After making the decision to terminate her pregnancy, Simone returns to work in Grey's Anatomy season 23, episode 3, but it’s clear she’s rushed back to work before she was ready, as something is not right. When she informs Jules that she’s experiencing some discomfort and cramps, Jules questions whether she’s followed up with her OB, and Simone informs her she has not had the time.
After Simone nearly collapsed, Jules and Wes get her into an exam room to check things out. Jules performs an ultrasound to look for residual tissue to make sure she doesn’t become septic, and the ultrasound yields some concerning results. Jules isn’t sure what it is she sees on the ultrasound, but Simone begs her to not ask for help, as she doesn’t want anyone else getting involved.
Despite Simone’s request not to bring anyone else in on the case, Jules enlists help from Jo upon bumping into her on her way to turn in her badge. Jo informs Simone that the ultrasound shows a snowstorm sign, which indicates a mass of cells where a fetus would be. It’s a rare condition that mimics pregnancy, and Simone is going to need a D&C, and Jo offers to call in someone to help perform the procedure. Simone begs her to perform the procedure, as she doesn’t know the other doctor and is comfortable with Jo, and Jo agrees to perform the procedure.
Jules helps get Simone settled for her procedure as Jo arrives and goes over the risks of the procedure, assuring her that she’s not worried. As they prepare to sedate her for the procedure, Simone panics as her emotions come to a head, and she cries out for them to stop, as she can’t go through with this.
Jo suggests they use a local anesthetic instead so that she does not have to be put fully under and pivots the plan to help Simone get through this. The procedure goes smoothly, and Simone should be discharged in the morning. Simone thanks her for her patience and explains what happened to her mom all those years ago as Jo steps away.
While the surgery was a success, it left Jo with a lot to think about, as she's not sure what to do about her future. She knows she's good at her job, is extremely skilled, knows this field needs more good doctors, and she loves what she does, but she can't practice medicine anymore without reliving something that almost killed her. She doesn't know what to do, but it's clear this day made it harder to simply walk away.
Blue returns to Grey Sloan, but his first day back isn’t what he expected
Blue returns to Grey’s and quickly finds that while he has a second chance, not everyone is happy to see him back, particularly Richard. When Blue comes to check in with Richard for the day, having requested to be on his service, Richard makes it clear that he will not be seeing an OR while working with him and is to essentially do busy work.
Blue heads up to check on a VIP patient recovering from surgery and is taken aback when the man asks for a drink to be mixed up. Thankfully, his scar is healing nicely, but before Blue can leave, the man reminds Blue of his drink order, and that’s not the only request he has, as he keeps Blue quite busy running errands.
When Blue comes back up to check on the patient, his scar has seemingly burst open, leaving his organs exposed after he removed his binder protecting the wound. Instead of Richard answering the call, it’s Seth who instructs Blue to prep the patient for surgery. Blue and Seth enter the OR, and Seth pushes him to jump in and assist with the surgery as Richard enters the OR and orders Blue to step away from the patient. Richard excuses them both as he takes over the surgery.
Later, Blue helps get the patient settled back into the room as Seth drops in to bring him a warm blanket. It’s clear Seth sees something in Blue as he invites him to assist him on a surgery tomorrow, much to Richard’s surprise.
Winston struggles to adjust to his new role as residency director with Bailey looking over his shoulder
As Winston attempts to settle into his new position, he quickly realizes that he can learn from Bailey. When he asks her for her help with some scheduling needs, she is shocked to see he replaced her spreadsheet with an app and encourages him to go back to her spreadsheet to help track things that the AI can’t predict.
Later, Bailey questions Winston’s plan to do group feedback sessions over individual sessions. His residency director did them, and he found it useful to learn from peers, but Bailey suggests doing them in groups can make things more difficult.
He finally reaches his breaking point later in the day when Bailey approaches him, seemingly to inquire about another change he’s made. He makes it clear that he’s only making changes as he’s already filling in for so many others, and this favor has cost him more than he planned for, clearly referring to his relationship with Jules.
Lucas sets his sights on neuro
With Winston’s nudge to the residents to begin considering subspecialties, Lucas begins looking into openings. He teams up with Amelia to treat a Dolly Parton impersonator who comes through the emergency room with some concerning systems.
While waiting for results, Amelia is surprised to learn that Lucas is applying to her lab, as she makes it clear that neuro is a big commitment that takes a lot of time and work. He presses her on whether her doubt is coming from a place of concern about his skills or if it had anything to do with what he had told Scout about where babies come from in avoiding the question. However, their conversation is interrupted by the scan results, which show their Dolly Parton impersonator is going to need surgery.
Amelia walks Lucas through the procedure, and things are tense between the pair as Lucas pushes back over her hovering. That’s when she challenges him to test his skills and see how far he can thread the line. When a complication arrives, Amelia steps in to finish the procedure.
After the procedure, Lucas confronts Amelia for setting him up to fail and notes that she never expects him to do anything right. He points out that while his way is different from hers, that doesn’t make it wrong, as he’s not Amelia or Derek. Following their blow-up, Amelia catches Lucas on his way out and admits that she was the underdog, but now she’s an accomplished surgeon who is still underestimated by Lucas's mom and aunt, and Lucas doesn’t deserve to be treated in the same way she has. She wants to help him find his path, even if it doesn’t lead him to neuro, as she invites him to come work in her lab. He lets her know he’ll think about it as he also informs her that he’s going to move out.
Grey's Anatomy airs Thursdays at 10/9c on ABC.
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