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I always said I'd be happier alone. I'd have my work, my friends, but someone in your life all the time? More trouble than it's worth. Apparently, I got over it. There's a reason I said I'd be happy alone. It wasn't cause I thought I'd be happy alone. It was because I thought if I loved someone and then it fell apart, I might not make it. It's easier to be alone. Because what if you learn that you need love and then you don't have it? What if you like it, and lean on it? What if you shape your life around it and then, it falls apart? Can you even survive that kind of pain? Losing love is like organ damage. It's like dying. The only difference is, death ends. This? It could go on forever.

Unaccompanied Minor is the twenty-second and final episode of the seventh season and the 148th overall episode of Grey's Anatomy.

Short Summary[]

News of Meredith's dishonesty in the clinical trial comes to light, leading to unanticipated consequences for both her and others. Cristina finds herself in a compromising situation, which forces her to decide between her career and her relationship. Meanwhile, Owen posts his decision for chief resident and Teddy makes a surprising choice regarding her love life -- and her future.

Full Summary[]

Meredith's voiceover says she always thought she'd be happy alone. She'd have her work and her friends, but someone in her life all the time? More trouble than it's worth. Meanwhile, Derek and Meredith are at what will be their house but is currently just a frame. They are planning the baby room with chalk, as they need to show the social worker where they're gonna live. Janet arrives and Derek welcomes her. She doesn't look too impressed.

Meredith and Derek are at the hospital. He'll meet her after intake. She sees the intake is for the Hobart family. She's always bummed out when the patient has young children. He offers to do the intake for her, but she wants him to treat her like a colleague on the trial. As she enters the room, Owen comes over and says they need to talk about the trial. It's best if he doesn't get Meredith.

Teddy is with Henry before his surgery. She feels bad she won't be there. He says she should feel bad for all the time after the surgery when he's awake and she's not there. Instead, she'll be halfway around the world with Andrew. He mimics the sound of an adoring crowd, which he thinks is fitting because Andrew's like a rock star. She says it's annoying. He says he gets to be annoying because his wife's leaving. She says she's not a real wife. He says she's his best friend, so there's that. However, she can go and be happy. She says he's impossible and sits on his bed to hug him.

Derek needs Meredith to tell him exactly what she did. If she tells him, it'll be worse. She loves him and she's sorry, but she can't tell him. 

He guides her into an X-ray viewing room to go talk to Richard, which is part of his colleague treatment. Derek says that Meredith tampered with the clinical trial, probably invalidating his trial. Meredith says nothing she did had any effect on the results. Derek says that the FDA will never come near him again. Richard says this is the part where she denies it all. She says they can kick her off the study, but nothing she did changed it. Richard says he's gonna have to investigate, but it looks to him like she just lost her job.

Meredith finds Alex and says they're gonna fire her. She asks if he's happy. She wants his crap out of her house by the end of the day. The other residents have overheard her, but there's no time to ask questions because all their pagers go off.

Richard has gathered his staff to tell them a 757 went down in the Sound with over 200 passengers. This hospital is the crisis centre, meaning all families will come here. They are activating surge protocol. Owen will run the show. It's going to be chaotic, so they will all need to focus. He tells them to get to their stations.

Owen asks Bailey to clear beds and discharge any patient who can be discharged. She goes to do so with Meredith. Torres has to stay with Owen, April has to set up the ER for triage, and Lexie will be in charge of the family centre in the cafeteria. Yang will contact the blood bank and Sloan will be the Candyman. Jackson can help him. Cristina asks Owen what happened with Meredith as the rest of the doctors scatter. He tells her what she did.

Teddy is with Henry. She tells him about the plane crash, meaning they'll try to send Henry home. She tells him to tell them that he's a D1 and that he wants to be moved to a regular room. That way, he'll be first in the cue if the hospital starts doing surgery again. She explains she and Andrew are not leaving because they need surgeons and trauma counsellors.

Callie tells her patient they're gonna move him to Seattle Pres, but Owen shouts that Pres is full so they're gonna have to start calling County. Mark asks Owen why he's stuck with Avery, the guy who decided that working with the Chief is too taxing on his schedule. Owen tells him why he really left the trial.

Cristina ends up in a supply closet with Alex. She tells him Meredith was the only one who cared about him, and now he's destroyed her career. He should find some skanky intern to love him, because next time the building's on fire, no one is handing him a glass of water.

