"Bleeding Love" Original Spec Script Written by Logan Conover [email protected] (610) 657-986 ii. Characters Meredith Grey Alex Karev Richard Webber Miranda Bailey Arizona Robbins April Kepner Jackson Avery Matthew DeLuca Amelia Shepherd Owen Hunt Maggie Pierce Stephanie Edwards Jo Wilson Ginger Reed Mollie Reed Franklin Reed Fiona Reed Marcus Florenstein Trevor Williams Anesthesiologist Scrub Nurses Hospital Staff ACT ONE INT. MEREDITH’S BEDROOM - EARLY MORNING A heavy rain trickles down the moonlit window outside of Meredith’s bedroom. Her moment of tranquility ends as soon as CONOVERit begins when her 5 am phone alarm blares from the bedside table. She begrudgingly reaches out her hand and silences it. She lays still for a moment. MEREDITH (V.O.) Any neurosurgeon will tell you that without sleep, your brain cells lose the ability to communicate, and your memory and perception become diluted. She slithers out of bed, as thunder and lightning clash outside. CUT TO: INT. MEREDITH’S LIVING ROOM - EARLY MORNING Meredith stomps downstairs to see Alex sprawled out on the couch in the living room, though more of his body is off the couch than on. Thunder rumbles one more time, and Meredith wakes him up by throwing a pillow at his head. MEREDITH (V.O.) Ironically, neurosurgeons probably get the least sleep out of all of us. And that’s saying something. Meredith drags her feet as she enters the kitchen. At the counter is Maggie, slumped over on the cold countertop with a cup of coffee spilled over in her hand. Rolling her eyes, Meredith flips the cup into an upright position, waking her suddenly. MEREDITH (V.O.) We need sleep to survive, and it is the only time in our lives when we can truly feel a blissful ignorance. Meredith wipes up the spilled coffee with a paper towel as Maggie plops her head back down on the counter. CUT TO: 2. INT. OWEN’S TRAILER - SAME Owen and Amelia lay fast asleep next to each other As the rain outside steadily persists, a loud crash of thunder interrupts their tranquility. Owen’s eyes split open. His vision goes blurry, and he begins to envision the loud crashes of artillery fire from his time CONOVERin the military. Breathing heavily, he turns to Amelia laying next to him. Owen sits up and gets on top of her. She wakes up, confused, but before she can think, Owen wraps his hands around her neck and begins tightening his grasp. MEREDITH (V.O.) But with that bliss comes a loss of control: a vulnerability to the outside world. INT. OPERATING ROOM - SAME Bailey, Jo, and Richard work vigorously to resuscitate a patient on the operating table. As Richard compresses, Jo keeps an eye on the monitor to see any stimulation. Bailey shakes her head and stops Richard from continuing. The patient flatlines. MEREDITH (V.O.) And, if you’re lucky, that bliss is the last thing you will ever experience. Richard rips off his cap and throws it to the ground. CUT TO: INT. OWEN’S TRAILER - SAME Amelia struggles profusely to pry Owen off of her. He stares blankly through her, until eventually coming to his senses. He throws himself backwards off of her, and Amelia sits up gasping for air. Owen quickly crawls back and tries to comfort her, but Amelia flinches away from him. Their eyes meet each other, but these aren’t the same eyes that she fell in love with. MEREDITH (V.O.) If you’re lucky. Owen tears up. 3. INSERT TITLE: Grey’s Anatomy EXT. HOSPITAL PARKING LOT - MORNING Although the storm has stopped, dark rain clouds remain over the puddle-ridden parking lot of Grey-Sloan. Amelia and Owen CONOVERapproach the entrance of the hospital, an arms length apart. OWEN Amelia, I- I am so sorry. The thunder, it just reminded me of- AMELIA Iraq? OWEN (taking a breath) Yes. Yes it reminded me of Iraq, and it- AMELIA (interrupts) And so do microwave dinners, and fireworks, and canteens, and-- She sees that Owen’s eyes are only making contact with the ground. He is ashamed, and she does not want to make him feel worse. AMELIA (CONT'D) I get it, ok? And I’m not mad at you. OWEN And you are amazing for that, but I just need you to know that I would never hurt you on purpose-- AMELIA (tersely) Well you still hurt me. Amelia actually is a bit mad. They stop walking, and Owen swallows the lump in his throat. AMELIA (CONT'D) Owen, you have PTSD. And you’ve never done anything about it. OWEN I went to therapy-- 4. AMELIA Well obviously it didn’t help too much. (beat) You’re dating a neurosurgeon. Why haven’t you asked me to help you? OWEN CONOVERBecause I don’t