While in bed, Andrew suggests Meredith call in sick. She can’t but contemplates being late. Amelia and Maggie interrupt their making out. They read her article. Meredith states she didn’t write anything. Maggie says she went after everybody. Meredith only sent out ideas of what she could write about. Amelia says the website chose for her. They rolled all her ideas into an article without explanation or context. This article will terrify people. “Hospital Hell at Grey Sloan Memorial: Fired Surgeon Speaks Out” is the headline. It’s a hit online.
Jo and Alex are reading her article, too. Alex thinks it’s funny. She should have taken the job at Pac-North.
In the ambulance, Jackson shows Vic the part of the article that talks about the rich living longer. Vic points out putting out fires is free of charge. That must be why everyone loves firefighters. They are about to kiss when Vic’s partner starts the engine of their rig. Jackson quietly passes by Bailey as she heads out to wait for incoming patients. Owen walks by and informs her he’s on paternity leave for as long as Koracick’s restraining order lasts. The ambulance arrives with a patient whose AV fistula ruptured. Upon hearing he’s been brought to Grey Sloan, he objects and demands to be taken somewhere else. He has seen the list. While Bailey is confused, Owen climbs onto the rig and directs it to Pac-North. Bailey pulls out her phone and finds the article.
The residents are discussing the article in the lounge, specifically the part about Big Pharma. Taryn thinks Meredith is a badass for tackling the system. Blake thinks everybody will focus on the headline and warns about risks to everyone’s jobs except himself, due to the article. Levi mentions Qadri (who was recently fired) got a job in Michigan. Andrew comes in and notices they stop talking. They shouldn’t stop on his account. Levi leaves for rounds. Blake tells Andrew being liked is overrated.
Alex is giving instructions to Cecil Taylor, who needs to write them down. Richard comes up and shows Alex Meredith’s article. Richard is upset but Alex reminds him they were kicked out of that place. A nurse comes up to inform Alex that a patient who escaped from Psychiatry has been caught. Alex didn’t even know about it.
Meredith is texting Andrew to find out how Bailey’s doing. He’s about to find out. Jo comes up, too, and asks Bailey to allow her to schedule more ALPPS procedures. Bailey is too distracted by the article. Andrew tells her that the residents are confused now that a few attendings are missing and the Chief Resident quit over the article. Bailey appoints Andrew as Chief Resident. He had to know this was coming and he should have warned them. Bailey is feeling very hot. Jo thinks it’s her heart, which worries Bailey. She sends Andrew away to fix the mess while Jo reminds her to keep breathing.
Tom has decided to film Jackson’s surgery to get the hospital some good press. Jackson says the parents are already blaming themselves enough for letting it get this far. Tom says she’s a miracle and Jackson is the angelic camera-ready plastic surgeon who’s going to make her all better. He enters the room, where a film crew is already filming the girl and her parents. Tom introduces Jackson.
Teddy informs Taryn that their incoming patient was hit by another person who fell from a plane. Vic and Ben bring in Alicia, the patient who was hit and has multiple fractures. Alicia’s boyfriend Josh witnessed the accident. He’s covered in blood. The guy who fell from the plane exploded all over them.
While picking up trash, Meredith is trying to set the record straight with the website. She loves Grey Sloan and would never have done this. The person she’s speaking to will run it up the flagpole. Andrew lets her know it’s bad with Bailey.
Levi explains craniosynostosis, which resulted in Clervie’s abnormal skull growth. Jackson explains to the parents how they’ll broke the bone and reshape the skull so it can grow the right way. Their pediatrician told them Clervie would grow out of it. Jackson says what’s important is that they came in now. The parents were so surprised when Tom called them to inform them that Jackson would operate for free, but it was a welcome surprise as they would have had to take out a second mortgage to pay for it.
Outside the room, Tom compliments Jackson’s appearance on the camera. Jackson understands he promised the parents a pro bono surgery in exchange for the free publicity. He hates it. Tom instructs the camera crew to stick around the family, hoping to get a shot of someone praying.
Owen arrives at Pac North with Yan, the patient who refused to be treated at Grey Sloan. He asks Cecil to page the head of vascular, but Pac-North doesn’t have one. Owen decides to drop the patient off at the OR himself and asks for directions.
They run into Richard on the way. Owen informs about Yan’s case. Richard asks Cecil to take Yan to OR4 and tells him he gets to scrub in. Alex comes up and asks if Bailey sent him to spy. Owen says he’s taking some time off because of Tom. Alex offers to give him a tour. He asks Owen to use his imagination to picture a functioning hospital.
Vic informs Link that a man landed on his patient. The cops presume the man who fell was a stowaway on an international flight. Teddy and Link explain to Taryn that a body freezes at cruising altitude. When the wheels come down, it’s like dropping an ice pack. Maggie comes in and takes charge of the case, which impresses Vic. Link finishes up putting a binder on Alicia and goes to check on her boyfriend outside.
