Mark, Arizona, and Callie are finding that this whole three-person parenting thing can be difficult, especially Mark. They get into an argument about whether or not Callie should have an amnio, and Arizona and Mark fight about it all day while Callie just tries to avoid them and finally makes her own decision to have one. Mark, who had been voting against, is actually fine with the decision, since Callie gave it some thought and didn't just side with Arizona; he points out that he just wants his 1/3 say in decisions since he's the baby's father and he intends to be a very present one. Arizona turns into a total brat about the whole thing, and it looks like Callie might be spending much of her pregnancy (and the 18 years, come to think of it) as a referee, and she doesn't seem too happy about it.
Arizona is also grouchy from spending part of her day arguing with Stark about whether or not to call social services on a family. The mom (Nancy Travis!) is an Alzheimer's patient who is part of Derek's clinical trial, and she's at the hospital with her husband and 10-year-old son. The kid is obviously a huge help in taking care of his mom and they adore each other. But Meredith notices a lump on the boy's neck and it turns out to be something that's pressing on his trachea and needs surgery immediately to be removed. The family had been so busy dealing with Nancy's diagnosis that they put off calling a doctor about the lump, and it sounds like it was a very lucky save to catch it at this point before he stopped breathing and died. Upon hearing about this, Stark orders the docs to call child protective services. Arizona, Mere and April, who is also on the case, all firmly believe that the family is fine and shouldn't be put through that, but they spend the day arguing with him to no avail. That evening April gives it one more try and Stark actually listens to her and agrees to call off the dogs. He's then so surprised by her actually having changed his mind about something that he asks her out on a date, and despite her initial horror, she admits to Lexie that she ultimately accepted.
As she was telling Lexie about this, Lexie was in the shower, cleverly hiding that Jackson was in there with her. They had a -ough day having to convince a couple of cystic fibrosis patients to break up with each other, since they could make each other even sicker and possibly die. It makes Lexie dwell a lot on the subject of soulmates and these thoughts are leading her to think a lot about Mark, but Jackson tries to talk her out of the idea that there's only one soulmate per person. He finally admits to her that he likes her and she seems not to hate the idea, as evidenced by the previously mentioned shower that results. Meredith, chock-full of her fertility drugs, starts experiencing fuzzy eyesight which gets worse as the day goes on. She doesn't bother mentioning anything to Derek about it, but when he gives her a chance to assist on Nancy's surgery, she realizes she can't see well enough to even attempt doing it herself. They go and see Lucy, who informs them the fertility drugs are to blame, and she orders Mere to stop taking them immediately, despite Mere's protests that she's almost done with this particular cycle. All of this on top of the baby triangle drama causes Cristina to comment to Owen how happy she is that she'll never have to deal with having kids. He is taken aback, because although he knew she felt this way he figured she'd change her mind, and both end up rather annoyed with each other when she tells him that isn't going to happen.
The icing on the cake of this largely downer episode is that Adele is back in the ER after having another fall. She's once again inconsistent in her story, but when Bailey runs every test in the book and they all come back clean, she talks to Meredith about Adele's visit and they both think something neurological could be going on. The Chief wants to happily go on wearing his blinders, convincing himself that everything is fine, but Bailey finally convinces him that he should speak to Derek. He finds Derek, Mark and Owen golfing off of the helicopter pad and griping about how much they don't understand the women in their lives, and Derek of course agrees to check her out to see if he can figure out what's wrong.
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Remember when Derek had plans to build Meredith a dream house? I had almost forgotten, but it turns out that those plans are still alive, and currently he's trying to figure out how to give Meredith a tub with a view as well as two sinks. Mere squints at the plans as Alex makes toast and watches them, and she claims not to care. Her only stipulation is that she get a tub deep enough to cover her knees and her boobs at the same time. Derek tiredly repeats this as clearly he is very well aware, while I make a mental note to myself that I want exactly the same thing whenever the time comes that a hunky surgeon is building me my dream house. He's a bit exasperated and just kisses her and leaves, while Alex tries to get her to appreciate what Derek is doing for her. Meredith explains that she can't read the plans because the fertility drugs are making her eyes dry, so she has to squint to read, and claims not to care that much anyway. Alex gives her a bit of a look since not being able to see clearly isn't something most people just brush off, and suggests she talk to "that hot OB." Meredith calls him out on looking for any excuse to talk to Lucy while she VOs that everyone thinks doctors are totally responsible.
