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Don't be scared. I have no idea how many times I've said it. The intern stands over a patient with a scalpel or a needle or a clamp, afraid to make the first move. They're scared. They know what to do, but they just need that little push. Don't stop. Don't hesitate. You can't be scared of what's next. Do not let fear get in your way. That's why we don’t operate alone. There are attendings and nurses and interns. Those O.R.s are full of people. So in the cases where somebody actually does get hurt, nobody has to go through it alone.

When It Hurts So Bad is the sixteenth episode of the twelfth season and the 261st overall episode of Grey's Anatomy.

Short Summary[]

Meredith takes a step forward with Will but quickly regrets it. Maggie senses a disconnection with Andrew, and Amelia reevaluates her relationship with Owen. Meanwhile, Catherine comes into town and really shakes things up with April and Jackson. 

Full Summary[]

Meredith and Will are at the front door. He asks which date this was. She thinks it was the second. He also considered the car ride a date, which makes three. Three is his lucky number. She guesses he's unlucky tonight. He walks off, but she calls him back to say goodnight. He comes back to say goodnight and kisses her.

In the ER, Amelia hesitates on her way out as she sees Owen. She keeps on walking and Owen looks up just in time to see her walk out.

In bed, Callie and Penny wish each other goodnight. Penny tells Callie she loves her, and Callie replies with "thank you" before shutting the light off.

Andrew is sneaking out, but Maggie wakes up. He gets to assist Bailey on a Heller myotomy today. She asks him to let her know how it went and lets him leave after a kiss. She gets out of bed, too.

As Maggie is brushing her teeth, she suddenly hears Meredith screaming to get out. She goes out to the hallway as Meredith throws Will out of her room. Will assures Maggie he didn't do anything, they were just sleeping. Amelia appears, too, wondering who Will is. Maggie and Meredith scream at Will to get out, and he leaves. Meredith opens the door to check if he's really gone and quickly closes it again.

Owen and Ben walk into the ambulance bay, where Stephanie is on the phone with Amelia to change her schedule. Amelia is not coming in today. Stephanie will let her know that Owen asked about her. The ambulance arrives. The patient is a 21-year-old female with crush injuries and a bilateral hip dislocation. Ashley says it fell on her. Chris, a man, gets out of the rig and says he fell on her. He urges them to look at Ashley first. They rush her inside and Owen asks to to have Callie paged.

On the elevator, Arizona says it was Alex's idea to do something about Jackson and April. Alex didn't mean go behind April's back. The elevator arrives on the next floor, where April and Nathan are waiting. Arizona greets April. April says they'll take the next elevator. Arizona asks Alex to be more specific next time.

Richard is humming as he looks at scans. Jackson comes in. Richard says Catherine's plane lands any minute now. Jackson doesn't think her visit is a coincidence. Richard says he keeps no secrets from his wife, who loves to see both him and her son. It's a shame if he feels otherwise.

As Owen and Ben are stitching up Chris's head lac, they ask what happened exactly. He's hesitant as he doesn't want to kiss and tell.

In a trauma room, Ashley says Chris is a great guy so she didn't care he was big. She's an athlete who doesn't back down from a challenge, and just because she's little doesn't mean she can't date big men.

Chris says they went over to her place, which surprised him.

Ashley says the size of it crossed her mind, but she's not a quitter. She was ready to climb Mount Everest.

Chris doesn't want to say more. It was a nice evening.

Ashley says her feet were way up in the air and it took some finessing at first, but she was determined. And it was so worth it, until...

Chris says he slipped, and her legs snapped. It was terrible.

Ashley says it was terrible, but this is way worse. Ashley's maxed out on pain meds. Callie beckons Ben. Callie asks Ashley if she can handle a lot of pain at once, because they need to get her legs back into their sockets the sooner the better. Ashley agrees. Callie takes the right leg, Stephanie the left. No need to put Ashley through the pain twice. They all take positions and reduce both hips. Ashley screams in pain.

