Grey's Anatomy (2005–…): Season 14, Episode 12 - Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger - full transcript

April is in charge of the new surgical innovation contest; the doctors are eager to start their projects; Catherine's old friend has a shocking idea for Catherine and Jackson; Meredith treats a returning patient who inspires her project.

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We've all heard the quote...

"Genius is 1% inspiration..."

"...and 99% perspiration."

Easy for Thomas Edison to say.

He had all the good ideas.

Great.

- Get up!
- Mother!

- You have to go.
- I know.

I know. No daylight hangs.

And if you know, why did you
fall asleep again?

Uh, because sometimes
humans need to sleep.



Choices, Vik.

Sex or sleep. You can't have it all.

Go. Go.

- I'll see you tonight then?
- No.

I have Harriet tonight.

Hey, weren't you supposed to post
the contest rules this morning?

God is asleep at the wheel, and
humanity is locked in the trunk.

They can wait for their damn rules.

All right, so, is this maybe
online or something?

No, she should be here
with the rules right now.

Kepner's MIA?

Yeah, and Bailey's still out on vacation.

"Bailey" and "vacation"
sounds weird together.

I just wish there were dates,
you know, deadlines, bylaws.



- Guidelines are nice.
- I've got five viability studies going.

I need to know if I should start
making panic-based decisions.

- Five? I don't even have one.
- You don't?

- What's yours?
- Shut up.

I mean, do you guys want
to know what you're gonna lose to,

or you want to be surprised?

Aerosolized stem cells that
provide rapid tissue coverage

and epidermal regeneration
without any grafting.

Spray-on skin?

That's spray-on skin,
ladies and gentlemen.

Finally.

Thank you.

- We have to write a paper?
- In three days?

- MLA or APA style?
- How many people get in?

- How many people get seed money?
- How many people get big money?

Okay, it's a brief proposal.
It's not gonna kill you.

You've known about this contest
for weeks.

You've had plenty of time.
25 proposals will be chosen

to receive $100,000 in seed money.

After phase two, five projects
will get a million grant,

and the eventual winner
will receive $5 million.

It's all right there in the rules.

Okay, but who's judging this thing?

- Not just you, right?
- This is a world-class hospital

and a multimillion-dollar contest.

Of course it's not just me.

I have assembled an esteemed panel

of emeritus surgeons
from Seattle hospitals,

and I expect you all
not to waste our time.

So I suggest you get to work
instead of asking me questions

which are answered
by the papers in your hands!

Ow.

Good God, I've created a monster.

♪ All the odds are ♪

♪ They're in my favor ♪

♪ Something's bound to begin ♪

♪ It's gonna happen ♪

♪ Happen sometime ♪

♪ Maybe this time ♪

♪ Maybe this time ♪

♪ I'll ♪

♪ Win ♪

- Good job, Kimmie.
- Thanks.

This is my year. I can feel it.

For four years,
I've missed out on auditions

because of stupid cancer.

And every year,
Suzie Oppenheimer gets the lead.

Girl cannot hit those high notes.

Hi, Suzie. Your diaphragm
is there for a reason.

And so are your doctors. So why don't
we let them talk a minute, huh?

Kimmie Park, 12 years old,

one-year status post resection
of a recurrent low-grade glioma.

She's here for her follow-up head CT.

Poke me, scan me, whatever.

Just tell me I can make it to auditions.

Your liver is failing
because of the cirrhosis,

and you are not eligible
for the TIPSS procedure

- as I'd previously hoped.
- Dang.

- And no transplant, right?
- Right.

Again, I'm so sorry.

Ah.

No one cries for an alcoholic
with a bum liver.

- Am I right, Richard?
- Harry, stop the pity party.

I can make sure your pain is minimal.

No pain meds.

If I'm gonna meet my maker...

I wanna be clean when I do it.

Sorry I don't have better news.

Well, I knew you wouldn't, but, you know,

Harry's a friend, and, uh,
it was worth a try.

So, I appreciate the consult.

How's your project for the
contest coming?

Would you believe me
if I told you I don't have one?

Harper Avery Winner Meredith
Grey doesn't have an idea?

Well, that makes me feel much better.

You don't have one, either?

Well, I'm a 9th-inning,
grand-slam kinda thinker.

You know, it'll... it'll come.

