17x12 - Sign O' The Times
Posted: 04/16/21 07:34
♪♪
♪ I woke up to the morning sky first ♪
[Richard] At the start of medical school, you and your classmates stand together, wearing your lab coats for the first time, and you take an oath.
♪ When I get up off this ground ♪
♪ I shake leaves back down to the brown, brown, brown ♪
[Horns honking]
[Indistinct shouting]
♪ Till I’m clean
[Crowd] [Chanting] No justice! No peace!
[Horn honks]
No justice! No peace!
No justice! No peace!
Equality right now!
Equality right now! Stand up!
♪ My sisters and my brothers, see them like no other ♪
♪ All my favorite colors ♪
♪♪
♪ It’s a good day to be, a good day for me ♪
The oath has many versions, but each boils down to this…
The practice of medicine should be humane and kind.
♪ My sisters and my brothers, they see them like no other ♪
♪ All my favorite colors ♪
[Cellphone chimes]
It turns out there’s a catch they don’t tell you about…
Medicine mimics the world it lives in.
[Cellphone chimes]
[Sighs]
[Door opens]
Hey. Brought coffee.
You see Richard’s e-mail?
I can’t look at my phone without 50 news alerts popping up.
It’s like it’s cursed.
He told the staff to take time if they need it.
To rest, protest.
Worry about whether their fiancé’s gonna make it across country in one piece?
Anything.
He understands.
♪♪
[Cellphone chimes]
[Groans]
[Sighs] If I keep staring at this wall, I’m just gonna burn a hole into it.
♪ Ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh ♪
I should go.
And in this world, humanity and kindness are often in short supply.
♪ Ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh-ooh ♪
I canceled the few elective surgeries we had scheduled, told the blood bank to be on high alert, and put five vents on standby for incoming traumas.
We’ll have the tent outside for walk-ups. Mm-hmm.
Mnh. You think that’ll be enough for us?
I think it’ll have to be.
[Sighs]
We’ve just barely got our bearings in this pandemic…
Now this.
Well, revolutions don’t schedule appointments.
[Sighs] Mnh!
[Sighs]
You good?
I… I just want to be doing something I know how to do.
Well, you’ve done everything you could to prepare.
Now, look, I’ll come back if you need me.
It may take me some time to get here, but I-I’ll make it.
Wait, back… back from where?
I’m protesting, Bailey.
Something important is happening out there, and I’m not gonna miss it…
These moments save lives, too.
You go give ’em hell.
♪♪
I’m so grateful that you came in today.
Not that I would ask a Black man not to march.
No, but you can text me eight times, asking if I’m coming in, though. [Chuckles]
Mnh-mnh!
That was my phone that did that.
Oh, okay. It’s new.
Uh-huh. [Chuckles]
No, I almost called in a sub, honestly, but we’re barely hanging on with COVID, so I figured they’ll need me.
Speaking of which, did you read my proposal for setting up the free COVID testing and treatment site for low-income patients?
I mean, Ortiz’s connections…
I think we can make a real impact.
You know we’re barely keeping the lights on as it is, baby.
But I will revisit it when the revenues improve.
You want us to wait till COVID’s over
before we can open a COVID site, Mom?
Come on. Okay? Dr. Ortiz and I put a lot of really good time and effort into this.
She’s got great ideas.
Just let me get through this week, okay?
I’m late for my meeting. Ah.
Love you. This week.
Avery. You got a second?
Hey, everything okay?
I’ve been better, mate. [Breathes sharply]
♪♪
I don’t have much time.
It’s all hands on deck here.
Probably won’t even have a chance to shower before I see you tonight, but I just wanted to see your face.
Well [sighs] this is it.
My exhausted, driving-for-three-days face.
I feel like we chose the worst time ever for you to make this drive.
Nah. The sooner I’m with you, the better.
Well, what’d you think of the apartment listing I sent you?
I haven’t even looked at it yet.
Maggie. [Chuckles]
It’s just… I have not been able to focus on anything besides work and the news and you driving.
I get it, baby. I get it.
But as far as I can tell, Seattle real estate is the Hunger Games with kitchens.
[Chuckles] So if I want this place, I’m gonna need to make an offer soon.
Okay, I’ll look at it. I promise.
Alright.
Next time we talk, it’ll be in person.
Be careful. Please.
Extra careful. Always.
I love you.
Love you.
[Tablet chimes]
[Monitor beeping]
She’s still sleeping most of the time.
She’s very weak.
But stable.
Have Schmitt do her hyperbaric treatment today.
Do we think that Schmitt’s qualified?
He’ll be fine. I’ll put the fear of God in him.
That almost sounds fun.
Woman over P.A.: Dr. Scott…
Let’s order an X-ray. Yeah.
They’re in the south parking lot right now.
Thanks a million, Irene. I’ll be back when I can.
Alright, hold still. Hold still.
Cops did this?
Neo-Nazis did this.
“Counter-protesters,” I think they’re called.
Came at my boy with a billy club.
I jumped in between them just in time.
Well, he got you good. Must’ve been scary.
I wanted to drop a b*mb on the whole lot of them.
If I had one, I would have.
Oh, man, this rage I’m feeling?
That’s… That’s why we need stricter g*n laws.
Alright. Well, I can get you some Valium for the shaking.
[Sighs] No, I’m good.
ER’s filling up. I just… I just want to get back to work.
Am I okay, Avery?
Almost.
Next time, make sure you guys hang in the back of the crowd, yeah?
[Laughs] Next time?
When they’re 18, they can protest all they want.
Right now, they’re going straight home.
Jackson, I need you out here!
♪♪
Her name is Nell. That’s all I got.
She was hit with a tear gas canister.
Shot! Not hit… shot! At close range!
Oh, shrapnel went everywhere.
E-Easy. Oh.
Easy.
Keep it stable.
Trauma one’s open. Let’s move.
Okay.
Ready? Yeah.
Let’s go. Let’s go.
♪♪
[Siren wailing]
Uh, good circulation in the upper extremities.
Nell, does your hand feel numb or tingly?
Excruciating pain isn’t enough?
No acute fractures.
Canister doesn’t seem too deeply embedded.
Someone give me their hand.
Why?
I need to squeeze the hell out of it.
This thing hurts.
Two of morphine, Reuben. Reuben: Mm-hmm.
Non-expanding hematoma, but I cannot rule out a neurovascular injury here.
So I think we need a CT angio right away.
Let’s prep to move.
Okay, I’m gonna come with you. Wait, wait, wait, wait!
Y-You’re not taking this thing out of me first?
We want to make sure it didn’t hit any major blood vessels in your neck.
Then we’re gonna remove it in the operating room.
We’re gonna move as fast as we can, alright?
Alright. You ready for us to move you?
♪ Hey, hey, ho, ho
♪ Come on, girl, let’s go [Chuckles]
♪ Hey, hey, ho, ho ♪
Hey, hey, ho, ho
♪ Come on ♪
Come on, girl
That’s right, let’s go.
♪ Let’s go
Owen: Okay, keep this on for the next 12 hours, then apply the antibiotic ointment, okay?
Will this bandage hold?
I’m going back out.
I’ll get you some extra Coban to be safe, okay?
[Siren wailing in distance]
Hey. Hey.
Got your page.
Yeah, someone’s en route
with a rubber b*llet injury to the chest.
Should be here any minute.
Ugh, glass bricks.
You get that, Pierce? Huh? Yes, yeah.
Uh, just got a lot going on today.
Winston is driving back as we speak.
Yeah, you two aren’t wasting any time.
I’m happy for you. Thanks.
We’re just trying to work out this living situation.
[Siren wailing, vehicle approaches]Oh, you’re worried?
You’re wondering if he prefers using the bathroom with the door wide open?
Or puts ketchup on his eggs.
Who puts ketchup on their eggs?
Over 54% of Americans, actually.
[Wailing continues]
Okay, rig’s here. Let’s go.
[Wailing continues]
[Brakes squeal]
♪♪
Okay, we have Guy Houston, 22.
Took a rubber b*llet to the chest.
Defibrillated in the field for V-fib.
I think “died” is the word you’re looking for.
Welcome back. Let’s get you inside.
[Groans]
I need a chest X-ray, cardiac enzymes, and let’s get him on a monitor.
♪♪
[Sighs] We’re heading into the chamber.
Breathing oxygen feeling light as if you’re, uh, floating on a cloud.
But not… not like a cloud in heaven or anything.
Just, um, floating. Like just not dead, you know?
We’re healing and recovering.
[Door opens]
What are you doing here?
Uh, post-op surgical wound infection.
My attending ordered hyperbaric treatment to enhance healing.
Well, we’re next.
And we’re also VIP, so you can go now.
Schedule’s packed today, so they’re doubling up.
Crap, is that Meredith Grey?
Maybe. But don’t talk to her.
I’m under strict orders from the Chief to not cause Dr. Grey any stress.
Of course, no problem.
Just, uh, floating like…
[Sighs]
Are you gonna make room or not?
[Sighs]
[Door closes, air hisses]
[Siren wailing in distance]
Haven’t even finished this supply run…
You’re already coming in for more.
Yeah, well, it’s just one of those years.
Wait, can I fix that?
Because it looks like you lost a bar fight.