In the kitchen, Amelia and Maggie are preparing coffee for Meredith while discussing what happened. Meredith walks in and ignores the two. She starts looking for the stuff to clean the countertops. Amelia directs her to it. Meredith starts cleaning. Amelia explains to her she crashed here on the couch. As Meredith starts cleaning the stovetop, Amelia says she should have asked and gets ready to leave. Maggie says something happened with Owen that really shook her up. Maggie asks Amelia to stay. They can all sit down and talk about what happened. Meredith wonders if she can use bleach to clean the oven. Amelia shows her the product they actually use, and Meredith starts using it.

The doctors are taking Ashley up to CT. Owen will join them. Chris says he almost killed Ashley with sex.

Intern Hannah finds Penny. She needed her, because Callie is busy with a patient. Penny takes a look at the chart and asks about Arizona. She's in surgery, so Hannah figured she'd go get Penny. Penny says she's got it.

In the ER, Tori explains to Penny that the girl she's with was at their home for a playdate, and she slipped and hit her head on a rock. She has a head lac. Penny introduces herself and the girl replies she's Sofia Sloan Torres. Penny says she works with her moms and takes a look at the cut. It doesn't look bad.

Catherine has arrived at the hospital. She asks about April and reminds him he went through a divorce without her saying a word. She wants to talk to April, but he says she'll only make it worse. He doesn't want her near April. It's his business.

Maggie comes home after having dropped off Zola and Bailey. Meredith and Amelia are now cleaning the living room. Amelia brings up that Andrew was in a hurry to get out this morning. Maggie tells her about the surgery and checks her phone for a text. Amelia has no idea what to do with Owen, who keeps on texting her. Maggie asks Meredith for advice for Amelia, as she knows Owen better than any of them. Meredith notices a stain on the carpet.

Nathan looks at the OR board and notices April's keeping busy today. April explains she's hiding from Catherine, who's worse than bad. She knows she can't hide forever, but at least for a little while will help. Her first surgery is with him, so they leave to get ready.

While waiting for the scans, Ben talks about a dog that was half German shepherd, half teacup chihuahua. He couldn't help but wonder how that dog happened. Stephanie talks about a monster truck crushing a convertible. They wonder about the logistics. Callie suddenly says to stop the scanner. They rush in. Ashley's right leg is pale and cold. There's no distal pulse. Callie orders a nurse to book an OR. Callie explains to Ashley that her blood flow is compromised, so they need to move fast.

In the ER, the doctors are operating on Ashley. They were just in time. Stephanie talks about a big-size guy she went home with in college, and uses both her forearms to mimic its size. A nurse informs Callie that Sofia is in the ER. Owen proposes to take over, and Callie runs out.

April takes a break in a lounge. Catherine comes in and understands how tired she is. She talks about her own pregnancy with Jackson. Catherine says they won't talk about Jackson. She wants to know about April. She asks how many weeks it's been. April says she's coming up on 13. She hasn't experienced morning sickness. Catherine says she's lucky. April admits it was hard to keep it together when she found out, because she was already so emotional from the divorce. Catherine asks if she found out the day of the divorce, and April confirms. April says she needed time to process. Catherine says she would have done the same.

Arizona says Sofia looks good and thanks Penny for taking care of Sofia. Callie and Penny walk off, too. Callie says it would have been nice to get a page before Penny started treating her. She also could have asked for people that Sofia knows, like Bailey. Penny notices this is about something else. Callie says Sofia doesn't know anything about Penny and they haven't had that conversation. Penny says she didn't mean to make things weird when she told Callie she loves her. Callie blurts out it's Arizona who's not ready. Penny understands. Callie says Arizona will be ready one day. Penny apologizes and says she can wait.

Amelia, Maggie, and Meredith are trying to assemble a carpet steamer. Meredith asks what happened with Owen. Amelia says he was really drunk when she showed up. She's not ready for him. Alex comes in, as Maggie let him know there was an emergency. Alex can't believe he cancelled surgeries and left DeLuca in charge of his post-ops for this. Maggie thought Andrew was doing the Heller myotomy. Alex informs her that got cancelled. Meredith leaves to get water for the steamer.

Penny finds Arizona, who's with Jo, and apologizes for interacting with Sofia. She didn't know Arizona had a problem with it. Arizona says she never said she was uncomfortable. That subject has never come up. Jo realizes Callie was lying.