Sidebar: I just learned that Debbie Allen directed this episode, and I am filled with girlish glee. DEBBIE ALLEN! And she's directed two other episodes too! I recap this show every week but now the secret is out -- I never pay any attention to the credits, because I somehow missed this fact even though I LOVE HER. Debbie, I miss you so much as a judge on So You Think You Can Dance! I'm thrilled to belatedly learn that you are still somehow connected to my current television viewing!
Callie has an ultrasound, and when they see a tiny, grainy arm on the screen there's a chorus of "awwwws." However, that's about the only thing everyone agrees on because when Lucy asks if Callie has scheduled an amnio, Mark and Arizona's claws come out. Mark is adamant that they don't need one while Arizona thinks they do, and the two start bickering. Lucy notes dryly, "It's so nice that there are three of you," and Callie gives her a, "You're telling me, sister," look. Mark gets paged but before he leaves he makes Callie promise that they will discuss it before making any final decisions, and he leaves them as Callie shows Lucy just how long a 9-inch needle (like the one that would be inserted into her belly) really is.
Nancy Travis is a patient this week, because apparently this episode is full of people I love. She's known for many things, but hands down what I love her for most is So I Married an Axe Murderer. Remember when Mike Myers was really funny? Good times. Nancy is having less of a good time here, as she's just been diagnosed with Alzheimer's and is in Derek's clinical trial. Her husband and son Kyle are there with her, and the family is clearly close and incredibly worried about her. She can't remember a lot of details to answer questions that Meredith asks her, but Kyle pipes up and tells Mere what she has for lunch every day (half of a sandwich that they split when he gets home from school) and reminds his mom that one of her meds gives her drymouth, but that water helps. He doesn't seem bothered by it; he's calm and matter-of-fact while also clearly protective of her.
Teddy, Lexie and Avery meet their patient, Ricky, who is hooked up to oxygen and sporting blue lips, so it's fortunate that he's getting new lungs in a few hours. He's got cystic fibrosis but assures the docs he's followed directions and hasn't taken any meds nor had any food or water since the night before. The docs meet his girlfriend Julia for the first time, and she's very sweet but when Teddy says they'll need her phone number she gets incredibly suspicious and asks why. No one seems to pick up on this and they just tell her it's so they can update her during the surgery.
Richard seems to be moving ahead with his own clinical trial and is incredibly annoyed that Owen called him to come down and see a VIP patient. He complains about being interrupted as he was compiling all of the info and proceeds to lecture Owen on how hard it is to put together an application, but Owen just sort of smiles and nods and doesn't actually react to any of Richard's lecture as they walk to the ER. Finally, to shut Richard up as he keeps complaining, Owen pulls back the curtain to show the Chief that the VIP patient is none other than Adele, who appears to be covered in blood stains and holds an ice pack to her head.
Nancy and Kyle are laughing on the bed when Meredith and a tech come in to draw more blood, and she explains that if the labs are all clean they'll take her into the OR for the procedure. As Mr. Nancy hugs Kyle he tells him that they'll hope she gets "the good stuff." This gives Kyle the chance to look up and show off a big lump on his neck, which Mere notices right away. She asks about it casually and after Kyle assures her it doesn't hurt, Mr. Nancy explains, a bit embarrassed, that they meant to make an appointment to get it checked out but it kept getting put off with everything else going on. It seems totally understandable, and Mere assures them that as they have plenty of doctors around, she'll have someone come and take a look so that they have one less thing to worry about.
Adele explains to a dismayed Richard that she slipped in the supermarket and as she fell, brought down an entire jam display with her, which explains the frightening red stains all over her jacket. Richard realizes that her story isn't entirely making sense but when he tries to figure out the actual progression of events she brushes it off, given that she got a bit distracted by the whole situation. She thinks the whole thing is silly and she just wants to go home, but she has a nasty cut on her forehead and Mark is not about to just slap on a band aid and let her leave. She then blames her special fitness tennis shoes on the fall, hoping this will get her out of the whole situation, but Mark continues to work on her and no one is about to let her leave, despite her whimpering protestations.