Thank you.
[Coughing]
Wow. Okay.
It’s not like there’s a deadly virus going around…
Spread by droplets.
Oh, sorry.
It’s [clears throat] the bloody tear gas, I swear.
How are your sons?
They’re alright.
Irene came to pick them up, despite their complaining.
They wanted to stay out?
Yeah, they want to be a part of the change, not just watch it on a screen.
But you wouldn’t let them?
After this? No way.
[Telephone rings in distance]
[Indistinct conversations]
You think that’s a mistake?
No, I, uh… I see both sides.
You know, protesting the police in front of the police is scary, and so is doing nothing.
Guess I’ve just buried too much family to see anybody else’s side but my own.
Right.
Woman over P.A.: Captain Emerson, call Radiology.
Captain Emerson, call Radiology.
[Sighs]
[Telephone rings in distance]
[Woman speaking indistinctly]
Yes.
Chad Anderson, 40s, no past medical history, according to him.
EMTs brought him.
He evidently collapsed while jogging.
I’ve given him O2, but he’s still experiencing shortness of breath, as well as foot irritation.
Look, I’m fine, okay?
As I was trying to explain to your nurse here…
Dr.Tseng.
She’s a second-year surgical resident.
Yeah, but… Pull your mask up.
Yeah.
Okay, look, I was just trying to tell her that it’s…
I… Sometimes, I get shortness of breath when I run.
It’s not a big deal.
I mean, you know, my… My inhaler’s expired, so you just, you know, you put me on a nebulizer treatment and you write me a new prescription for albuterol, and there’ll be one less guy in the room.
Mm-hmm.
Dr. Tseng, has his oxygen saturation been above 92?
Hovering around 88.
Mr. Anderson, is it possible that you’ve been exposed to COVID-19?
No. Uh, it’s… That’s a no.
Hm. Mask up.
Hospital policy.
Move him to an isolated room and give him a full workup…
Chest X-ray, lower extremity duplex, and a COVID test.
Page me with the results.
Okay, hey. Doc, look, I’ll take the workup, okay, but I don’t care what your little test says ’cause I know that it’s not real.
What’s not real?
COVID.
Do I look like a sheep, alright?
I know it’s a scam.
♪♪
Richard: How’s she doing?
Hopefully, it’s confined to just soft tissue damage.
Well, her clavicle felt intact.
[Machinery whirring]
We were marching peacefully.
You know, she was marching peacefully.
Can you imagine firing poison gas at this woman?
Still marching at her age?
What was it like out there today?
It was beautiful.
At first.
And then it was frightening and then messy, but it was still beautiful.
I mean, there were young people handing out water and masks.
It was… It was organized.
There was this… This feeling in the air.
It’s…
You have to put yourself on the line to be part of it, but good trouble lights you up, you know?
Yeah, sure.
[Computer beeping]
Oh, scans are up.
Ah. Okay.
Oh, well, no vascular involvement, thank God.
See? It tore through the trapezius muscle. Yeah.
Well, let’s book an OR and extract the canister.
Yeah.
♪♪
Don’t see any pericardial fluid.
[Monitor beeping]
That’s a good thing.
Okay, so was it a… A heart attack?
Because my dad’s had two of those.
Kind of.
It’s called commotio cordis.
Basically, the rubber b*llet must’ve hit you at the exact right moment to interrupt your heart’s normal rhythm.
The same thing happens with a heart attack.
Yeah, you were lucky that EMTs were nearby.
Everything was so chill, you know?
Then there was gas and… And screaming and people running in all directions.
We couldn’t even tell which way the cops wanted us to go.
But I swear, we didn’t do anything wrong.
Yeah, I’m sure you didn’t.
Your X-ray and your echo both look good, but I do want to admit you for observation and bloodwork just to make sure your heart’s okay.
I-I, uh… I s… I should probably call my mom.
[Cellphone vibrating]
Uh, I will be right back.
Keep him on telemetry
and do cardiac enzymes every two hours.
[Vibrating stops]
Hey. What happened to not speaking until we see each other in person?
Winston: The landlord called, and he said he wants to rent to a doctor, but he has a few offers and he needs to make a decision today.
Did you look at the listing?
I did.
I’m not a fan.
It has glass bricks. And only two windows.
And glass bricks.
Um, okay, well, I told him I’m gonna take it.
♪♪
Maggie, you know I need a better option than a hotel or a backyard tent.
It’s just for now.
You know, I just want to be in the same city.
[Siren chirps]
Hey, Maggie.
And for the record, no judgment…
Maggie… do you like glass bricks?
Maggie, I can’t… I can’t talk now.
I’m being pulled… I’m being pulled over.
[Siren chirps]
Wait, what? You’re being pulled over by the…
By the police, yes. I got to go.
No, no, no, no. Winston, don’t hang up.
Turn on your camera if you can, but do not hang up the phone.
I will stay on the line with you.
♪♪
[Monitor beeping]
[Seat clatters]
[Beeping continues]
Is she mean?
Dr. Grey?
Excuse me?
Uh, sorry. It’s just what I heard.
I also heard that she’s the best. [Sighs]
But she got sick before my first day, so I never got a chance to see it.
I intubated a COVID patient on the fly the other day.
Never could’ve done that a couple years ago.
And my Lembert sutures, which she taught me,
they’re… They’re getting better.
Every win I’ve had, any time I do something right, I hear her voice in my head.
♪♪
She’s the most influential teacher I’ve ever had.
Even when she’s asleep.
And, yes, she can be tough sometimes.
♪♪
There’s always a reason.
I really hope I get to operate with her one day.
Yeah, me too.
♪♪
[Police radio chatter]
[Whispering] Alright.
Music off, hat off, hands on the wheel.
License and registration, sir.
[Vehicles passing]
[Dog barks softly]
How you doing today, Officer?
Oh, just takin’ ‘er easy.
Can you tell me why you pulled me over?
I saw… Speed limit said it’s 45…
Set the cruise to 40.
Maggie: Winston, are you there?
I can’t hear anything.
I’m gonna need you to turn off your phone, sir.
Oh, it’s just my fiancée.
[Chuckling] She’s up in Seattle.
Your phone, sir.
She, uh, she worries about me on the long drive.
Can I leave it on?
[Echoing] Mr. Ndugu, are you failing to comply?
[Distorted police radio chatter]
Winston.
If… If… If you’re still there, just keep me on the line.
♪♪
[Dog barks]
I’m reaching for my phone.
♪♪
Maggie: Winston?
Winston?[Cellphone beeps]
Oh, no, no.
[Whimpers]
[Line ringing]
[Monitor beeping]
[Sighs]
Army Navy, please.
Pick-ups, Bokhee.
My mom mention getting an e-mail from me at all?
I sense you want me to say yes.
[Sighs] She probably hasn’t even opened it.
I don’t know why I haven’t learned.
The only ideas that get through to her are her own.
It’s hard being a problem-solver when the problems are so complex.
I could never do her job.
Yeah, well, it’d be easier if she wouldn’t ignore good advice from people trying to help her.
Wouldn’t even bother me as much if it was just me.
Alma Ortiz and I worked really hard on a lot of good ideas based on her previous experience.
Well, listen, give her time.
We’re all feeling next-level stress.
Something tells me that after a week, she’ll be a little more open.
[Scoffs] We just pulled a hunk of metal out of this woman, and you’re seriously being super positive right now?
You know, you barely missed getting hit yourself.
Yeah, it should have never happened.
I’m just thankful that the damage isn’t worse.
What got me… Well, you saw her.
She wasn’t fazed.
She was… She was energized. You know what I mean?
There’s power in gathering like that, I mean, where the truth brings so many people together.
I mean…
Well, you know.
[Respirator hissing]
Actually, no, I don’t.
Honestly, I’ve never been to a real protest.
I mean, I’ve protested plenty of things… I’ve boycotted businesses, signed petitions.
[Sighs] Done surgeries for free, given talks.
It seems like every time folks took to the streets, I always had a reason not to.
I had to work, I had to study.
I could always see how useful money was to the cause, you know, so I guess I always felt that writing a check was a worthwhile substitute.
And, hell, maybe it is.
In this country, at least.
You think that’s a cop-out?
I try not to judge the way that anyone handles the traumas that come with living here.
And that includes you.
And your mother.
Clamp.
[Beeping continues]
[Line ringing]
Winston: Hi, you’ve reached Dr. Winston Ndugu.
[Breathing heavily][Monitor beeping rapidly]
Dr. Pierce! Just… Just… Come on.
Dr. Pierce![Line ringing]
He’s in V-fib again![Ringing stops]
Owen: Let’s push a 6-milligram bolus of adenosine.
Oh, Ortiz! I need you to keep calling this number.
It’s my fiancé, Winston. Owen: He’s still in V-tach.
If he picks up, you tell me.
If he doesn’t, just keep calling.
Just do not stop.
Everything okay? He got pulled over.
I want the officer to know that someone is checking in on him.
Mm.
Let’s charge to 200!
[Beeping continues]
Mask up, Mr. Anderson.
Mm. Sorry, I forgot.[Door closes]
The whole “coro-no-virus.”
Sir [Chuckles]
I need you to listen to me.
Your COVID test came back positive.