As they walk off, Vic asks Ben if Pierce is a genius. Ben confirms that she is. He wants to go talk to his wife. She figures it’s about the list.
Link calms Josh down and assures him that Alicia’s in the best possible hands. Link checks his pulse and says they’ll get him cleaned up and get him something to calm him down. Josh finds a toe in his hood. Link calmly takes it from him.
Meredith approaches her supervisor. She quickly finished her assigned zone, hoping she would be allowed time off to go take care of an emergency. Lisa tells her she has five more hours for the day. If Meredith walks away before that, Lisa is calling the judge to tell him about all of Meredith’s extracurriculars. Cristina texts Meredith to tell her to move Switzerland before Bailey kills her. Meredith begs Lisa not to call the judge and promises she will make up her hours. She runs off.
Two of Amelia’s surgeries have been cancelled because of Meredith’s list. She’s a little mad but she never wins fights with Meredith so she’s shoving it down. She’d like a gravity blanket, which is something Link used to do to her. Now it’s just bear-hugs. It calms her down. Bailey comes up and asks Maggie to come with her.
Jackson and Levi finish up drawing Clervie’s blood one last time before the surgery. The film crew is recording the dad’s testimony outside. Tom wants him to do it over with less backlight. Jackson cuts in and says it was perfect. Tom decides they’ll talk to the mother then. The crew and the dad go back into the room. Jackson tells Tom that the surgery is hard enough on the parents already as it is. Tom reminds him he’s his boss and wonders if he should have his mother explain it to him.
Maggie has checked Bailey’s heart and everything is fine. She’s just warm. It’s been going on for a couple of days. Maggie suggests it’s her hormones and decides to draw blood before her surgery on Alicia.
Andrew finds Levi assuring his mother that his aunt’s upcoming surgery does not need to be re-scheduled to another hospital. He hangs up and explains his mother found the article and sent it to everyone in his family. Andrew tells him to get to work.
While showing him around and talking about his plans, Alex informs Owen that the investors are not afraid to write out checks. They hear a woman screaming for help. They find Doug Miller applying pressure to a patient’s abdomen. The man has had colon surgery and his wound vac filled up with blood. A nurse escorts the wife outside. Owen climbs onto the bed to apply more pressure and orders a slow Doug to get him supplies. Alex points out this is what he has to put up with.
Ben meets Bailey in her office and tells her about the body falling from the sky. He tries to distract her from he list but she is angry for another reason. She’s warm and her hormones are hitting her in tidal waves. She knows it’s menopause because it happened to her mother at a young age. She knew it was coming but no one warned her about the feelings that come with it. He tries to console her. She asks him to sit with her so she can have her feelings. She takes off her lab coat to cool down.
Meredith pulls Jo into a staircase and asks her how bad it is. Jo says residents are panicking, the others are split. Jo wished she hadn’t name-checked the hospital but she thinks it’ll start some much-needed conversation. Also, she’s worried about Bailey’s health. Meredith wants to explain the whole thing to her. Jo wishes her good luck.
Owen and Alex locate the source of bleeding. Doug incorrectly identifies the vessel as the aorta. Owen asks about the cardinal rule of trauma but Doug doesn’t know it. It looks like the man’s had poor hemostasis after the surgery. They should get him to the OR for a wash-out. Owen will operate.
Jo hears Jackson instructing Levi to page him when Clervie’s surgery. He explains the case to Jo and Tom’s bribe. Jo thinks it must be freeing for Meredith to just do the right without having to worry about how it looks. Jackson takes it as a dare and leaves.
Maggie, Teddy, and Taryn are operating on Alicia. Teddy is so happy to be back. Taryn asks Maggie to let Meredith know how amazing the article is. Maggie will pass it along. They are planning to stop the heart with cardioplegia to replace the aortic root but the cardioplegia doesn’t work. The accident caused a coronary artery dissection so they have to do it through the coronary sinus. Link briefs them that the boyfriend has calmed down. Teddy asks him to harvest a vein from Alicia’s leg for a bypass. Alicia deteriorates as her aortic root ruptures.
Jackson catches up with Amelia as she’s going to grab lunch. He needs her to come with him.
Jackson has informed the parents that Tom will no longer be operating but everything will remain on schedule. The father wonders if this has anything to do with the article. Amelia will replace Tom on the case. Jackson knows they only agreed to have the surgery be filmed so they could get it for free but he knows they are uncomfortable with it. He doesn’t want them to worry about their privacy, so no matter what they decide, it won’t cost them a thing. Jackson explains their daughter means more to him than just good press. The parents decide not to have the surgery filmed and thank him for that. As Clervie is wheeled off, Amelia says Tom will not be happy. Jackson thinks that’s an added bonus.
