I'll Cover You

is the seventeenth episode of the eighteenth season and the 397th overall episode of Grey's Anatomy.
==Short Summary==
A former patient of Link's, Simon, is in the ER with his pregnant wife and Bailey receives an offer from Nick.
==Full Summary==
Link has a one-night stand with a brunette.
Jo, meanwhile, is swamped at the hospital as she switches between her pink and navy scrubs. She finally finds a moment to rest but is soon paged for an emergent consult. She arrives at the patient's room still wearing a pink scrub top.
Catherine kisses Richard goodbye before heading out to have breakfast with Helen Anderson from the medical accreditation council. The follow-up is still weeks away but she's not above calling in a favor. Richard grabs a juice bottle from the fridge, ignoring a label with Catherine's name on it.
On her first day back, Bailey shows Pru around at her happy place, the operating floor. She finds that the OR board is a mess with cancelled surgeries and incomplete staffing. Maggie and Amelia walk up and greet Pru. Bailey was planning on bringing her bundle of joy with her today but now she's going to have to leave Pru at daycare since clearly nothing was done in her absence. Bailey stresses that saving the program is on all of them. She urges Amelia and Maggie to spread the word. Also, Bailey is moving to the ninth floor conference room since her office has a smell.
Meredith and Nick are in the attendings' lounge. It's his first day at Grey Sloan and Bailey called him for a meeting. Meredith says Bailey still hasn't apologized to her for what she said, which means she's still mad. Nick greets Richard on his way out but Richard ignores him as well as Meredith. Richard is looking for snacks. Meredith calls out his name repeatedly, the first thing to make him aware of her presence. She takes his hand and asks him to come with.
Teddy and Owen are having a session with Robin, the family therapist. They asked Leo if he wanted them to tell Ms. Patty, who runs daycare, that he's a girl. Leo just asked for string cheese. Robin has told them to disclose what's going on to other people if there are persistent, consistent, and insistent signs. Leo can be gender creative now without the need to change his pronouns or name or clothing. Teddy struggles to understand what they are doing then. Supporting and affirming, Robin says. They are following Leo's lead, which can differ from day to day. Owen chuckles because Teddy's not a fan of ambiguity.
Link is surprised to find Jo covering the ER. They haven't seen each other in days. Jo is hanging with Todd tonight and asks Link to watch Luna again. Link can't believe she paged him for this. She actually paged him for Simon Clark, apparently a patient of his, who came in with abdominal pain. Link greets Kristen, Simon's pregnant wife, with a hug. Link resected Simon's synovial sarcoma four years ago. He has been undergoing chemoradiation for recurrent lung mets. Kristen found Simon in the nursery this morning, barely able to breathe. He insisted on finishing the crib. Link says they'll get him admitted and arrange for scans.
Meredith is examining an incoherent Richard in his office. Meredith asks if he's started drinking again with the immense amount of pressure he's under. He swears he hasn't drunk alcohol for ten years. Richard says he drank some juice, which did have a kick. It turns out he drank kombucha, which does have alcohol content. Richard panics and fetches the bottle from his bag. Meredith says that's not kombucha; there's cannabis in the juice.
Maggie joins Winston and Taryn at the bed of Margot Talbert, 37, who complains of throbbing abdominal pain. There is a visual throbbing on her abdomen. Margot doesn't want them to call anyone. Taryn goes to arrange a CT. As they walk off, Maggie brings up that she had breakfast with Wendell while Winston was out jogging. Winston says Wendell never went to college.
Meredith tells a panicking Richard that he didn't mean to get stoned. Meredith wants to call Catherine but Richard stops her since Catherine is saving the program. Meredith prevents Richard from leaving the office. Richard says Bailey is going to be mad at him. He's also still angry at Meredith, who tells him to get in line. Levi shows up at the door since he's on Meredith's service. She tells him to find Nick instead, who has taken over her cases.
Link fills in Jo on Simon's case. He made Link promise to keep him alive long enough to meet his kid. Link hopes that the symptoms are all just chemo-related. As the scans load, Jo tells Link it's fine if he doesn't want to watch Luna anymore. He does but he was disappointed earlier when he asked her to hang out with him and she asked him to babysit instead. She apologizes. The scans come up, revealing in a mass in the ileum causing an obstruction. This means the cancer is progressing faster than expected. Jo offers to tell Simon since this means Simon's her patient today. She thinks resecting the tumor can buy Simon some time. Link can scrub in to lend an extra set of hands.