Additionally, you have ground glass opacities in your lungs.
That’s why you’re having trouble breathing.
And your toes aren’t red because you run without socks.
Y-You have what’s being referred to as “COVID-toe.”
“COVID-toe”?
Yes. Really?
That’s the best you got? [Laughing] COVID-toe?
Are you guys even trying? [Chuckles]
This ultrasound of your leg reveals a clot that we need to treat immediately, so…
Okay, well, whose leg is that?
I’m sorry?
Well, see, I’m a… I’m a runner.
We don’t get blood clots. But it’s a…
That’s a… That’s a nice try, though.
Mr. Anderson, please.
Okay. Look.
You know what I’ve figured out?
Huh? [Sniffles]
I figured out that this little cold that y’all are so terrified of…
Biggest moneymaker since crypto-currency.
And speaking of, h-how do you get your kickbacks?
I mean, is it like a flat fee from every patient that you diagnose, or is it like a… A percentage deal, or…?
My m…
[Stammering]
Um, I…
Be back in a moment. I need to answer a page.
Yeah, yeah. Take your time.
[Door opens]
♪♪
[Sniffles]
♪♪
What?! What?!
Okay.
Breathe. Breathe. Breathe.
W-What?!
Stop.
♪♪
[Wheezing softly]
[Door opens]
Okay, let’s try this.
Your blood oxygen is dangerously low.
Your lungs are getting worse.
And if untreated, the clot in your leg could travel to your lungs and k*ll you.
We’re seeing cases like yours all of the ti… [Chuckles]
Sir, this is not just a cold.
It’s not asthma.
This won’t magically go away.
Sir, please, let us admit you so that we can start you on steroids
[Scoffs]
and… and put you on blood thinners.
Look, because even if you are a little bit wrong, it could be fatal.
[Clicks tongue, sniffs]
You know, I’m still waiting on that albuterol prescription, Doc.
[Wheezing]
♪♪
Thank you.
[Clears throat]
[Monitor beeping rapidly]
200 joules!
200. Stand clear.
[Thump]
[Sighs] Still V-fib. Go again.
Charge. Charge.
[Paddles whine]
Clear.
[Thump]
Okay, he’s back to normal sinus rhythm.
[Sighs] So, what are you thinking?
I think the rubber b*llet bruised his heart.
His troponin levels are elevated.
We gotta get him to the CCU.
All this from a rubber b*llet?
It wasn’t a “rubber” b*llet.
It’s a metal b*llet encased in rubber fired from a g*n at a human being.
They’re not meant to be fired close range or directly.
They can be just as dangerous. Still no answer.
[Line rings][Monitor beeping rapidly]
Owen: Damn it. Maggie: V-fib again?!
He’s unstable. He keeps going in and out of sinus.
Charge. Yep.
Charge. Clear!
[Thud]
[Monitor beeping]
Maggie: He’s in V-fib storm.
The myocardial contusion is causing a closed loop of misfiring in his heart.
It’s not gonna stop until we get him ablated.
Push 100 mg of lido, give him an amiodarone bolus, and get him up to the IR suite.
We’ll meet you up there, okay? Okay.
Still no answer.
Alright.
Page Richard Webber. Owen: Ready? Let’s move.
Tell him to meet me in the IR suite,
and tell him it’s urgent.
Intern Chee: Ever work in a warehouse?
Not that I recall.
My patient does.
Forklift injury.
They’re surprisingly common.
It’s good to know.
[Choking][Monitor beeping rapidly]
Hey, uh… uh… uh…
You might want to up his sedation.
Sedation, right. Uh…
Quick, before he…
Oh! Oh! Crap!
That’s what I was worried about.
[Panting] [Sighs]
Okay.
[Line ringing]
Come on. C…
[Line ringing]
Maggie.
What’s wrong? Okay.
Winston is on his way back here from Boston.
Mm-hmm. He is driving, he’s on the road, and we were on the phone.
We were…
And the police pulled him over, and I told him to keep me on the line.
But the police made him hang up, and now I can’t get a hold of him.
It’s been…
[Voice breaking] It’s been 20 minutes, and I don’t know where he is.
And I have a patient who could go into V-fib at any second, so I have to get in there and do an ablation.
But this is how it happens, right? Just like this?
So, I-I-I-I need somebody to go and find him now. Look.
Right now. Alright, Maggie.
Alright. Okay?
What you should do now is take care of your patient.
What if he tries to call me and I don’t pick up? No.
Or what if he doesn’t call… Yeah.
And the police just take him… take him?
[Stammering]
Look, just give me your phone.
I’ll give it some more time.
If there’s still no word, I will get into my car, and I will look for him myself.
[Sighs]
Give me your phone. Okay.
Yeah?
[Sighs] Mm-hmm.
Okay. Mm.
[Exhales sharply]
[Monitor beeping rapidly]
Oh, my God!
Oh, God, his intestines are popping out!
Okay, okay, okay. Let me think.
What do we do? What do we do?
I don’t know what to do.
Meredith: [Echoing] Schmitt. This isn’t anyone’s fault.
This isn’t anyone’s fault.
The patient nearly extubated himself and caused an evisceration… and caused an evisceration.
It is a horrible complication…
But it can be fixed.
What is the first step? What is the first step?
Chee, he dehisced.
I need you to hold down the patient so he doesn’t extubate himself.
Paralyze him with cis and push more Versed.
And then, I need you to get on the intercom.
And say what?
Tell them to depressurize the chamber and call for an OR now.
No… No attending?
We are stuck in this chamber until it depressurizes, so we are on our own, but we do not panic.
Now, we need to put him under, so push more meds.
[Both panting]
Now!
[Monitor beeping rapidly]
Okay. [Sighs]
[Monitor beeping, respirator hissing]
There it is.
We’re ready for the needle.
[Knocking on window]
He’s stable.
Go. Do your call.
We’ll page you if he goes into V-fib.
Are you sure? Maggie, go.
♪♪
Winston?
Hey. Oh, my God.
Are you okay? Where are you?
I’m… I’m… I’m fine.
I… They le… They let me go.
Why did it take them so long to let you go?
Um, because they… they had me get out of the car and take my mask off.
And, uh… [Clears throat]
And then, uh, they had me do a DUI test.
And then, they checked the trunk.
And then, they checked the car.
You know, and then I had to unpack all my stuff, and, uh, the police dog sniffed it over. What?
And then the dog sniffed me, and they let me go.
So, I’m g… I’m good. Tha… That’s what took so long.
W-W-W-Why did the… I mean, I…
Were you, like, swerving on the road?
No, no, no. Uh, my… my bike rack was obscuring my license plate, and…
And then, they saw me.
So, it just turned into one of those things, I guess.
They can’t do that. They…
Maggie, I’m a little bit shaken up right now.
I don’t know if I’m good to drive yet.
I don’t know if I’m… I don’t think I’m…
[Vehicle door slams]
♪ Starting to see me in a new light ♪
Uh, Maggie, I’m not good.
[Whispering] Okay.
[Exhales sharply]
I’m… I’m not okay yet, you know?
[Sighs]
Uh…
[Breathes deeply]
[Laughs] I just gotta breathe a little bit, you know?
Okay, okay. Okay, listen, you’re okay.
You are okay, and I am here with you as long as you need.
Alright. Okay? Breathe, baby.
Breathe. You are okay.
♪ And I feel like I’ve forgotten who I am ♪
[Breathing deeply]
♪ The me before you and I began ♪
♪ Starting to see me in a new light ♪
I need saline.
His bowels are drying out.
That’s why I asked for saline.
♪ Watch all the shadows fall behind me ♪
♪ Till I’m out of sight ♪
Pour it!
And what are Dr. Grey’s vitals?
What’s wrong with Dr. Grey?
Nothing, but your patient isn’t the only one in here, and I don’t want two emergencies.
So, could you please read her vitals?
♪ Whoa-oh ♪
BP… 120 over 75.
O2 sats are 95%. Good.
Stay that way.
I think I got it all in.
Meredith: Don’t put too much pressure. Don’t put too much pressure.
I need to avoid bowel ischemia and abdominal compartment syndrome.
♪ Starting to see me ♪
Nice work, Schmitt. Nice work, Schmitt.
♪ In a new light ♪
Jackson: [Clicks tongue] Well, our surgery was successful.
I was able to remove the canister to get your wound cleaned out quite nicely.
No vascular damage.
We’ll want to go back in in a few days just to get everything nice and closed up.
Yeah, a centimeter in the other direction and it could have been much worse.
Could have been better.
Could have been you.
[Laughs]
Eventually, you’re gonna, uh, need some physical therapy just to help get your full range of motion back.
[Knock on door]
Sorry to interrupt. Just wanted to check how the toughest patient in the hospital is doing.
Richard: Well, you found her.
Takes a gas canister at full velocity and still cracking jokes in the ER.
Mm-hmm.
Never seen the like of it.
How you feeling?
Never better.
Well, we did our best.
You might have a little bit of scarring.
Oh, I’m not worried about a scar.
Just go with the rest of them.
Ferguson…
I tore my ACL running from a t*nk.
Standing Rock, well, frostbite.
And these are just the two most recent ones.
[Breathes deeply]
I think I got that beat.
