With You I'm Born Again

"Every cell in the human body regenerates on average every seven years. Like snakes, in our own way we shed our skin. Biologically we are brand new people. We may look the same, we probably do, the change isn't visible at least not in most of us, but we are all changed completely forever. When we say things like "People don't change" it drives scientists crazy. Because change is literally the only constant in all of science. Energy, matter, it's always changing. Morphing. Merging. Growing. Dying. It's the way people try not to change that's unnatural. The way we cling to what things were instead of letting them be what they are. The way we cling to old memories instead of forming new ones. The way we insist on believing, despite every scientific indication, that anything in this lifetime is permanent. Change is constant. How we experience change, that's up to us. It can feel like death, or it can feel like a second chance at life. If we open our fingers, loosen our grips, go with it, it can feel like pure adrenaline. Like at any moment we can have another chance at life. Like at any moment, we can be born all over again."

- Meredith Grey

 is the first episode of the seventh season and the 127th overall episode of Grey's Anatomy.

Short Summary
In the season premiere, the hospital staff is trying to deal with physical and emotional trauma in the wake of the deadly rampage of a vengeful gunman. As Dr. Perkins (James Tupper), a trauma counselor, is brought in to help in the recovery and to assess each doctor's readiness to return to work, Derek makes a spontaneous decision to resign as Chief and rushes back into surgery, taking everything a little too fast, and Cristina buries herself in her wedding planning.

Full Summary
Bailey is on a plane with Tuck, heading back to Seattle after visiting her parents for a month. She and the woman in her row strike up a conversation and Bailey says, when asked, she's a surgeon. The woman asks if she knew any of the doctors from the shooting, but Bailey doesn't answer.

In the hospital Webber stands on the bridge, looking over at everything.

Meredith is in the conference room as she talks to the crisis counselor about how she's ready to be back at work. She's tired of being at home doing nothing and she's ready to return. She mentions she's worried about Cristina and how the last time she got married, Meredith had to cut her out of her wedding dress. The couselor mentions again that Meredith watched her husband get shot, but she insists Derek is fine and is coming back to work today. We see a flashback of the day Derek was shot, of the surgery, but Meredith keeps insisting they're all fine as her pager goes off.

The page turns out to be about Derek, who's currenly sitting in a holding cell. He's checking out some of the injuries of his fellow inmates as Meredith walks up, pissed. She just looks at him and says, "Again, Derek?"

Bailey walks up to the Chief as the staff mills around. He says they missed her and that the place just isn't the same. He then asks if she got cleared for surgury, and Bailey is confused. She didn't know they had to be cleared and wants to know who has to clear her.

In the elevator, Mer promises the next time it happens she'll leave Derek there. He reminders her that's what she said last time as they step off and fall into line with Cristina. Mer tells her best friend that Derek got arrested--again--for reckless endangerment. Cristina wants to know if he's lost his license yet, and Mer says that the cops won't charge him because they worship him. Cristina is looking at pages from wedding magazines and Mer wants to know what she's looking at. Dresses, it turns out, and Cristina announces she won't wear white because it's sexist and vaguely racist. No white, no veils, no rice, and no mother. Meredith informs Derek she hasn't been cleared for surgury and it's all his fault. As chief, he says, he can overrule the counselor. April walks up with Derek's lab coat and some brain scans for him, talking about a patient that came into the E.R. Meredith can't believe that April's been cleared for surgury.

They all walk into the main area of the hospital where the staff applauds Derek's return. He gives a short speech, thanking Webber for filling him while he was gone and for all the support while he was out. Pausing, he looks down at the scans and then apologizes, saying it's all a lie and that's just what people say. The truth it, he hates being chief. He tells Webber that he's the real chief and that Derek quits. Most people look stunned, but Bailey is laughing.

Alex is being examined by Teddy, who says that the bullet is near the surface and she can take it own. Alex wants to keep it, it's his war wound and, besides, chicks dig these things. Teddy looks less sure but doesn't stop him as he leaves.

