Season 2, Episode 22: The Name of the Game
Overall Episode Number: 31
Created by: Shonda Rhimes
/ / /
A good basketball game can have us all on the edge of our seats. Games are all about the glory, the pain and the play-by-play. And then there are the more solitary games. The games we each play all by ourselves. The social games, the mind games, we use them to pass the time. To make life more interesting. To distract us from what's really going on. There are those of us who love to play games. Any game. And there are those of us who love to play... a little too much.
- Meredith Grey
/ / /
Bailey is standing in front of the O.R. board when Derek and Mackenzie walk up to her.
"Uh, Dr. Bailey! You have an extra intern?" Derek asked.
"I'm available," Bailey replied nonchalantly.
Mackenzie raised a questioning eyebrow. Why did Dr. Bailey tell Derek that she was available when Mackenzie's mother had explicitly asked for an intern?
Derek must've thought along the same lines as his daughter because he shook his head at the resident. "No, no, no, no. I said intern."
"Shepherd, look at the board," Bailey told him.
Derek looked at the O.R. board. "Okay. What am I looking at?"
Bailey gave the neurosurgeon 'the Bailey look.' "My name isn't up there. It wasn't up there yesterday and it won't be tomorrow."
"What'd you do – piss off the Chief?" Derek asked.
"Yeah. I pissed off the Chief. I went and had a baby. I gave birth. I created a human life. I'm a surgeon. We don't do that. He's mommy tracking me."
Derek had to bite back a smile, knowing that his former Chief of Surgery in New York had done the exact same thing to him after Mackenzie was born. "He's just going easy on you."
Bailey shook her head. "No, I change diapers, I clean spit up, I sing the ABC's. I'm covered in mommy. But that does not mean I will be mommy tracked."
The neurosurgeon knew that feeling all too well. For the first few weeks after returning from maternity leave, Derek had been taken off the O.R. board. While he had been initially upset about it, he understood why his Chief of Surgery had followed through this specific course of action. Derek just had a baby, and he needed to get back into the groove of things after not being able to operate for a few months. While Derek wholeheartedly understood where Bailey was coming from, he was more than certain that the resident was not as understanding because Richard had taken her off the O.R. board.
"Dr. Bailey, I think you're freaking out," Mackenzie said softly. She wasn't looking to upset the resident, but was trying to offer some form of assistance for the surgeon.
Derek was pulled out of his thoughts when his daughter began talking. "I agree with Mackenzie, Dr. Bailey. You're freaking out."
Bailey shook her head. "I just need a surgery. I need a surgery, now. So for today, I'm your intern. I have not begun to freak out."
Derek – knowing that he couldn't win in an argument against Bailey – caved in. "All right. Come on."
Mackenzie bid her mother and Bailey goodbye before walking down a different corridor of the hospital.
Where was she going? It's anybody's guess.
/ / /
"Let me tell you something. The minute I tell what I'm about to tell you, this officially becomes your problem. Not mine." George told Izzie.
Izzie looked confused but nodded. "Okay."
"Meredith has a sister."
/ / /
Mackenzie continued walking until she was pulled into a supply closet... by George.
Taking a minute to recover from the shock she was in, she gave her brother a glare. "George O'Malley, you better have a good reason for dragging me into this supply closet. You scared the crap out of me; I thought I was being kidnapped!"
George rubbed the back of his nape slowly. "I'm sorry, Ellie; I didn't mean to scare you. But I had to find you because I need to tell you something. But you have to promise me that you won't say anything to your mom."
"I promise I won't say anything to Mom, George. Now... what's so important that you had to tell me? And it better be good, too." Mackenzie commented to the surgical intern.
George exhaled loudly. "Meredith's father is here."
"Why is it important that Thatcher Grey is at Seattle Grace, George?" Mackenzie asked in confusion.
"Because he's here with his wife... and Meredith's half-sister, Molly."
Mackenzie blinked a few times before her jaw dropped to the floor. "Wow. Okay. That, um... that-that's definitely a shocker right there."
George nodded. "I know, Ellie. But Dr. Shepherd can't know about this... not yet, at least. Your stepmom is already Molly's doctor; I don't know what your mom would do if he found out that Meredith's father was here."
Mackenzie ran a hand through her blonde hair. "Don't worry, George. I won't say a thing to Mom about this. My lips are sealed."
"Thank you, sweetheart. Now how about we go and get some lunch together, hmm?" George offered.
The blonde girl smiled up at her brother. "Lead the way, Dr. O'Malley."
"It will be my pleasure, Miss Shepherd-Sloan."
/ / /
After Molly and her baby's surgery, Addison stood in the hallway across from Molly's room. Thatcher walked outside of the room and made his way up to Addison.
"Dr. Montgomery-Shepherd?"
Addison met Thatcher's eyes. "Mr. Grey."
"I-I wanted to ask you something," Thatcher said gently.
"Is it about Molly and the baby?" Asked the neonatal surgeon.
Thatcher shook his head. "N-No. This is more of a... a personal question. I don't mean to pry in any way, but, do you have children?"
"I have a stepdaughter," Addison answered.
"What's her name?"
Addison gave a small smile. "Mackenzie."
Thatcher nodded his head. "I see. And, uh... your husband is Mackenzie's father?"
Despite wanting to tell him the truth, Addison didn't know where Thatcher stood on same sex couples, the male carrier gene, and men having children. "Yes, he is."
Thatcher hummed in response. "I-I noticed that you were messing with your wedding ring earlier. I did the same thing when I was having marital problems with Meredith's mother."
"Mr. Grey, with all due respect, I am not going to talk about my marital problems with you. If there's something you'd like to say, then please, say it," Addison said bluntly.
"I wasn't a good father to Meredith. I didn't fight for her like I should have. Instead, I was a coward who let my wife take herself and Meredith up to Boston. I didn't try to fight for my marriage – I knew it was already over. I didn't try hard enough to fight for Meredith, so you should fight as hard as you can for Mackenzie. At least you don't have to feel constant guilt for abandoning her, Dr. Montgomery-Shepherd. If your family really means that much to you... fight for it until you can't fight anymore."
Addison watched Thatcher retreat back into Molly's room and sit next to his wife, Susan. The neonatal surgeon began to mull over Thatcher's words in her head. Should she really take advice from the man who abandoned Meredith as a child?
/ / /
Life is not a spectator sport. Win, lose or draw... the game is in progress... whether we want it to be or not. So go ahead: argue with the refs, change the rules... cheat a little... take a break... and tend to your wounds. But play. Play. Play hard. Play fast. Play loose and free. Play as if there's no tomorrow. Okay, so it's not whether you win or lose... it's how you play the game. Right?
- Meredith Grey
/ / /
Meredith sat in the waiting room at the vet, still knitting her sweater.
Suddenly, a man enters the room.
"Hi. I'm Finn Dandridge. I'm Doc's vet. And you are Dr. Grey. Doc's other owner. We finally meet. Hello."
/ / /
1422 words
Next Update: Blues for Sister Someone
*Yay, a double update! Sorry this chapter was so short, but considering most of the plot was centered around Molly, I had to insert some Mackenzie content. Also, we finally get introduced to Dr. Finn Dandridge! And we are now in the final 5 episodes of season 2!*
Published: 8/24/2021