WTO protests, 1999.
They fired tear gas into the crowd, a few of us ducked into a building, but they pushed the door closed before I could get inside.
I shattered my clavicle and tore off some skin.
Hmm. When was your first?
Oh, first march?
Free South Africa. 1988.
Mm.
I got started a little late.
Yourself?
1963.
’63, as in…?
The March on Washington.
My mother took me. I was 11.
You… Dr. King’s “I have a dream” speech?
You were there? In person?
I was.
It was August, and hot. [Chuckles]
To be honest, I remember Mom taking me to cool my feet in the Reflecting Pool more than anything.
But I do remember him on that stage…
The sound of his voice sweeping over us.
The power of it. The holiness.
It felt like… possibility.
Like, if, this can happen, anything can happen.
Possibility like that was rare.
And it’s worth a few scars.
♪♪
Bailey: He thinks COVID is a scam to trick people into thinking they need treatment, and then we make them sicker by not treating them for the things they do have.
I’m sorry. I mean, who is getting this money?
You. Me. All of us.
And who does he think is paying us?
[Laughing] The government.
[Both laugh]
Oh, and we gettin’ rich.
I mean, every patient that we admit… ka-ching.
I mean, why not money?
I mean, look at how much coronavirus has given us…
I mean, a full-on nervous breakdown.
A dead mother.
[Chuckles]
Constant OCD flare-ups.
Losing seven patients in one day.
Coming home at the end of the day and seeing the heartbreak on my dad’s eyes.
Whoo!
[Sniffles] [Sighs]
[Cellphone chimes]
♪♪
Oh, no.
No.
No, no, no, no.
♪♪
What on earth?! Who discharged him?!
He signed AMA.
Said he was done and just walked out.
He didn’t get very far.
No pulse.
Hurry up with that crash cart!
♪ Been around the world ♪
We offered him treatment, could have saved him.
[Sniffles]
Instead, he walked away.
[Sighs]
♪ Is all I ever see ♪
Most people never feel what it’s like to be really great at something, Altman, but we do, right?
I do. I can put broken people together with needles and string.
But… I can’t fix this.
♪ It’s getting hard to believe ♪
I mean, how do I treat someone who is offered help and chooses to walk away?
I want to hope, Altman.
I want to… mnh… Believe that, you know, just… just a little longer, and… and… and we’ll be over this brutal hill.
But…
♪ To love now, to love now ♪
[Trash can lid thumps]
♪ To love now ♪
I just… I just don’t know.
♪ To love now ♪
♪ To love now ♪
♪ What would it take for us to love now? ♪
[Sighs]
♪ All we got is each other ♪
Hey. 30 minutes without another episode of V-fib.
The radiofrequency ablation worked.
♪ What would it take for us to love now? ♪
Any more word from Winston?
He’s back on the road.
He’ll be here in an hour or two.
I’m glad to hear that.
[Cellphone vibrating]
♪ It isn’t too late ♪
♪ I know we know how ♪
♪ What would it take for us to love now? ♪
[Cellphone chimes]
[Cellphone vibrating]Whoa, 17 missed calls from “Mom.”
I wonder if she even knows he’s here.
[Scoffs] Are you up for that, or do you need me to…? I got it.
Okay.
♪ To love now, to love now ♪
[Vibrating stops]
Hello?
Okay, okay, okay.
Your son is okay.
This is Dr. Maggie Pierce.
I was one of his doctors today.
Oh, hey.
Richard tells me your new patient Nell is quite the storyteller.
I’m thinking about going down there to meet her before she gets discharged.
Why don’t we have scars, Mom? Come again?
My whole life, whenever I see people marching in the streets, I hear your voice telling me that just going to work is heroic enough, that we need to fix things from the inside.
Succeed first, then give. Like, that’s what…
That’s what you taught me, right?
And… And here I am.
I’m… I’m successful, I’ve given, and nothing seems to change.
I know what it’s like to get discouraged, Jackson.
No, I don’t… I don’t need a pep talk.
That’s not what this is.
I… [Sighs]
If our foundation is so good at fighting the good fight, then why isn’t anything getting better?
And don’t take that the wrong way, alright?
I’m just saying, maybe both of us have got this wrong.
I mean, look at what is happening in the streets right now.
Why aren’t we there?
Why the hell don’t we have scars?
Let’s just drop the “we” business of this right now, okay?
You may not have scars, Jackson, but I have decades’ worth.
And if you think nothing has changed, why don’t you just ask yourself how many Webbers, Baileys, or Pierces you would have seen walking through these halls 40 years ago… 20 years ago.
You have no idea the battles that I have fought and won for that.
And if you don’t see any scars, it’s because I’m damn good at this job.
Of course you are. I’m not… criticizing you.
You’re incredible. But I’m saying, aren’t you also annoyed with all this red tape?
Having to convince some trustees when you have a brilliant idea?
Like, what about our ideas?
What about doing something about the Black maternal mortality rate instead of talking about it?
What about building our database for the obvious racial bias in medical training?
What about building our… Our medical school that we talked about?
So many things we could be doing.
One battle at a time, Jackson.
That’s how the world works.
Nah.
It shouldn’t be that way… Not anymore, alright?
I don’t want to play a role in a system that’s just broken.
You sound like your father.
Oh, that’d be the worst thing in the world?
Mom… [Sighs]
It’s been a long day.
I didn’t mean… You’ve already said it, Jackson.
Don’t try to lie about it now.
[Breathes sharply]
[Pen scraping lightly]
[Papers shuffling]
♪♪
[Emawk’s “Treading Water” plays]
♪♪
[Children laughing]
Liam: Nah!
♪ Hold on, I’ll be right behind ya ♪
Hup, hup!
Austin: Hey, Dad, wanna get in here?
Liam keeps kicking the ball over the fence.
Because our yard’s too small.
Come over here for a second, boys, will ya?
♪ Closer than before, but still not there ♪
I was wrong.
Not to try and protect you…
I’m your Dad. That’s part of the bargain.
But I was wrong to tell you to stay home.
This is your country, boys, and now is a moment.
So, you’ll fight, you’ll protest if you want to, but only during daylight and only when I’m with you.
Sound fair?
♪ When you get to the place you’re going ♪
I heard about the one downtown tomorrow…
If that’s not too soon.
Why would it be too soon?
Um, your head?
Oh, yeah. Forgot about that.
I think it’s an improvement.
Oh, do you, now?
Wha… Hey!
[Laughter]
♪♪
♪ Let the water set me free ♪
Oh, hey. You need a ride home? Um.
Uh, thanks. I’ll walk.
No, let me drive you.
There’s a curfew. It’s just not safe.
That’s alright. I’ll walk.
[Siren wailing in distance]
[Horn honks in distance]Jackson, you can march tomorrow.
Today’s practically over.
[Honking, wailing continue in distance]
Yeah, well, it sounds like they’re still marching somewhere.
I’ll walk. [Sighs]
Richard: I remember that day I first put on my white coat, even though it was long ago.
I took the oath alongside my classmates, and I meant it with every cell in my body.
I heard you eviscerated a patient today.
What?! No!
No, I helped put the bowels back inside.
Oh, my God, what is Chee telling people?!
He’s telling people you were a badass and you saved the man’s life.
[Laughing] I’m sorry. I couldn’t help myself.
[Sighs]
How’s Meredith?
Stable.
Her ABG looks even better.
♪ The sound of a morning ♪
[Breathes sharply]
When the wound split, I… froze.
But then, I kept hearing this voice inside my head asking, “What would Meredith Grey do?”
[Chuckles]
♪ While I’m treading water ♪
I know. That’s stupid. No!
No, I’ve… I’ve heard that voice before, too.
♪ Let the water set me free ♪
And my advice… Keep listening to it.
♪ Let the water set me free ♪
♪ As I tread this water ♪
Wow.
You’re really going through with OB-GYN, huh?
Mm-hmm. I listened to the voice.
♪ Let the water set me free ♪
Hey, if you’re starting your residency all over again, does that mean I’m your boss now? No.
Well, technically, I’ll outrank you.
Okay, do you want a ride home or not?
♪ Tell me that I haven’t reached the end ♪
[Chuckles]
But this world has challenged that oath so many times, I barely remember what it said anymore.
♪ Tell me that I have the strength to go on ♪
♪ And any time that I think about going back ♪
♪ Going back ♪
♪ Let the wind and the waves push me home ♪
I was only thinking one thing…
“Do whatever it takes to get back to Maggie.”
[Sighs] “Survive and get home.”
[Voice breaking] I love you so much.
♪♪
[Vocalizing]
♪♪
So now, every day, I take a new oath…
♪ Let the water set me free ♪
I pledge to help build a world worth living in.
♪ Let the water set me free ♪
And never stop believing that world can exist.
♪ Let the water set me free ♪
♪ Let the water ♪
Let the water set me free
[Engine starts]
♪ Let the water set me free ♪
♪ Free
♪ Free
♪ Free ♪
Free, yeah, yeah, yeah
Female voice: Calculating route.
Estimated trip… 11 hours.
[Seat belt clicks]
♪ Let the water set me free
♪ The water ♪
Let the water set me free
Richard: Not today.
So far from today.
But someday.