want you to think I’m not strong enough to fix this on my own. AMELIA Or because you’re afraid to admit that you’re not strong enough to fix it on your own. Owen and Amelia lock eyes. She’s right. AMELIA (CONT'D) It hurts me emotionally, and physically, to see this affect you. (beat) Let me help. Owen plays with his tongue in his mouth, and reluctantly nods his head. Amelia grabs a hold of his hand, and they enter the hospital. INT. HOSPITAL LOBBY - SAME Owen and Amelia step into a faculty meeting in the hospital lobby. The entire staff listens to Bailey as she delivers an announcement from the staircase. Jackson stands behind her. BAILEY (chipper) Thank you all for coming on such short notice. I will make this quick so you can get back to work saving some lives. Alex rolls his eyes and leans over into Meredith’s ear. Bailey’s voice becomes muffled. ALEX What’s she so chipper about? MEREDITH Probably something that will make our lives miserable. 5. Arizona and April squeeze through the crowd of surgeons to stand by them. ARIZONA What’d we miss? ALEX Bailey is about to ruin something CONOVERfor us. APRIL I hate it when she does that. The four surgeons roll their eyes as they pay attention to Bailey. BAILEY Our OR booking and patient monitoring softwares have not been updated since the Seattle Grace days of this hospital. Alex and Meredith reminisce with each other. MEREDITH Sometimes I forget this place isn’t still called Seattle Grace. ALEX I can’t believe how long ago that was. What was it, 8 years now? MEREDITH Damn, we are old. Bailey continues to speak. BAILEY (continuing) In order to become more in line with competing hospitals, I am proud to announce that Grey-Sloan memorial has upgraded our computer systems to the new Blackbook OS. The surgeons all mumble amongst each other. MEREDITH Wait what? ALEX I just figured out how to use the old one. 6. ARIZONA Why would she change the system it worked perfectly fine? Bailey silences the crowd. BAILEY Ok... ok... hey! CONOVER(beat) I know this is an abrupt change, however, the system is top of the line and I think you will all come to enjoy it. She looks around at the unsure looks on the surgeon’s faces. She tells them the truth. BAILEY (CONT'D) And... we can now qualify for the Whitney Grant for technological advancement in medicine. The surgeons mumble with each other again. ARIZONA Oh, that’s why. Alex speaks up, drowning out the grumbling surgeons.. ALEX How does this new system even work? What, are we supposed to teach ourselves? BAILEY (interrupting) There will be a mandatory training session tomorrow morning, but until then, myself, Jackson, and the IT department will be able to assist you during the transition. ALEX That’s ridiculous! The hospital has become somewhat of a protest hall, and all of the surgeons loudly voice their concerns. Bailey holds out her hands. BAILEY Hey! Hey! The surgeons quiet themselves and listen. 7. BAILEY (CONT'D) I know this is a shock and I know it’s frustrating. But the hospital could really use this grant, and in order to be considered we needed to have the Blackbook OS installed today. (beat) CONOVERYou are all the most talented surgeons in this country... you can figure out a little software. The surgeons begin to disperse, continuing to whisper amongst themselves. Meredith, April, Arizona, and Alex move in the same direction. APRIL I feel like that was unnecessary. ALEX Everything she does is unnecessary. MEREDITH (shakes her head) I don’t have time to care right now. I have a kidney transplant between twins. ALEX (snarky) Sounds exciting. MEREDITH (equally snarky) Yeah! But definitely not as exciting as spending your whole life pulling screaming sacks of blood and guts out of a woman’s vagina. Arizona and Alex are offended. April and Meredith are elated. MEREDITH (CONT'D) Don’t have too much fun without me! Meredith speed walks down the OR hallway. April chuckles to herself, as Alex and Arizona glare at her mockery. CUT TO: 8. INT. PATIENT ROOM - MORNING Meredith stands between Richard and Steph as they look down at two hospital beds. In one bed is GINGER (19), a snarky and crude counterpart to her mellow identical twin, MOLLIE (19), who lays in the bed CONOVERbeside her. MOLLIE How long is the surgery gonna take? MEREDITH Well, a typical operation is only about three hours, but considering your sister’s condition, it could take a little bit longer. The girls’ worried parents, FRANKLIN (50s) and FIONA (40s), express their concerns through curiosity.