Meredith is steaming the carpet, but they're not sure it's working. Maggie thinks Andrew just forget to let her know. Maggie says it's been so hard to get together. Amelia thinks Andrew is giving Maggie the brush-off. Maggie thinks that's ridiculous. She leaves to go to the hospital, because nobody brushes her off. She's the brusher.

Arizona finds Callie and tells her not to get her in the middle of her problems with Penny. Callie says it was dumb to blurt it out. Arizona is fine with Penny meeting Sofia. Arizona says she's done with getting in the middle of things.

Stephanie, Ben, and Owen are scrubbing out. Stephanie's pager goes off and Owen wonders if it's Amelia. Stephanie says it's her mother and leaves. Ben asks what Owen did. He knows when messages are being ignored, as it happened to him when he bought Tuck a pocket knife for camping. Bailey thought it was a weapon. She forgave Ben eventually. Owen says this thing with Amelia hasn't faded yet. Ben says that sometimes, you have to tell people that you'd never hurt them, even though they already know.

In the gallery, Penny is discussing her problems with Jo. Jo says she only returned Alex's "I love you" after a few years. Andrew leans in and says that attendings always have the power in the relationship. Maggie comes in and asks for a word. They leave and Jo says he has a point. Penny decides to talk to Callie.

In an on-call room, Maggie asks Andrew what's going on. He pretends he has a busy day, but she doesn't buy it. She has no time for childish guessing games. She asks if he wants to be with her or not. He stays silent, which she takes as her answer. She reminds him he wanted to go public, and now he can't handle it. He says he's sorry. She tells him to leave.

Meredith is cleaning out a closet. Amelia has gathered mini shampoos and conditioners from the bathroom and wonders if she should throw them out. Alex decides to take them. Meredith finds a blanket in the closet and starts smiling. It's Derek's blanket. She says they're done cleaning, wraps the blanket around her body, and walks off..

Callie arrives in the cat lab. Stephanie informs Callie that Ashley coded. Callie says she should have waited with the hip reduction. Owen says it's a known complication and says her choice was bold, not wrong. He'll deal with the clot before Ashley arrests again.

April finds Jackson and says she had a nice talk with his mother. She asks Jackson to find the time to talk, soon. He'd like that.

Stephanie and Owen tell Chris that Ashley should make a full recovery. Chris is relieved and hugs Owen really tightly. Owen's in pain. He and Stephanie walk off and Stephanie tells him that Amelia is at Meredith's house, in case he wanted to make a bold move.

Penny gives Callie Sofia's chart. She had Bailey discharge her. Callie apologizes. Penny says that it's fine if they're not in the same place. If Callie is not ready for her to meet Sofia, that's okay, but lying to her is not okay.

Alex tells Meredith Amelia went to pick up the kids. Alex says down with Meredith by the fireplace. Meredith says she always hated the blanket, which made it all the way from the trailer to the dream house. They used it to make a bed in front of this fireplace. Now Derek's gone and she has his blanket. She freaked out this morning. Alex heard. Meredith says it was kind of incredible with Will. They fell asleep and then they woke up, and he was there and she couldn't handle that. Everyone, including Alex, said she was ready, so she wanted to get it over with, but turns out she wasn't ready.

Amelia arrives on the front porch with the kids. Amelia tells them Mommy cleaned the house and to keep the house clean. She lets the kids in as Owen appears. He wanted to apologize face-to-face. He says he was thoughtless. He doesn't want to have an excuse, but Riggs said some things that set him off. Amelia knows he's sorry, but she just got sober again. He says it won't happen again. She knows it won't, but she can only count on herself right now. He's not in this with her, so she can't do this with him right now, maybe not at all. Amelia asks him to leave and she goes inside.

Callie tells Ashley her numbers look great. Chris comes into the room. He doesn't know what to say. He's glad she'll be okay. He tries to take her hand, but she pulls it back. She says she has been to the mountain top, and it's exhilarating. He figures out she doesn't want to see him again. She says nobody needs to climb Everest twice.

