Episode 8:
Staring at the Sun
Air Date: 11/16/2006
Meredith goes to visit her mother, and finds she hasn't been
eating. Richard shows up and brings her a box of chocolates,
because he knows she hasn't been eating regular food.
Her announcement to the other interns that she's now "bright
and shiny" because of getting back together with Derek
takes a bit of a setback when she finds out that George's
dad is in the hospital. He passed out and broke his clavicle
in a fall.
When George and Bailey check on Mr. O'Malley, Callie is in the
room, having popped his bone back into place. George's brothers
are also there and they won't take George's word for anything,
but only listen to Bailey. Bailey forbids George from working
on his own father's case. She tells him he can pick one of the
other interns for the case, and he picks Cristina.
When George goes to find Cristina, he observes her performing
a complicated procedure by herself as Burke looks on. Later,
she insists she merely assisted. He tells her he saw Burke
having a hand spasm but she brushes off his concerns. He asks
Burke if he's doing okay and Burke tells him everything is
fine.
Callie and George's brothers are debating the merits of various
cars when George checks back in on his father and he tells
her he can handle his family on his own.
George has trouble breaking the diagnosis to his father,
so Cristina tells him he has cancer in his esophagus and stomach
and that he needs surgery to remove it.
George confides to Izzie and Meredith that he can't handle
the news, or the way his brothers are treating him, or that
Callie slept with Mark. He also says he's been worried about
Burke.
A scan reveals that Mr. O'Malley needs an aortic valve replacement
before he can undergo the cancer surgery. George tells Cristina
he wants Burke to do it but demands to know if Burke is really
okay. She says he is, but he knows she's lying.
George's brothers argue with him when he tells them they
need to do the heart surgery before the cancer surgery. Callie
steps in and compares their dad to a vintage car, talking
engines instead of hearts, and they suddenly get it.
Addison is surprised that Derek is being so friendly. Because
they're getting along so well, she asks him if he'll come
talk to Richard with her because she thinks he's depressed.
He says Adele wants him to step down as Chief of Surgery.
Instead of listening to what he's saying, they're soon bickering
about their own issues.
Richard calls Meredith in to tell her that he can't keep
seeing her mother anymore since he's going to try to make
his marriage work. He tells her that she's an extraordinary
woman who worked very hard and sacrificed a lot.
Bailey assigns Izzie to shadow Alex and reminds her of the
rules of her probation, which includes no talking to or touching
patients. Alex is still assisting Mark, who tells him and
Izzie to pick up his dry cleaning and to get him a sandwich.
Addison finds out and and reminds him that Seattle Grace is
a teaching hospital. So he brings them in to see Frank, a
pec-implant surgery patient who needs to be monitored after
some swelling.
Frank, who refers to himself in the third person, says he
got the implants because his girlfriend started seeing a physical
trainer. He invites Izzie to feel the implants. She does and
then he says she should compare them to real ones. Mark walks
in to find her with one hand on Frank's chest and one on Alex's
and sighs in disgust, "This is why I don't work with
interns."
To the annoyance of the other interns, Alex and Izzie start
talking about themselves in the third person. Frank senses
the "vibes" between Alex and Izzie and tells him
to go for her, even though Alex says it's complicated. To
make a grand gesture like Frank did, he lets Izzie take out
Frank's drainage tube. Izzie is so happy after the procedure,
Alex goes in for a kiss. She freezes and tells him she can't.
They both end up at Joe's, where she says she didn't know
that he still felt that way about her. But she asks, "Can
Izzie buy Alex a drink?" A little girl, Mia Hanson, is
brought in after being run over with an SUV by her devoted
nanny, Anna. Mrs. Hanson, a high-powered attorney, and her
husband argue who's to blame for the accident. When Anna says
she just didn't see Mia in the SUV's blind spot, Mrs. Hanson
fires her. Mia won't stay still during a head scan and her
mother's attempts to soothe her don't work. "I want Anna,"
she keeps saying.
Bailey and Meredith operate on Mia and Meredith thinks that
the Hansons are lousy parents because they don't know their
child's blood type or her favorite song, the way the nanny
does. Bailey tells her that all parents just do the best they
can.
After the surgery, they tell her Mia is doing fine, but keeps
asking for Anna. Mrs. Hanson says she that she's good at her
job, but not at the "mom stuff." So they bring Anna
back.
Miranda sees Anna singing to Mia and calls home and insists
her husband wake the baby up so she can sing to him over the
phone.
Meredith tells her mother Richard isn't coming to visit anymore
and, in her Alzheimer's confusion, laments having to raise
her daughter alone. Meredith tells her she did the best she
could.
Meredith and Derek decide that they can't keep up "bright
and shiny" but that just being together is enough.
- description by ABC.com
|
