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Doctors never mean to screw up. You make a bad call and the unthinkable happens. It's not like we do it on purpose. It's not like we want to hurt anyone, but sometimes we do. Sometimes we make mistakes and when we blow it, we're sorry. Not that being sorry really matters anymore. No apology in the world matters now. We've all done things we aren't proud of. I understand that. I know nobody's perfect, but how do you live with it? How do you get up every morning and face the world, knowing you could've done better? That you should've done better? Is being sorry enough? Can an apology actually heal our wounds? Ease our pain? Can it undo the hurt that we've caused?

Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word is the ninth episode of the tenth season and the 205th overall episode of Grey's Anatomy.

Short Summary[]

When an unexpected malpractice suit turns Callie’s world upside down, her supportive father arrives and shares an interesting secret with her. Meanwhile, through flashbacks, we learn some surprising details about Callie and Arizona’s marriage.

Full Summary[]

Callie is in a clothing store, searching for pantyhose. She grabs one out of a pile and the whole display comes down.

The voiceover says that doctors never mean to screw up. The scene moves to Callie in surgery. Jo is asking if Callie wants her to call, but Callie says there's no time.

Back at the store, a sales person approaches and asks Callie if she can help. Callie needs just regular pantyhose.

Back in surgery, a nurse says they can't do that, but Callie says they have no choice, they're closing him up. She yells at BokHee to give her the suture.

Back at the store, Callie is growing frustrated with the sales person, who keeps offering Callie fancier options, while Callie just wants regular nude pantyhose, like she used to buy at the grocery store in little plastic eggs. She gets worked up and yells at the sales person. As voiceover Callie says they don't do it on purpose, a series of flashbacks of her and Arizona plays. Callie sees that she's made a mistake in yelling at the sales person, so she apologizes and says she'll take all the pantyhose, even the ones with rhinestones.

One Month Ago

Callie and Derek are speaking to a crowd at the hospital about their brain mapping project. They've had great success so far, so they're moving from an animated hand to a robotic one. A man enters looking for Callie and Stephanie directs him toward her. He informs her she's being sued. Derek asks who's suing her.

Four Months Ago

Callie is speaking to Cristina at Meredith's baby shower. Cristina says that Travis Reed, snowboarder, wants Callie to do his hip replacement. When Cristina was a second-year, she did a valve replacement on him, her first solo valve replacement and six months later, he was a breakout star.

Arizona approaches them and asks where the onesie decorating station is. Cristina says there isn’t one, but there is a margarita decorating station. Arizona questions what kind of baby shower doesn’t have a onesie decorating station. She already planned a design for hers. Meredith comes up and asks if it’s time to open gifts because she needs to sit down. Arizona says that Meredith is glowy and pregnant. She turns around and suggests to Callie that they have a baby. Callie is surprised, but Arizona says it will be nice to have something new and happy to think about. She even suggests that she be the one to carry it. Callie agrees.

At the hospital, Callie and Cristina are talking. Cristina says that Callie seems happy and she admits that she is. Stephanie, Shane, and Leah come down the hall talking about Travis Reed, who is in the lobby with a crowd around him. When he spots Cristina, he walks toward her and picks her up into a hug. He tells her to dump her husband and run away with him. She asks him about his girlfriend and he says the deal is that he’s allowed to flirt with hot doctors who have had their hands in his chest. Then he turns to Callie and introduces himself, asking if she’s the ortho god. She corrects that she prefers goddess. He asks if she’s ready to build him a new hip.

In a conference room, Callie is watching a video as Travis’s manager explains that he needs to be able to do a move as shown in the video. He asks if she can do that. His publicist asks if he can be doing it by December because he has olympic qualifiers coming up. She asks about his crash last year and he says they said it gave him arthritis. He wants a Peterson hip. She’s reluctant to do it because she’s never worked with it before and she doesn’t think his team will want him being her first. Travis says that he was Cristina’s first valve replacement and that worked out for him. Then he was the first person to land a triple cork in competition and now it’s fairly standard. She’s the first orthopedic surgeon to grow cartilage in a bottle. The reason they are who they are is because they’re not scared of firsts. She says she’ll do the research, but she’s not making any promises. He’s sure she’ll say yes.

