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When you feel like you love someone more than they love you, it can make you a little crazy.
Teddy Altman

Teddy Altman is the Chief of Surgery and attending cardiothoracic surgeon at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital. She is married to Owen Hunt, whom she met in the military. They are raising their daughter Allison Hunt and son Leo Hunt together. She is the widow of Henry Burton.

History[]

Early Life[]

Not much is known about Teddy's childhood prior to her medical education. Teddy attended med school at University of Texas Southwestern Medical School and completed her residency in General Surgery at the George Washington University Medical Center and a cardiothoracic surgical fellowship at the Mayo Clinic in Florida.

Life in New York City[]

Shortly after graduating, she took a job at Columbia University Medical Center. During her first year as an attending, Allison Robin Brown almost rode her bike into her as Teddy was crossing the street and stopped on the bike lane to look at her map. Given the stress she was under at her job, she lashed out and yelled at Allison. Despite hating her, Allison bought her a bagel to apologize, which got Teddy to calm down. They then got to talking and instantly liked one another. Soon after, Teddy moved in with Allison and her cardiovascular surgeon girlfriend Claire Williams.

17x09TeddyMotherDeath

Teddy learns of her mother's death.

16x19-47

Teddy and Allison have an affair.

In late 2000 and early 2001, Teddy lost her father and mother, respectively. Around that time, she developed an affair with Allison behind Claire's back, taking advantage of every time Claire was paged to the hospital.[2]

16x19-50

Teddy and Claire find out Allison died.

On the evening of September 10, 2001, Allison lied about having an early layout meeting the next day. Claire was then paged to the hospital. After she had left, Allison invited Teddy to have breakfast at Windows on the World together. They ended up having sex again. Allison had her tell the story of how they met. Teddy said she couldn't keep sneaking around and lying to their best friend. Allison then decided to tell Claire the next day because she loved Teddy more than she loved Claire. However, the next day, on 9/11, Allison died in the second tower. Teddy learned the news while working at the hospital, where she and Claire comforted one another as they realized Allison was gone. Unable to live in New York without Allison and having decided to keep the affair a secret, Teddy enlisted for the Army even though she had mostly been a socialist up until then. On some level, she wanted to support the soldiers that were out there getting revenge for Allison's death.[3]

Military Service[]

She went to Afghanistan, where she met Owen Hunt, who saved her from a grief so huge she probably would have let it kill her. While she found him buttoned-up and couldn't stand his optimism, she was in awe of his brilliance and decisiveness. He didn't tell her how to grieve or try and fix her. They became best friends and she fell in love with him. She felt guilty for loving him half as much as Allison, guilty because he was with someone else, and guilty because she wasn't capable of letting someone love her fully. While Allison loved her, she also loved Claire. At the time, she thought love couldn't be divided between two people.[3][4]

By 2007, Teddy was working in Iraq with Owen HuntNathan Riggs, and Megan Hunt. They were all friends while Teddy was secretly in love with Owen, even though he was engaged to Beth Whitman. While Megan was also dismissive of her brother's relationship, Teddy kept her feelings a secret because she couldn't bear the thought of possibly losing him on top of all the other losses she had had to endure.[5][6]

14x05-14

Teddy works on a wounded soldier.

Upon finding out about Nathan and Megan's engagement, Teddy was immediately suspicious because she recognized the necklace Nathan had used to propose as belonging to Felicia Phillips. The doctors were called out to treat several wounded soldiers after two of their Iraqi allies went rogue. As she and Nathan operated on a soldier, Teddy confronted him about her suspicions and he admitted he had cheated on Megan. She advised him to tell Megan as she would probably forgive him, noting that their love was strong. She then went to confront Owen after Megan told her that he had tanked her stratification ranking, leading Teddy to rant about how terrible it was to have to stand by and watch people live the life that you want, hinting at her jealousy over Owen and Beth's relationship. Later that evening, Teddy's patient told her that Megan's patient was the second shooter, while the doctors had previously been told that said woman was trying to wrestle the gun out of the supposed second shooter's hand. Teddy then rushed out of the tent to stop Megan from leaving with the woman on an evacuation helicopter, but she came too late and could only watch the helicopter fly off.[5]

Unfortunately, Megan was kidnapped by her patient. Megan's disappearance drove a wedge between Nathan and Owen, with both blaming the other for the part they had played in Megan's disappearance.

Teddy and Owen continued to serve in Iraq. One day, they were winning a soccer game when a helicopter brought in several patients. While they were improvising as they were low on supplies, an order from the Command came in for them to move back to the base. Teddy had to ride the Medevac with a couple of patients. Owen offered to trade places since she hates helicopters, but she declined and took off. Meanwhile, Owen and the rest of her platoon were driving to the base and found themselves unable to reach the base because of a storm. They ended up in an ambush, with Owen being the sole survivor. Teddy got on a helicopter when they realized something had gone wrong. Eventually, they found Owen in the desert, surrounded by his dead colleagues.[7]

In total, Teddy served three years in Baghdad and another two years in Landstuhl.

Arrival at the Hospital and Feelings for Owen[]

Owen Hunt convinced Teddy to come work in Seattle, saying it was a great hospital with a great staff and equipment. She accepted and started work not too long after the merger. She got introduced to Jackson and Cristina, who was disappointed with a cardio goddess she'd never heard of. Owen then took Teddy to meet the Chief. Cristina later confronted her about nothing showing on Google about her, so Teddy informed Cristina about her education herself. Teddy then started cheering when it started to rain because of her long time in the desert. Later in the cath lab, she tried to teach Cristina, but she was already way ahead because she was used to the modern equipment, unlike Teddy.

6x09-2

Owen introduces Teddy to some colleagues.

Over lunch with Arizona, Callie, and Mark, Teddy discovered that Owen brought her in as a present to his girlfriend Cristina and decided she'd enjoy the ways he was going to make it up to her. She finally managed to impress Cristina when she quickly diagnosed a kid with cardiac asthma. In surgery, she allowed Cristina to first assist and finally found something to teach her. Teddy displayed confidence in Cristina as she allowed her to fix a complication and then continued to guide her through the procedure. At the end of the day, Owen apologized for not telling her about Cristina. Teddy asked when he broke up with Beth and confessed she had always thought that he would call her when things with Beth ended and that she made up this entire story between them in her head. However, since he was with Cristina, she said she could now finally let that story go.[8]

6x10-3

Teddy shares a look with Owen.

Over the holidays, Teddy had a case with Cristina and Jackson as her residents that required them to wait for a heart for their patient. Meanwhile, Teddy declined to talk to Owen about what she had confessed earlier. The tension between them continued through Christmas, when Teddy was invited to the dinner at Meredith's. On New Year Eve's, Owen found himself staring at Teddy and couldn't keep it in any longer. He dragged her to a private room and expressed anger over her admitting her feelings. She wondered why as it clearly never mattered. He says it did and confessed he had felt the same way about her but never expressed those feelings because he never got any indication that she loved him, too. They almost shared a kiss until he stated he loved Cristina and left.[9]

Soon, Teddy allowed Cristina to perform her first solo valve replacement. Cristina practiced and guided the patient. In the OR, Cristina had difficulties locating a bleeding while Teddy refused to help. Cristina started panicking as she didn't know which option to choose to stop the bleeding. Owen, having observed from the gallery, came down to yell at Teddy as he was suspecting she wasn't helping Cristina because of her involvement with him. Teddy remained confident that Cristina would fix the problem and she did. Teddy later told Owen that Cristina needs to be pushed and that she would've stepped in if necessary. He knew, but he also needed to hear there was nothing else going on there. She didn't know what to say to him, but then decided it would be better for them if she left Seattle. Cristina found out and chased Teddy, desperately trying to find out what her new mentor needed in order to stay. Teddy confessed she wanted Owen and in the heat of the moment, Cristina blurted out that she could have him.[10]

The next day, Teddy showed up to work as Richard asked her to finish out her contract. She and Cristina agreed to forget what was said. They shared a case where Teddy decided not to remove their singer patient's entire lung, but instead try to save part of it with chemo therapy. Her decision led Cristina to realize that Teddy understood Cristina's choice to choose surgery over a guy, and Cristina again requested to learn from Teddy. Teddy later met up with Owen at Joe's and she got drunk. She told him that Beth once told her she'd stop teaching to raise kids, which made Teddy realize she wasn't right for Owen as he needs someone with ambition. Then there was Cristina, the complete opposite, and Teddy told him that Cristina was willing to trade him for her. Owen then went home to tell Cristina that their relationship mattered as well as her career.[11]

6x13-19

Teddy attempts to talk to Owen.

The day after, Teddy tried to talk to Owen about what she had said, but he refused to. She also refused to put Cristina on her service as she wanted to give the other residents a chance. However, when her patient was in critical condition in the OR, Teddy asked to have Cristina paged as she needed a skilled second set of hands. Cristina ignored the page per Owen's request as they were making out, leading to Teddy allowing Jackson to scrub in. After the surgery, she confronted Cristina about her answering her page and that she had expected they could at least keep things professional. Owen took the blame. Surprised to have him talk to her again, Teddy told them to forget about it.[12]

The tension between them resulted in Teddy blurting out a train of facts about her recent personal life when she and Owen were scrubbing in together. She said that he used to be her best friend whom she could tell everything to, and now he wouldn't even look at her. Owen said that happened because she confessed her feelings for him. She reminded him he did the same and then chose Cristina. Owen pointed out she chose Cristina, too, and said that he felt like he was cheating on Cristina every time he talked to her. However, he did admit he also missed his best friend. Teddy later caught up with Cristina and Owen and said she knew she talked about her feelings for Owen, but she decided to try like hell to unring the bell as she missed her best friend more than anything. She said she'd be fine as she had an amazing job with a great student to teach and a beautiful new cottage to live in. She then asked Cristina to scrub in with her.[13]

6x16-29

Arizona befriends Teddy.

Teddy continued to work with Cristina and they gradually became friends. However, Teddy continued to have a strained relationship with Owen while her feelings lingered. Arizona noticed her staring and decided they were going to be friends as she liked to fix things. She then invited Teddy to girls' night. Owen also later invited her to grab a beer, but she declined and headed out for girls night on the baseball field.[14]

A misunderstanding with Mark over breast implants led to Callie and Arizona suggesting to Mark and Teddy, respectively, that they should date. Arizona told Teddy that Mark was like candy, enjoy it and forget about it, while Callie had convinced Mark that Teddy was the serious thing he was looking for. This led to conflicting expectations so Teddy backed out. She sympathized with a patient's girlfriend who acted a little crazy upon thinking she loved her boyfriend more than he did her. Teddy then reconsidered and told Mark she was willing to go to dinner, but he said they would go to lunch in broad daylight so they could get to know each other, as he was now only interested in building a future with someone.[15]

The date went well and they got to know each other better. Teddy requested Owen as the required second physician when her patient requested physician-assisted suicide, but Owen made it clear he considered it killing the patient and declined. Teddy considered it an act of mercy and sought out Mark for his opinion. Teddy found out that Owen went to Chief Shepherd about the case behind her back and confronted him about this, but he just walked off. Derek had Teddy perform all the tests again so the hospital was covered. Owen barged in right before it happened and wondered why Kim wouldn't want to stick around in case they'd find a cure soon. Kim stated that clinging onto hope only made her feel lonely and that she wasn't afraid of death, wondering why he was. Teddy later witnessed Kim's death and then went to Mark's place for comfort and sex.[16]