April, Derek, and Meredith are looking at the chordoma patient as Callie and Mark come in. The tumor is moved down the brain stem and Derek says Mark will have to split the patient's face open to get the whole thing out. Callie says the broken jaw itself would be excruciating, wondering if the kid knows the world of pain he's in for. Meredith voices concerns about how enmeshed the tumor is, but Derek shuts her down. They decide that the surgury will take place within a week and Mer reminds her husband he's not cleared for surgury yet. He says he'll get cleared and leaves the room.

Webber is back in his office, dancing it out and celebrating as he adjusts things back to how he wants them to be. Meredith catches him and he tells her it's just a little exercise. She's asking Webber to override the counselor's decision, but he says no. Andrew Perkins is the best and if he's saying no, then she needs to go talk to him.

Lexie's up next with Perkins, talking about Hunt and Cristina's wedding. She says it's almost like a silver lining and that trauma can make people changes lives. It can sometimes be the best that could happen to them. She keeps trying to talk about other people, but Perkins asks her about herself. We flashback to the shooting and then to a group therepy session. Lexie is anxious, her leg bouncing. No one is talking in the session until Cristina finally mentions getting a really good taco from a food truck. People seem to want to talk about that until Lexie interuppts, saying she read a book about the history of mass murders in the US. That's what happened to them, she reasons, it was a mass murder. She goes off on the semantics, of why it's a mass murder and not a serial killing or spree killing.

Owen and Derek walk down the hallway, Owen asking if he has any regrets about quitting as the Chief. Derek says none, asking if Owen has any about proposing to Cristina. Owen has none and Derek comments that getting shot might not be the worst thing after all. Owen needs a best man and even though the two aren't that close, Derek is married to the other Twisted Sister and that kind of makes them brothers in a way. Derek says he'd be honored.

Bailey is meeting with Perkins for the first time, he comments that the day of the shooting was particulary hard for her. She recounts the day Tuck was born, saying that was a particularly difficult day, but in the end her son was born and her husband lived. At the end of the day of the shooting, however...it was the worst day of her life. Flashback to her packing up with Tuck as Ben comes up to her in the street. He says he was playing golf, his phone was off. She tells him that 18 people were shot, 11 died, one in her arms and he was playing golf. Loading Tuck into the car, she tells him they're going to her mom's. He tries to ask her when she's coming back, but Bailey ignores him as the cab drives away.

The mother of the boy with the massive tumor says no way. She will not let them cut his face open, break it in two. Derek says that he wants to offer her some comofort, but there is none to be offered. He reminds her that every medical advancement started with the statement "That sounds crazy", but that it might help. She eventualy agrees. Meredith goes over the risks; he might never wake up, he could lost the ability to move, to speak, to eat. He could require round-the-clock care for the rest of his life. Even if all goes well, he will still be facing months of pain and recovery. They need to understand all the risks before agreeing. As she goes to leave she tells Derek that if he's going to drive so fast, the least he could do is wear a seatbelt.

Alex is telling Perkins that he's been working in the clinic and the pit, but it makes no sense that he can't operate. Perkins wants to talk about the incident last week and Alex says that she's not his responsibility, she's not his girlfriend anymore. Flashback to the E.R. where Mark is suturing someone while Alex observes. Lexie comes up to him, freaking out that her patient doesn't have her medication, doesn't even know their names. If she gives her the wrong thing, she could kill her. Lexie thinks that woman wants to die, that she wants Lexie to kill her. She's melting down, destroying the E.R. as Mark yells at Alex to get her out of there. He just walks away. Perkins wants to know why and Alex says that he almost died trying to stop the shooter and he's a legend, getting so much tail carrying a bullet in his chest. Perkins asks if Alex is always this crass or if it's a defense mechanism. Alex responds that he's had enough crazy as Mark bursts in demanding to know why Perkins cleared Lexis for surgury. Just last week he had to committ her to psych against her will and wants to know what kind of doctor Perkins in.