Callie is speaking with her lawyer, insisting that she won’t admit to negligence when there wasn’t any. He says they’re willing to call her a non-party at fault. Jury payouts are always bigger than settlements, so if this goes south, she’ll be worse off. She asks if he thinks it’ll go south and says that it was a minor complication in surgery because they thought he’d developed a pulmonary embolus. Post-op infections are a common recognized risk. He says that that’s where she’s going to lose the jury because they won’t understand what she’s saying. They’ll only see that she made a mistake and her patient paid the price. She insists that it wasn’t a mistake and she won’t settle. He says okay. He coaches her to let the jury see her face, wear a dark, not bright, suit, skirt, not pants, minimal jewelry, heels, panty hose, which are professional, but feminine. He asks if she still has her wedding ring and when she says yes, he tells her to wear it, because juries respond better to married women with families. He says there will be water in front of her seat, but says to drink it sparingly because there won’t be any bathroom breaks until the judge calls to recess. Callie informs him that she doesn’t own any pantyhose, so she’ll have to go shopping.

Callie is calling to Sofia to be sure to flush and wash her hands as she gets ready for court. She’s rushing to get ready for court. Arizona comes in, apologizing for being late. Callie says Sofia was ready until she decided she needed to change her dress and then go to the bathroom. Callie suggests that Arizona check on Sofia, but Arizona asks if Callie’s okay. Callie says she has no idea. Arizona says she knows Callie is supposed to have Sofia that night, but says that if Callie needs to be alone or would rather not be alone, they’ll work it out. They’ll do whatever she needs. Callie thanks her and continues to put on her panty hose. Callie’s ring catches Arizona’s eye as she watches Callie get dressed. When Callie questions what Arizona is looking at, Arizona notes the ring, but Callie tells her that her lawyer told her to wear it. Arizona wishes her good luck.

Callie and her lawyer are riding in an elevator up to the courtroom. When the doors open, a mob of reporters awaits her. Her lawyer steps out and fights his way through the crowd. She calls out to him, but he’s gone. Owen appears by her side and helps her through the crowd. He says they are all taking shifts, so that she’ll always have at least one person in the courtroom. He had to fight Bailey for the first shift.

They enter the courtroom and sit down. Callie immediately picks up her water glass and begins to drink until her lawyer reminds her not to. She puts the glass down and looks down toward her lap, where she sees a run in her hose. The doors of the courtroom open again and Travis is wheeled in. It’s revealed that both of his legs have been amputated. The bailiff instructs everyone to rise as the judge enters the courtroom. Travis quips, “I would if I could.” Callie says, “Crap.”

Travis’s lawyer is making his opening statement as Alex enters the courtroom and takes a seat next to Owen, asking what he missed. Owen explains that Travis’s lawyer has been talking for a while, giving off folksy charm and the jury is eating it up. Travis’s lawyer explains that jury duty for medical malpractice cases isn’t easy. They’re going to get a crash course in orthopedic medicine and post-operative infections. He says not to let the medical language intimidate them, that the only thing that matters is the evidence. Callie whispers that those things are part of the evidence, but her lawyer shushes her. Travis’s lawyer continues that they’ll be focusing on a 16-day period last spring and they will establish that Callie agreed to perform a surgery she didn’t understand and made a series of bad decisions which ultimately cost Travis Reed his legs.

In the OR, Callie and Jo are operating on Travis’s hip. Everything was looking good when Travis’s heart rate rapidly increased. Callie prepares to start closing, but a nurse says that the sponge count is off, so they can’t. He’s continuing to decline, so Callie says it’s probably on someone’s shoe. Jo offers to call for a portable x-ray to locate the sponge, but Callie says it’ll take too long and he could go into shock. Things are getting worse. Jo asks again if Callie wants her to call for x-ray, but Callie insists that there isn’t time and she continues closing. She yells at BokHee to give her the suture so she can close.

Back in court, Jo is on the stand. Travis’s lawyer asks Jo to clarify that Callie knew that she was leaving a sponge inside Travis’s body and she didn’t care. Jo contests that she did care, but there was nothing else she could have done. He says it’s a yes or no question: did she knowingly leave the sponge? Jo reluctantly admits that yes, she did. He says he has a son in college and he visited him and found a sponge in his dorm and they would not believe the stuff he found growing on it. Callie’s lawyer objects and it is sustained. Travis’s lawyer then asks Jo about the next time she saw Travis, about two weeks later. Jo says he had an infection.

Callie enters Travis’s hospital room, saying she heard about his fever. Jo says he’s up to 103° and Jo is starting his workup. Whitney, Travis’s girlfriend, says she had to force him to come in. Jo has listened to Travis’s heart and offers for Callie to listen, too. Callie does and Jo asks if it’s a murmur. Callie confirms that it is and goes to look at Travis’s incision. It’s horribly infected. Callie doesn’t want Whitney to panic, but she says they’re going to go in to clear out the infection.

