Six Days, Part 1

 is the eleventh episode of the third season and the 47th overall episode of Grey's Anatomy.

Short Summary
The staff all have anxiety today, Izzie refuses to deposit the $8.7 million check, making everyone anxious, especially George as his father's surgery is soon. Meredith is also anxious around her father and his other family. Callie wants a consult on an angry VETER patient but is unsure how. Cristina and Burke are not talking, while Addison is not allowed the high horse with Mark.

Full Summary
Meredith, asleep, is eminating a slight snore. Derek is leaning on his side, smiling, and intently watching her sleep. Meredith stirs awake. Derek wishes her good morning and kisses her on the mouth. She asks, "Are you watching me sleep?" He says "maybe". She asks, "What, are you some kind of weirdo who watches women sleep?" He says "maybe" then kisses her. She giggles.

Izzie is sitting at the counter reading a newspaper and drinking some coffee. George opens the fridge and Izzie's check falls to the ground. George says, "I just dropped 8.7 million dollars on the floor." Indifferent, Izzie says, "And?" George says, "I shouldn't be able to drop 8.7 million dollars on the floor." He throws an orange at Izzie's newspaper then says, "You need to deposit that check!" Izzie calmly says, "George, your father's surgery is tomorrow. Any chance you are misplacing your anxiety on me and my check?" George replies, "No there is no chance. That check ruins my morning every morning. It belongs in the bank. Would you just please, as a favor to me, would you just put it in the bank. Please?" Izzie thinks about it a moment then says, "Hmm. No, but if you're nice to me for the next seven minutes I will give you a ride to work." George picks up the check from the floor. He says loudly, "You don't deserve 8.7 million dollars!" Again, indifferently, Izzie says, "Mmm. So true, so true."

Bailey is walking through a hallway closely followed by Meredith, George, Izzie, Alex, and Cristina. Izzie asks Cristina how Burke is doing. Cristina does not know. Alex wonders how that could be, Burke just had his surgery yesterday so she should know something. Meredith tells them that Cristina and Burke are not speaking. Cristina looks at Meredith as if to say, 'Thanks for telling everyone.' Izzie thought they made up. Cristina tries to clarify by saying that Burke is not speaking to her. Then she asks Meredith if she asked Derek about Burke's hand. Meredith does not want to get in the middle because she and Derek are happy. Izzie advises Cristina to swallow her pride and just talk to Burke. Alex says that Cristina's gut is not big enough for her pride. Izzie and George laugh. Cristina sarcastically says, "Oh, Alex, you hurt me."

Harold's room is filled with his family members, around a dozen of them. They all have party horns and hats. They are laughing and enjoying themselves. Richard, Bailey, and the interns come into the room. Chief asks which intern will present. Mr. O'Malley says, "Can Georgie do it? He's real good." All of the family cheers him on. George says, "Harold O'Malley, 63. Status post aortic valve replacement. Morning chest X-ray showed no atelectasis after agressive C.P.T. for the last two days. Scheduled for a transhiatal esophagectomy tomorrow at 9." The room is silent, his family looks confused. George says, "That's it." The O'Malley's cheer again blowing their celebration horns. The doctors smile at the family's excitement. Bailey asks the extended family to wait outside for the time being. They are a little disappointed but oblige. George greets a few on their way out. Bailey asks how Harold is feeling. Louise answers that he's feeling the best he's felt in awhile, which is why they invited the family that day. After the surgery, it might be a different story. Harold asks them when he would start chemo-therapy. Richard answers, he says that it depends on what they find when they open him up. Harold is confused. Bailey tells Meredith to answer. Meredith says that labs and scans can only provide so much information, once they get a look inside it will be more clear what they should do. Richard says that if the cancer has spread, it changes a lot of factors and that the oncologist will explain more later that day. He assigns Meredith to take him through more pre-op testing. Bailey says that it would probably be a good idea if the "party" went home. Louise takes off her party hat and George kisses her on the cheek.

Bailey and the interns walk into the room. Burke is laying in his hospital bed. Cristina remains a little behind the group. She sees Derek coming towards the room. She stays in the doorway and closes the door a bit. She asks Derek whether Burke has had any tremors in his hand. Derek says that it's confidential. Cristina argues that she is one of his doctors. Derek reminds her that she is also Burke's girlfriend and that she should ask him herself. Derek walks into the room, greets everyone and asks who is presenting. Alex says, "Preston Burke. Post-op day 1 from I and D of a compressive hematoma to the brachial plexis. He is afrebrile and vital signs were stable over night. His incisions are clean with no signs of infection. Last morphine was given at two o'clock this morning." Cristina nudges Meredith and says to ask him about his hand. Meredith tells her to ask. Burke has a smirk on his face. Bailey turns to look at them and asks if she wants to share. Cristina apologizes. Derek tells Burke he's looking good and to take it easy on the nurses. Burke says he'll do his best. Derek walks out of the room followed by the others. Burke calls George and asks about his father's surgery.

