When we return, Dr. Hahn is telling Burke that just because his donor's heart died, that doesn't mean she has to give him hers. Burke asks testily if her patient is higher on the transplant list. Dr. Hahn, getting madder by the second, says she has no idea. Burke turns to Alex, who has followed him into the OR, and tells him to get UNOS on the phone right now. Dr. Hahn would like for Burke to give her a break, and one of her doctors picks up the scalpel again. Burke's all, "Hey, HEY!" Dr. Hahn asks what he's going to do, beat the guy up? Burke: "If I have to." You may have wondered in your life if it possible for someone to smolder behind a surgical mask. I am here to tell you that it is. Dr. Hahn tells everyone to just hold on. She tells Burke this is pathetic...but hey, it worked.

Mere finds Callie at the board and says she's finished with all five patients. She asks to scrub in on Hipster's surgery, and Callie grumps that they can't, because the board is all backed up. She mutters angrily about stupid macho surgeons thinking their specialties are more important than ortho. Mere takes this opportunity to ask Callie's advice about Doc's bone cancer, and shows her the film. She wonders if Callie knows the success rate of curing osteosarcoma in a canine leg. Callie stares at her. "We have an actual human patient, with a bullet lodged in his tibia. And you're asking me about your precious dog that you share with your precious McDreamy? Yeah, I know about him. And you think I care? UNBELIEVABLE."

Dr. Hahn and Burke are arguing about whose patient is sicker. Her guy's on a dobutamine drip; Denny's got an LVAD. Who will win? Burke says her guy can climb Mount Shasta on a dobutamine drip. We pull back and see that they're in a conference room, on a call to UNOS. The voice on the phone announces that, as of this morning, Dr. Hahn's patient was twenty-two hundredths of a point ahead of Dr. Burke's. Burke says that's a virtual tie. The voice then says that Dr. Hahn's patient was admitted into the program before Mr. Duquette. Burke asks how long. The voice on the phone: "Seventeen seconds." Oh my God, that's the same amount of time as the title of this episode! Do you think it's a coincidence? Dr. Hahn says it might as well be seventeen weeks. Burke's phone rings, and he slides it over to Alex to answer. It's Izzie, calling to check up on the heart recovery. Alex says Burke is "working on it." Izzie takes this to mean that Burke is operating. Alex explains what's going on with the donors, and says that the higher guy gets the heart. Those good old dramatic drum beats start up. Izzie starts to look a little frantic, only a glimmer of the crazy that's to come, and blurts, "Denny's getting sicker. He's getting worse by the second. His sats are in the eighties! No, they're in the seventies, and dropping!" Alex gently tells her that he's not going to lie for her. Izzie: "Then put Burke on the phone."