I just feel like
there's so much pressure.

Everyone's looking at me to see
what I'll do next, you know?

You see? You're looking at me.

- You paged?
- Oh, honey, come on in.

I want you to meet
a dear, old friend of mine.

Hey, not that old.

How you doing?

So nice to finally meet you, Jackson.

I'm Dr. Michelle Velez.

- Oh, from Cedars?
- Mm-hmm.

Of course, yes. I've read your work

on stem-cell clone engraftment.

I'm actually pulling together
a research project

kind of similar right now.
I'd love to tell you about it sometime.

Jackson, she's not here
to work on your project.

She's here to pitch us one of her own.

- Exactly.
- Okay.

Catherine, I know you've taken
part in several successful

gender-affirmation surgeries
for trans women.

- As has Jackson.
- Mm-hmm.

Which is why I need you two.

To do what exactly?

A traditional vaginoplasty...

using ileum or the sigmoid colon...

gives you the feel of a vagina,

but it's been shown to be at high risk

for prolapse and narrowing
or obstruction.

So, the goal is to find
a tissue that's smooth,

with good elasticity,
that secretes moisture

and repairs itself.

And I believe that tissue
is the peritoneum.

But the peritoneum protects
the internal organs.

Yes, but we'd only take a small portion.

And it regenerates itself.

Have you thought about
how you'd harvest it?

Laparoscopically, minimally invasive.

This technique could be life-changing,

and not just for trans women,

but women who were born
with congenital defects,

potentially cis women who have lost
their vaginal canals to cancer.

And it would allow
for an even better orgasm.

Ooh! Now you're talking my language.

Thank you, Mom. Great.

So, I heard of this contest,

and if we work together,
we can win that money.

And if the surgery works,

we could train surgeons
everywhere to do it.

In fairness, you are one of the top
plastic surgeons in the nation,

so I don't see where I fit in.

I'm the trial subject,
and I can't operate on myself.

And whatever work you do on this contest

will be done on your own time.

You will still be expected to do scut.

You will not be given any leeway

just because you're working on a paper.

- I call Meredith Grey.
- You don't call Meredith Grey.

- Meredith Grey calls you.
- Yes, but we made a rule, Mom.

- What rule?
- The rule that says

you and I don't work together
on genitalia

- because you have no filter.
- Don't be a child.

This is our work. We're surgeons.

The genitals is where
our work intersects.

Yes. That doesn't mean you and I
have to intersect

- around said genitals.
- That sounded terrible.

Which is why I made the rule.

Mom, Dr. Velez has a great pitch.

She does, all right?
And you guys should do it.

You should enter the contest
and change a bunch of lives.

But I already got my own thing going on,

and, frankly, it's
a little more cutting-edge

than what essentially amounts to
an elective cosmetic procedure.

Oh, come on.
Look, my birthday is coming up.

You could think of this vagina
as your gift to me.

Now I'm gonna go smash
my head in with a hammer

and see if I can forget
that you said that.

Jackson Avery,
you are such a disappointment!

I thought you were woke!

All set. You ready?

I know the drill.

Break a leg.

Places, everybody.

In 5, 4...

...3, 2...

1.

♪ ...for the first time ♪

♪ Maybe... ♪

A catchy song.

- Damn it.
- It's back.

And it's encroaching on Wernicke's area.

- Son of a bitch.
- Yeah.

Yeah, it is. We're gonna have to operate.

And we're gonna have to do it
while she's awake.

Um, hello?

I got to the second verse in my head,

so that's your cue to take me out now.

It's back, huh?

- So, you're still sleepwalking?
- It's not sleepwalking.

It's just failure to believe
that Paul's dead

and that I'm not dreaming.

Well, I had the same thing
when Derek died,

except you believe you're in a dream,

and I believed I was in a nightmare.

It's called cognitive dissonance.

Yeah. I have bruises on my arm
from pinching myself.

Well, you should probably
stop doing that.

Judy?

I did not think I would see you so soon.

Yeah, no offense. Me neither.

She's complaining
of the same symptoms she had.

- I would think... spleen.
- But I took it out myself

in a dark room with a human blood bag.

- Okay, Judy, where does it hurt?
- Uh, it just hurts everywhere.

The incision's clean.
There's no sign of infection.

No sign of obstruction.