Lexie and Avery are doing some last checking up on Ricky when Julia is struck with a coughing fit, and she assures the docs it's asthma while she reaches for her purse. Ricky starts talking fast and seems to be trying to distract the doctors from his girlfriend's plight, but when she knocks her purse over Lexie reaches down to pick up some of the spilled contents. As Julia sucks on her inhaler, Lexie looks down and realizes she's holding a cystic fibrosis medication; Ricky tries to say it's his but Lexie sees that it's in Julia's name and wasn't born yesterday. When Ricky tells Julia to run, Lexie gets right in front of her and blocks her exit. It turns out that Julia also has CF, and while it's not contagious to the population at large, CF patients can infect each other with extremely dangerous bacteria. Both Avery and Lexie are dismayed and pretty pissed to realize what's going on but Ricky gets defensive and tells them that regular people can't handle dating someone with cystic fibrosis. He says that they stayed on opposite sides of a doctor's waiting room for years but one day decided the risk was worth it for them to be together. He takes Julia's hand and they stand in solidarity, but both of the docs are extremely troubled and seem to not share in Ricky's tragic conviction that their love is worth the risk of death.
April is taking her turn in pediatrics, so Meredith fills her in on Kyle and asks her to take a look and if it's anything serious, pass it on to Arizona. April agrees but flippantly informs Meredith she owes her. Mere's a little taken aback and thinks she in fact owes nothing, but April just chirps that she's doing Mere a favor so she owes her. Mere looks like someone just told her the sky is green and points out that April is doing her job, so Mere merely owes her gratitude and respect. It's a very weird exchange and never really addressed again -- is April awkwardly trying out some new personality so she's not just sweet April who does everything anyone asks her? Are we setting up some random favor-asking of Meredith later in the season? I have no idea, but it doesn't fit her and seemed kind of shoved in the episode just to give April something new to do.
Richard tracks down Bailey and informs her to clear her schedule because he wants her to handle Adele. Bailey whimpers, both because she had a cool surgery and also because she thinks this is going to be a difficult and thankless day. Richard explains what's going on and hopes that it's an inner ear problem or a pinched nerve, and he orders Bailey to run every test in medical existence to get to the bottom of it. She pouts, but he tells her that hey, now everyone involved is unhappy; certainly he and Adele don't like this turn of events any more than Bailey does, though the Chief at least gets her cool surgery so that's a bit of a plus for him.
Meredith gives herself as much of an eye exam as she possibly can but pages Alex to come in and do the rest, despite his (valid) protestations that he's not an eye doctor and doesn't know much of what he's doing. He knows enough to see that she doesn't have glaucoma, and he decides to have her read the eye chart though she claims to have taken care of that part herself already. He also stipulates that she's not allowed to squint for this one. Meredith gets the letters fantastically wrong and though Alex teases her by asking if she can even see him, he's clearly troubled by what's going on. Meredith isn't happy either but it's probably because he didn't give her the results she wanted and they bicker like siblings as they head out the door.
As Lexie makes a call she hears yelling and gets to be an audience for the latest round of Mark vs. Arizona. Callie is still trying to stay out of it while the two argue more about the amnio, and Mark yells that he doesn't care if there is anything wrong with the baby because he wants to raise it (especially after Addison terminating her pregnancy and Sloan disappearing into the night) (though one could argue that was for the best since she was a nightmare and not really in an entertaining TV way). Lexie is clearly touched by his insistence that he would happily raise a special needs child, though Arizona is more practical about it and won't be swayed in her own stance. She wants to pull Arizona aside but Mark has a fit at the idea, and though Arizona yells that they have a relationship Mark has the pretty powerful comeback that the child Callie is carrying is also his. He can't keep up the maturity the whole conversation, though, and turns and asks for his own private minute, then. Callie is sick to death of all of it and declares that no one but her patient is getting a minute before storming away. Off to the side, Lexie stares rather dreamily at Mark while Avery stares -- worried and a bit annoyed -- at her.
