Meredith and Richard stood in the hallway, watching the scene inside the hospital room.
"I'm not gonna leave you, I'm not. I'm not leaving here right now without you, okay?" the wife was telling her husband.
"I've never seen her before," Meredith spoke up.
"What?" Richard asked.
"I've never seen her before. I've worked in this hospital all this time and before today she was a complete stranger to me," Meredith explained.
"It happens, it's a big hospital," Richard shrugged.
"I've never met her before and I'm the person who handed her the worst day of her life. In her story that's who I am. That's who I'll always be." Meredith looked at the floor.
"That's the job," he said kindly.
"I know, that's the job."
"Look at me." Richard smiled as Meredith's eyes met his. "This day, this day you feel helpless. This day makes all those other days when you fight to save a life and lose. This day makes you grateful you have a chance to do anything at all. You take it in."