♪ Let the water set me free
♪♪
♪ I woke up to the morning sky first ♪
[Richard] At the start of medical school, you and your classmates stand together, wearing your lab coats for the first time, and you take an oath.
♪ When I get up off this ground ♪
♪ I shake leaves back down to the brown, brown, brown ♪
[Horns honking]
[Indistinct shouting]
♪ Till I’m clean
[Crowd] [Chanting] No justice! No peace!
[Horn honks]
No justice! No peace!
No justice! No peace!
Equality right now!
Equality right now! Stand up!
♪ My sisters and my brothers, see them like no other ♪
♪ All my favorite colors ♪
♪♪
♪ It’s a good day to be, a good day for me ♪
The oath has many versions, but each boils down to this…
The practice of medicine should be humane and kind.
♪ My sisters and my brothers, they see them like no other ♪
♪ All my favorite colors ♪
[Cellphone chimes]
It turns out there’s a catch they don’t tell you about…
Medicine mimics the world it lives in.
[Cellphone chimes]
[Sighs]
[Door opens]
Hey. Brought coffee.
You see Richard’s e-mail?
I can’t look at my phone without 50 news alerts popping up.
It’s like it’s cursed.
He told the staff to take time if they need it.
To rest, protest.
Worry about whether their fiancé’s gonna make it across country in one piece?
Anything.
He understands.
♪♪
[Cellphone chimes]
[Groans]
[Sighs] If I keep staring at this wall, I’m just gonna burn a hole into it.
♪ Ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh ♪
I should go.
And in this world, humanity and kindness are often in short supply.
♪ Ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh-ooh ♪
I canceled the few elective surgeries we had scheduled, told the blood bank to be on high alert, and put five vents on standby for incoming traumas.
We’ll have the tent outside for walk-ups. Mm-hmm.
Mnh. You think that’ll be enough for us?
I think it’ll have to be.
[Sighs]
We’ve just barely got our bearings in this pandemic…
Now this.
Well, revolutions don’t schedule appointments.
[Sighs] Mnh!
[Sighs]
You good?
I… I just want to be doing something I know how to do.
Well, you’ve done everything you could to prepare.
Now, look, I’ll come back if you need me.
It may take me some time to get here, but I-I’ll make it.
Wait, back… back from where?
I’m protesting, Bailey.
Something important is happening out there, and I’m not gonna miss it…
These moments save lives, too.
You go give ’em hell.
♪♪
I’m so grateful that you came in today.
Not that I would ask a Black man not to march.
No, but you can text me eight times, asking if I’m coming in, though. [Chuckles]
Mnh-mnh!
That was my phone that did that.
Oh, okay. It’s new.
Uh-huh. [Chuckles]
No, I almost called in a sub, honestly, but we’re barely hanging on with COVID, so I figured they’ll need me.
Speaking of which, did you read my proposal for setting up the free COVID testing and treatment site for low-income patients?
I mean, Ortiz’s connections…
I think we can make a real impact.
You know we’re barely keeping the lights on as it is, baby.
But I will revisit it when the revenues improve.
You want us to wait till COVID’s over
before we can open a COVID site, Mom?
Come on. Okay? Dr. Ortiz and I put a lot of really good time and effort into this.
She’s got great ideas.
Just let me get through this week, okay?
I’m late for my meeting. Ah.
Love you. This week.
Avery. You got a second?
Hey, everything okay?
I’ve been better, mate. [Breathes sharply]
♪♪
I don’t have much time.
It’s all hands on deck here.
Probably won’t even have a chance to shower before I see you tonight, but I just wanted to see your face.
Well [sighs] this is it.
My exhausted, driving-for-three-days face.
I feel like we chose the worst time ever for you to make this drive.
Nah. The sooner I’m with you, the better.
Well, what’d you think of the apartment listing I sent you?
I haven’t even looked at it yet.
Maggie. [Chuckles]
It’s just… I have not been able to focus on anything besides work and the news and you driving.
I get it, baby. I get it.
But as far as I can tell, Seattle real estate is the Hunger Games with kitchens.
[Chuckles] So if I want this place, I’m gonna need to make an offer soon.
Okay, I’ll look at it. I promise.
Alright.
Next time we talk, it’ll be in person.
Be careful. Please.
Extra careful. Always.
I love you.
Love you.
[Tablet chimes]
[Monitor beeping]
She’s still sleeping most of the time.
She’s very weak.
But stable.
Have Schmitt do her hyperbaric treatment today.
Do we think that Schmitt’s qualified?
He’ll be fine. I’ll put the fear of God in him.
That almost sounds fun.
Woman over P.A.: Dr. Scott…
Let’s order an X-ray. Yeah.
They’re in the south parking lot right now.
Thanks a million, Irene. I’ll be back when I can.
Alright, hold still. Hold still.
Cops did this?
Neo-Nazis did this.
“Counter-protesters,” I think they’re called.
Came at my boy with a billy club.
I jumped in between them just in time.
Well, he got you good. Must’ve been scary.
I wanted to drop a b*mb on the whole lot of them.
If I had one, I would have.
Oh, man, this rage I’m feeling?
That’s… That’s why we need stricter g*n laws.
Alright. Well, I can get you some Valium for the shaking.
[Sighs] No, I’m good.
ER’s filling up. I just… I just want to get back to work.
Am I okay, Avery?
Almost.
Next time, make sure you guys hang in the back of the crowd, yeah?
[Laughs] Next time?
When they’re 18, they can protest all they want.
Right now, they’re going straight home.
Jackson, I need you out here!
♪♪
Her name is Nell. That’s all I got.
She was hit with a tear gas canister.
Shot! Not hit… shot! At close range!
Oh, shrapnel went everywhere.
E-Easy. Oh.
Easy.
Keep it stable.
Trauma one’s open. Let’s move.
Okay.
Ready? Yeah.
Let’s go. Let’s go.
♪♪
[Siren wailing]
Uh, good circulation in the upper extremities.
Nell, does your hand feel numb or tingly?
Excruciating pain isn’t enough?
No acute fractures.
Canister doesn’t seem too deeply embedded.
Someone give me their hand.
Why?
I need to squeeze the hell out of it.
This thing hurts.
Two of morphine, Reuben. Reuben: Mm-hmm.
Non-expanding hematoma, but I cannot rule out a neurovascular injury here.
So I think we need a CT angio right away.
Let’s prep to move.
Okay, I’m gonna come with you. Wait, wait, wait, wait!
Y-You’re not taking this thing out of me first?
We want to make sure it didn’t hit any major blood vessels in your neck.
Then we’re gonna remove it in the operating room.
We’re gonna move as fast as we can, alright?
Alright. You ready for us to move you?
♪ Hey, hey, ho, ho
♪ Come on, girl, let’s go [Chuckles]
♪ Hey, hey, ho, ho ♪
Hey, hey, ho, ho
♪ Come on ♪
Come on, girl
That’s right, let’s go.
♪ Let’s go
Owen: Okay, keep this on for the next 12 hours, then apply the antibiotic ointment, okay?
Will this bandage hold?
I’m going back out.
I’ll get you some extra Coban to be safe, okay?
[Siren wailing in distance]
Hey. Hey.
Got your page.
Yeah, someone’s en route
with a rubber b*llet injury to the chest.
Should be here any minute.
Ugh, glass bricks.
You get that, Pierce? Huh? Yes, yeah.
Uh, just got a lot going on today.
Winston is driving back as we speak.
Yeah, you two aren’t wasting any time.
I’m happy for you. Thanks.
We’re just trying to work out this living situation.
[Siren wailing, vehicle approaches]Oh, you’re worried?
You’re wondering if he prefers using the bathroom with the door wide open?
Or puts ketchup on his eggs.
Who puts ketchup on their eggs?
Over 54% of Americans, actually.
[Wailing continues]
Okay, rig’s here. Let’s go.
[Wailing continues]
[Brakes squeal]
♪♪
Okay, we have Guy Houston, 22.
Took a rubber b*llet to the chest.
Defibrillated in the field for V-fib.
I think “died” is the word you’re looking for.
Welcome back. Let’s get you inside.
[Groans]
I need a chest X-ray, cardiac enzymes, and let’s get him on a monitor.
♪♪
[Sighs] We’re heading into the chamber.
Breathing oxygen feeling light as if you’re, uh, floating on a cloud.
But not… not like a cloud in heaven or anything.
Just, um, floating. Like just not dead, you know?
We’re healing and recovering.
[Door opens]
What are you doing here?
Uh, post-op surgical wound infection.
My attending ordered hyperbaric treatment to enhance healing.
Well, we’re next.
And we’re also VIP, so you can go now.
Schedule’s packed today, so they’re doubling up.
Crap, is that Meredith Grey?
Maybe. But don’t talk to her.
I’m under strict orders from the Chief to not cause Dr. Grey any stress.
Of course, no problem.
Just, uh, floating like…
[Sighs]
Are you gonna make room or not?
[Sighs]
[Door closes, air hisses]
[Siren wailing in distance]
Haven’t even finished this supply run…
You’re already coming in for more.
Yeah, well, it’s just one of those years.
Wait, can I fix that?
Because it looks like you lost a bar fight.
Thank you.