They both considered the sex mind-blowing. Teddy came to realize that Kim's case triggered Owen's PTSD and despite her wanting to help, she opted against it since she was seeing Mark and since Cristina was already trying to help Owen. In surgery, Teddy discussed not having kids because of residency and the Army, but stated that she was now waiting for the right guy. Cristina then accidentally made a bullet explode inside their patient's chest, angering an already grumpy Owen even more. Teddy cautiously defended Cristina and took to fixing the damage. While scrubbing out, Teddy told Cristina that Owen had had it much worse than her and even she couldn't talk about what she's been through at any time, so she understood his not being able to talk about what was going on inside him. She said his triggers possibly could never go away, but she asked Cristina to give Owen time because it was very clear to Teddy how much he loved her. She also advised Cristina to just talk to Owen about how she felt as that would be more effective to get him to go to therapy than plainly telling him to do so. A second night of sex with Mark was interrupted when his pregnant daughter showed up in labor.[17]

Teddy safely delivered the baby. The next day at work, she was thrown for a loop when famous cardiothoracic surgeon Thomas Evans came to the hospital for a procedure. Teddy then went to ask Derek if Tom was interviewing for her job since she had been waiting to hear from him about a permanent contract. Derek thought she was still looking elsewhere but promised to consider her for the position. While Cristina was amazed by Tom, Teddy didn't share the sentiment. Tensions between Teddy and Derek flared up when the latter explicitly stated you give people jobs because they have the right skills and not because they're family, and when Teddy made a patient's condition worse by sneezing as they were pulling a fish hook out of their patient's body. After the surgery, Derek told Teddy not to take it personally if she didn't end up getting the job as Tom just had published more and had won more awards, ignoring Teddy's bronze star for service to her country. Teddy was distraught over losing her job and Owen comforted her, which almost resulted in a kiss until they got paged about their patient being critical. Teddy thought her repair didn't hold and convinced Derek to open the patient back up despite him being unstable, only for Lexie to discover that he was unstable due to Klebsiella pneumonia. Having again blundered in front of Derek, Teddy considered herself doomed and wished Cristina good luck with her new attending, whom she pointed out never even let Cristina touch the patient. Cristina realized she needed Teddy to learn from and asked Owen to put in a good word for Teddy, but he did the exact opposite and told Derek that Teddy wouldn't have trouble finding a new job due to her connections on the East Coast. Derek did offer Teddy a permanent contract, but, unbeknownst to her, only because Tom Evans had declined the job.[18]

Teddy happily went to thank Owen as she heard from Cristina that he talked to Derek for her. However, Meredith found out the truth from Derek and observed Owen and Teddy closely all day as she was convinced Owen still had feelings for Teddy.[19]

After a long day, Teddy went to Mark's place and stripped down to her underwear, only to find a naked Reed in Mark's bed. Mark suggested they could turn this into something fun, but Teddy declined. Owen suggested he do something to Mark to punish him, but Teddy wasn't mad as they weren't exclusive and she also didn't need Owen to defend her honor. Teddy later showed her romantic side when she opted to let two long-lost lovers catch up before their surgery. Owen admired her decision and looked at her longingly, which Cristina noticed after Meredith warned her to pay attention. In surgery, Owen finished Teddy's sentence and Richard likened it to his connection with Ellis Grey. Mark later came to apologize to Teddy. While she wasn't mad, she decided this thing between them was over. She later accidentally overheard Owen talking to Cristina about trying to get Teddy fired. He stated that Teddy was a trigger of his and that he didn't know how he felt about her as she's all wrapped up in his history and that she confused him. Teddy's pager gave away her presence and she rushed off to her patient.[20]

Finding out the truth led to Teddy ignoring Owen outside of professional circumstances. She brushed off apologies and preferred to work in peace. They treated a gunshot victim together and took him to the OR. Cristina covered Teddy's post-ops and declined to scrub in. Since the patient was critical, neither of them had time to check their pagers, so Derek quietly informed Jackson about the shooter in the hospital and asked him to tell the attendings as soon as they were done. Teddy and Owen ignored Jackson's plea to stay in the OR per Derek's request and took the patient to the ICU.[21] As they were transporting the patient, Teddy opened up and said she came to realize that Owen tried to get her fired because he loved both her and Cristina and didn't want to choose himself. However, since their lives were now in danger, Teddy really wanted him to choose. He refused to do so. They found a dead resident in the ICU and decided to take the patient outside as they would be sitting ducks in the ICU. Outside, Owen and Teddy discovered that Cristina was still inside. She noticed how worried Owen was and realized he had made his choice. She told him it was okay to choose and body blocked the police officer so he could go back inside to find Cristina. Teddy herself boarded an ambulance and rode to Seattle Pres to operate on Alex's gunshot wound to the chest. She managed to save him despite all the blood loss.[22]

Hospital Shooting Aftermath[]

7x01-21

Teddy at Owen and Cristina's wedding.

Teddy didn't suffer any problems following the shooting as she never faced the shooter. She kept checking on Alex and eventually advised him to have the bullet taken out after it surfaced, but he decided to keep it since chicks dug it. Teddy attended the meeting where Derek resigned and Richard was reinstated as Chief of Surgery. She and Owen worked on a case together and he inquired about the guy she was dating. She assured him she was happy he was getting married to Cristina and didn't elaborate. Meredith later walked in when Teddy and her guy, Andrew Perkins, the trauma counselor brought in for the hospital staff, were making out. Teddy quickly left and went to tell Arizona. She later attended Owen and Cristina's wedding at Meredith's house.[23]

As Cristina was suffering from PTSD, Teddy and Owen advocated for her to be allowed back into the OR. Teddy had an ex vivo heart reconstruction planned and figured the pressure would be no problem for Cristina. Cristina was allowed on the case albeit with a serious lack of enthusiasm. When Teddy talked about Andrew with Arizona, it dawned on her that she did most of the talking while he just listened. In the OR, Teddy welcomed Cristina back and the surgery started. However, Jackson knocked over a tray, which triggered Cristina's PTSD and led to her lying down on the floor, unable to move. Teddy had to finish the risky surgery on her own and pulled it off. She then went to Andrew and voiced her concerns, but he said listening to her wasn't work to him and told her that he was enjoying this thing between them. They shared a kiss.[24]

Despite knowing he'd leave Seattle after a month and planning to play it cool and smart, Teddy got attached to Andrew. On his last day, she avoided him all day in order not to cry. When he came to get her for their planned goodbye dinner, she confessed the way she felt about him. He hugged her and pointed out her habit to fall for unavailable men, noting she deserved better.[25]

With Cristina no longer working on surgical cases, Teddy tried Jackson as her resident. She discovered his poor penmanship and ended up dictating charts till late at night, exhausting Teddy to the point where she refused to sleep with Mark to distract him from Arizona and Callie's relationship. When she noticed that Jackson flirted his way into her OR, she confronted him about it and said he was more than just the pretty face he made himself out to be.[26]

When Richard had all attendings pitch him an idea for a large sum of money for their department, the fourth-year residents had to step in as attendings. Cristina and April were to decide if Teddy's patient, Roy Henley was a transplant candidate, but Cristina barely participated to the point where Teddy told her to either get back in the game or get out. Psyched out by Callie, Teddy didn't stick to her notes and botched her pitch about stem cell heart generation because of her grudge against Derek. Meanwhile, Teddy thinking of her as useless made Cristina gather herself and make a decision regarding the patient.[27]

Teddy briefly appeared in the Seattle Medical Documentary, where she was seen ranting about the security system that trapped Jackson with her coding patient between doors. She also congratulated Arizona on winning the Carter Madison Grant.[28]

In a final attempt to lure Cristina back to surgery, Teddy had her monitor Roy while she went to pick up lungs. While it should have been an easy day, Cristina had to deal with multiple complications. With some help from Meredith, she perfectly managed. Teddy then returned with the lungs and the surgery went perfectly. Despite of that, Cristina realized that while she could still be a surgeon, she didn't want to be one anymore, so she quit.[29]

While presenting Roy's case, Teddy found herself under attack from various colleagues, including Derek, who thought she put too much pressure on Cristina, leading to her quitting. Missing her student, Teddy planned to corner Cristina at her housewarming party and convince her to come back. However, Derek thought it was time for them to back off. He arrived to the party early and took Cristina up to her roof, where they wouldn't find her.[30]

With her star student gone, Teddy put her energy in finding a boyfriend. Despite her disliking it, she used online dating and went on a couple of bad dates. After she cut one of those dates short, she joined her colleagues at Joe's, only to find out that Cristina was working there. Teddy found this depressing and, adding the fact that her aspirational couple had broken up and was living on separate continents, got really drunk. Joe took away her keys so she went to the hospital to kill time, where she talked to Meredith about how she was depressed over what had happened recently.[31]

Dating and Marriage to Henry[]

Feeling directionless without Cristina, whom Teddy learned went on a fishing trip with Derek, Teddy encountered Henry Burton on the elevator. He asked her how he looked and promptly informed her he was going to propose to his girlfriend. Teddy complimented his looks and added his girlfriend would be a fool to say no. She later ran into him again at the nurses' station and found out she had declined the proposal. He admitted he had proposed to her for her insurance since he capped out on his three surgeries ago. Teddy took his chart and learned he was suffering from Von Hippel-Lindau disease, having spent 200 days over the last three years. Henry told her Richard had just discharged him because he couldn't afford the surgery to remove the most recent tumor from his adrenal gland. Teddy then pleaded with Richard to operate on Henry pro bono. He refused since the hospital couldn't afford to pay for the long-term care that would ensue. Teddy stated he would do it if the patient were Derek's or Bailey's and said she needed something good to happen after Cristina quit, which Teddy partly blamed on herself. Richard then agreed to set up a meeting with the review board, which only led to the recommendation of a medicalert bracelet. Richard proceeded to discharge Henry after all, setting him up with an appointment at the Clinic. Teddy then dropped by Henry's room and offered to marry Henry since she had great insurance. He initially refused but Teddy persisted that she took an oath and couldn't leave him to fend for himself anymore than she could if she had found him bleeding out in the street.[32]

They proceeded with the marriage and Teddy called Owen from city hall to come be her witness on a random weekday. She had the justice of peace skip right to the end of the ceremony since she had to go into work. Owen was baffled but she refused to talk about it with him. As they arrived at work, they found out that there had been a shooting at a nearby college, an emotional trigger for the staff given the recent hospital shooting. Cristina had been near the scene and arrived at the hospital with her hands plugging a hole in the patient's right ventricle. She moved to the OR along with the patient. Teddy paged Jackson for back-up. During the procedure, Richard arrived and identified the patient as the shooter. Several of the OR staff, including Jackson, couldn't bring themselves to help save the shooter. While Teddy needed a moment to gather herself, she reminded herself of her oath, which had also made her save several Iraqi soldiers who had blown up dozens of American soldiers. Unlike Jackson, Cristina decided to stay and help out. Owen found out and came to check on Cristina. Teddy gestured at him that she was doing okay in there. Cristina herself also stated she had no problem being there. Eventually, they finished the procedure successfully while the rest of the staff had gathered in the gallery. Richard proudly announced that his team had managed to save every last victim of the shooting despite the difficult circumstances. Afterward, Teddy met up with Henry at Joe's to arrange the insurance matter. He insisted on raising a glass first since they had skipped all the typical wedding stuff. She wasn't feeling it since she had spent her day saving a bad person but Henry reminded her that she had also saved him. She then agreed to the drink.[33]