Out of the bathroom comes a teenage girl, Heather Douglas. She is walking at a 90 degree angle, her upper body is hunched over parallel to the floor. Bailey, Callie, the interns, and Heather's mom, Rhada, are waiting in the room. Rhada asks if Heather is okay. She says she is. Heather walks to the bed. Near the door, Meredith says, "Scoliosis?" Cristina thinks it looks like a birth defect. Alex thinks it looks like hell. Seated on the bed, with an attitude, Heather asks them what they're all staring at. They should not expect her to be brave and heart warming, they should get on with what they have to do. Bailey starts to undo the back of Heather's hospital gown. Heather's spine appears to be a reversed "C" curving right at the middle, as if someone curved their right arm along the middle of her back. Bailey tells Izzie to present. Izzie says she has a history of V.A.T.E.R. syndrome, a genetic condition that affects the vertebrae, anus, trachea, esophogus and renal system. Heather comments sarcastically that Izzie should get a medal for memorizing the entire acronym, which is a lot easier than having to live with it. Izzie looks a little uncomfortalbe but continues. Heather is there for a lithotripsy to remove kidney stones and a thoractoplasty to alleviate pressure in her lungs. Callie asks, despite only being their to remove some lungs, if Heather has tried anything more radical to treat the curve. Heather bitterly says that she had a steel rod inserted into her spine but it bent and didn't help. Izzie comments that removing the kidney stones would improve her quality of life. Heather says, "Really? So this surgery is gonna get me laid?" Her mother tells her to stop it. Heather continues, "Mom, I'm sorry but she's talking about improving my quality of life and I don't think doctors should make promises they can't keep."

Meredith presents Laura Grey-Thompson, her niece, to the interns, Bailey, and Addison. She says that Laura was born four days ago with jejunal artresia. Thatcher pokes his head in the door. He apologizes for interrupting then says that Laura's mom and grandmother have the flu so he was sent to get an update. Addison tells him they'll be done shortly. Bailey asks Meredith to continue. She is frozen, she can't seem to speak. Thatcher says he'll come back later. Cristina, sensing Meredith's discomfort, takes the chart and says that Laura had dilation of her bowels. Addison says they'll need to perform a barium enema. Meredith looks through the blinds to see an empty hallway. Grey's Anatomy.

Bailey and the interns are walking. She assigns Meredith to stay with Mr. O'Malley, so Meredith starts to walk in the other direction. Cristina is assigned to the pit, she goes. Alex is to go with Mark, he goes. Izzie is to prepare Heather for surgery. Since George has the week off, Bailey tells him to take the rest of that day off as well so he can spend more time with his family. George thanks Bailey then asks her if she could be totally honest with him regarding his dad, doctors can sometimes sugar coat things for the family. Bailey says she will and she gets a page. George thanks her and goes in another direction. Bailey and Izzie walk towards the elevators. Izzie asks Bailey if she can scrub in on Heather's surgery. She insists that she is ready to scrub in. Bailey says, "Your psychiatrist has not given you an all clear." Izzie replies, "He's -- I have done everything he has asked me to do. Everything except deposit my inheritance check, which--". Bailey interrupts her, "Wait, you have not deposited a nearly nine million dollar check?" Izzie says, "He is being unreasonable. That check has nothing to do with any--". Bailey interrupts her again saying, "What's unreasonable is that you're losing thousands of dollars a day in interest. That's unreasonable. You clearly are not reasonable yet, which, I think, is the point your psychiatrist is trying to make." Bailey gets into the elevator leaving Izzie in the hall disappointed.

Meredith comes up to the Lab Tech and requests various things on Mr. O'Malley. Cristina comes, hands the Lab Tech a few things and says, "I need these labs ASAP." The Lab Tech says, "Everybodey needs everything 'ASAP'." Cristina replies, "Oh, yes, and all throughout this hospital people are dying while you give me crap about 'ASAP'." She and Meredith lean against the split in the door. Cristina asks Meredith if she's okay. Meredith asks, "Why wouldn't I be?" Cristina says, "Your father, freezing up on rounds. Oh, God, that was mortifying." Meredith thanks her sarcastically, presumably for bringing it up. Cristina says, "Oh, okay, it wasn't mortifying?" Meredith says, "I just wish the baby would get well and go home and Thatcher would go with her. Is that wrong?" Cristina says, "Wrong would be if you wished the baby wouldn't get well." Meredith thanks her, this time genuinely. Cristina mentions how Meredith could help her - by asking Derek if Burke has had any tremors. Meredith tells her to talk to Burke herself. Cristina says no because then "he wins". Meredith is confused and asks what he would win. Cristina tells her to forget it. Meredith asks Cristina if she has a father. Cristina says, "I have a step-father. He's nice. I see him for Yom Kippur." Meredith looks at her a moment then looks away.