[Coughing]
Wow. Okay.
It’s not like there’s a deadly virus going around…
Spread by droplets.
Oh, sorry.
It’s [clears throat] the bloody tear gas, I swear.
How are your sons?
They’re alright.
Irene came to pick them up, despite their complaining.
They wanted to stay out?
Yeah, they want to be a part of the change, not just watch it on a screen.
But you wouldn’t let them?
After this? No way.
[Telephone rings in distance]
[Indistinct conversations]
You think that’s a mistake?
No, I, uh… I see both sides.
You know, protesting the police in front of the police is scary, and so is doing nothing.
Guess I’ve just buried too much family to see anybody else’s side but my own.
Right.
Woman over P.A.: Captain Emerson, call Radiology.
Captain Emerson, call Radiology.
[Sighs]
[Telephone rings in distance]
[Woman speaking indistinctly]
Yes.
Chad Anderson, 40s, no past medical history, according to him.
EMTs brought him.
He evidently collapsed while jogging.
I’ve given him O2, but he’s still experiencing shortness of breath, as well as foot irritation.
Look, I’m fine, okay?
As I was trying to explain to your nurse here…
Dr.Tseng.
She’s a second-year surgical resident.
Yeah, but… Pull your mask up.
Yeah.
Okay, look, I was just trying to tell her that it’s…
I… Sometimes, I get shortness of breath when I run.
It’s not a big deal.
I mean, you know, my… My inhaler’s expired, so you just, you know, you put me on a nebulizer treatment and you write me a new prescription for albuterol, and there’ll be one less guy in the room.
Mm-hmm.
Dr. Tseng, has his oxygen saturation been above 92?
Hovering around 88.
Mr. Anderson, is it possible that you’ve been exposed to COVID-19?
No. Uh, it’s… That’s a no.
Hm. Mask up.
Hospital policy.
Move him to an isolated room and give him a full workup…
Chest X-ray, lower extremity duplex, and a COVID test.
Page me with the results.
Okay, hey. Doc, look, I’ll take the workup, okay, but I don’t care what your little test says ’cause I know that it’s not real.
What’s not real?
COVID.
Do I look like a sheep, alright?
I know it’s a scam.
♪♪
Richard: How’s she doing?
Hopefully, it’s confined to just soft tissue damage.
Well, her clavicle felt intact.
[Machinery whirring]
We were marching peacefully.
You know, she was marching peacefully.
Can you imagine firing poison gas at this woman?
Still marching at her age?
What was it like out there today?
It was beautiful.
At first.
And then it was frightening and then messy, but it was still beautiful.
I mean, there were young people handing out water and masks.
It was… It was organized.
There was this… This feeling in the air.
It’s…
You have to put yourself on the line to be part of it, but good trouble lights you up, you know?
Yeah, sure.
[Computer beeping]
Oh, scans are up.
Ah. Okay.
Oh, well, no vascular involvement, thank God.
See? It tore through the trapezius muscle. Yeah.
Well, let’s book an OR and extract the canister.
Yeah.
♪♪
Don’t see any pericardial fluid.
[Monitor beeping]
That’s a good thing.
Okay, so was it a… A heart attack?
Because my dad’s had two of those.
Kind of.
It’s called commotio cordis.
Basically, the rubber b*llet must’ve hit you at the exact right moment to interrupt your heart’s normal rhythm.
The same thing happens with a heart attack.
Yeah, you were lucky that EMTs were nearby.
Everything was so chill, you know?
Then there was gas and… And screaming and people running in all directions.
We couldn’t even tell which way the cops wanted us to go.
But I swear, we didn’t do anything wrong.
Yeah, I’m sure you didn’t.
Your X-ray and your echo both look good, but I do want to admit you for observation and bloodwork just to make sure your heart’s okay.
I-I, uh… I s… I should probably call my mom.
[Cellphone vibrating]
Uh, I will be right back.
Keep him on telemetry
and do cardiac enzymes every two hours.
[Vibrating stops]
Hey. What happened to not speaking until we see each other in person?
Winston: The landlord called, and he said he wants to rent to a doctor, but he has a few offers and he needs to make a decision today.
Did you look at the listing?
I did.
I’m not a fan.
It has glass bricks. And only two windows.
And glass bricks.
Um, okay, well, I told him I’m gonna take it.
♪♪
Maggie, you know I need a better option than a hotel or a backyard tent.
It’s just for now.
You know, I just want to be in the same city.
[Siren chirps]
Hey, Maggie.
And for the record, no judgment…
Maggie… do you like glass bricks?
Maggie, I can’t… I can’t talk now.
I’m being pulled… I’m being pulled over.
[Siren chirps]
Wait, what? You’re being pulled over by the…
By the police, yes. I got to go.
No, no, no, no. Winston, don’t hang up.
Turn on your camera if you can, but do not hang up the phone.
I will stay on the line with you.
♪♪
[Monitor beeping]
[Seat clatters]
[Beeping continues]
Is she mean?
Dr. Grey?
Excuse me?
Uh, sorry. It’s just what I heard.
I also heard that she’s the best. [Sighs]
But she got sick before my first day, so I never got a chance to see it.
I intubated a COVID patient on the fly the other day.
Never could’ve done that a couple years ago.
And my Lembert sutures, which she taught me,
they’re… They’re getting better.
Every win I’ve had, any time I do something right, I hear her voice in my head.
♪♪
She’s the most influential teacher I’ve ever had.
Even when she’s asleep.
And, yes, she can be tough sometimes.
♪♪
There’s always a reason.
I really hope I get to operate with her one day.
Yeah, me too.
♪♪
[Police radio chatter]
[Whispering] Alright.
Music off, hat off, hands on the wheel.
License and registration, sir.
[Vehicles passing]
[Dog barks softly]
How you doing today, Officer?
Oh, just takin’ ‘er easy.
Can you tell me why you pulled me over?
I saw… Speed limit said it’s 45…
Set the cruise to 40.
Maggie: Winston, are you there?
I can’t hear anything.
I’m gonna need you to turn off your phone, sir.
Oh, it’s just my fiancée.
[Chuckling] She’s up in Seattle.
Your phone, sir.
She, uh, she worries about me on the long drive.
Can I leave it on?
[Echoing] Mr. Ndugu, are you failing to comply?
[Distorted police radio chatter]
Winston.
If… If… If you’re still there, just keep me on the line.
♪♪
[Dog barks]
I’m reaching for my phone.
♪♪
Maggie: Winston?
Winston?[Cellphone beeps]
Oh, no, no.
[Whimpers]
[Line ringing]
[Monitor beeping]
[Sighs]
Army Navy, please.
Pick-ups, Bokhee.
My mom mention getting an e-mail from me at all?
I sense you want me to say yes.
[Sighs] She probably hasn’t even opened it.
I don’t know why I haven’t learned.
The only ideas that get through to her are her own.
It’s hard being a problem-solver when the problems are so complex.
I could never do her job.
Yeah, well, it’d be easier if she wouldn’t ignore good advice from people trying to help her.
Wouldn’t even bother me as much if it was just me.
Alma Ortiz and I worked really hard on a lot of good ideas based on her previous experience.
Well, listen, give her time.
We’re all feeling next-level stress.
Something tells me that after a week, she’ll be a little more open.
[Scoffs] We just pulled a hunk of metal out of this woman, and you’re seriously being super positive right now?
You know, you barely missed getting hit yourself.
Yeah, it should have never happened.
I’m just thankful that the damage isn’t worse.
What got me… Well, you saw her.
She wasn’t fazed.
She was… She was energized. You know what I mean?
There’s power in gathering like that, I mean, where the truth brings so many people together.
I mean…
Well, you know.
[Respirator hissing]
Actually, no, I don’t.
Honestly, I’ve never been to a real protest.
I mean, I’ve protested plenty of things… I’ve boycotted businesses, signed petitions.
[Sighs] Done surgeries for free, given talks.
It seems like every time folks took to the streets, I always had a reason not to.
I had to work, I had to study.
I could always see how useful money was to the cause, you know, so I guess I always felt that writing a check was a worthwhile substitute.
And, hell, maybe it is.
In this country, at least.
You think that’s a cop-out?
I try not to judge the way that anyone handles the traumas that come with living here.
And that includes you.
And your mother.
Clamp.
[Beeping continues]
[Line ringing]
Winston: Hi, you’ve reached Dr. Winston Ndugu.
[Breathing heavily][Monitor beeping rapidly]
Dr. Pierce! Just… Just… Come on.
Dr. Pierce![Line ringing]
He’s in V-fib again![Ringing stops]
Owen: Let’s push a 6-milligram bolus of adenosine.
Oh, Ortiz! I need you to keep calling this number.
It’s my fiancé, Winston. Owen: He’s still in V-tach.
If he picks up, you tell me.
If he doesn’t, just keep calling.
Just do not stop.
Everything okay? He got pulled over.
I want the officer to know that someone is checking in on him.
Mm.
Let’s charge to 200!
[Beeping continues]
Mask up, Mr. Anderson.
Mm. Sorry, I forgot.[Door closes]
The whole “coro-no-virus.”
Sir [Chuckles]
I need you to listen to me.
Your COVID test came back positive.
Additionally, you have ground glass opacities in your lungs.