Henry was re-admitted for his surgery and informed his surgical team that he was now on his wife's insurance. Richard thought his girlfriend has wised up, at which point Teddy arrived in the room to pick the last few documents needing her signature pre-op. Henry then informed Richard that Teddy was his wife. Richard then went to yell at Teddy for committing fraud and acting unethically, which Lexie pointed out the medical community was actually split on. Teddy brushed off Richard's concerns and said it was done anyway. She then returned the signed documents to Henry, who hated that he had nothing to give her in return. She wished him good luck. Richard and Bailey later informed Henry that they needed to remove his kidney and Henry insisted on getting Teddy's opinion. Richard took the opportunity to berate Teddy some more so she pointed out other inappropriate relationships in the hospital. During the surgery, they found a cyst on Henry's pancreas and since removing it would make him a diabetic, they required her consent to remove it. Unbeknownst to Teddy, Henry had put her down as his emergency contact person. Also, Richard wanted to make sure that Henry had the support system to deal with diabetes. Teddy admitted she had no clue if there was someone he could lean on but gave permission to act as he saw fit. After the surgery, Teddy ran into Bailey. She was prepared for a long speech about how Richard was right but Bailey only confided in her about her fling with nurse Eli and the "why not" attitude she had adapted, thus not judging Teddy at all. Teddy sat by Henry's bedside until he woke up. She broke the news of him possibly developing diabetes to him, bringing up the emergency contact person issue. He knew she was angry about that and informed her his parents were dead and his estranged sister lived in Prague. Between his condition and him switching jobs regularly after maxing out on insurance policies, it was also hard to make friends, meaning Teddy was the closest thing he had to a friend. She sympathized with him and held his hand.[34]

Cristina started working on Teddy's service again, competing with Jackson over first assist for a CABG.[35] Together with Cristina, she performed a long diagonal aortic anastomosis during a heart transplant on a newborn in record-time.[36]

Teddy was intercepted by Meredith for a consult as she was on her way out to meet a date in the lobby. Teddy's date agreed to wait for her wrap things up. Their conversation was interrupted by the arrival of Henry, who announced that he was in for some kind of test. Henry then introduced himself to William, who assumed he was another patient of Teddy's. As Teddy returned to Meredith for the consult, Henry sat down and started a conversation with William. Teddy ordered another set of X-rays and changed back into her scrubs. The images confirmed their suspicion of an aortic aneurysm. Teddy ordered a CT and then went to tell William that he'd have to wait longer than anticipated. He had no problem with that since he had Henry to keep him company. The patient coded in the scanner. While Meredith had started CPR, Teddy looked at the scans and diagnosed a dissecting aneurysm. They rushed the patient to the OR, where they opened up the patient without scrubbing. However, the aorta shredded right in front of their eyes and the patient bled out on the table. Teddy then returned to the waiting area, where William was making a phone call. Henry took the opportunity to inform her that he had vetted William and thought they could do better than him. William then informed Teddy he had managed to push back their reservation. Teddy left with him, sharing a meaningful look with Henry as they walked off.[37]


Though the newlyweds both maintained that theirs was a simple marriage of convenience, and Teddy continued to date other men, Henry later confessed that he had feelings for Teddy. She told him she did not feel the same way. When Andrew Perkins returned and asked Teddy to move to Germany with him, she accepted, and agreed to divorce Henry. However, in the aftermath of a plane crash shortly after making that decision, Teddy changed her mind and told Henry that she was falling in love with him. The two began their married life properly, but not long into their wedded bliss, Henry died, leaving Teddy devastated. Teddy loved Henry and she blamed Owen for his death. 

Henry's Death[]

After Henry died, Teddy was not aware until after she finished her surgery on her patient. Cristina was the one to tell her in the scrub room and she broke down crying. She sat and cried next to Henry in the OR where he died. In her grieving process, she called Cristina in during her surgeries and made her tell her the exact story of Henry's surgery. This went on for about two weeks. She later went to a support group for widows to help her cope with his death, only to laugh at one of the other widows for saying her husband had "minor congestive heart failure" because according to Teddy, there is no such thing and he was lucky to survive as long as he did. Finally, she was able to say the words "I am a widow." 

Departure from the Hospital[]

While Teddy was helping out Bailey and Callie with their patient, Owen told her that someone called him to ask if she was going to take the Chief job at MEDCOM, about which he didn't know anything. She told him that she planned to tell him about the job offer, and he was bummed that he now has to look for a new Head of Cardiothoracic Surgery, on top of all other surgeons who were leaving Seattle. She then told him that she was not taking the job, but just hadn't had time to tell MEDCOM yet. Later in surgery, he wanted to know why she said no to the offer, especially because it was a once in a lifetime opportunity. He asked her about her loyalty to her country. She then told him that she'd love to leave the hospital, as it kept reminding her of her deceased husband. "I would love to leave here, and never look back. But you are as broken and beaten as I have ever seen you," she said, silencing him. "And after everything I've put you through, the tolerance and kindness and friendship that you have shown me, I am not going to leave you, because of my loyalty. I am not going to leave here for MEDCOM or anywhere else," she told him, after which she continued operating.

Owen later approached her, saying that he now knew why she tried so hard to keep Cristina in Seattle. "If Cristina were staying, you'd be taking that job," he said. She stayed silent, and he assured her he'd be fine. She told him he wouldn't be, as he was losing the love of his life. Owen then opened up to her and said that he already missed Cristina, while she hadn't even left yet. "I wish I could tell you that that will go away, but it won't," she said, before walking away again. He later asked her to come to a conference room to talk. While she was saying she was happy to stay as it'd be like them back in Iraq again, he suddenly said that she was fired. She laughed, thinking he was joking, but she realized it was serious when he told her it was "effective immediately".

8x24LeavingSeattle

Teddy hugs Owen one last time before leaving the hospital.

"Now, I know you have other opportunities, so if you need to make those phone calls..." he began, but she told him that he couldn't tell her when to go and when to stay. "I don't want you here anymore!" he yelled, continuing that she had to have seen it coming for months as she had been disruptive in the OR and hostile and insubordinate towards him in front of staff and students. "We're past all of that," she still tried to talk him out of his decision. "We are, because you're fired," he told her once again. "It's a done deal, pack your stuff," he said. She then angrily left the room while scolding him. Moments later, she came back in, crying. She realized that being fired by Owen was the only way he could make her do what she really wanted to do: taking the job at MEDCOM. She hugged him tightly, urging him to fight for Cristina. "You go, and be great," he told her, while hugging her too.[38]

Megan Hunt and Rekindled Romance with Owen[]

When Megan was found in a basement of an abandoned house, she was transferred to a hospital in Germany. Owen told Amelia to request Teddy while on the phone with the hospital, since he was in disbelief that the patient was identified correctly as his sister. Teddy reassured Amelia and Owen that the patient was Megan Hunt and made sure Megan would be transferred to Grey Sloan. Owen refused to talk to Teddy when she had tried to call him.[39]

14x01-16

Teddy comes to Seattle to support Owen and Megan.

After Megan had arrived in Seattle, Teddy surprised Owen by showing up to support him. Megan and Teddy caught up and discussed a guy Teddy had had a few dates with. Teddy briefly met Amelia when she stopped by Megan's room and also checked in with Arizona and April in the cafeteria. During Megan's first surgery, Teddy helped to calm a panicking and fearful Owen. After the surgery, Teddy found out about Meredith and Nathan's short-lived romance and pressed Owen, Nathan, and Meredith to come clean to Megan, as she thought Megan had the right know, especially with Meredith as her surgeon. Amelia stood up for Meredith, which resulted in Teddy scolding her for not being present to support Owen. Teddy continued to urge Nathan and Owen to tell the truth, which was overheard by Maggie, who sided with Teddy. While waiting with Owen during the surgery to close Megan's abdominal wound, Teddy brought Amelia's absence to Owen's attention. Nathan then came to get them as the surgery was almost over, but they came just in time to witness Meredith realizing there wasn't enough tissue to close.[40]

Teddy was with Megan when she woke up after the failed surgery. Owen privately confessed to her that he was happy, since it meant Megan couldn't go back to Iraq just yet. Meredith later paged Teddy and asked her to be a part of her planned abdominal transplant surgery for Megan. Meredith assured her she could separate the personal and professional, so Teddy agreed. She was excited at the prospect of this procedure being a possibility to help many soldiers with similar injuries. While Meredith went on to search for a donor, Megan's loved ones, including Teddy, sprung into action to find a way to get Megan's son Farouk to the U.S., but to no avail. After sending Owen out to run an errand, Teddy, Megan, and Evelyn discussed his marriage to Amelia and came to conclude that it was a sham marriage. They helped him realize that Amelia was absent and that his not needing her there for him was a problem, too. Teddy then went to scrub in for the surgery, which they pulled off successfully. That night, Owen and Teddy went to relax at the park. He talked about he and Amelia had grown apart and then leaned in to kiss Teddy. She broke it off after kissing him back. She explained that he was her favorite human on the planet and she knew him well enough to know that if they were meant to be more than friends, it couldn't start with his cheating on Amelia. The shame and guilt would kill him, so she decided they needed to stay just friends for now.[41] With Megan's health problems solved, Teddy returned to Germany.

Months later, she was surprised by Owen showing up at her place in the middle of the night. He then revealed to her that his marriage with Amelia was over, leaving nothing standing in their way. They then kissed and proceeded to have sex. After sex, they admitted they both had imagined that moment. They reminisced about the first time they met and operated together, something they both wanted to do for the rest of their lives. As they cuddled and watched the snow, she recalled the moment he made it snow in Iraq for his troops. She deemed him great at grand gestures, which led to her wondering if this was one of them. While she didn't like the country, she did like the life she build for herself in Germany. Owen suggested he move to Germany as he really wanted to be with her, for real. She asked him to spend some more days with her to figure things out and also questioned the end of his marriage. He admitted that that was what led him to her. She questioned that and he revealed that Amelia told him to go see her. Teddy soon figured out Amelia did so shortly after they had had sex again, which was just one day before he hopped on the plane to Germany.

Infuriated over this, Teddy packed his bag for him while blaming him for being terrified of being alone. She listed all his relationships and suggested he had a pathological need to be coupled up so no one would see how sad and empty he is. He bounced back that she was afraid to be happy, stating that she was fine to marry the dead guy but wasn't willing to enter a relationship with a man who truly loved her. She forbade him from talking about Henry. He continued to say that she would rather burn everything to the ground than risk being hurt. She then yelled that hurting was all he ever did, stringing her along for years with half-baked declarations and then marrying other women. He had actually convinced her that he was truly in love with her, that he wanted her, but she came to realize it never was about her. She stated she was done being his sloppy seconds or his consolation prize. Owen told her that the thing with the snow, he did it for her because he knew how much she loved Christmas. Teddy ignored it and told him they were done. She threw him out of her apartment and broke down.[42]

Seeing how miserable Owen was, Amelia reached out to Teddy on his behalf, but Teddy made it clear she had no interest in him anymore.[43]

Pregnancy and Dating Tom[]

Nearly three months later, she arrived at Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital again and was unable to find anybody she knew. She finally ran into Bailey, who had her scrub in for an emergent surgery. In surgery, Teddy told Bailey that she came here looking for a job. Since Bailey didn't immediately respond, Teddy tried to take it back. After surgery, Teddy apologized to Bailey for putting her on the spot. Bailey told Teddy that her question was actually yet another sign in her life. She had wanted to temporarily step down from the Chief of Surgery position to fall in love with surgery and research again and spend more time with her family. She then offered the job of Interim Chief of Surgery to Teddy, who was very much interested. After their talking it over, Teddy stayed in Lila's mother's ICU room so she could see her daughter's wedding via livestream. Lila's mother noticed how moved she was and how she kept touching her stomach. She asked Teddy if she was expecting, which Teddy confirmed.[44]

The next morning, Teddy went to surprise Owen at his house but was instead greeted at the door by Betty, who mentioned the baby. Teddy's vision of a future in Seattle was shattered and she claimed to be at the wrong house. She returned to the hospital to tell Bailey she couldn't accept the job after all because of her not wanting to return to Seattle. On her way out, she bumped into Owen, Amelia, and Leo and hastily said goodbye. While walking, she started experiencing pain in her leg and, suspecting a deep vein thrombosis, she had intern Casey get her Maggie Pierce for a consult. During the consult, Teddy found out about Maggie's relations to Meredith, Amelia, and Owen. She pressed Maggie not to tell anyone about her pregnancy and left against medical advice.[45] Maggie had trouble keeping the secret from Amelia and reached out to Teddy to ask her to inform Owen, but Teddy did not answer her calls.[46] Maggie ended up telling Meredith while Teddy stayed holed up in her hotel room, agonizing over what to do next.[47]

15x05-1

Meredith invites Teddy to talk.