Lexie appears behind him, telling Perkins that it's okay, he can tell Mark. Alex makes his escape as Perkins explains that Lexie got a heafty does of drugs and slept for 15 hours. Waking up, she was fine. Perkins explains that most of them have PTSD and that Lexie's caused sever sleep deprevation, which lead to her break down. All she needed was sleep and once she got that, she was okay to work again.

Owen and Teddy are working on a trauma and he asks her about the guy she's seeing. She tells him that she's happy he's getting married, and when he looks skeptical, she insists that she really is.

Meredith, Cristina, Lexie, and Jackson are sitting in the hallway and Cristina threatens to kick Jackson out of the wedding if he does the chicken dance or starts a conga line. April comes up and says that in the cafeteria someone called her Reed and asks why she's not dead. Lexie tells her to bring a lunch and just keep it in her locker, to stay away from the cafeteria because everyone just stares. Alex comes in with his papers that he's been cleared and Mer can't believe it. It's down to her and Cristina being the ones left and she laments they'll be serving slushies at the movie theater. Cristina says she'd go dermatology first, and Jackson chimes in he'd go gyno before that. Lexie says she'd go psych and everyone goes quiet, staring at her, before she tells them it was a joke and the laugh. Meredith wonders what Perkins has against her and it's suggest that he's seen her files, knows who her mother is, or knows that she told the shooter to kill her. Bailey comes around the corner and pauses, looking at them all before telling them she's happy to see them. She then hands out charts, telling everyone to get moving before telling Jackson and April she's sorry about the loss of their friends. She then hands them a bowel impaction and tells them to get moving.

Perkins asks Derek if he should be worried about impulsivitiy after he quit the position as chief that morning. Derek admits he'd been wanting to quit since before he was shot, but he didn't have the courage. Being shot reminded him that life was short and he had to think less, and just do. Perkins asks if the shooting was clarifying for him, and Derek just says a lot of people died that day. Flashback to Derek waking up in his hospital bed with April there, apologizing for getting him shot. Derek tells him that the shooter was looking for him, that he's the one who got everyone shot.

Derek is in the car, speeding through Seattle. His letter clearing him for surgury is on the passenger seat as he steps on the gas, taking off.

Meredith walks in on Perkins and Teddy kissing, asking if that's what she needs to do to get cleared. Telling her he'll call her later, Teddy leaves. Meredith says it was creepy, inappropriate, and she wants someone else. Teddy, as it turns out, was never a patient. She was cleared before he got there and they met in the cafeteria. Meredith demands to know why she isn't cleared even through everyone else is. He doesn't think she's being honest with either him or herself, a dangerous situation and wants to know what she's holding back. Flashback to Mer in stirrups, Cristina next to her. She makes her friend promise not to tell Derek about the miscarriage, and that Owen and April have to promise the same. Cristina must make them both promise and Meredith sends her back to the hospital to tell them. The doctor comes in to perform the DNC, going over the side effects before beginning.

Teddy is telling Arizona that Meredith cause her and Perkins, but Arizona interupts about how Callie is watching her sleep, something she only does when something is up. She's worried Callie is going to propose or talk about making babies, neither of which are things Arizona is ready for. She doesn't want Callie to say something and pop the happy pink bubble they're living in. Teddy tels her to pop it.

Webber tells Derek he's officially reinstated, making sure Derek has no regrets. He also wants to make sure Derek is okay, even though Perkins cleared him. He talks about how he's not all the way okay, and he wasn't the one who was shot. Derek says he feels good, it's the adrenaline and that's what feels good.

In the OR, the boy is being prepped for surgury and they begin to cut his face open. The gallery is full, Meredith unable to believe she's not down there. Owen and Webber are watching, Owen saying he's seen less damage in war. They find the tumor and being removing it. Cristina is flipping through a wedding magazine with Mer grabs her and pulls her into the hallway. She says it's all wrong, that Derek is down there with April assisting, Cristina not even paying attention. Meredith tells her that they are not better, and Cristina realizes Meredith is trying to talk her out of the wedding. She says that Mer doesn't get to do this, but Mer counters that while Derek is the love of her life, Cristina is her soulmate so she does get to do this. She wants to know why there's a rush, why now. Cristina tells her that she needs to tell Derek about the miscarriage, that she won't be okay until she does.