As Link returns from scrubbing in, Maggie calls time of death on Alicia. There was too much damage. Teddy says the whole world is broken, not just the medical system. She wonders how bad the stowaway’s life was to get him to climb into the plane. Alicia was just in the worst possible place. Teddy thinks the world is so much scarier now that she has a baby. Maggie offers to close.
Tom busts into the OR as Jackson, Amelia, and Levi are operating. Tom tells Amelia to tap out but Jackson says she’s got it under control. Jackson informs Tom he will call security if the camera crew comes near the OR. Tom tries to pull rank but Jackson says he is the Foundation and he owns more shares than anybody. Also, his department brings in quite the income. Tom says he should know better than anyone how fires like the one Meredith started spread. If it does, it will burn down a lot more than just this hospital. Jackson asks him to say all that again from the top because he was a little backlit. Amelia was hoping she wouldn’t get caught in the middle.
Owen and Alex are operating. Owen has informed him about the Koracick situation. Alex agrees Bailey shouldn’t have to take orders from him. Owen says that is exactly why he left. Alex asks if he’s sick of sitting home yet. Owen’s happy to do it for Teddy. Alex offers him to come here and structure the trauma department how he sees fit. Owen admits today was fun. Alex promises him there’ll be more days like it.
In the OR, Jackson and Levi are puzzling the pieces into place. Once the pieces are attached to one another, they place the new skull over Clervie’s brain, cover it with her skin, and close the incisions. They finished perfectly. Levi thinks it’s miraculous and can’t help but mention it would have made for great publicity. Jackson tells him not to concern himself with headlines. Levi points out not everyone has a stable career yet. Jackson leaves to update the family himself.
Bailey finds Meredith in her office. Meredith tells her she only pitched that website a few ideas that were not meant to published yet. She would never say “Hospital Hell” and anything she wrote was not directed at this hospital. The website has refused to change it. Meredith offers to write a retraction but Bailey says that won’t help. Meredith points out that she loves it here and that all the good things she ever did in her career came from this place. She’s truly sorry if any of this hurt her. Bailey knows she sacrificed so many hours to teach Meredith. Meredith can apologize all she wants but the damage has been done. Bailey asks her to leave.
As they leave Grey Sloan with Leo, Owen is telling Teddy about his day a Pac-North. Tom comes up and tells Owen that he is dropping the restraining order. They need every good doctor they can get so Tom’s taking the high road. Owen says he quit and got a job at an up-and-coming area hospital. Both Teddy and Tom are surprised to learn he took a job at Pac-North. Tom tells Owen he can call him when he sees the error of his ways. Same goes for Teddy.
Maggie and Link deliver the bad news to Josh. They ask if he has any contact info about Alicia’s family. Josh does not. They met in bio chem a month ago. Link sits down with Josh and assures him that they will find her parents. Josh says they were just sitting in the grass, enjoying life and each other’s company. Josh breaks down. He wish he could have protected her.
Jackson checks up on Clervie and her parents. They’re all doing well. Vic shows up. She just dropped off a guy at the ER. He tells her about rebuilding that girl’s skull. She notices the lack of self-praise she’s used to from him. She admits she’s impressed. They walk off to have dinner together.
In her bedroom, Amelia lies down on top of Link to be his gravity-blanket. He tells her he’s in love with her. He doesn’t feel that very often. Dating and sex are fun. He’s always thought of love as leading to divorce and pain but he’s feeling it now. He likes the feeling. Sometimes people fall out of the sky so there is no point in trying to avoid the pain. She says okay and they put their hands on her belly.
Meredith runs into Andrew in a hallway. She tells him Bailey thinks she attacked her publicly. She doesn’t know how to fix this. She thought their history would earn her some benefit of the doubt. Also, she got a summons to go back to court because she walked out on work crew. Andrew is upset that she made a choice that could put her in jail and is adding to the threat of her losing her license. She maintains that nothing she said was a lie. It’s not her fault that that website packaged it up like a bomb. He would have liked for her to do her community service and just come back to work after. She doesn’t want to sit on her mountain of privilege and let everyone else fight their own battles. He suggests she work from within the broken system instead of bringing the whole thing down with her. He thinks she’s being self-destructive and points out she doesn’t need enemies right now. She doesn’t need this conversation, either, she says. If he thinks she’s going to sit back while there is something broken hurting and killing people, he doesn’t know her at all.
Maggie drops by Bailey’s office with her blood panel results. She is, in fact, perimenopausal but she is also pregnant. Bailey is confused. Her symptoms are typical for menopause. Maggie says you can be perimenopausal and still shed eggs. Bailey needs time to process. Maggie hopes she’s not planning on keeping this a secret.