Once they get their voices back, they discuss the idea and Arizona wonders if they should just call and have a social worker say a quick hello to placate Stark. I'm amazed that as a pediatric surgeon Mere seems more familiar with the system then Arizona, and Mere points out that once they are in the system it will only get worse. They all agree that the family is doing the best they can and that when Nancy is facing losing her memory they can't also take away her son for the last bit of lucid time she has left. Arizona really doesn't want to stand up to Stark, so April finally pipes up and says she'll do it, figuring it can't hurt to try. Arizona clearly thinks that this can hurt an awful lot, which I guess is why she's not trying herself, but doesn't say anything.
She at least goes with April to confront Stark but before they can say anything he cuts them off to say he'll take Arizona's surgery and to work out the schedule with his assistant. He has an assistant? I don't think any doctor we've met yet has had that perk. That was one successful contract negotiation on his part, it seems. April then tells him they don't want to call protective services because they don't want to pull the family apart when Nancy has little lucid time remaining. But Stark is ready for them and points out that they only take the child away when said child is in danger. April makes the mistake of saying that a social worker could have a kneejerk reaction to the situation so Stark does what he does best, which is hoist himself up on his high horse where he can proclaim that he knows better than anyone else. He trips up April by asking her if she thinks these people are idiots and then gives a lecture on how being a social worker is a thankless job because they are branded as heartless for only trying to do what is best. When Arizona says that Kyle isn't being harmed Stark just asks if she's sure beyond a shadow of a doubt, and when she has no answer to this he tells her to be a good example to her residents and make the call. She just swallows a response that would probably only have gotten them all in deeper.
Bailey is making notes in Adele's chart while Adele interrogates her about what she's writing. All of the tests so far have come back negative, but despite Adele's wishes Bailey refuses to let her go home. As Adele natters on about how it was the shoes' fault she fell at the pharmacy, Bailey pulls something out of a drawer and points out that earlier, Adele said she fell at the supermarket. Adele again brushes off the confusion but Bailey pulls out the big guns and stands in front of Adele with a breathalyzer. Adele knows exactly what the contraption is based on her long marriage to an alcoholic and confusion or not, doesn't take kindly to the suggestion that she's got her own substance issues. Bailey obviously doesn't like it any more than she does but points out that she's at a bit of a loss, and since she's having accidents and her stories are inconsistent she has to now rule out substance abuse. If looks could turn someone to stone, the glare that Adele fixes on Bailey would have frozen her on the spot for the rest of time.
Lunch. More Arizona and Mark arguing. It's so very old already. Callie obviously feels the same way and she informs them that she's weighing the options and will decide herself, citing her baby and vagina votes. Mark's done with that cutesy plan, though, and gets more and more heated as he reminds them that this co-parenting situation isn't a joke, nor is it a situation in which they can humor him while they use him as a babysitter. Pretty much everyone in the lunchroom looks as he hollers that they're all doing this together with no one getting a bigger vote than anyone else, and he yells that he's a parent too. After he stalks off, Callie comments slightly surprised that he's really mad, but it's in a tone of voice that's totally humoring him despite what he just hollered at them.
In a much calmer, quieter section of the cafeteria Mere and Cristina are talking about sinks or, more specifically, Meredith's lack of interest in them. Cristina points out that she wants two because boys are gross and leave their toothpaste in the bowl and Meredith counters, a bit confused, that she does that too. She asks incredulously if you're really supposed to rinse every time. After a very awkward pause -- Alex is there too, and as a boy himself even he is a bit amazed -- Cristina comforts her: "Nobody parented you. It's to be expected." Mere and Alex continue their siblingosity of the day when he asks if she's really going to sell the house; she thinks he's going to miss her, but he counters that he's going to miss living somewhere with cheap rent.