Mark is giving Alex flak about not arranging his charts in a satisfactory manner, that he prefers rounding on pre-op before post-op. He asks Alex if he likes wasting his time. Alex says he doesn't. Addison comes and puts down a chart. She asks Mark, "Do you like abusing the interns? Is it fun for you?" Mark says, "Yes, it is, and in case you've forgotten, you don't get the high horse this week, Addison. Not this week." Marks walks away. Alex says in Addison's ear, "He's an ass." Grimly, Addison says, "Not this week."

Callie and Bailey are walking down the halls. They have a conversation about Derek Shepherd. Bailey stares Callie down. At first, Callie laughs thinking it's a joke. Bailey just continues to stare at her. Callie gets a scared expression on her face then walks away. Bailey giggles.

Izzie is examining Heather and taking down notes. Heather says, "You're way too hot to be a doctor. I mean aren't people who look like you supposed to be dumb?" Izzie only looks at her and continues her examination. Heather says, "I'm just saying, you're not going to be in my surgery are you? 'Cause I'm a little too young to die." Izzie says that she won't be in Heather's surgery. Heather says, "See, I knew it. You're not even a doctor." Izzie tells her that she is a doctor, but when her fiance dropped dead she went a little nuts and she can't participate in surgeries for awhile. Heather says, "Well, so much for my theory that life doesn't suck for pretty people. I'm sorry I was such a bitch to you." Izzie says, "Well, you're in pain. Sometimes I'm a bitch for no good reason at all." Heather laughs.

Derek is walking when Callie catches up with him. She explains that she knows he is very busy but then talks about the Heather Douglas case. She speaks very quickly and explains Heather's situation and past history and that it clearly sucks. Derek says, "Clearly sucks? Is that your professional assessment?" She says they, the two of them, could help her. He says that his day is impossible and tries to step around her to continue on his way. She steps in front of him and opens her eyes really wide. Derek looks at her a moment then says he'll come by for a consult the next morning. He goes around her and walks away. Callie says to herself with a smile, "I'm a good starer."

Bailey and Richard are looking over a chart at the nurse's station when Mr. O'Malley approaches them. The oncologist told him that if the cancer spread to his other organs they might not proceed with his surgery. Richard says that is true because if it has spread, it would compromise his ability to recover. Mr. O'Malley says if he was closed up and sent back home, that he would get a couple of weeks to live. Richard says that he could have weeks or months. Mr. O'Malley thinks that he could survive this, he is a fighter, O'Malley's are fighters. Bailey tries to advise him by saying that it is not a good idea. Mr. O'Malley starts to talk about his wife, that they have been married for 40 years. His family and wife need him. He really believes that he could fight it. He asks them for their word that they will remove the tumor regardless of what they find when they open him up. Richard says he is there to help him the best he can medically. Mr. O'Malley does not think sending him home to die is the best thing for him, "not medically or any other way". He pleads for them to take the tumor out. Richard pauses a few moments then agrees to do it. Mr. O'Malley looks for Bailey's answer. She doesn't say anything. Richard and Mr. O'Malley shake hands, he thanks Richard and walks back to his room. Bailey asks whether this is confidential. Richard says, "If you're asking if you can tell his son, the answer is 'no'." Bailey looks disappointed.

A new day has dawned. Meredith is asleep, snoring once again. Derek is laying on his side watching her. He does not have a smile on his face this time. Meredith wakes up and says, "You're watching me sleep again?" He smiles now and says, "You're cute when you sleep. What can I say?" He kisses her. Meredith asks, "Yeah, but don't you sleep? Why are you always up before the alarm?" Derek tells her that he's a light sleeper, that it is not a big deal. She says, "So, something woke you up?" He says, "It's not big deal. It's just that you snore a little." Shocked and embarrassed, Meredith says, "What? I do not!" Derek smiles and says, "Yes, you do. I love it. I find it charming that such a big noise can come from such a little person." He laughs then kisses her again. She comes back at him and says, "Do you know what's not charming? Your morning breath." Derek gets offended and says, "I'm sorry. What!?" He puts his hands to his mouth to smell his breath. Meredith says, "I'm just saying since you're always up before me you might consider brushing your teeth." He says, "Okay, this is me brushing my teeth." Derek, laughing, gets up to brush his teeth. Meredith thanks him then crosses her arms across her chest. She is smiling in slight embarrassment.

