From a Whisper to a Scream

Infobox Television episode | Title = From a Whisper to a Scream
Series = Grey's Anatomy
Season = 3
Episode = 9
Guests = George Dzundza (Harold O'Malley); Brooke Smith (Erica Hahn); Debra Monk (Louise O'Malley); Lois Smith (Mrs. Dickerson); Emy Coligado (Janelle Duco); Kate Anthony (Nurse Kate); Linda Klein (Nurse Linda)
Airdate = November 23, 2006 (ABC)
Production = 309
Writer = Kip Koenig
Director = Julie Anne Robinson
Episode list = Episode chronology


Prev = Staring at the Sun
Next = Don't Stand So Close to Me

"From a Whisper to a Scream" is the ninth episode of the third season of the ABC series, "Grey's Anatomy". The episode was written by Kip Koenig and was directed by Julie Anne Robinson. It originally aired on November 23, 2006.

Episode recap

Meredith still refuses to have sex with Derek because they are taking things slow. Cristina barges into Meredith's bedroom early in the morning and kicks Derek out. She needs advice and asks Meredith a hypothetical question. She needs to know whether Meredith would turn herself in if Derek was caught for robbing a bank and she was his accomplice. Naturally, Meredith sees through this and tries to get Cristina to open up but fails as Cristina leaves.

Cristina is worried that her covert teamwork with Burke will be exposed as George has caught on to the truth. At the hospital, she confides this to Burke, who assuages her fears by telling her that his hand tremors have not resurfaced in a week. He also reinforces that they are a strong team, but she is not all that convinced.

When an elderly driver, Mr. Dickerson, crashes into a fish market, all the doctors are called to tend to the several [victims.] However, Izzie was mistakenly paged and Bailey sends her to watch George's father. Izzie is not entirely pleased when she is asked to candy stripe once again and not do anything medical.

Mr. Dickerson suffered trauma to his head and chest because there was no airbag to cushion the impact. Callie examines his broken leg and decides to pass him to Derek and Cristina, so that they can tend to his more severe head injuries. Mrs. Dickerson insists that the car, not her husband, was responsible for the accident. She also refuses to talk to the police just yet and stays by her husband's side.

Burke and Meredith work on one of the victims with Cristina worriedly watching from afar, as she is not by his side to assist him. The victim succumbs to the massive injuries, which is witnessed by Dr. Erica Hahn from Seattle Presbyterian. She was called to Seattle Grace on a consult by George for his father.

Janelle, a woman covered in blood, walks into the emergency room and collapses into Addison's arms. Mark and Alex remove the glass pieces from her and stitches her up, but when she reveals that she is 10 weeks pregnant, Addison is brought on her case as well. A worried Mrs. Dickerson, who is one of Janelle's best customers, asks about her and Janelle starts coughing up blood. She needs heart surgery because a large glass shard has punctured her heart. Janelle also reveals that her baby's father does not know about the baby because he cheated on her and she did not want him in the baby's life. Alex tells her that the baby's father may be a jerk but she doesn't have to be one since the baby will grow up and ask about his father.

George's parents ask Izzie about his love life, and she unintentionally shares details about George's life that he did not want his parents to know. On top of that, Izzie is full of praise for Burke but George decides to ask Dr. Hahn to replace Burke on his father's surgery. This is witnessed by Cristina, who thinks that Dr. Hahn is replacing Burke entirely. Her fears increase when the Chief asks to talk to Burke urgently.

Cristina tells Burke that the Chief asked for him. She wants to align their stories to hide the truth but Burke is sick of lying. He wants to tell the Chief the truth about his hand and leaves angrily. However, the Chief reveals that he has decided to retire and wants Burke to take over his position of Chief of Surgery instead. Cristina is pleased as George did not tell the Chief about Burke's hand, and Burke gets the position he worked so hard for. But Burke does not want it because there is blood on it, blaming Cristina for making him cross the line with her. They argue heatedly over whose fault this is.

Mr. and Mrs. O'Malley decide to let Burke operate instead because of Izzie's compliments for him. George gets upset and tells them that Izzie is on probation and it is because she easily gets too emotionally involved with her patients and one of them died because of it. This betrayal hurts Izzie and she leaves.