If Lexie and Avery were worried about Ricky and Julia's relationship, Teddy is positively livid. She yells at them about being irresponsible and reminds them that after the transplant Ricky will be on immunosuppressants that will make him even more likely to contract something from his girlfriend. Ricky defiantly declares that lots of things in life are risky, and he doesn't seem to absorb at all that he's playing Russian roulette with lungs that could help another person. Julia thinks none of them understand because they've never been sick and in the same situation that the couple is in now. It's tragic, but it has the ring of teenagers telling their parents that they'll never understand their deep feeeeeelings. Teddy tells them that the lungs he's getting are a gift, but Ricky yells back that what they have is a gift, and if she loves someone, she would know that love is a rare gift. Lexie looks down at her shoes, obviously having another Mark pang, but Teddy fights and maintains control. She harshly declares that they have to end their relationship or Ricky won't get the lungs, though she's fighting her own emotions as she lays down the law.
Meredith, Arizona and April go back to Nancy and tell them about Kyle's cyst, but they are able to make it sound urgent but not totally scary and assure the family that they'll get it out quickly and then he'll be totally fine. They then pause uncomfortably and look at each other while rocking on their heels, and because the family is all smart they can tell that something is up. Finally, Meredith tells them that a social worker might be coming by just to see how they are doing. Nancy assumes it's part of the trial but Mr. Nancy realizes immediately what's up and understandably gets pretty up in arms about it. Once he tells Nancy what's going on she starts to melt down and declares that she's not taking part in the study. Over everyone's protests she gets up and starts throwing her things in a bag, and the room is in general chaos. Eventually, though, a little voice is heard -- Kyle is sitting in the corner, singing "I Walk The Line." This causes Nancy to stop and she goes and hugs him while Mr. Nancy explains that she loves Johnny Cash and that Kyle does this when things are bad and it always calms her down. Well, now they want to call that social worker even less.
Teddy walks back into Ricky's room still in full bad-cop mode, though it's obvious this is affecting her. She demands an answer and finally Ricky tells her yes. No one in the room is happy about it, even though it's for the best, and even though chances are they are lying. Teddy orders Julia to say goodbye and the couple is genuinely surprised that they have to part ways this moment. Teddy explains that they have to prep him for surgery, so that's life. Lexie can't watch as they kiss goodbye, and then Julia grabs her stuff and runs out of the room.
Mere is already fretting about her eyesight and calling social services on one of her patients, so she's not excited to think about Adele Webber too. Bailey chases Mere down to ask her about Adele's hospital visit, but Mere is gun shy after being yelled at by Richard, and she gives Bailey a totally clinical review of what happened. Bailey tells her she needs to know something more than that on account of just accusing Adele of being a "wino." That finally convinces Mere to open up and tell Bailey what happened with her falling and mixing up her story, but she also tells her how mad Richard was when Mere suggested it could possibly be some sort of early dementia. Bailey admits to being concerned, though, especially given Mere's experience.
I wonder if Kevin McKidd is going to be directing another episode because we really haven't seen a lot of him lately. He pops up now and kisses his wife on the cheek, and she smiles at him a moment before thanking him for not trying to knock her up. He's confused but is glad to have made her happy, and Cristina goes on to tell him about the "three musketeers" fighting and Meredith having to get injections every day. She thinks this is for nothing as she's not excited about the idea of sleep deprivation and baby poop. None of this is new to us, nor should it be new to Owen, but when Cristina says she's so happy she'll never have to deal with this, he rather patronizingly replies, "Yeah, yeah, yeah," laughs and leaves. She stares after him, confused.
Speaking of the three musketeers, they are having a snack break at a table that appears to be up on the catwalk. Do we have a break area up there now? Callie tells the others that she wants to have the amnio; she won't necessarily act on the results but she just wants to know. Arizona is barely even trying to hide her smugness at this news, but Mark just tells Callie that's fine and thanks her. Arizona's clearly disappointed as she wanted to rub Mark's face in it, or maybe have him fall to his knees to tell Arizona she was always right and he should never question her again, but he just tells Callie that all he wanted was for her to really think about it before she made a decision. She did, and he got outvoted, and that's fine as long as it was his 33% vote that counts and not a diminished percentage based on somebody's ladyparts.