Izzie is drinking a cup of coffee. George prepares himself a bowl of cereal. She asks, "Surgery's today?" He says it is and that he is okay. She says, "Yeah, I have a really good feeling. I didn't even bake anything for you." George happily thanks her. Izzie walks to the fridge and sees the check.

It is pouring rain outside. Mark is wet. Alex has a cup of coffee ready for him. Mark asks, "Does it ever stop raining in this hell hole?" Alex says, "Not really." Mark takes a sip of the coffee and cringes. He asks, "What the hell is this, Karev? Vanilla? Are you trying to poison me or are you just trying to make my day a little bit worse?" Alex says the coffee cart probably messed up the order. Addison seees all the goings on from behind the desk. Mark tells Alex that if he can't handle something as simple as coffee then he might not be able to plastics. He tells Alex, "Maybe you ought to head back to the gynie squad where everything is squishy and pink!" Mark walks away angry. Addison says that it may be squishy and pink but offers to include him in an amazing surgery she has that day. Alex accepts.

Burke is laying in bed watching the rain through the window. Olivia comes in and says, "Good morning, Dr. Burke." He says that it is a 'good morning' and adds that it is beautiful, he loves watching the rain. Olivia examines him, gently squeezing each of the fingers on his right hand. His right arm is in a special sling. She asks if he is doing good, whether he is in any pain. Burke says that he's feeling great. Olivia hesitantly starts to ask about his right hand. She looks at him optimistically. Burke stops looking at the window to look at Olivia and smiles. He says, "I'm sorry, Olivia. You're going to have to tell Dr. Yang that I'm not ready to give her that information." Olivia smiles, apoligizes, then leaves the room. Cristina is standing in the doorway disappointed. George starts to walk into the room. Cristina points at Burke and whispers, "Ask him." George says, "Uh huh. Uh huh." George shuts the door then asks Burke whether he knows Cristina is stalking his room. He does. George hands Burke his father's chart. George seems pessimistic because his father has a 50% morbidity rate. Burke tells him that he has to look at it from both sides, that the statistic also means he has a 50% of surviving too. George nods his head.

Derek, Callie, and Izzie are in with Heather and her mother. Derek says that he has read through Heather's history, he realizes she has gone through very painful surgeries in the past. He thinks that he can helps significantly with the curve in her spine, that he can get her standing up straight. Callie has a big grin on her face. Heather asks, "Are you messing with me? 'Cause it's not nice to mock crippled kids." Derek walks over to the wall where her X-ray is up. He points to the curve in her spine and says he is going to remove it. Heather's mom is in disbelief. Derek says they will put a titanium mesh cage to fill in the space between the vertebrae. Callie mentions that she has seen a few successful case studies. Heather's mom asks about the unsuccessful cases. Callie says those resulted in paralysis or death. Izzie says that Derek is the best. Her mother is still skeptical saying that her daughter is only 17. Heather says, "Mom, I know you still think that death is the worst thing that can happen to a person. Death is not the worst thing. I'm in."

Bailey is putting up X-rays to look at. Izzie comes in and starts talking about how Derek and Callie are going to cut out a portion of Heather's spine. Bailey says, "And?" Izzie says that it's a once-in-a-lifetime surgery. She really wants to scrub in and feels she should because Heather is her patient. Bailey asks if she has deposited the check yet. Izzie says that it is her money and should therefore be able to do what she wants with it. Bailey asks, "You get a 5% return on a six month C.D.? In the time we've been standing here, you could have just made four hundred dollars. It's not reasonable, Stevens."