Lexie and Eli are running the family center. There are lots of family members, but they don't have answers yet. None of the passengers has arrived at the hospital and the identification takes time, so they're all gonna have to wait. In the meanwhile, they can sign the sheet and write down their phone number. A woman demands to speak to their supervisor. Lexie says there's no one who has more information.

Alex finds Owen and says he was drunk when he said the thing about Meredith. He only said it because he didn't want her to be Chief Resident, not because he wanted her fired. Owen says he's as dumb as she is if he didn't think it through.

Eli finds Bailey and asks if she's fine. She is. The plane that went down came from Baltimore, where her parents live. She took that flight with her son. He asks if she wants to sit down with him for a minute, but she can't. He says he'll just stand there with her, then.

Cristina is asking Trina, a possible blood donor, some questions. Trina doesn't know if she's pregnant and she can't remember when her last period was. Cristina asks her to think back to some special things she did which might give away a hormonal change. Cristina doesn't listen to her replies and suddenly walks off.

Cristina is on Lucy's table. Lucy is doing an ultrasound and tells her the fetus is about 6 weeks. She figures out this pregnancy wasn't planned. Cristina doesn't want to talk about options.

In a quiet ER, there are still no patients. There's a news report about the crash, but the cause is still unknown. Lexie wonders what is taking so long. Mark and Owen say it takes time to fish people out of the water and triage them. Owen suspects there will be lots of hypothermic patients, so April leaves to get blankets and heated IV fluids. Mark asks what the hold-up is with Owen's Chief Resident decision. Callie isn't nervous as she's sure it's gonna be Meredith. Arizona suspects Alex.

Richard approaches Alex and asks for a written report on everything he saw concerning Meredith's tampering.

Jackson needs more sedatives for the transfers. Mark approaches him and tells him that he's a good man. He can have Lexie but he has to take good care of her. He'll stay out of Jackson's way. Jackson is not sure what to say, so just thanks him.

Cristina pulls Owen into a quiet room and tells him she's pregnant. She can't believe this is happening. He knows it's not supposed to happen like this, but this could be something good. She says there is no way they're doing this. He says there are two of them here. He wants them to think this through together. He knows what she wants and he loves her. He wouldn't want to do anything that makes her miserable. He says there are ways to make this work without ruining her life or derailing her career. She states she doesn't want a baby. He replies she has one. He asks how late she is and if it has hands. She can't believe he's doing this. She respects children and she thinks they should have parents who want them. Owen says he wants them and he believes Cristina can be bigger than she thinks it is. He doesn't want to tell her to do this, but he wants her to think about it. He imagined a huge life for them.

Cristina wants to talk to Meredith, but she's stuck in a conference room where Derek and Richard are trying to get her to say what she did. Richard asks how many times it happened. She refuses to say anything. Richard says they'll find out because Alex is narrowing down the dates. Meredith repeats that nothing she did changed the trial. Alex arrives with his information while Derek tells Meredith she doesn't get to decide who gets the drug and who gets the placebo. Meredith says that if she doesn't tell Derek, the trial stays blind. Derek says the trial is over. She screwed him, the hospital, and her. Richard is going over Alex's information and finds out the patient was Adele.

There are still no patients in the ER. The attendings have figured out that no one's coming. If it's taking this long, nobody survived.

Derek asks Richard what he's gonna do, as the protocol is clear. Richard thinks he basically pressured Meredith into doing it, so both he and Meredith would have to be fired. Derek is angry and leaves. Richard tells Meredith he's gonna have to suspend her, and the FDA can figure out what to do with the trial. Owen knocks as he needs Richard. Before he goes, he tells Meredith he doesn't know how to express his feelings. She knows how he feels.

Richard has gathered the staff in the ER. The identification of the bodies has begun and they've sent him a list. The airline reps and more social workers are on their way here. It's a long list, meaning each and every staff member will have to talk to families. Andrew tells everyone to meet up in front of the cafeteria in exactly one hour. They'll be assigned a room to take their families to, one by one. It's gonna be a long day. As everyone scatters, Owen pins his decision on the board. The new Chief Resident is April Kepner. Alex and Meredith roll their eyes and walk off without congratulating April.