Out in the hallway, Callie instructs Jo to give him antibiotics and call for an OR right away. She asks about the murmur and if the infection could have traveled to his heart. Callie says that his vitals are stable, so they need to go in and clear out his joint. They can’t delay it. Jo asks if she should call Cristina. Callie says if she’s not available within 5 minutes, she has to wait until he’s post-op. She says she won’t turn an olympic athlete into a doorstop, a remark which Whitney overhears.

In the OR, Callie notes that the infection is deep and she’ll have to remove the whole joint, leaving him temporarily with no hip.

Back in court, Travis’s lawyer says that sounds nasty, but Jo notes that post-op infections happen all the time. He asks if that’s her professional opinion and she says that it is. He asks if it’s also common for post-op infections to lead to double amputation. She says no and tries to speak more, but he says he has no further questions. Jo protests that he’s not letting her finish, but the judge silences her.

Callie enters the bathroom and kicks off her heels, tugging the torn hose off and looking through her purse for a spare pair. As she finds some and unwraps them, Arizona enters the bathroom, apologizing. She says she’ll come back, but Callie says it’s fine and continues to get redressed. She says she has to sit in there and not react because she’ll look unlikable or petty, but how can she not react? It’s awful and they’re making her sound awful. Arizona opens her purse and says she thinks she has something that will make Callie feel better. She pulls out a drawing that Sofia drew in the car that morning, which Sofia claimed was a jellyfish and a rainbow mermaid. Arizona admits that she’s not sure which is which, but offers it to Callie, saying that when she feels like screaming, she can look at the jellyfish and it will calm her down. Callie takes the drawing and admits that she’s surprised that Arizona is there, but thanks her for coming. Callie puts the drawing in her bag and says she should get back. Arizona asks Callie if she’s sure she wants to wear rhinestone butterflies in court. Callie looks down to see butterflies on her hose. Arizona says it’s her choice, but it’s a strange choice. She says lots of people like butterflies. Callie starts to laugh as Arizona says that butterflies are cute. They laugh together.

In their living room, sitting on the floor in front of the couch, Callie and Arizona are drinking wine as they look through donor profiles. Arizona says it’s not any more ridiculous than vetoing any guy shorter than 6’3”. Callie objects that they’re not picking a donor based on his taste in music. Arizona points out a profile with a cute baby picture. Callie agrees that he would make super cute babies. Arizona flips it over and see that he’s a college dropout. They look at each other and pass. Callie pulls out the profile of a mathematician who has a graduate degree and runs marathons. Arizona asks to see the picture. Callie flips it over and they both cringe. Callie sets it aside and pulls up an Ivy League poet, smart and creative. Arizona agrees. She turns to Callie and asks if Callie thinks she’ll like being pregnant. Callie says it’s the best, except for the nausea, the stretch marks, the peeing, the lack of sleep, the exhaustion, and the no booze. Arizona pulls her wine glass back and tells it, “I will miss you most of all.”

After a long day in court, Callie is home. She pours herself a large glass of wine and removes her wedding ring. She gets up to answer a knock at the door, thinking it’s Arizona. She’s surprised because Arizona was supposed to bring Sofia by after dinner. She opens the door to see her father, not Arizona. Callie hugs him as he enters.

Callie’s dad says she mentioned the trial like it was nothing, but it’s never nothing. He’s been sued a lot. His lawyer is on speed dial. His lawyer is good, though his tactics are technically illegal. Callie says he didn’t have to come all this way. He says of course he did; his baby’s in trouble. But first, he wants to see Sofia. He calls out for her and when she doesn’t come, he asks if Sofia’s already asleep. Callie tells him that she isn’t and says she’s not there. She’s with Arizona, who will bring her by in an hour. Her father is confused and Callie finally admits that she and Arizona are separated because Arizona cheated on her. Carlos asked when it happened and she says a few months ago. He wants to know why she didn’t tell him and she says she didn’t want to get into it. She fought so hard for him to accept them and her mother hasn’t spoken to her since the wedding. She says apparently, she just marries people who cheat on her. She says it’s pathetic and she is pathetic. He says when “that O’Malley kid” cheated on her, Carlos was ready to knock his teeth out. He says he won’t hit a lady, but he knows people and all Callie has to do is say the word. Callie says no. Carlos has Callie look at him. He takes her face in his hands and says nothing about her is pathetic before kissing her on the forehead.