George and his dad are playing cards. Harold randomly says, "I'm sorry about running over Bucky." George is confused. Harold says that he ran over George's dog, Bucky, but said that the dog ran away. He apologizes. George asks if he ran Bucky over on purpose. Harold says that of course he didn't, Bucky was chasing their truck then got caught up under the tire. Harold says that he couldn't tell George because he was such a soft, sensitive kid. George gets offended. Harold explains that he means it in a good way - that George was kind, loved animals, and helped people; he couldn't face George so he told him a lie instead, he apologizes. George says, "Okay." Harold says that George is a good kid and always has been. George tells him to stop acting like he's dying. Harold says his thought anyway, that George is crazy if he lets Callie get away. George gets a whiny tone in his voice and says, "Dad, please!" Harold goes on to say that Callie "gets" George in a way that the family never has, which he also apologizes for - that he grew up feeling so different. George tells him to stop saying that he is sorry and to stop saying his goodbyes, it is not the way to go into a surgery. Harold says that he is going to die someday. George looks uncomfortable. Harold adds that everyone eventually dies, and lying in the hospital bed has given him time to think about things he hasn't said. George tells his dad to discard. He asks George, in a funny manner, whether he has anything to say to him. George exclaims, "Dad!" Harold laughs and puts down a card. George takes it, lays his cards on the table and says, "Dog murderer." Harold laughs even harder, George smiles.

George, Meredith, Harold, and Louise are going down a hallway because he is going to go into surgery. They run into Thatcher. It is an awkward moment. Thatcher tries to go as quick as he can and tells Meredith that it was nice seeing her. With a smile on her face, Louise asks, "That your ex-boyfriend?" Meredith replies, "No, that's my ex-father."

Richard and Bailey are operating on Mr. O'Malley. Meredith is at Richard's side observing. Richard shows her how there is good exposure to the esophageal hiatus. Bailey says they will inspect and palpate the abdominal cavity. They expose it. A dark substance seems to be covering most of the organs, the tumor has spread. Richard says the stomach, celiac, lymph nodes, the liver are all affected. Meredith asks if they are going to close him now. Bailey says that they are going to proceed. Meredith is confused. Richard tells her that the patient asked them to continue regardless of what they find. Meredith asks what that means. Richard says, "This man asked for a chance to fight. What it means is he's going to have to fight llike hell." Meredith asks if there's a chance. Bailey says that there is a chance then adds that the request was private. Meredith looks at them then says, "Okay."

Addison walks by and then back tracks to go into Burke's room. He is a little surprised but pleased to see her. She asks how he is doing. He says he's better and looking forward to going home. Addison says that "Dr. Yang is looking forward" to having him home too. Burke says that maybe she is but he wouldn't know. Addison asks why he wouldn't know, she asks if they are over. Burke says it's not over, "it's just silent". Addison said she heard something about that, the nurse's were talking about it but she just thought it was gossip. She asks why Burke isn't talking to Cristina. He asks Addison, "Did you ever play Say 'Uncle'?" She does not know about it. He explains that someone pulls your arm behind your back harder and harder until you say "Uncle". Addison asks what happens after that. Burke says, "Then they have all the power." She smiles and says, "I see. So you are not saying 'Uncle' and neither is she." Burke says, "It seems that way." Addison says that it's pathetic and that if you do something wrong, you apologize. Burke says that he didn't do anything wrong. Addison asks if Cristina did. Burke says, "She doesn't seem to think so." As Addison leaves she says, "That's pathetic." She smiles at him.

George is pacing by himself in a waiting room. Callie comes. She asks where his family is. He says that they're eating, they like to eat. She notes how George is pacing. He sits down on an arm of the sofa. He says that his dad has been in surgery for awhile. Callie tries to be optimistic and says that they're probably trying to be thorough. George says there might be complications. She sits down next to him and tells him if there were complications he would have been told. She says, "It's okay to be scared." George says that he's not. She says that if he is, he can talk to her. George insists that he is not scared. Callie says, "You sure about that?" She starts to stare at him the way she did with Derek. George says, "Okay, now I'm scared of you." Callie says, "Damn it. I was staring you down." She adds that it worked when she did it to Derek. George says, "Seriously?" Callie tries to stare him down again. He says, "No, it's not -- I'm still scared." They both laugh. Bailey and Meredith are at the doorway and George goes to them.

Bailey and Meredith lead George, his mother, and his brothers to Mr. O'Malley's room. Meredith and Bailey go in first. George stops his family and says they should prepare themselves because this surgery was more extensive than his previous one; Harold may still have a tube in his throat to help him breathe and there is probably a big scar running down his chest. He says, again, that they should be prepared. They go into the room. It is as George said, there is a tube and large scar. Louise goes up to Harold, who is sedated, and says, "Welcome back, Sweetheart." Jerry says that his dad looks like something out of a butcher shop. Ronnie says that it's a cool looking scar. George steps out of the room and leans against the wall. Meredith comes out. She says gently, "You need to breathe." George says quietly, almost a whisper, "He's my dad." Meredith hugs him and says, "I know."