Nick arrives in Bailey's office. She just ignores him. He thinks she blames him for taking Meredith away. Bailey says Meredith is an adult woman. Nick wonders why she is hostile toward him then. She thanks him for taking pity on her and agreeing to stay and help out for a few months before leaving again. Nick says he's exactly what she needs right now. Bailey needs surgeons who can teach. Nick reminds her that Jordan was his student. Nick genuinely wants to help. Back in the day, Grey Sloan rejected Nick and now Bailey appears to be doing it again. He'll be in Seattle for the next few months anyway so she might as well let him help out.
Kristen cuddles with Simon in bed as they talk about their baby. Jo and Link come in to deliver the bad news. Kristen says she's at 32 weeks, meaning they have two more months to go. Link says they'll take care of this new met today and go from there. Kristen starts crying but Simon tells her "hello forever" to calm her down.
Levi intercepts Nick as he leaves Bailey's office. Bailey just begrudgingly granted him privileges. Levi tells him that Meredith needs him to take over her caseload. He asks where Meredith is. Levi says he's not supposed to tell.
Maggie cautiously asks Winston if he's had the chance to test out Wendell's new badge of patches. Maggie clarifies she has no problem with Wendell staying with them. Margot checks if the doctors aren't calling anyone behind her back. Her wife would only freak out. The scans reveal a large abdominal aortic aneurysm. While Taryn books an OR, Maggie delivers the news to Margot. Even in light of the diagnosis, Margot refuses to call her wife. She has actually been having pain for a couple of months and her wife is under the impression that she already had it checked out with Margot claiming she was diagnosed with IBS. Margot's wife will be really pissed if the lie comes out. Winston asks what if she dies from this. Margot says she won't be the one to tell her wife then.
Richard is spinning around in his chair while singing wrong lyrics. He says Nick is the reason why Meredith is leaving. He hopes Nick falls in love with the city. Meredith says the ferryboats might be one of the reasons that she wants to leave. Seattle is starting to feel haunted to her. There are memories of people who are no longer here everywhere. He felt the same way after Ellis died. Richard suddenly decides that teaching is the way to save the program. Meredith stops him since going out like this would end his career. Meredith leaves to get snacks but he sneaks out of his office behind her back while she makes a call.
Teddy paged Amelia for an ER patient. Amelia sees a small subdural hematoma on the scan. Amelia opts for a conservative approach with hourly neuro checks. Teddy doesn't feel comfortable with a "wait and see" approach when there actual things they can do to address the situation. Amelia asks her about family therapy. Teddy says they are supposed to follow Leo's lead but he's four. They are reading all the books and the blogs to educate themselves. Teddy feels ready to take the next step on Leo's journey. She likes direction and knowing what to do. Amelia tells Teddy about Kai, who's non-binary. Being with them opened up Amelia in ways she never imagined. Things don't need to be constantly defined in order to be loved unconditionally. Since she started viewing the world that way, she never felt more like herself.
Bailey is surprised to see Meredith's name being swapped out for Nick's on the OR board.
She goes to yell at him in his OR for taking over his girlfriend's caselaod. Levi finds bleeding coming from the patient's liver. Bailey presses him to fix it. Levi says his patient died when this happened last time. Nick tells him to write a new story. He shuts Bailey down so he can direct Levi's attention to the problem at hand. Levi takes the appropriate steps. Richard congratulates Levi from the gallery on writing a new story. Meredith arrives in the gallery and Richard tells her they need to rewrite the story. Meredith tells Nick he didn't see them and drags Richard away.
Link goes to talk to Simon as he gets settled on the operating table. Link says he'll make it. Simon believes him and in him but he's not God. If he doesn't make it, he needs to tell Kristen she's not allowed to name their son after him. He wants his kid's life to be joyful which can't happen if he's named after him. Link will tell her but he needs Simon to get his head in the game of making it through this surgery.
Right before she's put under, Winston tells Margot that they are required to call an emergency contact so they will, in fact, be calling her wife. Maggie disagrees. They can't discharge Margot by herself but they can perform the surgery before calling her wife. Winston snaps at Margot for having lied. Maggie instructs Winston to go scrub. Moments later, Margot's blood pressure bottoms out. Maggie fears that the aneurysm ruptured. They get gowned and gloved fast.
Richard's eyes aren't dry anymore. He used to like weed back in the day. Meredith says it's a lot stronger nowadays. Kids have full-on psychotic breaks just from smoking weed. Amelia arrives after having to endure Bailey's rant about their collective failure and Nick going rogue because he's with Meredith. Meredith leaves to go deal with Bailey while Amelia sits down with Richard. Richard didn't know marijuana came in liquid form. He's still puzzled as to why the drink was in his home. Amelia says if he can honestly say he didn't mean to get high and is not planning on doing it again, he shouldn't change his sobriety date. Richard has had an epiphany about improving the program due to Addison's comment about the humanity being wiped out of medicine. They need to remind the residents that they are individuals who can grow with knowledge and empathy. Changing the program will be like planting a tree. The tree that grows will outlive you. He admits he's still a little bit high.
