So many of Meredith’s peers go before the panel of doctors who will decide whether or not she can continue to practice medicine. Today may be the last day that Meredith is a doctor and she knows that. She admits to DeLuca that if she loses her license and he’ll still be able to be a doctor, they won’t make it. She’s brutally honest but she’s just telling the truth.
The opposing side is trying to establish that Meredith is rash and reckless. They do so by bringing up everything in her past. When they bring up Zola, that’s when Meredith loses it. She’s had enough. She’s not going to let these people use her daughter as a weapon. But there’s more to this confrontation. “You are the one who killed her father,” she tells one of the doctors on the panel. She calls the man a “coward” for overseeing Derek’s care and not ordering the CT scan that would have saved him. Meredith is about to be taken out of the room when the doctor has a seizure and passes out. Instead of walking away, Meredith sends him to Grey Sloan to get the best possible care.
During a break in the hearing, Bailey and Richard have it out. She’s pissed that he lied to the panel for Meredith. “Meredith Grey could commit murder and you’d hide the body,” Bailey tells Richard. Honestly, she’s not wrong. “You choose her,” she says. “You always choose her.” Richard stresses that Meredith is family. He’ll go to great ends for her. Bailey feels betrayed. Richard confesses that he stuck his neck out for Meredith because he knows she’d do the same. At the moment, Richard can’t say the same about Bailey.
When the doctor is brought to the hospital, Amelia refuses to do the surgery. She doesn’t want to operate on the man who killed her brother. She asks Tom to do the surgery and he agrees. Later, Amelia watches the man’s surgery. Link stays by her side. The patient doesn’t make it out of the surgery.
Meanwhile, the medical commission is postponing Meredith’s hearing. Alex storms in and says they can’t do that. People have come from all over to speak for Meredith. So many of her former patients have come to talk about how Meredith saved their lives. Cristina, Callie, Arizona, April, and Addison all write letters in support of Meredith.
Bailey has something more to say about Meredith, too. There’s no doubting that Meredith broke a law to save a life. But no one should be questioning Meredith’s license because she’s “too good at what she does.” Bailey says that even though Meredith has been through so much, it hasn’t made her hard, mean, or cold. Everything that’s happened to Meredith has made her better. In the end, Meredith doesn’t lose her license. Bailey asks her to come back to Grey Sloan. “I need you,” Bailey says.
Maggie is still coping with the loss of her cousin. Jackson finds her drinking and takes her home. They almost share a kiss but Jackson stops them before things go too far. Maggie snaps and tells him to get out. She doesn’t want to see him again.
DeLuca shows up at Meredith’s place to talk. She apologizes for what she said about them not making it if she lost her license. DeLuca knows she meant what she said. He’s done so much for her but he doesn’t think she thinks of him as her partner. He’s not Derek. “You didn’t just love Derek, you respected him,” DeLuca says. Meredith stresses that she does respect DeLuca but it’s not enough right now. He wants her to take some time and figure out what she wants. “Let me know if I’m a part of that,” he tells her. Talk about a 350th episode to remember.