Things get personal for Simone in Grey’s Anatomy season 22 episode 5, as her patient has photos with her mom. Meanwhile, Blue and Jules may get another look at how much the healthcare system fails many people.
Caution: This post contains SPOILERS from Grey’s Anatomy season 22 episode 5.
We open with all the doctors at work, before seeing Link and Jo catching up with each other. It opens the door to the conversation about the twins being baptized, and while Jo told Link’s mom to wait eight weeks, Link thinks they should wait until the twins are 18. That’s sure to come up soon.
Meanwhile, Blue and Jules are at Bailey’s clinic, and they get the job to follow up with all the patients who missed their appointments. Blue notices one of the patients has a prescription that is out of date and this patient had been in hospital for ketoacidosis just a few months back. This is a concern for him, and we know from the promo how that will play out.
Jo helps a difficult patient in Grey’s Anatomy season 22 episode 5
Since the OB is out, Jo is called in to help with a patient. I’m all for women giving birth the way they want to, but sometimes, the birth plan has to go out of the window. In this case, it probably needs to completely change, as the baby is breach, coming out feet first, and it’s highly unlikely that she can have the natural birth she really wants.
Meanwhile, Simone meets her patient, who is a transfer from elsewhere. Simon is the one to ask for specific tests, as the new intern has no idea what he’s really doing. So, as the kid rushes out, the patient asks Simone to put her photos up on the table. That’s when Simone comes across a photo of her mom. Who is this woman?
Blue and Jules make a house call
Blue proves that he deeply cares about some of his patients, and one of them is the patient who has skipped out on her appointment. As Jules pushes for a ride home, it’s clear that Blue has thought of something else.
Blue and Jules get to Mercedes’s house, and it’s clear from the panicked Spanish of Mercedes’s mom that something is wrong. Did we know that Blue could speak fluent Spanish? I feel like that came out of nowhere! But whatever, he is able to communicate with Merecedes’s mom to get into the house, and that’s when they see that there is a problem. Merecedes gets up to get a drink for her “guests,” but ends up collapsing.
Meanwhile, we learn that Simone’s patient was a friend of her mom’s. In fact, they were best friends, but after her mom’s death, the friend fell out of touch with every other member of the family. Lucas comes into the room to switch shifts with Simone, and it’s easy to see that things are frosty between them. Simone is likely to get some advice from this woman who could have been part of her life had her mom not died.
Jo and Link start their discussion about baptism, with Link questioning Jo going to church or believing in God. To be honest, the idea of Jo wanting to baptize the children does seem a little odd, and this is a conversation that needs to continue. However, it’s time for Jo to flip the stubborn baby.
Simone learns a little more about her mom
Despite supposedly at the end of her shift, Simone decides to take over on Ms. Evans from Lucas. Of course, she does. With the personal connection she’s just made, she needs this patient to survive. It certainly offers a chance for Simone to get to know a little more about her mom, including some stories that her dad wouldn’t tell her.
Simone isn’t the only one taking things personal, though. Blue and Jules continues to treat their patient, Mercedes. As Jules catches her foot, the real situation comes to light. The cut on her foot is seriously infected, and it needs hospital treatment. However, Merecedes finds every reason not to go, and so Blue gets her to at least let him treat her with an antibiotic to see if it will help.
Blue and Jules don’t judge, but there is a shocking moment when the toe literally falls off while Blue is trying to clean out the area.
The argument between Link and Jo continues. Link spends his time coming up with reasons not to baptize the twins, and Jo is annoyed that he won’t listen to her. The two are as bad as each other at this point. This is one of those situations they need to agree on, and they need to listen to each other about what they both want.
The argument can’t continue, though, as Jo has another fight on her hands. The difficult mom-to-be continues to refuse medications and a c-section, despite it being clear that this baby is being too stubborn to turn. As Jo lets out her frustration, the mom-to-be states she wants her husband. Well, that would be great, except that her husband died three months earlier, and this is likely why she wants to focus on the birth plan so much. She’s likely terrified she will die and leave her baby orphaned.