In the conference room, Perkins and Cristina sit in silence. He tels her it's okay to wait, that the hospital will work with her for as long as it takes. She asks if she's getting special treatment because she had to operate with a gun to her head. He says that she missed their appointment last week, she was late today, Cristina tells him it's because she's getting married and asks if she can go. Perkins wants to know what she thinks about when she thinks about going into the OR again. She instead picks up a magazine, talking about how happy they all are in the pictures. They have everything they want and she feels sorry for them. They're simple, all they want is to get married. She thinks people are either born simple or born like her. She wants to be simple, to be happy over finding the perfect dress, the right flowers. No one holds a gun to the head of a simple girl.

Flashback to Owen trying to open the door to the house, but it's chained shut. Cristina tells him she's late, scared as she curls up on the couch under a blanket. She tells him she doesn't want to be alone, and Owen promises that he's not going anywhere, he'll never leave again. He holds up the ring, proposing and she slides it on. She thanks him.

Outside the hospital, Bailey is heading home when she sees Ben. He says that he can't apologize for his phone being off, he was just playing golf. It was nothing he did on purpose and he missed her. Bailey tells him he's a good man, a kind, handsome, smart man. He's perfect but she's busy holding herself together. He's not taped and glued together, he can't be where she is because he wasn't there that day. Right now that's too much for her to handle. He tells her to take care of herself and kisses her hand before walking away.

Meredith and Derek are making out in the on call room and he tells her he wants to make a baby, right here, right now. Pulling his shirt off, she sees his scar and hesitates, about to say something when his pager goes off. The boy with the tumor is thrashing around in bed, in too much pain to bear. He's had all the morphine he can, but it's not helping. Derek tells him that this is his fight now, they've done all they can and now he's in the drivers seat. He has to fight now. Turning to the mom, he reminds her her son won't die of pain, that the pain means he's healing. They won.

Driving home, Derek gets pulled over one more time. Meredith comes in, all ready to go Cristina and Owen's wedding. He promises that they'll make the wedding and she corrects him; she'll make the wedding. Taking the rings from his coat pocket, she leaves him in jail as promised.

Lexie is in the kitchen as Alex comes in for a beer. He tells her she looks hot, for whatever it's worth. She tells him that he might think he's a badass for living, but she's the reason he lived. While he was dying, he was crying out for the wife who left him which makes him the opposite of a badass, for whatever it's worth. Triumphant, she walks out of the room.

Mark admits to Callie that he's jealous. Callie sees Arizona walk in and tells Mark she's going to do it. He reminds her she's drunk, which she says is why she's going to do it. Arizona walks over and Callie blurts out that she wants her girlfriend to move in. She says Arizona already has a drawer and a toothbrush and she wants her to have more, a dresser and a whole blowdryer. Mark tells her she's going a great job and leaves the two. Arizona, asking if that's all, agrees immediately to move in to the place she basically lives at anyway.

Meredith finds Owen and asks if he's okay before admitting that Derek isn't going to be coming. She hand him the rings, telling him Mark looks great in a suit and would make a good choice. Own says he's okay, looking towards the stairs and asking Mer if Cristina is going to come down them. She says yes before going to check on her best friend.

Cristina is standing on the bed in a red dress. Meredith says she looks beautiful, Cristina says she knows. She asks about Owen and Mer tells her that he's perfect. Cristina smiles, thanking her.

The two women walk down the stairs together as Mer talks about how change is the only constant in science and they idea people don't change is ridiculous. Energy and matter is always changing, morphing, merging, growing, and dying. As ther wedding progresses, Mark looks at Lexie, Arizon and Callie smile at each other, April starts crying. Cristina and Owen exchange rings, saying their I do's as Meredith intones that sometimes it feels like that at any moment, they can be born all over again.