Alex chases after Owen and says it was supposed to be him or Meredith. No one listens to Kepner. Owen says no one would listen to him either, because he just sold out the one universally-liked individual at this hospital. No one would come to him for anything. He was planning on giving it to Alex, but not after what he did.

Meredith informs the Hobarts that the trial may be shut down as Derek stands in the doorway. Mrs. Hobart says this is not right. Her husband needs this. She knows the drug is somewhere in a box in this hospital, and they're just choosing not to give it. Her children's father is disappearing. He needs the drug.

Cristina and Owen are sitting on a bench outside the hospital. He says he could take leave for 6 months or a year, but she shuts that down. He wants this and he can do this. It doesn't have to be her problem. She says she's not a monster. If she has a baby, she'll love it. Owen thinks that that's the problem, and says it's not that bad. He loves her so much. Cristina says there is no compromise. She doesn't want a baby. This isn't a scheduling conflict. She does not want to be a mother. He tells her she'd be a great mother. He thinks she doesn't believe that, but it's true. He asks her again to think about it because she loves him.

Outside the cafeteria, Lexie tells Jackson she has three names. She doesn't know if she can do this three times. Jackson says there's also good news. Sloan gave them his blessing, or in fact, he gave Lexie to Jackson. Andrew arrives, meaning it's time to start. They enter the cafeteria. Teddy asks for the Schoman family. The parents of Jason Schoman follow her outside. April realizes everyone's expecting good news. Mark calls for Elaine Chen and leaves with her. Bailey takes out the Ruiz family and then it's Lexie's turn.

Teddy enters Henry's room with pudding. She just spent the last two hours telling people their families are dead, so she wanted to hang out. Henry says he's been trying to be a gentleman, but now she needs to get the hell out. Letting her go was the worst thing he's ever had to do, and his pain threshold is pretty high. So, she needs to get out. He's not her best bud, he's a man who's in love with her and drove her right into the arms of a knight in shining armor. So, she should go to Germany and leave him alone. Teddy is crying and leaves the room.

April is cleaning up the ER as Mark comes in. The cafeteria is like a pandemonium, he says. They're giving a few people some sedatives. The phone rings and April answers. There's a survivor.

Derek finds Meredith in the residents' lounge and asks if she's leaving. She's not, she didn't get fired. She knows that's disappointing to him. He says his trial is about to disappear, so he's not the bad guy here. The fact that it's Adele doesn't change things for Derek. If she were focused on the millions of people whose lives could have been changed by this trial, she wouldn't have pulled this stunt. He doesn't see how she doesn't know the difference between right and wrong. She thinks are more complicated than simply right or wrong. She is sorry that she messed everything up, but she'd do it again. Derek says he can't raise a child with someone who doesn't understand that there's a right and a wrong. She's been saying she'd be a bad mother for weeks, and maybe she's right. He needs some time and space to think. They get paged.

Arizona brings Sarah Gordon, the survivor, into the ER. It's an unaccompanied minor with head injuries and multiple chest contusions. All the attendings start working on her. Sarah opens her eyes and Derek explains that all these doctors are here to take good care of her.

People are leaving the cafeteria while others are still making phone calls to other family members. A woman arrives to console someone. Gilda Ruiz' phone has just died and Lexie offers her to use the hospital phones. While her husband Miguel goes to make the phone call, Lexie sits down with Gilda. April comes in and asks for the Gordon family, but they're not there. April tells Lexie they found a little girl, an unaccompanied minor. They're operating on her right now. Miguel comes back and says they can go home now, but Gilda wants to stay here for the little girl whose family isn't here yet. If this had been their son Matthew... The other remaining families overhear her. Gilda sits down, repeating she's staying. Miguel says okay and sits down with her. The other leaving families decide to stay as well. Lexie promises to let them know about the girl.

Cristina finds Meredith, who's constantly paged by the adoption lady. Derek is AWOL. Cristina can't believe it's true. Meredith says she needed to help Adele. She's just suspended for now since the Chief backed off when he found out it was Adele. She did what she had to do and she couldn't have lived with herself if she didn't. She then sees Alex is talking to Janet in a lounge. She walks off, not paying attention to Cristina, who has some news of her own.

Meredith walks into the lounge and tells Janet not to believe anything he said. Alex says this isn't about that. Janet says they're granting her and Derek temporary custody of Zola pending the completion of the petition. If all goes well, they'll get full custody. According to Zola's doctor here, she's doing well, so they can take her home today. Alex says she'll need neuro follow-up exams and he has a prescription for pain meds in case she needs them. He asks if she has any questions.