Judy, I'm afraid whatever this is,

it's completely unrelated
to your splenectomy.

Great. I'm a medical mystery.

Try not to worry.
We'll get you some answers.

Let's take her up to CT, and
page me when the scans are up.

- Okay.
- Uh, Dr. Grey.

We've, uh... we've all been wondering.

What are you doing
for the research contest?

I mean, whatever it is,
I would love to...

Hellmouth, when I'm ready
to tell you, I'll tell you.

Here I am...

in your house

In your bedroom,
with all your personal...

smells.

I need you to bring me some things.

I thought you called me
to work on your project.

I'm on bed rest for reasons that
are far above your pay grade.

What you do need to know is that
what happens here stays here.

No one needs to know
what we do in this room.

Agreed?

Uh...

Good.

Now, here's what I need.

I have an awake brain surgery
on a kid tomorrow,

so I'm gonna need my beauty sleep,

which means you two don't get to sleep

because I need you to narrow down these

studies to two options by tomorrow.

Do a feasibility evaluation,
including a timeline,

and don't forget to evaluate
likely subject availability

- and do a cost projection.
- Yes, ma'am.

- On it.
- More on it than him.

- Really?
- What?

It's like your fourth bag of chips.

- You counting?
- Yeah. You're a loud eater.

- And your tongue...
- Ugh! It helps me focus.

Well, it's distracting. And...

you're the one who said we
shouldn't have sex anymore, so...

Mmm.

Fine.

♪ We were alive ♪

♪ We had sparks in our eyes,
we were young ♪

- Are you serious?
- ♪ I was yours, you were mine ♪

What?

- That song?
- Mm. It helps me focus.

You... You know that...
that song is our...

Well, stop eating chips like
you're trying to seduce them.

Stop trying to seduce me!

♪ And all I can think of ♪

- Sam.
- ♪ Is holding you again ♪

♪ The way that I used to ♪

I really appreciate you
being game for this.

Are you kidding? I love this!

I love that you're doing this
for Catherine.

You know, my dad did this for
my mom for their 20th anni...

Wow!

Wow. I thought I was past
the spontaneous-tears stage.

Oh, there's no timeline
for grief, Maggie.

- And you can talk to me, you know.
- I know.

Okay.

I think it's 'cause I'm dating.

Clive. Clive the stockbroker.

- Mm.
- He's a good guy, I think.

But my mom was my barometer, you know?

And right before she died... and
I mean right before she died...

...she told me to be more slutty.

And I just wish I could call her

and tell her how slutty I'm being.

I'd, uh...

I'd... I'd rather you not talk
about that particular detail, yeah.

You know, I felt that as I said it.

Yeah.

Okay, okay, we're gonna learn
to salsa today.

Okay.

Well, uh, my... my wife's birthday
is... is this weekend. Okay.

- And she loves to dance.
- Mm.

I'm usually pretty good
at keeping up, but this salsa...

- He struggles with salsa.
- Oh.

- I'm Maggie.
- Hi. Nice to meet you.

- Oh, sorry. Okay.
- No worries. Okay, well, look...

I'll have you salsa-ing
in no time, all right?

- Let's start with the basics.
- All right.

- All right.
- Dr. Webber, take my hand. Okay.

- Okay? The other on my waist.
- Okay.

You're going to go left, right, left,

and then right, left, right.

- All right?
- Okay. All right.

And left, right, left. Right. All right.

- Right, left, right.
- Okay, okay.

The hand goes up, and it turns me around.

- Ah.
- Okay?

Maggie. Let's try. Come on.

- Okay.
- Okay.

Hand up.

And remember... the hand shows
you where you need to go, okay?

- Oh.
- And left, right, left.

- Right, left, right.
- Okay.

The hand goes up,
and it turns her around.

Okay, but you have to turn
the other way, okay? Ahh.

- Oh. All right, here we go.
- Let's do it again.

- What'd you find?
- I'm not sure. Look.

- Wow!
- Yeah.

And here and here and here.
I mean, is that...

- Is it what I think it is?
- I guarantee it's not.

It's rarer than that.
Sometimes when a spleen is removed,

the cells mature, and they form
functioning, smaller spleens.

Um, did you forget to take out my spleen?

Your spleen is definitely gone, Judy.