Another day has started, Meredith is asleep in bed on her side. She wakes up and turns over to see the other side of the bed is empty. Next moment, Meredith opens the door to George's bedroom. Derek is sound asleep on his bed. She says, "Oh, you have got to be kidding me!" Derek stirs awake. She asks where George is. He says that George spent the night at the hospital so he slept in his room. Meredith asks if he was there all night. Derek says he went there after she fell asleep. He rolls over to face the door. She says, "So you're telling me that my snoring is so bad -- how did you deal with it for all those nights before I found out about your wife?" Passing the room in the hallway, Izzie says, "He usually sleeps on the couch, sets an alarm, gets back into bed before you wake up." Quietly Derek says, "Yeah, I didn't want to hurt your feelings." Meredith comes into the room and grabs a pillow, she says, "I'm going to do more than hurt your feelings." She starts to hit him with the pillow. He grabs one of her arms and pulls her into bed with him. He puts his arms around her. While both of them are laughing, he says, "I'm gonna hurt your feelings 'cause..." He breathes his bad morning breath into Meredith's face. They laugh even harder.

Izzie is standing in front of the fridge staring at the check with her arms crossed. She pulls it out of its holder.

Izzie is seated at a chair sobbing. A banker asks if he can help her. She says she has to get rid of the 8, no nearly 9 million dollars. The banker looks confused. He gives her a tissue. She hands him the check. He says, "It's covered in food. Is this some kind of joke?" She laughs and sobs at the same time then says, "It is kind of a joke, a really cruel joke." He is still confused and asks if Izzie wants to deposit the check. She says, "If I wanted to deposit it, do you think that I would look like this?" He says he doesn't understand. She says that she is supposed to do something good with the money, she starts rambling. Then she shouts, "Can you just deposit the damn thing already!?!" She starts sobbing again.

George is by Burke's bed who is looking over Mr. O'Malley's chart. Burke says that he's surprised they proceeded with the surgery. George says that they probably thought his dad was strong enough to fight the cancer. Burke asks whether he is conscious. George says he's not, they are keeping him sedated because he is still intubated. Burke tells him the main concern for the next few days is multi-system organ failure, that the surgery was too intense for the weakened organs to support. He says to especially watch his kidneys because if they start to go, it is a sign that others will soon follow. George thanks him then starts to leave. Before he does, he says, "Do you mind me asking, how's your hand?" Burke says that he doesn't mind if he asks, but he would mind if George told Cristina. George says that he and Cristina have a strange relationship. Burke agrees that they do.

Thatcher is with Laura. He is speaking baby talk to her and laughing. Meredith watches him from outside through the blinds. He talks about how Laura is going to have her own room when they take her home. He says that her mom got a bunch of stencils and decorated the room with butterflies and flowers. Meredith has a hint of a smile on her face when Alex comes up from behind her. He asks if she needs something. She says she doesn't, that she's fine. Meredith walks away. Alex goes into the room. Thatcher explains that it gets quiet in there. Alex asks the nearby nurse if she paged him. She did, Laura has what appears to be a distended stomach. Alex starts to examine the baby. Thatcher starts to get nervous and says that he didn't notice anything. Alex tells him that it's hard to see. He then tells the nurse to page Addison. Thatcher asks if everything is okay. Alex says they should wait for Dr. Montgomery.

Derek is seated at the desk doing research on the computer. Meredith comes to him looking distraught. He asks her what's wrong. She says that her dad, the one she doesn't talk to or barely knows, is in the hospital. He asks if he's there to see Meredith. She says that he's there to see his other family. Derek stands up and says he's sorry. She asks him where he sleeps at the trailer. Derek is confused. She elaborates, "When we sleep at the trailer, where do you sleep?" He says, "You know the hammock outside? Sorry." Meredith says, "I'm a girl with abandonment issues. You have to sleep with me from now on." Derek smiles and says okay.

Bailey is walking and Izzie catches up to her. She hands Bailey a note from her "hack of a shrink" and says she gets to scrub in. Bailey says not until she says so. Izzie says, "I deposited the damn check." As they're walking, the overhear a phone conversation. Heather's mom says, "You cheap son of a bitch bastards are going straight to hell! Straight to hell!" She hangs up the phone. Bailey asks what the problem is. Rhada says that it's the insurance people and the surgery is too experimental for them to pay for. It's $200,000, plus hospital stay, plus rehab. Rhada cannot afford it even if she got 3 jobs. She gets up off the bench and walks away. Bailey says that there is not going to be a surgery to scrub in on and hands Izzie back the note.