Meredith tracked her down to a playground where she used to make Cristina get her coffee. Teddy understood that Maggie had told her. Meredith invited her to her house to talk while she baked cookies for Zola's bake sale. Teddy took over when she saw how clumsy Meredith was. Teddy shared her plan to go back to Germany and raise the baby by herself, because she found out that all the terrible things she said about Owen she had come to Seattle to apologize for were actually true. Meredith explained the Betty and Leo situation to her and asked her why she was still in Seattle, but Teddy had no answer to that. Teddy said she hated Owen, but Meredith asked he if she hated him enough to deny her child a father who was not a terrible man. Later, Teddy talked about how she joined the Army to get out of New York City where her best friend and parents died. Then she met Owen, the buttoned-up and decisive surgeon who never had doubts and did not try to fix her. She instantly fell in love with him, but he was engaged and she couldn't stand losing someone else, so she stayed quiet and played it safe. Telling Meredith about it made her realize she actually still loved him.

15x05-14

Meredith tells Teddy that kids change everything.

She then brought up that she did not know how to tell Owen. She asked Meredith if the tumor removal had changed Amelia to the point where she now did want a family, because Owen had told her all about Amelia going back and forth on that subject. Meredith didn't know where Amelia was on that subject, but she did urge Teddy to tell Owen as soon as possible to minimize the damage the news would cause. Teddy knew she would never lose Owen, because he's loyal, but she did not want him to get together with her out of obligation for the baby. Meredith told her that everything would change once the baby arrived and reminded Teddy that she would be telling Owen for the baby, not for herself. Meredith sent her back to the hotel with some cookies and once again urged her to tell Owen soon.[48]

Teddy visited Owen's house the next day, but she found Owen and Amelia panicking because Betty had run away from school. Teddy decided not to surprise them with more bad news and helped to look for Betty in the city, but none of them found her. They later reconvened at the house. Owen took Amelia to a meeting while Teddy stayed behind in case Betty came back. He returned with Leo later and while they were alone, she brought up her last visit. He knew he should have called her to tell her about Leo, but he was too embarrassed to do so after her accusations against him. He talked about how he always wanted a kid and then Leo turned into a whole family situation with Betty and Amelia. Realizing Owen was happy with his life, she decided again not to tell him and left while he comforted a crying Leo.[49]

Teddy came by the hospital to help out when a windstorm was approaching the city. Owen asked her how long she would be staying in Seattle, to which she replied she didn't know yet. She got pulled onto a case with Owen and she spotted Betty out in the ER, alerting Owen to her presence. After he made sure she was okay, they scrubbed in for surgery. She told him they needed to talk afterwards and agreed to get coffee. However, during the surgery, he figured out that her news must have been the reason she came to Seattle. As soon as the critical part of the surgery over, she blurted out the news, but she was paged to the ER immediately after, leaving a baffled Owen behind. Teddy ran into Amelia downstairs who thanked her for her help with Betty and then went off to look for Owen.

15x08-45

Owen confronts Teddy about her hiding the pregnancy for so long.

Owen caught up with Teddy on the elevator ride up to the OR and asked her how she could have kept this for him for so long. She bounced back that it hadn't exactly been easy for her. She told him no one expected him to do anything. Their talk was interrupted by Amelia, who got on to tell Owen that she was planning on becoming Betty's official foster mother. She then picked up on the awkward vibe between them and asked what was going on, after which the power died due to the storm and they got stuck on the elevator together.[50]

Owen informed Amelia and vented some anger at Teddy for keeping at a secret until today, but they had to focus on saving the patient who had started crashing. Teddy explained she came to tell him but found out he had started another family in record time. She clarified that by not expecting him to do anything, she meant that the two of them getting together was off the table, so he could be as involved as he wanted to be and stay with Amelia. She then told him she was staying in Seattle because her baby deserved a father and she deserved her friend. When the patient had been stabilized, she told him she was at sixteen weeks, that the baby was fine, and that she did not know the sex yet. Later, Amelia yelled at her for not realizing she had a stake in this, too, with Betty and Leo. Their argument ended when the elevator doors opened and they rushed to the OR, where they saved him. Afterwards, Teddy admitted she did want him to be involved. He did, too. They then agreed to figure things out together and decided to celebrate that they were having a baby.[51]

Having decided to stay in Seattle, Teddy approached Bailey for a job, but she was referred to Alex, the new Chief. Alex made her audition for Maggie, which enraged her. She ran into Owen and took out her frustration in him, saying she had to uproot her whole life so he could be a part of the baby's life. He once again blamed her for staying silent for weeks because he and Amelia weren't back together when she first arrived, meaning she was the reason he was in this crap situation. Amelia overheard that talk, so Owen went after her to clarify things while Teddy approached Maggie about the job. Maggie was mad at her for waiting too long to tell Owen and Amelia, but she did acknowledge Teddy had done some great work on the department and decided to shove aside her personal contempt so they could work together.

15x10-1

Owen and Teddy make arrangements for the future.

Later, Teddy found out that Owen had accidentally been paralyzed in the OR and she sat by his bed until he recovered. She then told him that she did not set out to hurt Amelia and even though she made mistakes, he could not blame everything on her. His anger and having to work under Maggie made her think about going back to Germany, because she had the perfect job, which was still open, and generous maternity leave there, while Owen did not have to sacrifice a thing. She invited him to move to Germany with her, but he told her she could have his job, realizing it was time for him to make a sacrifice. She happily accepted and they hugged it out.[52]

Now officially employed, Teddy made acquaintances with Tom Koracick as he was practicing for Catherine's surgery. While he was nervous, she expressed confidence in him. Shortly after the surgery, she ran into him and congratulated him on the good outcome. He was a bit down because they didn't get it all. To cheer him up, she offered to buy him a drink, but he preferred a rain check because he wanted to smell good when she spent money on him.[53]

Over time, Tom and Teddy interacted some more while at work. On Christmas Eve, Owen took Teddy out into the ambulance bay to stand in the snow. He invited her to spend Christmas with him, Amelia, and Leo but she would be covering the ER. He assured her that they would establish their own traditions with their baby, too. On New Year's Eve, Teddy attended the party thrown by Alex and Jo, which is where she shared her first kiss with Tom at midnight. Nearing Valentine's Day, Teddy had another ultrasound with Owen present. Together, they found out that they were having a baby daughter. To celebrate Valentine's Day, Tom took Teddy to get the best mani/pedi in Seattle to help her relax. Afterwards, he arranged dinner for two of them.[54]

As their relationship developed, Tom and Teddy found out they were staying at the same hotel and bonded over the breakfast buffet. Owen wasn't happy when he found out about the two of them. Later, Tom and Teddy worked on Lucille Reid, a patient who had a very close friend by her side at all times aside from her husband. In surgery, Teddy commented on their situation and said the whole thing was just a whole lot of denial, thinking that Lucille's friend was settling for table scraps because she was married. She said there's always a torchbearer in that type of situation. Tom thought she was talking from experience as a torchbearer from her situation with Owen and left, stating he was done. After the successful surgery, Lucille's husband Marvin told her that the situation was hard to figure out. Lucille and Julian just decided a long time ago to let their love just be the easy kind and not risk it on something as fickle as sex and romance. While he was Lucille's third husband, there had only been one Julian, and he was fine with that. Afterwards, Teddy comforted a distressed Owen when the arrival of Betty's parents made him fear that he would lose Leo. That night, Teddy visited Tom in his hotel room and told him that sometimes, friendships are meant to be just that despite big feelings. While she and Owen were meant to be just friends, she thought she and Tom were something else. They shared a kiss and he invited her in for a club sandwich.[55]

Teddy was surprised to be dating at 30 weeks pregnant, but she enjoyed it. When the hospital was flooded with victims from a mass overdose, Teddy was forced to page Owen while he was saying goodbye to Leo. He happily accepted the patient influx to keep himself distracted. Later, Betty was found was to be amongst the patient and she started to show symptoms of an aortic dissection, caused by her combining meth and opioids. Teddy diagnosed it and decided to operate herself because the situation was so dire that it would be better for Amelia if her sister was not Betty's surgeon. Maggie agreed and let her do it. Teddy put in a stent and also had to reconstruct her entire distal aorta, but Teddy pulled it off and Betty made it through. Teddy delivered the news to Owen, Betty's parents, and Amelia, who hugged her in relief. At the end of the day, Teddy took moment in a quiet ER to unwind.[56]

A few days later, Teddy and Tom attended Catherine's party together. Owen and Amelia caught the two of them making out in the hallway and Teddy shared that Tom gave her a surprise trip to Palm Springs, which Owen did not like. He provided her with drinks and snacks throughout the evening, knowing she wasn't having a good time with Owen angrily staring at them the entire time. He offered to feign diarrhea, but she didn't want him to leave a party thrown in his honor. Shortly before Catherine's arrival, an argument erupted between Owen and Tom when he tried to talk Teddy out of taking the trip. She insisted on going and Owen called him out for preying on a pregnant woman and yelled that he did not want a dirtbag like Tom around his daughter, stating he was not a father. Tom then punched him. Owen wanted to retaliate, but Teddy blocked him and said Tom was a father. Tom then put his hand in an ice bucket and went to give the speech, which was cut short when a supposed fire broke out in the kitchen and everyone was evacuated.[57]

Teddy and Tom enjoyed their trip together.[58] When she returned, Owen was grumpy because he was on his own with Leo now that Amelia had decided to remove herself from the situation. They treated an expecting couple and Teddy sat by the woman's bed in the ICU to make sure she made it through the night. Owen offered to do it, but she preferred to do it herself and Tom was away to Baltimore, so Owen decided to sit with her and he rubbed her feet. When the patient deteriorated and became at risk of losing her baby because a necessary hysterectomy, the doctors were thrown for a loop when Vincenzo DeLuca came out of nowhere promising a miraculous fix with his gestational sacks research. However, he was overstepping as the research was not even close to human trials, so Alex stopped that from happening and the doctors planned the hysterectomy. Teddy later comforted the couple as they mourned the loss of the baby and broke down in Owen's arms once she left the room as Tom watched them.[59]

With a birthing class coming up, Teddy invited Tom to join while Owen also told her he was coming. However, before the class started, she started to experience pain. She thought it was stress and went to Maggie's blue-light room, but that did not help, so she had intern Casey page OB and Owen, who left Tom in the birthing class. Carina examined her and diagnosed cervical insufficiency, so Teddy put herself in a Trendelenburg position. On Carina's suggestion, Owen put a gurney next to hers and started talking to Teddy and his daughter to calm them down, praising Teddy, while Teddy herself felt too shy to talk to baby, thinking the insufficiency meant she was already failing as a mother. Tom later joined them when he found out what happened. Teddy told him she did not want to worry him. He then sat by her side and fed her ice cream.[60]