Jo finds that Simon's met is wrapped around the vascular structures, meaning they can't resect any of it to avoid the risk of Simon bleeding out. They need to divert the bowel to buy him some time. Unfortunately, Simon is dying but this can help with the pain, even if it's just for a few weeks. Link reminds her that Simon wants to meet his son.
After finishing the distal anastomosis, Maggie tells Winston he can't talk to patients like that. He knows. Maggie blames his picking a fight and delaying care for the rupture. Winston says Margot waited for weeks. The rupture is not his fault. Maggie then tells Winston to leave the OR.
Meredith meets Bailey in her office. She said yes to staying and helping yet Bailey can't help but torture Nick. Meredith doesn't understand what Bailey wants here. Bailey doesn't know either. She feels like she is failing as the first female Chief. She feels helpless and all of it is out of her control. The pandemic wiped out generations of doctors and nurses, physically and emotionally. She appreciates Meredith and Nick staying and helping but she doubts that that is enough. Meredith says they'll figure it out. She apologizes for the way Bailey found out. She hadn't told Bailey yet because she had yet to make her decision at that point. Bailey apologizes for calling Meredith "that girl". Bailey then asks where Meredith has been all day. Meredith tells her the truth. They have a laugh.
Kristen asks Jo and Link how long her husband has to live. Jo estimates about a month at most. Simon wanted to be a dad his whole life. Kristen asks for a C-section so Simon can meet his son. She asks for an OB. Jo says she is an OB as well. As Jo goes to explain why it's not a good idea, Link interferes and says he'll talk to Dr. DeLuca, who is Jo's teacher. Kristen thanks him. Jo follows Link to quietly tell him that that was not okay. Link says he just told Kristen the truth. As an attending, Carina might be able to bend the rules. Jo thinks he should go do something to get the anger out of his body. As Jo reasons that she knows Link best, Link accuses her of being a user. She drags him into a supply closet. She knows he's lashing out at her out of anger over the situation but he shouldn't go to her boss to ask for a medically unsound C-section. Link says Jo used him for sex. It was fun so he rolled with it. But then she kicked him out and expects him to sleep over with Luna any time she has a date with Todd. She never hangs out with him anymore, which means he's being used. Maybe he could roll with that because they go way back but now she wants to talk to him like she knows him best because they supposedly hang out all the time, which is preventing him from doing everything he can to help his patient. That he cannot roll with. Jo then reveals she fell in love with him. That's why she asked him to move out. She now realizes it was wrong not to tell him that. She can't lose him. She states the baby's lungs haven't matured enough. If they take him out now, there is a chance Kristen will also lose her son. She knows Link can't live with that.
Maggie and Taryn update Margot's wife in the CCU. The surgery went well. She thanks the doctors for calling her. Outside the room, Maggie demands that Winston tell her what is going on with him. Ever since his brother arrived, he became a different person than the man she married. It's causing tension at home and today, he messed with her patient. She needs to know what is going on. He asks her to come with him. In a quiet corner, he tells her a story of how teenage Wendell asked him to pick him and a buddy up at the mall. The two jumped on the back seat and told him to drive off as fast as he could. He did it because it was his brother. They were halted by cops and found stolen goods in the car. Winston was the getaway driver. He was arrested and had to see a probation officer for four months. Wendell talked his way out of it and let Winston take all the blame. Everything is like this with Wendell. He tricked kids into giving him lunch money. Their dad would find out and take the belt to both of them, and then keep the money. The patches are just another scam, which he spent 10 grant on. He asked Winston to lie and get Bailey to place an order. Wendell gets in his head and confuses him. He told Maggie that Wendell would ruin them. Winston always falls for it and convinces himself it's going to be better this time. He should have told Maggie about the patches. Wendell makes him a liar and he needs to talk to Wendell tonight, loudly and alone. After that, they will be okay. Maggie agrees to spend the night at Meredith's.
Jo and Kristen join Link and Simon in the ICU. Sam tells her "hello forever". Kristen says the doctors won't deliver the baby for another few weeks, meaning Simon has to hold on.
Levi meets Bailey and Pru outside her actual office. A maintenance guy just informed her that the smell was caused by some creature's feces in the ceiling. Levi thanks Bailey for letting him come back. Today was difficult but it reminded him of why he wanted to be a surgeon in the first place. Bailey thanks him and takes her daughter home.