Blue and Jules call in the only help they can
Jules and Blue discuss the situation with Mercedes quietly, as with the toe falling off, it’s clear that this is a diabetic foot infection. This likely means she will lose more than just her toe. However, she continues to refuse to go to the hospital, and the full truth finally comes out. Merecedes lost her immigration status, and if she goes to the hospital, ICE will come and get her. Blue wants to help, but he knows that calling 911 would be drastic. However, Merecedes needs a hospital.
Of course, Blue called Bailey, who brought an ambulance with her, and while Bailey isn’t happy with Blue, she will do what she can for Mercedes. We get to see the fear of families being dragged apart, even though everyone is just trying to do the best thing for Mercedes.
Back at the hospital, Simone isn’t happy to find out that her dad lied about her mom, but Ms. Evans makes it clear that Simone’s dad didn’t completely lie. The woman was a straight A student, but she was also a bit of a partier. I guess there’s a bit of anger from Simone in the way that she had to grow up in her mom’s shadow.
Now it’s time to find out why Ms. Simms wasn’t around when Simone was being born. It turns out that she was accepted at school in Paris, and Simone’s mom wanted her to go. Nobody really thought that there would have been a problem, but she has always regretted going, because she would have advocated for Simone’s mom if she was there.
Meanwhile, Jo is with her patient, who is finally letting go of some of the ideas that she came in with. There’s a chance for this woman to grieve, and she’s able to explain that she’s scared of the baby being born because of how much she has lost. However, this baby wants to be born, and Jo needs to help both mom and baby.
Simone finally opens up
Things with Simone’s patient had taken a scary turn, but with some oxygen, things looks like there’s hope. It gives Simone more time to get to know more about her mom. Something that this episode offers is for Simone to let out all the guilt she’s always felt for being the reason her mom died. It all comes from her sister, who has always blamed her, despite it not being her fault at all. Ms. Evans makes it clear that Simone needs to let go of her guilt and live her life.
With surgery prepped for the morning, Simone is finally able to tell Lucas who Ms. Evans is. However, that’s when things take a drastic turn. As Grey’s Anatomy always does well, with the emotional storyline at an end, it’s time to deliver some heartbreak. Simone has only just met her mom’s best friend, and now she won’t get any more stories as her patient dies.
Back at Mercedes’s house, Jules uncomfortably tries to comfort the son, while Blue and Bailey work on Mercedes’s foot in the ambulance. Bailey admits that she’s mad, but not at Blue and not at being called in for Mercedes. She’s mad at the system that has led to people being scared to leave their homes. People are going to lose their lives because of this fear, and she’s right.
As for the hospital, Jo has no choice with her patient but to order a C-section. The baby isn’t turning and the heart rate is dropping, which means they need to get the baby out now. It looks like the pregnant mom may be in luck, though, as with one final attempt, Jo is able to turn the baby. There’s finally a chance to have a natural birth.
A bittersweet ending for many
There is a little bit of hope for Mercedes. She will get to keep her foot, as long as she looks after the wound and keeps on top of her medication. And in some good news for Blue and Jules, they’re not fired. Bailey is glad that they did what they did, but next time, they need to tell her.
Back at the hospital, Simone is heartbroken at the loss of her patient. Webber clearly thinks that she’s taking it hard because she was on Ms. Evans’s care all night, but there’s so much more to it. At the end of the episode, Simone decides to call her grandmother, who thinks that she’s talking to her daughter because of the Alzheimer’s. There’s a feeling of connection even with that disappointment that she’s not in a lucid state.
As for Jo and Link, Jo wakes him up with the good news that the baby has been delivered. Now she wants to know what the deal with the baptism really is, and it’s because while dealing with cancer, he always questioned why God would allow children be sick with cancer. He continues to question God because of what is going on in the world. Meanwhile, Jo believes the opposite, and she felt comforted in prayer when Link was recovering from the explosion. They’ll have to keep this discussion going later, because they’re both tired.
The ending of the episode sees Jules rushing back into the hospital, where she runs into Winston who is preparing for some public speaking; something that he hates to do. She decides to hand him the toy dinosaur that Mercedes’s son gave her, but he decides not to take it. These two are just so cute, and I don’t think that Jules even realizes there are feelings there just yet! Not feelings that she’s ready to agree are there.
Well, Jo and Link aren’t getting home just yet. As they’re leaving, Jo’s waters break. Back into the hospital it is.
Grey’s Anatomy airs on Thursdays at 10/9c on ABC.