Shortly after, Tom and Teddy started looking at houses together. Owen offered Teddy to move in with him, but she declined and said she'd figure it out. They were surprised when Megan Hunt dropped by the hospital to assist on a case. When Megan found out what had been going on between them, she called Owen a dum-dum for letting it get to that point by his behavior, to which Teddy kind of agreed. Megan later sat down with Teddy as she was looking at houses and told her that while Owen was an idiot, he did love her and that Teddy could let it be easy if she wanted it to. Teddy said she did not want to take Amelia's vacant spot in that house, which Megan understood.[61] Megan convinced Owen to go to therapy. Per Megan's request, Teddy checked in on him after his first session via text message.[62]

With the due date three weeks away, Teddy still had not found a place because she kept comparing everything to her perfect place in Germany. Meanwhile, Tom made arrangements to have someone cover him in Baltimore so he could stay with her until the birth and asked Teddy if that was okay with her, which was the case. While Tom set out to find her a house, Teddy noticed that Jo Karev was off balance when she made a mistake with Gus Carter. She tried to get Jo to talk to her, but Jo refused, so Teddy took her concerns to Chief Bailey. Afterwards, Tom paged her to a room to show her that he had rented her the perfect place that closely resembled her place in Germany, stating that the baby deserved a happy mother and more than a hotel room. Teddy loved the place and agreed to move in.[63]

Teddy and Tom started planning the nursery together. With Maggie Pierce out camping, Teddy took the case of Gus Carter while also treating Kari Donnelly. After hearing Kari talk about how Toby's bravery had inspired her to live her best life, Teddy realized that she loved Owen and wanted more than the safe feeling that Tom gave her. While Tom waited for her at home with dinner and IKEA furniture for the nursery, she went over to Owen's house but only Amelia and Leo were home. Teddy thought she and Owen were back together, but Amelia was just there for Leo. Teddy then told her that Tom made her laugh and feel safe, but Owen made her feel passion, rage, and ecstasy. While she and Owen hurt each other, she wanted that kind of love in her life so her daughter, too, would know it. She wanted to tell Owen all that before the baby was born, but Amelia pointed out that her water had broken.[64]

Giving Birth and Life with Owen[]

As fog started to cover Seattle, Amelia made arrangements with the hospital and set up a babysit for Leo while Teddy realized she had not planned for the baby's arrival at all, something her late mother would chastise her for. Amelia timed Teddy's contractions and deemed they had enough time to drive to the hospital herself. However, the freeway was closed due to the fog and they got stuck in a traffic jam, but Amelia got inventive and made a police officer drive them in his car. Teddy appreciated her genius move and stated they could be friends in another life. Amelia said they could be friends in this one if Teddy could overcome her disdain. Teddy said that was only last year, but that was to blame on the tumor. She then asked Amelia if she was still in love with Owen. Amelia said maybe she was a little bit, but that she fell in love quickly and easily. She then let slip Owen's brief fling with Carina while talking about having a little crush on Carina, which agitated Teddy.

They were met by Owen when they arrived at Grey Sloan. Teddy yelled at him for hiding his dating her OB. Owen helped her get settled in the delivery room and apologized for the Carina thing, while Carina said it meant very little to her. Carina examined her and found that the crowning was happening fast because it was a geriatric pregnancy, a term that did not put Teddy at ease. She forbade Owen from watching what was going on down there and started pushing.

15x25-43

Teddy and Owen hold their baby girl Allison.

With the head halfway out, Teddy had to wait for the next contraction to push to avoid tearing, so she asked Owen to distract her. He then told her he had always been in love with her, but it felt so good that he always sabotaged it himself before life could do it. He had learned that in therapy, but he had overcome that now and he wanted to spend the rest of his life proving that he was worthy of her love. Soon after, the baby girl was delivered and the parents simultaneously decided on Allison as a name. They spent the rest of the day cuddling their baby girl, while Tom was still in the dark as he was setting up the nursery.[65]

16x01-20

Teddy struggles as a new mother.

She, Owen, and Allison were soon visited by Amelia, who brought by Leo. Teddy was forced to take care of Leo when Bailey came to fetch Owen and Amelia for a trauma. She couldn't get him to stop crying, but she was saved by Tom when he came in and took him off her hands. Tom figured she had given birth when she didn't reply to his calls. He also knew she must have gotten back together with Owen, who rode in on a white horse and made all the right promises. Teddy took all the blame and started telling Tom he was a wonderful. He knew that and told her she would come to regret her decision, and then he would be there for her because he loved her. In the meantime, they would remain friends. Tom then took Leo back to daycare. A week later, Teddy had returned to her hotel room, where she was holed up with a crying Allison. She became miserable. Owen dropped by with supplies and invited her to come live with him, but she refused, stating they weren't supposed to start their lives together in that house. Owen took care of Allison so she could go shower.

Their arrangement continued over the next couple of weeks, with Owen eager to help out but handling things badly. When Teddy had a clogged duct, he offered to milk her. She was offended and took off with Allison. She developed the habit to go to the hospital with the baby to calm herself down whenever she would panic. During one of those visits, she ran into Bailey and she confessed that she hated maternity leave and that she felt like a bad mother. Bailey distracted her with some work talk and stressed that hating maternity leave didn't mean she was a bad mother, because Bailey had hated it, too. Another week later, Owen finally stepped up and came to tell Teddy he had listed his house and already had hundreds of listings for other houses to look at. He had also upgraded them to a suite for the meantime. Teddy thanked him for finally listing the house and they shared a kiss.[66]

One morning, Owen was paged to the hospital for a trauma so Teddy had to take Leo to daycare. She brought Allison and hung out at the hospital for a while. Owen found her changing Allison outside on a bench near the coffee cart and took over from her since she was failing. Teddy was planning on going to the park but Owen suggested a tour of the hospital instead, humoring Teddy as he knew she was missing the smell of blood. He showed her scans of a patient of his with a dissection. She pitched a solution that had good results on a case she had back in Germany. Owen was informed that Tom was approaching so they moved to the OR gallery, where she told Allison about the cool things they get to do in there. Owen then suggested he stay home with Allison for a while so she could go back to work. She refused because she didn't like failing as a mother but Owen said being back to work would make her happy again, which in turn would make her a better mother. Besides, he didn't like work when he had to avoid Tom. She then happily accepted his offer and went to get changed right away, leaving Allison in his care.[67]

Shortly after returning to work, Teddy worked with Maggie and Taryn on a woman who had been hit by the frozen body of a stowaway who had fallen out of a plane. Teddy had seen a similar case in Germany. Link came to assist and Teddy asked him to harvest a vein from the patient's leg but by the time he was done scrubbing in, the patient had been declared dead. Teddy felt that the world was broken, not just the medical system, as it forced people to climb into planes and freeze to death and then crash into innocent people who were in the absolute worst place on Earth possible; a feeling that only got stronger now that she had a baby to raise in that world. Owen came to pick her and Leo up. On their way out, they ran into Tom, who had gotten rid of the restraining order so Owen could return to work. Owen surprised them both by revealing he had taken a job at Pac-North. Tom thought he would come to regret that and invited him to call him when that happened, reminding Teddy that the same was still true for when she regretted choosing Owen over him. Teddy and Owen walked off smiling and she teased him about his new workplace.[68]

On Halloween, Owen dropped off a box of handmade costumes his mother had made for him and Megan. Teddy was impressed Evelyn had the time to make costumes herself while working full-time and raising two kids by herself. They agreed to meet up that night for the parade on the peds floor. She, Bailey, and Tom operated on a man who was competing in a costume contest, which led her to wonder when costumes became so important. She thought Owen was equating good costumes to good parenting. She didn't know what they were doing since they skipped so many steps at once by going from best friends to a family of four overnight. Tom told her he didn't understand what she was doing either and told her not to let Owen make her feel inept at motherhood over costumes. Bailey advised Teddy not to worry about the costumes and just enjoy the time with her kids. After taking the patient's loved ones to go see him post-op, Teddy met up with Owen on the peds floor. She dressed up as a kick-ass surgeon and told him she wouldn't be like his mother. He knew that, which is why he brought over the box to see if any costumes might fit Leo or Allison. She then understood he hadn't brought over the box to shame her and admitted it had inspired her. She revealed she had dressed up their children as zombies, which neither he nor Bailey liked as a costume for babies.[69]

Teddy dropped Owen off at Pac-North one day. He tried to take a picture of Allison but his phone storage was full. She told him to delete some stuff but he said he needed a bigger phone. He kissed her goodbye and went inside while she drove off to Grey Sloan.[70] Teddy took the day off to support Meredith on the day of her hearing before the medical commission. She and Owen entered the hotel arguing about sleep training, which all sources gave different advice on. Since she was suffering from severe cumulative sleep deprivation, she happily accepted Link's coffee. When Paul Castello had a seizure and was taken to Grey Sloan, Teddy and Link drove behind it. At the hospital, they took scans and diagnosed a hypertensive intracerebral hemorrhage. Tom took on the case and started operating to evacuate the hemorrhage. Teddy sat with Amelia in the gallery until Link came in. After Paul died, the three of them drove back to the hotel, where they learned Meredith got to keep her license. Teddy congratulated her with the others and went back to work afterward.[71]

Maggie asked Teddy to scrub in with her for a valve replacement. While Teddy found it odd for such a basic procedure, she happily accepted the opportunity to operate on a non-traumatized heart for the first time in months. During surgery, Teddy talked about the work at Pac-North. Owen had shown her around there and asked her to come run cardio. She had been thinking about it because she was missing cardio and Maggie was doing a terrific job at it at Grey Sloan. Maggie then scolded her for chit-chatting. Near the end of the surgery, Tom complimented Teddy on her technique from the gallery. Once he was gone, Maggie wondered why Teddy didn't tell him to leave her alone. Teddy still felt guilty for breaking his heart and he was harmless. Maggie asked if she was sure because it seemed to her like Tom still thought he had a future with her and Teddy didn't seem to want to set the record straight. Teddy was then called away for a trauma in the pit but soon returned when Maggie was panicking over the fact that the patient's heart hadn't restarted yet after having taken him off bypass. Teddy pointed out it was likely hibernating myocardium and got Maggie to calm down and agree to her recommendation. After updating the patient's wife, Tom told Teddy he was in need of a new Head of Cardiothoracic Surgery. She thought he had fired Maggie to give her what she wanted and finally told him she had really moved on from him. Tom informed her Maggie had actually quit herself and proceeded to point out that Owen still hadn't proposed to her while he had a baby with her, while Tom was ready to marry Teddy this very day. He asked if she really wanted to close the door on him and walked off, leaving her to overthink what he had said.[72]

Teddy was on duty in the ER when several of Grey Sloan's residents were brought in injured after a car crashed into Joe's bar. She and Amelia teamed up to treat Casey, who was experiencing a severe PTSD exacerbation but went missing on their watch. While they were looking for him, they came across Owen, who complained about Tom being an ass to him. Teddy asked him to cut Tom some slack. Teddy also vented to Amelia about Owen not having proposed yet. It made her wonder if her showing up pregnant with his child triggered his PTSD, which was rooted in a pattern of obligations and not wanting to disappoint people, and made him feel trapped with her. Amelia said she thought Owen was just trying to do things differently. She and Amelia found Casey in the hyperbaric chamber and took him the neuro ICU to monitor him. Teddy also performed an angio on Levi Schmitt, who was experiencing heart attack-like symptoms but turned out to be suffering from broken heart syndrome. Afterward, Owen took Teddy to an on-call room and proposed. She stopped him mid-proposal and told him he didn't have to propose and she didn't want to reinforce his PTSD patterns. He said she wasn't and that he was starting a new pattern of loving her and their family with his whole heart. She then gladly accepted his proposal and they went out to cheer the news with some staff, including Amelia and Link, while a disdained Tom looked on from a distance.[73]