Addison comes in and says, "Talk to me". Alex tells her that Laura's abdomen was distended and she needed help breathing. Thatcher apologizes for not noticing earlier. Addison looks at an X-ray and notes that there is free air trapped beneath her diaphragm. Addison tells Thatcher they need to take Laura into surgery. He says, "What?" Addison says there is a perforation in the bowel. Alex holds a clipboard with consent forms for Thatcher to sign. He seems apprehensive at making a decision. He brings up how his wife and daughter are at home with the flu. Addison says there is no time for his indecisiveness. Thatcher says okay and takes the clipboard.

Addison and Alex are performing surgery on Laura. He says, "It's so tiny I'm afraid I might crush it." Addison says it's tougher than he thinks, she tells him to squeeze it. He says thank you. Addison sees that Laura's N.G. tube eroded right through the stomach wall, she might have to resect an entire portion of the stomach. Laura's heart rate monitor starts to beep faster. Addison gives instructions because Laura is hypotensive. The heart monitor becomes normal again. Alex says that was scary. Addison says, "You're telling me. This is Meredith Grey's niece. If I lost her, people might think I did it on purpose." Alex smiles under his mask.

From the gallery, Meredith watches Laura's surgery. Richard comes in and stands next to her. He asks how it is going. She tells him there was a scare a minute ago but the baby's stabilized now. He tells her that Thatcher is pacing in the hallway. He asks Meredith if she can give Thatcher an update. She says that maybe he should do it. Richard says, "He's not a big fan of mine." Meredith says, "He's not a big fan of mine either." Richard tells her, "Oh, I can't imagine that's true. Your mother was a force to be reckoned with. If she wanted things a certain way I -- I'm saying your father was a good man when I knew him. He may have a side in this that you don't know anything about." Meredith says, "What you think he tried to send me a card every year and my mother has a whole drawer full of unopened cards. Because it's not often that my life turns out that way." Richard says he doesn't know but Meredith won't know either until she asks him.

Jerry and Ronnie watch George with curious expressions. George keeps fiddling with his dad's urine bag. Callie walks into the room and asks how things are. Jerry says that George is obsessed with their dad's pee. Ronnie adds that it's weird even for "Georgie". Louise tells them to be nice. George exclaims, "It's his kidney function! I'm obsessed with his kidney function, not his pee! And I'm not obsessed, I'm excited." George has a weird expression on his face, as though he is too excited. Ronnie asks, "You're not gonna drink that? Are you, Georgie?" George holds up his father's urine bag. He loudly, excitedly says, "130 C.C.'s! 130 C.C.'s of siny, yellow urine!" Callie asks how long it took to get 130 C.C.'s. George says, "Four hours!" Callie, now equally happy and excited, says, "No way! That is fantastic!" George and Callie start to dance and celebrate. George kisses her, then thanks her. He kisses her again. The brothers look even more confused.

Mark and Addison pass each other while walking. Addison stops to talk to him, he attempts to keep walking. She says his name then, "I'm sorry you're hurting." Mark replies, "You're sorry I'm hurting or you're sorry?" He walks away.

Alex is with Laura. He is strokinng her hair. Addison comes into the room. Alex pulls his hand out because he is surprised to see her, he makes the excuse he was checking on her capillary refills. Addison says that it's good, that "we all need a little human contact from time to time." Alex says, "It sucks. It's like she hasn't had a chance to deserve this, you know?" Addison asks, "Is that why you want to go into plastics? 'Cause people sign up for the pain they get?" Alex says, "Yeah. For the post part they do, yeah." They both look at Laura and glance at each other from time to time. Addison says, "You're right. It does suck watching them struggle and that part never stops sucking. But when you get to see a baby heal and they get to go home and you just imagine this whole life that they're going to live, well, there's nothing better than that and that part never changes. But if you want to go back to plastics --". Alex says, "Nah. The vanilla latte? I did that on purpose." Addison chuckles then asks why. Alex says, "Because he was rude to you." Addison and Alex lean in closer for a kiss. Before their lips touch, another doctor comes into the room. They both start apologizing profusely to each other. Alex awkwardly leaves. Addison starts to put her head onto the incubator until she realizes that it's an incubator.

Izzie walks into the room to see that Heather is making her way to the bathroom. Izzie offers to help her. Heather bitterly says, "I can walk to the bathroom myself. I've been doing it my whole life and nothing's changing anytime soon so just get out of my way, okay?"

Meredith is walking down a hallway. She walks past the nursery where Thatcher is with Laura. They lock eyes for a moment. Meredith continues to walk at a quicker pace. Thatcher comes out into the hall and calls her name. She doesn't respond and just keeps walking.