Amelia and Scout run into the Hunt family at the elevator. Amelia invites them to get ice cream together. Owen asks Leo which flavors he wants but Teddy says he doesn't have to decide right now. Before she gets on the elevator, Link stops Amelia and asks if he can take Scout for the night. Amelia tells Owen and Teddy to go ahead. She asks Link if he's okay. He admits not really. He takes his son and Amelia hands him the diaper bag. Maggie comes up and asks Amelia to crash at her place. She's not okay, either.
On their way out, Richard asks Meredith and Nick for saving his ass today. Nick says it was a very fitting first day, based on what he's heard about this place. Catherine arrives. Meredith admits that she called her. Nick and Meredith take off. Catherine apologizes. Richard questions why she brought that drink into their house. She says it's for the pain. Her cancer has progressed.
==Cast==
18x17MeredithGrey.png|Meredith Grey
18x17MirandaBailey.png|Miranda Bailey
18x17RichardWebber.png|Richard Webber
18x17OwenHunt.png|Owen Hunt
18x17AmeliaShepherd.png|Amelia Shepherd
18x17JoWilson.png|Jo Wilson
18x17MaggiePierce.png|Maggie Pierce
18x17TeddyAltman.png|Teddy Altman
18x17LeviSchmitt.png|Levi Schmitt
18x17AtticusLincoln.png|Atticus Lincoln
18x17WinstonNdugu.png|Winston Ndugu
18x17NickMarsh.png|Nick Marsh
18x17CatherineFox.png|Catherine Fox
18x17TarynHelm.png|Taryn Helm
18x17KristenClark.png|Kristen Clark
18x17SimonClark.png|Simon Clark
18x17MargotTalbert.png|Margot Talbert
18x17Robin.png|Robin
18x17NurseJames.png|Nurse James
18x17HazelTalbert.png|Hazel Talbert
18x17PruittArikeMiller.png|Pruitt Arike Miller
18x17Brunette.png|Brunette
18x17AllisonHunt.png|Allison Hunt
18x17LeoHunt.png|Leo Hunt
18x17ScoutDerekShepherdLincoln.png|Scout Derek Shepherd Lincoln
===Main Cast===
*Ellen Pompeo as Dr. Meredith Grey
*Chandra Wilson as Dr. Miranda Bailey
*James Pickens, Jr. as Dr. Richard Webber
*Kevin McKidd as Dr. Owen Hunt
*Caterina Scorsone as Dr. Amelia Shepherd
*Camilla Luddington as Dr. Jo Wilson
*Kelly McCreary as Dr. Maggie Pierce
*Kim Raver as Dr. Teddy Altman
*Jake Borelli as Dr. Levi Schmitt
*Chris Carmack as Dr. Atticus Lincoln
*Anthony Hill as Dr. Winston Ndugu
*Scott Speedman as Dr. Nick Marsh
===Guest Stars===
*Debbie Allen as Dr. Catherine Fox
*Jaicy Elliot as Dr. Taryn Helm
*Bianca Santos as Kristen Clark
*Cedric Sanders as Simon Clark
*Amy Kersten as Margot Talbert
*Cara Mitsuko as Robin
===Co-Starring===
*Norm Nixon, Jr. as Nurse James
*Janab Kareem as Hazel Talbert
*Janai Kaylani as Pru Miller
*Jenna Nicole Sullivan as Brunette
*River Davidson as Baby Allison
*Avalon Gray & Colette Gray as Leo Hunt
*Ryker Murphy & Ryden Murphy as Scout
==Medical Notes==
===Jo's OB Patient===
*Diagnosis:
**Pregnancy
*Doctors:
**Jo Wilson (OB/GYN resident)
*Treatment:
Jo did an ultrasound on a patient who was pregnant.
===Jo's Surgical Patient===
*Diagnosis:
*Doctors:
**Jo Wilson (general surgeon)
*Treatment:
Jo examined and palpated the abdomen of a patient.
===Teddy Altman and Owen Hunt===
*Diagnosis:
*Doctors:
**Robin (family therapist)
*Treatment:
Teddy and Owen spoke with a family therapist about Leo. She told them to look for persistent, consistent, and insistent signs from Leo and let him explore his gender until they did.