So, these are a bunch of tiny...

What? Cancer?

Am I infested with cancer?

No. You're infested
with a bunch of tiny spleens.

Hey.

- Hi.
- I haven't seen you.

Have you been ill?

No, I, uh, took some time off.

- To work on the contest?
- No. I'm not doing that.

But why not?

Honestly?

I barely made it out of bed
for that consult.

Oh.

It never gets easier, losing a mom.

I can only imagine.

No matter how many times, it's...

What do you mean, "you can only imagine"?

What do you mean,
"no matter how many times"?

- You've never lost a mom?
- Have you lost more than one?

Excuse me.

So, it's a 33 Triple-C cross-polymer.

It's the only one
that adheres to hepatocytes,

and it's the key
to my clotting-factor project.

Uh, roger that. I'll run it down, Major.

You don't have to call me that
here... Lieutenant.

Oh, hey, Carina.

- How have you been?
- Um, fine.

- Um, busy.
- Mm.

- And you?
- Yeah. W...

Y-You're working on this contest, yeah?

Uh, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yeah, we're... we're...
we're working away.

Okay.

Well, that was awkward, Major.

I am aware.

The 33 Triple-C...

Cross-polymer. ETA... ASAP.

I can feel you staring at me.

You gotta be thinking something.

I was thinking maybe
you'd be more comfortable

if we moved you somewhere else.

You mean hospice?

That's the bench for players
who gave up the game.

I'm here to fight, kid.

Is there someone
we can call for you? Family?

Richard, the other guys from A.A.

That's all I got left for family.

There's no fight left to fight, huh?

If there was, I would tell you.

Can I give away my organs, then?
Can I do that?

Any good ones left?

- Sorry.
- Hell.

I'm sure you hear that
from a lot of drunks.

Trying to undo all the stupid
things they did in this life.

Do some good before they go.

Harry, first of all, it's ex-drunk,

and it's not your fault.

You have a disease, and you got
sober, so you're treating it.

Here are the beakers.

- And the stoppers?
- They all have stoppers, yes.

- And... Oh, the tubing?
- Oh, yeah, the...

I brought the tubing of various
gauges and thicknesses,

like you asked.

What is it precisely that we're...

Oh! Nice.

So, is that all you needed?

Keep your pager on.
I might need you in a while.

And, hey, take off those scrubs
before you come here next time.

What's wrong with you?

This is really cool.

Thanks. I think so.

It'll change so many lives.

That's the plan.

You're so attractive. Talented.

I meant to say "talented," but I...

confuse "attractive" and "talented"

because I find talent attractive.

Not that you aren't
already attractive, but...

Oh, my God.

Jackson. I need to speak with you.

Uh, great.

What Dr. Velez is proposing
is revolutionary.

Why wouldn't you want to be in the
forefront of something like this?

It's not that I wouldn't, all right?
I just don't have any time.

Ma, I'm making skin here.

You are years of research

and millions of dollars
away from making skin.

This surgery is real.
This surgery's right now.

And we have a willing subject.

Mom, if...

Do you know how easy it is for a man,

a cisgender man to walk into a hospital

and get the penis enlargement
of his dreams?

- I've done dozens.
- Yeah, I hear you.

I do, okay? But come on.

Vaginoplasties already exist, too.

I do a bunch of them every year.

Just because something works
doesn't mean it can't be better.

We throw billions of dollars a year

at perfecting little pills
to make erections.

If we know how to perfect this,
why shouldn't we?

Why shouldn't we help
people like Michelle

feel for the first time in their lives

like their bodies match their souls?

That's what I'm doing.

Mom, that's literally
what I do every day.

Jackson, do you have any idea

the rate of attempted suicides
in people with gender dysphoria?

41%.

41%.

This surgery won't just change lives.

It will save them.

But go on. Make your little skin.

Make your little skin.

♪ Everybody ♪

♪ Loves a winner ♪

♪ So, nobody loves me ♪

♪ Lady peaceful ♪

♪ Lady happy ♪

♪ That's what I long to be ♪

Kimmie, we're gonna
try something else now.

The singing and speech functions

work in different parts of the brain,

so we test them separately
using a cortical stimulator.

Now say lyric. Don't sing.
Can you do that?

You got it.

Okay, whenever you're ready.

- All the odds are in my favor.
- Good.