Teddy meets with Andrew, who's still not done. He paged her because he wanted to see her face. When something like this happens, you want to be with someone you love. He hugs her as she realizes she also wants to be with someone she loves. He suggests they spend the night in a fancy hotel since they're leaving in the morning. She doesn't reply.

Meredith is leaving Derek a message, saying they need to talk. This is important.

A woman walks into the cafeteria. She asks if anyone knows where she can find someone who has information. Miguel says they should be right back. The woman says her daughter was in the crash and they told her they were operating on her. Gilda figures out she's Mrs. Gordon and tells her that the doctors have been here every half hour with an update, so they'll be here any minute. A man gets her some coffee. Mrs. Gordon is baffled and Gilda explains they all stayed here to pull for Sarah. She thanks them all.

A nurse is packing a bag with swaddle blankets, formula, and diapers in Zola's room. She asks Meredith if they have a diaper bag. Meredith says no. The nurse says they have some lying around. People leave stuff behind in the NICU if their baby doesn't make it. The nurse also packs some pacifiers and asks if her husband is putting the car seat in the car. Meredith says they don't have a car seat, and she's not even sure she has a husband. The nurse giggles and says that happens when you're both surgeons, always at work. She continues to put things in the bag.

Mrs. Gordon says Sarah's father was supposed to fly with her but he couldn't make it, so she had to go alone. There was a flight attendant who helped her to get on the connecting flight in Vancouver. She then apologizes for not having asked about the people the families had on the plane. Gilda says her son Matthew is in surgery, too. Mrs. Gordon asks if he'll be okay. Gilda says yes. April comes in and informs Mrs. Gordon that Sarah is out of surgery, so she can come see her daughter now. Before leaving, Mrs. Gordon hugs Gilda. She promises to pray for Matthew. All the other families start to leave, but Gilda breaks down in tears.

Teddy walks into Henry's room and asks him to stand up. He thought he was clear. She tells him to shut up. She has to do something and he has to stand up for it. He reluctantly does it. She leans in and kisses him. He's her husband she thinks she's falling in love with him. He kisses her back.

Mark approaches Lexie and asks her how she's doing. She says not now. He has to stop talking to her and checking on her and talking to her boyfriend. She will always love Mark, but she wants to be happy. If he keeps pulling at her, she'll come back to him. He says she's right and apologizes. Lexie says he got his family, and he needs to let her have what she wants. Mark says he told Jackson he could have Lexie. Lexie thinks that's paternalistic and weird. Mark says he's letting her go, which means she has to walk away. She walks away from him.

Jackson finds April and congratulates her. She deserves the job. He's happy because he has what he wants. April can't believe they're both happy after such a crappy year. April says she's happy to finally have some friends here as they hated her for so long. Jackson says they'll hate her again soon enough because it's her job now to boss them around. Lexie is smiling at Jackson from a distance.

Meredith comes home to a dark house with Zola. She tells her they're going to stay here until the other house is finished. She tells Zola that Derek had a bad day, so he's AWOL. He's pissed off now, but that'll be fine. She goes to check the kitchen, which is empty. As she goes upstairs, she tells Zola they had this plan to look for a lullaby from Malawi to make things feel homey for Zola, but she can't even think of an American lullaby right now. Meredith finds that Lexie is not up in her attic, and April's room is empty too. Meredith tells Zola that it's usually pretty hectic around here with all the people that live here. Meredith then finds out that Alex's room has been cleared out. She tells Zola they're going to be okay, they're a tough team. Meredith is very glad that Zola is here, although she imagined that the first day would be different. They're going to figure it out together.

Cristina comes home to Owen. She asks him to tell her how much he loves her. He says a very great deal. She wants him to remember that. She scheduled an abortion. She's sorry if this isn't what he wanted, but she can't talk about it anymore. She needs to lie down because she feels like crap. Owen says this is a marriage. He tied his life to hers, so she can't decide this without him. He says you give in marriage. He's made a lot of sacrifices and he asks her to consider doing something for him. She says a baby is not pizza versus Thai. You don't give a little on a baby. She is saying no! He tells her to get out. She's denying him part of the decision and a marriage. "Get out!" he yells.

