Burke and George are still sitting in the reception area, gobsmacked by Al's heroic exit. George is like, "So do you tell his wife, or should I?" Burke can't control himself, and breaks down laughing. George laughs too, more because there's nothing else he can do than because it's funny. When the giggles die down, Burke tells George that he wants to thank him for how well he performed in the surgery today. George thanks Burke for the compliment, but as we all know, George just cannot keep himself from ruining everything. He adds, "And hey, I'm sorry about before...you know, bringing up you and Cristina." Here he puts his hand on Burke's shoulder, and Burke pulls away like George's hand were molten steel. He gets up and starts walking away. George is mortified with himself, but then calls over his shoulder, "You're still my guy, O'Malley." Oh, I think it's love!

It's almost time for Mr. Herman's surgery. He tells his wife that he always thought he would hold her hand in the delivery room. She kisses him goodbye. Sweep the leg, Johnny! On the way to surgery, Mr. Herman asks Meredith not to let "them" show his teratoma off, or pass it around in a jar or something. Meredith promises she won't. Mr. Herman goes into surgery, and MereVO starts up: "At the end of the day, there are some things you just can't help but talk about." A huge crowd of people watches as Bailey pulls the enormous cyst from Mr. Herman's abdomen. She hands it over to Meredith and asks, "You really want to be the one to dispose of this, Grey?" Mere says she made a promise.

Cut to Cristina, who finds Burke and tells him how worried she is about her career and reputation. "I will not be Meredith Grey. I busted my ass to get here, and people will not make allowances for me." Damn! Burke says it's not about making allowances; everyone will know. Cristina says she just doesn't want to tell the chief, okay? Burke looks at her with tears in his eyes, and MereVO tells us, "Some things we just don't want to hear, and some things we say because we can't be silent any longer." Burke opens the door to Webber's office, and we cut to...