Something's bound to begin.

Okay. Repeat that line again now.

God the bogs are cranberry.

Someday fox I'll creep.

Crap.

Bag the diamonds are umbrella.

It's too close to her speech center.
Right. Her singing is fine,

but when I stimulate the edge of
the tumor, she loses her words.

She has no idea it's even happening.

- Something's bound to begin.
- I can't resect this.

- You just can't leave it.
- Maybe this time.

If I take it out, she'll lose
her ability to speak.

Maybe this time I'll win.

So, I'll be equipping the LVADs
with a magnetic interface

so that I can eliminate ports
and recharge transcutaneously.

Ferret. Jango. Everest.

That's what I just heard there.

I'm sorry.

Um, okay, so, right now,

people who need a device
to help their hearts pump

have to recharge the battery
every couple of hours

using a plug-in charger.

So, I want to design a device
that charges through the skin.

So no wires, no ports,
no external batteries.

You know how to do that?

What?

Oh, my God.

Oh, shoot!

Lab emergency?

I-I forgot I have a thing.

- I'm sorry.
- Maggie, it's okay.

You can just say,
"Clive, I don't like you.

I couldn't think of
a better excuse to leave."

What? No!

I like you. I do. I...

I just have to go.

I'm sorry.

Okay.

Thanks.

Bye.

I'm so sorry. I double-booked myself.

I never do that.
I guess I'm just overwhelmed.

- Is it this contest?
- No. I love being busy.

I'm usually pretty type-A,
but I don't know.

I'm just overwhelmed, I guess.

- All right, let's do cross body lead.
- Okay.

Ready?

Cross body lead. Here we go.

Cross body lead. Good.

Ah, ah, ah. Yes.

Ah, ah, ah.

Honey, no. No cha-cha.

- Oh.
- This is what we're gonna do.

I want you guys to practice
just the first combo

with no music and no cha-cha.

All right. Thank you.
I'm gonna take this call.

- All right. Okay.
- Okay.

It's been close to a year, hm?

- What?
- Since your mother died.

On the one-year anniversary
of my mother's death,

I was sent to the principal's
office five times in one day.

On the first anniversary
of me being sober,

I was the most tempted
I've ever been to drink.

Anniversaries are hard.

First anniversaries...

are worse.

When I was a little,

I had a stick from the tree
in the backyard

that I used to pretend was a magic wand.

And, um...

when I would feel like this,
I would go my room

and I would wave it and, for
a second, it would all go away.

When my mom got sick,
I wished I had that wand.

I still do.

We'll go after it
with radiation and chemo.

And in the meantime, she'll get sick,
go bald, and lose all her spirit.

Where does it end?

Well, unfortunately, at the rate
of the expansion of the tumor...

- We need to prepare ourselves...
- You listen to me.

That girl is a survivor.

Her parents never bothered
with her, either of 'em.

Kimmie survived that
before she could even walk.

And she didn't just survive it.
She smiled through it.

She sang through it.

And, yes, it drives me crazy some
days with the over and over again,

the notes that could shatter glass.

But that girl has a spirit
that has nothing to do with me,

and I'll be damned
if I don't fight for her

or if I'll stand by while you don't.

So, you go back to your doctor room,

and you come up with another plan.

Please and thank you.

Dr. Kepner, I got you a coffee.

Stop it. Stop that. Go away!

- Oh, hi. Sorry.
- It's fine.

So, the intern I'm sleeping with
is everywhere.

We have a no-daylight rule,
but he keeps making faces at me,

like, "I've seen you naked" faces.

And I can't do anything about it
because he has, so I'm just, like,

hiding from him by day
and then un-hiding at night.

- I'm like a sex vampire.
- These numbers are insane.

26.4 out of every 100,000.

26.4 what?

Mothers dying from having babies.

- Arizona...
- I mean, Italy's is 4.2.

So, why is our maternity mortality
rate 6 times higher than Italy's?

What's going on?

I am sorry about what happened to Karin.

I am so sorry that I can't sleep
without at least a bottle of wine.

I promise you I am punishing
myself enough without having...

This is not about you, April.
Just stop talking.

Spray-on skin.

Of course you would come up
with something cool

like spray-on skin.

Yeah.

You don't even seem
that excited about it.