Soon after, Teddy lost the ring and she started looking around at work. When Owen dropped by for a surprise lunch to discuss wedding plans, she blurted out she had lost the ring and got emotional because she aware of the significance it had in his family. Owen told her not to worry and assured her they would find it. Owen took apart the sink pipes in the attendings' lounge as Teddy thought she may have lost it there, but it wasn't in there. They then received word that Leo was vomiting in daycare and went to check on him. They took an X-ray to be safe and discovered Leo had swallowed the ring. While they waited for Leo to pass it, Owen told her she could keep the ring stored somewhere and only wear it for special occasions and suggested she just wear a necklace with the first letter of each of their family members on it. When Leo finally pooped, Teddy volunteered to find the ring.[74]

Teddy took a leave of absence when the children got sick and ended up missing more work because she got the flu herself.[75][76]

As a snowstorm hit Seattle, Owen and Teddy dropped off the kids at his mother's. At work, Teddy grew suspicious when she found Amelia was on leave and there were troubles between her and Link. After working with Owen and Maggie to save a woman and her baby, Teddy walked out into the snow in the ambulance bay to quiet her mind. Tom joined her with hot cocoa. She opened up and told him she had been having this fear for months that Owen was the father of Amelia's baby and that she and Owen would never work out because he would always be in love with Amelia. Tom assured her that Owen was clearly in love with Teddy. Teddy told him he was a good man. Tom said that people were not letting him in no matter how hard he was trying. She repeated she liked him. They then had a snowball fight. Later, Teddy ran into Maggie and told her about her fear, asking if she was being crazy. Maggie told her she was not. Her fear amped up, Teddy went to Tom's hotel room and kissed him. She entered the room, not noticing Owen's text to ask her to go sledding with him.[77]

16x17-53

Owen assures Teddy she is not a replacement.

Owen started to plan their wedding and had his mom send him venue suggestions. He tried discussing it with Teddy in front of Tom but she brushed it off and suggested they get a wedding planner, which he turned down. Once Owen left, Teddy accused Tom of acting weird by being nice to Owen, which could lead to him finding out what happened between them. Tom said he wanted it to keep happening. Teddy insisted it hadn't meant anything and that she had been acting out of fear. Maggie interrupted their talk to discuss a patient but once Tom was gone, Teddy spilled her secret to Maggie. Later in the day, she tried to ignore Owen but ended up telling him that the baby might be his. She asked him what that would mean for them. He took a beat to answer, which upset her. Teddy later vented to Maggie and mentioned that Amelia was playing with people's feelings, which Maggie pointed out Teddy had done with her own pregnancy. Teddy apologized and went to find Tom in his office. She told him he made her feel good and in control, so she felt bad about hurting a good guy like him. While he disagreed on being a good guy, they ended up making out again. Afterward, Teddy went home and found Owen waiting for her with a home-cooked meal. He said he was just shocked when Teddy told him about Amelia's baby earlier. He assured her she was not a replacement and that he would always love her, no matter what.[78]

The next day, Amelia informed all parties involved that Link was the father of the baby. In a supply closet, Teddy told Tom that the news hadn't changed the way she felt about him. Teddy and Amelia worked on Kyle Rexton together, which caused Amelia to wonder if love only meant sacrifice. Teddy thought so, stating she left behind her life in Germany for a marriage that only might work. Amelia reminded her again that Owen was not the father, but Teddy said that hypotheticals have consequences, too. While Amelia operated on Kyle, Tom sat with Teddy in the gallery and told her that he wouldn't be the man sleeping with a married woman. He wanted to make it easy for her so he told her to go home and be with Owen, adding that he would be fine. Teddy ended up crying on a bench outside, where Owen found her. She almost told him about Tom but then changed her mind, claiming she was crying over her rough day. He comforted her.[79]

Teddy attended the Surgical Innovation Conference. Happy to spend some time without her kids, she headed to heart valve happy hour. Over cocktails, she encouraged Maggie to get it on with an attractive former colleague of hers, likening conferences to the Olympic village. Later, she had drinks with Cormac Hayes and witnessed how he lost his temper with a rep from a company. He then excused himself. While sitting at the bar by herself, she was surprised to see Claire. Claire sat down with her and they shared updates on their lives since 9/11. They then touched upon Allison, whom Teddy said she missed every second of her life. Teddy then brought up her daughter. Claire found it odd for her to have named her daughter after Allison. Teddy claimed it wasn't odd to name your child after your deceased best friend, but Claire revealed she knew about their affair. Teddy said it tore them up. Claire said she requested Allison's phone records after she had died to imagine her in her last moment and she found out that Teddy was the last person Allison had tried to call as the Towers fell. Overwhelmed by emotion, Claire left the bar. Teddy met up with Maggie for breakfast the next morning. When she spotted Claire, she went to apologize for the affair and the lying. She stated she had come to learn that a person could love two people at once. Claire accepted her apology, saying she could never stay mad at someone for loving Allison. Afterward, Teddy attended Richard's talk on his PathPen, which turned into complete nonsense. Afraid that he was having a stroke, Teddy went to call an ambulance while Maggie got Richard off the stage.[3]

Teddy became part of the team trying to figure out what was going on with Richard. Between that and Tom, she forgot about wedding cake tasting with Owen. As she walked with Tom, who jokingly suggested for her not to marry Owen, they came across Dana Hamilton, Tom's ex-wife, who wanted him to operate on her son, Guthrie Hamilton, who bore a striking resemblance to Tom and Dana's deceased son David. Teddy figured the surgery to remove spinal mets was too much pressure for Tom so she paged Amelia to take over. Dana struggled to accept the change as she had absolute confidence in Tom's abilities. Tom, however, claimed his schedule was too busy rather than tell Dana the truth. Teddy checked in on Tom later. He told her that he had always convinced himself that he would have been able to save David if they had gotten to the hospital in time, but now that he had the opportunity to save someone who looked so much like David, he couldn't even stand to be in the same room, meaning the thought that he could have saved David had just been a lie. During the surgery, Amelia started experiencing contractions so Tom was forced to step in. He froze right after taking over so Teddy coached him from the gallery to find his confidence again.

16x20-28

Teddy comforts Tom.

Tom pulled off the surgery and retreated to his office afterward, where Teddy came to find him. He thanked her for what she had done for him that day. She apologized for causing him pain but he said she had taken away more than she was adding. She briefly held his hand until she pulled away and left. She ran into Owen on her way out. He pulled her into a supply closet and they started to make out. Trying to bury her feelings for Tom, she asked Owen to get married that very weekend.[80]

Teddy didn't tell Tom, who was hurt upon finding out the truth when Owen confronted him about not granting him time off. He feigned happiness for her. Later, they ended up on an elevator together and he brought up her wedding. She stated she loved Owen and didn't want to discuss it any further. He guessed moving up the wedding was her way of trying to convince herself she could live without him. Teddy responded that the wedding was happening but Tom openly doubted that. Teddy answered a page from Tom, who asked her not to throw her life away. She still insisted the wedding was happening. Tom told her he still loved her and wouldn't give up on her. He told her he would wait for her in the parking lot at 7 o'clock, ready to take her wherever she wanted to go. Teddy objected but gave in as Tom started kissing her, which brought her to finally confess that she was in love with Tom, too. Unbeknownst to Teddy, she accidentally called Owen, leaving him a voice mail message of her and Tom having sex. While doing so, Teddy told Tom that this was goodbye and that she would still be marrying Owen. She went home and put on her dress for the wedding, but as she went to the living room for the ceremony, she found Evelyn taking down decorations. Teddy was surprised when Evelyn told her that Owen had called to inform her he got pulled into a last minute surgery and that the wedding would have to be postponed.[81]

The day after, Teddy found Owen in the lounge. He informed her that Amelia had given birth. She asked him what happened the night before. He said he got pulled into surgery and forgot to leave her a voice mail. She would have preferred for him to let her know directly if their wedding was off rather than through his mother. He said it was just delayed and inquired if there was any reason to actually cancel their wedding. She denied, at which point he was paged away for an incoming trauma. After surgery, Teddy asked Owen to tell him why his behavior was off. He suggested she was projecting and invited her to tell him whatever she had to say. When she again refrained from telling him about the affair, he played the butt dial voice mail. Teddy broke down after he made it clear that she had destroyed the love, friendship, and trust between them.

In an attempt to repair things, she dropped off the kids at Evelyn's and waited for Owen by his car. She profusely apologized and stated she did not want to lose their family. He wondered what he did to her to make her hate him this much. She denied hating him and said it was a mistake. He then brought up how Tom had asked her to run away together and how rather than telling him no, she had replied that she was marrying Owen like some kind of fate she had accepted. Teddy teared up and repeated she wanted to be with him and their family. He said he couldn't do that and drove off as she tried desperately to make him stay.[82]

COVID-19 Pandemic and Relationship Troubles[]

As COVID-19 first hit the United States, Seattle was amongst the country's cities to be hit the hardest, forcing Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital to quickly adapt to the new reality. With all non-emergent surgeries cancelled, specialties ceased to exist and even attendings were doing scut work. To make matters worse, news of Teddy's affair spread quickly among hospital staff, making her unpopular with certain staff members, like Karen. Teddy and Owen worked together but kept communication minimal and professional only. After working shifts in the triage tent outside, Teddy joined Maggie and residents as Tom's order of PPE finally arrived. However, they soon found out he had been scammed as every box contained booties. Tom became enraged and Teddy tried to calm him down as he hit the boxes with his golf club.[83]

One day, Owen pulled her from screening to join her for an incoming trauma case. She talked about being excited for the change of pace. He then requested they talk after work today. She gladly accepted. During a quiet moment, Owen said the pandemic had him thinking about the future. He had been updating his medical directive and his will and inquired what would happen to Leo if he were to die. She tried to get him to talk about their future but he ignored that. She brushed off his suggestion to ask Amelia and Link to take Leo and stated she would never separate the kids. She also said she would not be okay if he died. Teddy was then paged to the OR. She and Maggie operated on Kayden Lee but he passed away despite their best efforts. They went to update his father, who broke down. Owen just watched as Teddy became emotional herself in the face of his grief. She went to the attendings' lounge and continued to cry there. Jo came in and made it clear she had no sympathy for her. Teddy said her life falling apart was hard enough already without people's judgments. Teddy stated she had sabotaged her life because easy and happiness felt so unfamiliar and reiterated that she did love Owen, which he wouldn't hear. Jo then softened and advised her to try harder.[84]

After Meredith was admitted to the hospital herself with COVID-19, Teddy and Andrew took on her case. Despite Teddy's objections, Meredith got herself a tablet and requested to be discharged with supplemental oxygen so she could quarantine in a hotel room and give her room to a patient who actually needed it. Teddy contemplated complying with the request, which was in line with protocol, until Meredith collapsed. The CT revealed severe lung damage. Maggie confronted Teddy and asked if she was in the right headspace to treat Meredith despite the problems in her personal life. Teddy assured her that she was though Maggie requested Andrew be included given his considerable experience with COVID patients. Meredith's team contemplated starting her on an experimental triple antiviral therapy. After briefly informing Owen that their kids were okay, Teddy ran into Tom in the lounge. She offered to buy him coffee by means of an apology, but he requested she give him space because she had broken him and he still loved her. Owen then came in to inform Tom that his routine testing came back positive for COVID-19.[85]

Teddy and Andrew found a clinical trial with monoclonal antibodies that Meredith could be included into. They presented the idea to Richard, her healthcare proxy, and were told he would think about it as he was aware of two trial patients dying, which Teddy thought was due to them receiving the treatment too late. Teddy hoped Meredith would miraculously get better so there was no need for the trial. When Taryn found her frantically doing research, Teddy talked about the massive pressure was feeling to keep up with the latest research to provide Meredith with the best possible treatment. Taryn then told her that Tom was in a bad place in his quarantine and seemed in need of a friend. After work, Teddy dropped by his house with soup but he didn't answer the door. She stated they could talk through the door to give him a semblance of human contact but he didn't react to that either. She figured he was shutting her out and left.[86]

Meredith was included in the trial and her oxygen needs dropped significantly. She asked Andrew to keep her updated and found out that Tom was being brought to the hospital. She met the ambulance outside the ER. As Tom was unloaded, he was talking nonsense and started seizing shortly after. Teddy ordered a head CT and had Amelia paged. His neuro exam looked good and the seizure was deemed because of hypoxemia or early sepsis. Outside his room, Teddy inquired about Amelia's baby and explained that she and Owen kept their kids with Evelyn because they didn't want to risk bringing the virus home to them. Teddy then addressed the elephant in the room. Amelia said she had feelings about the situation but also acknowledged she had doen hurtful and complicated things in her past, some of them to Owen. Teddy opened up about Owen mostly ignoring her and other hospital staff judging her. Amelia assured her she would keep checking on Tom and thanked Teddy for getting Meredith into the trial.