Derek is cutting open Nancy's head -- I know it's going to be like this in every one of these surgeries and on top of that, I do realize this is TV and not actual surgery, but I don't think I'll ever not shudder to see a patient awake and talking as he makes his way into their skull. Meredith opens the magical envelope and beams when she sees that Nancy is scheduled to get the good stuff rather than the placebo. Derek offers her the chance to drill some holes in celebration but when he hands her the drill, she just holds it and stares down into Nancy's brain and squints. Derek asks her what's the matter and she admits she can't see it while we're treated to a shot from her perspective which is basically just a colorful, blurry mess. At least Mere knows to not try and fake her way through this particular scenario like she did with the sink/tub dilemma.
Teddy is scrubbing in for Ricky's surgery but is still super pissed about the entire situation, especially as she's sure that they are lying and have no plans to really break up. Avery asks if they should just halt the transplant, but the lungs are already on their way to Seattle. Lexie tries to play good cop by asking if maybe it will all be okay after all, because maybe they are soulmates, while you can almost see her thinking that if these two can make it work, maybe she and Mark can do the same. Teddy doesn't even dignify this with an answer and goes inside, so Avery calls her on thinking about Mark. She tries briefly to deny it but then tells Avery that after hearing him talk about raising a special needs child she realizes he's a good guy, and she's worried she didn't think about it when she left. Avery's incredibly doubtful of this since Lexie thinks through everything, so Lexie finally asks in a small voice if maybe she was wrong. Avery is going to do all he can to keep his chances alive and he asks Lexie if she really wants to date Mark plus two women and a baby. Hey, there's the making of a kooky Hollywood movie! It's almost like an update of Three Men and a Baby co-starring... Nancy Travis! It's the circle of life. Lexie realizes that when it's said bluntly like that, it sounds pretty bad.
Cristina seeks out her husband so that she can ask him just what his, "Yeah, yeah yeah," meant and she's not happy to learn that he thinks this is just some sort of phase. He felt the same way when he was a resident but feels differently now, so he figured the two of them would talk about it again sometime in the future. She reminds him that they discussed it once, but he maintains that she'll "come around." She asks the question that's on my mind: when has he ever known her to come around? He seems to finally realize that she's serious but unfortunately the angle he takes is to tell her that it's a "young people's notion" that her career will be the only thing that ever matters. He also tells her that after all she's been through, he would have thought she'd realized this. Oh, Owen. I know you know Cristina better than to say this kind of thing to her. She's predictably miffed, but he tells her that he thought at least she'd consider what it is that he wants. She thinks a moment and then tells him evenly, "Well, I've grown up as much as I plan to and I don't come around," before leaving. And while I do think it's important for people to consider their partner's feelings and don't mean to diminish that, I am also sure that Cristina was crystal clear about this and it's Owen's bad for figuring she'd simply change her ways one day.
In the OR, Teddy takes out Ricky's nasty, black, shriveled lungs and then has them bring over a pair of nice, red, healthy ones. Lexie actually gasps at how "beautiful" they are, and Teddy gripes that if Ricky wastes them, she'll kill him. Well, he'll probably be dead already if that happens so it saved her the murder.
Derek and Mere are out of the OR and he's checking out her eyes while Lucy makes a phone call. She's trying to joke about her potential blindness but Derek's not at all amused, and can't believe she went into the OR without mentioning this to him. As y'all know, I'm always loathe to side with Derek but in this case... SERIOUSLY. Mere claims it wasn't intentional, and that it just started out as fuzziness and didn't get really bad until she was in there. Lucy gets off the phone and tells Derek that the ophthalmologist is going to see her but that he's in surgery for a while so she has to clear her surgery and in addition, she has to stop the fertility drugs. Meredith, who seems to be taking all of this rather lightly, tells Lucy that she can't do that since there are only two pills left and her egg is about to drop so Lucy has to order her to stop. She points out that Mere is having one of the side effects that everyone always laughs at when they hear the laundry list of scary things that can happen with any given drug, and that she has to stop to make sure it's not permanent. This finally sobers Meredith up.