No, no, no. I am. I mean, I
feel great about it, you know?

This is the kind of thing
that wins contests.

I could definitely win
a Harper Avery with this.

There's a "but" in there.

But thanks to my mother, all
I can think about is vaginas.

Yeah. I should explain that.

Um, my mom has this friend who's
this amazing plastic surgeon,

and she has this idea she presented

to laparoscopically harvest the
peritoneum for vaginoplasties.

I mean, this thing would revolutionize
gender-affirmation surgery.

But the thing is,
this surgery already exists,

which is good, but has its downfalls.

But she thinks that if we use
the peritoneum

that we're creating
the Ferrari of vaginas.

Hm.

Poor Jackson. He has two amazing ideas,

and he can't decide which one to submit.

The thing is, this is
the future of my specialty.

I mean, this is cutting edge right here.

Look, trans men and women obviously

deserve the best medical care
possible, but come on.

It's not gonna revolutionize medicine

to perfect an already successful surgery,

one that only impacts like less
than 1% of the population.

Well, 1% of the population
is still 75 million people.

What are you doing?

- Sam. Sam, stop that!
- I'm hot, Andrew.

You know I overheat when
I'm reading about neuroscience.

Oh, yeah, I remember.

Clotting factors? That sounds cool.

- It is.
- I'm working with the chief.

So I think that makes me chief intern.

What's the chief working on?

I am not at liberty to say.

Oh, that's interesting. I wonder if...

Shut up, Blood Bank.

DeLuca, Bello.

- I was hot.
- Uh, we didn't do anything.

- Change of plans.
- Stop my viability studies.

Start looking for a way to get
a tumor out of a little girl

without cutting part of her
brain away, not a single cell.

I mean, I've never
seen anything like this.

She's grown mini spleens
all over her abdomen,

her small bowel, her ovaries.

It's incredible.

- Clamp.
- Insane.

The original organ has been removed,

yet these fragments continue
to do the job of the parent.

It's too bad she didn't grow
extras of something useful,

like kidneys or livers.

Hellmouth, do you have
your cellphone on you?

Uh, I...

I-I'll yell at you later
for bringing it into the O.R.

- Just get it out.
- Okay.

Open your voice-recorder app.

Okay.

A small multi-fragmented organ
can still provide

the same function
as a whole single organ.

Injecting native cells
into lymphatic tissue

with the utilization
of growth-enhancing...

I'll need a biopolymer.

We need to look up biopolymers
with adherence properties.

Oh, you'll need
colony-stimulating factors.

- Did you get that?
- Got it.

By introducing liver-cell
precursors into lymph nodes,

we can produce enough small, mini livers,

which will take over the function

of the patient's original failing liver.

- So, who holds the patent?
- The 33 Triple-C polymer

is patented by
a Dr. M.J. Cerone in Madrid.

- And it's pretty expensive.
- So I'm screwed.

I wouldn't say you're screwed, Major...

not to your face.

We picked him up

for a head LAC, and he started
seizing two minutes out.

- Move. Move!
- Pushed 2 of loraz. No response.

I was trying to get him an airway.

And he bit your finger off, huh?

- First week on the job?
- His second.

Okay, let's push another 5 of lorazepam,

and hand me a laryngoscope, please.

Parker, get this guy in trauma 2.

- Am I gonna lose my finger?
- We'll see.

I gotta get it out
of this guy's throat first.

What happened?

Head LAC. Seized in the ambulance.

He's gonna a CT. Rule out TBI.

- Page neuro, please.
- Who's in 2?

Rookie paramedic, down one finger.

- I'm gonna need a MaGill, please.
- Yep.

You know I stop bleeding every day.

What are you talking about?

I don't need to write papers
and file patent requests.

Every day, I compete with death,
and more often than not...

...I win.

Okay, G.I. Joe.

Get this to the kid in trauma 2.

He's gonna be happy to see that.

So, I promised my husband

- I'd stay in bed today.
- Mm-hmm.

So, um, I need you to go to the closet

and bring a measuring tape.

And in the bathroom,

there should be a pair of latex gloves.

And in the kitchen,

- there's a turkey baster.
- No!

I'm sorry, Dr. Bailey.

I have to speak because I have
to believe we live in an age

where I can speak the truth

- to those in power over me.
- What?