Later, Teddy joined Amelia in Tom's room. His numbers were holding. Once Amelia left, Teddy started talking to an unconscious Tom and said she wanted to believe he had been too sick to answer the door rather than him avoiding her. She hoped that despite the hurt she had caused him, they meant enough to one another to fix their friendship. She knew they couldn't get through this pandemic alone, so if he wanted to get rid of her, he would have to get better first and tell her that himself. Tom then opened his eyes and told her that he had, in fact, been ignoring her when she had visited him. However, he did offer her hope by asking her for a friendly sponge bath.[87]

When Seattle Pres hit capacity, Richard called a staff meeting with the attendings to inform them that would be activating surge protocol. Teddy oversaw the overturning of the cafetaria into a space to deal with COVID overflow. Richard overheard how Teddy ferociously scolded Taryn for organizing things the wrong way. Richard later complimented Teddy's work and pointed out she deserved a break. Teddy was happy about Meredith being awake but the rest of the COVID reality had not changed. She was fully aware they had just turned the cafetaria into a place where people would die. She added she had no place else to go besides the hospital. Richard told her that was on her and pointed out that while she possibly couldn't get her life back, she needed to take an honest look at herself so she wouldn't repeat the same pattern.

17x06-4

Teddy and Owen finally have a talk.

Later that day, Owen announced he was done punishing her and wanted to talk about what to do next. Taking Richard's advice, Teddy confessed the one big secret she had kept from him, that she was deeply in love with Allison. She figured that was somehow connected to why she had an affair but acknowledged she was still figuring out the whole story. Owen then laughed and said that ever since their wedding day, he had been looking for the moment that she turned into a person capable of doing the things she did, but this was proof she had been like that all along. She said that wasn't true but he doubted if she even knew what "true" meant. He pointed out they named their daughter after a lie. Teddy then received word that Meredith was deteriorating fast. As Meredith's sats plummeted and she failed to respond to high-flow oxygen, Teddy stated her getting better before was likely a COVID high. With Meredith's lungs at a breaking point, Richard agreed with Teddy's suggestion to put her on a ventilator. Teddy intubated her and hooked her up to the ventilator, after which Meredith was moved to the ICU.[88]

Relationships[]

Romantic[]

Owen Hunt[]

Owen and Teddy met while they both were army surgeons. Owen brought her to Seattle Grace Mercy West as a present for Cristina, claiming her to be a "cardio goddess", and Teddy later worked out that Owen brought her as a present for his girlfriend, appearing more surprised by the fact Cristina was his girlfriend. She later would admit that she believed that if Owen broke up with his fiancée, Beth, he would have called her. She knew what Owen was going through with his PTSD, but she wasn't able to help him because she was seeing Mark at the time, and he was with Cristina. During the shooting, Owen finally decided that he wanted to be with Cristina, which Teddy understood. This ended their romantic feelings for one another, and they continued being best friends.

Years after Teddy left the hospital to move to Germany, Owen realized that he wanted to be with her and flew out to Germany to visit her. They slept together and spent a day blissfully happy. However, their happiness was cut short when Teddy learned that Owen had come because of Amelia's suggestion after he had slept with Amelia the day before. Teddy kicked Owen out, and two left things on bad terms.

Months later, Teddy returned to Seattle with the news that she was pregnant with Owen's baby. Though Owen was initially mad that Teddy had hid her pregnancy from him for so long, they eventually made up and decided to raise the baby as friends. After Owen broke up with Amelia again, he started therapy and realized he was actually in love with Teddy. Teddy realized that she was also in love with Owen just as she went into labor with their baby. As she was giving birth to their daughter, Allison, Owen declared his love for her. After a few months of raising Allison together, Owen proposed to Teddy with his mother's ring and she accepted. During the snowstorm, Teddy and Tom Koracick slept together. They slept together and had a romantic relationship for weeks leading up to the wedding of Owen and Teddy. Owen finally found out after Teddy dropped her phone in Tom's office and a voicemail of Teddy moaning was heard by the OR. Owen later listened to the voicemail in full and cried in a supply closet. He called off the wedding.

While Teddy was dealing her trauma and loss of Allison, Owen apologized to her for the way he treated her when she tried to tell him the truth about her relationship with Allison. They reconcile as friends.

Later on Christmas, Owen proposes to Teddy again and she accepts.

Mark Sloan[]

Dr. Sloan asked Teddy out, but she initially declined. Eventually, she accepted and they had dated briefly. After finding Reed Adamson in Mark's bed, Teddy ended things.[89]

Henry Burton[]

7x22-10

Teddy realizes she loves Henry.

Henry was a patient who had Von Hippel-Lindau disease (making tumors grow in areas with rich blood supply) and could no longer afford treatment because his insurance capped out. Teddy met Henry in an elevator in the hospital, where Henry asked her if he would have a chance when he asked his girlfriend to marry him. Teddy told him his girlfriend would be a fool to say no. She later bumped into him again, and he informed her his girlfriend said no. He then revealed that he primarily asked her because of her insurance. Teddy then offered to marry him, as she had a great insurance as a surgeon.

After their marriage, Henry listed Teddy as his emergency contact person, because he didn't have any friends or family left. Henry developed real feelings for Teddy, but he decided not to tell her. She started dating, and they discussed her dates over the food she always brought home for him. However, when Teddy started a relationship with Andrew Perkins for the second time, Henry couldn't keep his feeling still anymore. He told her how he felt, which made her doubt about her relationship with Andrew. Right before she was supposed to leave for Germany with Perkins, she chose Henry over Andrew and kissed Henry.

Henry told Teddy that he wanted to go to medical school, but Teddy didn't want him to go. When Teddy went home that night, she tried to make up with Henry, but found him coughing up blood. Henry had a tumor on his lung and needed surgery. When Cristina and Richard opened him up, they found that there was no chance of saving Henry and he started to code. Webber stepped in to do CPR, but after 20 minutes, it was a lost cause so he stopped and Henry died. Webber told Owen not to tell Teddy as she was in surgery, and then they would lose another patient, so Owen told Teddy that Henry survived. Finally, after the surgery, Cristina told her that her husband was dead. Teddy demanded to see him and then broke down in tears.

Andrew Perkins[]

Andrew and Teddy began a relationship after the shooting at Seattle Grace Mercy West. Andrew was the main trauma counselor who had to approve and clear each surgeon for surgery. Teddy and Andrew met in the cafeteria and dated for a few weeks before he had to move onto his next case. Teddy was very upset by this, but eventually moved on. Eventually, Andrew returned to Seattle, but in the meantime, Teddy had married Henry. Andrew was offered a permanent position in Germany and asked Teddy to go with him. She initially accepted and they were all set to go. However, she had second thoughts about her relationship with Henry and chose to stay.

Tom Koracick[]

Tom and Teddy started dating after she came back to Seattle to raise her child with Owen. Though Tom initially had worries about Teddy's relationship with Owen, she convinced him that she and Owen were only meant to be friends. Tom stayed very involved with Teddy's pregnancy, including attending birthing classes with her. Tom even helped Teddy find the perfect apartment in Seattle. Tom often fought with Owen over Teddy, as both men wanted to help Teddy with her pregnancy. When Teddy went into labor and had an emotional moment with Owen, Tom was not alerted and was left at home building a crib for the baby.

She broke up with him after giving birth and chose Owen. Later on, despite being engaged to Owen, Teddy had a playful snowball fight with Tom and went to his house that night. They kissed and shut the door. Later, they kissed and locked the door again in Tom's office.

Allison Robin Brown[]

Teddy met Allison when Allison nearly ran her over with her bike. They hit it off and Allison bought Teddy a bagel and asked Teddy to move in with Allison and Allison's girlfriend, Claire Williams, but she and Allison began an affair together after that, whilst Teddy was grieving the loss of her mother. Teddy later described Allison as her "favorite person." Allison died on 9/11 in the second tower and her death left Teddy feeling like she couldn't stay in New York. She ended up joining the Army because of that feeling. Years later, Teddy and Owen named their daughter after Allison.

Friendships[]

Arizona Robbins[]

One day, Arizona took Teddy aside and told her that they should be friends. Teddy and Arizona shared a special friendship. When Mark asked Teddy out, she confided in Arizona, who suggested that Mark was like candy: eat it and forget about it. When things sparked between Mark and Teddy, Arizona was the one she confided in. When Arizona went to Africa, she and Teddy continued to keep in touch and regularly wrote to each other. Arizona supported Teddy when she had things going on between her and Andrew.

When Callie became pregnant and asked Arizona to be in, Arizona went to Teddy for advice on whether or not to be in. Arizona arranged ladies night for her after Henry died. Arizona and Teddy continued to keep in touch after Teddy moved to Germany, as Arizona learned about Owen double-dipping from her phone conversation with Teddy.

Callie Torres[]

Miranda Bailey[]

Professional[]

Cristina Yang[]

Initially excited at the prospect of a new cardio attending, Cristina was disappointed when she learned that Teddy had not inserted a pacing wire for about 10 years and began to question Teddy's skills as a surgeon.

However she became very impressed by Dr. Altman soon after Teddy diagnosed a child with cardiac asthma after only a brief exam and asking three questions, and when she opened him up, she discovered he had a coronary artery to pulmonary artery fistula, which she repaired surgically and allowed Cristina to first assist, which meant allowing her to attach the coronary artery to the aorta. Following his removal from bypass, the patient went into v-fib and started bleeding from the repair site. Teddy remained extremely calm and talked Cristina through resolving the rhythm and repairing the site without rearresting the heart.

Over the course of their time together, Teddy and Cristina developed a deep sense of respect for each other as colleagues, despite the slight tension between them caused by Owen. Teddy, who grew to appreciate Cristina's skills and persistence, almost regularly had Cristina on her service.

They once performed an appendectomy together, during which both of them forgot what to do halfway through the surgery. Cristina told Meredith and Alex that Teddy is "the love of my life" because they got along so well.

When Teddy's husband, Henry, came to the ER while vomiting blood, he had to undergo laparoscopic surgery, and Teddy believed only Cristina could perform the surgery like herself. Cristina was kept in the dark about the identity of the patient, and she performed the surgery. At one point in the surgery, there was too much bleeding, and Dr. Webber suggested they open him up. After they opened him up, Cristina saw there was too much damage to the aorta and realized she couldn't do anything to save him. Dr. Webber continued to do compressions even after Henry's heart stopped. Cristina was then told by Owen about who the patient was and she broke down crying in the scrub room.