===Simon Clark===
*Diagnosis:
**Lung mets
**Ileum met
*Doctors:
**Atticus Lincoln (orthopedic surgeon)
**Jo Wilson (general surgeon)
**Taryn Helm surgical resident)
*Treatment:
**Chemotherapy
**Radiation
**Ileostomy
Simon, 38, came into the ER with abdominal pain and vomiting. He had had a stage II synovial sarcoma resected four years prior. He'd had chemotherapy and radiation for recurrent lung mets. They admitted him so they could get some scans. His wife was 32 weeks pregnant and they were desperate for him to live long enough to meet his child. His CT showed a mass in his ileum that was obstructing his small bowel. Jo operated with the hope of resecting the tumor to reduce his pain and buy him more time. When they opened, they found that the tumor was too invasive, so they did an ileostomy to buy him time and make him more comfortable. After his surgery, Jo told his wife he had a month at most to live.
===Margot Talbert===
*Diagnosis:
**Ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm
*Doctors:
**Maggie Pierce (cardiothoracic surgeon)
**Winston Ndugu (cardiothoracic surgeon)
**Taryn Helm (surgical resident)
*Treatment:
**Surgery
Margot, 37, came into the ER with throbbing abdominal pain that radiated to her back. She said it had started that morning. They examined her and found that her abdomen was pulsating, so they ordered a CT, which showed an abdominal aortic aneurysm. She admitted she'd been having pain for a few months instead of just one day as she'd told them in the ER. As they prepared to operate, she coded because her aneurysm ruptured. They operated and repaired the damage. Her wife was told she'd be okay.
===Teddy's Patient===
*Diagnosis:
**Broken ribs
**Scalp laceration
**Depressed skull fracture
**Subdural hematoma
*Doctors:
**Teddy Altman (cardiothoracic surgeon)
**Amelia Shepherd (neurosurgeon)
*Treatment:
**Q1 Hour Neuro Checks
Teddy got a consult from Amelia on a patient who was in a motorcycle versus pedestrian accident and had multiple broken ribs, a scalp laceration, and depressed skull fracture. He had a sluggish light reflex on the left. Amelia said it sounded like a subdural hematoma, but it was small, so she decided to wait and do Q1 hour neuro checks.
===Nick's Patient===
*Diagnosis:
*Doctors:
**Nick Marsh (general surgeon)
**Levi Schmitt (surgical resident)
*Treatment:
**Hepatectomy
**Omental patch
Nick and Levi did a hepatectomy on a patient. The patient had some bleeding, so Levi cauterized it and placed an omental patch.
===Kristen Clark===
*Diagnosis:
**Pregnancy
*Doctors:
**Carina DeLuca (OB/GYN)
**Jo Wilson (OB/GYN resident)
*Treatment:
Kristen was 32 weeks pregnant. When she found out her husband had less than a month to live, she asked them to do a c-section to deliver her baby. Jo said it wasn't a good idea, but Link said he'd check with Carina DeLuca. Carina also said no, so Kristen remained pregnant.
===Catherine Fox===
*Diagnosis:
**Chondrosarcoma
*Doctors:
*Treatment:
Catherine told Richard her cancer had progressed, so she was using cannabis drinks to manage her pain.
==Music==
Song 	Performer 	Scene
"Icarus" 	Devon Gilfrillian 	
*Link makes out with a woman.
*Jo wakes up and changes her scrubs, then grabs her ID.
*Jo does an ultrasound on a patient.
*Jo palpates an abdomen.
*Link rolls over after they finish.
*Jo lies down, but gets paged again.
*Jo goes to her patient to find she's in mismatched scrubs.
"" 	Cast (James Pickens, Jr.)	
*Richard sings to himself.
"Someone Else's Star"	Finneas 	
*Winston talks to Maggie about Wendell.
*Kristen tells Simon he needs to live to meet his son.
"Coming Home" 	Ocie Elliott 	
*Bailey and Pru leave the hospital.
*Amelia, Owen, and Teddy meet up outside the elevator with their kids.
*Link asks if he can see Scout and takes him.
*Maggie asks if she can crash at Amelia's.
*Richard thanks Meredith and Nick.
*Meredith admits that she called Catherine.
*Catherine apologizes and says she uses the cannabis for her pain because her cancer has progressed.
"Someone Else's Star" - Finneas
"Coming Home" - Ocie Elliott
==Notes and Trivia==
*This episode's title originated from the song , originally from the musical Rent.
*This episode scored 3.60 million viewers.https://showbuzzdaily.com/articles/showbuzzdailys-thursday-5-12-2022-top-150-cable-originals-network-finals.html
==Gallery==
===Episode Stills===
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===Behind the Scenes===
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==Quotes==
==See Also==
de:Ich steh hinter dir
Category:All Episodes
Category:GA Episodes
Category:GA S18 Episodes