"hi. is the chief in?" asked madelyn.

"he's on his way. is that it?" a woman asked, referring to the cooler in her hand.

"yeah."

"can i see it?"

madelyn looked at her, then the cooler, then back at her.

"no. forget i asked." the woman said again.

"madelyn, it's good to see you." webber said, walking into the room.

"hey, i heard your mother was leaving mayo. she's going back with the u.n.?"

"she's, uh, taking time off." madelyn answered.

"write another book, i suppose."

"listen, so, they said to bring this to you, so,"

"yes uh, for the police."

"right."

"when did the police say they were coming?"

"you know how slow they are, so she better take it with her." the woman said.

"what?" madelyn asked, frazzled.

"you have to take it with you." the woman repeated.

"chain of custody rules. all medical matter in a rape must stay with the person who collected it until it's placed into police custody." richard explained.

"you collected the specimen, so you have custody." the woman added. madelyn figures that she was a lawyer.

"custody of a penis."

"yes, until the cops come for it." said richard

"okay. well, what am i supposed to do with a penis?"

richard pursued his lips and awkwardly looked around the room, avoiding eye contact. madelyn stormed out the room and down the computers.

she approached george, he was sitting at a computer. she put the cooler on the counter and george looked up.

"what's that?"

"don't ask, you don't want to know." madelyn answered, picking up some files from the table.

"i do want to know. really."

"you really want to know?"

george nodded.

"it's a severed penis." madelyn said before walking away, leaving the penis in front of george.

"okay. i didn't really want to know." george concluded.

"why do i have to be the one who gets hugged?" christina whined.

"because, i don't do that. besides, you're the ovarian sister here." karev shot.

"did you call me an ovarian s- an ovarian s- since when does the possession of ovaries become an insult?" christina called after karev, who had fled the scene.

"madelyn's carrying a penis around in a jar."

"oh, from the rape surgery?" christina questioned.

"yeah, and it's not a jar. it's a cooler."

christina grabbed the cooler and opened the lid. she looked at it once and quickly closed it.

"talk about taking a bite out of crime." christina walked off.

madelyn grabbed the cooler and brought it to where she was sitting. george stood up and followed her to the room behind the computers.

"you okay?" he asked.

"yeah. allison's shoes are,"

"what?"

"the rape victim, allison. her shoes. i have the same ones, in my locker, and i normally never wear them because they're not comfortable. but today i did. and she was wearing the same shoes, and it's just stupid, and i'm tired, and, forget it." madelyn ranted.

"you know what you need?" george asked.

"no. it's sick and twisted. we said last time was the last time."

george swallowed nervously.

"you've been doing it without me?"

"nancy reagan lied. you can't just say no. come on."

"do you know what would happen if anyone knew?"

"i'm doing it. you can come with me, or you can stay here and be miserable." george finished, pulling the chair madelyn was sitting on. she let out a laugh and followed him through the hospital.

they stopped when they reached their destination.

"you are such a woman." madelyn laugh at george's gibberish.

his pager went off.

"that's a code. i got to go." he said before he ran off.

madelyn stood for a second, looking at the new borns, before she took off with her penis in a cooler and went to the cafeteria.

she grabbed some food, and sat down at a table. a few minutes later, alex joined her.

"severed penis?" he asked.

"yeah." she said, the throwing her sandwich down onto her plate.

"and.. there goes my appetite. thanks a lot."

"sorry." alex mumbled, biting into his sandwich.

"have they found the rapist yet?"

"no, but derek contacted other hospitals in seattle. he'll have to show up to seek medical attention somewhere and soon if he wants to keep his.. well, you know."

alex and madelyn let out a shudder at the thought.

"hey, you wanna grab some drinks after our shift ends?"

"sure. i'm sure going to need it." madelyn joked.

madelyn's pager went off, it was a nine-one-one from bailey.

"i gotta go. see you later." madelyn waved as she stood up, grabbing the cooler and running to the o.r.

"finally! where have you been?" bailey scolded.

"sorry."

"i saw allison. you can't believe the beating that she took. and then to see this." madelyn whispered to christina.

"it's like that old saying, 'you should see the other guy.'" she whispered back.

"why are we not attempting to re-attach the severed penis?" bailey questioned.

"teeth don't slice. they tear. you can only re-attach with a clean cut. if she wanted to slice him off with a knife.." christina answered.

"besides, the digestive juices didn't leave much of the flesh to work with." madelyn added.

"right, so what do we do?" bailey questioned again.

"sew him up minus a large part of the family jewels." christina answered.

"and his outlook?"

"he'll be urinating out of a bag for a very, very long time." said madelyn.

"not to mention he'll never be able to have sex again."

"oh, too bad."

"shame."

"let's all take a moment to grieve. clamp." bailey said sarcastically.

💙💙💙

"my head hurts." alex whined.

"maybe it's a tumor." christina shot.

"you wish i had a tumor."

"look, i'd rip your face off if it meant i got to scrub in."

"i've been suturing all day." izzie complained, walking into the hallway with the gurneys. she took a spot next to christina.

"my hands are numb."

"at least you're helping people." george added.

"at least you get to practice freakin medicine." alex shot back.

"i had to send my chinese lady away. she was like, camped out down there."

"oh, poor izzie, turning away patient." madelyn cooed from next to alex. setting the penis beside her.

"so the police say they can't send a crime scene guy for hours, so i have to spend the night with the penis."

madelyn looked at alex, who was about to say something he would regret.

"alex, don't say it."

"it was too easy anyway."

"who here feels like they have no idea what they're doing?" george asked, plopping himself next to izzie.

george put his hand up, and everyone echoed.

"i mean, are we supposed to be learning something? because i don't feel like i'm learning anything."

"except how not to sleep." izzie added.

"i haven't slept in 48 hours because of this penis." madelyn whined.

alex opened his mouth but madelyn gave him a stare that completely shut it down.

"does anyone know where mer is?" madelyn asked.

there was a chorus of no's.

"she's dealing with this blue baby. some sort of heart thing." christina answered.

bailey walked up to the group. she gave them all a look that said 'why are you just sitting here?' and they all scrabbled to their feet, getting back to their jobs.

💙💙💙

"so, here is where you have the signature, and down here, the initials." the lawyer explained.

"okay." said madelyn, picking up the pen.

"it just say that the, um.. the.."

"penis." added the lawyer,

"look i'm a doctor, i mean, it shouldn't be weird to say this. it's just that i used to change her diapers." richard ranted.

"i get it." madelyn said.

"it just says that it was never out of your sight."

"here you go. one penis." madelyn joked.

richard picked the cooler up and handed it to the police officer.

at some point, you have to make a decision. boundaries don't keep other people out. they fence you in. life is messy. that's how we're made.

"okay, fine. george and izzie, you can move into the house." meredith caves.

"yes!" george shouts.

"i can't believe you caved!" izzie squeals.

"thank you." george thanked.

"i can't believe i caved." meredith whispers to christina.

"i blame the babies." she joked.

"they make you toxic."

so you can waste your life drawing lines..

"hey, grey. you ready for that drink?" alex asked, walking up to madelyn.

"boy, am i." she laughed, grabbing her coat and walking to the bar across the street with alex.

or, you can live your life crossing them. but there are some lines, that are way too dangerous to cross. here's what i know. if your willing to take the chance, the view from the other side, is spectacular.