Not long after that, she was forced to enter the ER where Teddy was operating to assist in that surgery. Teddy was unaware that Henry had died. After the surgery was complete, Cristina had April close while she took Teddy into the scrub room and told her that Henry had died. For two weeks after Henry's death, Teddy questioned Cristina over and over again about what exactly happened in the surgery. Cristina kept describing the whole procedure without complaining, until Teddy concluded that Cristina did everything that could have been done.

Career[]

Dr. Altman attended University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, completing her surgical residency at George Washington University Medical Center and her fellowship at the Mayo Clinic in Florida.

Working previously at Columbia University Medical Center as a board certified attending surgeon, Dr. Altman left her job following the death of her best friend, who was killed during the collapse of the second tower. Upon leaving her job, Dr. Altman joined the army and met Owen Hunt during her tour in Baghdad. She also served two years in Landstuhl.

When her tour of duty was over, Owen recommended her as the new interim head of cardiothoracic surgery at Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital. The then-Chief, Webber initially offered her a temporary contract, but she became part of the permanent staff when Dr. Shepherd, the new chief of surgery, extended her offer with a new contract.

As head of cardiothoracic surgery, Dr. Altman mentored Cristina Yang for the last three years of Yang's residency and began research on a stem cell regenerative heart medicine project. It was this research that drew the US Army Medical Command's attention toward Dr. Altman, eventually offering her the position as their chief of staff. After Chief Hunt fired her in order to facilitate the decision of leaving for her, she left the hospital and accepted the position at MEDCOM.

She came to Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital after Megan Hunt was found. Teddy now holds privileges at the hospital since operating on Megan with Meredith Grey. After finding out she was pregnant, Teddy traveled to Seattle again and was pulled into an emergency surgery with Bailey, whom she asked for a job. Surprisingly, Bailey offered her the job of Interim Chief of Surgery, which Teddy was very interested in. However, she later turned it down after learning that Owen had formed a family with Amelia. Later, after she told Owen and decided to remain in Seattle so their baby could have two parents, Owen gave her his job as Head of Trauma Surgery. She began missing operating on non-traumatized hearts and was hired as Head of Cardiothoracic Surgery again by Tom Koracick when Maggie Pierce quit. Shortly after, Pacific Northwest General Hospital was closed down and Maggie was re-hired at Grey Sloan, making her and Teddy Co-Heads of the department. She held this position until Owen's actions of illegally assisting terminal veterans commit suicide forced the family to run from the law. Upon returning after six months, Teddy was appointed Head of Trauma Surgery by interim Chief Grey since Owen's license had been suspended.

After Meredith quit the position to move to Boston, Richard struggled to find a new Chief of Surgery to replace Meredith. Teddy threw her hat in the ring and accepted the job after negotiating a proper deal.

Notes and Trivia[]

  • Teddy has birds on her scrub cap. This is to honor Allison, who loved birds.[90]
  • She drives a Volvo V60.[1][91]
  • Teddy was awarded a Bronze Star for her service in the military.[92]
  • Teddy had plans to leave the hospital every season during her first run as a main cast member, finally leaving at the end of season eight.
    • In season six, she almost left because she couldn't handle that Owen wasn't in love with her.
    • In season seven, she was planning on moving to Germany with Andrew Perkins, but stayed because Henry told her he was in love with her and she was starting to fall in love with him too.
    • In the season eight finale, she was offered a job in the army, but refused to take it because she wanted to stay in Seattle to support Owen, as he was having a hard time. However, Owen didn't want her to miss the opportunity just because of him, and forced himself to fire her. After she was fired, Teddy was angry at first but relieved later, and she took the job, leaving Seattle Grace Mercy West.
  • Though she was part of the main cast from season six to season eight, and seasons fifteen to present, season seven is the only season in which she appears in every single episode.
  • Although the cardiothoracic surgery department has had more different department heads than any other department over the course of the entire series, Teddy is the only head of cardiothoracic surgery to have been fired. It should be noted though that she wasn't fired for performance reasons, but rather as an incentive to take a post at MEDCOM.[93]
  • Teddy was unable to complete an appendectomy without Nurse Linda reminding her of the remaining steps of the procedure.[94]
  • Out of all the season six main cast members, Teddy was the only one who didn't encounter Gary Clark while he went on a shooting rampage at the hospital.
  • Teddy loves dogs, especially puppies.[95][96]
  • She hates the word moist. She'd really prefer that people say damp.[97]
  • She hates helicopters.[98]
  • She revealed that her aspirational couple was Callie and Arizona.[96]
  • Teddy decided to go to medical school when she was 19 years old.[99]
  • Although incorrect, Teddy's SGMW ID badge states her department is cardiology. It also does not mention her F.A.C.S. title.
  • Teddy's favorite food is French.[96]
  • She likes hiking.[96]
  • She speaks German.[100]
  • Teddy is the first character to return to main character status after leaving the main cast previously.
  • According to her old friend Claire, she was practically a socialist before enlisting in the army, making the decision peculiar to her.[3]
  • She shares her nickname (Teddy) and her last name (Altman) with the Marvel character Theodore "Teddy" Altman a.k.a Hulkling who it seems she was named for.[source?]
  • Her father died a year before the September 11 Attacks, and her mother a month before.[101]
  • Owen says she listens to Duran Duran way too loud and she can take down an entire pizza on her own.[102]
  • Her favorite party game is "Boggle."[103]
  • Miranda Bailey once deemed her the "Ambassador of Fun."[103]
  • Her favorite colour is blue.[104]

Gallery[]

A more complete gallery with pictures of Teddy Altman can be found here.

Notable Episodes[]

These episode are Teddy-centric or are otherwise very informative about her life.

Memorable Quotes[]

Teddy: You've known me longer than anyone else, you've been my other hand in surgery, my soccer partner, my confidante and you literally have been my cover in military ops and now you are the father of our children and soon to be my husband and I never want to let you go. I love you.[105]

Teddy: You have to go back to the beginning to understand the end.[106]

Teddy: Say it. When you inform the family, you have to say it so they know that it's really happening. That's the first thing you are taught. I never really thought about it, but now I get it. And, Cristina, I need you...I need you to say it.[107]

Teddy: Are you done? Are you finished? ... I hate you. From the moment you decided to put the needs of your hospital over my dead husband I have hated you. I lie in bed at night alone and I look at the spot where my husband used to sleep and I actively... with every cell in my body, hate you. I wish you were dead instead of him. I think about all of the soldiers, good men, who died over there in Iraq and I don't understood what kind of God would allow you to survive. We are not friends. This is not grief, it will not pass. I hate you! ... Please don't speak to me again unless it's worked related.

Teddy: This is why I hate awards. They don't make us better, just more competitive and stupid. And for what? To put on a dress and eat a bad piece of fish and take home an ugly paperweight that's going to sit on your mantel for the rest of your sad, empty, misguided life?[108]

Appearances[]



References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 Superfreak, 7x03
  2. In My Life, 17x09
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Love of My Life, 16x19
  4. Everyday Angel, 15x05
  5. 5.0 5.1 Danger Zone, 14x05
  6. Everyday Angel, 15x05
  7. Suicide is Painless, 6x18
  8. New History, 6x09
  9. Holidaze, 6x10
  10. Blink, 6x11
  11. I Like You So Much Better When You're Naked, 6x12
  12. State of Love and Trust, 6x13
  13. Valentine's Day Massacre, 6x14
  14. Perfect Little Accident, 6x16
  15. Push, 6x17
  16. Suicide is Painless, 6x18
  17. Sympathy for the Parents, 6x19
  18. Hook, Line and Sinner, 6x20
  19. How Insensitive, 6x21
  20. Shiny Happy People, 6x22
  21. Sanctuary, 6x23
  22. Death and All His Friends, 6x24
  23. With You I'm Born Again, 7x01
  24. Shock to the System, 7x02
  25. Superfreak, 7x03
  26. Can't Fight Biology, 7x04
  27. Almost Grown, 7x05
  28. These Arms of Mine, 7x06
  29. That's Me Trying, 7x07
  30. Something's Gotta Give, 7x08
  31. Slow Night, So Long, 7x09
  32. Adrift and at Peace, 7x10
  33. Disarm, 7x11
  34. Start Me Up, 7x12
  35. Don't Deceive Me (Please Don't Go), 7x13
  36. P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)
  37. Golden Hour, 7x15
  38. Flight, 8x24
  39. True Colors, 13x23
  40. Break Down the House, 14x01
  41. Get Off on the Pain, 14x02
  42. One Day Like This, 14x17
  43. Hold Back the River,14x18
  44. All of Me, 14x24
  45. With a Wonder and a Wild Desire, 15x01
  46. Gut Feeling, 15x03
  47. Momma Knows Best, 15x04
  48. Everyday Angel, 15x05
  49. Flowers Grow Out of My Grave, 15x06
  50. Blowin' in the Wind, 15x08
  51. Shelter from the Storm,15x09
  52. Help, I'm Alive, 15x10
  53. The Winner Takes It All, 15x11
  54. Girlfriend in a Coma, 15x12
  55. I Walk the Line, 15x13
  56. I Want a New Drug, 15x14
  57. We Didn't Start the Fire, 15x15
  58. Blood and Water, 15x16
  59. And Dream of Sheep, 15x17
  60. Add It Up, 15x18
  61. The Whole Package, 15x20
  62. Head Over High Heels, 15x22
  63. What I Did for Love, 15x23
  64. Drawn to the Blood, 15x24
  65. Jump Into the Fog, 15x25
  66. Nothing Left to Cling To, 16x01
  67. Reunited, 16x03
  68. It's Raining Men, 16x04
  69. Whistlin' Past the Graveyard, 16x06
  70. Papa Don't Preach, 16x07
  71. My Shot, 16x08
  72. Let's All Go to the Bar, 16x09
  73. Help Me Through the Night, 16x10
  74. A Hard Pill to Swallow, 16x11
  75. Save the Last Dance for Me, 16x13
  76. A Diagnosis, 16x14
  77. Snowblind, 16x15
  78. Life on Mars?, 16x17
  79. Give a Little Bit, 16x18
  80. Sing It Again, 16x20
  81. Put on a Happy Face, 16x21
  82. The Center Won't Hold, 17x02
  83. All Tomorrow's Parties, 17x01
  84. The Center Won't Hold, 17x02
  85. My Happy Ending, 17x03
  86. You'll Never Walk Alone, 17x04
  87. Fight the Power, 17x05
  88. No Time for Despair, 17x06
  89. Shiny Happy People, 6x22
  90. New History, 6x09
  91. Whistlin' Past the Graveyard, 16x06
  92. Hook, Line and Sinner, 6x20
  93. Flight, 8x24
  94. Take the Lead, 8x03
  95. Valentine's Day Massacre, 6x14
  96. 96.0 96.1 96.2 96.3 Slow Night, So Long, 7x09
  97. Suicide is Painless, 6x18
  98. Suicide is Painless, 6x18
  99. Heart-Shaped Box, 8x08
  100. One Day Like This, 14x17
  101. Everyday Angel, 15x05
  102. Add It Up, 15x18
  103. 103.0 103.1 Stronger Than Hate, 18x18
  104. Wasn't Expecting That, 19x02
  105. Here Comes the Sun, 18x01
  106. Put Me In, Coach, 8x07
  107. Suddenly, 8x10
  108. Perfect Little Accident, 6x16
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