Callie enters the apartment with pizza. She says she knows she said she’d cook dinner, but she had a lot of work to catch up on, so she got pizza instead. She sees Sofia playing on the living room floor and asks her where Arizona is. Arizona then calls to Callie from the bathroom. Callie throws the pizza and the mail down and races into the bathroom, where Arizona is standing. Callie asks if everything is okay. Arizona just nods and pulls a pregnancy test out from behind her back, telling Callie, “We’re having a baby.” Callie cheers. Arizona says her breasts were hurting and she thought maybe, but she’s only one day late and she didn’t even think it would show up on a test so quickly, but it did. They hug tightly. Callie pulls back and kneels down. She says, “Hi. Hi, sweet baby.” and kisses Arizona’s belly three times.

Callie is sitting in a conference room all by herself. Arizona comes in, and there's an awkward silence until the rest of the board members come in, too. Jackson wants to make it quick and tells Callie she can't be here, but Callie wants to tell something before she goes. She says Travis Reed is both suing her and the hospital, and informs them that while she won't settle with him, the hospital should, as she knows how hard it's been to get the hospital back on its feet. She doesn't want them to jeopardize that because of her. She leaves, and Derek asks what the legal team said. Jackson says they advised to settle, and Arizona asks what happens if they don't. Jackson says that if the case goes to trial and the judgment is against them, it'll cost them millions, while they could settle for less. Derek concludes that going to trial means they risk going bankrupt all over again. Meredith doubts that they should settle, but Cristina says she saw in first hand what happened with the patient, and she thinks he has a good case. She says they should settle and Callie should, too.

The lawyer asks Cristina about her relationship with Travis. She says she performed his valve replacement six years ago and has overseen his cardiac care ever since. He asks if she’s the one who recommended him to Dr. Torres. She confirms that that’s correct. He asks why and she says it’s because Callie was the best orthopedic surgeon she knew. He questions her use of the past tense.

Callie and Cristina are looking at Travis’s scans. Cristina asks why Callie didn’t page her sooner. Callie defends that they just heard the murmur that morning. Cristina still thinks they waited too long. He has a large growth and Callie knew he was a heart patient. Callie says it did concern her and that’s why Cristina is there. The infection is eating away at his graft, so the best case scenario is that she goes in and cleans it out and the worst case is that he needs a whole new valve. Jo enters the room and says that Callie needs to see something.

In Travis’s room, Jo pulls his blankets up to reveal that his right foot is gray and cold. She also can’t find a pulse. Callie sends Jo to find Whitney and tell her that Travis needs another surgery. Jo leaves as Callie is checking out his foot. She says she needs to go in and do an embolectomy. Cristina protests that the heart surgery is more emergent. Callie says Cristina can do it later, but Cristina says it’s already later. They continue to fight until Bailey rushes in, telling them she could hear them fighting down the hall. They want her to choose a side. Callie makes another play for it and convinces her.

Back in court, Cristina is telling them that Callie did the surgery that afternoon. The lawyer asks if it was against her wishes. She says they had a professional difference of opinion. He says at his office, if one of his co-workers was shouting loudly enough to be heard down the hall, it’d be more than just a difference of opinion. It’d be grounds for dismissal. Cristina counters that they’re passionate about their work and she ultimately agreed with Callie that the heart surgery could wait. The lawyer questions if she was actually bullied into thinking that. Callie’s lawyer objects.

Callie is telling Cristina that the surgery couldn’t have gone better and his leg was already pinking up when she saw him in recovery. He was febrile overnight, but his white count was stable. They enter his room to see him struggling to breathe. Both of his legs are now black. He asks what’s wrong with them.

Outside the courtroom, Callie asks her lawyer if they’re losing. He says it’s too early to tell. They haven’t presented their side yet. April approaches, pushing Richard in a wheelchair. Callie is surprised to see him, but he wanted to show his support. He says it’s a miracle they got there at all as April is a terrible driver. He asks how the trial is going.

Back in the courtroom, Travis’s lawyer is questioning Whitney. He says she knew it was bad and she says that his legs were black. It wasn’t good. They amputated that evening. He asks if she had indication that Callie was worried about something like that happening. Whitney says she didn’t, but Callie was worried about what it would do to her reputation, saying she overheard Callie saying that she didn’t want to turn an Olympic athlete into a doorstop. The crowd gasps and mutters until the judge silences them.