That’s why you’re having trouble breathing.
And your toes aren’t red because you run without socks.
Y-You have what’s being referred to as “COVID-toe.”
“COVID-toe”?
Yes. Really?
That’s the best you got? [Laughing] COVID-toe?
Are you guys even trying? [Chuckles]
This ultrasound of your leg reveals a clot that we need to treat immediately, so…
Okay, well, whose leg is that?
I’m sorry?
Well, see, I’m a… I’m a runner.
We don’t get blood clots. But it’s a…
That’s a… That’s a nice try, though.
Mr. Anderson, please.
Okay. Look.
You know what I’ve figured out?
Huh? [Sniffles]
I figured out that this little cold that y’all are so terrified of…
Biggest moneymaker since crypto-currency.
And speaking of, h-how do you get your kickbacks?
I mean, is it like a flat fee from every patient that you diagnose, or is it like a… A percentage deal, or…?
My m…
[Stammering]
Um, I…
Be back in a moment. I need to answer a page.
Yeah, yeah. Take your time.
[Door opens]
♪♪
[Sniffles]
♪♪
What?! What?!
Okay.
Breathe. Breathe. Breathe.
W-What?!
Stop.
♪♪
[Wheezing softly]
[Door opens]
Okay, let’s try this.
Your blood oxygen is dangerously low.
Your lungs are getting worse.
And if untreated, the clot in your leg could travel to your lungs and k*ll you.
We’re seeing cases like yours all of the ti… [Chuckles]
Sir, this is not just a cold.
It’s not asthma.
This won’t magically go away.
Sir, please, let us admit you so that we can start you on steroids
[Scoffs]
and… and put you on blood thinners.
Look, because even if you are a little bit wrong, it could be fatal.
[Clicks tongue, sniffs]
You know, I’m still waiting on that albuterol prescription, Doc.
[Wheezing]
♪♪
Thank you.
[Clears throat]
[Monitor beeping rapidly]
200 joules!
200. Stand clear.
[Thump]
[Sighs] Still V-fib. Go again.
Charge. Charge.
[Paddles whine]
Clear.
[Thump]
Okay, he’s back to normal sinus rhythm.
[Sighs] So, what are you thinking?
I think the rubber b*llet bruised his heart.
His troponin levels are elevated.
We gotta get him to the CCU.
All this from a rubber b*llet?
It wasn’t a “rubber” b*llet.
It’s a metal b*llet encased in rubber fired from a g*n at a human being.
They’re not meant to be fired close range or directly.
They can be just as dangerous. Still no answer.
[Line rings][Monitor beeping rapidly]
Owen: Damn it. Maggie: V-fib again?!
He’s unstable. He keeps going in and out of sinus.
Charge. Yep.
Charge. Clear!
[Thud]
[Monitor beeping]
Maggie: He’s in V-fib storm.
The myocardial contusion is causing a closed loop of misfiring in his heart.
It’s not gonna stop until we get him ablated.
Push 100 mg of lido, give him an amiodarone bolus, and get him up to the IR suite.
We’ll meet you up there, okay? Okay.
Still no answer.
Alright.
Page Richard Webber. Owen: Ready? Let’s move.
Tell him to meet me in the IR suite,
and tell him it’s urgent.
Intern Chee: Ever work in a warehouse?
Not that I recall.
My patient does.
Forklift injury.
They’re surprisingly common.
It’s good to know.
[Choking][Monitor beeping rapidly]
Hey, uh… uh… uh…
You might want to up his sedation.
Sedation, right. Uh…
Quick, before he…
Oh! Oh! Crap!
That’s what I was worried about.
[Panting] [Sighs]
Okay.
[Line ringing]
Come on. C…
[Line ringing]
Maggie.
What’s wrong? Okay.
Winston is on his way back here from Boston.
Mm-hmm. He is driving, he’s on the road, and we were on the phone.
We were…
And the police pulled him over, and I told him to keep me on the line.
But the police made him hang up, and now I can’t get a hold of him.
It’s been…
[Voice breaking] It’s been 20 minutes, and I don’t know where he is.
And I have a patient who could go into V-fib at any second, so I have to get in there and do an ablation.
But this is how it happens, right? Just like this?
So, I-I-I-I need somebody to go and find him now. Look.
Right now. Alright, Maggie.
Alright. Okay?
What you should do now is take care of your patient.
What if he tries to call me and I don’t pick up? No.
Or what if he doesn’t call… Yeah.
And the police just take him… take him?
[Stammering]
Look, just give me your phone.
I’ll give it some more time.
If there’s still no word, I will get into my car, and I will look for him myself.
[Sighs]
Give me your phone. Okay.
Yeah?
[Sighs] Mm-hmm.
Okay. Mm.
[Exhales sharply]
[Monitor beeping rapidly]
Oh, my God!
Oh, God, his intestines are popping out!
Okay, okay, okay. Let me think.
What do we do? What do we do?
I don’t know what to do.
Meredith: [Echoing] Schmitt. This isn’t anyone’s fault.
This isn’t anyone’s fault.
The patient nearly extubated himself and caused an evisceration… and caused an evisceration.
It is a horrible complication…
But it can be fixed.
What is the first step? What is the first step?
Chee, he dehisced.
I need you to hold down the patient so he doesn’t extubate himself.
Paralyze him with cis and push more Versed.
And then, I need you to get on the intercom.
And say what?
Tell them to depressurize the chamber and call for an OR now.
No… No attending?
We are stuck in this chamber until it depressurizes, so we are on our own, but we do not panic.
Now, we need to put him under, so push more meds.
[Both panting]
Now!
[Monitor beeping rapidly]
Okay. [Sighs]
[Monitor beeping, respirator hissing]
There it is.
We’re ready for the needle.
[Knocking on window]
He’s stable.
Go. Do your call.
We’ll page you if he goes into V-fib.
Are you sure? Maggie, go.
♪♪
Winston?
Hey. Oh, my God.
Are you okay? Where are you?
I’m… I’m… I’m fine.
I… They le… They let me go.
Why did it take them so long to let you go?
Um, because they… they had me get out of the car and take my mask off.
And, uh… [Clears throat]
And then, uh, they had me do a DUI test.
And then, they checked the trunk.
And then, they checked the car.
You know, and then I had to unpack all my stuff, and, uh, the police dog sniffed it over. What?
And then the dog sniffed me, and they let me go.
So, I’m g… I’m good. Tha… That’s what took so long.
W-W-W-Why did the… I mean, I…
Were you, like, swerving on the road?
No, no, no. Uh, my… my bike rack was obscuring my license plate, and…
And then, they saw me.
So, it just turned into one of those things, I guess.
They can’t do that. They…
Maggie, I’m a little bit shaken up right now.
I don’t know if I’m good to drive yet.
I don’t know if I’m… I don’t think I’m…
[Vehicle door slams]
♪ Starting to see me in a new light ♪
Uh, Maggie, I’m not good.
[Whispering] Okay.
[Exhales sharply]
I’m… I’m not okay yet, you know?
[Sighs]
Uh…
[Breathes deeply]
[Laughs] I just gotta breathe a little bit, you know?
Okay, okay. Okay, listen, you’re okay.
You are okay, and I am here with you as long as you need.
Alright. Okay? Breathe, baby.
Breathe. You are okay.
♪ And I feel like I’ve forgotten who I am ♪
[Breathing deeply]
♪ The me before you and I began ♪
♪ Starting to see me in a new light ♪
I need saline.
His bowels are drying out.
That’s why I asked for saline.
♪ Watch all the shadows fall behind me ♪
♪ Till I’m out of sight ♪
Pour it!
And what are Dr. Grey’s vitals?
What’s wrong with Dr. Grey?
Nothing, but your patient isn’t the only one in here, and I don’t want two emergencies.
So, could you please read her vitals?
♪ Whoa-oh ♪
BP… 120 over 75.
O2 sats are 95%. Good.
Stay that way.
I think I got it all in.
Meredith: Don’t put too much pressure. Don’t put too much pressure.
I need to avoid bowel ischemia and abdominal compartment syndrome.
♪ Starting to see me ♪
Nice work, Schmitt. Nice work, Schmitt.
♪ In a new light ♪
Jackson: [Clicks tongue] Well, our surgery was successful.
I was able to remove the canister to get your wound cleaned out quite nicely.
No vascular damage.
We’ll want to go back in in a few days just to get everything nice and closed up.
Yeah, a centimeter in the other direction and it could have been much worse.
Could have been better.
Could have been you.
[Laughs]
Eventually, you’re gonna, uh, need some physical therapy just to help get your full range of motion back.
[Knock on door]
Sorry to interrupt. Just wanted to check how the toughest patient in the hospital is doing.
Richard: Well, you found her.
Takes a gas canister at full velocity and still cracking jokes in the ER.
Mm-hmm.
Never seen the like of it.
How you feeling?
Never better.
Well, we did our best.
You might have a little bit of scarring.
Oh, I’m not worried about a scar.
Just go with the rest of them.
Ferguson…
I tore my ACL running from a t*nk.
Standing Rock, well, frostbite.
And these are just the two most recent ones.
[Breathes deeply]
I think I got that beat.
WTO protests, 1999.