Lexie wanders outside after Ricky's surgery and as everyone suspected, Julia is hanging out there on a bench. After updating her that it went well, though, Lexie sits down to have a serious talk with the girl. Without mincing words, she tells Julia that she's killing Ricky, and there's nothing romantic about what is essentially a joint suicide pact. She also reminds Julia that not only is it unfair to the two of them and their families, but it's supremely unfair to the family of the person who just died and gave their lungs. Julia is silent, so Lexie tells her that she knows she feels like there's only one person for her but that eventually she'll find someone else and it will seem crazy that she was worried in the first place. Oh dude, that is so not the thing to ever say to someone in the midst of a breakup. It never, ever helps and no one ever wants to think about moving on yet. But instead of arguing, Julia just crumbles and says that Ricky really has to try and find someone because she doesn't want him to be alone. She then breaks down in tears, and a teary Lexie rubs her back to comfort her.
April has made it her mission to change Stark's mind and she actually approaches him again to once again discuss Kyle. She sits down as he works at a computer and tells him that Nancy will need follow-up appointments every two weeks for the three years, so she'll make Kyle come with her each time and will examine him herself to make sure he's okay. She pleads that he's absolutely cherished by his parents, and she asks him again to call off the call to protective services. He's a little bit curious at this and she admits that they haven't actually made the call yet. But after a moment, he agrees. She's stunned, but he warns her to leave before he reconsiders and she jets out of there like her hair is on fire. Once she leaves, Stark does seem to take a moment to consider what just happened.
Lexie comes back inside and joins Avery in gazing at Ricky through the window as she reports that Julia is gone for real. She's not looking forward to telling Ricky, but Avery says that if he had to hear bad news, he'd want to hear it from her. A touching piano starts up on the soundtrack as she sighs and goes in to the room. Avery watches as Lexie takes Rick's hand and he starts to cry.
When Richard comes out of surgery Bailey reports that all of the tests were clean, and Richard is too quick to celebrate and write her accident off as clumsiness. Bailey won't let him off the hook so quickly, though, and tells him that something is clearly wrong. He won't listen to her and says that when you get older things like this happen, but she holds firm and tells him that if this was her wife, she'd go and ask the brilliant neurosurgeon who happens to be a close friend if he might take a look. Richard looks very serious but this time he doesn't yell at the insinuation that Adele might have early dementia of some variety.
When Lexie finally leaves the hospital, she finds Avery sitting on her car and waiting for her to make sure she's okay. She seems rather like a deflated balloon and admits that though she told Julia she'd find someone else, she's not sure she believes that. Avery says she will but she brings up the idea of soulmates again, with some desperation in her voice. Avery cuts her off with a sad chuckle and gently informs her that idea is crap, and that it would be a stupid system that only had one match for each person on earth. He's really overgeneralizing since that is totally the case for some people, but he makes his point. He tells Lexie that Ricky and Julia deserve better, and so does she. He then tells her that the guys will be lining up when word gets out that she's single again. Um, isn't word really obviously out by this point? He's not really thinking this through but then again, his approach totally works for him since Lexie asks him with a laugh if he'd be in line. Very seriously he tells her that he is in line, and she gives him a sly little smile that says she doesn't hate that idea.
Cristina is changing out of her scrubs in the locker room while she and Owen continue their argument, though she thinks there's not much more to discuss if one of the two adults (especially the mother) involved doesn't want it. He gets kind of pouty and asks if he really has no say in her decision, even if he thinks having a family is important. She just tells him that if that's the case, he married the wrong person. Look, I totally think they rushed into this without a lot of thought but PTSD or not, she's never been unclear about who she is, especially with regard to having children. Owen gets super pissed at her as she continues and yells that they got married because they wanted to spend their lives together, and she doesn't get to threaten him with leaving just because he has a different opinion than hers. That is true, but again... I don't know, I think he was taking a bit of a leap of faith on this subject. He storms out as he yells at her that she is at least obliged to pretend to care about what he wants.