Arizona is peeking through a fence at a house. She asks if they should knock, but Callie just says they should come back on Sunday when there will be an open house. Arizona says there’s a swing set and a pool, but Callie is still hanging back, working on her phone. Arizona imagines them playing with their girls in that yard, having a picnic and swinging on the swing. Callie asks how she’s so sure they’ll have another girl. Arizona asks her to get off the phone, but she says she’s emailing someone in Germany about a trial they’re doing using Peterson hips. Arizona says they won’t send her information until it’s published, but Callie thinks it’s worth a shot. She sends the email and then tells Arizona she can show her the swing set. Arizona takes a step and stumbles. Callie reaches out to catch her, but she rights herself and says she’s okay.

Travis is on a motorized lift, being risen to enter the witness stand. He’s sworn in. His lawyer stands and asks him for advice on what kind of snowboard to get. Travis gives him advice. Callie’s lawyer objects, questioning what he’s doing. The lawyer defends that he’s asking an expert on snowboards about snowboards. The judge tells him to get to the point. He questions about Travis’s first interactions with Callie, him consulting an expert on joint replacement about a joint. Callie had never done a surgery with that kind of joint, but she’d done a lot of research and felt confident she could do it. He trusted Callie.

Travis is in his hospital bed, staring at his residual limbs, which are still tightly bandaged. Whitney wants to cover them with a blanket. He says, “Why? So you don’t have to look at them? There’s nothing there.” Callie enters. Travis asks if it’s Callie. She says hello, but Travis tells Whitney to tell Callie to leave. He doesn’t want to see her or talk to her. So Callie addresses Whitney instead. She has information on support groups and the name of an incredible prosthetist. He still wants Callie to leave.

On the stand, Travis says he trusted her. People live without legs and it’s not the end of the world, but it’s the end of his world. He started snowboarding when he was five, snow or no snow. It was his hobby, then his job, then his world. Now it’s everything. Without it, he’s lost his identity. And it’s Callie’s fault. He says Callie told him it was her fault. The day she performed the amputation, she came into his room. She’d been crying. She apologized. Callie’s lawyer objects that a physician’s apology can’t be used as evidence of guilt, but Travis’s lawyer says it’s not about the apology, but what she said with it. The judge allows it. Travis says that Callie said that if there was anyone to blame, it’s her. She said it never should have happened and if there was any way she could change things, she would.

Callie is saying goodbye to Sofia as Arizona waits by the door. Carlos is staring intensely at her and she looks uncomfortable. Callie hands Sofia off to Arizona, who says that Callie’s dad is making her uncomfortable, so she’s just going to leave. Callie thanks him for not saying anything to Arizona. He says if Sofia hadn’t been right there, Arizona would have heard plenty. He tells her not to start because she has to be in court soon and she has to take the stand today. Carlos says that he and her mother have been married for 38 years and it hasn’t been all easy. They’ve had troubles. Callie tells him not to start comparing. Carlos asks what happened to Arizona’s “good man in a storm” baloney. He says Arizona should be there every day, fighting for her family. Callie says it’s not like that. Carlos say it is. Arizona hurt her and now she’s too much of a coward to face her. Callie interjects and tells him that she kicked Arizona out. She decided to separate. He asks if she even tried to work things out, but she silences him.

Now on the stand, Callie says she knew was she was doing. She’d done extensive research on the Peterson hip. She spoke with the team who invented it. They agreed that Travis was an ideal candidate. The surgery went well, but Travis’s oxygen level went down and his heart started racing toward the end of the surgery. They suspected a clot in his lung, so they needed to end the surgery quickly. He asks if that’s when she left the sponge and she confirms that it was and she’d do it again because his life was at risk and the sponge wouldn’t compromise the joint. She made a call and she was right. Leaving the sponge was deliberate, not a mistake. She wasn’t careless or distracted.

In the scrub room, Callie tells Jo to watch his vitals to make sure he stays stable and to get an x-ray to locate the sponge. Jo leaves to do that and passes Arizona in the doorway. Arizona tells Callie that she missed their OB appointment. Callie apologizes, says she forgot and got stuck in surgery and asks how it went. She says she knows it’s just a blob at this point, but wants a picture of the blob. Arizona says there’s no picture and no heartbeat. The OB did the ultrasound and couldn’t find a heartbeat. They lost the baby.

Callie says she remembers the day very clearly. She wasn’t distracted. She had other things going on, big things, but her focus was her patient. Her lawyer asks about the embolectomy. Dr. Yang wanted to do the heart surgery first, but she wanted to focus on the leg. The leg was turning gray, which is an indication that it was starting to die, so she wanted to restore blood flow. Once a leg is black, there’s nothing they could do. Her lawyer says Dr. Yang wanted to operate first because the infection had spread to his heart and was throwing emboli all over his body and would continue to throw clots until it was repaired. Callie asks if he cooks. He says a little. She asks what happens if a grease fire starts while you’re cooking and then spreads to the curtains. Do you put out the fire or put out the curtains? She was just choosing which disaster to address first.