I don't know what it is we're doing,

but it does not feel good to me.

It's too much tubing and corks
and secrecy in your bedroom.

It does not feel good,
and I do not feel safe here.

No.

Oh... No, I...

I'm making my prototype.

For the contest entry!

Look. Okay.

See?

It goes in your rectum.

So, my spleen planted seeds
and grew more?

Something like that, yes.

Your spleen inspired Dr. Grey

to come up with something that might
help save thousands of people.

Wow. Really?

Can we put that on
a certificate or something?

- We need good news.
- DeLuca, go.

Right. So, I looked at gamma
knives and proton-beam therapy.

Nothing there. We checked out

high-frequency ultrasound
applications in neurosurgery.

It was utilized for thalamic
stimulation in comatose patients.

There was a study that was done in...

There was no mention in
the literature of its usefulness

as a surgical modality in the brain. I...

- I think it's a dead end.
- So...

So, we got nothing. I'm sorry.

"Notes that would shatter glass."

High frequencies.

They shatter the glass because the note

has the same resonance frequency
as the glass itself.

So, an ultrasound wave,

if it was at the same frequency
as the tumor tissue...

It would shatter it without cutting.

But i-it's never been done in the brain.

Not yet.

With ultra-precise targeting
of the cancer cells,

we think we'll be able
to use it as an alternative

- to invasive brain surgery.
- Has this ever been done before?

Well, not on brain tissue, but if
we experiment on models first,

we think we could use it on tumors.

So, you want to use my kid as a lab rat?

No, ma'am, not as a lab rat.
She's the goal.

- I'm the lab rat's cheese.
- We're really close.

We just need a little more time

to get funding and
do some more research.

How much time are we talking?

"Ready for the spring musical"
kind of time?

Kimmie, there will be more
auditions in the fall.

- I promise.
- By fall, I'll be bald.

Maybe they'll do "The King and I."

We're really close to figuring
out a way to help you, Kimmie.

- I believe it.
- Well, we both do.

- So, in the meantime...
- Radiation, chemo, rinse, repeat.

Dr. Avery.

I finished the paper for
your spray-on-skin proposal,

but the other Dr. Avery asked me
to type up a proposal

for the gender-affirmation-surgery idea,

so I did both of them... in three days...

without sleeping. Both of them.

Did I already say that?
I may be over-caffeinated.

Anyway, I know you asked me
to do this one,

but, um, this one is really cool.

Not that you asked.
I'm gonna stop talking now.

Thank you.

I love you, too.

- Hey.
- Hi.

What's your pitch? Let's hear it.

I want to design LVADs
with magnetic interfaces

so that we can eliminate ports
and recharge transcutaneously.

Recharging the heart through the skin.

Yes, yes. Exactly.

- What?
- Nothing. You just get it.

- Yeah.
- It's nice.

How's Chive doing?

Clive.

Is it "Clive"?

Really? Lightning strike?

More like a hailstorm.

When?

Just now.

I'm sorry.

We knew there was nothing we could do.

I thought of something for the contest.

It's theoretical, but it could work.

It could have saved him.

And it could save people like him.

And it was inspired by him,
so I just wanted to let him know

that he had done some good after all.

- Karin Taylor was 33 years old.
- Arizona, stop!

She was in pristine health.

She gave birth to a gorgeous
6-pound, 7-ounce baby.

Stop! This is not healthy,

and it's not gonna bring Karin back.

This is healthy! This is my paper.

It's a verbal paper, but this
is what I am going to study!

And it may not bring Karin back,

but it could help
a whole lot of future Karins,

- so please, please just listen.
- Okay.

Karin was healthy,

and now she's dead from an
entirely treatable condition,

okay, and it wasn't my fault,

and it wasn't your fault that she died.

Do you hear me? It wasn't your fault.

But that doesn't mean
that we shouldn't fix it.

Preeclampsia is... is
only one of the reasons

that we are losing laboring
mothers at an unprecedented rate.

The United States has one of the
worst rates of maternal mortality

in the entire developed world.

There is something going on here,

and we need to fix it,
not someday, but now.

Put that in writing. Send it to me.

Okay.

Okay, everyone. Here we go.

"Generation of functioning
accessory livers

in lymphatic tissue,

Dr. Meredith Grey
& Dr. Josephine Wilson." Wow.

