In Grey’s Anatomy season 22, episode 11, we watched as tensions rose between Teddy and Winston over a disagreement with the course of treatment for a young man with a serious heart condition. While Teddy talked him out of having a complicated ventral aorta surgery, that decision proved to be the wrong one, as Corban’s health declined dramatically between episodes.
At the top of episode 12, “Get Lucky,” we learn that Corban’s aorta is now unsalvable and the ventral aorta surgery is their last and only option. Teddy calls Winston for a consult, and he makes his displeasure in her pushing so hard against the surgery known. He points out that the surgery was Corban’s best shot, and Teddy quickly makes it known that he can either keep dwelling on that or help come up with a solution.
Teddy walks Leticia through the needed surgery. She’s unsure, but Simone and Blue offer words of encouragement. She worries about saying yes and then him dying as a result of her decision, to which Teddy says if they do nothing, he’ll die for sure. Leticia agrees to the surgery as she asks them to not make her regret it.
As they prepare Corban for surgery, Leticia takes his hand and tells her brother she’s going to name her son after him; if he doesn’t want her to, he needs to wake up after surgery and tell her himself.
As Owen passes through, he notices Richard in his office, and Richard mentions hearing about Teddy performing a second ventral aorta surgery and asks him to give her his congratulations. This is when Owen reveals that he and Teddy have signed divorce papers, as he heads out. He later finds Teddy in a supply closet, and she asks him if he can watch the kids. It's clear she’s in her head and spiraling, and Owen tries to reassure her that she’s got this, telling her to breathe. Teddy snaps and tells him she doesn’t need him telling her what to do and never did. He agrees to pick up the kids as he walks slowly away, hurt by the exchange.
As Teddy and Winston scrub in for the surgery, she tells Winston she needs him to be on board. He says she dismissed his opinion; if something goes wrong in there, he needs to know she hears him, to which she promises him she will.
The scar tissue is worse than Nora and Winston expected, and they are worried if they can get through all of this. Teddy points out that if they give up now, Corban will die. Winston changes his approach to try to go layer by layer to find the surgical plane to orient himself.
Winston’s approach works, and they pull the procedure off. As they pull him off bypass, the heart begins beating on its own, and Winston prepares to step away to update Corban’s sister as blood bursts out and Teddy finds a defect on the staple line and the team races to correct things. Winston and Teddy work to repair the hole and take him off bypass. The new sutures are holding up, and they’re able to prep to close.
After the surgery, Winston reminds Teddy they’re a team, and if they stay one, they can save more than just two patients. He sends her home to get some rest as he stays to look over Corban. When Teddy gets home, she apologizes to Owen for snipping at him earlier, and he reminds her she’s brilliant when backed against the wall. She asks if he’s ever going to stop believing in her as she questions why he would. That kiss leads to even more, hinting that perhaps this isn’t the end of their relationship after all.
Elsewhere in the episode…
Jo discover Link has been hiding a major secret from her
Jo and Link prepare to head out to take care of some things as Link gets an alert about a plumbing issue at his rental home. He tries to head out on his own, but Jo decides to accompany him to the house. When they arrive, Jo notices that there is a big screen TV, several guitars, and empty beer bottles, and it doesn’t take long for her to deduce that Link has been using the home as a man cave of sorts. He confesses that he’s been coming to the house to take breaks from the kids, which, understandably, doesn’t sit well with Jo.
Later, she asks him to apologize, as she says she is a shell of herself, but he doesn’t see it because he’s off in the mancave. The conversation is interrupted as the plumber arrives. Once the plumber has left, the pair sit down, and he apologizes for hiding it from her; she’s more jealous than mad. Link reminds her that she needs somewhere to go to get peace and quiet as well, as he notes they’ve got to take care of themselves. Jo is understanding as she jokes about finding her lady lair.
Amelia and Toni grow closer, as Anita makes a drastic mistake
Early in the episode, Amelia and Toni hook up in the on-call room as Toni invites Amelia to go on a proper date. Amelia begins to mention having her son before she covers and says she has her sunset hiking club and takes a rain check. The pair then set about their days, which take them each in very different directions.
Jules and Anita are working a case with Toni, treating a man who needs a complicated procedure. During the surgery, Bailey helps to hype up Ben, so when an emergency burn call comes through, Toni asks for his help with the consult. As she leaves, she tasks Jules and Anita with finishing the procedure as she exits.
Throughout the case, Jules notices that Anita is on edge, and she comes to find out that Toni is looking to land a job in Boston and counting on Toni’s recommendation. It seems that Anita viewed Jules as a threat to the job, going as far as preventing her from participating in the surgery. This ends up blowing up in his face as their patient suffers serious complications, which will require him to have multiple surgeries.
Meanwhile, Amelia is called in for a consult when a man named Jeremy is brought in after passing out and hitting his head when he won $2 million on a lottery ticket. He later has a seizure, and Amelia finds that he has SIADH, which can happen after head trauma but will resolve with some fluids and medication.
As the day comes to an end, Amelia finds Toni outside the ambulance bay and admits to lying earlier as she confesses about lying earlier. Amelia informs Toni that she has a son, and she was afraid to mention it, as having a kid proved to be a dealbreaker in her last relationship. To her surprise, Toni reveals that she is a single mother with a young son of her own and makes it clear that having a kid is certainly no dealbreaker for her.