In a lounge, Callie thinks Arizona’s picking a fight, but Arizona says she’s just trying to say how she feels. Callie feels like crap, too. They both lost the baby. Callie says they don’t have to try again right away. They can wait. But Arizona doesn’t want to try again because she can’t handle any more loss. Callie asks if that means she doesn’t want another baby. She pushes Arizona for an answer, but Arizona says she doesn’t know. Callie says she has to go check on her patient.

Travis is angry and doesn’t want Callie in his hospital room. He’s yelling at Whitney to get her out. Callie silences him and tells Whitney to go get a snack so she can talk to Travis. She tells Travis to stop taking his anger out on Whitney. She says if anyone is to blame, it’s her, so he can take it out on her. She can handle it. She says it should never happened to him. If there were a way she could magically change things, she would. She tried so hard to fix things.

Callie admits that she apologized. She understood how he was feeling because her wife went through the same things. Arizona losing her leg changed them and cost them in ways she can’t even begin to understand. She wouldn’t wish the experience on anyone and it was happening to her patient. She says she was sorry and still is. She says it makes her human, not negligent. If she can’t feel for her patients without getting sued, she’s going to keep getting sued because that’s who she is. She won’t apologize for caring.

Callie and Meredith enter the apartment. Callie calls out for her father, but he’s still at the park with Sofia and Zola. As Callie notices an envelope that has fallen behind a table, Meredith asks how long she thinks it’ll take for the jury to get back. Callie says it could be days or week. She opens the envelope. It’s from the clinical trial on the joint. They discontinued the study because they linked five instances of infection back to the joint. Meredith asks when it was sent and Callie says it was three weeks before Travis’s surgery.

Callie wants to tell the court about it, but Meredith says not to. Callie didn’t do anything wrong. She did what she thought was best with the information she had. The letter could have just as easily got lost in the mail. Callie admits that she was distracted and she should have followed up when she never heard back. Meredith says that Callie feels bad, but the envelope won’t help. It could sway the jury. Meredith says Callie did nothing wrong, but Callie still thinks she did. Callie’s phone rings. The jury has reached a verdict.

Callie’s voiceover says they’ve all done things they’re not proud of. Callie throws away the envelope. She knows no one is perfect. But how do you live with it? How do you get up and face the world knowing you could have, should have done better? Is being sorry enough? Can an apology heal our wounds, ease our pain? The verdict is read. Not guilty. The other doctors celebrate, but Callie and Cristina are both stunned.

Callie tells Carlos that she doesn’t think it’s enough just because Arizona said she was sorry. Carlos says they’re married. They took vows. If things get hard, you work harder. They have a child together. Carlos admits that he cheated on Callie’s mother. She is stunned. He says it was a long time ago. They were young and he was stupid. Her mother found it in her heart to forgive Carlos because she believed they were stronger than one mistake. And he’s thankful every day that she did, because if she didn’t, he wouldn’t have Callie. They’ve shared a life for 38 years and it all started with that one mistake. He says things might not work out between her and Arizona, but they need to try so they’ll know.

Callie is at the hotel. She finds Arizona’s door and knocks. Arizona, dressed in a bathrobe, answers. She says Callie’s not bringing her extra pillows. Callie says Arizona did something impulsive. It seemed right at the time and she made a mistake. One mistake. Arizona doesn’t want to get into it right now, but Callie says she did something like that today. Callie has something to ask. She wants Arizona to take some time to think about it. She doesn’t need an answer right away, but she wants to know if Arizona will come home. She then silently leaves.

Arizona closes the door and goes to lie back down on the bed. She says, “You should get dressed now and leave.” The camera pulls back to reveal Leah dressed only in a sheet.