Main Cast

 * Ellen Pompeo as Dr. Meredith Grey
 * Sandra Oh as Dr. Cristina Yang
 * Justin Chambers as Dr. Alex Karev
 * Chandra Wilson as Dr. Miranda Bailey
 * James Pickens, Jr. as Dr. Richard Webber
 * Sara Ramírez as Dr. Callie Torres
 * Eric Dane as Dr. Mark Sloan
 * Chyler Leigh as Dr. Lexie Grey
 * Kevin McKidd as Dr. Owen Hunt
 * Jessica Capshaw as Dr. Arizona Robbins
 * Kim Raver as Dr. Teddy Altman
 * Sarah Drew as Dr. April Kepner
 * Jesse Williams as Dr. Jackson Avery
 * Patrick Dempsey as Dr. Derek Shepherd

Guest Stars

 * James Tupper as Dr. Andrew Perkins
 * Jason George as Dr. Ben Warren
 * Debra Mooney as Mrs. Hunt
 * Judy Prescott as Donna Bevell
 * Matthew Fahey as Greg Bevell

Co-Starring

 * Angela E. Gibbs as Mrs. Rollins
 * Dale Waddington as OB Resident
 * Annie O'Donnell as Older Woman
 * Paul Zies as Biker Dude
 * Toussaint Waterman as Cop
 * Cliff Berens as Patient
 * Joel Kindrick as Judge

Notes and Trivia
thumb|300px|right thumb|300px|right
 * This episode's title originated from the song With You I'm Born Again, originally sung by Billy Preston & Syreeta.
 * This episode scored 14.32 million viewers.
 * Sarah Drew (April Kepner) and Jesse Williams (Jackson Avery) are now credited as series regulars.

Gallery
thumb|300px|right

Quotes

 * Cristina (to Owen): I do.


 * Prisoner (to Derek): Your lady looks pissed.
 * Meredith (to Derek): Again, Derek?


 * Cristina: Perkins is no dummy. He can see the crazy right under the Meredith Grey surface.
 * Meredith: Again, Cristina, it's not funny, because you're not gonna get cleared either, and the two of us are gonna be surving slushies at the multiplex.
 * Cristina: Really? I'd choose dermatology over multiplex.
 * Jackson: No, I'd go gynecology over dermatology.
 * Cristina: Of course you would. Perv.
 * Lexie: I think I'd go pysch. (everyone turns towards her) That was a joke. (everyone starts awkwardly laughing)
 * Jackson: That was good. (smiles awkwardly)


 * Lexie (to Alex): You think that you're so bad ass because you lived, but I'm the reason why you lived.


 * Cristina: I never gave you any crap about your post-it.
 * Meredith: You look beautiful.
 * Cristina: I know. How's Owen? Is he good?
 * Meredith: Owen's perfect. He's perfect.
 * Cristina: Thank you.


 * Derek: (to the hospital staff) It's great to be back. First of all, I would like to thank Dr. Webber for stepping up in my absence. Uh, I'm grateful for all you, for all of your support during my recovery, thank you. It's just... It's so great to be back as Chief. I'm grateful for the... I'm sorry, that's a lie. It's what people say, and the truth is. I hate being Chief. I hate it. Chief Webber... Chief Webber's our chief. And I'm sorry, but this giant... I gotta go look at this cardoma, I'm sorry... But I quit.


 * Lexie: I read a book. About the history of mass murders in the US. You know, that's the actual name of what happened to us, it was a mass murder. You can't call it a terriost attack because the murders weren't political in nature. And we weren't the victims of a serial killer because Mr. Clark would have had to had murdered several people in a period longer than 30 days to qualify as a serial killer. We-- We could call it a spree killing which is defined as killings in two more locations with no break or pause in between 'cause Mr. Clark shot that guy in his car before he got here. But I-I'm not sure that, that counts as a true second location since it was so close to the hospital. Which means that we were a mass murder. Because it happened at one place, by one person, and more than four people were killed.