Bailey tells Sofia is more than okay. Callie asks when she knew Tuck was ready to meet Ben. Bailey says Tuck was too young to tie his own shoes when Baily met Ben, but Bailey cared about herself being ready more. Callie says she was ready the day she met Penny, but she's always ready too early. It was one thing when it was about her, but now it's Sofia. Bailey tells her to imagine the day dreams she has about Sofia playing in the Women's World Cup Final and the whole stadium is chanting her name. She asks who Callie wants screaming and cheering beside her.

Maggie joins Alex, Amelia, and Meredith at the fireplace and they eat snacks. She says DeLuca is a non-issue now. Amelia says Hunt is, too. Alex informs them pizza is coming when the doorbell rings. Alex goes to open the door, but it's Will. He's here to see Meredith. Alex tries to brush him off, but Meredith says it's okay. She gives Alex her blanket and goes out onto the front porch to talk.

Penny leaves the hospital and finds Callie and Sofia standing outside. Sofia doesn't remember her name. Callie says the doctor's name is Penny. Callie tells Penny that she and Sofia decided to get ice cream to make the stitches better, and Callie thought Penny maybe wanted to join them. She says they are in the same place and she's been there for a while, so she wants Penny to come. Penny agrees to come. She thanks Callie and they leave together.

Richard and Catherine are on their way out. Richard asks Jackson to join them for dinner. Jackson declines the invite and asks for a moment with Catherine. Jackson says she talked to April anyway despite his objections. He finds it hard to say, but he thanks her, because she seems to have made things better. Catherine says she was right. She got everything they needed. What April knew, when she knew, who she spoke to, and when she did. Catherine needed to confirm April was withholding information from Jackson when she signed the divorce papers. April legally committed fraud, and she did and now they can go after her. Jackson is shocked as Catherine rejoins Richard. 

Will tells Meredith he's sorry if he hurt her. Meredith says it's not him, or at least not because he's him. She says she lost her husband two years ago and he's the first person she's been with since. This would be easier if last night were awful, but it was great. He is great. He thought so too, but there's a but. She's not ready. She wants to be. He says he'll back off for a little while, but he'll call her again and if she ignores him, he'll show up again and they'll go back to sitting in the car and talk. He'll be waiting until she's ready, because he's pretty sure she's worth waiting for. She tells him goodnight and goes back inside.

While Meredith's voice over talks about how you can't let fear hold you back, Meredith tells Alex, Maggie, and Amelia that she's fine. Alex leaves to go check on the pizza. Amelia tells her the laundry and dishes are done and lunch for Zola is made. Meredith thanks her. Amelia gets ready to go, but Meredith says she can stay in her room if she wants, since it's clean.

Cast[]

Main Cast[]

Guest Stars[]

Co-Starring[]

Uncredited[]

Medical Notes[]

Ashley Hughes[]

  • Diagnosis:
    • Crush injuries
    • Bilateral hip dislocations
    • Broken femur
    • Pulmonary embolism
  • Treatment:
    • Closed reduction
    • Surgery
    • Embolectomy

Ashley, 21, came into the ER with both hips dislocated and crush injuries after Christopher fell on her while they were having sex. She was in a lot of pain even after pain medication, so Callie offered to reduce her hips in the ER to help with that. She chose to go for it and her hips were reduced. She was then taken for a CT. While she was in the CT scanner, the scan revealed a broken femur. Callie then noticed that Ashley's right leg was pale and cold. She had no blood flow. They rushed her into the OR so they could restore blood flow. Once that was done, Callie fixed her femur. After her surgery, she coded with a pulmonary embolism. They took her in for an embolectomy. After her procedure, she was told she'd be okay.

Christopher[]

  • Diagnosis:
    • Head laceration
  • Treatment:
    • Stitches

Christopher came into the ER with a head laceration after falling while having sex. His cut was stitched up.

Rotko Kid[]

  • Diagnosis:
  • Treatment:

Alex told Arizona the Rotko kid looked good, but he wanted to watch him overnight.

Sofia Robbin Sloan Torres[]

  • Diagnosis:
    • Head laceration
  • Treatment:
    • Stitches

Sofia was running around with a friend when she tripped and cut her head on a rock. Penny examined her and then stitched up the cut. Bailey then discharged her.