Before going home, Bailey wanted to tell Eli good night. He wants to come home with her tonight. Bailey says her son is with her. He says he can meet her son. Bailey says it's not the right time. Eli says this is a relationship. They lean on each other when things go bad. That information won't hurt her son. And if it does, this is not the right relationship for him. He can control himself in her house. She says okay. They leave together, holding hands.

Cristina uses her key to enter Meredith's house. Meredith comes down the stairs, hoping it was Derek. She tells Cristina that Derek took off and the hospital gave her a baby, who's sleeping now in some dead kid's crib. Cristina says she's getting an abortion and Owen just kicked her out. Meredith asks why she didn't tell her about the pregnancy. Cristina replies Meredith had a busy day. Zola starts crying. Meredith could use some help, but Cristina needs to lie down.

Meredith's voiceover says there's a reason she thought she'd be happier alone. She didn't think she'd be happy alone. She thought that if she loved someone and then it fell apart, she might not make it.

Lucy finds Alex at Joe's. She asks Alex to tell her not to go to Africa. "Go to hell," he replies. She leaves the bar.

Meanwhile, Meredith's voiceover says it's easier to be alone. Because what if you learn that you need love, and then you don't have it?

Owen is standing in his kitchen as Cristina is lying on the couch at Meredith's.

Meredith is holding Zola.

What if you shape your life around it, and then it falls apart? Can you survive that kind of pain?

Derek is at the dream house and declines a call. He lies down on a sleeping bag.

The voiceover says that losing love is like organ damage. It's like dying. The only difference is that death ends, while this could go on forever.

Cast[]

Main Cast[]

Guest Stars[]

Co-Starring[]

Medical Notes[]

Roland Hobart[]

  • Diagnosis:
    • Alzheimer's Disease
  • Treatment:

Roland was a patient on Derek's Alzheimer's trial. He was set to have his procedure that day, but that was cancelled when Derek's trial was suspended.

Henry Burton[]

  • Diagnosis:
  • Doctors:
  • Treatment:
    • Surgery

Henry was in the hospital to have surgery.

Broken Leg Guy[]

  • Diagnosis:
    • Broken leg
  • Treatment:
    • Casting

A man in the SGMW ER who had a cast on a broken leg was told his procedure would be re-scheduled at Seattle Presbyterian Hospital.

Cristina Yang[]

  • Diagnosis:
    • Pregnancy
  • Treatment:

Cristina had an ultrasound and was told she was about six weeks pregnant. She told Owen that she would be getting an abortion.

Sarah Gordon[]

  • Diagnosis:
    • Multiple contusions to mid-torso
    • Large hematoma on the left temporal lobe
  • Treatment:
    • Surgery

Sarah was the sole survivor of the plane crash. She had a hematoma and multiple contusions. She was taken from the ER into surgery. After surgery, her mother was told she could go see her.

Zola Limbani[]

  • Diagnosis:
  • Treatment:
    • Antibiotics

Zola was discharged and allowed to go home with Meredith. She was still taking antibiotics and would need neuro follow-ups, but her incisions were healing.

Music[]

Song Performer Scene
"Way To the Future" Katie Herzig
  • Derek and Meredith are planning the baby room at their dream house as Janet arrives to look around.
  • Meredith asks Derek to treat her like a colleague at work and not as his wife.
  • Owen asks Derek to talk about his clinical trial without Meredith.
"Brighter" Morgan Taylor Reid
  • The doctors are waiting for patients to come.
  • April gets the ER ready for the patients with hypothermia.
  • Owen is asked about his decision for chief resident, which he'll announce later that day.
  • Richard asks Alex the details of what he saw Meredith doing with the clinical trail.
  • Mark gives away Lexie to Jackson.
  • Cristina asks Owen to talk.
"Lippy Kids" Elbow
  • Derek questions if Meredith would be a good mother and asks for space.
  • The doctors start treating Sarah in the ER.
  • Gilda decides to stay in the cafeteria for Sarah, and inspires others to do so as well.
"Anything But You" Civalias
  • Teddy kisses Henry and says she's falling in love with him.
  • Mark lets go of Lexie and lets her walk away.
  • April and Jackson realize they're both happy.
  • April realizes they're gonna hate her again.
"In Front Of You" The Quiet Kind
  • Owen throws Cristina out of their house.
  • Bailey takes Eli home to meet Tuck.
  • Cristina enters Meredith's house, and Meredith tells her she has a baby. Cristina tells her she scheduled an abortion and that Owen threw her out.
  • Lucy asks Alex to tell her not to go to Africa.
  • Meredith tries to call Derek, but he ignores the call and goes to sleep in the dream house.

