'Grey's Anatomy' : How Kelly McCreary's Maggie Pierce Left — and Which Couple Called It Quits

Maggie Pierce (Kelly McCreary) performed one final procedure with her husband Winston Ndugu (Anthony Hill) as their relationship hung in the balance on Thursday’s episode of Grey’s Anatomy

This post contains spoilers from Thursday's episode of Grey's Anatomy.

Maggie Pierce (Kelly McCreary) said goodbye to Grey Sloan Memorial as she prepared to take a new job in Chicago on Thursday's episode of Grey's Anatomy.

One of her last cases at the hospital was a patient named Nola who had "a giant tumor" that was crushing her heart. The patient's friend Viv insisted that the "baby doctors" a.k.a. Simone Griffin (Alexis Floyd) and Jules Millin (Adelaide Kane) couldn't help them.

Richard Webber (James Pickens Jr.) told Maggie that she was disloyal for leaving the hospital for a better opportunity. She responded, "I hate that you're upset but I'm not going to apologize" before she was paged to help Nola.

Maggie decided to delay her flight to treat Nola and was forced to do an emergency procedure when the tumor caused fluid to gather around her heart. She paged her husband Winston Ndugu (Anthony Hill) but "wasn't sure" he would answer it amid their marriage struggles.

They decided to do a high-risk procedure together. She said, "No interns. There's no margin for error. Just you and me."

Related:Grey's Anatomy's Kelly McCreary Says There Is Still 'a Lot of Love' Between Maggie and Winston

After they saved Nola, Winston told Maggie that it was "a hell of a way to go out." She finally gave him the credit that he had been longing for her after she received all the attention for their partial heart transplant.

"I could not have done that surgery without you," she shared as he replied, "You would have figured it out."

"No, I wouldn't have. I wouldn't have figured out a lot of things without you," she said. "You pushed me to be better. You challenge me. You inspire me to never give in on a challenging case."

The moment led to the pair returning home to hook up, surrounded by her moving boxes and suitcases.

After their night together, Maggie asked if Winston would be willing to come to Chicago with her. However, he didn't want her to pull any favors to get him a job. Instead, he encouraged her to stay with him in Seattle.

"I know it's been rough and we have both said some things but there's enough good between us to fight for it," he said. "Stay here with me. Fight for us."

She declined his offer, saying, "Winston, I've been offered the opportunity of a lifetime."

Winston insisted that he wanted her to stay but still took a jab at Maggie's cutthroat drive by comparing her to her mother Ellis Grey (Kate Burton), adding, "You have to work hard to be nothing like her."

The comment caught Maggie off guard and she confided in Amelia Shepherd (Caterina Scorsone) that she was hurt by his assessment of her character.

Related:Grey's Anatomy: Maggie Pierce Makes a Major Decision as Miranda Bailey Faces a New Threat

Back at the hospital, Winston discovered that Nola had a blood clot in her neck and he had to do an emergency procedure in her hospital room.

Before leaving, Maggie also helped a patient who arrived at the hospital after having nipple discharge and sensitivity in her breasts. When they realized she might have breast cancer, she said she felt that she was being "punished" for putting her law career first.

However, Maggie reassured her that being career-driven is not a mistake, saying, "You loving your job is a beautiful thing. Don't let anyone ever make you wrong for that. It does not make you cold, it makes you passionate."

Related:Kelly McCreary Says 'Whirlwind' Final Days on Grey's Anatomy Are 'Really a Trip'

After sharing her advice with the patient, Maggie raced to Richard's office to defend her decision to leave Grey Sloan Memorial. However, she found his wife Katherine Avery (Debbie Allen) who told her she wasn't cold as Winston suggested, but rather focused on her own ambitions.

"Ellis Grey saved a lot of lives," she said. "Maggie, you are so much more than Ellis' pure ambition. You are kindness, caring, honor, fairness, friendship, love. I happen to believe you carry those traits in your genes as well."

Maggie finally told Winston that she has to leave Seattle to not repeat the patterns of Ellis and her adoptive mother Diane Pierce (LaTanya Richardson Jackson) who both stayed with their husbands longer than they should have.

"They didn't follow their hearts, they didn't follow their guts, they didn't bet on themselves. They stayed to keep the peace. They stayed to keep other people happy," she said. "My heart is in my work, Winston."

She added: "I don't think I'm cold and I don't think you're a coward… I think we did the best we could and that neither of us is to blame. I love you but I have to go."

He responded: "I love you too and I have to stay."

Maggie's time at Grey Sloan Memorial concluded with her standing in the hospital's elevator as her deceased mothers, Ellis and Diane, looked on proudly as she prepared for the next chapter in her career. (The episode marked McCreary's last as a series regular, but she is set return for additional episodes this season.)

Related:Kelly McCreary to Exit Grey's Anatomy After 9 Seasons

Amid the departures of Maggie and Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo), Amelia realized that there would be no more family Sunday dinners without Maggie and Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo), who left Seattle for Boston earlier this season. She told partner Kai Bartley (E.R. Fightmaster) that she had "a history of spiraling" when people have left her.

While Kai told her that they understood being sad, Amelia replied, "How could I be sad with you here?"

Despite her declaration, Amelia was still struggling with Maggie's big move. Kai insisted she is strong despite feeling like she is spiraling and the pair shared a kiss.

Amelia asked Kai to stay in Seattle amid all the changes in her life. Instead, Kai revealed that they are taking a new job in London. Amelia was upset by the prospect of a long-distance relationship in their future and Kai accused her of making their career accomplishment all about her. Ultimately, Amelia claimed Kai was abandoning her as their relationship effectively ended.

Elsewhere, Miranda Bailey's (Chandra Wilson) husband Ben Warren (Jason Winston George) encouraged her to change her cell phone number and email address after he found flyers — with her picture and personal information outside the hospital — that read, "Baby Killer" on last week's episode. She quickly realized he also wanted the family to move out of their home as another safety precaution.

She insisted that it would "blow over, they'll get bored or find someone else to be outraged about" as she received a call from an unknown number. She later gave the phone to Mika Yasuda (Midori Francis) to oversee while she worked.

However, Bailey had a change of heart when she received a text with a picture of her son Tuck and decided it was time for the family to make some changes — including moving into a rental and getting a new number — to protect themselves.

Despite Teddy offering to increase security around the hospital's daycare, Bailey decided to ask Lucas to babysit her daughter.

Meanwhile, Jo Wilson (Camilla Luddington) wanted to make sure both she and Dr. Atticus "Link" Lincoln (Chris Carmack) got off work in time to make a dinner reservation after they proved how well they know each other following years of friendship on last week's episode.

She told him that she thought they "deserved a night out" tonight. After overhearing their flirty exchange in the elevator, new chief Teddy Altman (Kim Raver) turned to her husband Owen Hunt (Kevin McKidd) and said, "Those two need to get a room… they basically just had sex in front of us."

After much debate about how to tell Jo about his feelings for her, Link planned a romantic evening for Jo. But his plans had to be put on hold when he received a frantic call from her that her daughter Luna may have a hearing problem.

Link surprised Jo by coming to Luna's doctor's appointment. After learning she had progressive hearing loss, Link tried to reassure Jo about Luna's condition but she was too upset to listen. She told him, "I need to wrap my head around this before you go all cheerleader."

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Grey's Anatomy airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET on ABC.

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