Meredith and Webber in “The Room Where It Happens”

Meredith

Have you always done that with your mother?

Webber

I didn't used to. Back then, I was trained to depersonalize the patient. Tissue was tissue, faces were covered, and blood was a mess on the floor. We were to stay focused, and our hands were just inside mannequins.

Meredith

So, what changed?

Webber

One afternoon, I was in the OR, and we lost a patient on the table, and I went along to inform the family, you know, tell them the horrible news, and I was numb. I watched them sob and hold each other and it didn't affect me, at all. That patient died from the same thing my mother died from, and I was a robot. After that, I started changing the rules, and it made me a better surgeon.

Meredith

You've saved her now, about 1,000 times.

Webber

I suppose.