Notes and Trivia[]

  • This episode's title originated from the song Unaccompanied Minor, originally sung by Their Only Dreams.
  • This episode scored 9.89 million viewers.[1]
  • Sofia Robbin Sloan Torres doesn't appear in the aired version of this episode. However, she does appear in a deleted scene.[source?]
  • This episode takes place on April 12, 2011 according to Meredith's phone. However, according to dialogue, a blood donor had a her last period around Easter while she couldn't remember it, meaning some time had gone by already. Since Easter 2011 took place on April 24, this episode probably takes place in early May.
  • This episode marks the last appearance of Rachael Taylor as Lucy.
  • This episode is the last one to be accompanied by a Grey Matter blog post, as the writers didn't continue the blog for the eighth season.

Gallery[]

Episode Stills[]

Quotes[]

Meredith: Okay, we're gonna be okay. You and I, we're a team, right? We're tough. We have that in common. I am very glad you're here. I didn't think your first day would be quite like this, but I'm gonna get it together, and we're gonna figure this out.

Lexie: You have to stop. You gotta stop talking to me and checking on me and talking to my boyfriend. I love you, and I'm always gonna love you, but I don't want to love you. I want to be happy, and Jackson makes me happy. And if you keep pulling at me, I'm... I'll come back to you.
Mark: You're right, I'm sorry.
Lexie: You got what you wanted. You wanted a family. So please just let me have what I want.
Mark: I said you're right. I told Avery I was letting you go. Did he tell you that part?
Lexie: Yeah, it's paternalistic and weird.
Mark: I'm letting you go, Lexie. That means you gotta... walk away.

Teddy: You're my husband, and... and I think I'm falling in love with you.

Owen: I want them, and maybe you could, too. I believe your life could be bigger than you think it is. I know you can contain more than you think you can. I'm not saying we do this, I'm just saying let's think. Let's see what kind of life we can imagine. Cristina Yang, I imagine such a huge life for us.

Derek: You wanted to be treated like a colleague? I'm gonna treat you like a colleague. Alex Karev informed Dr. Hunt that Dr. Grey tampered with my clinical trial. She switched around placebos and the drugs, probably invalidating... my trial.
Richard: Is this true?
Meredith: Nothing I did has any effect...
Richard: Tell me exactly what happened.
Meredith: I can't do that.
Derek: Do you have any idea what you've done? Do you think that the FDA will get anywhere near this hospital, ever again?
Richard: Meredith, look at me. If this is wrong, if there's something going on, if Karev is exaggerating, this is the part where you have to tell me. This is the part where you have to deny the charges.
Meredith: Kick me off the study. There's nothing wrong with the study. Nothing I did changes anything.
Richard: I'm gonna have to investigate what's going on here. But it looks to me like you just lost your job.

Derek: Meredith, tell me exactly what you did.
Meredith: I can't tell you.
Derek: We can still fix this. But I need to know what you did.
Meredith: If I tell you, it'll make it worse.
Derek: It's worse already. Meredith.
Meredith: Listen, I-I... I love you. And I'm sorry but I can't tell you anything.

Cristina: (to Alex) You know, she's the only one who ever gave a rat's ass about you, and now you might have destroyed her career. You should find some skanky intern to love you, because next time you're in a burning building, no one is handing you a glass of water.

Richard: This is an extremely serious accusation, Meredith. Can't you tell me anything?
Meredith: I-I-I can't. I'm- I'm sorry.
Richard: Talk to me. How many patients are we talking about here? Did this happen more than once?
Meredith: I can't say that either.
Derek: She can't say anything.
Richard: We're going to unwind this, Meredith. Karev is figuring out what cases he was on when he saw you, he'll narrow down the dates and we'll know which patients...
Meredith: Nothing I did changed the trial. Uh, fire me. Do whatever you have to do.
Derek: Look, you don't get to choose, okay? (Alex knocks on the door & Richard opens it and takes an envelope from him) You don't get to decide who gets the drug or the placebo. You don't get to decide what information the trial gets.
Meredith: Anything I tell you affects the trial. If you don't know what I did, the trial stays blind.
Derek: The trial is over. You screwed me. You screwed this hospital. And you screwed yourself. This is your disease we're trying to cure. (Richard is looking through the files Alex gave him) I mean, I could've picked Parkinson's...
Richard: (mumbles) It was Adele.
Derek: ... or Lou Gehrig's disease, but I did this for you.
Richard: Derek, it was Adele.