George is flipping through a magazine in the waiting room. He looks up, grief and a little bit of sadness in his face. Bailey is shown elsewhere in the hospital with a similar expression. Cristina is lying on a couch, arms folded across her chest looking at the ceiling. Burke is laying in his hospital bed, his eyes are barely open. He appears to be looking blankly at something. Alex is standing in the elevetor, arms spread like an eagle leaning his hands against the back rail. He is looking down and in deep thought. Addison is leaning against a wall also in deep thought. Mark is at a Nurse's Station leaning on the desk looking sad and hurt. Bailey is sitting on a gurney in a hallway. Richard goes up to her. He looks at her then down. She looks away from him in another direction. Cristina is still lying on the couch, she glances to her right. Burke's bed is there. They merely look at each other. Callie is sitting on the stairs in the Main Lobby area looking off into nothing. In the wait room, George is still looking through the magazine. Izzie is now seated next to him. She takes his hand and holds it to comfort him.

Meredith is sound asleep in her bed. She has a nasal strip on her nose, to help her snoring. Derek is asleep next to her until Meredith lets out a snore. Derek opens his eyes widely. He blinks a couple of times then looks at Meredith in disbelief.

Main Cast

 * Ellen Pompeo as Dr. Meredith Grey
 * Sandra Oh as Dr. Cristina Yang
 * Katherine Heigl as Dr. Izzie Stevens
 * Justin Chambers as Dr. Alex Karev
 * T.R. Knight as Dr. George O'Malley
 * Chandra Wilson as Dr. Miranda Bailey
 * James Pickens, Jr. as Dr. Richard Webber
 * Kate Walsh as Dr. Addison Montgomery
 * Sara Ramírez as Dr. Callie Torres
 * Eric Dane as Dr. Mark Sloan
 * Isaiah Washington as Dr. Preston Burke
 * Patrick Dempsey as Dr. Derek Shepherd

Guest Starring

 * George Dzundza as Harold O'Malley
 * Jeff Perry as Thatcher Grey
 * Debra Monk as Louise O'Malley
 * Greg Pitts as Jerry O'Malley
 * Tim Griffin as Ronny O'Malley
 * Mae Whitman as Heather Douglas
 * Judith Hoag as Rhada Douglas
 * Sarah Utterback as Nurse Olivia Harper

Co-Starring

 * John O'Brien as Lab Guy
 * Elaine Kao as NICU Nurse
 * Rhomeyn Johnson as Manager
 * Jake Mailey as Uncle Jim
 * Michael James Thompson as Cousin Joe

Notes and Trivia

 * This episode's title originated from the song Six Days, originally sung by DJ Shadow.
 * This episode scored 23.03 million viewers.
 * This is the first episode to feature a "To Be Continued" frame instead of the normal end title card, and also the second one to feature no opening and closing voiceover.

Quotes

 * Callie: You know Shepherd pretty well, yeah?
 * Bailey: Lots of hair, too many women, likes elevators and long walks on the beach.
 * Callie: So, um, what's the best way to get him to do something?
 * Bailey: What kind of something?
 * Callie: A consult that the patient hasn't requested but that the friendly neighborhood ortho resident thinks is worth pursuing.
 * Bailey: Shepherd thinks he's busier and a maybe little more important than everyone else.
 * Callie: Standard neuro surgeon breed.
 * (They stop walking near the surgery board.)
 * Bailey: Exactly.
 * Callie: Okay so..?
 * Bailey: So, he'll say no until you stare him down.
 * Callie: Stare him down?
 * Bailey: (intensely) Stare. Him. Down.


 * Heather: What are you all staring at? Really, if you're expecting me to be the brave and heartwarming differently-abled girl, that isn't going to be happen so go ahead and do your thing.
 * Bailey: Stevens.
 * Izzie: Heather Douglas, 17. Past medical history of VATER syndrome.
 * Bailey: Which is?
 * Izzier: VATER syndrome is a genetic condition that affects the vertebrae, anus, trachea, esophagus and renal system.
 * Heather: Wow, give this girl a medal. She memorized the whole acronym, which I assure you is a hell of a lot easier than living with it.


 * Callie: It's okay to be scared.
 * George: I'm not scared.
 * Callie: I'm just saying if you are, you can talk to me.
 * George: I'm not scared.
 * Callie: You sure about that? (Callie stares down George)
 * George: Okay, now I'm scared of you.
 * Callie: Damn it. I was staring you down.
 * George: Staring me down?
 * Callie: Yeah, it worked on Shepherd.
 * George: Seriously?
 * Callie: Wait, let me try it again. (Callie stares George down again)
 * George: No, it's not -- I'm still scared.