Cast[]

Main Cast[]

Guest Stars[]

Co-Starring[]

Medical Notes[]

Travis Reed[]

  • Diagnosis: 
    • Bicuspid aortic valve
    • Arthritis
    • Severe Infection
    • Heart murmur
    • Aortic valve vegetations
  • Treatment:
    • Valve replacement
    • Peterson Resurfacing Hip Joint Replacement
    • Antibiotics
    • Surgery to remove infection
    • Embolectomy
    • Bilateral above-knee leg amputation

Travis needed a valve replacement which was performed by Cristina Yang, who later referred him to Callie Torres when he was injured in a snowboarding accident and needed a hip replacement. He wanted a specific type of hip joint implanted that he heard was good for athletes, so Callie studied up on the surgery and agreed to perform it for what would be her first time. The surgery was successful, but Travis was unstable as they were finishing, so in an effort to close as quickly as possible, Callie knowingly left a sponge inside his body. He got a severe post-operative infection. Callie operated to remove the infection, during which she had to remove the joint. After consulting with Cristina about a murmur he developed, Callie saw that Travis was beginning to lose blood flow, so she operated to remove the clots, delaying his heart surgery an extra day. His leg was pink following surgery, but later, both legs turned black, as sign of tissue death, necessitating bilateral leg amputation. He later unsuccessfully sued Callie for malpractice.

Arizona Robbins[]

  • Diagnosis:
    • Miscarriage
  • Doctor:
    • Unnamed OB/GYN

A few weeks after finding out she was pregnant, Arizona went to an OB appointment for an ultrasound, where no heartbeat was detected.

Music[]

Song Performer Scene
"She" Laura Mvula
  • As Callie gets back into the court room, she throws the letter about the trial into the trash can.
  • Everyone in the room watches how the judge reads the verdict.
  • The verdict is read out loud by the jury foreman, and Callie wins the case.
  • Everyone but Callie starts cheering. Callie looks at a hurt Travis.

Notes and Trivia[]

  • This episode's title originated from the song Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word, originally sung by Elton John.
  • This episode scored 8.56 million viewers.[1]
  • The table read for this episode took place on October 09, 2013.[2]
  • This episode is Callie-centric. As such, she appears in every scene except one, the one where Arizona tells Leah to get dressed and leave the hotel room.
  • At the baby shower at Meredith and Derek's house, Arizona is looking for the onesie decorating station, eager to start working on the design she had in mind. However, at her own baby shower, she didn't seem enthusiastic about a onesie decorating station at all.
  • During the trial, Cristina states that Travis first became her patient six years ago. She also mentions that she was a second-year resident at the time. This is a continuity error because six years prior would be during her intern year, as she is in the beginning of the second year of her fellowship.
  • At the beginning of the episode, we see a lot of flashbacks to previous episodes:
    • Everybody's Crying Mercy: Callie meeting and leaving Arizona at the therapist's office.
    • Seal Our Fate: Callie walking out after revealing to the board members that Arizona cheated on her and Callie walking out of the room after her huge fight with Arizona.
    • I Want You With Me: Arizona talking to Sofia on the deck at Meredith and Derek's house.
    • Perfect Storm: Callie and Arizona fighting after Callie found out that Arizona cheated and Callie noticing Arizona's ring pinned on the scrub top Lauren is wearing.
    • Idle Hands: Arizona looking flattered as Callie is bragging to their colleagues about Arizona's ass now that she's wearing her new prosthetic.
    • Can't Fight This Feeling: Arizona stripping down to calm down a nervous Callie, who's practicing her speech for the TED conference.
    • Things We Said Today: Callie and Arizona leave to go to the room Arizona booked them.
    • Run, Baby, Run: Arizona putting on her flat shoes for Bailey's wedding.
    • I Saw Her Standing There: Arizona allowing Callie to sit down on the sofa next to her to watch American Bake-Off together.
    • Love the One You're With: Callie putting Arizona in the shower after she peed on the bathroom floor.
    • Remember the Time: Arizona making Callie promise not to cut off the leg.
    • Going, Going, Gone: Arizona asking how she can snap out of it when Callie cut off her leg and Callie crying in a supply closet.
  • Goof: During the initial consultation scene with Callie and Travis, the timeline of this scene occurs four months ago, taking place prior to Readiness is All, but Shane, Stephanie, and Leah are shown to have embroidered lab coats which were issued in Map of You.
  • Goof: Cristina tells Callie that Travis Reed was her first solo valve replacement as a second year resident. This is not correct, as Cristina's first solo cardiothoracic surgery (which was a valve replacement) was on Ruthie Carlin, and it occurred in Blink during her third year, supervised by Dr. Altman.
  • Goof: In the scene where Callie hears Travis's murmur for the first time, she puts her stethoscope on backwards into her ears.
  • Goof: Prior to Callie's dad coming to her apartment, we see her take off her ring while she is drinking wine. Later, when she is discussing Arizona and her splitting up, we can see the ring on her finger, though she never put it back on.