George once again reminds Callie that she does not have to be concerned about him and his family because they have broken up. He also reveals that he knows that Callie slept with Mark. Furious at the assumed betrayal, she confronts Meredith in the locker room, slamming her repeatedly into the lockers for good measure. Meredith tells her that Callie only told her she slept with someone, and it was George who told her that that someone was Mark. Shocked at the sudden turn of events, Callie leaves and looks for George. She tells him that she did not betray him because she only slept with Mark to get over him after their break-up, but it did not work. Overwhelmed by everything going on, he tells her that he cannot deal with her for the moment, which causes her to flee.

Derek finds out that Mr. Dickerson has advanced spinal stenosis, the narrowing of the spine due to aging. The intense numbness of his legs and feet meant that he should not have been driving. On top of that, he has a subdural hematoma and a hole in his trachea. He would require a cardio-thoracic surgeon to repair the trachea while Derek works on his brain. He calls Burke to help and Burke starts to tell Derek the truth about his hand. However, Alex interrupts and tells Burke he is needed to work on Janelle. Burke decides to take Janelle and asks Derek to call Dr. Hahn to work on Mr. Dickerson. He tells Alex he wants Cristina to scrub in with him, and Alex quietly remarks that everyone else gets a surgery but him.

Mrs. Dickerson is filled with guilt when she sees Janelle being wheeled in for surgery and tells Bailey that she knew her husband should not have been driving. She did not want to make him feel betrayed by siding with their daughter when she took away Mr. Dickerson's car keys. She breaks down and Bailey leads her to the police to record her statement.

The glass shard is successfully removed from Janelle's heart and the heart is on bypass. Meredith enters and asks Burke to assist Dr. Hahn with Mr. Dickerson. He tells Cristina to stay and watch Janelle but she follows him anyway. Meredith is shocked at her defiance and realizes that something is up between Cristina and Burke. Cristina warns her not to breathe a word about it as she returns to Janelle.

During Mr. Dickerson's surgery, Meredith observes Burke intensely even though she is working on his brain with Derek. Mr. Dickerson's surgery is a success and Burke returns to Janelle's operation. Cristina sees Burke having difficulties with his hand and asks to help, but he rebuffs her. He asks Bailey to scrub in and assist him and feeling betrayed, Cristina leaves the OR. When the surgery is over, he heads to the Chief's office to talk to him, but realizes Cristina is already there.

Alex and Addison talk about Janelle and whether she would tell her baby's father about the baby. Addison tells him that he is a decent guy and it would be a sad thing if Mark diminishes that quality in him. They share a very meaningful look and after a while, feel embarrassed about staring at each other for so long. Alex sheepishly thanks Addison as she leaves.

Running into each other in the elevator, Derek asks Preston why he did not tell him about his hand, since they are friends. He brushes him off, saying that Derek is only his surgeon. Meanwhile, Meredith and George leave the hospital together and see Cristina sitting outside by herself. George strides past her angrily, while Meredith sits down next to her. Cristina tells her that the bank robbery was both Burke's and her idea, and Meredith replies saying that she did the right thing. Cristina sadly realizes that she cannot go home and asks Meredith where she is supposed to go.

Back at Meredith's place, Derek asks Meredith why she did not tell him about Burke and Cristina when she knew. She tells him that Cristina is her best friend and she couldn't betray that friendship. After all, she was there for her when he was not. Then, they fall out of scene and have sex. Meanwhile, George tries to apologize to Izzie for his inappropriate outburst but she tells him she is not ready to forgive him yet and to try again tomorrow.

Cristina finally sums up the courage to return home and takes tentative steps into Burke's house. He looks at her with an unreadable expression, and closes the bedroom door in her face.

Title reference

This episode's title refers to songs by Elvis Costello, Robert Palmer, Starsailor, and Icicle Works.

Music

*"You And I Are A Gang Of Losers" - The Dears
*"9 Crimes" - Damien Rice
*"New Day" - Kate Havnevik