April is organizing all of the charts when Stark finds her and informs her that he'd like her to go out to dinner with him. She thinks he means right now but he clarifies that he's actually asking her out on a date, and her mouth literally drops open at the suggestion. She finally asks him if he said he wouldn't call protective services because he wanted to go out with her but he answers that he wants to go out because she changed his mind, and no one has done that in forever. He's definitely softer than he's ever been while having this conversation -- the fact that he's fiddling with a stuffed elephant as he talks adds to that -- but it's still very weird and April looks like she believes she could be stuck in some sort of parallel universe right now. Warily, she asks if he'll stop giving her surgeries if she declines, and he tells her of course not since that would be sexual harassment. He does admit that if she says no it's fine, but they might have to avoid eye contact for a while. In fact, he's avoiding eye contact as he speaks to her, but he finally looks up and tells her just to think about it.
Callie and Arizona are at home, and Callie brings over two wine glasses -- one with wine for Arizona and one with milk for her, which I think is a rather awesome system. She's impressed at how Mark handled everything and thinks he'll be a great dad, but Arizona isn't nearly as excited by it and keeps reading the paper while trying to avoid the conversation. Callie tries to get her to talk about it and finally Arizona announces that she's neither excited nor delighted by Mark (the unspoken end to her sentence is, "like you are.") She tells Callie that she loves her, and she loves the baby, but that somehow in this she agreed to a lifetime with Mark and she never wanted that. She clarifies that she doesn't hate him, but doesn't want a life with him though that's now what she has. It's all understandable but really harsh, especially from someone who didn't have to come back into the situation in the first place. Callie asks what she's supposed to do since it's his kid, and Arizona snipes that she doesn't need to be reminded of that. She then says that Callie's getting everything: the woman she loves, the guy best friend who is great in bed, and a baby, while this isn't Arizona's dream. The look on Callie's face shows that this is totally not a dream situation but Arizona's too up her own ass to notice and she just picks the paper back up. Sigh. I am so tired of these two.
Back at the surgeon's orphanage, April runs into the bathroom where Lexie is taking a shower and proceeds to freak out about Stark asking her out on a date. Lexie is holding a towel rather awkwardly in front of the door but April's in too much of a tizzy to notice, especially since she actually accepted the invitation. Lexie forgets her own discomfort for a moment as she gasps in horror. April tells her there's a nice man under the crazy exterior, and that gives Lexie a moment to get control of herself and remember that she wants April gone. She finally has to yell at April to go, and once she leaves the camera pans around and we see Jackson hiding behind the door with Lexie holding her hand over his mouth. They both burst out laughing and get back to the making out that was surely happening when April burst through the door.
Meredith starts up her end-of-episode, lesson-teaching voiceover by telling us that doctors are responsible with their patients but then they use it all up and are morons when it comes to their own lives. Yes, I might be paraphrasing a tad. Cristina is sitting with Mere in the ophthalmologist's office complaining about Owen while Meredith freaks out wondering what will happen if she can't ever operate again. Cristina suggests she bartend since Cristina had such a great time doing it herself, which at least gives Meredith a much-needed laugh. She then seriously assures her friend that her eyesight will return. Richard then walks in and tells her that the doc will examine her every day and until he's cleared her, she's not allowed in an OR even to observe. (Though how could she, if she can't see anything clearly?) When he walks out, Meredith huffs indignantly at having been benched.
Mark, Derek and Owen are getting out their frustrations by drinking beer and hitting golf balls off the helicopter pad. Seriously, this looks (horrifying for me as I am afraid of heights/falling, but) fun (for other people) but every time they do this I can't help but imagine that down below some innocent bystander is going to get beaned with a golf ball and require medical attention from these very doctors. They all complain about the women in their lives and compare just how much of a say they get in decisions -- it turns out Mark wins with 33% because Owen says Cristina gives him maybe 10% and Derek points out that Meredith doesn't even tell him when there's something that might actually need discussing. The Chief comes up and asks to speak to Derek privately, so they head off toward the elevator. Richard finally admits what's been going on with Adele and admits that she's been kind of confused -- it's hard for him to get out the words but Derek just lets him go at his own pace. Finally, he asks Derek to take a look and Derek of course agrees. That done, Meredith VOs that even if people are responsible and take their vitamins and pay taxes, the universe gives them people to love and then lets them slip away. So then what does one have? "Vitamins and nothing." Wait, so the moral of today's episode is that being responsible isn't worth it? Wouldn't that make Meredith blind? I'm confused. Apparently we learned no lesson at all today, kids.