Gallery[]

Episode Stills[]

Behind the Scenes[]

Quotes[]

Arizona: You think I'll like being pregnant?
Callie: Oh yeah, it's the best! Well, except for the nausea. Oh, and the stretch marks. And the peeing. And the lack of sleep, the exhaustion. Oh, and then the no booze.
Arizona: No booze?
(Callie nods her head.)
Arizona: (to her glass of wine) Oh, I will miss you. Most of all.

Arizona: Excuse me, where is the onesie decorating station?
Cristina: There isn't one. There's a margarita decorating station though.

Travis: Cristina Yang! You look better and better every time I see you. Dump your husband, run away with me.
Cristina: Oh, come on, don't you have a girlfriend?
Travis: Yeah, we've got a deal. I'm allowed to flirt with hot doctors who've had their hands inside my chest. It's a very short list. (to Callie) Hi, I'm Travis.
Callie: Hi.
Travis: You the ortho god?
Callie: Callie Torres. I prefer goddess.

Arizona: I think I have something that'll make you feel better. So, Sofia drew this in the car this morning and she said that it's of a jellyfish and a rainbow mermaid. I'm not sure which one is which. But you should have it. And then when you feel like screaming you can look at the jellyfish and it'll calm you down.

Arizona: Callie, are you sure you wanna wear, uhm, rhinestone butterflies in court? I mean, it's your choice. It's a strange one, but I suppose lots of people like butterflies.

Callie: Richard! You shouldn't be here.
April: That's what I told him, but he insisted on coming.
Richard: It's a miracle I made it here at all. Kepner's a terrible driver!

Travis: I get people live without legs and it's not the end of the world, but it's the end of my world.

Callie: I know the ultrasound is just a blob at this point, but still. Do you have a picture of blob?
Arizona: There's no picture. And no heartbeat.
Callie: What?
Arizona: She did the ultrasound and she looked and she looked. But there's not heartbeat.
Callie: We lost the baby.

Callie: Okay, let's say you're cooking and you start a grease fire in your kitchen. And then it spreads to your curtains. What do you do? Do you put out the grease fire or do you extinguish the curtains? Which disaster do you tackle first? If I hadn't greaten the emboli when I did, Travis would have lost his leg for sure. I was just picking which disaster to tackle first.

Callie: We don't have to try again right away, all right? We can wait a while before we try it again.
Arizona: No.
Callie: We...
Arizona: No, no. You're missing the point.
Callie: What point?
Arizona: I can't take another loss, Callie! I can't handle it. I can't. I can't think about this right now. It's just too hard!
Callie: What are you saying? That you don't want another baby? Answer me!
Arizona: I don't know.

Callie: Don't you dare take this out on her. You're hurt and angry and you have every right to feel those things, but Whitney has nothing to do with that. You wanna take your crap out on somebody? You take it out on me, all right? I can handle it. You need somebody to blame, then blame me. Go on. Yell all you want. This never should've happened to you and if there were any way I could magically change things, believe me, I would. I wish there was something I could do. I wish I could fix this. I tried. I tried so hard. I'm so sorry, Travis. I'm so, so sorry.

Callie: I understood what Travis was feeling. I went through the same thing with my wife. She lost her leg last year and it's changed us. It's cost us in ways that I can't even begin to understand. I wouldn't wish this experience on anyone. And now it was happening to my patient. Of course I was sorry. I still am... I am so, so sorry this happened to you, Travis. But that makes me human, not negligent. And if I can't feel for my patients without getting sued, then I guess I'm just gonna keep on getting sued because that's who I am. I won't apologize for that.

Carlos: I cheated on your mother.
Callie: What?! I'm sorry, what?!
Carlos: A long time ago, we were young, I was stupid. But your mother found it in her heart to forgive me.
Callie: Why would she do that?
Carlos: Why? Because she believed that we were stronger than one mistake and I thank God every day she did. Because otherwise, I wouldn't have you. 39 years, we've shared a life and it all started after that one mistake. Now, things between you and Arizona might not work out. You know, you might not be able to fix it. But how will you know if you never try?

Arizona: Hi! Oh, you're not bringing me extra pillows.
Callie: You did something impulsive, and, uh, you were thinking about yourself. It seemed right at the time, and, uh you made a mistake. One mistake.
Arizona: Do we have to get into this now?
Callie: I did something like that today.
Arizona: Oh. Okay.
Callie: Look, I have something to ask, and, uh, you should probably take some time to think about it. I don't need an answer tonight, but I-I would like to know if you'll come home.

Arizona: (to Leah) You should get dressed now and leave.

See Also[]

A complete overview of this episode's crew can be found here.

References[]

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