you speak to her, you explain conditions to the child and not just the parents and you react to the patient as if it was your own child, and you break protocol which is inappropriate except in the case of pediatric surgery where protocols are constantly evolving." It's funny transcribing any of Dixon's lines because there's so much punctuation missing, which is how she delivers them. But yet I find that when Meredith is doing voice over, I have exactly the same problem and she's supposed to be delivering them in a casual speaking voice. Well, maybe just weird to me since I type it out every week but I tell you--Meredith/Ellen might want to work on where she places her emphasis during her delivery. Dixon says emphatically, "You are NOT a general surgeon. You are a pediatric surgeon." Arizona has been there watching and her eyes over her surgical mask seem to agree.
Meredith sees Derek leaving for the night and tries to get him to go to dinner, which he declines in about the most awkward, un-smooth manner ever. She calls him on it, and points out that he's been acting weird ever since her baby comment earlier. She claims to be glad it happened, though, because if he doesn't want her babies with her crappy DNA, he should just say so. Derek gazes at her and assures her, "Meredith, I want your crappy babies!" Lord, there he is actually being cute again! What is going on? Mere is very happily surprised and asks, "You do?" "All of them!" he answers and then kisses her. But he still makes a lame excuse and leaves, which leaves her kind of stunned.
Bailey watches Stacy through the door, and she is excitedly showing her parents a fully rhinestoned backpack with her name on it. Arizona walks up and asks incredulously if Bailey used a BeDazzler. Bailey holds one up and proudly answers, "Circa 1986! As seen on TV."(Hers is a handheld version, not like the ones that apparently still exist today and look like cheapo sewing machines, in a way.) (Man, did I want one of those when I was 7.) Arizona tells her that Dixon is right, Bailey belongs in pediatrics. Bailey's smile fades and she tells Arizona about Tuck nearly dying, and how as all her friends worked to save his life she felt so helpless. She says with conviction that she never wants that feeling again and growls, "So I think that makes me pretty unsuitable for pediatric surgery. Arizona herself is emotional and tells her gently, "I'd say that makes you uniquely qualified." That Arizona is growing on me, and it was a really nice moment between the two.
Lexie has gone to Joe's and finds a morose Callie at the bar. She sits and asks if Callie thinks Mark will tell Derek." Callie's voice cracks as she answers, "If he's not an idiot." When Lexie asks if she's okay, it tips Callie over the edge and she runs to the bathroom in tears, while Lexie watches in surprise. The camera pans over so that we know Arizona is also in the bar.
Meredith walks into an on-call room saying something about Derek when Cristina shushes her. I think it's pretty daring around these parts to just bust into an on-call room without knocking, but fortunately Cristina is just reading, while Hunt sleeps with his arms around her. Mere asks what she's doing and Cristina admits, "I don't know. Staying here." It's clearly meant in a larger sense than just the current situation. Mere wishes her goodnight and as she plans to leave, Cristina announces, "He's planning to propose." There's a beat, and I'm the first to admit that this actually did get me, since it's fully believable that Cristina would spill the beans. But Cristina adds that she's talking about Richard and Ellis--that Richard was planning to leave Adele and get down on one knee, but Cristina thinks he never did. Mere comments that it's sad, which I'd say is a sign that she's had some massive emotional growth, and Cristina asks, "Is it?" Mere offers, "Or romantic."
Then her disembodied voice starts up: "It seems we have no control whatsoever over our own hearts." Arizona walks into the bathroom to find Callie wiping her eyes, and it seems she walked in just to talk to Callie, and not to avail herself of the facilities. She introduces herself and asks if Callie is okay, and Callie lies that she's fine as she dabs at her red eyes. Arizona tells Callie she's going to be honest (she has not picked up on the way things are done here) and admits that people talk a lot around the hospital. Callie realizes this means that Arizona knows what she's been through lately, and comments, "Terrific." But Arizona tells her that it really is, because people really like and respect her, and they're concerned. It's really nice to hear someone spoken about in a genuine, nice way since so often it's malicious gossip. It also makes me happy because Callie is awesome, even if they're confusing me a little with the timeline of her grief. Arizona tells her that some people REALLY like her, and that when Callie is feeling better, people will be lining up for her. Callie laughs and asks for names, so Arizona leans in and kisses her. Mere tells us, "Conditions can change without warning," and Arizona tells Callie, "I think you'll know." She leaves, and Callie looks happy for the first time in a while. Mere tells us, "Romance can make the heart pound...
...just like panic can." Derek has gone for the grand gesture, for better or for worse. He is filling the bedroom with roses, has made a heart on the bed out of rose petals, has a giant white teddy bear, and candles are everywhere. Mark is helping him out and Derek berates himself for being a cliché. He's not wrong, but Mark encourages him, pointing out that these things became clichés because they work. He then asks, "It's great, isn't it? When you feel so strongly for someone and it's not just about the sex?" Derek is confused at these words coming out of Mark's mouth and Mark adds, "It is. It's true." Derek chuckles and tells him he shouldn't ever try to talk like that. Aw, the look on Mark's face gives me a little twinge in my cold, black heart. Mark gives up and agrees with Derek, then decides to go. He hovers in the door a moment but chickens out again, merely telling Derek congratulations. After he leaves, Derek's phone rings. Meredith starts, "And panic..." as Derek answers the phone, "Addison?" Mere finishes her sentence: "Can make it stop cold in your chest." Ah, so it's a bad phone call. Derek asks seriously what happened. This scene would have had so much more impact if it hadn't been teased to death in ads--I understand the need to advertise to pull people in, but I think that lately in general everyone has been giving too much away and taking away from the actual impact of the shows (and movies) that way.
Izzie is looking through what presumably are all her illegal test results. She smiles since they all seem to be positive, but is confused since we all know Dead now-Asshole Denny can't be wrong. Alex walks in and she dumps the papers in a desk drawer. The camera lingers deliberately, so I wonder if someone else is going to perhaps stumble across these later. Mere: "It's no wonder doctors spend so much time trying to keep the heart stable. To keep it slow, steady, regular..." She takes Alex's hand.
In the on-call room, Cristina is holding Hunt's hand, letting go only to turn the page as she reads.
Mere walks down the hall of her house towards the bedroom while her disembodied voice finishes, "To stop the heart from pounding out of your chest. From the dread of something terrible..." With this, Mere opens the door to her room to find it looking totally clean and ordinary. "...or the anticipation of something else entirely." She flops onto the bed and slides her hands under the pillow, and with some confusion pulls out a single red rose petal. Please, please, please let this not start some sort of "Derek is having an affair" B.S. I can't handle that between these two, especially when they've just gotten the tiniest bit tolerable again.
And as we see Addison tell Derek over the phone that she needs him, I will hand off this not-really-crossover-event off to DeAnn. I'll see you week for some supposedly actual crossing over at Seattle Grace.
Jeez, the plots on this show can be trying. See what we mean with our Grey's Anatomy: Dramatic Malpractice gallery.