Nathan and April's Patient[]

  • Diagnosis:
  • Treatment:
    • Surgery

April asked Nathan if he was ready to operate together.

Music[]

Song Performer Scene
"Green & Gold" Lianne La Havas
  • Will walks Meredith to her door.
  • After talking about how many dates they've been on, they say good night and then kiss.
  • Amelia sees Owen in the ER.
  • He watches her leave.
  • Penny tells Callie she needs to go to bed because she has early rounds.
  • They say good night and Penny says she loves her.
"Mother May I" Cee Lo Green
  • Meredith uses the steam cleaner on the carpet as Maggie complains about Andrew.
  • Amelia points out that Andrew is giving her the brush off. Maggie denies it and leaves to go to the hospital, against Amelia's advice.
  • Meredith gives up on the stain.
  • Arizona tells Callie if she has a problem with her girlfriend, to leave her out of it.
"Love's on the Way" Sebastian Kole
  • Sofia, Callie, and Penny leave to get ice cream.
  • Jackson thanks Catherine for what she said to April.
  • Catherine says they have everything they need to prove April committed fraud.
  • Will apologizes to Meredith.
  • She tells him about Derek and says she has a lot going on. He's great, but she's not ready even though she wants to be.
  • He says he'll back off for a little while, but he'll come back later because she's worth waiting for.
  • Meredith tells Alex, Maggie, and Amelia she's fine. Amelia goes to leave, but Meredith tells her she can stay.

Notes and Trivia[]

Grey's_Anatomy_12x16_Promo_"When_It_Hurts_So_Bad"_(HD)

Grey's Anatomy 12x16 Promo "When It Hurts So Bad" (HD)

  • This episode's title originated from the song When It Hurts So Bad, originally sung by Lauryn Hill.
  • This episode scored 7.77 million viewers.[1]
  • The table read for this episode took place on January 18, 2016.[source?]
  • Caterina Scorsone was so sick while filming this episode that she lost her voice. Much of the sick voice (if she had any voice at all) was replaced later in post-production.[source?]
  • April is coming-up thirteen weeks pregnant during this episode.

Gallery[]

Episode Stills[]

Behind the Scenes[]

Quotes[]

Penny: I love you.
Callie: Thank you.

Maggie: No one brushes me off. I brush. I'm the brusher.

Catherine: I got everything we need.
Jackson: "Need"? Wha-
Catherine: What she knew, when she knew it, whom she spoke to, and when. I needed to confirm that she withheld information from you when she was signing those divorce papers, that she legally committed fraud, and she did. And now, we can go after her.

Will: You're not ready.
Meredith: I guess I'm not. I want to be.
Will: Okay, then. I'll back off. For a little while. But so you're prepared, I'm gonna call you again. And if you ignore me, I'm gonna show up again and we'll go back to sitting in that car, talking and laughing. And I'll be waiting until you're ready because I'm pretty sure you're worth waiting for.

Ashley: No one needs to climb Everest twice.

Stephanie: I was at a party, met a guy, took him home, and when his pants came off, my jaw hit the floor and so did... it.

Callie: Penny, I'm sorry. I should not have lied to you.
Penny: If we are not in the same place, if you aren't ready to be where I am, that is fine. You can tell me, and I will listen. If you aren't ready for me to meet Sofia, great. That is your decision. But making me feel like crap about trying to help, lying to me... that is not okay.

Amelia: I just got sober again. So, to find myself in that position...
Owen: And it was unfair of me to put you there. I know that, and it will not happen again.
Amelia: No. I know it won't.
Owen: I promise.
Amelia: I appreciate that. But I can't count on it. Right now, I have to count on myself. It's not your fault. You're just not in this with me. So I can't do this with you, not right now, and... maybe not at all.

Meredith: This was Derek's blanket. I always hated the stupid thing. It's not soft. It's not warm. It's not a great color. He had it in the trailer. He brought it here. Made it to the dream house with us. He made a bed in front of this fireplace for us once. And now he's gone. And I still have the damn thing.

See Also[]

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


References[]

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