Alex: Dr. Hunt, you gave chief resident to Kepner? It was supposed to be me or Grey. You think anyone's gonna listen to Kepner? It's gonna be complete chaos.
Owen: You think anyone's gonna listen to you? You just sold out the one universally-liked individual at this hospital. Everyone is gonna hate you. A chief resident is supposed to manage their peers, be a resource and a support. After what you did, do you think anyone is gonna come to you for anything? I was planning on giving it to you, and now?

Derek: Are you leaving?
Meredith: No, I didn't get fired. I know that's disappointing to you.
Derek: My trial is about to disappear. You really want to act like I'm the bad guy here?
Meredith: No, I don't.
Derek: I know the fact that it is Adele changes things for Richard, but it doesn't for me.
Meredith: Oh, I understand that.
Derek: You couldn't possibly understand that. If you were focused on the millions of people with Alzheimer's whose lives could've been different, or would've been better because of this drug, there's no way in hell you would've pulled this stunt. How is it that you don't know the difference between right and wrong?
Meredith: Because I don't think that things are simply right or wrong. Things are more complicated than that. This was more complicated than that. It's complicated that it was Adele and Richard. It's complicated that we have a drug in a box that could help her. There's nothing simple about that. I am very sorry that I messed everything up, but I would do it again.
Derek: I don't know how to raise a child with someone who doesn't understand that there's a... a right and a wrong in the world.
Meredith: So, now I'm gonna be a bad mother. That's where we're going with this?
Derek: You've been saying it for weeks. Maybe you're right.
Meredith: Okay.
Derek: Maybe you're right. ... I just need some time to think. I just.. I just need some space.

Cristina: Mer.
Meredith: The adoption lady's paging me, Derek's AWOL, he's not even speaking to me.
Cristina: Wait, is it true? What -- What were you thinking?
Meredith: I was thinking that the Chief's wife was about to have saline injected in her brain instead of a drug that could stop her from being a gorked-out lump. Derek's head almost exploded.
Cristina: Are they gonna fire you?
Meredith: I'm suspended. The Chief backed way off when he found out it was Adele. I did what I had to do.
Cristina: Meredith...
Meredith: And I couldn't live with myself if I'd done anything different. (sees Alex talking to the social worker) And Karev is trying to ruin my life!
Cristina: Mer...
Meredith: (to Alex:) What did you say to her?
Alex: I didn't say anything.
Meredith: Janet, anything he says....
Alex: Can you just shut up for one second? This isn't about that.
Janet: We're granting you temporary custody of Zola, pending the completion of the petition, at which point, assuming all goes well, you'll be granted permanent custody. And her doctor here says she's doing great, so you can take her home... today.

Owen: You give in a marriage. You make sacrifices. I've made many and I'm asking you to do something for me. Can you simply consider doing something for me?
Cristina: Have a baby? This isn't pizza versus Thai. You don't give a little on a baby.
Owen: Cristina, I am asking you...
Cristina: I am saying no!
Owen: (pauses, turns away) Get out.
Cristina: Are you-- Because I'm denying you a baby, you're trying--
Owen: Because you denied me part of the decision. Because you denied me a marriage.
Cristina: Oh, how dare you...
Owen: Get out!

Derek: What are you gonna do?
Richard: I don't know.
Derek: Well, the protocol is fairly clear.
Meredith: Are you encouraging him to fire me?
Richard: Look, Derek, I basically pressured her to do it. You'd have to fire us both. (Derek walks out) I'm gonna have to suspend you, so it doesn't look so bad. The study... I need to turn the whole mess over to the FDA, let them figure out what to do with it. ... I mean, I-I can't. I just ... Meredith, I don't know how to...
Meredith: I know.

Lucy: Tell me not to go to Africa. Alex?
Alex: Go to hell.


See Also[]

A complete overview of this episode's crew can be found here.

The Grey Matter blog post on this episode can be found here.

References[]

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