They fired tear gas into the crowd, a few of us ducked into a building, but they pushed the door closed before I could get inside.
I shattered my clavicle and tore off some skin.
Hmm. When was your first?
Oh, first march?
Free South Africa. 1988.
Mm.
I got started a little late.
Yourself?
1963.
’63, as in…?
The March on Washington.
My mother took me. I was 11.
You… Dr. King’s “I have a dream” speech?
You were there? In person?
I was.
It was August, and hot. [Chuckles]
To be honest, I remember Mom taking me to cool my feet in the Reflecting Pool more than anything.
But I do remember him on that stage…
The sound of his voice sweeping over us.
The power of it. The holiness.
It felt like… possibility.
Like, if, this can happen, anything can happen.
Possibility like that was rare.
And it’s worth a few scars.
♪♪
Bailey: He thinks COVID is a scam to trick people into thinking they need treatment, and then we make them sicker by not treating them for the things they do have.
I’m sorry. I mean, who is getting this money?
You. Me. All of us.
And who does he think is paying us?
[Laughing] The government.
[Both laugh]
Oh, and we gettin’ rich.
I mean, every patient that we admit… ka-ching.
I mean, why not money?
I mean, look at how much coronavirus has given us…
I mean, a full-on nervous breakdown.
A dead mother.
[Chuckles]
Constant OCD flare-ups.
Losing seven patients in one day.
Coming home at the end of the day and seeing the heartbreak on my dad’s eyes.
Whoo!
[Sniffles] [Sighs]
[Cellphone chimes]
♪♪
Oh, no.
No.
No, no, no, no.
♪♪
What on earth?! Who discharged him?!
He signed AMA.
Said he was done and just walked out.
He didn’t get very far.
No pulse.
Hurry up with that crash cart!
♪ Been around the world ♪
We offered him treatment, could have saved him.
[Sniffles]
Instead, he walked away.
[Sighs]
♪ Is all I ever see ♪
Most people never feel what it’s like to be really great at something, Altman, but we do, right?
I do. I can put broken people together with needles and string.
But… I can’t fix this.
♪ It’s getting hard to believe ♪
I mean, how do I treat someone who is offered help and chooses to walk away?
I want to hope, Altman.
I want to… mnh… Believe that, you know, just… just a little longer, and… and… and we’ll be over this brutal hill.
But…
♪ To love now, to love now ♪
[Trash can lid thumps]
♪ To love now ♪
I just… I just don’t know.
♪ To love now ♪
♪ To love now ♪
♪ What would it take for us to love now? ♪
[Sighs]
♪ All we got is each other ♪
Hey. 30 minutes without another episode of V-fib.
The radiofrequency ablation worked.
♪ What would it take for us to love now? ♪
Any more word from Winston?
He’s back on the road.
He’ll be here in an hour or two.
I’m glad to hear that.
[Cellphone vibrating]
♪ It isn’t too late ♪
♪ I know we know how ♪
♪ What would it take for us to love now? ♪
[Cellphone chimes]
[Cellphone vibrating]Whoa, 17 missed calls from “Mom.”
I wonder if she even knows he’s here.
[Scoffs] Are you up for that, or do you need me to…? I got it.
Okay.
♪ To love now, to love now ♪
[Vibrating stops]
Hello?
Okay, okay, okay.
Your son is okay.
This is Dr. Maggie Pierce.
I was one of his doctors today.
Oh, hey.
Richard tells me your new patient Nell is quite the storyteller.
I’m thinking about going down there to meet her before she gets discharged.
Why don’t we have scars, Mom? Come again?
My whole life, whenever I see people marching in the streets, I hear your voice telling me that just going to work is heroic enough, that we need to fix things from the inside.
Succeed first, then give. Like, that’s what…
That’s what you taught me, right?
And… And here I am.
I’m… I’m successful, I’ve given, and nothing seems to change.
I know what it’s like to get discouraged, Jackson.
No, I don’t… I don’t need a pep talk.
That’s not what this is.
I… [Sighs]
If our foundation is so good at fighting the good fight, then why isn’t anything getting better?
And don’t take that the wrong way, alright?
I’m just saying, maybe both of us have got this wrong.
I mean, look at what is happening in the streets right now.
Why aren’t we there?
Why the hell don’t we have scars?
Let’s just drop the “we” business of this right now, okay?
You may not have scars, Jackson, but I have decades’ worth.
And if you think nothing has changed, why don’t you just ask yourself how many Webbers, Baileys, or Pierces you would have seen walking through these halls 40 years ago… 20 years ago.
You have no idea the battles that I have fought and won for that.
And if you don’t see any scars, it’s because I’m damn good at this job.
Of course you are. I’m not… criticizing you.
You’re incredible. But I’m saying, aren’t you also annoyed with all this red tape?
Having to convince some trustees when you have a brilliant idea?
Like, what about our ideas?
What about doing something about the Black maternal mortality rate instead of talking about it?
What about building our database for the obvious racial bias in medical training?
What about building our… Our medical school that we talked about?
So many things we could be doing.
One battle at a time, Jackson.
That’s how the world works.
Nah.
It shouldn’t be that way… Not anymore, alright?
I don’t want to play a role in a system that’s just broken.
You sound like your father.
Oh, that’d be the worst thing in the world?
Mom… [Sighs]
It’s been a long day.
I didn’t mean… You’ve already said it, Jackson.
Don’t try to lie about it now.
[Breathes sharply]
[Pen scraping lightly]
[Papers shuffling]
♪♪
[Emawk’s “Treading Water” plays]
♪♪
[Children laughing]
Liam: Nah!
♪ Hold on, I’ll be right behind ya ♪
Hup, hup!
Austin: Hey, Dad, wanna get in here?
Liam keeps kicking the ball over the fence.
Because our yard’s too small.
Come over here for a second, boys, will ya?
♪ Closer than before, but still not there ♪
I was wrong.
Not to try and protect you…
I’m your Dad. That’s part of the bargain.
But I was wrong to tell you to stay home.
This is your country, boys, and now is a moment.
So, you’ll fight, you’ll protest if you want to, but only during daylight and only when I’m with you.
Sound fair?
♪ When you get to the place you’re going ♪
I heard about the one downtown tomorrow…
If that’s not too soon.
Why would it be too soon?
Um, your head?
Oh, yeah. Forgot about that.
I think it’s an improvement.
Oh, do you, now?
Wha… Hey!
[Laughter]
♪♪
♪ Let the water set me free ♪
Oh, hey. You need a ride home? Um.
Uh, thanks. I’ll walk.
No, let me drive you.
There’s a curfew. It’s just not safe.
That’s alright. I’ll walk.
[Siren wailing in distance]
[Horn honks in distance]Jackson, you can march tomorrow.
Today’s practically over.
[Honking, wailing continue in distance]
Yeah, well, it sounds like they’re still marching somewhere.
I’ll walk. [Sighs]
Richard: I remember that day I first put on my white coat, even though it was long ago.
I took the oath alongside my classmates, and I meant it with every cell in my body.
I heard you eviscerated a patient today.
What?! No!
No, I helped put the bowels back inside.
Oh, my God, what is Chee telling people?!
He’s telling people you were a badass and you saved the man’s life.
[Laughing] I’m sorry. I couldn’t help myself.
[Sighs]
How’s Meredith?
Stable.
Her ABG looks even better.
♪ The sound of a morning ♪
[Breathes sharply]
When the wound split, I… froze.
But then, I kept hearing this voice inside my head asking, “What would Meredith Grey do?”
[Chuckles]
♪ While I’m treading water ♪
I know. That’s stupid. No!
No, I’ve… I’ve heard that voice before, too.
♪ Let the water set me free ♪
And my advice… Keep listening to it.
♪ Let the water set me free ♪
♪ As I tread this water ♪
Wow.
You’re really going through with OB-GYN, huh?
Mm-hmm. I listened to the voice.
♪ Let the water set me free ♪
Hey, if you’re starting your residency all over again, does that mean I’m your boss now? No.
Well, technically, I’ll outrank you.
Okay, do you want a ride home or not?
♪ Tell me that I haven’t reached the end ♪
[Chuckles]
But this world has challenged that oath so many times, I barely remember what it said anymore.
♪ Tell me that I have the strength to go on ♪
♪ And any time that I think about going back ♪
♪ Going back ♪
♪ Let the wind and the waves push me home ♪
I was only thinking one thing…
“Do whatever it takes to get back to Maggie.”
[Sighs] “Survive and get home.”
[Voice breaking] I love you so much.
♪♪
[Vocalizing]
♪♪
So now, every day, I take a new oath…
♪ Let the water set me free ♪
I pledge to help build a world worth living in.
♪ Let the water set me free ♪
And never stop believing that world can exist.
♪ Let the water set me free ♪
♪ Let the water ♪
Let the water set me free
[Engine starts]
♪ Let the water set me free ♪
♪ Free
♪ Free
♪ Free ♪
Free, yeah, yeah, yeah
Female voice: Calculating route.
Estimated trip… 11 hours.
[Seat belt clicks]
♪ Let the water set me free
♪ The water ♪
Let the water set me free
Richard: Not today.
So far from today.
But someday.
♪ Let the water set me free
♪♪