I'm on mini livers?
You put me on your proposal?

But wait. You already have Hellmouth.

I don't want you on it as my assistant.

I want you on it as my partner.

I mean, you found a critical
piece of the puzzle.

You're on this.

Stop doing that. You're awake.

This is real.

Paul is dead. And you're free.

And if there's another name you'd
prefer I put on that paper,

I'm happy to change it.

How about

Dr. Josephine Brooke Wilson?

"A novel approach to vaginoplasty

using laparoscopically harvested
peritoneum,

Dr. Catherine Avery,
Dr. Michelle Velez, and...

Dr. Jackson Avery."

I knew you'd come around.

- Mwah!
- Oh, man.

- Okay.
- Let's do this.

Now, I'll just ask that you to keep
the orgasm jokes to a minimum.

"The Path Pen, Dr. Richard Webber."

Now, this is just a mock-up,
so don't laugh.

It's a pen?

Kinda, okay, but the... the idea

is that we create a file of the
chemical and molecular markers

in various types of tumor cells,

and then we pre-program
this into the device

to rapidly identify
the different types, okay?

So you can know in surgery on contact

where the healthy tissue is...

...and where the cancer is...

...and make it go away.

It's not a pen. It's a wand.

It's a magic wand.

"Transcutaneously rechargeable
ventricular assist device,

Dr. Maggie Pierce."

"The Rectal Access Port
for hydro colonoscopy,

submitted by Dr. Miranda Bailey."

And "MRI-guided ultrasound
ablation of inoperable gliomas,

Dr. Amelia Shepherd and Dr. Alex Karev."

All set. You ready?

- Places in...
- It's okay.

You can just start.

- Tell me we're gonna fix this.
- We're gonna fix this.

♪ It's gonna happen ♪

♪ Happen sometime ♪

♪ Maybe this time ♪

♪ Maybe this time ♪

♪ I'll ♪

♪ Win ♪

Essentially, it's a jack for the rectum

that allows for an easy-access
water colonoscopy.

Ass jack.

Colonoscopies are messy and painful,

and surgeons ruin
their shoulders with all that...

Roto-Rootering.

- Mm.
- Ew.

I'm just saying. She's gonna be rich.

- Hey.
- Hi.

Thank you for being worried about me.

Of course, and you seem better.

Are you better?

Yeah. I entered the contest.

And, I mean, I don't know.
I don't know if I'll get in,

but I'm gonna study maternal mortality.

And you're an O.B.,
and Italy seems to have it

way more figured out than we do, so...

...would you like to be my partner?

- Your partner?
- Yeah. On the study.

Only on the study?

We think we can can create multiple

fully-functioning livers, like
mini livers all over the body.

- Wow.
- That is amazing.

- Thank you.
- Cheers.

- Good luck to the three of you.
- To all of us. What do you mean?

- Nope, not me.
- What?

- What?
- Why not you?

Not doing it. Didn't apply.

Research, patents...
it's... it's not my thing.

But I am rooting for the three of you.

Uh, speaking of which,
how did you get that polymer?

- Which polymer?
- The 33 Triple-C, the cross-polymer

where you inject with the cells.

I mean, I wanted it for my thing,

but Cerone's has that patent
locked up tight.

Hunt, why don't we go,
uh, grab a refill, huh?

Yeah. Sure.

Wow! That patent must've cost a ton.

You did get the patent, right?

I...

Okay, everyone, um... the results are in.

- Yes!
- Yeah.

- Ah-ah-ah! Yes!
- You got in?

- Got in?
- Yes, yes, yes, yes.

We got in.

What are you doing?

What? Honey, we're not stay...

- We have reservations.
- Yeah, yeah.

Uh, excuse me.
You're on my dance floor here.

- Excuse me.
- What are you doing?

W-We are celebrating your
birthday a little early, okay?

Come on.

Oh, my God.

- Whoo!
- Inspiration is not

some mystical, unattainable thing.

Inspiration is a seed.

Somebody been practicing.

That seed turns into vision.

- Look out, now.
- That vision turns into a goal.

Watch this one.

Oh!

And hopefully,
that goal turns into victory.

Our paper was great. It was great.

I can't believe it. I can't
believe we didn't get in.

What are we gonna do about Kimmie?

I said hopefully.