Walking on a Dream

"Patients who undergo an amputation often feel a sensation where the missing limb was as if it's still there. The syndrome is called phantom limb. It's as if the body can't accept that a terrible trauma has occurred. The mind is trying to make the body complete again. Patients who experience phantom limb report many different sensations but by far the most common is pain. The body can be stubborn when it comes to accepting change. The mind holds out hope that the body can be whole again and the mind will always fight for hope, tooth and nail. Until it finds a way of understanding its new reality and accepts that what is gone is gone forever."

- Meredith Grey

Walking on a Dream is the twelfth episode of the ninth season and the 184th overall episode of Grey's Anatomy.

Short Summary
The Seattle Grace doctors are on edge when a new medical professional enters the hospital; Arizona struggles with the emotional and physical pain of a phantom limb; and while battling pregnancy hormones, an overly-emotional Meredith is confronted with her worst fear.

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
 * Kevin McKidd as Dr. Owen Hunt
 * Jessica Capshaw as Dr. Arizona Robbins
 * Sarah Drew as Dr. April Kepner
 * Jesse Williams as Dr. Jackson Avery
 * Patrick Dempsey as Dr. Derek Shepherd

Guest Stars

 * Constance Zimmer as Dr. Alana Cahill
 * Justin Bruening as Paramedic Matthew
 * Camilla Luddington as Dr. Jo Wilson
 * Gaius Charles as Dr. Shane Ross
 * Jerrika Hinton as Dr. Stephanie Edwards
 * Wes Ramsey as Jimmy
 * Navi Rawat as Heidi
 * Laura Heisler as Carla

Co-Starring

 * Elizabeth Anweis as Brie
 * Kirk Bovill as Brian Turner
 * Ameenah Kaplan as Makena
 * Michael Albala as Harvest Surgeon
 * Kate Mines as Nurse Gloria
 * Vito Viscuso as Pilot
 * Leah Morgan as Nyah

Uncredited

 * Naomi Coai as Surgical Nurse

Notes and Trivia

 * This episode's title originated from the song Walking on a Dream, originally sung by Empire of the Sun.
 * This episode scored 9.01 million viewers.
 * Although in a dream, this is the last time Arizona Robbins is seen with both her legs.

Quotes

 * Alana Cahill: Look, I know these cuts are going to be painful, but understand that I am trying to keep your hospital doors open.
 * Derek: This is ridiculous. You can't close the ER. You went to med school, you have to ask yourself...
 * Bailey: Do you have a better idea? Because, the way I see it, this woman is trying to keep the hospital from closing, in which case there'd be no patients, we'd have no jobs, and... Some of don't have a few million to fall back on, so, unless you have a better idea, why don't you just sit there and listen to what she has to say?


 * Alana Cahill: Well, I'll see you in the OR tomorrow.
 * Derek: Typically, you need to be invited.
 * Alana Cahill: If things were running typically, I wouldn't be here, now would I?


 * April: I apologize for the wait, Madam. You're experiencing shortness of breath?
 * Alana Cahill: Luckily, no. 45 minutes in an ER bed before a doctor pulls out a stethoscope, I'd likely be experiencing shortness of life.